Chapter 10 - Episode 8
summary: With the Smile Capital basically defeated, what could possibly go wrong?
pairing: eventual gunwoo x fem!reader x woojin (slow slow burn tho)
genre: typical canon angst, fluff
word count: 6.1k (oops)
warnings: 18+, explicit language, lots of violence, fighting, vague description of injuries, blood, descriptions of death, inaccurate medical talk, depression, barely edited
author's note: Heyyy y'all it's been a hot minute. So I graduated, moved, and am now unemployed so it's been a crazy couple of months. But I'm so back and now kind of finished with this series? I have so many random blurbs written about these 3 and purposefully left the ending kind of open-ended so I may go off the deep end and start writing some more chapters that don't follow any plot lines. Any way sorry for the wait enjoy the chapter and lmk if season 2 is going to emotionally destroy me <3
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The morning after you successfully burned Myeong-gil’s hard drive, the three of you are in good spirits. Woojin is humming while he wipes up something simple for breakfast, and Gunwoo is carefully crafting an email to send to his mom. For a moment, you imagine that this is your life. A tiny apartment with these two men, breakfast, emails, something simple. But you don’t have time for daydreaming.
The morning after you successfully burned Myeong-gil’s hard drive, the three of you are in good spirits. Woojin is humming while he wipes up something simple for breakfast, and Gunwoo is carefully crafting an email to send to his mom. For a moment, you imagine that this is your life. A tiny apartment with these two men, breakfast, emails, something simple. But you don’t have time for daydreaming.
Last night, you messaged Jae-myeong to ask for information on Jang-do, hoping to get in contact with him and stop any plans Myeong-gil has of escaping. This morning he messaged that he already has the info ready. So the three of you will head out and meet up with him soon. But you are taking your time. Part of you is anxious, it feels too easy, and everything is working out for you pretty quickly. But you don’t let those thoughts pester you. Gunwoo and Woojin have more than proven that they have your back.
When you meet Jae-myeong in a parking garage, you choose to stay in the car. He gives you the creeps, and now that you are kind of working with him, there’s no need to bring a threatening presence. Plus, watching the awkward interaction from in the car is a lot easier. They laugh awkwardly, and then Gunwoo pulls out his wallet. Of course, Jae-myeong isn’t working for free.
With the information you got from Jae-myeong, the three of you quickly get back home and start doing some research. Despite getting yelled at last time, you use Damin’s computer. Almost as soon as Woojin gets the computer turned on, the keypad goes off, and Damin is in the room. She starts putting on a show of smelling the apartment.
“It smells like lonely men in here,” she whines. “Why are you using the computer again?”
Gunwoo and Woojin start smelling themselves, and you can’t help but laugh in the back. Woojin is excessively apologizing and promises to buy a diffuser to get rid of the smell. He talks knowledgeably about scents and declares that he will get a floral scent to get rid of the “sad old man” smell. Damin is convinced and demands that you all buy her three diffusers before you leave. Gunwoo turns and makes you smell him to see if he really does smell. He doesn’t, but you make a show of thinking that he stinks to appease Damin and make Woojin laugh.
That’s when Gunwoo’s phone starts going off. A number you recognize from the sheet you were just staring at, Jang-do’s number. He lets it ring and then opens the text the number sent. It’s a photo of Mr. Oh beaten on the floor. You gasp loudly and take a step back. That’s when Damin sees the photo and rushes over.
“What’s wrong with grandpa?” she asks. “Who did this to him?”
The pit in your stomach grows. It’s starting, the beginning of the end. You just have to hope this all ends in your favor. The phone rings, and Damin doesn’t even hesitate to answer it. You don’t hear the other end of the call, but she threatens them and hangs up quickly. She calmly prepares to leave, sharing the information with you all. Just a location and a promise to kill Mr. Oh if the police are involved. You’ll go. It’s definitely a trap, but you’ll go.
As you are preparing for a fight, the guys are quietly chatting about what to expect. You strap two spare knives to your ankles and hold one in your hand. Putting the knee brace on feels small and stupid, but you do it anyway. Mr. Oh would be pissed if you permanently injured your knee in order to save him. Hopefully he’ll have the opportunity to lecture and nag you again. You have to physically shake that thought away before standing up to join the guys who only had to change shirts.
It only takes a couple of minutes for Damin to come back downstairs with a bow in her hand. It suddenly dawns on you that she is expecting to come with. You know that it is not an easy thing to fight at her age. It wasn’t that long ago that you were just like her.
