Adjusting the Gangster Male Lead’s Intensity [Novel] Chapter 19

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 19

Chapter Title: Trapped in the Sweltering Truck

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She slowly surveyed the place they'd arrived at. Just in case, checking for any passages she could slip out through if things went south.

'Only one road, and it's crawling with scary people. Nothing behind but the sea.'

It meant escaping on the sly would be tough.

Yi-hae Baek let out a deep sigh. Spotting the truck I-ryeong Cha had arrived in, she turned to Yeong Baek.

"Should we lock her in here for now? We can't have her running off on her own."

It was thorough, as if preemptively blocking any cute little schemes she might cook up.

Yeong Baek nodded, and I-ryeong Cha led her over. The truck bed was empty.

As they drew closer, the midsummer heat radiating from inside felt stifling. Hard to even breathe properly.

"It'll be a bit hot, but just bear with it for a little while."

"Wait! I won't run away, so can't I stay outside? I have claustrophobia."

"Oh, Yi-hae. Last time you lied about being scared of bugs so smoothly."

I-ryeong Cha smiled brightly. But her hands shoving Yi-hae into the truck were firm and unrelenting.

"No nice young master here to fall for your lies."

Yi-hae desperately reached out as the entrance closed, but the door was already shut.

Darkness and heat descended in an instant, draining the color from her face. Memories of being locked in a wardrobe as a child flooded back.

Bang! Bang!

"Please open it! It's not a lie, it's real! I won't run, I'll stay put, please just open it!"

No response came. Pounding and kicking the door did nothing.

Cold sweat beaded on Yi-hae Baek's skin as trauma's terror overwhelmed her without warning.

"Fuck."

Her trembling body scanned the surroundings before she slowly curled up.

"Might as well dump me in the sea."

Her damp voice echoed in the truck, but as I-ryeong Cha had said, no one was listening.

Yi-hae Baek suddenly remembered she still had her phone. She frantically searched for Yeong Baek's saved number.

Her fingers shook uncontrollably.

"Please, please. Just believe me."

She'd beg, threaten, wail—whatever it took—just get her out of here.

She could forgive the kidnapping if they'd just let her out of this place. She wanted to scream it.

The despair of not even being able to try that plan—what could she do?

Yi-hae Baek's tears fell with a drop.

"...You fucking bastards."

Could people toy with someone like this? Was it so wrong to hope for a little kindness?

'Can't I want anything in this world? Was it so wrong to hope for just one person who cares about me?'

Tears poured down. Crying wouldn't solve anything—she knew that...

She hated her pathetic, helpless self. Hated how stupidly trusting she'd been to get kidnapped like this.

It felt like everyone was judging her for it, and her expression crumbled further.

"You know it, but... it's definitely a trap. You saw it—the tattoo on I-ryeong Cha's side."

O Seo-bang cautiously spoke to I-heum Seo, who was glaring ahead with arms crossed.

That dawn when Yi-hae Baek had seen the status window. Following the lone I-heum Seo to report business as usual, I-ryeong Cha's ambush had come in a flash.

'That was a close one. Sneaking up right when no one was around to back him up.'

O Seo-bang shook his head recalling it. Of course, he had to focus on driving.

'Boss isn't the type to scream. He took a minor hit, but dodging instinctively after all the grief from Yi-hae lady saved him.'

Otherwise, it could've been fatal.

Organization members rushed over late to the commotion, and I-ryeong Cha clicked her tongue before fleeing through the window.

O Seo-bang had seen it then. As she countered I-heum Seo, her torn clothes revealed the White Blossom Gang tattoo on her side.

'The white petal tattoo only White Blossom Gang executives get. Who'd have thought she'd been a spy after all this time by his side.'

How long? From the start targeting him? Or turned midway? Questions swirled.

But no need to sympathize with a traitor—they all pretended not to care.

"So."

I-heum Seo, who had silently listened to O Seo-bang's worries, finally spoke.

Still staring straight ahead from the passenger seat.

"You want me to abandon Yi-hae?"

"No, not abandon the lady! Just that rushing in with these hastily gathered members is too risky. If we regroup a bit more..."

"What if Yi-hae gets hurt in the meantime?"

O Seo-bang clamped his mouth shut at the chilling gaze in the rearview. Not just I-heum Seo—the terrifying stares from Do-gyeom Seo and Yeol Seo in the back seat pinned him too.

The three glared in unison, and O Seo-bang muttered weakly, sweating.

"I just worry about you and the young masters... Plus, Yeol's still young and feverish."

"Young or not, it's my path to take. And Yi-hae sis saved me—me not going would be ridiculous."

His firm tone mirrored I-heum Seo perfectly in moments like this. Admirable, yet heartbreaking.

"Still, White Blossom Gang avoids touching civilians, so maybe less risky?"

"Not entirely a civilian."

Do-gyeom Seo, gazing out the window, continued flatly.

"She lives at our house now, and I-ryeong Cha knows she'll be my fiancée."

"...! Right."

O Seo-bang groaned at the overlooked fact. That changed things.

Yi-hae Baek's safety could be leverage to threaten I-heum Seo.

'Maybe boss realized that from the start and that's why the rush.'

Blaming his own dullness, O Seo-bang floored the accelerator.

"Those fucking bastards. Yi-hae hates the heat—if they didn't put her somewhere cool, I'll bury them all."

O Seo-bang sweated at I-heum Seo's voice from beside him.

'No, as a hostage, they probably didn't put her somewhere comfy.'

Unlike O Seo-bang's thoughts, Yeol Seo ground his teeth.

"Sis eats so much. If they starve her skinny, I won't let them off!"

Eats like that, huh. O Seo-bang sighed inwardly, thinking he'd correct Yeol Seo's speech later.

"I'm worried."

Do-gyeom Seo muttered softly, almost unconsciously. The most normal words, yet from him, they startled everyone—including O Seo-bang, I-heum Seo, and Yeol Seo.

They were almost at the destination.

Yi-hae Baek could barely breathe. Lying weakly, gasping roughly, her skin felt like it was cooking against the hot metal.

'This is rough.'

If she passed out like this, left too long—would she die?

Or suffocate first? She sensed her condition was dire.

'Why are rewards additive and penalties multiplicative?'

This thug status window!

Yi-hae Baek gritted her teeth, rallying her fading mind. But how to open the already locked door?

As she cursed the status window for giving no feasible way to succeed, it popped up again.

Yi-hae Baek scowled. Numbers or people? Unclear choices.

She skipped 4 and pondered the three. Her eyes landed on Do-gyeom Seo.

'When it counts, adults are reliable.'

She chose I-heum Seo. Definitely not revenge for the phone call.

Well, she chose the number.

The flashy status window burst with a pop and smoke, dropping an item.

A pistol.

'...Do pistols even get imported in Korea?'

Yi-hae Baek slowly sat up. It looked unmistakably like a real gun.

After a moment's hesitation, she realized.

'BB gun.'

As if reading her mind, the status window chimed.

Cheating system.

Her throbbing forehead ached at the ever-unreal situation. Though raising others' favorability was unrealistic to begin with.

"...So what would the other choices have given?"

She chuckled dryly at Do-gyeom Seo's BB gun—normal-ish like Yeol Seo's—then fell silent at Yeong Baek's.

'Poof Mallet?'

He might not know it, but Yeong Baek was screwing her over in every way.