Salvation in the Dark

It was unavoidable.

If the boy had caught his eye, it was only natural he would catch Go Je Won’s eye as well. Recognizing talent suitable for the organization was something they both shared.

Do Guk opened his eyes, which he had been pressing shut, and looked down. His gaze met Seong Tae’s, whose eyes were as red as if the blood vessels had burst. His youthful face, which didn’t suit his large frame, was a mess of tears.

“……Br, Brother.”

Do Guk took slow, deliberate steps. He stopped just as the tip of his shoe almost touched Seong Tae’s hand on the floor.

He unbuttoned his jacket and reached into the inner pocket. Drawing a knife from its sheath, Do Guk knelt down.

Seong Tae’s face turned pale as he sensed the danger. Do Guk reached out and used the sharp blade to brush aside the hair covering the boy’s forehead.

“Pl, please save me.”

“……I have no intention of killing you.”

It was an unfair sentence to die just for doing what the organization ordered. Especially since it was “work for the organization,” as Go Je Won always claimed.

Lee Ja Cheong was worried that Yu Seong Tae would confess his crime and endanger the group. Therefore, the solution was simply to make it so he could not confess.

If he truly intended to kill him, he would have taken him to a deserted place and handled it quietly. The reason he hadn’t was to create a justification.

But before that, there was something to confirm.

“Seong Tae.”

He pointed the knife, which had just grazed the hair, at Seong Tae.

“That woman… how did you kill her?”

At Do Guk’s cold voice, the trembling muscles in Seong Tae’s face froze.

A piercing scream from somewhere made her eyes snap open. In her blurred vision, the world seemed to be spinning. No matter how much she shook her head, she couldn’t focus, and she swayed in her seat.

“Hey, I think the drugs are hitting her.”

At the mention of drugs, Hae Su turned her head, propping up her collapsing body with both arms. Hearing the snickering laughter, she gripped the glass in front of her.

The only thing she had consumed here was one drink. She wasn’t so weak that a single glass would make her lose her senses. She guessed that someone had spiked the drink with GHB.

As the presence drew closer, her unfocused pupils looked up.

“Babe, how do you feel?”

The man smiled broadly, as if findng this hilarious, and grabbed Hae Su’s cheek with one hand. Caught in his grip, Hae Su shook her head.

She wasn’t unaware that something like this could happen. Even so, she had taken the risk and followed them here. She entered the tiger’s den to catch the tiger.

Hae Su raised her hand and pushed away the man holding her cheek. The man stepped back and roared with laughter, finding her struggling pathetic.

“I guess the drugs need to hit you harder, huh?”

As he snickered and fumbled through his pockets, Hae Su saw people sprawled on the sofas and a couple intertwined while kissing.

Meanwhile, the man pulled something out and shook it in front of her eyes. A black pill inside a small zipper bag caught her attention again.

“I will give you something better. Let us do this too. Okay?”

The man opened the zipper bag and poured the pill into his palm.

Even as her mind grew cloudier, Hae Su knew she must never take what he was offering.

She was certain that what the man held was the very drug she had come here to find.

The moment her head dropped to follow the spilling pills, her hand slipped and her body tilted to the side.

“Ha……”

She felt the strength draining from her body as time passed. She tried to lean on the table with her failing arms, but her body collapsed.

Crash!

The bottle and glass on the table fell and shattered into pieces.

Shards of all sizes scattered across the floor. Hae Su barely managed to grab the edge of the table and lowered herself.

She fumbled on the floor to find the black pills the man had spilled. After finding three and gripping them in her hand, she reached for her bag on the sofa. Thinking she had to secure the evidence no matter what, she shoved them into the bag and zipped it shut. Then, with her other hand, she grabbed a broken bottle.

“Wow… look at that willpower. You must be f*cking dizzy, but you are actually standing up?”

She heard the voice of another man who was sitting to one side, watching the situation like a spectator.

Hae Su pointed the broken bottle at the man stepping toward her as a warning.

“Do not… come… closer.”

Hae Su moved her trembling legs back to create distance. If she could just open the door and get out before losing consciousness completely, she might be seen by others. To escape safely and deliver the evidence, she had to get out.

