Knowing Brother-Chapter 54
Choi Seol-woo grabbed his hat. The air surrounding him was so tense that he couldn’t make any more jokes.
Won Dae-young’s reaction made his heart flutter. The complex affection he felt for the first time spread to the tips of his hair. It was a kind of excitement that was hard to explain. It wasn’t just because of Won Dae-young’s agitation that he had seen for the first time and the heavy atmosphere that made his heart beat faster. If I had to explain it, it would be the infinite trust that he would do anything for Won Dae-young... . Even if he were told to follow him while hiding his dark intentions like Zara in The Tale of the Star-Spangled Banner, he would readily follow without hesitation. Even if he were asked to guarantee a billion won, Won Dae-young would nod without hesitation.
That kind of sincere affection wrapped tightly around his head.
“Hyung. I don’t know what you think, but I don’t regret it.”
After finishing his words, he trembled and cleared his throat. He fiddled with his hat, not having the confidence to see his face distorted with anger again, and the back of his hand, darkened, rose above the blanket. It was a large hand that could easily cover Choi Seol-woo’s hand.
“Oh. Of course. You’re the one who should regret it, that bastard.”
He managed to glance to the side, but as expected, Won Dae-young was still engulfed in anger. His jaw was still clenched tightly. Won Dae-young flipped Choi Seol-woo’s hand and wrist over to check for bruises, and swept back his hair so that his hand wouldn’t touch the left side of Seol-woo’s face.
He was afraid that he might do something dangerous. Seol-woo said with a serious frown.
“You... wouldn’t do something useless, right?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll stress you out by saying I won’t settle and then I’ll get my money. I filed an assault case and it’ll be sorted out, but don’t do something that’ll ruin your career. You can’t even control your anger and can’t see ahead. You’re not even a beast, you know how foolish and pathetic that is. If you do something, I’ll really fucking disappoint you. Really.”
He intentionally showed his disgust. What Seol-woo sensed from the empty eyes that came closer was the murderous intent of a certain entity about to fight until one of them died. One corner of Won Dae-young’s mouth slightly went up and he flinched from the remaining spasm.
“Seol-woo. Hyung, you’re a famous beast in this area.”
“What? You....”
“But. You’re not a foolish and pathetic beast like you said, so don’t worry.”
“You mean you’re going to stay still?”
“Yeah.”
“But why is your expression like that? It’s so scary.”
“I’m angry, damn it. Seol-woo. Your face, your face is now like this.”
Choi Seol-woo’s ears grew hot at Won Dae-young’s voice, which was filled with anger again. His hot palm that had briefly covered her was worn out. How nice it would be if I could hold that hand. How nice it would be if that hand could hold Choi Seol-woo in his patient gown for a long time.
“...Anyway, let’s wrap it up here and call it a day. Got it?”
“I will.”
Choi Seol-woo glanced at Won Dae-young with discontented eyes, not feeling reassured by his polite answer.
* * *
After running all the errands that Choi Seol-woo had requested, Won Dae-young left the hospital room, saying that he was going to the police station. There was more work to do after taking care of business at the police station, but he didn’t say anything because he knew that the guy would go crazy.
When Won Dae-young saw Choi Seol-woo’s face crushed, he felt like something much deeper than his pride had been damaged. That was several times more fucked up than hitting Won Dae-young directly.
If he dared to touch Choi Seol-woo, he should have been trampled even more firmly.
Won Dae-young formally sued the group that planned the accident with his mother’s consent. He decided that it was a necessary procedure even if they were not subject to criminal punishment. He informed his coach and the Athletics Federation and posted the fact of the lawsuit on his official Facebook page. When he added that his friend had been assaulted, the press flooded him with interview requests. He finished a phone interview with the press with the most influential news agency.
<Won Dae-young, the hope of Korean 400m track and field, sues school violence victim... ‘There was a risk of his career as an athlete being suspended’>
When Won Dae-young’s official position was also made into an official article, public opinion was in an uproar that Kang Jong-hyeok’s father should step down from public office.
The association also posted a notice promising full support to protect the players, and the coach also joined in, getting angry and saying that they would discuss legal action together when he returned to Korea.
Despite public opinion, his mother’s expression was not good. She was someone who would blow cold wind if it wasn’t helpful or beneficial. Her face was especially full of stress because Won Dae-young had often been involved in ‘unhelpful things’ since he was young. Won Dae-young didn’t have a hard time even with the expressionless, cold, and fight-filled conversation. Mrs. Choi and Seol-woo were angry and even took risks for him as if they had boiled a pot of soy sauce instead.
That was enough. Dae-young didn’t need any more support from his family.
He put his carrier in a locker at the subway station and got on the bus to Sinchon. Making the incident official wasn’t the end. He had no intention of leaving Kang Jong-hyuk alone.
He called the person he had made an appointment to meet earlier. The first person Won Dae-young had decided to meet was the only adult among the people involved in the traffic accident manipulation, and the guy who had offered to pay for the motorcycle accident for a few hundred dollars.
“Yes. I’ll be there in about 20 minutes. Let’s meet at the alley I told you about.”
Their phone numbers were easy to memorize from the screenshots Choi Seol-woo had saved. What Won Dae-young was targeting was another weak spot in Kang Jong-hyuk.
Among the things his friends had been talking about at the snack bar, the part about putting a woman in a room at a club might not have been a made-up lie, considering his desires, actions, and the insults Choi Seol-woo had shown in the group chat.
Jiing- jiing-
Before getting off the bus, Choi Seol-woo called him four times. He must have been quite anxious. I couldn’t help but laugh when I imagined him stamping his feet and being obsessively anxious.
