Chapter 270

Chapter 270: Chapter 270

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Aside from my old promise––I would never ever fall in love with the Four Heavenly Kings––I wasn’t able to have a crush on someone.
No wonder I could do such a thing. In a world that didn’t reflect my will at all, how could I reach out to someone first? Wasn’t that the easiest way to break my heart?
I didn’t want to play a game that had a specified outcome.
While I rambled those thoughts in my head, Choi Yuri continued to speak with her tearful gaze still fixed at me; however, unlike her sad face, her voice sounded icy cold.
“I wish you…”
There was a pause before she added, “… I wish you cry as much as Eun Jiho does.”
“…”
“I wish you fall in love with someone while feeling out of control just like me. Get lovesick, your heartbroken, and in the end, feel that your entire world has collapsed.”
Her unfiltered, pure hatred that showered over me like a rainstorm ended up choking me. As if those words had pushed me into a deep pool of water, my view darkened and I felt too hard to breathe.
Falling in love with someone while feeling out of control… That’s what I was most afraid of. In this sense, Choi Yuri’s curse was hitting the nail on the head.
Lowering my head, I murmured, ‘But why at this moment am I rewinding the thing between Yoo Chun Young and me in my mind?’
The word that he said to me in the clear sunlight on the schoolyard…
‘I like you.’
And the things that I thought while staring at him…
‘I’m glad I don’t have a crush on Yoo Chun Young.’
That was when I shook my head while biting my lips. There was a loud thud outside the warehouse, then someone kicked the door open and stepped inside. Both Choi Yuri and I turned to look in that direction with our eyes wide open.
When that person suddenly jumped into us, I, at last, grasped the whole situation. Ban Yeo Ryung, who got her hands free from the rope at some point, threw the two guys on the floor. Groaning in pain upon getting swept over the floor, the two guys were tied up with ropes all around their bodies.
I was astonished at the sight, quietly exclaiming, ‘Whoa, Ban Yeo Ryung…’ I had no idea how she released herself from the strict security, but she knocked down the two guys and brought them here tied with rope. If she left them in the bathroom, it might have caused big trouble since they could recover their senses and alert other guards outside.
Switching my gaze to her slender arms, I fell into thought again. She might have had the two guys under her each arm to bring them here at once. How could she do that with those skinny arms…?
‘How does your body structure work? What on earth is happening inside you?’ As soon as I murmured those to myself, Ban Yeo Ryung dusted off her hands then shouted at me.
“Donnie, come over here!”
When I heard those words, Choi Yuri and the rest of the Four Symbols, in front of me, turned around to look at me at the same time.
Choi Yuri, who was throwing a teary glance at me until now, shrieked, “How dare you!”
Her hands narrowly missed my arm.
I ran across the warehouse immediately and dashed towards Ban Yeo Ryung. She also came running to me and pulled me into her arms. She then touched the rope tied around me. Even I thought that I would definitely stumble within five steps if I kept running like this.
However, as we didn’t have any tools, it was difficult to get the rope off me. Shaking the thick and strong strands of strings, Ban Yeo Ryung exclaimed in despair.
“Damn it! Why isn’t this working?!”
“Um, Yeo Ryung…”
I called her name quietly. I guess we would better run away instead of doing this here. Watching her obsessively untying my rope, I read her mind that she was trying to make me escape alone if something took place. In order for that to happen, my hands should be free to run away by myself.
Meanwhile, the Four Symbols were approaching us. Ban Yeo Ryung then gave up untying the rope for now. Looking in their direction, she raised her fist at the eye level.
As in the UFC octagon, a strained atmosphere filled the whole warehouse space. Such tension was utterly unbelievable when looking at Ban Yeo Ryung’s girlish and innocent appearance; however, the other side seemed to be on full alert at the time when she had already knocked the two guys down.
‘I wish they could have taken this side as a joke…’ Heaving a sigh with that thought in mind, I began to predict the fight results.
It was true that Ban Yeo Ryung was, ridiculously, a girl of great physical strength. Recalling the day when we had a chase with the men in black near the City Hall station, her movements were as quick as those of Yi Ruda.
However, did she ever have this kind of a professional fight before? No. I shook my head. That was the problem we were confronting now.
Ban Yeo Ryung was different from Eun Hyung. Even if she was born with athletic ability, we couldn’t neglect the lack of experience. She could have knocked the two guys down outside probably because they fell asleep at the switch.
These guys here were, however, different. They were clearly aware that none other than Ban Yeo Ryung had defeated the two guys; therefore, they would tackle her with all their might in tension. In that case, the chance of winning would be less than a half. Thinking to that extent, I then quickly lifted my head when a voice cut through my thoughts.
“Everyone come over here! They are trying to escape!”
My goodness! Choi Yuri was talking over the black cell phone. I didn’t know that the device also worked as a walkie-talkie. If I had known that earlier, I would have snatched that thing from Choi Yuri when Ban Yeo Ryung entered the warehouse!
However, it was too late to regret it. When I noticed that there weren’t just one or two cars parked outside, I knew it wasn’t everyone in the warehouse, but how many people were around then? Rambling those thoughts in mind, I soon became at a loss of words upon the number of people, who came stampeding into the warehouse.
