Codename Anastasia Novel (End) - Chapter 64

His shoulder was roughly seized. In quick succession, his body spun around. Facing him head-on, his breath hitched. The man’s eyes were frozen, as cold and sharp as ice crystals.

“Wait…!”

The artificial skin on his hand tore away. He didn’t even have time to resist. As his last bulwark, which had concealed him, vanished, he suddenly felt exposed, like a naked man. The man’s blue eyes twitched with unusual intensity.

The tense standoff lasted only a moment before his collar was grabbed, and he was yanked until he was nose-to-nose with the man. The difference in height made his heels lift off the ground. With his breath stifled, he instinctively clutched Zhenya’s hand. It was chillingly cold, not at all like a human hand. Zhenya glanced at the desperate hand clasped over his own, then fixed his gaze back on Kwon Taekjoo. That gaze was exceedingly sharp.

Kwon Taekjoo’s eyes, precariously holding the man’s cold expression, slowly shifted sideways. Beyond Zhenya’s shoulder, he saw his mother. If she were to wake in this situation, things would become uncontrollable. He absolutely did not want that.

He violently shook off Zhenya’s hand. He also pushed the man’s shoulder with all his might. Caught off guard, the man was pushed back and calmly caught his breath. Then he twisted his head and glared at Kwon Taekjoo. A prominent vein pulsed on his smooth forehead.

It was bound to happen. The moment he sensed danger, he was violently shoved. His back hit the door with a loud thud. A corresponding impact spread throughout his body. In his shaking vision, he saw the man’s hand rising. He instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. It happened so fast that there was no room to react otherwise. Expecting terrible pain, every cell in his body shriveled up tightly.

However, after a long moment, he felt nothing. That couldn’t be right.

Slowly, he lifted his eyelids. The situation was exactly as it had been moments before he closed his eyes, a hair-trigger standoff. Zhenya’s hand was still raised as if to strike Kwon Taekjoo at any moment, and the menacing atmosphere remained unchanged. The only difference was that the man’s face was contorted.

Zhenya’s hand was shaking hesitantly. The man himself seemed not to understand the situation. He appeared considerably flustered by his actions, which were detached from his own thoughts.

Kwon Taekjoo also stared blankly at Zhenya. This was due to the storm of emotions swirling in the man’s eyes: rage, hostility, bewilderment, and resentment. Resentment? Kwon Taekjoo’s eyes widened even further.

Then, Zhenya’s still hand suddenly lunged forward.

“…!”

He thought he would surely be hit this time and turned his head. But the expected pain didn’t come. He was merely pushed back again. Then his throat suddenly choked. He tried to tear Zhenya’s hand away again, but the man wouldn’t budge. He frowned and glared at the man. Their gazes tangled intensely in the short distance.

“Don’t make me kill you with my own hands.”

He snarled, his nose even contorted. It sounded strangely off for a threat. And not just that. The hand that had been gripping his neck suddenly loosened, and then the man’s face abruptly drew closer. A strange heat dwelled even in his eyes, which had been writhing with all sorts of emotions. It was a bad sign. He quickly raised a hand and pushed the man’s jaw away.

“You bastard, get away from me!”

At the hand that stopped him, the man wore an annoyed expression. The stubborn pushing force and the resisting force silently waged a fierce battle. Had the man really forgotten where they were and who was lying on the bed?

“Damn it, let go! This isn’t the time for this with you!”

When he pushed him away firmly, the man curled his lips and scoffed. Then he lightly gestured with his head towards his mother’s bed.

“If I throw you onto that, will it be the right time?”

“You crazy…!”

He gasped in shock and quickly lowered his voice. He anxiously checked on his mother first. She was still motionless. The moment he relaxed with relief, the man unceremoniously dragged him into the bathroom connected to the hospital room. A sense of ominous foreboding made him resist with all his body. If he were trapped there alone with the man, he’d be subjected to something disgraceful. But the man forcefully shoved Kwon Taekjoo, who was trying to resist.

As soon as he was thrown against the wall, his nape was pressed down. His chest pressed completely against the cold tiles, crushing his lungs infinitely. He thrashed his limbs, trying to escape the man’s grip. The more he struggled, the stronger the man’s restraint and pressure became.

The man stubbornly grabbed Kwon Taekjoo’s waistband. With a brutal pull, his lower body was drawn back. The buckle of his pants couldn’t withstand the applied force and burst open. This exposed the bare skin of his lower back. The man, who had been blindly lunging, paused for a moment.