“Damin,” You say softly. “We will handle it with just the three of us. You don’t have to worry.”
“Yeah,” Woojin adds. “It’s far too dangerous.”
She draws her bow after barely muttering that you all should move out of the way. She makes the shot, of course. And leaves no room for arguments. You all head to the car while Woojin calls Mr. Moon, who apparently insists on being there too. The drive is too short, and pretty soon the four of you are crouched outside of the Mustang whispering with Mr. Moon.
“Archer and I will make our way to the top of the building from the outside,” Mr. Moon says after being briefly introduced to Damin. “The two marines should go in through the front. And Y/N should search for an opening in the back.”
You all agree and, as silently as possible, make your way to your positions. The back side of the building doesn’t show much, but all the vans are empty. If they really had Mr. Oh here, they would have him in a car in the back ready to take away at the first sign of betrayal. This isn’t good. With no way to contact the guys, you decide to join the fight instead. You slip into the room silently, and Woojin and Gunwoo are already fighting in the center of the room. An arrow lands, and you use the moment of surprise to enter the fight.
With Woojin and Gunwoo fighting, there is barely anything left for you to do. But you stop the stragglers and make sure to assist them where you can. Then you see Mr. Jung running up the stairs away from the fight. It takes you three floors to catch up to him.
“Are you a coward?” You yell. Finally getting him to stop running and turn around.
“I thought I left you for dead in that house with Mr. Choi?” Mr. Jung laughs.
The ringing in your ears gets loud, and the whole room seems to blur as you charge at him with a knife in your hand. You get in a couple of good stashes before he sends your knife flying across the room. With no opportunity to grab your spares, you have to rely on your limited boxing skills alone. The fight is messy. It's his desperation and panic versus your rage. The kind of fight that no one really wins. Eventually, he hits you hard enough to knock you down. It hurts, a lot. Damin is trying to help, but he moves too quickly, and the arrows don’t hit. Still, it scares him enough to make him try to run again. You never know when to give up, so you chase him despite the pain in your knee. Somehow you get on top of him, but he must have noticed you hesitate with your knee because he kicks you right on it. It hurts enough for you to scream out in pain. He gets a couple more hits in before he is violently ripped off of you. Woojin is up and fighting him before you can even process what is happening.
When you try to get up to help Woojin, the sharp pain returns and you end up falling back down onto the floor. In a terrifying parallel, you are stuck lying on the floor, helplessly watching Woojin fight. Luckily, Mr. Jang doesn’t pull out his knife this time. Mr. Moon and Damin run up to you, and Mr. Moon immediately starts wrapping up your knee.
“Are you okay?” Damin asks, panicked.
“Not really,” you mutter, but you get them to help you to your feet anyway.
Woojin joins you a second later, having won the fight and left Mr. Jang passed out on the floor. He grabs your shoulder and frantically looks over you.
“Are you okay?” Woojin asks, taking your right arm over his shoulder to take some pressure off of your knee. “That bastard, I’ll kill him.”
“I’m fine,” You say despite clenching your teeth. “He just knows where to hit to make it hurt.”
It takes him a bit longer, but Gunwoo is also at your side before you can even fully steady yourself. He examines your face; the burst lip and blood coming out of your nose aren’t a pretty sight, but not anything worth fussing over.
“What happened?” Gunwoo asks, and before you can even answer asks. “Is everyone okay?”
You just nod and brush him off. Mr. Moon is already tying up Mr. Jang and making plans to question him. You, Gunwoo, Woojin, and Damin stand back as Mr. Moon wakes him up and starts asking him questions.
“Archer, give me an arrow,” Mr. Moon demands when Mr. Jang refuses to cooperate. “Let’s see how loyal this bloodhound is.”
Mr. Moon threatens him and still doesn’t get a response. You are lucky that he is here, though. It’s obvious that he’s done this before. Although watching him stab Mr. Jang with an arrow was definitely hard to watch.
“Can you cover the girls’ ears for a second?” Mr. Moon asks.
You move to cover Damin’s ears, but Woojin beats you to it. Woojin and Gunwoo then make eye contact over your head before Gunwoo pulls you into his chest. He uses one hand to cover Damin’s eyes and the other to cradle your head against him. You breathe him in. It’s been a while since you’ve been this close to him for this long. He’s warm, sweating, and his heart is beating fast. You close your eyes against him and bring your arms to wrap around his waist. Mr. Moon eventually gets Jang to agree to talk, and shortly after, you all are loading him and In-Beom into the trunks outside.
