TW: violence

Despite the promised incoming storm, nothing happened over the next few days. At home at least. There was a night my father didn’t come home, but he reappeared a day later.

The peace didn’t stop Mr. Park’s words from rattling around in my head. He wasn’t a man to mince words, and if he had personally come to warn me, then what was to come really was bad. The shop was particularly busy lately, with people needing tuneups on their car before the new year. My constant state of distraction frustrated Mr. Do and he yelled at me often.

My heavy thoughts scattered as a car roared up the pavement. I looked up to see what was making such a ruckus. The sight of the car made my breath hitch. It was the flashiest car I had ever seen. It wasn’t a super car like a Mclaren or a Hamada, or even a luxury car. It was just a Subaru WRX, but it was obviously modified. A sleek metallic spoiler angled back from the rear, and every tire was outfitted with expensive racing brake pads. A blue tiger streaked down the side of the car, claws outstretched and mouth roaring. The car, as it climbed the asphalt, answered with its own fierce roar.

A beautiful woman with an extremely low cut shirt popped out of the front seat window and waved. “Do Hoon-oppa~!” she called, in a flirtatious, lilting voice.

Mr. Do appeared as summoned. A young man, not particularly handsome, but wearing expensive looking street wear, exited the vehicle.

“Do Hoon-sunbae,” the man greeted Mr. Do. Instead of bowing he held out his hand. Mr. Do didn’t take it.

“Han Sungmin, didn’t I say I wasn’t going to take the Blue Tigers’ business anymore? What happened to your usual mechanic?” He crossed his arms and scowled. I, personally, was impressed that Do Hoon knew these people by name. I couldn’t peel my eyes off of them or their car.

The man, Han Sungmin, laughed cheerfully. “She’s busy. Everyone’s busy before New Year.”

“So am I,” grumbled Mr. Do.

“Don’t be like that, Do Hoon-sunbae. Do me a favor here. Don’t think of me as a Blue Tiger, think of me as your hubae, your old apprentice.” Han Sungmin smiled appeasingly.

“Pah! Apprentice! You hardly learned anything before you ran off with those Tigers.” Do Hoon waved him away. “Business is good these days. I don’t want to risk it all by getting involved with you lot again. Now, scram before I really get mad.”

The girl in the window whined and called out again but Mr. Do had already stormed back into the shop. Everyone else dutifully looked away except me. I was still entranced by the car, still humming a low growl like a caged feline.

“He didn’t even want to hear what we needed,” Han Sungmin grumbled. He climbed back into the car. As they backed off our lot, the girl caught my eye. She winked and blew me a kiss. I blushed. The peals of her feminine laughter disappeared into the roar of the engine as the car sped away.

I felt like I could breathe again. “What a car,” I gasped.

“Heh. You like stuff like that? A bit gaudy for my taste,” Lee Minju snorted.

“I wonder what he does, to have a car like that,” I said wistfully. I didn’t think it looked gaudy at all. Han Sungmin only looked to be in his early twenties. 

“It’s obvious. They’re street racers,” chimed Lee Minjae, Minju’s brother.

That caught my attention. “Street racers? Like, on those streets?” I pointed out to the street outside our shop. 

“Nah, not here. It’s too quiet here. Inner Seoul. All the gangs race there,” said Minjae.

“Supposedly the more dangerous the route, the bigger the payout,” agreed Minju.

“They get paid?? By who!” The more I heard, the more intrigued I was.

“Gamblers, of course. People…” Minjae’s voice faded as Mr. Do approached.

“You two! Don’t put ideas in the boy’s head. Stop all this idle chat.” He turned to me. “They’re a bad crowd, Baek Jaehyun. You don’t want to get mixed up with them.”

We fell silent as we returned to our tasks. Despite Mr. Do’s warning, I still felt my jealousy for the street racers burning within.

Thoughts of the racers followed me home that day. I had been paid today, so my father surely would be waiting at home. But once I handed off my earnings to him he’d disappear, and we’d have a quiet night. Maybe I’d splurge and get my mother and I something good to eat tonight.

