20 – Who Found Whom (13)
1.
“Hyungnim, even if I look like this, I’m the boss. If you’re just telling me to go out for lunch, why bring up breaking into someone’s house?”
“And what about the performance?”
“If you call me, of course, I should come out. Oh, it’s been so long since I had some beef soup! It must be delicious!”
“Is that so? Then just shut up and eat. I’m a bit annoyed because I have a promise to keep and had to rush out.”
Lee Sung stared into the air with a chubby face.
He had planned to ask about the woman Kang Jinhyuk brought home and offer decisive advice as an older brother, but being rejected was quite annoying.
Watching Lee Sung’s expression, Jungbaro decided to tread carefully, thinking it might affect the atmosphere if he pushed too hard.
“So… why did that guy break the promise with you all of a sudden?”
“Huh? Oh, well. Something came up suddenly, or something like that. You know about Jinhyuk’s street casting this time, right?”
Since Jungbaro was the one who gave permission, it was obvious that he knew about it.
However, he had no expectations whatsoever regarding the street casting.
Because in this day and age, street casting is truly like romance itself, where if you don’t have luck on the level of picking up a winning lottery ticket while walking, you cannot succeed.
So I just waited for it to spread on its own in the entertainment industry… Why is the topic of street casting coming up there?
“Anyway, I heard you met a girl yesterday. But she’s not only incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly talented. She definitely wants to make her an idol or something, right?”
“So, did you agree?”
“No. It seems like I’ve been rejected by her several times. But even so, because of some persuasion or something, the promise was broken.”
“I see.”
Upon hearing Seong’s response, Jeong nodded and clicked his tongue.
It was because it was such a realistic ending that Gang Jin-hyeok felt sorry for him.
However, apart from that, Jeong hid his regret and said something to make Seong feel better.
“But still, the promise with hyung comes first. That guy should know when to give up, even if he was rejected several times. How can he break a lunch appointment like that?”
Jeong was angry that Gang Jin-hyeok had not kept his lunch appointment with Seong and had only made him a substitute.
That anger, in order to soothe Seong’s feelings, was expressed even more strongly through the exaggeration of using a metaphor, and Seong laughed weakly for the first time today in response to his exaggerated anger.
“Keuhuhu… You brat. You’re good at catering to people’s tastes. Is this really the genius producer Jeong Baro that I knew?”
“I’m not a clueless fool anymore. And even if I was the me from back then, if I heard a story about you getting dumped by someone, I would have been angry right away, even if it was you, hyung.”
“True. I should have treated you better.”
“Here’s our food, enjoy~”
During the conversation between the two, a hot and bubbling sundae soup was placed on the table in a stone pot.
The two of them thanked the waiter and simultaneously picked up their spoons. Jeong only started moving his spoon after Seong scooped up a spoonful of the sundae soup to adjust the seasoning.
Slurp.
“Mmm, this is really delicious. Among all the beef soup restaurants I’ve been to, this place is the best, really.”
“Cough. Well then. By the way, where on earth did that guy go, dismissing even this delicious beef soup?”
Without much thought, Jung-Baro asked, lifting another spoonful of hot soup, blowing on it, and putting it in his mouth.
“Huh? Oh, what did he say? Something about the Wild Boar Capital territory? There’s an abandoned factory there. He said he’s heading there? He called from a payphone nearby.”
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“Pffft!”
And the moment he heard the answer to his question, he spewed the rice grains in his mouth forcefully.
Fortunately, reflexively turning his head prevented the act of baptizing Isung’s face with beef soup, but the very act of spitting food in the mouth made a frown appear on his face.
“You, you little…!”
Isung, who was about to say something with a slight furrow between his eyebrows, was interrupted by the startled and urgent voice from Jung-Baro, who wiped his mouth with a tissue.
“Wait, the Wild Boar Capital! An abandoned factory there! This is not the time for this now!”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Uh, not ‘yeah’! It’s a place where only real gangsters are! Moreover, that abandoned factory is…”
Wild Boar Capital.
The most famous loan company in the vicinity, emerging recently like a comet, disrupting the ecosystem by absorbing all nearby loan companies.
The persistence in getting back the borrowed money, using any means necessary, and the ruthlessness that spared no one in profitable endeavors were not an exaggeration, even on a nationwide scale.
The reason ordinary Jung-Baro knew about this was that he had borrowed money from Wild Boar Capital in the past.
“Th-they are really dangerous! If it’s a lucrative deal, they won’t hesitate to kill people! Seriously!”
