The goons laughed at the man on the ground.
Then one of them lifted his heavy boot and brought it straight down on the man's head.
CRACK!
The old man's skull hit the pavement hard and blood began to soak into the concrete.
Geon-woo's eyes turned red with rage.
Woo-jin tried to grab his arm to hold him back.
Geon-woo tore his arm free and sprinted into the light.
'To hell with waiting.'
Woo-jin looked at his empty hand and let out a sigh before running after his friend.
Joe stayed in the shadows and watched them charge into the fight. He pulled his cap lower and leaned his back against the brick wall.
"Unbelievable."
He did not follow them.
Geon-woo flew out of the alley and launched a flying kick at Jae-myeong's chest.
Jae-myeong did not even see it coming. The kick sent him soaring backward until his back hit a dumpster with a loud bang.
Woo-jin reached the two goons first. He threw a sharp left jab that made the first guy raise his hands. Woo-jin immediately followed with a heavy punch to the stomach that folded the man in half.
The second goon tried to sneak around Woo-jin's side but Geon-woo intercepted him. A right hook sent the goon stumbling. Geon-woo kept moving and drove the man back with a flurry of jabs.
Jae-myeong crawled off the ground while clutching his ribs. He looked at the two strangers with pure hatred.
"What the hell?! Who the fuck are you people?!"
Nobody gave him an answer.
"Say something!"
Geon-woo just stared at him and then rushed forward.
"Bastards!" Jae-myeong swung a wild punch at Geon-woo's face.
Geon-woo ducked the swing and countered with a massive uppercut to the chin. Jae-myeong's head snapped back like a doll's.
The first goon got back to his feet and swung a haymaker at Woo-jin. Woo-jin slipped under the arm and landed an uppercut that lifted the goon off his toes. The man landed flat on his back.
The second goon grabbed Geon-woo from behind and tried to pin his arms. Geon-woo slammed his elbow backward into the man's nose.
CRUNCH!
The goon screamed and let go. Geon-woo spun around and flattened him with a right cross.
Jae-myeong was still standing. He tried a left-right combination but Geon-woo was too fast. Geon-woo blocked the first hit and slipped the second. He grabbed Jae-myeong's wrist and yanked him into a hard knee strike to the hip.
"Come on, you son of a bitch!" Jae-myeong spat blood on the floor. "Come on!"
Woo-jin was busy punching the first goon in the ribs to make sure he stayed down.
Jae-myeong threw another punch but he was getting tired. His movements were slow and sloppy.
Geon-woo saw the opening. He landed a left jab and a right hook that rattled Jae-myeong's brain. He finished it with a final uppercut that sent Jae-myeong to the floor for good.
"Fuck this," Jae-myeong wheezed. "Let's... let's go."
The goon on the ground started crawling toward the exit. "Yeah! Let's get out of here!"
The other goon was already limping away as fast as he could.
Jae-myeong dragged himself toward the alleyway. "You bastards... I will remember you..."
Geon-woo started to chase them but Woo-jin grabbed his shoulder. He pointed at the old man bleeding on the ground.
"Bro, we have to call an ambulance."
Woo-jin frowned. "But if we do that, the police will come."
"This man is going to die!" Geon-woo already had his phone out.
Geon-woo looked at the victim and bit his lip. He didn't care about the mission anymore.
The three men stumbled out of a subway station exit a few blocks away. They were bent over and gasping for air.
"Those little shits..." one goon wheezed. "Where did they come from?"
"Embarrassing." The other goon spat on the ground. "Getting wrecked by two kids."
Jae-myeong wiped blood from his mouth with his sleeve.
"Find them. I want to know exactly who they are."
Then Jae-myeong saw something.
A man was leaning against the wall near the exit. He had a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
Jae-myeong narrowed his eyes.
'That cap.'
It was the same kind the two punks were wearing.
"Hey! You! Are you with them?"
The man lifted his head. It was Joe.
Jae-myeong and his goons backed away but Joe started walking toward them.
Joe's movements were a bit slow and his legs looked stiff. But he looked like a predator.
The first goon threw a punch at Joe's face. Joe slipped the hit and landed a straight right that snapped the man's head back.
The second goon rushed in. Joe stepped to the side and drove an elbow into the man's ribs.
THUMP!
The goon gasped for air and fell.
Jae-myeong and the first goon attacked together. Jae-myeong threw a 1-2 combo while the goon swung a wild haymaker.
