Passion Novel - Volume 4 - Chapter 99

It was a three-wheeled motorcycle in name only. It merely had three wheels; it was no longer a motorcycle. It seemed to have been modified for mountainous terrain, its exterior starkly different from anything he had seen before. Just looking at it, the menacing, massive vehicle was bearing down like a tank at terrifying speed. And on it sat a man. There was no one else. As if out for a stroll, he held the bike’s handlebars with one hand, and with the other, he carried something slung over his shoulder, as if embracing it. His relaxed, indifferent expression briefly glanced at the blank faces of the people staring at him from afar.

Jeong Taeui stared at him, utterly stunned. It was as if his soul had left his body.

The monstrous man on the monstrous bike looked at Jeong Taeui. A fleeting expression seemed to cross his impassive lips. The color drained from Jeong Taeui’s face. His expression instantly stiffened, paling, as he stared at the man with wide, bulging eyes. For a few seconds, their eyes clearly met.

“No… way…”

A faint sound emerged from his bloodless lips. His lips trembled, making his words unclear. Next to him, someone seemed to recognize the man, muttering haltingly in a horrified voice.

“No, that’s… Ri—!”

But before his words could finish, something truly unbelievable happened next.

The monstrous man smiled broadly. And he lightly tapped the crudely shaped chunk of metal slung over his shoulder. The moment that long, large chunk of metal came into view, Jeong Taeui was horrified. A Panzerfaust. It was an anti-tank weapon. A thing that could easily destroy an armored vehicle.

“Wait, blo—!!”

But Jeong Taeui’s words were cut short. With a smirk, the monster aimed the anti-tank weapon at them, stood up on the three-wheeled bike, put one foot on the handlebars, and pulled the trigger with his free hand. Jeong Taeui instinctively threw himself down, knocking over the people standing right next to him.

This crazy bastard—!!!

Jeong Taeui cursed inwardly. Or perhaps he actually screamed. But he couldn’t hear his own voice. Instead,

BOOM—!!

An earth-shattering explosion rang out right beside his ear.

Jeong Taeui clutched his head. He thought he screamed, but he heard nothing. No, to be precise, any other sound was drowned out by another successive explosion. Thick smoke billowed up. Dirt and dust mixed with the smoke, covering the area. Stone fragments flew. Large and small rocks rained down like hail.

Jeong Taeui covered his head with his arms and lay flat. Concrete fragments rained down on his shoulders, back, and entire body. A rather large rock struck his shoulder and fell, making Jeong Taeui grimace. After the rain of stones stopped, Jeong Taeui slowly raised his head. White stone dust scattered from his entire body. The room was a mess. The shattered, collapsed wall covered the people.

“Crazy bastard… this madman…!!”

Even in his near-insane state, curses flowed ceaselessly.

He looked back, and one side of the wall was blown away, leaving a gaping hole. The window with the planks was gone without a trace, and only a wide-open view lay before him. Not just the wall. The ceiling was gone, and even the wall opposite the window had collapsed halfway down from the ceiling.

“Who shoots an anti-tank weapon at people, you crazy bastard?!”

Jeong Taeui shrieked, roaring. He didn’t care if he was heard or not. But he probably wasn’t. Because explosions continued from the side.

Screams, explosions, machine gun fire, and shouts mixed together, creating a horrific cacophony.

Jeong Taeui looked around. People were sprawled on the floor. He hurriedly got up and approached them. He carefully patted each one on the shoulder and called out to them. Two of them, fortunately, were injured to a similar extent as Jeong Taeui but were still fully conscious. One person had briefly lost consciousness, but slowly blinked awake after Jeong Taeui called out to him several times. He muttered “Ouch,” and his pale face and dangling arm suggested his arm was quite injured. The remaining one, perhaps having hit his head when he fell or been struck by a rock, had blood flowing from near his head. When Jeong Taeui called his name, he mumbled something like a low groan, as if on the verge of regaining consciousness, but he didn’t fully wake up.

“Damn it. Wasn’t that bastard here to rescue the hostages?! Did he come to kill us all himself?! Crazy bastard!”

Jeong Taeui cursed, but also let out a sigh of relief.

They were alive. Though not perfectly fine, everyone still had their lives.

