A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 112

Sitting in the passenger seat, I absentmindedly turned my head to look outside. Through the gray, overcast sky, tiny flakes of snow drifted down like specks of dust.

It was the first snowfall I had seen since possessing this body. I rolled down the window slightly and held out my palm. The cold wind against my skin was refreshing.

From behind the wheel, Captain Jo scoffed.

“You’re not a kid. What’s with the snow fascination?”

I had arrived here in the middle of summer, fully expecting to leave before the seasons changed. I never thought I’d still be around to see the first snowfall.

“We’re here. Get out.”

“Ah, okay.”

Fiddling with my phone, I slipped it back into my pocket before stepping out of the car.

— This is the National Gyeonggi Medical Center Emergency Room. Are you Mr. Hyun U-Taek’s son?

I recalled the phone call from this morning as I looked down at the man lying in the hospital bed. I had expected him to be hooked up to various machines, but he seemed relatively fine. If anything, his expression was relaxed—almost at peace. There was even a faint smile on his lips. The stench of alcohol filled the air, so strong that I wanted to plug my nose.

— He attempted self-harm and personally called emergency services… Of course, we’ll need to wait for further tests, but initial examinations show that he’s in no immediate danger.

Hyun U-Taek, drunk and throwing a fit about dying, had apparently gotten scared and checked himself into the hospital.

“…Suicide. Why would you try that? Even I haven’t done it yet.”

I murmured under my breath, barely audible, as I stared down at the man. From Hyunwook’s perspective, his father was the main villain of the story. It was his massive gambling debts that had derailed Hyunwook’s life in the first place. Their relationship was worse than that of strangers—practically enemies.

And even now, just looking at this man made my blood boil.

When I told the hospital this morning that I had no intention of coming, the staff member had hesitated before replying.

— There were no other emergency contacts listed. No other family members, friends, or acquaintances. You were the only one…

Which meant that, among other things, I was the only person they could charge for the hospital fees.

“U-uh, Hyunwook?”

The man’s bleary eyes turned to me. Still drunk, his face dazed, he reached out with the IV still in his hand.

If the real Hyunwook had seen his father in this pitiful state, his heart would have burned black with resentment. And if Hyunwook died, his younger siblings would have to live on, believing this man to be their father.

I let out a deep sigh and stepped back before asking,

“Why did you do this?”

“What do you mean?”

From behind the hospital curtain, I caught a glimpse of Captain Jo’s shoulder.

“I already paid the hospital bill, so stop faking and get up.”

“The bill? You paid it?”

The moment I mentioned money, the man’s expression twisted. His lips, cracked and dry, curled into something that looked neither like a smile nor a frown.

I tilted my head, puzzled by his reaction. Then, sneering, he muttered,

“The stingy brat who always whined about having no money suddenly pays my hospital bill? Guess you do feel guilty after all. At least you have some conscience.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Guilt? Did he think I had done something wrong to him?

His expression and tone weren’t those of a parent ashamed of burdening their child. Instead, he was looking at me like I was the disgraceful one.

Glaring at me, he spat,

“Take it all back. I don’t need your damn money.”

“…What? You mean the hospital bill?”

“No!”

He suddenly shouted, his face flushing red.

“You shameless bastard! That bastard you live with in that fancy house—he paid off my gambling debt, didn’t he?”

That bastard must be referring to Choi Taejoon.

What the hell was he talking about?

If I was understanding correctly, he was angry that Choi Taejoon had cleared his debt.

“W-wait a minute. You’re saying the Executive Director paid it all off?”

The words debt, alcohol, suicide, siblings, enemy, father, ungrateful bastard had been bouncing around my mind, but all of them vanished in an instant.

Choi Taejoon had covered a 20 billion won debt.

I stood there, dazed, staring blankly into space.

“I really have the worst luck…”

Surprisingly, those words didn’t come from my mouth.

They came from Hyun U-Taek.

What kind of bullshit was this guy spewing?