“If we asked you to stay with Mr. Moon, would you?” Woojin asks softly, pulling you away from the group for a minute. “Your knee is in pretty bad shape, right?”
“It just hurt in the moment,” You respond. “I’m okay now. Please don’t make me sit this one out.”
Woojin sighs but agrees. The guys then convince Mr. Moon to stay out of the next fight and take In-Beom somewhere to question him. He’s your best chance at finding the missing gold bars and learning what Myeong-Gil’s escape plan is. You, Gunwoo, Woojin, and Damin all get back in the Mustang and head to where Mr. Oh should be. Gunwoo decides it’s finally time to call Gang-Yong and makes plans to meet him before going in.
Gang-Yong stops you in the road right before the fish farm. The cops didn’t find anything. You are out of ideas, and Damin is starting to get frustrated.
“Where’s grandpa?” Damin asks once you are back on the road. “We don’t have much time.”
“We have to find him,” Gunwoo agrees. “No matter what it takes.”
When you get to the location that Mr. Moon sent you to, you realize that things aren’t going great for him either. Mr. Moon is obviously very frustrated and rants to you all just outside of the building.
“Sir!” A man who is helping Mr. Moon yells, running out of the building. “That idiot bit his tongue off!”
When you rush into the building, you aren’t entirely sure what to expect. It’s definitely not In-Beom hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, choking on his own blood. Cowardly, you take a step back, and your back meets the wall. Gunwoo and Woojin heroically jump into action, trying to save him. Despite this being your best shot at finding the gold bars and taking down Myeong-Gil. Eventually, they all figure it out. In-Beom isn’t any use to you once he’s dead, so they get him to a nearby bus stop and call an ambulance for him once he’s there. He’ll probably survive. You don’t know that you can say the same for Mr. Oh or any of you left here.
The day ends quickly after that with all of you tending to your wounds and heading back to the apartment for some rest. Woojin is hovering, which you can’t be upset about because you are too busy being happy that he was able to walk away from that fight. Still, you can’t help but picture his body on Mr. Choi’s floor. It isn’t until the next morning that Gunwoo tries to talk to you.
“How are you feeling?” Gunwoo asks as he hands you a cup of coffee back at Damin’s apartment. “That was a lot to put on a newly recovered knee.”
“I’m fine,” you mutter happily, accepting the drink. “It hurt in the moment, but it’s fine after I stretched it out this morning.”
This isn’t exactly a lie. It really truly did hurt in the moment. Your knee hurt so much you finally understood people who begged for death when they were in pain. And it really did get better after the initial moment once Mr. Moon and Damin pulled you off of the floor. But it aches, and it doesn’t feel quite right yet. It definitely could be worse, though, and the stretches helped a bit.
“What would it take for you to sit out of the next fight?” Gunwoo asked as he sat across from you at the table. You can still hear the shower running with Woojin inside. “I don’t want to lose you trying to save Mr. Oh.”
“Gunwoo,” you say softly enough that only he can hear you. “It’s my fault. If I’d stayed back like you wanted me to, then I would have been there to protect Mr. Oh, and he wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”
“Or you would have been killed. Or kidnapped too,” Gunwoo says. “The only people to blame are the Smile Capital. They are causing all of this.”
You are interrupted by Woojin’s phone ringing loudly, followed immediately by him rushing out of the shower with just a towel on and his hair still wet.
“It says Mr. Oh is calling,” Woojin says, dripping all over the floor.
With a nod shared between the three of you, he answers the phone. It’s Myeong-Gil on the other side. He only demands that you meet him at a fish farm tonight and don’t involve the cops. And that he’s apparently taken care of all of Gang-Yong and his goons. You quickly and quietly send a text to Min-Beom to ask him if he’s heard anything from Gang-Yong. When the phone disconnects, Gunwoo immediately tries Gang-Yong with no luck.
“How did he get to him?” Woojin asks. “He’s a cop.”
“I think everything just got a lot more dangerous,” Gunwoo says.
Damin pops her head down from the loft bed and immediately starts threatening you all if you decide to exclude her from the fight. You shove Woojin back towards the bathroom while lecturing him about walking around half naked.