Jeong Taeui, who had been anxiously looking at the man with blood flowing from his head, wiped the sweat profusely dripping from his forehead with the back of his hand. Feeling a stinging sensation and seeing blood on his hand, he realized that a section of his forehead, from his hairline to his temple, about two finger-widths long, had been torn. However, he didn’t feel much pain. He was too preoccupied for that.

“Crazy bastard, Mad Rick—.”

Someone muttered. The trembling voice, as he mumbled, was an indistinguishable mix of anger and fear.

Jeong Taeui cursed the man for a long time, then suddenly changed his mind, redirecting his anger towards Kyle, the man’s brother and the one who had caused this situation. “Crazy, he’s crazy. Why send that kind of guy, to gather hostages and criminals and kill them all, just to clean things up, huh?! Kyle!!”

When another distant explosion echoed, Jeong Taeui suddenly snapped back to his senses.

This wasn’t the time to be doing this. While he still had his life, and while that madman was fighting with the others a little distance away, he had to escape quickly. Fortunately, the area nearby was a dense forest. If he hid well, he might not be caught.

Jeong Taeui glanced at the others one more time, then climbed over the wall that had half-collapsed next to the door, rendering it useless. Leaving a brief farewell to the bewildered people—’See you again if I get the chance’—he dragged his throbbing ankle and body, running like a madman.

Why was that man here?

Jeong Taeui gasped for breath but didn’t stop running. His ankle felt like it would snap. It was probably completely wrecked. He hadn’t lost that much stamina, yet he was terribly out of breath.

Was it a coincidence? Or did he, upon hearing that his brother’s friends were kidnapped, act on a sense of chivalry and come to rescue them himself?

“…Ridiculous.”

Jeong Taeui immediately scoffed at his own thought. And his eyes burned with a fierce blue light.

It couldn’t be a coincidence. Their eyes clearly met earlier. When their eyes met, he showed no surprise at all. Rather, he smiled. Just as he always did. He already knew Jeong Taeui was here.

“Morer, you damn bastard…!”

The conclusion was still the same. He didn’t know why it was at this exact moment, but while Jeong Taeui had looked away for a moment, words had leaked from Morer’s mouth, and somehow, they had reached Ilay’s ears. Jeong Taeui gritted his teeth and moved his feet. He then poured out a bucketful of curses, going around from Kyle to Morer—though for Kyle, whom he owed a lot and had a favorable impression of, he merely wailed, “Why did you send that kind of guy!”—and finally, cursed himself.

He should have left then. Injured ankle or not, even if his ankle had snapped clean off, he should have gone somewhere else that very day. His misjudgment had cost him his life. Come to think of it, a friend once told him: luck is judgment. What his friend said was related to economic life. That lucky people make money, and that luck, when you get down to it, is ultimately the judgment of when to seize an opportunity. He had just accepted it then, but at this moment, though his friend’s intention was a bit different, those words pierced him to the bone.

He should have left that very day. No, he shouldn’t have come to this house before that. No, he shouldn’t have come to Europe before that. There were plenty of other continents to go to, so why did he come to this damn land? No, even before that…

However, knowing that going back further and further would be endless, Jeong Taeui stopped regretting at the point that now felt like the origin of his life: “I shouldn’t have followed my uncle to UNHRDO.” In truth, his body was so exhausted that he didn’t even have the mental energy to regret.

He didn’t know how far he had walked.

He had gone quite deep into the forest. He hadn’t been checking the path as he went, but he was confident he could find his way out later. His sense of direction was good.

The forest was quiet. The explosions had stopped some time ago. No gunshots, no shouts, no screams were heard. Although he had been running for a long time, gunshots and cannon fire traveled surprisingly far. While shouts or screams might fade with distance, the guns and cannons must have definitely stopped firing.

Perhaps because he was in a place where explosions had been continuously erupting and it suddenly went quiet, a wave of unease washed over him. This silence, devoid of even bird song, was unusually eerie.

Suddenly, he remembered what he had heard earlier.

—”Besides, the mountains here are rugged, and it’s easy to get lost. Wolves roam around at night, so it’s better to just stay put and not think about anything foolish.”

As the man had said, the forest was getting deeper and deeper. But Jeong Taeui could discern the difference between being truly lost and not. He was still alright. This much was fine.

