Park Man-seok had lived a life without much difficulty.
His life was one without obstacles.
From a young age, Park Man-seok was one of those kids who could throw a decent punch at School.
After graduating high school, he joined an Organization.
The place he belonged to was the Twin Axe Pa.
Perhaps he had a knack for this kind of work.
He received plenty of affection from his seniors.
Gradually, Park Man-seok solidified his position within the Twin Axe Pa.
On days when violence and friendship blended together, one of his close seniors approached him.
“Hey, how about you try your hand at a job?”
“Huh? A job?”
“Yeah. You can’t stay a simple errand boy forever, right?”
An opportunity to move up.
Maybe that’s what caught his eye.
Park Man-seok accepted the offer.
Some time later, the Twin Axe Pa changed its name.
From Twin Axe Pa to Dokki Pa.
There were some sacrifices made in the process, but it had nothing to do with him.
After the job was done, his senior, who had become Boss of the Dokki Pa, offered Park Man-seok the position of second-in-command.
“I’m sorry.”
He refused the offer.
It wasn’t because he wanted to live an honest life.
He simply realized something while witnessing the inner war that turned Twin Axe Pa into Dokki Pa.
No matter how good you are with your fists, society doesn’t run on fists alone—he finally understood that.
So Park Man-seok left Dokki Pa and started a Company.
A Construction Company.
At first, he just scraped by with some acquaintances, living day to day.
Maybe it was the know-how he gained from his days as a gangster.
Growing the Company was easy.
The unruly ones? He still asked the Dokki Pa, who he was on good terms with, to threaten them.
After building a proper building over the tears of those who left, more and more Clients came knocking.
After all, how many people in this business can just build a shiny new building on a plot filled with stubborn Tenants?
And so, the Construction Company he founded was slowly finding its place in this world.
Then, one day.
“Evict them.”
“Yes, hyungnim.”
Park Man-seok received a request.
It wasn’t much different from his previous jobs: kick out the Tenants and put up a building.
The job was quite lucrative, so Park Man-seok accepted right away.
He immediately called in the Dokki Pa to start driving out the people.
But this Neighborhood was a bit tougher than usual.
Normally, people would get scared and run at the sight of gangsters.
But the Neighborhood folks resisted the Dokki Pa, even as they got beaten.
Still, he’d never failed at a job, so he thought it was just a matter of time.
Then, someone came looking for him.
It was a Woman from the area he was trying to clear out.
She had a Daughter and begged him to stop.
Bringing the kid along, asking for mercy—the sight of it was almost laughable.
He nearly burst out laughing.
‘Can’t you stop now?’
‘Oh. No. You either get out, or—well, do whatever you want and take it to the end.’
With a cold heart, Park Man-seok rejected her plea and told Dokki Pa to speed things up.
Dokki Pa, taking Park Man-seok’s suggestion, pressed the people even harder.
In the end, he got the land.
Watching all this, his Wife said she couldn’t live with a heartless beast anymore and eventually ran away.
It didn’t matter.
His Daughter was still with him, after all.
He raised her dearly for several years…….
‘Why is she getting into so much trouble these days?’
Recently, he heard she was accused at School of bullying someone and got sued.
Fighting was one thing, but a lawsuit could seriously affect his Daughter’s life—this was a sensitive matter.
But the victims weren’t adults, just other Students, so he couldn’t just abduct someone and punish them.
He needed to handle things at just the right level, scare them a bit, and get the charges dropped…
Since the other party was a Student, he was watching the situation carefully, wondering when to make his move.
Because of the stress, he came here today, hoping to blow off some steam…
‘Damn it, what’s with today? Even women aren’t going my way.’
Park Man-seok frowned as he stared at Police Officer Oh Seohyun sitting across from him.
He’d gone to the trouble of buying expensive liquor.
She’d only sipped a little, barely finishing a glass.
He’d hoped that after a few drinks, things would go smoothly, but it wasn’t working out.
“Drink. It’s the last glass.”
“You’re rushing me. I can’t handle much.”
With a faint smile and a shake of her head, Oh Seohyun’s attitude only made Park Man-seok’s irritation flare.
She was drinking so slowly that on the second glass, he decided to play a trick.
Usually, he waited until the woman was tipsy, but maybe all the recent stress made his patience thin.
He forced a smile and lifted his glass.
“If you came all the way here and don’t even have a drink, isn’t that a shame? This is expensive stuff, you know.”
“It’s fine…… I think I’m already a little tipsy.”
Once again, Oh Seohyun refused Park Man-seok’s suggestion.
Seeing that, Park Man-seok’s hand shook with anger.
Anyone could see she was being cautious, and her excuse about being tipsy pissed him off even more.
“Ha, if you’re not going to drink, why did you come here? Weird woman.”
“Woman? I just heard there was a fun oppa here, told me to come for a good time, so I came.”
“Seriously, what other reason would someone let you in? To drink together, obviously.”
“Well, I didn’t know you’d force me like this.”