“Come here,” Gunwoo says to you and pulls you out into the hallway. “If something happens to Mr. Oh, then Damin will break down like Hyeonju. I can’t watch something like that happen again.”
“Gunwoo,” you say softly. “We are stronger now with the three of us together. When we were separated, it was dangerous, so let’s face this together. We all watch each other's backs, okay?”
Gunwoo agrees hesitantly but seems to calm down at your optimism. He rests his head on your shoulder in a half-hearted hug, and you pull him in close. You hope he never stops leaning on you. Eventually, Woojin joins you two and further helps lessen Gunwoo’s anxieties. Woojin always knows what to say and how to stay optimistic despite it all.
The car ride to the fish plant is mostly silent. Gunwoo is nervously tapping against the wheel, and Woojin is eerily still. But you have each other. Damin has her bow and has more than proven that she knows how to use it. It would be easier if Yang-jung and Du-yeong were here to help. They probably would’ve saved Mr.Oh the first time. You allow yourself a brief moment to grieve the two men. The moment is cut short when Gunwoo pulls over on the side of the road. Probably at least a mile away from the fish farm.
“Damin,” Gunwoo says. “You get out here so you can scout a place to shoot arrows from.”
You and Woojin make eye contact through the rearview mirror. You are still way too far from the fish farm. The fight will be over by the time Damin catches up. But Gunwoo must have a plan, so you don’t question him until Damin is out of the car and the three of you are off again.
“Won’t she take forever to reach the fish farm?” You ask, watching her run after the car out the back window.
“That’s smart, dropping her off so that she doesn’t get hurt,” Woojin says. “Good thinking.”
“Oh, was that too far?” Gunwoo asked. “I just didn’t want her to get caught.”
“It’s going to take her at least 10 minutes to make it to us,” You say, laughing slightly.
“Oh,” Gunwoo says. “Then let’s finish this up quickly.”
You and Woojin nod silently as Gunwoo pulls up in front of the fish farm. You triple-check that your spare knives are hidden and securely tied to your ankle and thigh before crawling out of the Mustang. Woojin gives you a hand and gently helps you out of the back. He pulls you in close and nods seriously at you. That’s as close as you are going to get to him showing any concern about you being here. He’s not one to try and tell you that you can’t join in on the fight.
It’s a setup. You always knew that they would be waiting for you. That they would trade your lives for his. Part of you considered it on the drive over. And you really would sacrifice yourself for Mr. Oh. Probably without even hesitating, despite how much that would hurt Gunwoo and Woojin. Myeong-Gil doesn’t even try to negotiate at first. All they do is let you all walk all the way to the front of the room, to where Mr. Oh is. Then they immediately surround you and attack. All of the goons are armed. This is going to be a nasty fight.
With the three of you back to back, Gunwoo makes the first move by grabbing a metal grate off the floor and hitting the guys with it. You pull out your knife and start looking for openings with the guys surrounding you. You’ve gotten better at dodging and are successfully winning most fights. Using your surroundings, you throw the guys into the fish pools and use their weapons against them. Gunwoo and Woojin are also handling themselves and taking out all of the goons. You don’t even get hit once.
“Stop!” Myeong-Gil yells while holding a knife up to Mr. Oh’s throat.
The three of you instantly stop fighting. Myeong-Gil orders his men to kill you all. Woojin and Gunwoo struggle to decide whether or not they are going to fight back. You drop your knife. The clatter of the knife echoes around the room and silences the crowd. Which makes it so you hear Damin very clearly.
“Hey!” Damin yells. “Duck!”
You instantly hit the floor. The arrow that Damin shoots flies right over your head and directly into Myeong-Gil’s arm. You grab your knife and go back to beating the shit out of the goons. But it’s barely needed, with Damin taking all of them out. Within 5 minutes, it is obvious you’ve won the fight; most of the goons are passed out on the floor, and the rest are too injured to run or fight back. Myeong-Gil got away in the chaos of it all, but Mr. Oh is alright and not too injured. Gunwoo works quickly to get the police involved in order to arrest all the goons and get all the evidence they need.
From there, you take Mr. Oh to the hospital and are finally able to check in on Min-Beom and Gang-Yong. Despite being hospitalized, he’s able to fill you all in on the case. They are making arrests based on all the evidence found in the fish farm, and stuff they got a search warrant to investigate Myeong-Gil’s house.
“He’ll escape,” Min-Beom interrupts the hopeful conversation in the hospital room. “Criminals take cargo ships overseas. He has the resources he’ll escape.”