At least twenty people seemed to have filled the warehouse like a swarm of ants upon Choi Yuri’s order; besides, they didn’t all look decent and nice like the Four Symbols inside here. Most of them had bulky, tattooed arms, which I could roughly guess the field that they were working in.
I re-calculated the possibility of me and Ban Yeo Ryung safely escaping from this place. Less than a half? Bullshit, it was less than ten percent.
I then realized the guy, who stayed right next to Choi Yuri, wasn’t there among the huge group of men in front of us. The tall, bodyguard-like guy who was wearing an in-ear monitor…
Where did he go? Was he not participating in this kind of situation?
Whether he took part in this fight or not, the situation was, however, already going potentially explosive.
My hands were still tied up, and although Ban Yeo Ryung’s hands were free, her outfit wasn’t suitable to fight. About twenty people slowly surrounded me and Ban Yeo Ryung and began to narrow the siege. Watching the sight, I finally began to get afraid.
Shoot! I saw something like this only in zombie movies! I glanced around to find an escape route, but sadly, the pile of boxes blocked my sight. Ban Yeo Ryung and I exchanged eye contact.
‘Just run,’ mouthed Ban Yeo Ryung. I nodded. A tense silence was still prevailing in the space. Suddenly, ‘THITH-THITH-THITH––’ a loud noise rang outside the warehouse.
The unidentified, deafening noise not only made me and Ban Yeo Ryung but also all the people inside the warehouse round their eyes with wonder. The chatter grew louder.
“A helicopter?”
“What the heck? There won’t be any helicopter coming here in the middle of the night.”
“Even if someone caught us, why not use the car?”
About five people among the rumbling crowd went outside the door. They might be observing what was happening out there.
Gosh, that was a chance to escape! It was, however, too late to do that. As if showing us that professionals were indeed professionals, the guys quickly arranged the line, which was briefly disrupted by the unidentified noise, and came toward us again.
Glancing around, Ban Yeo Ryung then picked up a broken beer bottle that was dropped on the floor. While I flinched at her doing so, Ban Yeo Ryung approached me and began to rub the broken bottle on my rope. Those who saw her doing that shouted to each other.
“She’s trying to cut the rope!”
“Will the other girl also behave wildly like her?”
“Go, stop them!”
Amid the sporadic cry around us, the rope that was tying my wrists finally was cut off.Comment (0)COMMENT FIRSTRate this chapterVote with Power StoneChapter 271: Chapter 271

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Raising my head with a brightened face, I soon fell into despair. Those who dashed toward us with gritted teeth were now in a very short distance. That was when Ban Yeo Ryung put on alert while holding a broken beer bottle upside down. The noise that pierced through the group of guys struck our ears. Ban Yeo Ryung and I became goggled-eyed.
The guys hesitated one after another then slowly turned around. The sound coming from outside was quite extraordinary.
“Who the fu*k is he?!”
“Help! This ain’t no joke!!”
A choking noise then echoed around; voices began to disappear by ones and twos. What was going on outside? While we blinked swiftly in wonder, the group of guys in front of us swarmed out of the warehouse as if they felt urgent upon their co-worker’s groan. Even though Choi Yuri yelled at them from behind, they didn’t give any attention to it.
“Uh…?!! Where are you going? Hey, where are you going?! You guys must do what you’re paid for!”
Leaving Choi Yuri shouting with a high-pitched voice behind us, Ban Yeo Ryung and I also ran as fast as we could. Running hand in hand tightly as if no one could let go of our grip, we soon got out of the warehouse.
Outside the wide-open warehouse door, the gray air of dawn poured in. The ground glowed dark red with the early morning light. I smelled something like rusty iron mixed with a scent of thick grass.
When I lifted my head, I saw a human figure moving freely in the radiant light pouring into my eyes.
It was such a quick and elastic movement like dancing. Every move was so light that it looked weightless like a shadow; however, the muscular guys collapsed one by one under the fist that seemed to have no weight or shape like a shadow. Speaking precisely, each person was knocked out with just one punch. The person’s blow was, therefore, quickly clearing up the fuss outside.
Ban Yeo Ryung and I just flickered our eyes at the sudden appearance of the unidentified reinforcement. No, it might be the enemy force, but the point was that the person was helping us to escape.
Ban Yeo Ryung started action ahead of me. She turned herself to pick up an empty beer box rolling around the space then threw it to the guy, who was turning his back against us.
“Urgh!”
As he collapsed with a shriek, every eye was bent on us; however, the guys couldn’t look at us for long. The shadowy figure that came straight up kicked their chests and shoulders one by one and blew them away.
Watching the guys getting blown away with gasps, Ban Yeo Ryung and I then turned our heads to the front again. As I finally saw the person’s face gradually approaching us, my jaw dropped onto the ground.
Although the day was breaking, the sky was dark red since it was still too early in the morning. His blond hair fluttered over his forehead every time he walked with his back against the sky.
Ban Yeo Ryung also struck dumb when she found who he was. She blurted out his name before me.
“Yi Ruda?”
“Why are you staying still? Come on, let’s go!”