“Anyway, you’re still here.”
I sent a message saying I was on my way home, but he didn't listen. You're so good at intuition.
Seol-woo: [Send me a picture, don't lie]
Seol-woo: [Where are you right now, seriously?] 11:21 PM
[In your dream] 11:24 PM
Seol-woo: [Hey, come on.]
Seol-woo: [Hyung]
Seol-woo: [I'm not joking. Don't cause an accident, seriously?] 11:27 PM
[Hyung, please.]
[Hyung, please, hmph.. something like that] 11:29 PM
He was intentionally sending crazy messages to keep Choi Seol-woo from making a scene, but Won Dae-young's face was even more tense than in the hospital room. His stiff mouth relaxed a little as he teased Choi Seol-woo.
Seeing the guy who had been blatantly ignoring his calls last week getting impatient made me want to provoke him even more.
This is kind of thrilling. Tickle.
The smile that had briefly appeared quickly disappeared. When he arrived at the meeting point, a bleak darkness covered his face again. Won Dae-young, who was trudging along after getting off the bus, suddenly thought.
Have I ever cherished something this much?
It’s dozens of times more heartbreaking than when I got hurt.
Even if I search through my memories, including people and things, I can’t remember them. Friends I used to hang out with, girls I thought I had a connection with at the time, older brothers, fellow players, if you ask me if I ‘cherished’ them all, well, it was vague.
... ... It was strange. Won Dae-young, who thought relationships between people were ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) all fake and calculated, had such an unconditional person. Was it all because of sympathy and self-pity, as Choi Seol-woo said? Was it because of something like that?
He came out of his thoughts as he entered the alley behind the club district in Sinchon.
Won Dae-young approached a man with a flashy tattoo on his thigh. The man looked half exhausted from the police investigation and personal information leak, and half embarrassed to meet Won Dae-young in person. Won Dae-young had met him to extract information.
“The employee who was hit by Kang Jong-hyeok at the club. I wanted you to meet me now.”
He held out the cash he had withdrawn in advance with one hand. The man, whose sloppy operation had collapsed and he had not received a single penny, failed to control his expression in front of the wad of 10,000 won bills. The man pursed his lips and stuffed the bills into his pocket.
The man took a deep drag on his cigarette and spoke while holding the phone to his ear.
“Hey, I. I didn’t do that because I felt bad toward you, a complete stranger. I’m sorry. I got swept up in it and was tempted by money. If I had seen this lower body in person, I would have said, ‘Oh my, I shouldn’t have given up on the country.’”
“Where are you calling from?”
“Ah. Moon Hae-sol, you know? That’s the member you were right about. He said he knew you too.”
“...I know, we used to be close. It’s a name that brings back memories.”
“He said, ‘Won Dae-young, that scary guy. He’s different from Kang, but I’m more scared of him.’”
Moon Hae-sol had been following Won Dae-young around since before he started skipping school without permission. While he was busy running away from places his seniors called him out on or conflicts with other schools, he kept his distance from Won Dae-young because he bullied him so much at school. He dropped out of school after losing in the ranking fight before Won Dae-young returned to school. He must have been doing odd jobs at a club these days, but since he was the employee who got hit by Kang Jong-hyuk, the saying “what you sow, what you reap” came to mind.
Moon Hae-sol, who lived in a nearby studio apartment, walked into the alley less than 10 minutes after receiving the man’s call. When Won Dae-young smiled and waved, Moon Hae-sol looked at the two with her eyes shaking.
“We’re done talking, right?”
At Won Dae-young’s words, the man quickly left the room. Whether it was Moon Hae-sol or someone else who was the room clerk who Kang Jong-hyuk hit, Won Dae-young would extract valuable information from Lee Ja.
Moon Hae-sol had a bandage wrapped around her head because of a chin injury. She said that she was resting for a few days because her injury was so severe. He quietly listened to the guy’s small talk about how the medical expenses he received in exchange for not reporting the assault would easily cover his living expenses for several months. freewēbnoveℓ.com
After that, Won Dae-young gradually began to feel revengeful towards the guy.
“You want to take care of that bastard?”
“Fuck... you’re talking, damn it.”
“The woman you put in the room. If you hand over the text messages she exchanged with Kang Jong-hyuk, I’ll do it for you. And this too. As a token of gratitude.”
He handed over the rest of the cash. The guy who slowly received the money had his head down. Was he shorter than Choi Seol-woo? He was still the same height. It's fortunate that you've lost some weight after being beaten up here and there, the guy asked Won Dae-young, who was thinking indifferently.
"Anyway, the article has been published and the new information it’s all been taken out, and there’s nothing left for them to do. Why are you stepping out and doing this? If you blow this up, it’s a bit... I think it’s too much to be rehabilitated... ”
Anyway, Moon Hae-sol was also underage and was accused of providing women, so she wasn’t in a position to threaten Kang Jong-hyuk. That information would be used to prove her existence in Won Dae-young’s hands.
“No. I won’t take this out.”
Because.
“Then why?”
“Just, the more weaknesses you have on your opponent, the better, you punk.”
Because I, I have to beat that bastard.
Moon Hae-sol had a long phone call with someone. She asked to send all the conversations she had with Kang Jong-hyeok, and what she got back was a recording file of the call.
The recording included content that could be inferred as prostitution, as well as threats and harassment after the relationship.
- What are you doing tomorrow, call the 00 Hotel?
- I'll give you thirty more, you punk.
- Hey, I'm joking. But you know you'll have to stand in court if you brag about your beauty, right, sis?
- Who would believe you when you say you didn't know? I'll keep quiet, so come suck it, hehe... .