“I worked my ass off, raising my son, making sure he turned out well… and what does he do? He throws away his pride and sells his body to some rich bastard?”

He clutched his chest, pretending to cry.

I stood frozen, mouth slightly open, unable to process his sheer absurdity.

I didn’t know who had fed him this idea, but from the way he spoke and acted, he seemed to believe that I had sold myself to Choi Taejoon in exchange for clearing his debt.

“That money! If I really wanted to, I could’ve paid it off myself. And yet, you—what, you couldn’t wait? You went and did something so shameful, ruining our family’s name?”

He roared furiously.

“…Ruining our family’s name?”

“Yeah! Do you even know what kind of family we are?”

I had held my tongue long enough, but this was just ridiculous. Who was he to talk about shame?

I shot a glance at Captain Jo outside the curtain before clamping a hand over the man’s mouth. If he kept ranting, he might start spewing nonsense like “I made you a police officer!” or something just as absurd. That would be a disaster.

“Cut it out! This is a hospital!”

“If I just win one round, I can pay off that stupid debt all at once!”

His glazed eyes shone with a crazed glint. And by one round, he obviously meant gambling.

“Haa…”

“If only I had gotten that money instead of using it to pay off the debt, I could’ve turned it into ten times more! Why the hell would you hand it over to those bastards?”

A moment ago, he had been furious about the money. Now, he wanted it for himself? The contradiction would’ve been laughable if it weren’t so pathetic.

The next thing I knew, he lurched forward and grabbed me by the collar.

“Ugh! W-what are you doing?!”

“Give it to me. The money you gave those bastards—bring it to me! Give it to your father!”

His iron grip dug into my throat, making it hard to breathe. The moment I let out a strangled gasp, Captain Jo pushed the curtain aside and stormed in.

“What’s going on here?”

Since Jo still believed this man was my father, he hesitated. Meanwhile, my father took one look at the massive figure looming over him and immediately let go. He sank back onto the bed, mumbling.

“Just one game. Just one round, and I can win it all back! You don’t know how good I am… Tell them you want the money back. You—you can do that, right?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Listen, I’m sorry, but I need that money. Just half of it. No, even just a quarter…”

I let out a deep breath, shaking off his grip.

“Let me explain why I came here.”

I stepped back, putting some distance between us, and spoke firmly.

“Gambling addiction is a real disease that requires professional treatment and medical supervision. This hospital specializes in that kind of care.”

He stared at me blankly, as if he couldn’t comprehend my words.

This was something I had to do before leaving.

“You can’t fix it on your own. Consider this your last chance—please get the treatment you need.”

“Hyunwook!”

“It’s going to be difficult for me to visit again. So please, focus on your recovery and get discharged in good health.”

“I won’t! Absolutely not!”

It was only then that he finally understood. He began thrashing and yelling.

I ignored the chaos behind me—the cursing, the shouting, the hospital security struggling to restrain him—and walked out of the emergency room.

“Let’s go, Captain Jo.”

A strange sense of relief washed over me. A burden had been lifted, but there was also a lingering bitterness.

Twenty billion won.

Taejoon had paid it all off.

I felt grateful, guilty, and frustrated all at once. It must have been hard-earned money, and yet it had been wasted on that fool’s debt. The sheer injustice of it stung.

And why hadn’t Taejoon told me about it?

I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.

No answer.

He must be busy. The call rang all the way to the last tone before cutting off.

“Captain Jo, do you know where Executive Director Choi is right now?”

By now, the falling snow had thickened, turning the streets into a blanket of white. I turned toward Jo, waiting for his answer.

Just then, the crunching of footsteps in the snow stopped abruptly.

“Why are you looking for him?”

Still holding my phone to my ear, I instinctively turned toward the voice.

Right in front of me, standing under an umbrella in the swirling snowfall, was Choi Taejoon.

He looked down at me with his usual impassive expression.

“What are you doing here?”

He flicked the snow off my head with a casual tap.

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