Episode 10
Even after seeing him twice, she knew who he was.
Luis. The man at the port who guided Monica to the train station when she first arrived in the city.
“Excuse me, Luis? Don’t you remember me? I was the one who gave you directions two days ago at the port…”
“… I told you the way?”
But the affection from that time was nowhere to be found in the man. He asked with his blue eyes glaring menacingly.
“Yes, you did. At that time, I…”
Monica tried hard to explain, but the man didn’t seem to have any intention of listening. He continued to swear at Monica without even hearing her out.
“That little bastard, who looks like a burst barley sack, is running around shedding tears again.”
“… bastard…”
“Hey, you stinky ponytail.”
A ponytail? Monica’s eyes widened at the outrageous title and she unconsciously pointed at herself.
The man snorted at the look in her eyes that seemed to say, “Are you talking about me?”
“That Luis kid has nothing to do with me, so get out of the way. Don’t block the road.”
He was an extremely rude man. He said that and, without waiting for Monica’s answer, pushed her shoulder to one side. It was a careless and rough touch, as if he were pushing something away.
Monica fell backward without realizing it and cried out, “Ah!”
“Hey!”
The man’s steps were quick. He was still a little unsteady, perhaps because he was drunk, but his strides were incredibly wide, perhaps because his legs were long.
Monica jumped up and ran, barely able to catch up with him.
“Wait a minute!”
Monica realized only after she grabbed the man’s rough shirt sleeve that, at first glance, it was made from a completely different material than the shiny, flowing fabric of Luis’s clothes.
There was no way Luis would wear something like that. It seemed she was indeed mistaken about who he thought she was.
But that’s that, and this is this.
“What the heck!”
The man threw her arm away in frustration. Monica protested without giving in.
“You push someone over like that and don’t even apologize?”
“What are you saying? You bumped into me as I was walking.”
“I’m sorry about that! But you pushed me back after that!”
At Monica’s words, the man shouted again.
“Oh, I got it! I’m sorry! Is that okay? Now get out of here quickly!”
“No!”
“What?”
The beautiful face that resembled Luis’s was stained with absurdity. Monica ignored it and pointed to the place where she had fallen.
“You made my stuff a mess.”
The place where Monica had fallen was on top of a sewer filled with old and dirty nets. This meant that Monica’s straw hat, comb, silk ribbon, and other items all fell into the sewer and became a mess.
The straw hat and comb were still caught in the net and were fine, but the silk ribbon had fallen entirely into the clogged drain.
If she pulled it out, the beautiful blue ribbon would be ruined.
“That’s a 60-dollar for one!”
“Whatever!”
“What do you mean!”
“Get one more later! Get out of the way now!”
“You are on my way! Do you know who I am and why I’m letting you go?!”
“I said I don’t care!”
“Luis! You stupid bastard!”
There was a scuffle and a fight. The man looked desperate, but that was none of Monica’s business. He was the one who pushed her.
Now Monica was holding onto the man’s arm, not his sleeve, but his arm so tightly that he couldn’t move with just one arm.
“Aren’t you going to let this go? I’m…”
“I can’t let you go! Give me back the 60 dollars! It’s all my money!”
He was twice as big as Monica, so if he wanted to get her off, he could easily do it. Monica thought she had to hold on tighter, almost hugging the man.
‘I’m 60 dollars short!’
She couldn’t throw away that much money because of such a rude man. She would get it back no matter what.
But then a loud noise was heard from one side of the alley.
“Garcia! You fucking bastard!”
“Found him!”
Monica’s eyes widened. The man gritted his teeth.
“You piece of shit, you ruined everything!”
“What did I ruin?”
As soon as she asked, Monica got her answer.
Of course, it wasn’t the man who answered. Three men appeared from across the alley, holding ominous objects like pickaxes and hammers in their hands.
They were men with a completely different, more dangerous aura than the man in front of her. It would be more appropriate to call them gangsters than men.
“Hey, you son of a bitch! Today is the day I’ll cut you down!”
“That little bastard’s wrist is mine!”
As soon as she heard that, Monica let go of the man’s arm that she was holding. She knew instinctively that a fight was about to break out between these men—or rather, it had already begun.
No matter how precious 60 dollars was, it was less precious than her life. If she got caught up in a swinging pickaxe, she’d be in big trouble.
The young man named Garcia laughed in amazement as he watched Monica suddenly walk away from him.
“You said you wouldn’t let me go?”
But there was no reason to answer that. Monica stepped aside to one side of the alley, and the laughing young man quickly ran to the other side. The gangsters also ran again, shouting, “Stay over there!”
Monica secretly hoped that she wouldn’t be noticed by them. Please, just go after him, ignore me…
Of course, such a wish would never come true.
“What is this girl doing?”
Among them, the one holding the hammer grabbed Monica’s arm. “Oh no!” Monica pleaded.
“I’m just a passerby! I have nothing to do with that person!”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? I saw you hugging each other!”
“That little shit ruined all our stuff, and now you’re saying you’re not his whore?”
