The man stood trembling in front of the door.
His glasses were fogged with sweat. His hands shook at his sides. His face was pale, drenched in cold perspiration. He looked like he was standing in front of the gates of hell itself.
'Come on. Come on. I have to do this. I have to tell him. I have to tell someone before it gets worse.'
He took a deep breath. Then another. His hand reached for the door handle, hesitated, then grabbed it.
He pushed the door open.
"Boss..."
Before he could finish, something shot past his head — close enough to tear a few strands of hair from his scalp. He flinched, stumbling backward, his eyes wide with terror. He turned his head slowly and saw a knife embedded in the wall behind him, its blade buried deep in the plaster.
A loud, malicious laugh echoed from inside the room.
"Jae-won! Aaah, my partner! Come in, come in!"
Slowly, Jae-won turned back toward the room.
Inside, a man sat behind a large desk. His skin was pale — so pale it looked almost gray, like he was already half-dead. His hair was dyed white, though the dark roots were visible, showing it had been a while since he'd last touched it up.
He wore a white button-up shirt, unbuttoned all the way down, revealing a network of dark tattoos spreading across his chest and torso. His suit jacket was tossed carelessly over the back of his chair. His feet were propped up on the desk, crossed at the ankles.
He leaned back in his chair, one hand behind his head, the other was juggling a pair of knives. His eyes were wild, unhinged — the eyes of a psychopath. And maybe he was one.
This was Kang Dae-hyun. Executive of the Kkachi-pa.
He worked out of a Busan Credit Solutions office — one of their scam operations. Fraud, deception, identity theft — it was their specialty. His job was to sit there all day, solving any problems that came up. Usually, that meant going out and beating the hell out of someone who was causing trouble. Others it was beating the hell out of someone who wasn't working enough. He was the muscle of the operation. He also kept everyone in line — anyone who stepped out of line, he destroyed.
Kang Dae-hyun was a muscular man, built like a fighter. His body was covered in tattoos, and if it weren't for that crazed smile on his face, he would have been handsome. He had a strong jawline, a well-groomed goatee, sharp features. He could have been attractive if he were normal. But he wasn't. He was a psychopath through and through.
"Come in, come in!" Kang Dae-hyun called out, gesturing wildly. "Don't be shy, Jae-won!"
Jae-won stepped inside, forcing a nervous smile. His hands were shaking visibly.
"Ah... hello, Kang Dae-hyun. How are you?"
Kang Dae-hyun grinned. "I'm great! Wonderful, actually. So, what brings you here?"
His tone was mocking, clearly toying with him. One of his hands came to rested on the desk, while the other continued to casually juggle the two knives — flipping them in the air, catching them, flipping them again.
Jae-won swallowed hard. "I... I have a problem. I wanted to report it to you."
The moment the word "problem" left his lips, Kang Dae-hyun's expression shifted. The smile vanished, replaced by a cold, dead stare. His eyes fixed on Jae-won, his hand still juggling the knives, but slower now.
"What did you say?" His voice was flat, dangerous.
Jae-won stammered. "I-I have a problem."
Kang Dae-hyun stopped juggling. He slammed both knives into the desk, embedding them deep in the wood. He stared at Jae-won.
"A problem?" His voice was icy.
Jae-won scrambled. "N-no, I mean — it's nothing serious! Just a small thing! Something a little abnormal, I just wanted to report it!"
Kang Dae-hyun stood up slowly. He walked around the desk, his footsteps heavy and deliberate against the floor. Each step echoed in the tense silence. He circled around behind Jae-won, his presence looming.
He leaned in close, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"Jae-won..."
Jae-won froze. Cold sweat poured down his face. He knew what was coming. He braced himself for the worst.
And then Kang Dae-hyun jumped forward with a loud "BOO!"
Jae-won screamed.
Kang Dae-hyun burst out laughing. "Ahahaha! I scared you! Relax, man, you're too tense!"
He started massaging Jae-won's shoulders, his voice light and friendly again. "Come on, come on. Tell me what the problem is. Don't be nervous! I'm here for you. Everything's fine."
Jae-won forced a laugh, still trembling. "W-well, you see... one of the scam documents has gone missing."
The moment he said it, he felt one of Kang Dae-hyun's hand stop moving on his shoulder. He looked up, confused. He turned his head slightly, trying to see what was happening.
Kang Dae-hyun's arm was stretched out. Jae-won followed it with his eyes — and saw the knife that had been stuck in the desk was now driven through his own hand, pinning it to the armrest of the chair.
Jae-won's eyes went wide. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Kang Dae-hyun leaned down, his face right next to Jae-won's, a wide, terrifying smile on his lips.
"What did you say?"
Jae-won's voice broke. "N-no! No! It's not my fault! I did everything right, I swear! I've been working so hard for the company! I've been meeting all my quotas, all my targets! I've been making so much money for the company this quarter!"
Kang Dae-hyun's eyes seemed to glow — a dangerous blue light radiating from them. He repeated, his voice low and menacing:
"What. Did. You. Say?"
Jae-won sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "The documents... for some of the frauds... they disappeared..."
Kang Dae-hyun's smile widened. He straightened up.
"Ahhh. I see. I see. Understood." He gave Jae-won a friendly pat on the back. "Thank you for the report, buddy."
Then he turned and walked toward the door.
Jae-won sat in the chair, his hand still pierced by the knife, tears streaming down his face. But despite the pain, a strange feeling washed over himself, relief. The worst had passed. Kang Dae-hyun was gone. He had survived.
---
Kang Dae-hyun walked through the office, buttoning his shirt as he went. He approached the front desk, where the receptionist — a young woman named Miss Sang — was sitting.
"Miss Sang," he said cheerfully. "Clear my schedule for today. I have a little investigation to do."
She looked up at him, her face pale with fear. "O-of course, Mr. Kang Dae-hyun."
He smiled at her, then walked out of the building.
Miss Sang let out a shaky breath. She started gathering her things, heading upstairs to his office to clear his schedule on his computer. As she walked, she muttered complaints under her breath.
'Ugh. That brute Kang Dae-hyun. Always making me do his work for him. It's not even hard — just click three buttons. Why does he always make me do it?'
She reached the door to his office and pushed it open.
She screamed.
Inside, Jae-won was crumpled on the desk — the desk itself was split in two, broken from the force of whatever had happened. His face was a ruin, his arms broken, his hands mangled. Two knives were embedded in his thighs deep, they almost passed it through. It was a terrible sight.
"HELP! HELP!" Miss Sang shrieked. "SOMEONE! IT'S A CORPSE! IT'S A CORPSE!"
But then Jae-won let out a weak, rattling gasp — coughing up blood, still alive.
He was still breathing. Barely.
---
Outside, Kang Dae-hyun was already walking down the street. He finished buttoning his shirt as he walked, then looked at his hand — there was still some blood on it from Jae-won. Without a second thought, he wiped the blood onto the white fabric of his shirt, leaving a dark red stain across the clean surface.
A wide grin spread across his face.
"Now... who's the bastard I get to tear apart today?"