Joe weaved under the haymaker and caught Jae-myeong's right hand. He twisted the arm and slammed an elbow into Jae-myeong's cheek.
The first goon tried again but Joe blocked the punch with his knee.
"ARGH!" The goon held his hand and cried out in pain.
Joe landed a left jab and then a right hook over the guy's guard. The punch hit the temple and the goon's legs turned to jelly. He hit the ground and stayed there.
Jae-myeong kept fighting. He threw a jab, a cross, and a hook.
Suddenly, Joe's leg buckled. His arm started shaking uncontrollably.
The Parkinson's hit him at the worst time.
Jae-myeong saw Joe freeze and threw a heavy right hook.
Joe tried to move but his brain wouldn't talk to his muscles.
The punch hit Joe right in the temple.
BOOM!
The world went sideways. Joe hit the ground hard. His body started to shake and pain filled his head.
Jae-myeong and the goon jumped on top of him. They started kicking and stomping on him.
"Bastard!"
"Take this!"
Joe's body was being crushed but his mind went somewhere else.
He was back in the boxing ring.
Thousands of people were screaming his name. The lights were blindingly bright.
"Joe Yabuki! Joe Yabuki!"
He felt the power in his arms. He felt like a god.
But then the voices started to fade away. The lights went out one by one.
The stadium went dark and silent. Joe was standing in the middle of a cold, empty ring.
'No,' Joe thought. 'It can't end like this.'
His eyes snapped open.
Joe exploded off the ground. He landed a right hook that sent Jae-myeong staggering.
The goon swung a punch but Joe stepped around him and drove a left uppercut into the man's liver.
OOF!
Joe finished him with a right cross that sent the goon flying into a brick wall. The man slumped down and didn't move.
Jae-myeong tried to run but Joe grabbed his collar and spun him around. He landed a jab and a right cross. Jae-myeong's face was a mess of blood and bruises.
Joe landed one last uppercut under the chin.
Jae-myeong's eyes rolled back and he fell like a sack of potatoes.
Joe stood over them and breathed hard. His whole body was vibrating with energy. For a minute, the sickness was gone. He felt like the old Joe Yabuki again.
An ambulance siren screamed in the distance.
Joe looked at the three unconscious men. He reached down and grabbed Jae-myeong by the shirt. He started dragging him toward the street. He was exhausted, but he kept going.
He dragged them one by one.
---
The bookstore door opened.
"Don't sit down." Hyeon-ju was standing by the shelf with her arms crossed. "This will be fast."
"You fought them, didn't you?"
Woo-jin rubbed his neck. "We didn't have a choice. We had to."
"No choice?" Hyeon-ju's voice was like ice. "Then we are done. You are fired."
"What?" Woo-jin blinked.
"They saw your faces! My plan was to follow them and get evidence. Now they know someone is watching. They will hide and my six months of work are gone!"
"We had masks and hats on," Woo-jin argued. "They didn't see us."
"I could see that hair from a mile away!" Hyeon-ju pointed at him. "Get out!"
"We said we were sorry!"
"I said get out!"
"We did what we thought was right!"
"What could possibly justify that?!"
"I already told you!"
"Get out with that stupid hair! Are you deaf?!"
"What does my hair have to do with—"
"We will go." Geon-woo's voice was quiet.
He looked Hyeon-ju in the eye.
"I will find a way to pay back the money. But you are going to listen to me for one second."
Hyeon-ju stayed quiet.
"If you have to stand there and watch a man die just to make your job easier... could you really do it?"
He pointed to his own face.
"The boss of Smile Capital did this to me. If I watched a man die and did nothing, I would be just like him. That is wrong."
The room went completely silent.
Hyeon-ju didn't say anything. She just looked at the floor.
The keypad on the door beeped.
Joe walked inside.
"Where did you go?" Woo-jin asked.
"You were gone the whole time," Geon-woo said.
Joe didn't answer them. He just looked at the door. "Follow me."
"Right now?"
"It is important."
Something in Joe's voice made them move. All four of them went outside.
Joe stopped at a car parked on the curb and popped the trunk open.
"Where did you get a car?" Geon-woo asked.
Woo-jin leaned over to look inside.
"Holy shit!"
Geon-woo and Hyeon-ju looked too.
Yang Jae-myeong and his two goons were packed into the trunk. They were tied up and unconscious.
Hyeon-ju stared at them for a long time.
Joe spoke in a low voice. "You don't have to investigate anymore. Just ask him."