Chapter 4: The Heart Should Be Like a Fierce Tiger (Part 1)

  A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and this morning when I woke up, I saw the distant dawn clouds burning like fire.

  The seven-day mourning period has passed, and Mother was buried beside Father's grave yesterday. The husband and wife who had been separated for over a decade were reunited in this way. A complex mix of sadness and comfort lingers in my heart, and I don't know why the despair and pain that once filled my mind suddenly disappeared.

  At this time, An Junhe pushed the window and stood up, looking at the bright sky where the sea and sky met in the distance. The cool morning air carried a warm flavor of the sea breeze that came face to face, and his heart also became lively like the weather.

  However, no matter what, people have passed away, indulging in nostalgia will not bring them back to life, but instead harm themselves and those around them. Rather than this, it's better to quickly cheer up, only then can they have enough energy to deal with the many things that follow.

  He has always been so rational and clear-headed.

  The house has not been cleaned up since he came back yesterday, some scattered paper flowers on the ground have been trampled by people coming and going, tightly attached to the ground, the lanterns under the eaves have also been blown out of shape by the wind, and the burnt paper ash is all over the walls and ceiling, all of which need to be thoroughly cleaned up.

  Originally relatives would come to help, but...

  An Junhe smiled wryly and shook his head, no longer thinking about it. He casually washed up and rolled up his sleeves to start sweeping.

  The house wasn't big, but it occupied 30 pings of land. Since there were only three people in the family before, there weren't many rooms either. A thorough cleaning didn't take much effort, and by almost noon, it was done. By then, the sun had already risen high in the sky, casting its light and heat everywhere. Ahn Jun-he sat in the small yard, resting with his eyes slightly closed.

  A gentle breeze slipped quietly through the half-open gate, caressing the courtyard, where several pots of potted plants that my mother used to tend to were swaying their branches, beginning to sprout new buds, and the tender green color made me feel cheerful at a glance.

  Previously, her mother's favorite was this time of year, she liked the kind of lush and vibrant life that seemed to burst out suddenly.

  "It's a pity, this place can't be lived in anymore."

  An Junhe's eyes seemed to be closed but were not really closed, thinking like this.

  Because this house has too many marks left by my mother, every brick and tile was built with her sweat, even if it's just a glimpse of the green shoots that accidentally broke through the soil at the corner of the wall, I would suspect that on some winter day, my mother threw it there, waiting for spring to move into a pot.

  Living in such an environment is a torture for both him and Zhishu, so the him in his dreams will take Zhishu away to Jeju Island in the future.

  Perhaps only when time has gradually healed their wounds will they come back again, using it to revive past memories and cherish them.

  Before that, it was best to stay far away from him, especially now that Zhī Xiù's lower limbs were paralyzed.

  So immersed in thought, he didn't know how long had passed, the creaking sound of the gate being pushed open startled An Junhe awake from his contemplation. He turned his head and a young man was pushing the door to enter. Seeing him sitting in the courtyard, the person paused for a moment, "What are you doing sitting here?"

  "The house doesn't feel familiar, and I keep thinking of some things." An Junhe stood up and welcomed him into the house. Since there was no hot water in the house, he rummaged out a bottle of rice wine, found a cup, poured a cup, and handed it to the young man: "What's going on over there?"

  The young man raised his cup, tilted his head back and downed it in one gulp. Although the degree was small, for a moment, his face also flushed with redness, showing signs of intoxication. He let out a breath, rummaged through his pocket and handed An Junhe a card, saying: "Although it's a bit troublesome, but until today, I guess they don't want to drag it on either. 200 million won, all transferred to this card."

  As he spoke, he glanced at An Junhe, "How did you know they would definitely take out this money?"

  The mentality of rich people is that as long as you don't touch their psychological bottom line, anything that can be solved with money isn't a big deal. Only people like us would think that things involving money are troublesome.

  An Junhe naturally knew this principle, because in the future, he would also become one of the rich.

  Looking at the small, thin card in his hand, although it was light, picking it up seemed to have used up all his strength, his hand slightly trembling, his eyes complex and dim.

  In a sense, this card was exchanged for his mother's life and sister's legs. Although he himself wouldn't think that way because he had his own plans, it's clear that the relatives thought so, otherwise they wouldn't have left one by one after the mother's funeral.

  "It seems like he can tell what's on his mind, the young man sitting across from him, drinking mug after mug of rice wine, said: "To be honest, if I hadn't known you since childhood and understood your personality, I would have thought you were just a greedy guy. Jun-hyuk, tell me, what are you thinking? Your family is already at odds with each other because of your decision, no matter what, can you at least give me one reason why I should keep helping you?"

  Young is also Ahn Jun-hee's cousin, named Park Young-joon, who is currently attending Pusan University and is a top-notch student.

  Hearing his inquiry, An Junhe smiled: "Now at home, are you the only one who understands me?"

  "Ying Cheng and the others also know that you must have other plans, but they are not as free as I am. When their uncles get angry, they don't dare to resist. Don't take it too much to heart."

  "I know." An Junhe nodded and changed the subject, smiling as he said: "After dark, follow me to a place."

  "Hmm!"

