[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 247

[Let’s smoke!]

[I’m getting tired just watching.]

[Room Master, why are you wandering around like a puddle? LOL]

[Well, they’re the host, so they must be busy LOL]

While rummaging through my clothes to take out a cigarette in the smoking area, I feel a vibration in my pocket.

*Buzz!*

[Daemin Card Approval: Han* for 350 KRW (One-time payment) at Green Convenience Store]

I take out my ringing phone and see a card payment message.

Looks like the kids bought some candy as a snack.

Even though I told them they could eat something expensive, they must have thought it would be a bother to me, so they only use the card for necessities.

“350 KRW is kinda cute.”

I can’t help but smile imagining the siblings holding hands and buying one candy to share.

*Buzz!*

[Daemin Card Approval: Han* for 4,500 KRW (One-time payment) at Green Convenience Store]

“4,500 KRW?”

*Buzz!*

[Daemin Card Approval: Han* for 9,000 KRW (One-time payment) at Green Convenience Store]

Before I could finish reading the new message, another one comes in.

The strange thing is that the price is gradually increasing.

I don’t care what they’re buying, but the numbers are bothering me.

It’s a price very familiar to smokers.

“Hey, wait a second!”

Hearing my voice, one of Man-wook’s underlings quickly runs over.

Looking at his face, he’s the one who’s always by Man-wook’s side.

“Yes, ma’am. Did you call me?”

*Buzz!*

[Daemin Card Approval: Han* for 490,000 KRW (One-time payment) at Candle Gimbap]

Meanwhile, another payment notification message comes in.

“Look at this. What’s going on?”

Man-wook’s underling, who read the message on my phone, looks back at me as if asking what the problem is.

“Didn’t they just buy some cigarettes after eating?”

“Who buys 500,000 KRW worth of gimbap? And the ones who used this are middle school sisters.”

“Hmm…”

Man-wook’s underling looks at my phone again and nods as if he’s come to a conclusion.

“Ma’am, kids these days are fast.”

“Do they want to leave this world quickly?”

“Gasp.”

The kids who seemed to be struggling with the remaining balance on their child meal card at the convenience store, so I took them out for meat and gave them the card.

As always, they’re just kids I happened to notice and helped.

But still, they’re kids who have come under my care.

“They’re kids I’m protecting. I’m busy right now, can you go check on them?”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll go right away.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Yep!”

“And use this if it’s urgent.”

“Thank you!”

As Man-wook’s underling takes the item and disappears, my phone rings again.

*Buzz!*

[Daemin Card Approval: Han* for 990,000 KRW (One-time payment) at Candle Gimbap]

A bad feeling passes through me.

I’d rather they spent it recklessly because they were hungry, but these are kids who usually use it sparingly, like feeding chicks.

They’re kids who grew up watching their surroundings carefully because of poverty.

Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, even though they’re young, they have a sharp sense of money.

Even when I tell them not to save and use it, they refuse, saying it’s wasteful. It doesn’t make sense for them to spend over a million KRW at a gimbap place.

*Click, click.*

“Phew─”

[Room Master, who was that just now?]

[Is it those bulky guys who show up sometimes?]

As I’m deep in thought about the kids, I see a group of people approaching.

Are they coming to smoke together? There are way too many of them.

The person leading the group has their eyes fixed on me.

Facing him, he walks towards me with a smile.

“Finally, we meet.”

“Who are you?”

“Hello. I’m singer Lim Yoo-joon.”

“So what?”

It gets quiet.

Countless reporters following Lim Yoo-joon and what appear to be his guards.

Everyone’s mouths are wide open, making the same expression.

[Ahhh, crazy b*tch!!!!]

[What? Is that really Lim Yoo-joon?]

“Ha, it’s Han Ga-eul.”

“Huh…”

As if already branded as a crazy woman among the reporters, the reporters who meet my eyes desperately avoid my gaze.

Meanwhile, Lim Yoo-joon is just chuckling.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Haha, I’m part of the Arirang Group too.”

“……”

[For real??]

[What the hell is going on?]

[Is this just lip service?]

[But this is totally gonna get reported to the room master lol]

[LOL]

“Did you reporters crawl all the way here looking for something to scavenge? You’re disgusting, but this works out well.”

[Why is this crazy woman taking it out on the wrong people?]

[The room master really hates Lim Yoo-joon, but he’s stuck because of the report lol]

[Super bias—!!!]

