Chương 264: Chapter 264: This Can’t Stand. Let’s Settle This.
Oh no, what are you doing?"
There was a loud crash, but the market-goers were too intimidated to intervene, merely watching from a distance with regret, too afraid to get involved.
I beckoned one of my subordinates waiting behind me. Once he approached, I instructed him.
"Find out what's going on."
After sending someone off, I turned to Mr. Sung, who was in front of me, and asked.
"What's going on?"
"Don't get me started. You know the rice cake shop owner, right? Mrs. Song?"
"Of course, I do. She was the lady who used to lure me to the market with rice cakes when Grandma came to pick me up when I was a kid."
The bond among the market vendors was quite strong. They always came together to solve any issues that arose.
After my parents passed away in a murder case, no one ever treated me coldly when Grandma raised me alone.
The market folks always tried to give me something extra to eat or wear.
As a child, I really hated that. I hated that we had no money at home, and I also hated the market people who insisted on giving me things for my own good.
Back then, I saw their precious kindness as pity, and it made me cringe.
"So, you know Mrs. Song's son, right?"
"Um, was his name Min-woo? I think he was about five years younger than me."
"That kid comes around sometimes, hitting his mom and demanding money. If she says there's none, he wrecks the store…"
At Mr. Sung's words, my brow naturally furrowed. How could he beat his own family like that, not even a wild animal would do such a thing.
"At first, we tried to stop him, but now we can't do anything about it anymore."
A bitter smile played on Mr. Sung's face as he said this. Just as I was about to ask why,
"Boss."
I turned at the voice calling me from behind.
After asking for a moment of patience, I led him to a spot away from Grandma and Mr. Sung.
"There was a commotion at the rice cake shop inside the market. There were three people involved. Two were guarding the entrance and one inside claimed to be the shop owner's son."
"And everyone else is just watching?"
It seemed unbelievable that the market people would do nothing. Without realizing it, I asked again, and my subordinate nodded and replied.
"Apparently, no one is willing to step in. A few days ago, someone who tried to intervene was retaliated against, which has made people hesitant."
"Retaliation?"
"Yes. They said someone was beaten by several men on the way home at night and ended up in the hospital. It might take some time to get more details. I've sent one person to the police station handling this case."
Was Mr. Sung's bitter expression for this reason?
After hearing all my subordinate's report, I nodded. He bowed his head and left.
When I returned to Grandma's side, the two of them were still discussing the rice cake shop.
"Anyway, Grandma, don't get involved. You can't see what's in front of you."
I listened to Mr. Sung's words before speaking up.
"Mr. Sung, why is Min-woo like this? Is it because the market people are scared of retaliation that they're not stepping in?"
Mr. Sung sighed at my question, and his exhale was full of frustration.
"At first, the youth association in the market tried to step in but then backed off. Once, the youth president tried to stop him and got slapped by Min-woo that night, Min-woo brought some guys and broke the president's leg."
The youth president must surely know Min-woo. But for him to break such a person's leg.
"The youth president still hasn't been discharged from the hospital. He reported it to the police but… damn it, are the police driving in circles? They're just pretending to investigate, only calling Min-woo in for questions. So now only the president's the pitiful one."
Mr. Sung sighed deeply as he finished speaking.
"Sigh… They say that youth president might be a cripple for life. The world has become too harsh; what can we do?"
"For now, I'll try to calm things down. Grandma, stay here with Mr. Sung."
"Hey, hey, Mu-hyeok. Don't do this. You'll get hurt too. That's not the Min-woo you knew."
He urgently tried to stop me. Grandma looked at me worriedly, but she didn't say anything to stop me.
"It's fine. I'll be back soon. Just stay with Grandma."
Mr. Sung continued to warn me, but I walked into the chaotic market, assuming the loud noise emanated from it.
A crowd had gathered in front of the shop, with people who knew Mrs. Song anxiously pacing back and forth, watching the scene unfold.
Pushing through the crowd, I was met with a scene that was even more chaotic than I expected.
"Give me money! Why do you keep saying you have none?"
"Even if I starve to death, I still want my money. Just kill me already!"
The sound of the fight was audible even from outside the store. Stand outside the door were stout men, just as my subordinate had described.
The two men couldn't approach but laughed and mocked the onlookers who were merely watching.
"What are you looking at? You wanna watch?"
They were shouting threateningly at the crowd every so often.
One of the men pulled out a cigarette and handed it to his companion, saying, "We gotta keep this going, right? Today, I'm definitely winning. I've been on a hot streak!"
The man who received the cigarette chuckled softly.
"Not you. If you keep winning good hands every day, your face is bound to give it away, won't it? So just quit it."
"Shut up!"
From inside the shop, the sound of something breaking continued, yet the two remained indifferent, chatting away while smoking.
I shook my head slightly at the sight. I decided to head towards the shop to intervene.
"Huh? Is that Mu-hyeok?"
People recognized me from behind and urgently called out, but I kept walking without stopping.
Once the two saw me approaching, they chuckled and spoke.
"What's this? Want to step in?"
"Breathlessly take these guys down and make them kneel! If they resist, just beat them half-dead!"
"You think I'm scared to talk to you? Are you out of your mind?"
The two sneering at me suddenly froze when they caught sight of the number of my subordinates pushing through the crowd behind me.
"What? Where did you come from? What organization are you with? Do you know who we are?"
Originally, worthless dogs didn't usually bark loudly. I ignored their inquiries and walked straight into the shop instead of responding.
As I opened the shop door, I found all kinds of rice cakes scattered on the floor, and the shop's equipment was broken.
And… Mrs. Song was sitting on the floor, crying, with the muscular Min-woo standing in front of her, hand raised.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Both Mrs. Song and Jung Min-woo turned to me. When Jung Min-woo recognized me, he bbegan to sneer.