The problem wasn’t the path, but wild animals. It was only morning, so it was better than night, but it would be troublesome if he encountered a hungry beast. Moreover, Jeong Taeui was so exhausted that he wondered if he could even handle a well-fed stray dog, let alone a hungry beast.

Jeong Taeui suddenly slowed his steps. His ears were ringing. It was due to hearing repeated explosions at close range. It felt like tiny insects were chirping in his ears.

He had no strength left in his body. He felt like he couldn’t take another step. No, he couldn’t.

Leaning against a tree stump, Jeong Taeui slumped to the ground and wiped his blurring vision with the back of his hand, as blood slowly trickled from his forehead, showing no signs of stopping. Fresh bloodstains overlapped the dried blood on his hand. The blood had dried and felt rough. Maybe I should wear gloves next time. He grumbled weakly.

Now, he didn’t even feel the pain. His ankle could no longer move without being dragged, and his body, which had bumped against trees and rocks while running, was covered in bruises and torn skin, yet he didn’t feel any pain.

“Ah… I’m really going to die…”

But then.

Rustle. …Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.

It was the sound of grass. More precisely, it was the sound of footsteps rustling through the grass. The footsteps, initially slow, gradually quickened. Faint, ragged breathing could also be heard.

Jeong Taeui flinched and cowered. He quietly moved his body, inch by inch, behind a rock nestled close to the tree stump, burrowing deep into its recess. His mind, which had been a chaotic mess of thoughts, went blank.

Someone was approaching. The anxious, rough footsteps were getting closer.

They weren’t coming directly towards Jeong Taeui. As if unaware of Jeong Taeui’s presence, the irregularly stumbling footsteps approached in this direction.

…No.

His heart, frozen with tension, half-thawed.

He could tell just from the footsteps. Ilay didn’t walk with such anxious, urgent, almost stumbling steps that he seemed about to fall at any moment. His footsteps were instantly recognizable. They were relaxed yet weighty.

Then who could it be? Someone rushing so frantically, stumbling like that. There were only two types of people who would be in this vicinity right now: kidnappers or hostages.

However, if it was someone walking with anxious, hurried steps, as if fleeing from someone, the latter was more likely. The anxiety of being pursued was evident in the footsteps.

Jeong Taeui clenched his fist. If it was the latter, he felt he should help. But he couldn’t move from behind the rock. It was difficult to even move a single finger. With a body like this, trying to help would only increase the damage. He thought of the people he had spent the night with in the same room. He hadn’t grown particularly close or fond of them overnight. But regardless of those feelings, in some ways, they were his comrades. He couldn’t pretend not to see them.

How much could his body endure? Could he even move properly? Jeong Taeui didn’t even know what he had on him. He lifted his arms, which felt like lead, and rummaged through the pockets of the jacket he had picked up and put on, which had been lying haphazardly on the floor when he rushed out of the mountain lodge. He checked the outer pockets, inner pockets, and front pockets, but nothing came out. Damn it, at least a 1-euro coin should come out. Jeong Taeui clicked his tongue inwardly. He had nothing, just as he had nothing when he was confined in the mountain lodge. All he had was a body covered in wounds, barely able to move.

He couldn’t help it. If he was one of the hostages, if he was in danger, …he would have to think about it then.

He should help, but he couldn’t definitively say he would help even if it meant risking his own life, Jeong Taeui muttered to himself, and even in that tense state, he forced open his eyelids, which were heavily trying to close.

It was around then.

“Come out. Taei.”

His heart sank.

He thought he would never again hear his name called by that voice. No, he shouldn’t have.

His fingertips trembled. All his strength was gone, unable to move a single finger of his own will, but as his heart pounded, his fingertips also trembled involuntarily.

“I saw you heading this way, so I herded this guy in this direction. You must be pretty injured anyway, so you couldn’t have gone far from here. Come out now.”

It was a low, quiet voice. But in the deathly silent forest, that sound would echo quite far.

Ilay didn’t know where Jeong Taeui was. He certainly guessed that he was hiding somewhere nearby, within earshot of his voice, but he didn’t know which tree stump he was hiding behind, or which rock he was hiding behind, covered in grass. Jeong Taeui didn’t move. He didn’t want to be a fool who came out just because he was told to, he was so scared that his body was trembling, and he had no strength to go out.