As her vision blurred again, Hae Su shook her head violently.

“Are you going to stab me with that? Do you think you can?”

The man let out a laugh at her pathetic resistance and looked down. While his gaze was lowered, Hae Su gritted her teeth and turned her body.

Throwing the bottle aside, she grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.

Thud!

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. She let out a groan but clutched her bag tightly, refusing to let go.

“Ugh……”

When she lifted her eyes, she saw three men in black suits. She wanted to scream for help at their indifferent stares, but her voice wouldn’t come out, and she couldn’t even stand.

The man who had followed her out cast a shadow over her struggling body and kicked away the glass shards on the floor.

“I told you I would give you the good stuff, so why run away, you b*tch.”

Her red lips parted as her breath grew ragged. Hae Su looked at him with empty eyes before turning her head.

Her eyes met the men standing as still as stone statues. However, they just watched as if they didn’t want to get involved.

“F*ck, what are you looking at?”

The man grabbed her long hair and pulled, forcing Hae Su’s head to follow. At this rate, she would be dragged back into the room she had barely escaped.

“Ugh……”

It was then.

Clack.

Another firmly closed door opened, and the gazes of the men guarding the corridor shifted in unison.

A man stumbled out of the room clutching his mouth, his shirt soaked in bright red blood. Suddenly, the hand clutching Hae Su’s hair lost its strength.

“Wha—what the f*ck……”

As her head dropped, Hae Su collapsed onto the floor.

Drip.

Drip.

“Take him to the hospital.”

“Yes, Brother!”

At the word from Do Guk, who emerged from the room holding a dripping knife, his tall subordinates moved to support Seong Tae.

Meanwhile, Chi Oh approached and offered a handkerchief from his inner pocket. Do Guk handed over the knife and was about to wipe the blood with the handkerchief when his gaze dropped.

He saw a man standing awkwardly over the collapsed woman, his face pale with shock.

“F*ck……”

Cursing, the man hurriedly pulled out his phone and brought the rectangular device to his ear.

Do Guk curled one side of his mouth into a slight smile, finding it absurd that the man could treat a helpless woman so poorly yet tremble at the sight of blood.

In that moment.

“Br—Brother! There is a crazy b*stard here who stabbed a man……!”

Chi Oh snatched the phone from the man trying to report the situation. He pressed the end-call button and dropped the phone onto the floor.

“Wha—what are you……!”

“It would be better to pretend you saw nothing.”

A low, sinking voice cut off the man’s shrill tone.

Do Guk turned away while wiping the blood. Within a few steps, he closed the distance, and the man recoiled. Moving his gaze along the shattered glass fragments, Do Guk stared through the wide-open door.

“Would it not be bad for both of us if things got noisy?”

The man’s companion, who had been watching from inside the room, came out and grabbed his arm. Judging by his terrified expression, he seemed to realize the gravity of the situation.

“Hey, let—let us just go in. If the cops show up, we are f*cked. Do you… want to die by the boss’s hand?”

The man finally snapped out of it. Panting with rage, he snatched his phone off the floor.

“F*ck… consider yourself lucky!”

The man shouted curses as if he were someone important, even though he looked like he was about to beg for his life.

Slam!

The door closed firmly, and Do Guk let out a dry laugh.

In his current mood, he felt like he could beat those pathetic junkies half to death. But he couldn’t let his emotions ruin things.

There truly had to be no commotion.

He handed the stained handkerchief to Chi Oh and turned around. His footsteps echoed in the corridor as he strode away. But Do Guk stopped again, let out a heavy breath, and furrowed his dark eyebrows.

He turned his head and fixed his gaze on the floor.

“……”

It had nothing to do with him.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t just walk away after seeing her lying there unconscious. If he left her like this, it was obvious something terrible would happen to her.

It was an unfitting sense of pity.

Do Guk bit the inside of his lip before nodding to Chi Oh. Chi Oh blinked in surprise but quickly understood and moved.

He lifted the slender body that was limp from the drugs. Her head, which had been drooping, was raised, partially revealing the face hidden behind her long hair.

TL Note: GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate) is a central nervous system depressant often used in crimes.