PM Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At the harsh shouting, Heeseong’s eyes flew open and he shot upright.

Still half-asleep, he scrambled to put on his glasses and looked toward the door.

His body instinctively tensed up.

The blurry clock hands were pointing just past the 3.

Who could it be?

Could it be them?

Did they send someone to follow him?

After all, guys like that never leave people alone.

But he hadn’t heard anything about that.

They said back then that tailing someone like this would be too risky…

Heeseong blinked and slowly exhaled.

With that, the fear and confusion that had frozen his brain started to loosen.

As his thoughts returned, he began to calm down.

Those guys wouldn’t go out of their way to do something so reckless.

Bang, bang!

“You son of a bitch! You motherfucking bastard!”

Listening more closely to the voice, it didn’t sound like them after all.

If someone had really been sent to spy on him, they wouldn’t be making this much noise.

“You fucking piece of shit… You’re not opening this door?! I’m gonna—”

The loud string of curses suddenly cut off, just like that.

What the…?

The abrupt silence made Heeseong even more anxious.

He swallowed hard and waited, but the noisy hallway fell completely silent, like nothing had happened at all.

Puzzled, he cautiously approached the door when suddenly—

Knock, knock, knock.

Startled, Heeseong flinched without thinking and pressed down on his pounding chest.

His heart was beating like a drum.

Just as he held his chest, trying to calm it down, a deep voice came from beyond the door.

“Sorry about that.”

The rough tone sounded oddly familiar.

It seemed to be the man he’d shared the elevator with earlier.

Heeseong stood frozen for a while, then slowly pressed his ear to the door.

The hallway was now completely silent, as if the commotion had never happened.

After a long while, Heeseong swallowed hard and cracked the door open to peek into the hallway.

There was no one there.

He didn’t know what had happened, but it made him feel even more uneasy.

Heeseong slammed the door shut like he was running away.

---

After the commotion last night, Heeseong couldn’t fall asleep easily.

It was the anxiety.

In the end, he opened his eyes as soon as the sun came up.

He laid there blinking in silence, then got up slowly.

Thankfully, the chill in his body had faded quickly.

It didn’t seem to be the heat cycle—it must’ve just been the cold.

He cracked the window open slightly and saw that the rain had stopped.

Heeseong stared out at the scenery, then thought he might go for a short walk and stepped out of the room.

He figured walking among the trees might ease the tightness in his chest.

When he came down to the first floor and glanced at the counter, no one was there this time either.

The motel owner must step out frequently.

He passed the counter and stepped outside, blinking at the sudden sunlight.

The warmth of the sun lifted his mood a little.

He hesitated, wondering where to walk.

Somewhere people wouldn’t likely go would be best.

His eyes landed on a low mountain behind the motel.

That’ll do.

Decision made, Heeseong started walking with purpose.

The mountain was sparsely visited.

The motel itself was already in a remote area.

The trees, nourished by the blazing summer sun, were lush and full.

It was mid-summer, and the sunlight was harsh.

His pace quickly slowed.

It was tiring.

Probably because he wasn’t used to exercise at all.

Once he got used to the mountain path, those soggy worries bubbled back up.

What now?

Doing what those guys wanted felt like walking into a void.

They had dragged Heeseong here out of nowhere and dumped him.

It was pouring rain, and they just threw him out and drove off.

They didn’t explain anything properly.

Well, it would’ve been weirder if they had politely explained things during a threat.

So lost in thought, Heeseong didn’t even realize he’d wandered off the narrow path.

Nor did he notice the sky had grown gloomy and dim.

He just kept climbing.

That’s when a voice suddenly called out from beside him.

“What are you doing here?”

When he turned his head, he saw a familiar man.

It was the man from the elevator—the motel owner.

The man was leaning against a thick tree, a cigarette in his mouth.

With a crooked smile on his lips, he looked at Heeseong with an amused expression.

Cigarette smoke drifted thickly around him.

Though his mouth was curved in a smile, the eyes behind the smoke were piercingly sharp.

Like a predator, the man stared directly at Heeseong.

His eyes were so fierce they could’ve flayed him alive.

Heeseong froze like a rabbit in front of a wild beast.

“Ju-just out for a walk…”

He hadn’t done anything wrong, but he felt guilty for some reason.

Flustered, Heeseong stammered out a response.

The man stared intently at Heeseong and strode forward.

Heeseong backed away in a panic.

But with the man’s long legs, he was caught up in no time.

“You do something wrong? Why are you running?”

“N-no… It’s just…”

Because you’re scary.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say it, and shut his mouth.

The terrifying glare made his neck instinctively shrink like a turtle’s.

The man sucked in his cigarette while glaring at Heeseong.

His cheek hollowed as he inhaled, then puffed back out.

Whoosh.

He blew the smoke straight into Heeseong’s face.

His glasses instantly fogged up.

“Cough…”

As Heeseong coughed quietly, the man frowned slightly.

“Go somewhere else, not here.”

Tears pricked at Heeseong’s eyes from the smoke, and he nodded hastily.

Then, watching the man carefully, he gave a polite bow and scurried away.

Cold sweat soaked his back.

Heeseong wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and sighed.

I thought I was going to die.

He decided to revise his judgment—this man wasn’t just some lowly thug.

He was far too dangerous to be called that.

From the aura alone, it was clear he was something else entirely.

Heeseong sincerely hoped the man wasn’t the dominant alpha the gang had mentioned.

Outwardly, he definitely looked like an alpha.

But since he didn’t give off any pheromones, maybe he wasn’t.

Heeseong whispered a silent prayer as he hurried his steps.

He kept walking for quite a while, but strangely, everything started to look the same.

“Huh?”

Heeseong gasped in pale horror.

Shit.

He was lost.

He started stomping his feet in a panic.

He couldn’t tell what was where, and fear began to creep in.

The surroundings suddenly felt eerily quiet.

He swallowed nervously and looked around.

That was when it happened.

“You little shit, you didn’t dig it right!”

“Sorry, hyung-nim.”

Voices.

Heeseong perked up at the sound of people speaking.

That must be the path, he thought, and headed toward the voices.

But the closer he got, the more uneasy he felt.

“This spot’s good. Bury it here.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Let’s make it quick and get out. Dig deep, deep.”

The tone, the content—it all screamed gangsters.

Heeseong instinctively ducked behind a tree and peeked toward the source.

Big, burly men in black sleeveless shirts, arms covered in tattoos.

Shit.

They really were gangsters.

Heeseong, holding his breath, darted behind a tree with thick leaves.

In his rush, his glasses slid down his nose.

Thankfully, the men had their backs turned and didn’t see him.

They were holding what looked like a filthy sack.

A large sack, stained in places with something reddish.

It looked to be about the size of a human.

Heeseong swallowed hard again.

Wh-what is that?

What is this?

The men dug a pit with shovels, then dragged the sack toward the hole.

They shoved it in.

Just before the sack dropped into the pit, it twitched.

“…”

Thud.

The sound of the sack falling into the hole echoed.

Heeseong slowly closed and opened his eyes.

He wondered if he’d imagined it—if it had just been a dream.

But no.

It moved.

It definitely moved.

A human-sized sack.

Reddish stains.

That twitch.

In his mind, the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

No way…

A chilling thought ballooned in his head.

“Ah…”

His breathing grew ragged, and his legs gave out.

Pale as a sheet, Heeseong fell backward.

At that moment, one of the men snapped his head around.

Their eyes met.