  Then there was silence, Ahn Jun-hee quietly picked up some things in the house, preparing to take them away when he left for a while. Park Young-joon drank the whole bottle of rice wine in one breath, as if venting something. Not long after, due to the intoxication, he became dizzy and fell asleep without even eating lunch, just sleeping somewhere in the guest room.

  When he woke up again, the sky was already dark. He rubbed his sore neck and walked out of the room without turning on the light. The living room was shrouded in darkness, with only a faint glow coming from the sofa, where a blurry figure sat motionless.

  "Is Junhe? Why don't you turn on the light?"

  He asked, then fumbled to turn on the light, and the sudden brightness made him unable to adapt for a moment, his head also started to hurt slightly, which was the effect of intoxication.

  After a moment, he got used to the brightness and saw An Junhe sitting on the sofa quietly extinguishing his cigarette butt, frowning: "When did you start smoking?"

  "Occasionally take a break." An Junhe replied briefly, "You go wash up first, I'll wait for you outside the door."

  Looking at Ahn Jun-hee's back as he quickly walked away, Park Young-joon couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen tonight. After thinking for a while, his head started to hurt more and more, so he shook it off and gave up on thinking anymore. He went to the bathroom to wash his face, and only then did he start to feel a little better.

  As soon as he stepped out, Ahn Jun-hee was crouching at the bottom of the stairs in front of the door, waiting. It wasn't until now that Park Young-joon noticed that he was wearing all black tonight, a style typically reserved for funerals, and had a long backpack strapped to his back, with no idea what was inside.

  Seeing him come out, An Junhe didn't say much, got up and straddled the motorcycle parked beside him, put on his helmet, and beckoned him to get on.

  Park Young-joon suppressed the unease in his heart, took the helmet that was handed to him and put it on. Amidst the roaring sound, the motorcycle sped away wildly.

  At night, Busan is actually the most prosperous time of day. This is a tourist city, and during the day, tourists are scattered in various areas around the city, but at night, they all return here, enjoying a unique nightlife by the mountain and sea. However, as the two rode their motorcycle along the road, Park Young-joon discovered that he didn't see many pedestrians until after passing several intersections, when he realized that Ahn Joon-hee had been intentionally choosing secluded routes to advance.

  Park Young-joon didn't know what Ahn Jun-hee was trying to do, and he couldn't help but feel a little flustered in his heart, but out of trust for his cousin, he chose to suppress the doubts in his mind.

  After speeding for about half an hour, the motorcycle carrying them arrived at a place that Ping Jun did not recognize. It gradually slowed down and finally entered a lane through a small path.

  One side of the alley was dark and connected to a small path, while the other side was brightly lit, seemingly a very lively street. Apart from the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, Park Yeon-joon could also faintly hear the muffled sounds of nightclubs' subwoofers.

  An Junhe walked through half of the small alley and finally stopped in a shadow, one more step forward would be where the light covered.

  The stark contrast between light and darkness made the shadows even more effective at concealing, and Park Yeong-joon followed him without understanding why. He watched as he calmly pulled out a mask from his pocket, put it on to cover the lower half of his face, and then took off the backpack behind him. A heavy-looking baseball bat was slowly drawn out, and in the dim light, Park Yeong-joon vaguely saw the metallic color on the surface of the bat.

  At this moment, he suddenly understood something, his face turned pale in an instant. Just as he was about to say something, An Junhe, who had been silent in front of him, suddenly spoke up.

  "Brother, do you still remember our former club?"

  "My mom didn't want me to go bad, so she beat me up at that time and I stopped messing around. You guys thought I had changed my ways, but actually you all don't know, I still kept in touch with some people. At first, it was just a precaution, after all this is a country where the underworld runs rampant..."

  "These days, I've been paying attention to him. Probably because someone finally helped him solve his problem, he's no longer under pressure. So as soon as he got out of the hospital, he couldn't wait to linger around here every night. Thanks to you, bro, for helping me out. I think today is a perfect ending, and he'll definitely come over to celebrate... after all, he doesn't have to go to jail anymore!"

  "......They really are naive, they actually believed it, bro. What if he gets drunk in a nightclub, gets into an argument with someone and something bad happens? Will his family suspect me?"

  Park Young-joon's hands began to tremble, his eyes fixed dully on the tall figure in front of him. For a moment, he even doubted whether the person before him was really his familiar younger brother.

  At this point, it's not necessary to explain much. Park Young-joon is no fool, he of course knows who the "he" in Ahn Jun-hee's mouth is - Kang Jae-won, the driver who caused all the troubles for Jun-hee's family, and the rich second-generation heir who was just blackmailed by him for 2 billion won.

  Doubt? They certainly wouldn't doubt!

  Park Young-joon smiled wryly, and it was always him who took charge of negotiating with the other side. He knew that Jun-hyuk had initially demanded 500 million won in compensation, and at the time, he didn't understand why Jun-hyuk did that. Occasionally, he even suspected that Jun-hyuk was blinded by greed. It wasn't until now that he realized his younger brother had misled everyone from the start, using his greedy appearance to make almost everyone believe that he was taking advantage of the opportunity to demand a huge sum of compensation.

  Make everyone believe that he is a man who can use everything for wealth.

  If someone disguises something as an accident, who would think it was done by him?

  I'm afraid even the police would rule him out first when investigating!

  ;