“Surveillance is upped everywhere right now, looking for him,” Gang-Yong reassures him. “He won’t escape that easily.”
Min-Beom is understandable, still stressed about Myeong-Gil being out there somewhere. He still has the video that he used to blackmail Min-Beom. You agree that it’ll be easier to sleep once he’s behind bars or dead, but it seems so impossible that he could get away with it now. Although you did think that last time, and your celebration too soon caused a lot of good people to die. But Gang-Yong’s group is shattered with him, and Han-Gu is severely injured and Tae-Yeong is in a coma.
“We’re going to find him,” Gunwoo says suddenly. “It’s not over until it’s over.”
Gunwoo briefly glances at you and Woojin. You nod firmly and see Woojin agree out of the corner of your eye.
“Is there any way you can find out where Im Jang-do is?” Gunwoo asks. “He’s probably in hiding right now, but I think he’ll know Myeong-Gil’s escape plan.”
“Im Jang-do mentioned that he was in charge of figuring out how to get out of the country.” Woojin agrees. “He’ll know.”
The three of you act quickly with the help of Gang-yong, and you already have Jang-do’s bank information by the next morning. You suggest asking Jae-Myeong for help and his advice. By midday, you are already meeting him in the parking lot.
“This guy is super low on money right now,” Jae-Myeong says. “If you send him money with your phone number as the subject, then he’ll for sure call you.”
Jae-Myeong says that you’ll have to send at least 10 million won to even get Jang-do’s attention. Which is not an amount of money you can just pull out of your bank. Luckily, the cash that Mr. Oh gave to you comes in handy. You transfer the money, and now all you can do is wait.
The next morning, the guys are working out while you are unsuccessfully trying to get a couple more minutes of sleep on the couch. Then Gunwoo’s phone rings. Jang-do answers and eventually agrees to give you the information in exchange for one billion won. He hangs up quickly afterward without giving you any time to negotiate.
“How are we going to get one billion won?” Woojin asks.
“Should we ask Mr. Oh?” You suggest.
“He doesn’t have any money,” Gunwoo says. “The cash he gave us from Mr. Choi was all he had left.”
Woojin rushes over to the case holding the cash and counts it. But it’s only about 300 million won and won’t even get you close to the money Jang-do wants.
“Should we ask Min-beom?” You ask quietly. “But Jang-do is the one who took the video of him, so I doubt he’s gonna eagerly help.”
“We have to ask,” Gunwoo says. “It’s our only option.”
The three of you agree and quickly get dressed and ready to meet with Min-beom. You send him a quick text asking if he’s free and head over as soon as he replies. Woojin insists on calling him on the drive over and briefing him on your progress.
“Do you trust Im Jang-do?” Min-beom asks as soon as the three of you politely greet him.
“We think he can help us figure out Myeong-Gil’s plan,” Woojin responds timidly.
“And if he pockets the money and runs away?” Min-beom asks. “Then what?”
Everyone goes silent. Min-beom takes the silence as rejection and frustratedly turns away from you all. You glance at Gunwoo just to find that Woojin is already looking at him.
“If Jang-do breaks his promise and runs,” Gunwoo says firmly. “Then we will chase after him and catch him. That much I can promise, sir.”
Min-beom only takes a beat to really think about it before he turns around with a big smile.
“Keep that promise,” Min-beom says with a slight laugh.
There’s a moment where you pause. The feeling in the pit of your stomach that is telling you that it’s starting has been there for months now. But now you are starting to panic because it’s already begun. The only way out is through.
After the money is sent, Jang-do promises to work on getting all of the information for you. Which leaves the three of you to train and waste time anxiously waiting for a call. You lose more and more trust in Jang-do as the hours go by, but late into the night, the call does come.
Jang-do tells you that Myeong-Gil plans on boarding a ship with all his gold to Vietnam, where he has a contact who will help him disappear. He says that the only way to stop him is to get on the ship with him and then hangs up without any more discussion. He does send a text with the contact of someone who will help you get on the ship.
“This is going to be dangerous,” Gunwoo says to both you and Woojin. “If either of you feels like you want to back out, you should.”
“I’m not leaving you,” You answer immediately. “We are in this together.”
“I agree,” Woojin says. “We do it as a trio, or we don’t do it at all.”
That settles it, and the three of you silently prepare for the fight ahead. Within the hour, the three of you are packing up the car and waiting to say bye to Mr. Oh.