Feigning ignorance, Oh Seohyun eventually stood up.
Seeing this, Park Man-seok couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Sit.”
“Huh?”
“Sit down.”
Park Man-seok grabbed Oh Seohyun’s wrist, forcing her to sit.
“What are you doing?”
“Damn, you really don’t listen, do you? Am I a joke to you? I said, just drink this one glass.”
Park Man-seok pointed his chin at the glass in front of Oh Seohyun.
With words like that, he figured she’d at least be scared and just drink.
Sure enough.
Oh Seohyun finally lifted her glass.
Just as Park Man-seok’s lips curled in satisfaction—
CRASH!
The door to the room Park Man-seok and Oh Seohyun were in burst open with a thunderous sound.
Standing at the entrance—
“……”
A single man.
Caught off guard, Park Man-seok stared at the door, his expression flustered.
Behind the man blocking the door stood several Club Security Guards.
Among them was Pigeon, who’d shown Park Man-seok in at the start.
“…..Hey. Who the hell are you?”
Annoyed, Park Man-seok slowly rose to his feet and asked.
But the guy only stared at Park Man-seok in silence.
Some weirdo, ignoring him even after walking in uninvited—his anger boiled over.
“Keep exercising your right to remain silent, then. I’m already pissed. Let’s see how long you keep that mouth shut…”
With a twisted expression, Park Man-seok took off his watch and moved his body.
Thud.
And then, Park Man-seok’s fist landed squarely on the guy’s face.
It was a solid hit, but the man’s body barely budged.
He simply met Park Man-seok’s gaze and spoke in a low voice.
“You threw the first punch…”
“…You bastard.”
Eyes filled with madness.
At that look, Park Man-seok instinctively realized the man hadn’t tried to dodge at all.
“So now it’s self-defense, huh?”
The man continued coldly.
Hearing that, Park Man-seok couldn’t help but sneer.
“This guy’s out of his damn mind.”
Looks like this bastard is today’s punching bag.
***
Lee Jaehyun felt blood ooze from his split lip, and a faint smile appeared.
He’d intended for the other man to throw the first punch.
He was confident he wouldn’t be knocked out from just a single hit…
And, given the tricky situation, it was all the more reason.
He couldn’t forget the real objective.
Lee Jaehyun and Oh Seohyun were moving to resolve the School Violence incident involving Song Aram and her friend Choi Sujin.
Of course, things had escalated, now involving Ban / ㅇ and the Daehan Bank Branch Manager.
But at the heart of it all were the incident and the Evidence.
It all started to stop the School Violence against Song Aram and Choi Sujin, and along the way, they uncovered the dark deeds of Park Man-seok, Ban / ㅇ’s representative, and the Daehan Bank Tanyang Intersection Branch Manager. Naturally, they would resolve those as well.
It wasn’t just that he couldn’t look away as a Police Officer—their methods and backgrounds were all tied to the home.
Tearing that down was the best revenge, and directly helped solve the School Violence.
Until they secured Evidence to bring down Park Man-seok, he couldn’t reveal himself as Police Officer so easily.
If he acted recklessly, or gave even the smallest ‘opening’, things could go wrong.
‘His punches sting more than I thought.’
Still, it wasn’t unbearable.
Lee Jaehyun took a deep breath, then stepped forward.
Hoping Oh Seohyun had figured something out, he planned to subdue the guy and withdraw from the scene.
“I just came to pick up my friend. Do you really have to make such a fuss?”
“Ah, your friend and I are just having one last drink. I’ll send her back in the morning, so stop worrying and get lost.”
“Why would a single drink mean you send her back in the morning? I really don’t get it.”
“Ha, you really are a pain in the ass.”
“Right back at you.”
Saying so, Lee Jaehyun glanced at Oh Seohyun and continued.
“I’d like to rest at home too, but thanks to bastards like you, I never get any peace.”
“Kid, you just want to show off in front of a girl you like, huh? Will you be okay?”
Park Man-seok tapped his own lips with a finger.
The spot where Lee Jaehyun’s lip was bleeding.
“You’re bleeding a lot. Did you break something?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go to the hospital later, so you just make sure you’re ready to pay the settlement.”
“You made a fuss about self-defense after one punch, but now you’re too scared to fight back? Why do cowards always talk so much?”
Park Man-seok stepped forward again, as if ready to swing.
Lee Jaehyun let the words go in one ear and out the other, but quickly caught onto a clue in Park Man-seok’s words.
The ‘one drink’ Park Man-seok mentioned wasn’t just a normal drink.
He had emphasized ‘just one drink’.
But why send her back in the morning?
Unless it was just a thoughtless comment…
‘Drugs?’
GHB.
Otherwise known as Mulppong.
Just a little mixed in alcohol and the victim would pass out cold.
They wouldn’t remember a thing from when they were unconscious.
That’s why it’s infamous as a date rape drug.
He couldn’t be sure if it was true or not.
But if it was…
‘You’re finished, bastard.’
Park Man-seok would never get away with this.