Jung-Baro, who had borrowed money to set up a planning company, only to be scammed and lose the entire borrowed amount, had experienced firsthand how people who used to laugh gleefully while lending money could change.
The memory of waking up on an operating table, although he had fallen asleep in a motel, was the most horrifying memory Jung-Baro had.
“If it weren’t for you saving me back then, I would have really died. With my stomach empty!”
“Cough… When I think of your face back then, it still makes me laugh.”
“No, hyungnim, this is not the time to laugh! That waste plant, I mean, it’s a real den of major crimes without discrimination!”
“I know that too. I went there myself to save you at that time.”
Even Lee Seong, who had experienced a lot in the other world, couldn’t help but be shocked by what he saw in that waste plant that day.
Those bastards were the worst of what people could do, choosing only the most heinous acts.
Fortunately, after Seong and his bodyguards took care of them and reported to the police, they couldn’t openly commit such acts anymore.
However, Wild Boar Capital didn’t go under, skillfully cutting off ties, and the waste plant site remained their crime hideout.
Ironically, because they couldn’t uproot them properly that day, their crimes became even more secretive and sophisticated.
Recalling the memories of that day, Seong shook his head.
“Real gangsters, those bastards. They are damn dangerous.”
Just thinking about the number of stabs he took that day, Seong shuddered.
To calm his trembling body, he thought of taking a spoonful of rice soup.
Contrary to his serious talk, his nonchalant consumption of the rice soup left everyone baffled, and someone couldn’t help but exclaim.
“That’s not the time to casually eat rice soup! You should quickly come out, make a call, or do something to save yourself!”
“It’s okay. They’re just gangsters, after all.”
“What?”
But the response from Seong was still nonchalant.
He said, “Damn dangerous gangsters” upfront, and then, “They’re just gangsters” from behind. It was impossible to grasp the context of what Seong was saying.
So, staring at him foolishly, Seong picked up another spoonful of rice soup and added some flesh to his explanation.
“Oh, by the way, you don’t know who that Jinhyuk guy is, do you?”
“What? He’s a former gang member, right? He went in for attempted murder.”
“Kid······ Is that an accusation?”
“Anyway, he’s a gangster, right!”
“Right. But the typical gangster you’re thinking of doesn’t go around exploiting and beating up powerless people.”
“Then what’s a gangster?”
In response to Jungbaro’s bewildered question, Isung set down his spoon, looked at him directly, and answered with a serious tone.
“If gangsters exploit and beat up powerless people, then Jinhuk exploits and beats up gangsters.”
“What?”
“No, to be precise, he treats gangsters who’ve made a name with their fists across the country as powerless people.”
There was an unmistakable anticipation on Isung’s face as he described Kang Jinhuk.
Jungbaro’s mouth was agape, and his words were stuck in his throat as if he were expecting what Kang Jinhuk would do this time when he entered the abandoned factory. It was a face that didn’t express any worries, as if he didn’t care at all.
Wait, isn’t it the same abandoned factory? The Wild Boar Capital’s property, the abandoned factory?
For Jungbaro, who had experienced firsthand how ruthless and dangerous the Wild Boar Capital guys were, his mind couldn’t help but be confused.
But regardless of Jungbaro’s understanding or lack thereof, Isung continued describing Kang Jinhuk as if he were bragging about himself.
“So at that time, the gangsters referred to Jinhuk as…”
“Referred to? As what?”
“The gangster of gangsters. The gangster of everyone. That’s what they called him.”
2.
“Uh, huh? No, uh?”
From behind, a cute and strangely discordant sound echoed.
Although Jungbaro wanted to turn his head immediately and see the face experiencing cognitive dissonance, unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury to do so at the moment.
“This, this crazy bastard!”
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
It was because the gangsters with knives and lead pipes were rushing toward me right in front of my eyes.
Seeing the violent scene that I thought I wouldn’t see again for a long time, I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
“Hah… I tried to avoid seeing this by spending seven years, but it ends up like this.”
I had spent seven years trying to become an idol manager, but what I saw in front of me was not sparkling idols but sparkling knives, lead pipes, and tough-looking gangsters.
Still, what comforts me is the fact that behind me, there is a star shining brighter than anyone here.
And the fact that I am fighting not for myself but to protect that star.
Well, whatever. If I can protect Haan C from this, I can endure a bit of rough play.
As if Haan C had taken up a knife for me earlier.
Recalling the small but sturdy back that Haan C showed me earlier, I shouted with a sly smile.
“Come in! Let’s finish this quickly and have lunch with Haan C!”
Why get ridiculous? Turning into bad shounen crap. “With the power of my fist and justice, I will destroy you all!”