Chapter XCI - Ryung’s Secret

Waking up early in the morning, Arthur hoped that what happened to Ryung was all but a dream and that he’d find himself in bed with Irene back at the beach house. While Irene slept soundly next to him with her arms spooning Arthur from behind, the reality was that he woke up in his small bed back home.

Arthur reached for his phone that Irene left on the bedside table, checking for any news from either the hospital or Ari; however, not a single notification appeared on his screen, making him exhale in frustration. Feeling him slightly move, Irene tightened her grasp, not allowing him to get away. Sadly, Arthur couldn’t afford to stay in bed all day as he had a lot to think about regarding their future.

“Art?. . .” Irene mumbled, opening her eyes as he failed to wiggle out of bed.

“Shhh. . .” Arthur faked a smile so she wouldn’t worry, slowly easing her into letting him go while whispering, “Go back to sleep.”

“Okay. . .” she mumbled into the pillow, turning around obediently.

The only time Irene was ever a pushover was early in the morning when tired. At that point, she was willing to do anything just to get some extra sleep. To him, she truly was a sleeping beauty.

Leaning down, Arthur kissed her cheek with the intent of going downstairs, but Irene surprised him by attempting to grab hold of him without looking. She was too tired to turn, so she tried to feel for him by moving her arm around, which barely managed to hover in the air. Charmed by her sweet smile, he leaned in closer, allowing her to cup his face. Sliding her hand to the back of Art’s neck, Irene turned to face him while gently pulling him closer for a tender morning kiss. With a coy smile, Irene allowed him to guide her back to the pillow before falling asleep again.

Leaving her in the room, Arthur went to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. Standing alone, thinking about what they had to do while Ryung was away, Arthur acknowledged just how dire their situation was.

Ryung’s recovery was going to take long, leaving Arthur more exhausted by the day. Sadly, when one used up a large portion of their internal energy, it was impossible for them to cultivate more. Taking some time to build up internal energy sounded like a logical solution, but the risk of a complication or further damage striking Ryung wasn’t worth the gamble. The fatigue was going to build over time, and going to school was bound to be troublesome. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they still had other issues that needed to be resolved.

The fact that Arthur and Sophie couldn’t survive without any money loomed over his head. There was none left on his card as it was withdrawn, and the same was done to Sophie’s card. In other words, they had no money while bills still needed to be paid and food put on the table. Sophie’s online job didn’t pay nearly enough for what they actually needed, so it was all down to Arthur to get a job on top of curing Ryung and helping Sophie deal with the stress. Borrowing money was an option, but it wasn’t exactly something Art wished to do. While Irene’s parents were loaded, he didn’t feel like their relationship, which only started recently, should go through that kind of help.

Letting out a sigh, Arthur knew that tough times were upon them. He hoped such misfortune would avoid him after reincarnating in the new world, but such was fate to play with him emotionally.

Pouring Kyu some food they brought with them, he scratched him behind the ear, thinking how strange it must’ve felt going from a house full of people to just the two of them while Irene slept upstairs; however, his moment was interrupted by the doorbell. Arthur wasn’t expecting anyone, but it could’ve been any of their friends coming to check up on him.

Without checking who it was through the peephole, Arthur opened the door and was surprised to see two young men in their late twenties wearing white shirts and black pants standing before him.

“Can I help you?” he asked, looking between them to see a parked black SUV with tinted windows.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” said one of them with a smile, looking like the older one. Arthur couldn’t help but notice that he had a hidden tattoo on his right arm that barely showed under the sleeve. “We’re here to see Ryung. We have some business with him that we need to discuss.”

“Sorry to say, but my grandfather is in no condition to see you as he has suffered a stroke and is in a coma. Is this anything I can help you with?”

They looked at each other before the quiet one turned around, taking out his phone to make a call.

“That’s unfortunate to hear. Hopefully, he recovers soon,” the man said, waiting for his partner to finish the call.

Turning off his phone, he turned to his friend and said, “Boss doesn’t care. Wants it done.”

“Is everything okay?” Arthur asked, getting more and more suspicious.

The man that talked to him the entire time sighed, turning to Arthur. “Listen, I’m sorry to say this, but your grandfather has amassed quite the debt over the years, and our boss can’t wait anymore.”

“Debt?” Arthur asked as it was the first time he was hearing about it.

“To be precise, he owes our boss four hundred and twenty million won.”

“Excuse me, what?” Arthur’s eyes went wide.

“We’ll sadly have to ask you to pay that amount right now.”