He… no, SHE shouted while pointing at the aircraft, standing behind her, with her chin.
As if she just got here by that helicopter, the blades were still spinning without a pause. The wind blow coming from the propeller was fiercely disheveling Yi Ruda’s hair.
When I checked the driver’s seat instinctively, I found no one sitting there. ‘Then…!!!’ I gaped at the sight, thinking, ‘Did she drive that by herself? Yi Ruda??’
Before I tried to check the fact, Ban Yeo Ryung snatched my hand. She lifted a beer box again with the other side of her hand and threw it to another guy. Ban Yeo Ryung then began to run with me.
“Donnie, let’s go! I’m not sure but, at least, it would be better than just staying here!” she shouted.
“Then, do you think I’m gonna kidnap you guys again?!”
The way of Yi Ruda speaking to Ban Yeo Ryung was, unexpectedly, not that soft and warm.
Regardless of his tone, Ban Yeo Ryung stretched out her leg to kick a guy, who tried to grab us from behind, in his stomach. Gently getting back on the ground, she then pulled my hand again and yelled, “Donnie, hurry!”
At last, we almost rolled into the opened helicopter, and, at the same time, Yi Ruda, who perfectly cleared out the last guy standing, came running in our direction.
Before she ran, Yi Ruda suddenly turned around to glance at the warehouse. That was when I recalled the presence of Choi Yuri and followed Yi Ruda’s glance.
Both Ban Yeo Ryung and Yi Ruda didn’t attack Choi Yuri. In their point of view, she was relatively less threatening; once they defeat the guys she brought here, Choi Yuri might lose her substantive power. If not, maybe Ban Yeo Ryung and Yi Ruda just lacked time.
Inside the empty warehouse, Choi Yuri was looking this way while sitting on the chair. The view of her having a phone call earlier with Eun Jiho triumphantly while leaving me and Ban Yeo Ryung aside overlapped on her appearance right now.
All of a sudden, I felt that this entire situation was like a play. It seemed like a dream that she had just shouted at me with her face close to mine.
‘Now, you can see?’
She asked.
‘Can you see me now?’
I nodded my head involuntarily and, at last, got an answer that didn’t work out in front of her.
‘I… see you. Instead of a puppet on a string, I see you stretching out your hand to the future you desire. Even if you made the effort in the wrong direction, I admit you attempt and endeavor; however, that’s why you have to pay for all that by yourself,’ I concluded my thought this way.
That was why freedom and choice were heavy and frightful at the same time.
After jumping on the driver’s seat like riding on horseback, Yi Ruda slammed the door. She then wore a headphone and controlled some buttons on the dashboard. With the previous ‘THITH-THITH-THITH––’ noise, the helicopter soon floated its heavy body slowly in the air.
It was my first helicopter ride ever, but it didn’t seem real. As if she was also feeling the same, Ban Yeo Ryung just stared outside the window in silence.
When the helicopter increased its altitude at a slow pace, the warehouse where we had been locked up began to look very small that it seemed as unrealistic as a miniature model. The trees and the farmland surrounding the warehouse gradually shrunk into the distance; the horizon amid the gentle hills came into view.
The cloudy fog on the road… dump trucks and cars running through the fog and over the deserted overpasses.
I lifted my eyes.
After a long night, the morning was dawning bright.
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After a few rounds of wandering, Ban Yeo Ryung and I managed to find and put on the seatbelts. Meanwhile, the helicopter continued to fly across the sky. It then passed a bridge that looked like Seongsu Bridge. I thought I saw the dawn light, but it still took a while for the sky to turn bright.
At last, the glows of Seongsu Bridge and the skyscrapers, reflected in the Han River, shone like pearls in the fully rising sunlight. The subway going over the bridge and the cars marching like meteor shower…
Ban Yeo Ryung suddenly turned to look at the driver’s seat.
She then asked, “What time is it now?”
“Almost six in the morning,” Yi Ruda answered back while tapping the dashboard. The helicopter than gently swung in the air and began to raise its altitude by making a slight curve like a cable car.
When I looked at the surface of the river slowly receding from my view, I trembled for a second with an unfamiliar sensation. I then heard Ban Yeo Ryung flinging another question from behind me.
“Did you reach out to other kids?”
“Other kids? Oh…”
Controlling the dashboard at her eye level again, Yi Ruda murmured, “You mean, the Four Heavenly Kings?”
Yi Ruda then continued with an apathetic voice.
“I’m gonna get in touch with them a little later. Sorry, but as long as you’re inside here, no.”
“What?”
Leaving the bewildered Ban Yeo Ryung aside, Yi Ruda turned to look at me. She then flaunted a grin. Curving her blue eyes into a warm smile, Yi Ruda asked in a furtive tone.
“Because there’s some reason. Well, Donnie, you trust me, huh?”
Reading Ban Yeo Ryung’s countenance, I carefully nodded.
“Uh… yeah, I do.”
Since Yi Ruda was driving the helicopter, not the car, I couldn’t help but trust her intention as well as her driving ability. Even if she had a bad intention, I couldn’t jump off the sky, so wasn’t it better to just stay inside the helicopter she was driving than to die?