TSG 90

The original story isn’t something to be preserved, but to be utilized.

That was how he managed to protect Yoo Jin-ha from over ten men and endure. Se-hyun used the features of the location that had been described to heighten the urgency of Yoo Jin-ha’s situation.

He did his best to escape and respond, rolling heavy drums to create an escape route and climbing to the second floor to avoid being caught.

“That little rat!”

“Huff, huff.”

But now, even that effectiveness was wearing off.

Se-hyun, panting with exhaustion, kept a wary eye on the men who were encircling him in a semicircle.

Cornered, Se-hyun couldn’t hide his regret. He wished he could hold out a little longer, but he had reached his limit.

His breath was ragged, to the point where he sometimes couldn’t breathe, and he had lost feeling in the hand gripping the iron pipe. And then…

“Are you okay?”

“I can manage.”

Yoo Jin-ha, looking clearly unwell, staggered with a pale face.

“You don’t look okay at all.”

Even though his own situation wasn’t good, Yoo Jin-ha seemed about to collapse at any moment.

‘This is bad.’

There was a limit to how much he could protect Yoo Jin-ha against so many opponents. Now there was only one option left.

‘Ha Min-hyuk.’

Now Ha Min-hyuk wouldn’t have to take a blow to the head in place of Yoo Jin-ha. That had happened while embracing the tied-up Yoo Jin-ha, but it wouldn’t happen the same way now.

So, exhausted as he was, he hoped Ha Min-hyuk would appear quickly.

‘But why isn’t he coming?’

At this rate, Shin Tae-oh might show up before Ha Min-hyuk. He was worried, knowing Shin Tae-oh would be doing something after seeing him get captured.

He was concerned that Shin Tae-oh might get hurt because of how he had altered the original story. He worried his Tae-oh might be in danger.

“Stop resisting and come here.”

The small-eyed man who had been in a standoff with Se-hyun from the beginning was just as exhausted as Se-hyun. He had thought it would end quickly, but despite his wrist being in bad shape, Se-hyun had held out to the end, causing him to miss his chance repeatedly.

“If you stop running, I might let you take a step back.”

“If you get caught, I’m gonna get the crap beaten out of you.”

The man ground his teeth, clearly irritated by the struggle he’d gone through to catch Se-hyun.

“I’m confident I won’t get beaten even if I’m caught.”

Se-hyun muttered, closing one eye as sweat ran down from his forehead along the side of his face.

“What?”

“Over there.”

He wasn’t trying to provoke the man. He was pointing at Ha Jin-woong, who had finally appeared.

“How come you still haven’t caught him?”

Ha Jin-woong had arrived after hearing about the situation belatedly. He approached, glaring at the men, and stopped right in front of Se-hyun.

“If you had stayed put, we would have let you go nicely.”

“I know. But I’m not the type to stay put.”

“Why? Were you going to call 119 again and wait? Going on about killing intent or whatever?”

At Ha Jin-woong’s mocking words, Se-hyun, catching his exhausted breath, said:

“You’re really stupid. I don’t have a phone.”

Seeing Ha Jin-woong’s face harden, Se-hyun slightly raised the corner of his mouth, feeling satisfied that he had scored a point.

“If I had one, I would have dialed 112. Right?”

At Se-hyun’s question asking what he thought, Ha Jin-woong glared at him before stepping back.

“Don’t show any mercy. Catch him.”

When someone asked if it mattered if something got broken, Ha Jin-woong shouted to do as they pleased.

Faced with this clearly different attitude, Se-hyun gave Yoo Jin-ha an apologetic look.

“I think I’ve made things worse.”

“Why did you provoke the kidnapper?”

Instead of saying it was okay in response to Se-hyun’s apology, Yoo Jin-ha spoke his mind without filter.

“Since you apologized, you owe me a meal when we get out of here.”

At Yoo Jin-ha’s words implying he’d forgive him if he did that, Se-hyun tilted his head. It was strange. He had jumped in to help Yoo Jin-ha, so why did he have to buy her a meal?

Anyway, everything depended on getting out of here first.

Se-hyun raised his iron pipe as he watched the men charging at him with wooden sticks. He swung it mercilessly as if his arm might fall off, but the men seemed to have gotten used to his movements and dodged well.

Not content with that, as they gradually closed in, Se-hyun was quickly put on the defensive. Now he had no room to protect Yoo Jin-ha while holding out. He was already at his limit just trying to fend off the wooden sticks falling on his body.

His wrist, which had long since lost its strength, could barely hold the pipe. As despair welled up at the sight of his visibly trembling hand, he suddenly noticed something.

‘That’s it.’

He found a way to get Yoo Jin-ha out. Slightly shifting his stance to check below, Se-hyun cautiously said in a low voice while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

“Jin-ha.”

“Ugh, yes?”

Hoping he wouldn’t get injured in the process, Se-hyun shoved Yoo Jin-ha hard with his shoulder.

“Wha—what?”

Losing his balance in an instant, Yoo Jin-ha flailed his arms before falling backward.

Unfortunately, it was through a windowless opening. Seeing the reproach in Yoo Jin-ha’s eyes as he fell, Se-hyun shamelessly looked away.