He didn’t even have the strength to answer. And most of all, he didn’t want to face that man, even if it meant dying right there.

What would he do? Would he then thoroughly search the entire area? But “somewhere nearby in the forest” was quite a wide area. It was too vast to find one person hiding within it. Unless he brought several people to search, Ilay alone wouldn’t stand a chance. This was different from being able to easily take on ten or so people in a fight.

“Not coming out…?”

Ilay’s voice remained quiet. He didn’t sound angry at all, just calmly and indifferently mumbled, and then waited silently for a few more seconds.

Jeong Taeui, though the possibility was very slim, hoped he would give up and leave. Or that his words about seeing Jeong Taeui heading in this direction and following him were a lie, just a guess, and that he would assume Jeong Taeui wasn’t here and go search elsewhere.

Jeong Taeui, who had been holding his breath and frozen stiff even as his consciousness was fading, suddenly heard his sigh. It was a light, short sigh.

“If you don’t come out, I’ll set the forest on fire.”

His tone was indifferent, as if he were talking about the weather. But hearing those words, the color drained from Jeong Taeui’s face.

No way.

Jeong Taeui only moved his eyes to look around.

Although it was the height of summer and there were almost no dry branches or fallen leaves, it didn’t mean trees wouldn’t catch fire. Even if living trees don’t catch fire easily, once they start burning, it becomes uncontrollable. And, of course, the surroundings were densely packed with trees.

No, that wasn’t the problem. Forest arson, there was no crime worse than that. Jeong Taeui felt cold sweat break out. Then he suddenly snapped to attention and shook his head inwardly.

No, that couldn’t be. No matter how crazy this guy was, even if he was the kind of guy who would shoot an anti-tank weapon at a house with people inside, he wouldn’t be crazy enough to set fire to a forest of this scale. He couldn’t possibly be unaware of how severe the punishment for arson was. While Jeong Taeui held his breath and shook his head inwardly, Ilay, who had waited for a few more seconds, opened his mouth and began to count.

“Come out if you don’t want to burn to death. One… two… …three.”

Perhaps it was his last act of kindness. Even while slowly counting, he paused a little longer for the final “three.” They said his disposition had become very rough lately, and he was acting quite ruthless at UNHRDO, but his voice sounded rather pleasant, so it didn’t seem to be the case. Moreover, judging by his counting, he had learned how to play cat and mouse during the time they hadn’t seen each other.

However, as if he had already guessed Jeong Taeui wouldn’t come out even after counting, Ilay didn’t wait after finishing the count. Jeong Taeui heard a rustling sound and cautiously opened his eyes, peeking through the gap between the tree stump and the rock, to see him untying the strap of the large leather pouch he was carrying on his shoulder.

“…?”

Jeong Taeui tilted his head in bewilderment. What could be inside that large, floppy leather pouch…?

But before he could even finish that thought, Jeong Taeui was truly horrified this time. The moment the pouch was opened, a sharp smell stung his nostrils. —It was gasoline.

Ilay loosened the strap of the leather pouch and opened it, then, without a moment’s hesitation, he splashed gasoline all around. Without even blinking, he liberally poured the enormous amount of gasoline from the large leather pouch everywhere nearby.

The smell of gasoline permeated the air. Amidst the gasoline fumes rising from the entire forest, strong enough to make his head ache, Jeong Taeui felt his mind go blank. Surely he’s not actually going to light it. No matter how crazy he is, surely not. Surely he wouldn’t. It’s not like burning down a whole house to catch a bedbug; he wouldn’t set the forest on fire just to drag me out. Jeong Taeui screamed inwardly amidst the gasoline smell that seemed to cling to his entire body.

However, oblivious to Jeong Taeui’s inner turmoil, Ilay inverted the empty leather pouch, shook it out, and then ripped it with his bare hands. Rip, rip, he tore the quite thick leather with surprising ease, then held a piece of the oil-soaked leather in one hand and pulled a lighter from his pocket.

No way.

But that “no way” was, in fact, “no way.”

The piece of leather instantly burst into flames. The acrid smell of burning leather mixed with the gasoline, stinging his nose.

A few steps in front of Jeong Taeui, who was staring at the scene with eyes wide open, Ilay casually tossed the flames. The fire, which seemed to flicker briefly over the singed grass, immediately spread to the trees soaked in the gasoline Ilay had just sprayed.