“Do you have any proof of this?”

“Kid. . .” He sighed. “I’m aware you don’t have that kind of money, but our boss has reached the limit of his generosity.”

“Who’s your boss?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

“So what you’re saying is you’re all just criminals that came to collect debt my grandfather seemingly had?” Arthur was slowly connecting the pieces in his head.

“Have your parents not taught you any manners?” He asked, looking annoyed at Art for the first time.

“Let’s just do what we’re told and get out of here. Why waste time with him?” his partner said, a man with a piercing on his left ear and a scar on his upper lip.

“And that is?” I looked at his partner.

“Look. We were told to collect the money or teach Ryung a lesson. However, since he was not here, our next order was to beat up anyone in the house and trash the place. He’d have until tomorrow to show himself in front of the boss to apologize and pay the interest rate.”

“I’ve already said he can’t meet anyone,” Arthur glared at him.

“I know, which is why I’m sorry for what we’re about to do. I hope that sister of yours isn’t home,” he cracked his knuckles. “Nothing personal.”

“I’ll give you one warning, so listen carefully.” Arthur lowered his voice, cracking his neck. ”Take a step closer to the house only if you’re prepared to die.”

His partner burst into laughter while the man Arthur was talking to the entire time just shook his head in disbelief.

“I was going to go easy on you, but now you made me want to beat the shit out of you, kid.” He formed a fist and threw a straight right hand at Arthur.

Clicking his tongue, Arthur ducked under his arm, delivering two swift punches to his stomach and ribs. The man coughed, losing balance before the fight even began. Before his partner could even react, Arthur grabbed the man he hit behind the ear and slammed his head against the doorframe. He wasn’t using Qi, but the attacks were still devastating as Arthur had built up quite a bit of strength over time.

“You little!” the other yelled while his partner collapsed to his knees.

He bravely charged at Arthur, attempting to grapple him, but it resulted in Arthur sidestepping him like a charging bull while grabbing his left-hand wrist. Admittedly, he made his way into the house; however, that wasn’t something he should’ve celebrated as Arthur mercilessly twisted his arm, slamming him into the wall and forcing him to take the knee or his arm would break.

Dazed from being smashed against the doorframe, the man struggled to get back on his feet. He couldn’t even attack or possibly retreat as Arthur delivered a swift low kick to the side of the knee, causing what would likely turn out to be a lifelong lingering injury. Arthur didn’t even give him a chance to yell as he smashed his face with the sole of his foot while still holding his friend in a grapple.

Two more men exited the SUV, dressed like the men invading his house. They didn’t seem to rush toward him as one of them went to open the door for someone to come out, but as if to warn them, Arthur snapped the grappled man’s wrist, making him wail in pain.

“Bastard!” the man with the now broken wrist yelled, eyes filled with tears.

Arthur glanced at him before delivering a chopping strike to the back of his neck without saying a word, incapacitating him on the spot. He let go and walked over to the door, stepping on the crippled man’s chest while glaring at those standing by the SUV.

However, Arthur was surprised to find someone familiar stepping out of the vehicle. While he hadn’t interacted with her much, he recognized her by her blue hair and stunning figure covered in tattoos. It took him a second, but he remembered her name, Moon.

She clapped, walking over with a proud smile, wearing an azure crop top shirt that showed off her pierced belly button and the dragon tattoo that stretched from below the waist up to her left side ribs, paired with torn skin-tight white jeans that hinted at the flowery skull tattoo.

“Would you look at that. . . Wasn’t expecting you, pretty boy,” Moon said, gesturing to her bodyguards to wait. “You keep staring at me. Is it the clothes? You’d expect I’d wear something dark, but I’m not crazy enough to walk around like that in the sun. It’s August, after all.”

“Moon,” he said, not finding her giggle amusing.

“Ah, so you do remember me.” She smiled, slowly approaching the house. “I’m glad.”

“Why are you here?”

“Why else? Your grandpa owes us a lot of money,” she said calmly, acting as if nothing had happened. Glancing down at her men, she raised her voice. “Losers, get up and don’t make a sound.”

Arthur pressed down on the man’s chest, slowly pushing the air out of his lungs. In response, the man grabbed his leg, desperately trying to move it.

“I’ll say the same to you.” He glared at Moon. “Approach further only if you’re prepared to die.”

“So you’re going to kill them?” Moon tilted her head.

“Art?” Irene mumbled, coming down the stairs after hearing the commotion.

