Chapter 30
The next morning, Park Mansu was raising the shop shutter when rice-store owner Song Yeonggon confronted him.
"So? Did you talk to her yesterday? How much compensation will she pay each person? A few million?"
His face was red.
Apparently he'd already been drinking.
Park Mansu shook his head.
"I... don't really know."
"You don't know? What the hell does that mean?"
Song Yeonggon became irritated.
He'd already gotten his hopes up.
He thought the compensation might put several million won into his pocket.
Even a few hundred thousand would be good.
Now Mansu was suddenly avoiding the issue.
Suspicious.
Park Mansu looked away.
"The merchants' association... still has procedures to follow. It takes time."
"Procedures? What procedures? Either she pays compensation or she doesn't. Why the hell do we need procedures?"
Song Yeonggon raised his voice.
"That doctor bitch said she won't pay?"
"I... I'm not sure."
"Are you delaying because you want to take the money yourself?"
Mansu opened his mouth.
Closed it again.
Fueled by alcohol, Song Yeonggon grew angrier.
"You bastard. You planned to keep it yourself, didn't you? You're the vice chairman and you're trying to steal the money?"
"No, that's not..."
"You bastard!"
Song Yeonggon flared his nostrils and stormed away.
Park Mansu frowned.
"Tsk. That idiot."
That evening, Song Yeonggon called stationery-shop owner Mr. Im and ramen-shop owner Mr. Kim to a street tent bar at the end of the market.
"Hey, that bastard Park Mansu is trying to keep the money himself!"
"What? Seriously?"
Mr. Im put down his glass.
"He said he'd get compensation through the association. Turns out he brought back nothing. He must be trying to make some private deal with the doctor."
The three men left the tent bar smelling strongly of soju.
"Forget him. We'll collect it ourselves. Let's stop by the clinic and see that doctor's face. She's a woman alone, isn't she? Scare her a little and she'll have no choice but to hand over money."
Song Yeonggon slammed down his empty cup before leaving.
Mr. Im and Mr. Kim snickered and nodded.
All three were flushed red from drinking.
They walked with their arms over each other's shoulders, stumbling toward the inner alley.
They claimed they only intended to frighten her.
Then...
Someone turned the corner near the pharmacy and entered the alley.
Beneath the weak streetlight, the long shadow of a woman stretched across the road.
"That's her."
Song Yeonggon recognized Gain first.
His staggering footsteps stopped.
"She's just one woman... Huh. Up close... damn, she's really pretty."
He didn't realize his thoughts were coming out aloud.
Song Yeonggon stepped forward.
Then extended his right hand.
A beauty like this was rare around here.
She could've gone on television and become an entertainer.
Why become a doctor?
He continued drunkenly rambling while Mr. Im and Mr. Kim moved forward with snickering smiles.
The three men used their shoulders to pressure Gain farther into the alley.
"Hehehe..."
"About that compensation. At least fifty million should be reasonable, don't you think?"
As Song Yeonggon reached out, Mr. Im leaned forward with his alcohol-smelling mouth.
Mr. Kim extended both hands toward Gain's chest.
Their intention was obvious.
"Trash."
Gain spoke expressionlessly.
Song Yeonggon suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist.
His shoulder was pulled somewhere.
No.
Not only his shoulder.
His entire body moved as if sucked into a hole.
Both feet had been firmly planted on the ground.
Then suddenly he was flying.
"Whaaaaaaaaa?!"
The pavement rushed toward his face.
Song Yeonggon never understood that he'd been thrown face-first into the ground.
He lost consciousness instantly.
"?"
After throwing the rice-store owner to the ground, Gain took one step toward Mr. Im.
At the same time, she drove her elbow into his face.
"Argh!"
Her elbow struck exactly where she'd aimed.
Right above his upper lip and beneath the nose.
His nasal bone cracked.
The impact felt like being hit in the face with a hammer.
Mr. Im staggered backward, clutching his face.
What the hell is this woman?
Mr. Kim watched and opened his mouth.
"Hey, if you keep hitting people like this, the compensation is only going to get bigger."
Song from the rice store and Im from the stationery shop were men who talked big but didn't know how to fight.
Even basic self-defense training could probably beat them.
Especially while drunk.
But Kim was different.
He had competed in an amateur boxing match.
Once.
A real man.
If I choke her from behind...
Mr. Kim reached out from behind with both arms.
He was about to grab her slender white neck.
"!"
Gain instantly lowered her body.
Kim grabbed empty air.
Gain reached backward and caught his wrist before he could react.
His body suddenly lifted into the air.
"?!"
This time Gain moved differently.
She drove Kim into the alley wall and punched his solar plexus.
All the air exploded from his lungs.
"Khueegh!"
He vomited the spicy baby octopus he'd eaten earlier.
Red, sour stomach contents spilled to the ground.
His vision shook.
His chest felt compressed.
He needed air.
None came.
Mr. Kim remembered the amateur boxing ring he'd once entered.
He'd been knocked out in that match.
He'd never competed again.
This woman's punch felt harder than the punch that professional-looking fighter had landed.
"Ugh... ugh..."
He had no idea what she'd do next.
Yet humiliation made him want to hit her back.
How dare a woman hurt me like this?
He tried to step forward.