“Ahhh!”

Along with Yoo Jin-ha’s scream, two dull impact sounds were heard in succession. Se-hyun and everyone else flinched.

The men looked at him as if he wasn’t human for pushing his own friend, but Se-hyun had no other choice.

‘It’s the second floor, so it should be okay.’

It was usually a bit higher than the second floor, but he had seen that the ground was unpaved sand, not asphalt. Plus, it seemed he had fallen well onto the sloped roof at first-floor height.

‘He’s the protagonist, so he should be lucky.’

Could he have died?

When Se-hyun poked his head out to look outside, Yoo Jin-ha was lying spread-eagled on the ground, just blinking.

‘He’s not dead.’

After confirming that Yoo Jin-ha was slowly getting up, Se-hyun immediately threw down his pipe and raised both hands.

“Let’s stop here.”

“What?”

“I’m not your target, right? And CEO Shin Tae-oh won’t stay idle, will he?”

Se-hyun deliberately raised his voice so Ha Jin-woong could hear. It had been quite difficult to get to this point of sending Yoo Jin-ha away and staying alone, but he had finally managed it.

Se-hyun acted as if he wouldn’t resist, but he was extremely tense, unsure if Ha Jin-woong would accept.

“Of course… that’s ridiculous.”

Ha Jin-woong, who had been behind, slowly walked over and picked up the iron pipe Se-hyun had thrown.

“I’ll be the one to hit you.”

Seeing Ha Jin-woong holding the iron pipe, Se-hyun regretted it. Not that he should have jumped out instead of Yoo Jin-ha…

‘I should have kept holding it.’

Getting hit with an iron pipe would hurt, wouldn’t it?

The weapon meant to protect him had instead become a means to attack him.

He blankly watched as Ha Jin-woong raised the iron pipe over his head. As the strength that had kept him going until now drained away, he was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness and couldn’t even think to raise his hands to block.

“Ha Jin-woong!”

At the familiar voice echoing through the abandoned building, Se-hyun looked down.

“You shouldn’t appear first.”

Ha Min-hyuk should appear after everything is settled.

Seeing Ha Jin-woong frozen in place still holding the pipe, Se-hyun’s legs gave out and he sank to the ground.

It was disappointing that it was Shin Tae-oh, but at least he had shown up in time.

Se-hyun smiled, the tension draining from him. He had gotten Yoo Jin-ha out, and Shin Tae-oh had appeared, so the situation would soon be resolved.

The sound of commotion grew, suggesting it might not just be Shin Tae-oh who had come.

“This way.”

It was Chief Secretary Lee Jin-ho’s voice.

“We’ve got everything that happened inside on video. Since we caught them in the act, we can arrest them now, right?”

Even Park Ha-seong had come.

“Video, you say…”

They must have been watching the whole time from the beginning. If that was the case, they should have come and helped.

Knowing that Park Ha-seong had made the best choice, Se-hyun couldn’t help but feel a mix of frustration and a deflated laugh.

“It’s all over now.”

Seeing Shin Tae-oh approaching behind the frozen Ha Jin-woong, Se-hyun reached out towards him.

He had wanted to see him all along. The reason he had acted despite knowing someone would come to save him was largely because he wanted to go to Shin Tae-oh quickly rather than have him come here.

He wanted to comfort him, to tell him not to worry , that he was fine.

Just as Se-hyun had wished, Shin Tae-oh embraced him tightly.

Held in Shin Tae-oh’s arms, Se-hyun caressed his cheek before sighing.

“Our Tae-oh showed up like a protagonist.”

He had appeared with unbelievable timing.

“What will I do if Tae-oh becomes the protagonist? I’m just an extra…”

At Se-hyun’s muttered words, a flicker of unease passed through Shin Tae-oh’s eyes. Whatever thoughts had crossed his mind, he quickly returned to reality upon seeing Se-hyun’s condition.

“Se-hyun-ah. What does it matter whether you’re a protagonist or an extra? At a time like this, you should be saying you missed me.”

Shin Tae-oh gently stroked Se-hyun’s wrist while holding the hand Se-hyun had placed on his face. The skin had been scraped off and was in worse shape after all the turmoil. But strangely, when Shin Tae-oh touched it, the pain seemed to subside.

“Actually, I have something to say.”

He wanted to tell Shin Tae-oh quickly what he had realized during this ordeal. As Se-hyun suddenly distanced himself and spoke formally, Shin Tae-oh objected.

“If you have a lot to say, you can write it in a letter instead.”

“Isn’t a verbal confession better?”

“Well, that changes things.”

Shin Tae-oh’s expression changed when Se-hyun asked whether he should really send a letter. It was as if he wanted to get out of there immediately, and he extended his hand.

“Let’s go.”

Se-hyun took Shin Tae-oh’s hand and stood up. He staggered a bit as he rose, but luckily, Shin Tae-oh caught his arm and prevented him from falling.

“Yoo Jin-ha is outside.”

“Ha Min-hyuk went to him.”

So Ha Min-hyuk came too.

“Just in case they couldn’t find him.”

“Our Se-hyun has such a big heart. Even caring for the person you pushed.”

How did he know?