"Who are you? Is that you, crazy Mu-hyeok? You're still alive?"
"Yeah. Long time no see, Min-woo. But what are you doing right now? What's with that hand? You going to hit someone? Is this all you're capable of?"
Jung Min-woo, oblivious to his eembarrassment, glanced at the hand he raised and continued to sneer.
"What? Don't mind the family matter. It's been a while, I don't want to hurt you, brother. I used to idolize you a lot back then."
"You? Idolize me?"
I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the absurdity of it all.
"What? You don't know? I used to admire you a lot, brother. I even tried to follow your lead, can you believe that? Suddenly you're studying something I can't get a grasp on?"
"Sigh… Let's stop this. Let's just clean up here and have a drink. I'll listen to everything, why are you acting like this, just stop it."
I sighed deeply as he was so changed, but he wasn't ready to listen.
"You talking down to me? Go away. We know how to handle our own family matters. Just go tend to your grandma. If anything happens to her, she'll be heartbroken, you know that. I can't just let this go, just consider it as a favor for the little brother I was once helped by."
I shook my head faintly at his continued sarcasm.
I said nothing more and walked over to help Mrs. Song up.
She had cried so much that her eyes were puffy and red.
It was hard to think of her as anything but a Grandma, realizing just how much time had passed since I had last seen her. Had I really been away from Busan for this long?
"Auntie, it's Mu-hyeok. You remember me, don't you?"
Mrs. Song nodded, still crying and her eyes glistening with tears.
"Stay outside. Let me talk to Min-woo."
Her eyes widened, and she tightly grabbed my arm, shaking her head.
Fear and anxiety were etched on her tear-stained face.
"Why? You're worried because he's your son? I'll handle it properly, don't worry about it."
"No, that's not it… If something happens to you, how will I face Grandma? Please, don't do this."
She was desperately trying to stop me. The market folks didn't know me well.
I mean, considering I had no way of knowing how they were living since I went to Seoul.
They would only know that I was doing well, having succeeded enough to hire someone to look after Grandma.
I must have been away from Busan for a long time, or maybe I had managed to stay out of trouble since returning, causing the market folks to forget about me.
"Auntie, I'm Kim Mu-hyeok. You know how much f a troublemaker I am, don't you?"
"Please, don't. The problem is Min-woo…"
I spoke lightly to soothe her, but she only seemed to show even more fear.
What was the market afraid of? The youth president and other market folks had lived hard lives, after all.
I was curious as to why such sturdy people were showing such reactions but thought calming Auntie was the priority for now.
"Don't worry. No matter who comes, they won't be able to do anything to me."
I gently patted the trembling Mrs. Song on the shoulder before calling for someone outside the closed entrance.
"Have them come in and take Auntie out. No one is allowed to enter. And those guys outside…"
Glancing at Min-woo, I continued. With a beast that couldn't think straight, they had to pay in kind.
"Find a place to hold about three of them. I'll get them the location once I contact Seoul."
"Yes, understood."
As Auntie left, she continued to cast worried glances my way.
Bringing back an unbroken chair, I sat down and said to Jung Min-woo, "Let's sit down, MMin-woo."
"Ha, you've really mellowed out, haven't you? You can put up with this?"
"I'll tell you once. Sit down. I don't like being looked down upon."
At my words, Jung Min-woo snickered dismissivvely.
"Mu-hyeok, do I look like the Min-woo who used to follow you around? Stop being silly and laugh it off. I'm being serious here."
Ugh… this guy was really getting under my skin. I eventually stood up from my seat.
"This can't go on. I'm going to settle this."
"What did you say? Are you crazy? Don't be absurd…"
Jung Min-woo couldn't finish hiss sentence. I clenched my fist and struck him right on the cheek.
As his head whipped back, when he turned to face me again, there was a murderous glare in his eyes.
"Are you out of your mind? Treating me like this just because I call you brother?"
Without responding, I threw another punch. The sound of my fist hitting flesh echoed loudly.
In a brief moment, after being hit twice, Jung Min-woo lost his composure and charged at me, but he was no match for me.
I continued to hit Jung Min-woo, who swung wildly. With his size, he was an easy target.
As he flailed about with his fists, blood ultimately began to drip from his mouth.
"This… this guy isn't dead yet."
Breathing heavily, I smirked as the bloodied spittle scattered. He still hadn't had enough, it seemed.
"You're still not waking up? Let's keep going, Min-woo."
"Shut up!"
Min-woo yelled as he took in a deep breath and charged at me again. I dodged and tripped him up.
Not stopping there, I kicked the unsteady Jung Min-woo hard..
With his large frame, he crashed to the ground, tumbling amid the broken goods from the shop.
Perhaps due to the impact, Jung Min-woo wasn't getting up iimmediately. I walked over to him.
Grabbing his hair, I lifted him by the head.
His face, stained with sticky rice cake remnants and blood, looked utterly wrecked.
"Min-woo, how did it come to this? What happened to that nice kid you used to be?"
"Kim Mu-hyeok… You're not leavig Busan like this. Our organization won't let you…"
Look at this? It seems he's at least in some low-tier organization.
As I playfully smacked his cheek with the back of my hand, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Organization? You think you should be playing the tough guy? Why not just inherit the rice cake shop instead?"
"Shut up!"
Jung Min-woo appeared to hold tiightly to the belief in the organization he belonged to.
I shoved his head down forcefully and pulled myself back up. A sigh slipped out involuntarily.
So, this was what it had come to—playing thug for some ridiculous organization.
Lowering my voice as I glared at the still-dazed Jung Min-woo, I said, "Sigh… wwhy don't you call out your organization? Let's see if we recognize each other."
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