“I didn’t know what you would need, so I brought a bit of everything.” Mr. Oh says once he meets you in the parking garage. “Be careful, okay”
He hugs you and solemnly says his goodbyes. Damin then sends him back up before her. She thanks all of you, and you share a fist bump before waving bye to her.
“We’ll see you soon,” Woojin says, refusing to make this a sad goodbye.
“You have my number,” Damin says. “Text me.”
You all head out as the sun sets and the beautiful day shines over the shipyard. Min-beom calls just as you are about to park.
“Are you there yet?” He asks.
“Yeah,” you respond. “We are just getting here now.”
“Don’t get hurt, okay,” Min-beom says softly.
“We won’t,” You respond. “Hey, thanks for all your help.”
“Don’t speak like we won’t see each other again.” Min-beom lectures. “Gang-yong and I are taking care of the rest, so just stay safe.”
You agree and hang up quickly. All these goodbyes are just stressing you out further. The contact to help you on the ship is where he’s supposed to be on time and help without too many questions. And before you can really stop and think about it, the three of you are stowaways on a giant cargo ship. If the information you have is good, then there should only be Myeong-Gil, In-Beom, and Jun-Min on the ship. On the ride over, the three of you decided to split up and attack each of the men separately. Gunwoo stays on deck while you and Woojin head below.
Holding a knife in your gloved hands, you quietly rush around below deck. Woojin spots In-beom and breaks away from you. Without so much as a nod, he disappears into a different room. You really hope this isn’t the last time you’ll see him. Turning a corner, you nearly walk headfirst into Jun-Min. He jumps back and takes off towards the back of the boat in a sprint. He makes it all the way to the back deck before tackling him to the ground. The fight is easier than any other time the two of you have fought. You aren’t necessarily trying to kill him, so you are fighting with the dull part of your knife and throwing stunning punches. He is desperate, though, so he isn’t holding back. He lands a couple of punches and manages to draw blood. Plus, a perfectly timed kick to your knee sends you tumbling to the floor momentarily. You get back on your feet instantly, finally feeling some adrenaline. He’ll kill you if you give him the opportunity. Before you can fully get your bearings, he lunges towards you. He tries to grab your collar, but you forcibly shove him away.
Jun-Min stumbles back a couple of feet. And with no time to react, he loses his balance on the bar separating you from the ocean, falling backwards over the railing. Despite this happening right in front of you, there isn’t enough time for you to react. You still try though; without a second of hesitation, you fold your body over the railing, reaching after him. Before this very moment, you thought that you would be okay with him dying. But now, watching him grip onto the lowest bar on the railing with pure panic in his eyes, you realize that you really want to save him.
“Grab my hand,” you yell over the harsh noise of the ocean and the ship, with your hand as fully outstretched as you can.
“Why?” He yells back. “So you can drop me? Just get out of the way.”
“Jun-Min, I promise I won’t drop you,” You respond desperately, trying to reach out to him.
There’s a tense 30 seconds where all he does is stare at you. Your ribs are starting to hurt, and you don’t realize you’ve started tearing up until you watch a drop roll down your nose and fall into the dark ocean below you.
“What will you do?” Jun-min says quietly. “Once I’m up there, what will happen to me?”
“I’m gonna tie you up and let the Vietnam authorities deal with you,” you answer honestly. “After we catch your boss, of course.”
Jun-Min is still glaring at you, but you notice his hands starting to slip, and the exhaustion is setting in. Without any further comments, he throws his free arm into your open hands. Working together, you manage to pull him enough for him to bring his legs up and climb back over the railing. He doesn’t try to fight you once he’s safe and lets you cuff him to a pole inside the ship.
“Thank you,” Jun-Min says once he’s sitting on the floor safely tied up. “I would have let you fall.”
“I know,” You reply
Woojin rushes through the door behind you, looking disheveled and beat.
“Are you okay?” He asks, panicked, grabbing your face and inspecting the cuts. “In-Beom is knocked out and tied up in the other room.”
“I’m fine,” You reply. “Where’s Gunwoo?”
The two of you head to the front of the ship together. You lean on Woojin slightly to take some pressure off of your hurt knee and limp through the storage crates. When you spot Gunwoo, there is a terrifying moment where you think he might be dying. But he looks okay and is sitting on the floor next to Myeong-Gil. Or at least Myeong-Gil’s body.