[It’s manipulation and fabrication!!]

***

The Arirang Group, an organization with an outdated direction. Ahn Dong-gwang, who was part of it, quickened his steps.

The place he arrived at was the neighborhood where the person who had requested his help lived.

It wasn’t exactly bad, but it was the kind of neighborhood you couldn’t even call decent.

—Click, click.

“Phew—”

After staring at his destination from afar for a while, Ahn Dong-gwang, sensing no one around, approaches closer.

Not the entrance of an old villa, but a shabby single-room house tucked into the side of an alley. It’s so worn out that one might mistake it for a bathroom.

Through the slightly open window, the smell of cigarette smoke and thick mold stings Ahn Dong-gwang’s nose.

From inside, the sound of what seems like children sobbing can also be heard.

A phrase someone once said flashes through Ahn Dong-gwang’s mind.

“Don’t mess with kids.”

“Tsk. My noona said not to mess with kids. What kind of lunatic is this?”

The woman his hyung serves is the type who would let it slide even if someone stabbed her in the side and ran away.

Of course, she’d chase them down and kick their butt once.

The way to truly anger her was simple—just mess with those she considers under her protection.

In that case, she’d lose her mind without hesitation.

“Ugh, damn. Gives me goosebumps.”

Ahn Dong-gwang, recalling the day he was nearly cut down, brushes off his arm.

Every time he sees her, he feels like something is missing. She basically doesn’t care unless it’s something she’s interested in.

She’s a cold-blooded person who wouldn’t bat an eye even if someone next to her died horribly, but someone had to go and provoke her.

While they only got their skin cut, the pimp who first met her had touched the white rabbit on her head.

Remembering his old colleague whose fingers were all cut off, Ahn Dong-gwang brushes his arm again.

“Phew—”

After confirming the kids she mentioned, Ahn Dong-gwang quickens his steps.

He thought it would be harder to find them if he was any later, but maybe it was just a simple misunderstanding.

The level of his targets in Ahn Dong-gwang’s mind drops a notch.

“Boss, it’s fine. As long as it’s not over 1 million won, even the Financial Supervisory Service won’t come after you.”

“Ah, but still…”

“I showed you the payment confirmation text, didn’t I? I just need cash urgently. If you process 990,000 won and give me 600,000 won in cash, what’s there to worry about?”

On the faded signboard, the words “Candle Gimbap” are written.

A scuffle is happening there.

Low-life thugs demanding what’s known as card fraud. That was the level Ahn Dong-gwang had assessed them to be.

One is demanding cash from the owner, while another, waiting outside, gestures to his accomplice.

Sending a payment confirmation text.

What a low-level scam technique.

The man who had been struggling eventually steps out of the store.

“Hey, we’re out. They only gave us two deals because they’re scaredy-cats.”

“At least we got two. Let’s bounce before the cops show up.”

“This is a rundown neighborhood, so the CCTV coverage is spotty. If we slip into the alley, no one will notice.”

Ahn Dong-gwang, having confirmed the two men are leaving, cautiously follows them.

From Kim Man-wook’s side, Ahn Dong-gwang, who has lived a life of knife fights, sees the two as nothing but amateurs.

‘This is too sloppy…?’

After tailing them for over 30 minutes, he sees them climbing the stairs of an old building with no sign.

After they go up, Ahn Dong-gwang waits a moment before entering the building. Climbing the stairs, he hears a commotion coming from inside the door on the fourth floor.

“Where’s the money?”

“You think we can squeeze something out of those beggars? We managed to swipe a bit from their cards.”

From the voices, Ahn Dong-gwang estimates there are about three or four people and pushes the door open.

Instantly, more than a dozen eyes turn to Ahn Dong-gwang.

‘Why are there so many kids? This is messed up…’

“Customer, here to borrow money? From 100,000 won to 3 million won, just show your ID, and it’s possible the same day.”

The 100,000 won they’re talking about wouldn’t be the same after a night’s sleep.

These kids playing with pocket change. That was Ahn Dong-gwang’s judgment.

“Money? There are still people in this neighborhood playing money games?”

The people sitting on the worn-out sofa rise one by one at Ahn Dong-gwang’s words.

“Customer, you’re quite blunt.”

“Our guys must have swept through, how did you slip through, not even a mouse could.”

“Must be gutsy.”

Over ten people.