I tried the door. It wasn’t locked, so I went in. Immediately a rough hand caught me by the throat and slammed me against the wall. I cried out in surprise and pain as my head thudded against the wall. The hands tightened around my throat and I gagged. I stared wide eyed into the face of a complete stranger.

“Who’s this? Your son?” With his face so close to mine I could almost taste his breath and I felt sick. I tried to pry his fingers off, but his hands only tightened, causing me to see stars as my breath was cut short.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” stuttered my father. “I told you, I told you he was coming home. With money! He gets paid today. I promise, he has money!”

I was panicking and struggling to get my breath. My vision was blurring, but the man let me go. I collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath. I could still feel his crushing grip around my throat and I tried to move away. For the first time I got a look at the scene around me. Another burly man stood next to my father, tapping a metal bat against his hand. Her father was prostrate at his feet, sobbing and bloody. My mother laid in a corner with her back to me, motionless. The man who had just now been choking me pulled me straight up and searched me roughly. He found the envelope of my wages and counted it out. He gave me a murderous glare that made me cower away.

“Seems a little sparse. You haven’t been skimming some off the top, have you, kid?”

I had already left my savings in my locker but the portion I left for my mother was still in my pocket. Despite my mortal fear, I managed to shake my head no.

The man’s intuition apparently told him otherwise, and again he conducted a more thorough search of my pockets. My heart stopped when he pulled out the bills I had saved for my mom. “So you’re a liar too, like your bastard father.”

He backhanded me across the face. My vision lit up with flashes and I fell, stunned. Before I could regain my senses, the man with the bat brought it down on me. It knocked the breath out of me. I had never been hit so hard by anything in my life. It felt like I had just been hit by a truck. Somehow my instincts kicked in and I curled up to protect my head and vitals. It didn’t stop the rain of blows smashing against my arms and legs, and each blow seemed to strike me straight to the bone. The pain was indescribable. When I was certain that I was about to be beaten to death, they finally stopped. I didn’t move from my protective huddle, terrified that it would begin again.

“Thank your son, Baek Seung. He paid off your last few week's missing interest. You can keep your wife and your organs today. But keep missing your payments…” he let the sentence trail off menacingly. “Let’s not find out, shall we?”

He patted me on the head. I flinched away from his touch. I was shaking like I was freezing. Every muscle down my side seemed crushed and throbbed viciously with every movement. I was too terrified to move, even after they left.

“Jaehyun. Jaehyun!” my father grabbed my shoulder. It flared with pain and I yelped and flinched away. Slowly, I uncurled myself and looked at my father with wide eyes.

He looked equally pale and shaken. Bruises and blood covered his skin, and one of his eyes was already swelling shut. Blood dripped out of both nostrils and his nose was swollen, too. For a few moments we just looked at each other, shaken.

My father made a strange, choked sound. He limped to his feet and struggled out the door. I heard him fumbling on the other side, then the lock clicked.

I made my way over to my mother, dragging myself inch by inch. “Ma,” I choked. My throat seemed burned and the word rasped on its way out. “Ma?”

Gently, I turned her towards me. Blood covered her face and she flopped limply and my heart stopped. I put my face close to hers and let out a sigh of relief when I felt her breath, faint and weak.

I tried to stand, but collapsed several times before I could manage it. Supporting myself against the wall, I found a towel and wet it. I stumbled back to my mother’s side and dabbed at the blood on her face. Most of it had come from a cut in her scalp. We didn’t have any bandages or medicine at home so I struggled my way to the bedroom and found one of my clean shirts.

“J-jaehyun?” My mothers shaking voice called after me.

“I’m here,” I called back. The words forced up a cough along with them. I limped back and collapsed next to my mother, shaking with the effort. She watched me rip the shirt to bind her head.

“Are you hurt bad?” I whispered. It hurt to speak too loudly.

“My head is the worst,” she murmured back. “I fainted almost instantly.” She started to cry. I took her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around me and it was painful.