Chapter 14: An Unexpected Encounter

Seeing him apologize so meekly, my tension eased, and I lost the urge to stay mad. His scooter was a wreck, too—a mangled L-shaped heap lodged against a tree, looking like trash.

“…Be careful from now on.”

“Yep.”

His quick reply somehow ticked me off. I glared at my scattered clothes and belongings on the sidewalk. The kid, noticing my mood, hurriedly scooped them up and stuffed them back into the shopping bag—more like cramming laundry into a bin. It irritated me more.

Handing me the bag with both hands, he asked.

“Can I… go now?”

I sighed, suppressing the pain in my stinging arms and legs. Guess I’m just unlucky today.

But as I was about to let him leave, my eyes caught the name embroidered on his uniform.

[Yoo Hyung Joo]

‘…?!’

My mouth froze. That name was too familiar.

It was on the casting board. My mind raced, digging through memories to place him.

[Yoo Hyung Joo as Director Yoo: Choi Do Yoon’s same-age friend and loan shark.]

“…”

‘Director Yoo’ is Do Yoon’s best friend, a loan shark.

I was speechless, dumbfounded. Why’s he here?

If someone asked why a romance novel’s protagonist is best friends with a loan shark, I’d say it’s because sometimes the heroine faces injustices beyond legal protection, and the hero swoops in to fix it. When Seung Hyun kidnaps Bae Ji An, Do Yoon relies heavily on Hyung Joo’s underground connections.

Later, Hyung Joo plays a ‘key’ role in dealing with Seung Hyun.

In the novel, Do Yoon finds a bloodied Hyung Joo collapsed near his house during college, takes him to the hospital, and becomes his savior. Hyung Joo, from a rough background, blindly admires and follows Do Yoon for treating him kindly despite their different worlds.

Their touching story aside, the problem is this guy later lends Seung Hyun an unpayable debt on Do Yoon’s orders and beats him to near death. The novel vaguely describes Hyung Joo’s delinquent past, hinting he was already beyond a typical thug as a kid.

‘If I hadn’t met Do Yoon, I’d still be living like trash.’

A loan shark saying that was a bit rich, but it made him seem relatively reformed—especially compared to Seung Hyun, the real trash who dabbled in drugs, trafficking, workplace bullying, and kidnapping his brother’s girlfriend.

The sudden appearance of this character sent chills down my spine. Could it be a different Hyung Joo?

“See you, then.”

But then I remembered him walking with his friends earlier. A terrifying thought hit me, my heart pounding.

“Hey, Yoo Hyung Joo, living with your grandma.”

His face went blank, then cold. I was certain—this was that Director Yoo.

Without a second thought, I grabbed his arm, slung it over my shoulder, and hooked my other arm around his neck, tilting his head to align our ears. Caught off guard, he yelped and collapsed to his knees as I pressed his carotid artery. I subdued him in seconds.

“Give me my wallet. Before I call the cops.”

If my memory’s right, his first crime was theft.

Shockingly, Hyung Joo already had a rap sheet for theft—multiple times. He denied it all the way to the police station, but texts from his friends on his phone were damning evidence.

[Dude, the card actually worked.]

At the same time, a message hit my phone: 5 million won charged at XX Motorcycle. I froze all my cards, and the two accomplices at the motorcycle shop were soon nabbed.

So, Hyung Joo rammed me with the scooter, distracted me with nonsense, while his friends swiped my wallet. They’d targeted me impulsively after seeing me step out of a fancy car. Not your average high schooler crime. Even the wrecked scooter was stolen.

“What do you want to do? He’s not a first offender, so he’ll face harsh punishment. He’s too old for juvenile protection, and with accomplices, it’s special theft.”

“Hyung, I’m really sorry. I needed money. Please let me off once.”

Hearing the detective’s cold tone, Hyung Joo clung to me with a pitiful face. His acting was exposed earlier, so why try it again? I turned away, but my legs trembled.

‘This is insane.’

Normally, I’d never let a criminal off, young or old. But the problem was this was Hyung Joo.

If I let the law handle him, he’ll likely meet Do Yoon years later, become best friends, and remember me. He might even cheer.

‘Yo, thanks to you, I had a great time in juvie! Gotta live righteously! Justice prevails!’

Spouting nonsense like that. Hyung Joo holds grudges forever. Damn, should I have let him rob me?

But letting him go risks him harming others. And he’ll meet Do Yoon eventually anyway.

That’s the real issue.

“Ha.”

I sighed. Luckily, his two accomplices, first-timers, looked nervous and unlikely to cause trouble if released. Nameless extras aren’t major players. Hyung Joo kept whining.

“I did it to survive.”

“That’s all you’ve got?”

His excuse didn’t move me. I struggled after my dad bailed, but I never turned to crime.

He glared, eyes tearing up.

“You’re rich. Losing this won’t kill you.”

“Shut up!”

The detective slammed the desk, standing. I rubbed my forehead, thinking, then said.

“I’ll be lenient, but with one condition.”

I took the three to a nearby sundae soup restaurant.

“Eat up.”

After theft and release in one day, it was past lunchtime. I signaled with my eyes, and Hyung Joo’s accomplices hesitantly started eating. They went from reluctance to crunching spicy radish kimchi, clearly enjoying it. Old, weathered hole-in-the-wall spots like this are the real gems.

The only sour face was Hyung Joo’s.

“This is your leniency condition?”

“Yup.”

My condition was simple: write a reflection letter promising not to do it again and eat a meal with me before going home.

To avoid bad blood with Hyung Joo, I mimicked what Do Yoon did. Taking an uninjured kid to the hospital wasn’t an option, so I bought him food, like Do Yoon did. In the novel, Do Yoon told a teary Hyung Joo post-hospital, ‘I don’t know what happened, but eat well and stay strong. It’s how you survive.’ Instead of comforting words, I made him write a detailed reflection letter. It felt like the only way to ease my frustration.

Dropping the act, Hyung Joo sneered.

“You a pushover?”

“…”

This jerk—his words hit a nerve.

I’m doing all this to avoid bad blood with the guy who stole from me! But I didn’t want to add personal grudges before he even meets Do Yoon, especially since he’s a dangerous figure who physically attacks me in the novel. Taking a deep breath, I spoke as gently as I could.

“When you’re full, you’re happy. Then you don’t think about stealing.”

“f*cking ridiculous.”

This punk’s still mouthing off despite my kindness.

“Don’t throw your spoon. You cleaning it? Don’t forget I let you go on the condition of eating with me.”

“If you wanna play saint, you could’ve just let me go earlier. Choking me out like that…”

Dumbass, that was jiu-jitsu. A brief stint as an extra stunt double paid off today.