“Are you okay?” You immediately rush over to Gunwoo, assuming the worst. His face is bleeding, and he’s covered in cuts.
“I’m okay,” Gunwoo responds, but he looks down at his fists and starts crying.
You feel all the adrenaline leave your body and fall down next to Gunwoo. Woojin sits down next to you, equally exhausted, holding his ribs.
“I’ve become a bloodhound,” Gunwoo says quietly.
“Hey, we’ve got the heart of boxers,” Woojin responds carefully. “All we have to do is find our way back.”
“Let’s all go back together,” Woojin continues, gently grabbing your shoulder as he adds. “The three of us.”
“Yeah,” Gunwoo agrees. “Let’s go back.”
Woojin stands and helps you both up so that you can look for the gold bars together. You eventually find them hidden in produce boxes. Not too long after, Min-beom calls you.
“Hey,” Min-beom speaks quickly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” you respond. “Where are you?”
“I’m almost there.” He sounds stressed. “And the gold?”
“We found it”
“And the phone too”
“Oh,” You get Gunwoo’s attention and mouth phone at him. “We’ll get it right now. See you soon.”
Gunwoo finds the phone, and with minimal struggle, you get all the gold bars loaded onto Min-beom’s boat. He insists on allowing you all to clean your wounds and shower before you talk about business. Which means you are wearing gross matching yacht uniforms with the guys. But you are safe and clean.
The issue with the gold bars gets solved easily. None of you are interested in keeping the bars yourself, so Min-beom promises to set up a hospital for Mr. Choi and a welfare program and then gives each of you two gold bars each. Woojin is ecstatic, and you all make sure to thoroughly thank Min-beom.
With all the business out of the way, you have an hour to kill until you make it back to shore. For the first time in over a year, you don’t feel the doom lurking over your shoulder or the dread in the pit of your stomach. So you go out to the front deck of the boat and allow the sea spray to hit you.
“There’s a room below deck if you are feeling seasick,” Min-beom shouts as he joins you in front of the boat.
You glance over at him with a huge smile on your face and hair blowing in the wind and shake your head. Watching him out here makes you laugh, he’s definitely out of his element, with a slight discomfort. But still, the water washes some of the pressure off of him, and he looks calm. Before this moment, you don’t think that you’ve ever seen his face fully relaxed. He already looks so much better than the first time you met him. When he notices you watching him, he looks right back.
“Thank you for all your help.” You lean so he can hear you over the waves. “We truly couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I should be thanking you,” He replies, smiling slightly and leaning closer. “You are remarkable. All of it, your ability to understand people and your fighting skills.”
“Thanks.” You lean back slightly, finally realizing what this is.
“If I asked you to get dinner with me in a couple of weeks,” Min-beom starts. “What would you say?”
This doesn’t exactly come as a surprise to you, Min-beom has been flirty with you since you’ve met. But you did expect him to change his mind a bit after you’ve spent the better part of a week being a bloodhound.
“Min-beom,” You say apologetically, “You are a great guy, and we’d be good friends, but I think I have feelings for someone else.”
“Ah,” he says, disappointed but nods softly. “That is what I expected, but I just had to shoot my shot. Is it one of the guys, right? Is it Gunwoo or Woojin?”
You open your mouth to answer, but he holds up his hand, stopping you.
“Actually,” he interrupts. “I don’t think I want to know.”
He smiles softly at you and turns to head back into the boat.
“Min,” you call after him. “Let’s be friends though, yeah?”
“Yeah, friends,” he replied, smiling. “I will call you if someone is threatening me.”
“Good,” you say back. “And I’ll call you if I need a yacht.”
He laughs and walks off. Part of you feels a bit bad about rejecting him. He isn’t a bad man necessarily. And maybe if things were different, you could see a life with him. But not this life and not right now. Right now, you and the guys promised to stick together. They want to open a gym to help support their future boxing lives. Gunwoo’s mom is going to get a cafe too. You’ll drink coffee together in the morning and fold laundry. It’s going to be beautifully simple in a way you’ve never experienced before, and you can’t wait.
Once you’ve settled everything back on solid land, Gunwoo is eager to check in on his mom for the first time in far too long. You meet her at the orphanage, and she immediately runs up to the three of you, pulling Gunwoo into a hug. She cries, which makes you cry, and hugs you and Woojin immediately after.
“It’s all over, Mom,” Gunwoo says. “Let’s go home now.”
