Chapter 242 - Escaping the Crisis..?
Late at night, the streets were deserted... and the secluded alleyway was pitch black.
Into that darkness stepped three women, their black hats pulled low, dragging Minseo with them.
'Ugh... who the hell is behind this...?
Is it someone with a grudge against the Baekhwa Mafia?'
Even as he was being kidnapped, Minseo tried to keep his head, desperately trying to figure out who his captors were.
Having been through several kidnappings by now, Minseo was handling the situation with practiced, calculated calm, doing everything he could to survive.
First, the ring.
If he rubbed the tracking ring hard enough with his finger...
A distress signal would be sent straight to the Baekhwa Executives.
As he was being hauled away, Minseo managed to trigger the alert, signaling that he was in grave danger.
Ring—!!!
Instantly, a loud alarm blared and a high-priority notification flashed on each Executive's phone, pinpointing Minseo's exact location.
"Shit! I told him not to stay out late!"
Hayoung was the first to see the alert. She practically flew out of her chair and bolted from her office.
"Dammit!"
Seo-young dropped her weights mid-workout and started sprinting out of the gym like a madwoman.
Suhyeon, Ji-ha, Yu-jin, and Chae-ryeong checked their phones at the same time.
They all set out to find him, their eyes burning with a mixture of worry and pure, unadulterated rage.
Meanwhile, in the alleyway, Minseo was pinned against a wall, the kidnappers looming over him.
Schlick—
A blade was pressed against his throat, so close that the slightest movement would draw blood.
Gulp.
Minseo froze, his eyes locked on the steel.
'Who the fuck are these people...?'
"Hi there. You don't seem to recognize us... maybe this will jog your memory?"
The woman holding the knife gave him a predatory smile and lowered her mask.
When Minseo saw the face underneath...
!!!!
"You...!!"
"It's been a while, Kang Minseo."
"Ha Yun-ji...?"
The memories of those terrifying days came flooding back. He recognized her now.
Yoon Seol, the corrupt cop who had kidnapped him before.
This woman... she had been Yoon Seol's right hand.
It was definitely her. Ha Yun-ji.
"Why are you doing this...?"
Minseo asked, his voice trembling. Ha Yun-ji responded with a bitter, twisted smile.
"The day Yoon Seol was destroyed because of you, her entire organization fell apart. The media had a field day with the 'corrupt cop' story, and every single one of us got dragged down with her."
Ha Yun-ji's voice rose, thick with simmering fury.
"Thanks to you, we've spent our lives running like rats... and I spent every second of it wondering who was responsible for ruining me."
She pressed the knife harder against Minseo's neck.
'Shit... you're the ones who fucked up in the first place...'
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them.
Ha Yun-ji was clearly at her breaking point. If he pushed her now, she'd slit his throat without a second thought.
"When I think about it... everything I lost... it's all because of you. You son of a bitch."
The tip of the blade trembled against his skin, ready to pierce through.
"Haa... haa..."
Minseo panted, paralyzed by the suffocating terror of the blade.
"My life is already over, so I might as well drag you down to hell with me. Hey, keep watch."
Ha Yun-ji glared at Minseo with murderous intent and barked orders at the other two women.
The two accomplices moved to either end of the alleyway, scanning the street.
'Haa... haa... stay calm. Think, Minseo. Think.'
He forced himself to breathe, trying to find a way out of this.
There were only two exits to the alley.
Both were currently blocked by the women in hats.
The only silver lining was that he didn't have to fight all three at once.
If he could take out Ha Yun-ji right now, he could push past one of the guards and bolt.
It was the only chance he had.
"Now... are you ready to die? I'm going to make sure it hurts. Hehe."
Ha Yun-ji looked completely unhinged, giggling as she moved the knife closer.
"Huk... please... save me... please don't..."
Suddenly, Minseo's entire body began to shake violently. He looked up at her with an expression of pure, pathetic desperation.
He looked so broken that anyone would have felt a flicker of pity.
"Pfft—hahaha! To think this is how the Mafia's little pet ends up. Fucking pathetic."
Ha Yun-ji mocked him, relishing his weakness. She leaned in, focusing entirely on his tear-streaked face.
Tears began to stream down Minseo's cheeks, and his lips quivered as if he were about to collapse from fear.
But it was all an act.
He needed her to drop her guard, even for a second. To do that, he had to be the most miserable, groveling version of himself.
With snot and tears running down his face, Minseo begged for his life, sounding utterly destroyed.
Ha Yun-ji watched the show, thoroughly entertained.
She didn't notice Minseo's hand slowly reaching into his inner jacket pocket.