An unmistakably sticky gaze settled on his waist. It felt as if his skin was being scorched by lasers.

“…Nicely done.”

He muttered slowly. A shiver ran down his spine.

The next moment, his waistband was grabbed again. With added fury, the grip felt even stronger than before. He tried to stop it somehow, but it was useless. His pants and drawers were pulled down together, revealing his buttocks. Immediately after, he heard the sound of a zipper coming down from behind him. The ominous feeling that had been swelling inside him was now materializing.

Pale with fright, he desperately waved his arms. He pushed against the wall with his legs, trying to resist somehow. But he couldn’t handle the deranged man. He was merely pushed back against the wall and flattened. Being squashed between the wall and the man felt like his body was stuck in machinery.

He should have been exhausted by now, but he repeatedly lifted his elbows to push the man away. He also kept pushing away the man’s thighs that were pressing tightly against him. He kept his mouth tightly shut, careful not to let out even a small sound. Fierce, silent struggles exchanged countless times. His whole body was soon drenched in sweat.

It was around that time.

“…!”

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the door. The detectives stationed throughout the hospital seemed to have sensed something suspicious. Perhaps they had found their colleagues collapsed in the emergency exit, as they seemed ready to storm into the room at any moment.

If he were caught now, he would inevitably be burdened with all the charges. Prosecutor Seok probably hadn’t received the photos yet, and the original, which could be admitted as evidence, was with Kwon Taekjoo himself. Moreover, he was with the very person suspected of collusion. It was desperate.

Soon, there was a faint sound of the hospital room door being carefully opened. Yet, Zhenya did not retreat willingly. His gaze, which had momentarily darted towards the outside, merely returned to fixate on Kwon Taekjoo. A myriad of thoughts crossed his mind. It was truly do or die now. No matter how optimistically he tried to imagine the future, only the worst outcome seemed possible.

Choose me.

Suddenly, a low murmur reached his ears. It might have been a hallucination, given the urgency of the situation. Nevertheless, his heart pounded with a completely different sensation than before. In this desperate moment, it felt as if a lifeline had descended.

He reached his hand back and covered the back of Zhenya’s hand, which was gripping his buttocks. Zhenya merely gazed at Kwon Taekjoo’s hand overlapping his own. There was only one way to escape the current crisis. Even that, he didn’t know if it would work or not. He had no choice but to try.

He unsealed his tightly bitten lips and pleaded.

“…Please.”

A sigh naturally mingled with his voice. But Zhenya showed no particular reaction. He gripped his fist, which was resting on the wall, and pleaded again.

Please, just.

Immediately after, his clenched hand was grabbed, and his body was turned around. His gaze, which had been miserably cast down, was now fixed on Zhenya. Although it wasn’t the situation for it, the man’s crumpled brow and his eyes, busy trying to confirm the truth, were etched into his vision.

“Don’t go back on your word later. You’re the one who grabbed me.”

An incongruous anxiety was detected in the man’s grip, which tightened his arm even further. The man, who only looked at his eyes with suspicion, pressed Kwon Taekjoo, who didn’t answer.

“Answer me. You were clinging to me.”

Both of them had no other options. He nodded as if to say, Think whatever you want. Then, the hand that had seemed capable of breaking his arm finally let go.

Soon, the bathroom doorknob slowly lowered. It seemed as if the detectives outside were peering in, assessing the situation. Zhenya abruptly grabbed the doorknob and unhesitatingly pulled it inwards.

“Ugh!”

When the door suddenly opened without warning, the detectives lost their balance and tumbled in. One of them was knocked unconscious by a chop to the back of the neck, another by a kick to the face. The last detective, who was fumbling to aim his gun, had his wrist completely twisted backward.

Zhenya, having subdued the three men with swift movements, turned to look at Kwon Taekjoo. It was before he had even fully pulled up his pants. He tilted his head as if to say, “Let’s go,” and exited the bathroom first. He followed, hooking his pants, and then glanced back. Perhaps due to the recent commotion, his mother’s face was twitching slightly. She looked as if she might open her eyes at any moment. He had to disappear before that. He pulled the Colt from inside his coat and hurriedly left the hospital room.

“Over there!”

“East, east side of the ward!”

As soon as they stepped into the hallway, it became noisy. A group of police officers were running towards them from the opposite direction. Zhenya did not slow his brisk pace. He merely pulled out his Colt from his coat and unhesitatingly pulled the trigger. There was no time to stop him from doing something like that in a hospital. At the sudden gunfire, the police officers hastily took cover behind the wall.

