TSG 89

Relying on his clothes, Se-hyun had broken the wooden board behind him. But something sharp, perhaps a nail, pierced through the seam of his clothes and cut into his flesh.

Fortunately, it wasn’t deeply embedded. As he pulled away from the board, he heard something drop to the floor. Feeling around with his hand, he picked up a long, solid object—it was indeed a nail.

‘Not sure if I should call this lucky.’

Though his back stung, the nail was better than the wooden board for cutting the tie. As he tried to press the nail against the tie to break it, he heard a groan nearby.

Se-hyun turned towards the sound.

“Assistant Manager Jin-ha.”

He called out to Yoo Jin-ha, who seemed to be groaning in pain, still not fully conscious. Se-hyun’s heart raced with urgency, knowing the men could return at any moment.

He used his foot to shake Yoo Jin-ha as best as he could.

“Ugh…”

Yoo Jin-ha’s groans grew louder, but Se-hyun figured it was due to the drug’s effects rather than his shaking.

“Assistant Manager Yoo Jin-ha… Jin-ha, come on. Wake up.”

This was no time for formal titles. Thinking they needed to escape immediately, Se-hyun shook Yoo Jin-ha more vigorously.

“What is this- gasp. I can’t see anything.”

After hearing Yoo Jin-ha regain consciousness and mutter in confusion, Se-hyun called out to him again.

“Calm down.”

“…Se-hyun hyung?”

Judging by Yoo Jin-ha’s steadying breath, he seemed slightly reassured by Se-hyun’s presence.

“The guards will be back soon. There are two of them, and they think we can’t do anything even if we’re awake because we’re tied up.”

Se-hyun calmly explained the situation.

“Then, what should we do?”

“We need to escape.”

Se-hyun proposed a simple solution.

“Escape? Won’t someone come to rescue us?”

“They will come, but…”

The tie Se-hyun had been working on with the nail finally snapped. Though his words were briefly interrupted, he quickly continued as he removed the cloth covering his face. He was about to move towards Yoo Jin-ha when he noticed his feet were also tied, so he crawled over.

After removing the cloth covering Yoo Jin-ha’s face, Se-hyun used the nail to work on the tie binding his ankles. With only the cloth removed, Yoo Jin-ha, still bound hand and foot, propped himself up on his elbows and raised his head.

“Someone will come to rescue us… but you want us to leave? What if we miss each other?”

“Better to miss them than remain hostages.”

“But they’ll worry.”

Se-hyun nodded, acknowledging Yoo Jin-ha’s point. Shin Tae-oh, who had seen him get kidnapped, and Ha Min-hyuk, who would have noticed Yoo Jin-ha’s disappearance, would be beyond anxious and worried.

“Still, it’s better this way.”

Having cut the tie around his legs, Se-hyun stood up. He quickly scanned the area and spotted a pair of industrial scissors. Rushing over, he found that the scissors were quite sharp. He hurried back to Yoo Jin-ha.

“It’s better than seeing anyone get hurt.”

Muttering the last part to himself so Yoo Jin-ha couldn’t hear, Se-hyun knelt down. Unlike the struggle he had faced with the nail, he easily cut through the ties on Yoo Jin-ha’s wrists and ankles with the scissors.

“Is it really better?”

“Yes. Originally, someone would have appeared to save us when we were tied up, being threatened and about to be beaten.”

That was how Yoo Jin-ha was rescued in the original story.

“You said anyone can change their fate. So I tried changing it too.”

As Se-hyun stood up, Yoo Jin-ha rubbed his sore wrists and rose as well.

“That’s cool.”

“If you understand, then follow me.”

Se-hyun tossed aside the now unnecessary scissors and picked up a wooden stick. After testing its strength by tapping it against his palm a few times, he looked around.

“Must be an abandoned building.”

It didn’t look like a factory—there were no machines, just wooden planks, barrels, and miscellaneous tools scattered around. As Yoo Jin-ha stood up and took in their surroundings, Se-hyun began walking toward the entrance.

“Once we’re out, there should be a store nearby. We’ll hide and make our way there…”

Se-hyun stopped mid-sentence as he saw two men entering. Behind him, Yoo Jin-ha gasped in surprise a moment later upon seeing the men.

“You said they’d be fine since they’re tied up. We almost lost them.”

“They’re quite skilled. How did they get free?”

The two men sneered as they approached Se-hyun. He hadn’t been able to see them clearly before, but now that he could hear their voices, he recognized them. The man who had wanted cigarettes had particularly small eyes, while the one who only had a “mast” was short.

“Listen carefully. Stay behind me, and when I pass you the stick, take it and step aside immediately.”

Se-hyun explained his plan to Yoo Jin-ha while keeping an eye on the men.

