A large figure stepped out of the shadows. Shoulder-length hair. Calm eyes. He moved like he had nowhere to be.
Dae Bujin looked at him from the floor, still locked in Vin Jin's armbar. "Gong Cheol. You can't run now. The organization has started investigating you. They sent that person."
Gong Cheol clapped slowly. "I didn't expect them to move this fast."
Vin Jin kept the lock on but looked between them. "Hey. Big guy. Where are my friends?"
Dae Bujin nodded toward Gong Cheol. "He might know. I don't. I came here to investigate him. Human trafficking. Organ trafficking."
Vin Jin looked at Gong Cheol. "Where are they?"
Gong Cheol smiled. "You're very rude, little friend. I'd like to correct that." He paused. "Also, you should be more careful. Your friends have gone missing again."
Vin Jin looked around. Sally and Jenny were gone.
He let go of the armbar and stood up. Over the years he had been working on this, the part of him that went red and stopped thinking. He had gotten better at holding it down.
Not now.
He crossed the distance and drove Gong Cheol straight into the wall. Gong Cheol had been waiting for exactly that. He brought both elbows down hard toward Vin Jin's back. He didn't expect Vin Jin to drop his level and slam him headfirst into the ground.
CRACK!
Vin Jin took his glasses off. "I can't take it anymore. Why does a simple vacation have to turn into this?!"
He rushed in. Gong Cheol slid forward and hit him with a body blow, compact and precise. The impact sent Vin Jin crashing into the back wall.
Gong Cheol was already closing the gap. Vin Jin grabbed him on the way in, fell into a backward roll, planted his foot on Gong Cheol's midsection, and kicked him up and over.
SLAM!
Gong Cheol hit the floor behind him and stood back up without hesitation. He smiled. "This is difficult with the other one watching."
Dae Bujin launched himself forward like a torpedo, horizontal and fast, and hit Gong Cheol full in the chest. Gong Cheol crossed his arms and absorbed most of it but skidded back. Dae Bujin grabbed his hips before he could recover, hoisted him up, and threw him back-first into the ground.
BOOM!
Dae Bujin cracked his neck. "You're weaker than me, Gong Cheol."
Gong Cheol got up and dusted himself off. "Did you let the kid submit you just to bait me out? Since when do you use your brain?"
He rushed in and hit Dae Bujin with a short jumping knee, then swung a heavy left hook that sent the big man skidding sideways.
Before he could follow up, Vin Jin was already on him. He grabbed Gong Cheol's arm and pulled him over his shoulder.
CRASH!
Gong Cheol hit the ground hard and rolled back to his feet. He grabbed Vin Jin, lifted him clean off the floor, and drove him down into the concrete.
A crater split open where Vin Jin landed.
Vin Jin pushed himself up from it and spit blood. His whole body was screaming. He didn't care.
Dae Bujin charged in again and connected a heavy punch to Gong Cheol's chest, staggering him back. He threw another and went for the grab. Gong Cheol ducked under it, swept both legs, and put Dae Bujin on the floor.
He got on top and started hitting him in the face. Dae Bujin tried to push him off but couldn't keep up with the pace. Gong Cheol grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and wrenched it up. Dae Bujin yelled. Gong Cheol moved behind him and locked his arm around the big man's throat and held it.
Dae Bujin clawed at the arm and thrashed. His face went red. Then his movements slowed. Then stopped.
Gong Cheol let go and Dae Bujin slumped forward, out cold.
Gong Cheol stood up. His ribs ached from the earlier hits. He looked at Vin Jin. "Just you left."
Vin Jin went straight at him. Gong Cheol threw a punch. Vin Jin slipped it and cracked him in the jaw with his elbow. Gong Cheol's head snapped sideways.
He grabbed for Vin Jin. Vin Jin was already gone, pulling the arm and flipping him over. Gong Cheol hit the ground and rolled away fast.
He came up throwing a flurry of punches, most of them missing. One grazed Vin Jin's cheek. Vin Jin caught the last one, pulled it, and drove his knee hard into Gong Cheol's ribs.
Gong Cheol's breath left him. He backed up and grabbed Vin Jin before he could press the advantage, yanked him forward, and threw him into the wall. He followed immediately and hit him across the face with his forearm.
Vin Jin went down.
Gong Cheol didn't give him a second. He kicked Vin Jin's leg out from under him as he tried to rise, and as Vin Jin fell he punched him straight in the face and drove him into the floor.
Vin Jin tried to get up. His body refused. His vision had gone soft at the edges. The floor felt far away.
Before him, Gong Cheol was on the phone. His voice was even and unbothered. "Yes. Dae Bujin has been captured. Easier than expected. There was a minor nuisance, but it's been handled."
Vin Jin lay still and stared at the ceiling and breathed.