“I really didn’t. That guy ruined all my stuff, and I was just complaining about it!”
But the gangsters, with their eyes rolling back, didn’t listen to Monica’s protests.
“Where’s that kid?”
“How would I know? You saw him running away!”
One of the excited thugs grabbed Monica by the hair as she was talking. Monica was dragged away before she had a chance to shed tears.
“Because of your lover, our entire warehouse burned down. Do you know how much that was worth? 100,000 won worth!”
“Bring that ruined baby back to us!”
“No, he’s not my lover, and I don’t even know where he is! And why are you dragging me?”
Monica wanted to say that, but it was hard to come to her senses when her hair was grabbed and she was shaking wildly.
“Hey! No!”
The remaining thug came back late. The three of them, including the two thugs who had held Monica, were butting heads together, grumbling.
“Where did that little rat go?”
“This won’t work. Let’s start with this girl.”
“I told you, I really don’t care, ugh.”
Despite Monica’s pleas, the man with the hammer grabbed her chin and lifted it up.
“I wish I had a lover like you. I’d throw my life away for someone like that.”
Monica opened her eyes wide. Really? Are they going to kill me like this?
The hand holding the hammer went up. It was incredible—her life, which had started off so ordinary, was about to end after she had gone out to buy a comb that morning. Monica struggled, but the man who had grabbed her hair wouldn’t let her go.
I’m going crazy. I should’ve just let him go, even though he’s rude and has no sense of humor. I should’ve let it go after the bad first impression. Why did I pick a fight without realizing how precious my life was?
“If you keep reacting to everything like that, you’ll be in big trouble someday,” someone’s words came to mind.
She had dismissed it at the time because it was out of concern for the wronged party… Sol, I should’ve listened to you, Monica suddenly felt wronged as she thought about this.
Sol! A person with the exact same face as the one who made her situation like this!
That was when—
“Those crazy guys.”
A low, growling voice was heard. Monica turned her head for a moment.
The blonde young man who had clearly shaken her off and run away was standing there again. He continued speaking with a fierce expression on his face.
“Let her go. She is not related to me.”
“That bastard Garcia!”
“It doesn’t matter! Are you here to find your lover?”
The thugs raised their pickaxes and sickles. Garcia ignored them and glared at Monica. His eyes were cold.
“Didn’t I tell you to let her go?”
Monica felt aggrieved. How would she feel, being entangled with a complete stranger and treated like this? Monica cursed without realizing it.
“I wish they had heard my explanation and would have chased you!”
“This girl…”
The man with the hammer who had been holding Monica back slammed her against the wall. Her back hit hard. It hurt so much that tears welled up in her eyes. Then Garcia screamed.
“I told you to let go!”
“You’re the one who needs to ask for my warehouse!”
“Stop being a jerk! Yaaa!”
The thugs rushed in. Monica could hear Garcia lunging at them.
Monica, who was struggling to breathe with her back pressed against the wall and her neck pressed by the man’s arm, couldn’t see clearly, but she heard a thud, thud sound.
She also heard the occasional squeak of “This kid, that kid.” She thought the fight would be one-sided since they were carrying equipment…
“No, those idiots.”
The man who was holding Monica’s neck was getting more and more restless.
“Hey! I told you to push him! What are you doing?”
Monica glanced around and turned. It was possible because the strength in his grip had disappeared. However, before she could even take a single step away, her hair was grabbed again.
Meanwhile, a rather surprising sight unfolded in the place where she turned her gaze. Garcia was still running wild, and one of the gangsters had already fallen. And—
With a thud, the remaining one was kicked by Garcia in the jaw with his foot. The thug passed out with a gasp.
It was immediately after that that Garcia’s sharp eyes turned towards Monica.
“I told you to let that woman go.”
“You, you’ll regret it. Your lover’s life is in my…”
“Let’s see who will regret it?”
The thug grabbed Monica’s head and threatened her, but Garcia didn’t budge.
“I don’t even know who that ponytail is. You little shits. Do you think I’d blink an eye if you grabbed a woman I don’t know and threatened her?”
“I, I…”
“Yeah, what?”
Garcia answered dryly and leaned down. The gangster blinked and looked at Garcia without realizing it.
The next moment, Garcia, who had raised his body, was holding a stone in his hand. The man quickly leaned back and swung his arm.
Sigh.
The thug who was holding Monica was hit in the forehead by the sudden stone slinging.
The man fell backward without even making a sound. Monica also stumbled and fell down with him. This was because the gangster didn’t let go of her hair until just before he fell.
There was a loud thud. She didn’t fall completely to the floor, but tears welled up in her eyes. She had fallen and scraped both her knees on the ground.
“Ahhh…”
Unable to raise her body, Monica just groaned. She couldn’t come to her senses.
Her palms and knees were sore, and her whole body was aching. Even in the midst of all this, she could clearly hear the young man walking toward her with his feet clacking.
“Hey, ponytail.”
“….”
“Are you okay?”
Monica decided that as soon as she woke up, she would scratch that man’s face.