Taking advantage of the gap, they ran down the hallway side by side. Even without discussing what to do, they intuitively moved in sync. He tried to restrain Zhenya, who would point his Colt at anyone who appeared in front of him, and they fled, avoiding physical confrontation as much as possible. Zhenya clicked his tongue disapprovingly but surprisingly complied with his restraint. The man felt incredibly unfamiliar. Even when he pretended to be a colleague, he had just stood by with his arms crossed, watching Kwon Taekjoo in danger. Now, that same man was helping him without any compensation. Perhaps because it was so unexpected, his heart kept pounding chaotically.

How long had they run? The lower staircase became noisy. It seemed that police officers, having received calls for backup, were flocking in. They couldn’t remain in the hospital any longer. They were increasingly becoming like rats in a trap, and they were harming innocent civilians.

“Where did you leave your car?”

Zhenya gestured with his head towards a corner that suddenly appeared. As soon as he followed the man and turned the corner, they were again confronted by police officers. He threw a smoke grenade towards them as they warned him to stop or be shot. Instantly, thick smoke billowed up, turning the area into chaos. Amidst the confusion, they exited through the emergency exit in the middle.

Urgent radio chatter, people’s voices, and footsteps mingled, making the stairwell echo loudly. From above, behind, and below, the encirclement tightened relentlessly. It seemed they had no choice but to break through somewhere. He took a deep breath and ran down the lower staircase. Soon, they encountered detectives coming up. They flinched, pulled out their guns, and then he immediately threw himself at them. A pile of people were swept away by Kwon Taekjoo and tumbled down to the landing. Zhenya followed and pulled Kwon Taekjoo up. Then, he kicked those who were groaning and trying to fight back, holding their heads, waists, and legs, crushing their will.

They continued down the stairs. They paused briefly in front of the emergency door to check for any signs of people, then entered the hallway. Soon, the sounds of numerous footsteps followed them. The two men’s strides became even longer.

It was when they turned the corner of the hallway as if being chased. A large window appeared, suddenly opening up the view. Being tempered glass, it was effectively a dead end. He was about to turn back, but a special forces unit that had already been deployed blocked their path.

“Stop!”

“Surrender or we’ll shoot!”

Loaded rifles were simultaneously aimed at the two of them. If they tried to push through like before, they’d be riddled with bullets.

What to do? He raised his arms in surrender and pondered. Then Zhenya subtly moved closer. At his slight movement, the gun muzzles twitched simultaneously.

“Grab on.”

He whispered just loud enough for Kwon Taekjoo to hear. When he looked at Zhenya in confusion, the man’s arm suddenly wrapped around his waist. At the same time, something the man threw stuck to the front window. Not only Kwon Taekjoo but also the confronting special forces’ eyes followed the small object simultaneously. What’s that? It was around the time they all wore dumbfounded expressions as if on cue.

Cracks appeared around the small adhesive object, and then the entire tempered glass suddenly shattered radially. Subsequently, led by Zhenya, he dashed through the half-broken window. The moment he touched the man, the glass shards splintered into pieces. He threw himself into the air, half-embraced by the man. In his wildly inverted vision, he saw a fire hose uncoiling downwards.

The special forces belatedly rushed to the window. In the meantime, the two men were dangling from the fire hose at a height of two stories. Without anyone saying it first, they jumped onto the lawn. As soon as the special forces confirmed that the two were unharmed, they relentlessly poured bullets onto them.

Avoiding the hail of bullets, they ran, pushing through the bushes. They soon reached the back gate. Zhenya, who had arrived first, abruptly threw something at him. He caught it instinctively and found it was a motorcycle helmet. He was utterly dumbfounded.

“Weren’t you coming by car?”

“I never said it was a car.”

The man abruptly started the engine. He quickly put on the helmet and sat behind him.

“Damn it, I’m really going to hell today.”

He grumbled discontentedly, and the motorcycle unexpectedly shot forward. His body, which hadn’t quite found its balance, pressed tightly against Zhenya’s back. The pursuing police officers hurriedly began firing. Dozens of bullets flew, but the motorcycle slid freely, gracefully dodging all of them. They sped straight towards the back gate.

But it wouldn’t be easy. Patrol cars waiting outside the back gate blocked their path. The motorcycle, descending a slope, was gradually gaining speed. No matter how large its body, there was no chance of winning if it collided with a car. And if they braked now, they wouldn’t be able to overcome the momentum and would surely crash.