"I love seeing you like this. But don't worry, I'm going to make it much, much worse."
Ha Yun-ji tightened her grip, ready to drive the blade home.
In that split second, as the knife hovered over his chest—
Minseo whipped the taser out of his pocket and slammed it directly into Ha Yun-ji's neck.
It was something he had started carrying "just in case."
A taser.
After being kidnapped so many times, he wasn't taking any more chances with his safety.
He might not have the physical strength to overpower a woman, but a tool like this leveled the playing field.
The taser he'd kept hidden finally proved its worth.
Zzzzzzt—!!!
Blue sparks arced as the current surged directly into Ha Yun-ji's throat.
"Kuaaaak—!!!"
Ha Yun-ji screamed, dropping the knife as she collapsed, her body convulsing on the pavement.
"What the—!!"
The two guards at the ends of the alley realized what happened and charged at him simultaneously.
'I can do this—run!!'
Minseo snatched the fallen knife and lunged toward one of the women in hats.
With a look of murderous desperation in his eyes, he charged at her.
"Ugh...!"
Seeing him coming at her with a blade, the woman instinctively ducked to avoid being stabbed.
'Perfect.'
It was a total bluff. Minseo had no intention of actually using the knife; he just needed her to move. He vaulted over her as she ducked,
And then he sprinted for the open street, running like his life depended on it—because it did.
"Dammit!!!!"
"Get him! Don't let him get away!!"
One of the women immediately gave chase, her boots pounding the pavement behind him.
Thud-thud-thud—!!!
And so, Minseo's desperate midnight escape began.
He'd managed to create a decent gap thanks to his quick thinking, but the biological reality of their stamina was starting to show.
The woman was faster, stronger, and she was slowly gaining on him.
'Dammit—!! Where the hell is everyone?!'
Minseo looked around for anyone who could help, but it was the middle of the night. Every building was dark, every door locked tight.
"Haa—!! Haa—!!"
Minseo risked a glance over his shoulder.
The first woman was right on his heels.
And to make matters worse, Ha Yun-ji and the other accomplice had recovered and were closing in from further back.
"Ugh—!!"
Minseo ducked around a corner, trying to lose them in the maze of buildings.
The distance between him and his pursuer had shrunk to less than two meters.
"You little shit...!!"
The woman in the hat snarled, rounding the corner at full speed to snatch him up...
At that exact moment—!!
Thump—!
The woman slammed hard into someone else's shoulder.
'A woman? At this hour?'
The kidnapper was momentarily thrown off by the collision, her vision blocked by the corner,
But she didn't have time to care about some random pedestrian.
She lunged straight for Minseo.
Whoosh—!
The woman threw herself forward, her arms wrapping around Minseo's waist.
"Kueueuk—!!"
Minseo lost his balance and crashed to the ground, the two of them rolling across the asphalt.
"Where do you think you're going...!"
The woman pinned him down, using her weight to crush the air out of him.
"Haa—!! Haa—!! You slippery little rat!!"
Ha Yun-ji and the other guard caught up, panting as they surrounded the fallen Minseo.
'I'm dead...'
Minseo looked up at the three women, the cold realization of his impending death washing over him.
"I'm going to kill you right here!!"
Ha Yun-ji raised the knife high—!!
"Hey—!!"
A sharp, commanding voice cut through the air from behind them.
Ha Yun-ji froze and looked back.
Standing there was a woman with striking blue hair, wearing a black tracksuit.
"Aren't you going to apologize for shoulder-checking me?"
The blue-haired woman frowned, walking toward them with a casual, confident stride.
"...What...?"
Ha Yun-ji stared at her, dumbfounded by the sheer absurdity of the comment.
She was literally holding a knife. Anyone with half a brain would have seen the danger and run the other way.
But this woman?
She was walking right into the middle of it without a hint of fear.
"You... can't you read the room? I'm holding a knife, you bitch."
"So what? You bitch."
The blue-haired woman shot back, her expression cold and unmoved.
She took in the scene, noting Minseo's terrified face on the ground.
'Three masked women and a knife. And a guy being held down.
Yeah, this is definitely a bad look.'
"I don't know who you people are... but if you walk away now, I'll let you live."
The blue-haired woman sighed, her eyes locking onto Ha Yun-ji's with lethal intensity.
"What did you say...?"
Ha Yun-ji's blood boiled. She wasn't used to being looked down on like this.
"This bitch—you really have a death wish—!!!!"
Ha Yun-ji screamed and lunged, swinging the knife at the blue-haired woman's throat.