The sound of breaking glass filled the room.
Thugs smashed the front windows with wooden bats. Shards flew across the floor and the door frame snapped under their boots.
The old woman ran toward them.
"Please stop!"
She held her hands out to block the way.
"My husband left me this shop! It is all I have!"
One man stopped and looked at her. He laughed in her face.
"Get lost, old lady."
He shoved her hard.
She stumbled back but grabbed his sleeve.
"You cannot do this! I will die without this place!"
The man ripped his arm away. The others were already inside the shop.
CRACK!
Tables flipped over and chairs shattered against the walls. They ripped the menus down and shredded the paper.
The old woman scrambled toward Yoo In-yeong.
She fell to her knees.
"I will sign! I will sign anything!"
She hit her forehead against the floor.
"Please stop them! This is all I have!"
Yoo looked down at her with cold eyes.
"You want to beg now? It is too late."
The manager turned toward the exit. Her men kept breaking everything they could reach.
Joe Yabuki stood still.
His fists were tight but his arms were shaking.
'Move.'
He ground his teeth together.
'Move now!'
His legs felt like heavy stones. His vision was starting to go dark.
'Damn it...'
He bit his lip until he tasted blood.
His heart was racing but his muscles would not listen.
The old woman kept crying on the floor.
A thug walked over and kicked her hand away.
"Shut up."
Another man swung a bat into the kitchen fridge.
CLANG!
The metal dented deep.
The old woman stood up and blocked the kitchen door.
"Kill me first!"
The men looked at each other and grinned.
"If you want."
One man raised a bat over his head. He aimed for her skull.
The woman closed her eyes and waited.
The bat swung down.
It did not hit her.
A hand caught the wood in mid-air.
The woman opened her eyes and saw a back in front of her.
Joe was standing there.
The thug with the bat fell to his knees. He grabbed his stomach and coughed up a pool of red.
Joe's right hand was still out from the punch.
He was shaking but the hit was perfect.
Joe was not a tall man. He was a retired bantamweight fighter.
In his best years people called him the Messenger of Hell.
He had seventeen knockouts in twenty-three fights.
He was a predator. Even a sick predator is still dangerous.
The thugs stopped moving.
They felt a chill. They knew something was wrong.
The feeling did not last.
There were nine of them and only one of him.
Joe stayed in front of the woman. "I have this."
The thugs laughed at him.
"You think you are a hero?"
"Kill the damned bastard."
Joe did not answer.
He cracked his neck. His eyes stayed flat and calm.
'Eight left.'
The men moved in.
The first one swung a bat at Joe's head.
Joe stepped to the side. The wood brushed his hair.
He threw a left straight.
CRUNCH!
The fist broke the man's nose. Blood sprayed the wall.
The man hit the floor and stayed there.
'Seven.'
Two men jumped him at the same time.
Joe stepped back. A knife caught his shoulder and tore the skin.
He did not feel it. He grabbed the man's wrist and smashed a fist into his temple.
The guy went limp instantly.
'Six.'
A bat was inches from his face.
Joe could not move fast enough to miss.
He blocked with his left arm.
SNAP!
The wood hit his bone.
Joe bit his tongue. He threw a right hook into the man's jaw.
The man flew back and landed on a broken table.
'Five.'
Joe was breathing hard.
His arm burned and his eyes were blurry. He could not tell how far away they were.
The last five men did not run in.
They formed a circle around him.
"He is hurt."
"Go all at once."
They charged together.
Joe saw them but his legs were half a second behind.
A bat hit his back. He tripped forward.
Another bat hit his knee.
Joe dropped to the ground. He put his right hand on the floor to stay up.
'Get up...'
A boot hit his ribs.
'Get up now!'
His head was spinning.
A thug stood over him and lifted a bat.
"That is it?"
The bat came down.
Joe looked up. He grabbed the bat with his left hand and punched upward.
It was a corkscrew punch.
His fist dug into the man's gut. The man's eyes popped and he fell over sideways.
'Four.'
Joe stood up and wobbled.
One thug grabbed the old woman's hair. He put a knife to her neck.
"Stop! I will kill her!"
Joe froze.
The woman started sobbing. "Run, Joe! Do not worry about me!"
The thug smiled. "You cannot save her."
The other three men moved in.
A bat hit Joe's shoulder. He leaned over.
Another swing came for his head.
Joe ducked. The bat missed him and hit the thug behind him in the face.
The man screamed and went down.
'Three.'
Joe spun around. He hit the nearest guy in the temple with a hook.
The man's eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
'Two.'
The last man with a bat stayed back.
Joe walked toward him.
The man backed up until he hit the wall.
"Stay away..."
Joe lunged. He hit the man square in the face.
The man slid down the wall.
'One.'
Joe turned to the man holding the woman.
The knife was shaking against her skin.
"I will do it! Do not come closer!"
Joe kept walking.
He was slow but he did not stop.
"Let her go."
"I mean it!"
The man's voice was high and scared.
Joe took another step.
The man panicked. He threw the woman aside and lunged with the knife.
Joe moved his torso. The blade cut his shirt and scratched his ribs.
He did not back up.
He hit the man's nose with a jab. He hit his gut with a hook. He finished with an uppercut.
The man lifted off the ground and crashed into a pile of chairs.
'Zero.'
Joe stood in the middle of the mess.
He was covered in blood. His arm was broken and his legs were shaking.
He was the only one standing.
Yoo In-yeong was frozen.
She looked at her men on the floor. She looked at Joe.
She tried to slip toward the door.
Joe moved and blocked the exit.
"You are not leaving yet."
Yoo backed away. "Do you know who we are? They will kill you for this!"
Joe walked toward her.
Blood dripped from his chin.
The air was cold. His breath looked like smoke.
"I."
Step.
"Do not."
Step.
"Care."
Yoo hit the back wall.
"I can pay you! My boss needs guys like you! You can have a job!"
Joe shook his head.
"No."
He raised his right fist.
Yoo screamed.
THUD!
He hit her once. She went limp and slumped to the floor.
Joe looked at her for a second.
He did not care what she looked like.
There were only two types of people in his world.
There was him and there was the opponent.
His job was to end the fight.
Joe took a deep breath. His legs gave out and he hit his knees.
He tried to push himself up but his body was finished.
The world went gray.
The old woman ran to him.
"Joe! Joe!"
Her voice faded away.
Joe fell forward.
He woke up to a white ceiling.
Everything hurt. His brain felt like it was on fire.
He sat up. The old woman was asleep in a chair next to the bed.
He was in the hospital.
It was still dark outside.
Joe watched her sleep. He lay back down and looked at the ceiling.
'Man...'
His right hand was still shaking.
He looked at it and smiled.