Yujae walked through the dim hallway. The floorboards groaned under his weight as he approached the cabin where Paecheon Jo was supposed to be recovering.
Kitae Kim had done more than just beat Paecheon. He had completely destroyed the man's will to live. Since that day, Paecheon had cut off all contact with the outside world. He was a shell of a man hiding in a wooden box.
This was the only reason Yujae had been able to manipulate Ryu and Mugak today. He didn't have to report his movements to anyone. He had been waiting ten years for this exact chance to finish Paecheon for good and end the nightmare.
Yujae didn't care about the chaos in the underworld or who was taking over Seoul. He knew Paecheon was weak, broken, and unguarded. If he didn't take this shot now, he would never get another opportunity this perfect.
He stopped for a second and thought about the Speed Circle. He wondered if they had met Daniel Park yet. He hoped the kid had managed to convince them to leave that cursed place behind and find a real life.
A figure stood in the middle of the hallway. The upper half of the man's body was hidden in the deep shadows of the rafters. Yujae knew that relaxed posture immediately. It was a silhouette he had seen every day for years.
Yujae's fox-like smile flattened into a thin line. Jaegyeon Na stepped out of the darkness. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was set in a grim expression that Yujae had never seen before.
"Do you remember how we first met Him?"
Yujae didn't answer. He clenched until his knuckles turned white. He tried to maintain his indifferent mask, but his breathing became shallow.
Step.
"At first it felt like bullshit. Love and attention? What a load of crap. I thought he was just another crazy old man looking for a target."
Step.
"But that man was genuine. He may have been crazy, but he raised us with his heart. We had no teacher in this world, so he taught us how to stand."
Step.
"We had no mother, but he became our mother. We had no father, but he became our father. He did everything for us without asking for a single thing in return."
Jaegyeon's body blurred as he lunged forward. Yujae instinctively threw his hands up to protect his face. He expected a blow that would shatter his jaw, but the impact was soft. Jaegyeon wrapped his arms around him in a tight, desperate hug.
"So... tell me. When did you forget the 'We' part, Yujae...?"
Yujae stood frozen. His mind reeled from the sudden warmth. He tried to push Jaegyeon away, but he couldn't. His voice was a shaky whisper.
"What are you talking about? You've clearly misunderstood everything. Let go of me."
Jaegyeon released him but kept his hands firmly on Yujae's arms. He was barely controlling the tremor in his voice.
"Everything I did and everything you did... we always did them together. Fixing those rusted cars or protecting the Speed kids. I was never alone because you were always standing right there. I thought we were all there for you too."
Jaegyeon gripped Yujae's shoulders tighter, his fingers digging into the fabric of his jacket.
"Did you really think we wanted you to carry that weight alone? Did you think you had to shoulder everything just to keep us safe? We aren't children anymore, Yujae."
Yujae stepped back and his face twisted with a decade of bottled-up bitterness. He finally let the mask fall, revealing a face full of agony.
"None of that matters! I'm the one who killed him! I'm the one who let Yugang Ha die! Nothing either of us does will ever change that fact! I'm a murderer!"
Jaegyeon stepped toward him again, refusing to let the distance grow.
"So you think revenge will fix the hole in your chest? You think killing a man will make the guilt go away? You think he'll forgive you if you turn into a monster for his sake?"
Yujae shook his head and let out a dry, jagged laugh that sounded like glass breaking. He wiped his eyes, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"I don't ask for forgiveness. I don't deserve it. But the least I can do is kill the man who started all of this. It's the only way I can pay back the debt I owe."
Jaegyeon's face twisted in pure frustration. He grabbed Yujae's collar and forced him to look up.
"Why do the bare minimum when Yugang Ha expected so much more from us? Especially from you! For a long time, I thought I had to be the successor. I thought the jacket meant I had to be a cold-blooded leader."
Jaegyeon looked Yujae directly in the eyes, his gaze piercing through the guilt.
"But I finally get it now. To him, we were just his kids. He would have died for us a thousand times over and smiled while doing it. Even if he knew you made a mistake, he would've told you to stop being an idiot. He would've told you to move on. You know that's true."
Yujae's mind flashed back to the rainy night. Yugang Ha had been lying in a pool of blood, his life leaking onto the pavement. His last words had been a quiet struggle.
"... It's already happened. Don't overthink it... Don't feel guilty. And don't think of it as a debt."
Hearing those similar words from Jaegyeon's mouth made Yujae's vision blur. A single tear rolled down his cheek, followed by a flood he couldn't stop.
"I just want to protect... I want to protect Speed. Even if I have to be alone in the dark until I die, I'm not afraid. I'll take all the pain if it means they get to live."
Jaegyeon looked at the man who had spent a decade hiding behind a fake smile. He reached out and touched Yujae's face.
"Yujae... dying alone is the cruelest thing you can do to yourself. It's the one thing that would actually break Yugang Ha's heart. I won't let you do that. You don't have to carry this by yourself anymore. We're right here."
Tears began to flow freely down Yujae's face. He slumped against the wall and finally let the weight of the last ten years crush him.
"But after everything I've done... the lies... the manipulation... do I even deserve to be called your friend?"
Jaegyeon clasped Yujae's shoulder firmly and pulled him toward the exit.
"You can atone for it. Not by dying, but by staying with Speed and building the dream he had for us. Dying is just an easy escape for a coward. Let's walk forward togeth—"
SHINK!
A small, shiny axe blade plunged into the side of Jaegyeon's neck. The metal tore through the muscle and bone with a wet, grinding sound. Blood splattered across Yujae's face and shirt like a fountain.
Yujae's eyes widened in total horror. He tried to reach out, but his throat was tight and he couldn't even make a sound. He watched Jaegyeon's body tilt forward like a falling tree.
THUD!
Jaegyeon hit the floorboards and the hallway went silent except for the sound of dripping blood.
Kitae Kim walked slowly into the hallway. He looked at the two of them with a bored, hollow expression.
"I was wondering what all that pathetic crying was about. I didn't expect to find a rat and a traitor having a heart-to-heart in my hallway."