The Scent of Life (1)
CHAPTER 21 HEARTBREAK FOR SHAHIB
The next night, Hye Bin returns to help Hyeo Jin look for a photo of Man Se. After a few hours, they found the first album among hundreds of photo albums and papers. Hyeo Jin was the one who discovered the photo album for the first time.
They opened the first page together. Looking at Oh Man Se's face, they were spontaneously shocked because indeed the face of the girl in the photo was similar to Hye Bin, only that Oh Man Se's hair was long unraveled. It was truly a miracle, there were two women with similar faces whereas there was no connection between them.
Hyeo Jin took the photo, then fitted with a frame to be placed on his desk. Hye Bin is speechless about this and is curious about where Oh Man Se is.
***
The PM's cafe was closed that night. Hye Bin transports trash to be dumped into the back of the building. Hye Bin's ears catch the sound of people fighting. Out of curiosity he came to the origin of the voice. A man was being beaten by three men to the edge and sat on the wall. Because it was a bit dark Hye Bin could not see clearly who was being ganged up.
Hye Bin shouted at those people. They stopped hitting and kicking. Blindfolded Hye Bin saw the beaten one was Shahib. Hye Bin approached Shahib and saw that the man's face was battered and his lips were bleeding.
"What did you do to him!" hye Bin shouted furiously.
"Who are you meddling in our affairs?" said one of the young men.
Hye Bin smelled alcohol, the thugs were drunk.
"I'm a friend, why?" said Hye Bin.
"Give me your money. This foreigner has no money. If you don't have any money, you might be able to give us something else" said one of the men, drawing closer to Hye Bin and stroking Hye Bin's cheek.
Hye Bin's eyes stared intently at the man. Like without any fear, Hye Bin was angry. Then he held the hand of the man who had stroked his cheek and twisted it in such a way. They started fighting against Hye Bin. Hye Bin holds a black belt and three Taekwondo. None of the men hit it even they ended up battered and ran away in fear. Hye Bin then helped Shahib stand up.
"Are you okay?" ask Hye Bin.
The man nodded and only grimaced in pain. Hye Bin took Shahib to the cafe and inside they were greeted by other employees. They were shocked by Shahib's condition.
"What's going on?" ask Chef Han.
"The thugs beat him up to ask for money" Hye Bin replied.
Shahib and Hye Bin sat facing each other. Hye Bin began to wet the cassa to clean the wounds on Shahib's face. The man was in pain.
"They should do good to the newcomers and be polite. What a shame," Hye Bin scolded.
Shahib kept quiet and looked at Hye Bin.
"Thank you" said Shahib.
Hye Bin stopped cleaning Shahib's face and looked at the man.
"You should be careful next time, if you need to bring an electric shock device for a weapon," Hye Bin said as he opened the wound ointment.
"Yes. But are you okay?" ask Shahib
Hye Bin smiled as she looked at Shahib
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm a super girl" Hye Bin replied as he raised his arm as if showing Shahib the strength of his arm muscles.
The girl's behavior made Shahib laugh, then grimaced in pain as the corners of her lips broke and bled. Seeing Shahib in pain, Hye Bin applied the ointment slowly. Inevitably their faces were close to each other which made Shahib feel uncomfortable. Shahib cleared his throat and tried to stop Hye Bin's hand.
"Let me alone treat the wound" Shahib said.
Hye Bin stops smearing Shahib's wounds. In her true heart she also felt palpitating when meeting the man.
"Alright, please," said Hye Bin a little misbehaved and gave the ointment. Shahib stood up and brought the medicine box to his room. His heart was pounding. Shahib took a deep breath to gain control of him.
Hye Bin returns home on foot to the bus stop. He smiled to himself in light of the events with Shahib especially while in Itaewon. A polite and kind man, thought Hye Bin.