After that, it was instantaneous.

The flames instantly spread from tree to tree, from leaf to leaf. And in the midst of it, Ilay stood calmly, even though the flames were surging dangerously close to him. He casually pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lightly touched the tip of it to the flames that had just begun to ignite at his feet, and then began to smoke with an indifferent expression. Crazy bastard. Crazy bastard! This crazy bastard!!

Jeong Taeui, overwhelmed with indignation, shot up. No, to be precise, he couldn’t quite shoot up. He wanted to, but his strength failed him, and he barely managed to lift his body an inch off the ground before collapsing again.

However, that movement seemed to reach Ilay’s ears. He subtly raised an eyebrow, gazed at the rock right beside him, and then moved his steps behind it. Then, upon spotting Jeong Taeui, his eyes narrowed into a faint curve.

“Aha…”

A low, quiet laugh followed. But Jeong Taeui was not in the mood to laugh along.

“You crazy bastard. What are you going to do about this… What are you going to do about this situation?!”

He wanted to rage and scream at the top of his lungs, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. Jeong Taeui clenched his fists, groaning, and could barely manage to utter a few words through his gritted teeth. Ilay approached Jeong Taeui. He then knelt beside Jeong Taeui’s face, crouching down. His face came close. But what worried him more was the lit cigarette, so close it seemed to touch his nose.

“Rather, you have something to say to me, Taei.”

Ilay whispered quietly. His whisper was so low and gentle that Jeong Taeui momentarily wondered if this man had mistaken him for someone else or was confused about the past.

But then he remembered. This man was dangerous even when he murmured so gently.

“In this situation, is that the problem? What are you going to do about this?!”

“Ask for help.”

“Who sets a forest on fire—! …What?!”

Jeong Taeui, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs with a weak voice, as if he would jump up and down if he had the energy, suddenly couldn’t quite understand what he had said. He stared at him with a blank face, and Ilay tapped the long ash from his cigarette. Meanwhile, the flames were spreading wildly.

“The heat from the fire is making it hot, so I’m thinking of leaving soon. But it looks like you can’t move on your own.”

“…”

“Ask for help. Then I’ll help you.”

Ilay said coolly, putting the cigarette back in his mouth. His voice and expression were utterly calm. Jeong Taeui looked at Ilay with a momentarily dumbfounded expression.

“If I don’t ask for help, you’ll leave me in this blaze?”

“Mm.”

Ilay affirmed with a short answer. Jeong Taeui stared at Ilay, dumbfounded by his inhuman reply. But then he remembered. This man was the kind of person who would calmly walk away after pushing a living person into a fire.

“It’s hot. …Not going to say it? Then I’m leaving.”

“If you were going to do this, why did you tell me to come out?! If you’re just going to throw me into the fire, there’s no point in telling me to come out!”

Jeong Taeui yelled, even as he felt the contradiction in his own words and actions. But Ilay, who had risen beside him, merely looked down at him with an impassive expression.

A moment of silence passed. In the silence, their gazes met and lingered.

However, the staring contest didn’t last long. As the flames surged closer to the rock where Jeong Taeui lay, Jeong Taeui, suffocated by the heat emanating from the fire, couldn’t hold out any longer and quickly said,

“Help me.”

As he quickly uttered the words, staring intently at Ilay, Ilay tilted his head slightly and looked down at him. And then, a subtle twist appeared at the corner of his lips.

“Okay.”

As he spoke briefly, Ilay bent down. He then grabbed Jeong Taeui by the collar and lifted him straight up.

Ilay, carrying Jeong Taeui, who was gasping for breath and staring with wide eyes like a piece of luggage on his shoulder, turned and walked towards the direction where he hadn’t sprayed gasoline. He then leisurely walked out of the blaze. Jeong Taeui found it difficult to breathe as his stomach was pressed against Ilay’s shoulder with each step, but the moment he was out of the flames, the tension left him. His consciousness, which he had barely held onto until then, gradually began to fade again, but this time, he didn’t force his eyes open. He had already been caught by the one person he shouldn’t have been caught by. There was no point in trying to stay alert and tense anymore. As his consciousness completely slipped away, he felt a faint sensation of Ilay making a phone call, but before Ilay could even open his mouth, Jeong Taeui lost consciousness.