Even though Ahn Dong-gwang has lived by the knife, it’s impossible for one person to take on these guys, each armed with a club.

“Friends, hold on.”

At Ahn Dong-gwang’s sudden words, the group, each clutching a weapon, hesitates as if hitting a brake.

Pop!

In that moment, Ahn Dong-gwang opens a bottle cap, and the sweet aroma of peach flesh mixed with a clear fragrance instantly spreads.

Gulp, gulp.

Ahn Dong-gwang starts blowing the bottle without looking back.

With each sip of alcohol sliding down his throat, Ahn Dong-gwang savors a near-ecstatic pleasure.

“Ah….”

Even his exhaled breath feels precious as he carefully places the bottle at his feet.

“Crazy bastard. Suddenly drinking?”

“Haha. It’s just too good.”

Swoosh.

From Ahn Dong-gwang’s embrace, a sharp, silver sushi knife emerges.

“Crazy, crazy guy. Looks like you’ve been out playing, but we’ve got lives too!”

“Too bad. I’ve already cleared my debts.”

An unprecedented strength surges through his body.

Ahn Dong-gwang feels a deeper sense of omnipotence than when he was on drugs.

At the same time, he recalls Kim Man-wook breaking concrete with his bare hands.

“Let’s clean up quickly and go get praised by sis. Maybe she’ll pat my head, and if I’m lucky, I might even get a drink. Thanks to you guys.”

“What are you talking about? Are you on something?”

“Hehe.”

“Crazy bastard….”

As if to intimidate, one of them pulls out a tool.

“A cutter? Ever used one?”

“Not yet. Planning to use it on you.”

“A cutter isn’t for cutting. It’s for crushing. When it digs into the flesh and hits the bone… Hehe, you guys wouldn’t know that feeling.”

Click.

“Sis.”

– Please sue. Before that, the camera is on.

“I need to see if your heads are as hard as they say.”

“….Sis?”

“Yeah, is the job done?”

“Yes. Turns out the kids’ mom borrowed 200,000 won, and it snowballed like crazy. I took care of it cleanly.”

“Good job. Those types are always tough to deal with.”

“They started spilling everything real quick when I threatened to chop off their fingers one by one.”

Feeling good from her praise, Ahn Dong-gwang starts boasting about his exploits.

“Thanks a lot. Clean up well and come back safe.”

“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”

*Click.*

After hanging up, Ahn Dong-gwang’s steps lighten, and he starts feeling pumped.

*Knock knock.*

“Who is it….?”

Unlike Ahn Dong-gwang, who’s feeling great after successfully completing her request, a frail voice comes from behind the door.

A voice trembling with anxiety.

After a brief moment of thought, Ahn Dong-gwang clears his throat to soften his voice.

“Ahem. It’s Uncle Santa, sent by your sister Ga-eul.”

The old door, which seemed tightly shut, opens immediately, and a child peeks out.

“…Sis?”

Through the gap, Ahn Dong-gwang quickly scans the inside and notices all the shabby furniture is broken.

“Ta-da!”

“Eek!”

The child, spotting Ahn Dong-gwang, freaks out.

“Oops, Uncle must look too scary. Sorry.”

“Uh….”

The child’s eyes widen at Ahn Dong-gwang’s apology.

“No, I’m sorry.”

Seeing the child bow their head, a smile forms on Ahn Dong-gwang’s face.

“Here, again. Ta-da! Uncle brought lots of tasty stuff.”

“Wow….!”

Ahn Dong-gwang, carrying more food than the child could possibly hold, carefully sets it down inside the door.

“And here.”

The child cautiously takes the card Ahn Dong-gwang hands over.

“Uncle Santa took care of the bad guys, so don’t worry.”

“Wow!”

The child’s eyes sparkle.

Meanwhile, hurried footsteps are heard from inside, and another child approaches.

This one is slightly bigger than the first.

“Sis, Uncle Santa brought delicious food.”

The older child’s eyes are filled with deep distrust.

Not an emotion a child should have.

“I came because your sister Ga-eul sent me.”

“Sis?”

With just that simple phrase, the older child’s thick wall of caution melts away like snow.

Ahn Dong-gwang feels like he just uttered a magic spell.

“Right. Uncle brought tasty stuff, so eat up with your sibling.”

“Thank you…. Uncle Santa.”

“Yeah, kids need to eat well. That’s what my sister says.”