“But I’ve never learned kendo or anything.”

“Who asked about that… Anyway, just swing it as big as you can to keep them away from you. More importantly, look for a chance to get out.”

There were only two men now, but judging by how one had contacted another, more people might join soon. Despite knowing it was an unfavorable confrontation, Se-hyun had no intention of submitting quietly.

“But will you be okay on your own?”

“Right now, it’s worse with you here.”

“If you’re saying that because you’re worried about me…”

“I saved you, so just do as I say.”

With no time for arguments, Se-hyun chose to command rather than persuade.

“Alright.”

Seeming to see the logic in Se-hyun’s words, Yoo Jin-ha answered resolutely.

The standoff ended. As the men charged, Se-hyun swung the wooden stick at them. Like Yoo Jin-ha, Se-hyun hadn’t been trained in anything either.

Thanks to his tall stature and long limbs, he managed to make a rather intimidating sound. The approaching men hesitated and leaned back to avoid it.

The man with small eyes spoke to Se-hyun, eyeing him like he might seize the plank at any moment.

“A guy who’s only ever carried papers shouldn’t be holding something like that—it’s dangerous.”

While mentioning Se-hyun’s inexperience in fighting, the short man picked up a wooden stick lying on the ground.

Thinking it was now a fair match, the small-eyed man stepped back. In that brief moment, Se-hyun passed the stick to Yoo Jin-ha.

“Huh? If you give it to me now…”

Yoo Jin-ha, who had been observing the situation, knew that if he took the stick, Se-hyun would be empty-handed. Confused, he held the stick but couldn’t move away. Meanwhile, Se-hyun retrieved an iron pipe hidden against the wall.

Pointing the pipe at the men, Se-hyun asked in frustration, “Why didn’t you leave?”

“Well, that’s…”

Yoo Jin-ha wanted to say he couldn’t move because he was worried about Se-hyun becoming unarmed after giving him the stick, but seeing the iron pipe, he couldn’t speak.

“That’s unfair,” some of the men said, sharing Yoo Jin-ha’s thoughts.

“When did you spot that?”

The men stared in disbelief at the iron pipe, so different from the wooden stick. Only Se-hyun calmly gripped the pipe.

“Isn’t it obvious? I need to survive first.”

That’s why he had planned to give Yoo Jin-ha the wooden stick and take the iron pipe for himself.

“So when you told me to leave first…”

“They wanted you, right? It’s better for me if you leave. And I…”

Se-hyun knew that if Ha Jin-woong touched him, Shin Tae-oh would step in. But the plan had gone awry.

“Anyway, I wasn’t asking you to leave out of some heroic sacrifice. Why didn’t you go?”

“I’m sorry.”

As Se-hyun listened to Yoo Jin-ha’s apology, he inched slowly towards the entrance.

“Next time, do as I say.”

He abandoned his previous polite and respectful manner towards Yoo Jin-ha. Now he had to think of a new way to distract the men and get Yoo Jin-ha out.

There was no choice now. He’d have to buy time for Yoo Jin-ha to escape and then tell Ha Jin-woong he’d meet him when others arrived…

“Stop plotting,” the man said dismissively, and the short one charged with the wooden stick.

“Ugh!”

Se-hyun quickly raised the iron pipe to block, letting out a pained cry.

‘The wound on my hand…’

The cut from the tie had been stinging constantly, but he thought he could endure it. However, as soon as pressure was applied, he realized that it had been nothing more than a delusion. The muscles in his hand, strained from being forced into the car, were in no condition to handle this.

“Aha.”

The man immediately noticed Se-hyun’s condition and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a flick of his lighter.

“Looks like you alone will be enough.”

“What?”

“I’ll catch that kid if he runs away.”

The man lit his cigarette with a lighter and took a drag. He nodded toward Se-hyun’s wrist.

“That won’t last long.”

Se-hyun bit his lip and adjusted his grip on the iron pipe.

⍣⍣⍣

“Bring Ahn Se-hyun back right now.”

“How do you know that, hyung? Are you with Shin Tae-oh?”

Ha Jin-woong was already shocked that Ha Jin-seong had answered when he called Ha Min-hyuk, but the response he got was an irritated hurry.

“I’ll give you an hour.”

Ignoring his question, Ha Jin-woong trembled with anger. More than wondering how they knew his plan, he was furious at being treated so dismissively.

Why was he doing this? Originally, they were supposed to send Ha Min-hyuk to the overseas branch…

“Put Ha Min-hyuk on. After I take care of my business first…”

“Hey, Ha Jin-woong!”

“My business comes first.”

Even though he knew Ha Jin-seong wouldn’t be happy with him, Ha Jin-woong couldn’t back down now. He had already set things in motion.