He couldn’t blame her for walking down carefree since she was sleepy and felt safe with him around, but her presence made things a bit more complicated than he would’ve liked. “Is everything-?”

She stopped, realizing someone was on the ground unconscious while Art faced off a group she never saw before.

“Oh! She must be the one that had you smitten,” Moon commented, tilting to the side to look past Arthur. “Woah, I’d die for a woman like her.”

“What’s going on?” Irene asked, woken up by Moon ogling her while she walked around in just a baggy shirt.

Arthur was worried that she’d freak out, but Irene seemed calm as ever, and if anything, her stance indicated she was ready to defend herself. Sometimes Arthur forgets that Irene trained in martial arts since she was a kid, thanks to her father.

“Consider this a gift.” Arthur stepped off the man’s chest, allowing him to gasp for a breath of air. “Get your other goon, and get lost.”

“Don’t be like that, Art,” Moon said, putting her hands behind her back. “We were just talking.”

Arthur allowed the injured man to get up, watching him closely as he wobbled over to his unconscious friend. If he made the wrong move and went for Irene, Arthur wouldn’t hesitate to use Qi to kill him on the spot. Irene glared at him as well, making him avert his gaze as he dragged his partner out of the house once Arthur stepped to the side.

“Who are you?” Irene asked, stepping closer to Arthur.

He felt no need to tell her to stand back, trusting himself to defend her if things turned out worse.

“Moon, and you?”

“Irene,” she crossed her arms.

“Pretty boy and a hot blondie, quite the power couple.” Moon cracked a smile, but Irene just silently stared her down. “Oh, she’s feisty too. Where’d you find her?”

“Moon,” Arthur said, maintaining a low tone. “Are you their boss?”

“Depends,” she answered, letting out a sigh. “If you’re talking about who they called, that’s my older brother who likes to get paid. However, I too am their boss.”

“Let me talk to your brother.”

“What’s the rush? You don’t have the money anyway.”

“What about the interest?”

“Oh, you don’t want to be paying that. Otherwise, the hottie here might really try and kill me.”

Despite not knowing anything, Irene silently observed and refrained from making silly comments.

“What’s the interest?” Arthur asked, curious as to what nonsense she’d say.

“Well, he needed his hands to work, but two eyes weren’t necessary. I’m sure that’s what my brother had in mind.”

Irene’s eyes went wide as she looked at Arthur, who was enraged.

“Irene,” he whispered her name. “Please leave and forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

“Art-” Irene said, but Moon interrupted by lunging with a preemptive strike at Arthur.

She was too quick to counter but not enough for him to be unable to block. Moon still managed to get him off balance, but before she could follow up, Irene surprised both by throwing a high kick aimed at Moon’s face. Moon managed to block, but Irene gave Arthur enough time to channel his Qi and strike back; however, he didn’t expect her to easily defend against him as well.

Moon managed to absorb his blow by catching his punch. “I was right! You can use Qi.”

Arthur’s expression remained unchanged despite learning that his opponent could use Qi. Years of battle experience left him numb to surprises when engaged in combat.

Kaisa First Form: Shattering Palm.

Arthur stepped in and channeled his Qi into an open palm strike that she wouldn’t be able to block without taking serious damage. Feeling the killing intent, Moon let go of his hand and jumped back desperately, breaking a cold sweat.

“Stop!” she yelled, bursting into laughter. “Damn, that was dangerous.”

Arthur stepped in front of Irene, who was still jumpy as they were just attacked, but without her, Moon might’ve landed an unexpected hit using Qi that could’ve caused him trouble.

“You okay?” Arthur asked Irene.

“Yeah, you?”

Arthur nodded.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Moon said. “I’ve confirmed my suspicion.”

“What do you mean?” Arthur asked, remaining calm.

“When you first walked into the PC bang, I sensed something about you, and now I know I was right.”

“That’s why you attacked me?”

“Yeah.” She chuckled, showing no indications of lying. “Hope we can both agree that this can only end poorly if we continued.”

Arthur noticed in the reflection of the SUV’s window that one of her bodyguards staying in the back had a gun holstered behind his back, which served as a reminder that he wasn’t dealing with petty high schoolers.

“So what now?” Arthur asked.

“I’ll talk to my brother and see what he thinks, but just so you know, I’m not a fan of injuring old men.” She wanted to let him know that she didn’t align with her brother’s methods. “Anyway, I’ll come to see you soon, and we’ll talk about this like adults.”

She turned around and entered the SUV as if nothing had happened, leaving Irene and Arthur with loads to talk about.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.