In the critical situation, the handlebars lifted. Then the front wheel lifted, and the entire motorcycle instantly floated into the air. The fleeting moment of hovering in the air unfolded like slow motion. He even saw the patrol car officer’s eyes widen in shock.

Soon, the motorcycle landed on the roof of the patrol car with a thud. The warning lights were utterly smashed. It continued to press down on the roof as it descended to the ground. Fortunately, the engine hadn’t died, and the tires were intact. Maintaining speed, they entered the main road. The wind lashed at his hair and clothes, leaving them in disarray. They weaved like acrobats between cars driving faster on the dedicated lane.

Fearing he might be thrown onto the road at any moment, he tightly embraced Zhenya’s waist. Then the man’s gaze, which had been fixed straight ahead, lowered to Kwon Taekjoo’s arms.

The peace didn’t last long. Soon, a siren wailed in the distance. Following the sound, he turned his head and saw three or four police cars approaching in a line from the opposite lane. The special forces vehicle, which had been following them from the hospital, was also closing in from behind.

He nervously looked back and forth, and then the motorcycle pulled tight alongside a dump truck. Even though it seemed precariously close to hitting the truck body, he matched its speed without a care. Because of this, the police couldn’t approach recklessly either.

Before long, the dedicated lane ended, and a wide intersection appeared ahead. It was just about time for the straight signal to turn green. In anticipation, the police cars approaching from the opposite direction lined up. If they stopped at the straight signal, their escape route would be blocked by the special forces vehicle chasing from behind. The sidewalk starting at the end of the dedicated lane wasn’t wide enough for a motorcycle due to the roadside trees. If they ignored the signal and turned left, there was a high risk of colliding with other cars going straight. It was a dilemma.

However, Zhenya’s acceleration did not stop. Instead, he pushed the speed to its maximum. The man sped past the cars waiting for the straight signal. Soon, the traffic light ahead turned green. The cars that had been threatening the stop line all accelerated simultaneously. Zhenya’s motorcycle shot forward at the same time, cutting a wide path in front of the straight-going cars. He tilted the motorcycle to prevent it from tipping over due to excessive turning force. It felt as if his body would touch the road surface at any moment. He squeezed his eyes shut and hugged Zhenya even tighter.

The cars that were about to go straight slammed on their brakes, blaring sharp horns. In an instant, the center of the intersection became a tangled mess, leaving even the police officers immobile. Leaving the commotion behind, they sped unhesitatingly down the empty left-turn lane.

Even after the moment of crisis passed, he couldn’t relax the arms wrapped around Zhenya. His limbs tingled. His whole body hair stood on end and goosebumps appeared, as his life was repeatedly put to the test. His fingertips even seemed to tremble slightly.

He finally caught his breath when he heard a familiar noise above his head. It was the sound of a helicopter propeller. A helicopter that had flown in from behind quickly caught up with the motorcycle. Not only that, but police cars joined them one by one as they passed various large and small access roads.

“Stop. If you don’t stop, we’ll open fire.”

The pursuing police car repeatedly warned. Ignoring it and continuing to drive, they all rolled down their windows. It was a sign that shooting would commence. Suddenly, Zhenya sharply turned the handlebars to the left. The motorcycle then crossed the center line and began driving against traffic.

Cars approaching from the opposite direction honked furiously. It was deafening. While the police cars hesitated, the road led to an overpass. Dividers also appeared on the center line. Now, even if they wanted to cross over, they couldn’t.

But they couldn’t completely escape from under the helicopter. Even if they shook off one team, another support team would soon arrive from a different direction.

Would it be better to surrender? He nervously stared at Zhenya. The man showed no sign of slowing down, as if he had no intention of stopping. He simply said, “Hold on tight.” He pressed his forehead against the man’s back and gripped his hands firmly. For a moment, he thought, Let whatever happens, happen.

The moment their speed peaked, the motorcycle surged towards the guardrail at the edge. He closed his eyes, sensing the end. All that remained was an endless fall.

With a violent screech of friction, the guardrail tore away. The motorcycle and the two men, having lost their footing, were pushed off the overpass.

The smoothly flowing traffic on the road came to an abrupt halt. The helicopter circled widely, assessing the situation beneath the overpass. Visibility was poor due to the smoke rising from the accident site. It took a while to grasp the situation. The wreckage of the motorcycle and the guardrail were blocking the road. All four lanes of cars were trapped on the street.