Gun put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. "This is troubling," he said. His expression became twisted. "I love this too much."
They came at him all at once.
BOOM!
Daniel hit first with a straight right to Gun's jaw. Gun's head snapped to the side. Jake followed a half-step behind with a knee to the ribs. Jerry came in low, both arms wrapping around Gun's waist, and drove him back into the junkyard wall. "Gun! You will die here today!" Jerry roared.
CRASH!
The wall exploded outward. Gun came through the other side still standing, with dust and broken concrete raining down around him. He rolled his neck and looked at all of them. "This isn't how you use power."
Jerry charged again.
Gun sidestepped and drove Jerry face-first into the ground. The concrete cracked under the impact. "This is how you use power," Gun said.
Eli and Warren hit him from both sides at the same time. Eli went for the head with a headbutt and Warren drove an elbow into his spine. Gun absorbed both without moving his feet. "What purpose do your attacks have if they can't penetrate?"
He grabbed Eli by the collar and threw him into Warren. They hit the ground together and left a dent in it.
Mandeok moved in with Yuseong behind him. "Gun Park, you are an obstacle for the Workers," Mandeok said. "You must die today." He swept wide with a Capoeira kick aimed at the back of Gun's knee.
At the same moment, Yuseong rushed in from the front and unloaded a flurry of strikes across Gun's chest and shoulders, too fast to fully track.
Gun caught Yuseong's last punch with one hand, twisted, and pulled him directly into Mandeok's path. They collided and went down hard. "If you want to kill me, rage on more!" Gun said.
Jake and Daniel hit him from behind at the same moment.
Gun staggered forward one step. He turned around slowly and looked at them. Then he reached up and took off his glasses. "I have been waiting for this day," he said. "It's finally here."
Everyone in the yard felt the change before they could explain it. Eli stopped moving. Warren's jaw tightened. Even Jerry slowed down.
Gun set his glasses down carefully on a nearby car hood. "What will you show me now?" he said.
He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. The scars across his torso caught the light, and the long horizontal line across his chest stood out above the rest. He dropped the shirt on the ground.
---
Noh Bakugo sat in the back of the bus with his hands folded on his knees and watched the city grow around him as they came down from the highway. It had been over twenty four hours since his last contact with Jichang Kwak.
According to their plan, both of them were supposed to testify at court as witnesses for Baki's hearing. Jichang had left Daegu a day earlier, but there had been no word from him since.
So Bakugo had come to Seoul alone. Today was Baki's hearing and he had no other choice.
The bus pulled into the terminal at 1:47 PM. He stepped off with the other passengers and walked toward the exit. The street outside was busy and cold.
He did not notice the police car until it pulled up alongside him.
The window came down. A uniformed officer leaned out and looked at him with calm, unhurried eyes. The officer wore glasses and his hair was neatly parted. "Mr. Noh Bakugo," the officer said.
Bakugo stopped walking.
"We've been looking for you," the officer said. "Please get in the car."
Bakugo looked at the car, then at the officer. Something felt wrong about the whole thing.
He took a step back.
The officer opened the door and stepped out onto the pavement. He was tall and broad and he did not raise his voice. "Mr. Noh," he said. "I am not asking."
Two more officers stepped out from the other side of the car.
"What do you want? Where are you taking me," Bakugo said flatly. It did not come out as a question.
"You are under suspicion of aiding a criminal," the officer said. He put one hand on Bakugo's shoulder and walked him toward the car.
Bakugo wanted to resist, but he could feel that it wouldn't work. So, he got in. The door closed and the car pulled into traffic, and the street continued on exactly as it had before, as if nothing had happened on it at all.
---
A phone on a desk buzzed once.
James Lee picked it up, read the message, and set it face down on the desk. He leaned back in his chair.
Noh Bakugo was no longer a problem.