Little Lost Boy

"My brother was Ramrowan.  You remember Ramrowan?"

At So-Mi's silence, the story continued.

“Of course you don't. He was my brother and Noona's lover. He worked for Man-seok and Jong-seok, the guys who took you and killed your mother. P'Wan was their main hit guy. He killed without remorse and was as cold as ice, or so people think,” a recollection that was again brought forth with a fond smile. “He loved us. And we him. He was strong and reliable. Like your Ahjussi to you, he was our saviour, our protector. We were poor back home in Thailand. But P'Wan came all the way here to rescue me. And he stayed to work for the clan."

Her captor sat on the floor, in front of her. Hands on the knees, almost a dejected look on the face, reminiscing the passing of a well loved brother.

"He could break away from the clan any time he wanted to. But he stayed so he could watch over us. Not only me, but the other kids as well....," such was the continuing story of a lost soul. "Noona is Oh Myung-gyu's daughter, you see. One of the most powerful businessman and drug lord in the region at the time. He was the Seok brother's boss too. There was no way she could break free. So, in a way, P'Wan fell in love with the boss' daughter... and so he stayed."

"But the funny thing is that,  in the end…he chose to die for you.”

This time, the smile was bitter. And the recollection belied the disbelief that has possibly been festered for years.

“But of course, you didn't know that.... That 10 years ago, because you showed Ramrowan your courage and compassion....  he chose to fight ... and die for you."

(Flashback)

It was the same old book store.

Man-seok's main hitman had a small but deep cut on his forehead.

Courtesy of Cha Tae-sik, just hours before.

12 year old So-Mi sat on one of the chairs and quietly observing the goings on in the room.

A teenager was led by the halmoeni, to the slaughter on the pretext of going home on good behaviour.

Other gun totting thugs, sleeping around the room, with their mouths open.

The children hungrily devouring meager manjuu buns after a long day of hard work and hours without food.

Quietly, So-Mi took the scenes in.

Until her eyes stopped on his face.

And with observant eyes, looked at him, straight into the real person underneath the cold exterior.

And slowly, she got up and  walked towards him.

Her eyes full of compassion, despite her fear.

And put a bandage on his cut.

Evoking a startled look on a normally impassive face of a killer.

(Flashback)

So-Mi vaguely remembered that scene in her life, although she has long tried to keep those memories hidden in the recesses of her mind.

Her perpetrator, got up from the floor and leaned towards her, breaking her reverie.

"What power do you have, huh? That so many are willing to sacrifice their lives for you? Including me?" Came the sincerely curious question.

< If both that pawnshop Ahjussi and I don't make it alive, make sure you get her at Man-seok's place, at the car park. >

Those were the parting words of Ramrowan, before he left to fight the Ahjussi.

"He knew that in killing your precious Ahjussi, no one would find you or rescue you. So, he actually let your Ahjussi kill him," came the puzzled statement, even after so many years. "Do you honestly think that there is no one who could defeat your Cha Tae-sik? And in arm combat too? We are Thais, for gods sakes. Street fighting is our middle name. If you don't believe me, you can watch me kill your Ahjussi later. That much I can do for my brother." 

So-Mi's face remained unreadable, thanks to her years of training with Dalseo and later Tae-sik himself.

And in her captor's eyes, seemed unimpressed.

"You may think that I am no match for him. But trust me, I am more than I look."

However, afraid that So-Mi might be alarmed, her captor reassured her,  "no, please, don’t be afraid of me. We are friends, remember? I promised to take care of you, remember? It's nothing personal, trust me. Just family business. You are here only as a bait, just for him to come for you. He'll be here soon. I just sent him on a little run around, so that we can have our chat."

-----

Tae-sik arrived at the old mall.

Straight to the location that was previously the lair of So-Mi's captors  10 years ago.

The place where Tae-sik had his final showdown with Man-seok and Jong-seok's men.

A once majestic, marble tiled hall, with wide roman columns framing its length.

It was now abandoned. Totally abondoned.

No sign of So-Mi or her new captor.

Only another note.

< Oops, mianhe. Wrong address. Perhaps she's at the place where the little ants used to play. >

He gritted his teeth in frustrations and started to leave the room.

Only to have a lone bullet whizzed by, barely grazing his neck, but still able to singe his shirt collar.

Like lightning, Tae-sik rolled on the ground to take cover behind one of the columns, unsure of how many or where the enemies await.

Against his better judgement, he took his illegal semi automatic out.

Framing it against his shoulder, as natural as if he never parted from firearms the last decade or so. 

He looked over the side of the column, inviting yet another bullet.

Slightly erratic, slightly rampant.

Making Tae-sik realize that the shoot was not to kill, rather just to stall.

"This is not the place, but the person left back up here," he called Chi-gon.

"Tae-sik, it's Lee," Chi-gon reported. "My men are already outside the building, so hang on."

"Lee?" Cold sweat broke on Tae-sik's forehead.

"Yup," Kim confirmed. "And we know why he's doing this."

Putting down the phone, Tae-sik used himself as bait, peeking around the either sides of the column, trying to determine the positions of the shooters.

Eliciting yet another round of fire.

His experience estimating at least three gun bearing goons.

When back up arrived, he quickly hid his gun and signaled to Chi-gon's men roughly the whereabouts of the shooters.

With the police covering him, he ran towards the door and straight out of the building towards his awaiting truck.

And because he has never been to the place Lee meant, Tae-sik rushed off again to the place Lee indicated, at Chi-gon's instructions  and on pure instincts.