Chapter 18
Fists Are Closer Than the Law
The moment Dorothy crawled under the bed, the door burst open with a loud crash. Startled out of her wits, her body jerked and she hit her head on the bed. The door must have slammed into the wall too, because there was another loud bang, just like when it opened.
‘Lizzy.’
What happened to Lizzy? She saw her fall, but after that she ran away through the window, so she didn’t know. What if Lizzy was hurt?
Now, Dorothy only had Lizzy. If Lizzy disappeared, Juhwan would leave too. Then no one would remain in this house. Tears kept flowing, blurring her vision. It felt like she was underwater, looking out from inside.
Thud, thud—heavy footsteps of men approached.
Trying to suppress her sobs, Dorothy tightly covered her mouth with both hands.
“Hey, look over there.”
“That’s wolf hide.”
“I thought maybe there’d be a rabbit at best… Did they steal this from somewhere?”
“How would they steal it in a day? There’s nothing like that in the village, and it’s all mountains around here.”
“But it’s strange.”
The men whispered among themselves as they passed by the bed. It sounded like they were heading toward the wolf hide. Dorothy’s heart pounded loudly.
Rustle, rustle—she heard them touching something where the wolf hide was.
After a moment of silence, the men spoke again.
“This is huge. It’ll fetch a good price.”
“What a jackpot.”
“Let’s not waste time. We should go before the mountain keeper shows up.”
Hearing their voices made her heart pound even harder.
‘Juhwan brought that.’
He gave it to Lizzy. Lizzy had been so happy. Dorothy was happy too. The scary wolf didn’t seem scary at all anymore.
Lizzy had said it could be sold later for a lot of money. When the peddler came, they could buy many good things. If those men took it away…
Even though tears and snot were pouring out from fear, she had to protect the wolf hide. Dorothy pressed her elbows to the floor and crawled forward a little.
There were sounds of things bumping into each other. The men were rummaging through everything. Then one of them shouted excitedly.
“Hey! There’s meat here!”
“What? Did they really hunt a wolf?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Wolves aren’t someone’s pet. It probably got attacked by a pack and was dying.”
One man said bluntly, and someone laughed.
“Haha, maybe that’s it. Looking closely, there’s a wound on its front leg.”
“See? Hunting a wolf, my ass. He probably just wanted to look tough in front of his woman.”
The men laughed.
They thought Juhwan was a fool.
But it was true—Juhwan had caught it. He fought and killed it. His arm had a big wound too. Lizzy said Juhwan was incredibly, unbelievably strong—strong enough to catch a wolf with his bare hands.
Dorothy felt anger rising. She clenched her fists tightly. Her lips trembled, and snot dripped into her mouth.
Footsteps came from the door. Turning her head and pressing her cheek to the floor, she saw Lizzy’s feet. She must be hurt—she was limping. Her small, worn shoes made tapping sounds as she passed by the bed.
Lizzy shouted in a strained voice,
“No! Don’t touch that! It’s ours!”
She sounded terrified. Her voice trembled. The men barked angrily.
“Hey, who do you think you’re yelling at?”
“Eek!”
Lizzy let out a strange scream. The men chuckled.
“Look at this one. She couldn’t even squeak before, and now she’s yelling because she got herself a husband.”
“She’s got some nerve.”
“Where do you think you’re glaring at us from?!”
Thud—
With a heavy sound, Lizzy collapsed to the floor. Through the gap under the bed, Dorothy could see her face. Blood was flowing from Lizzy’s nose.
What should she do? Suddenly, she remembered how her stepmother had been beaten by her father. It was terrifying. She wanted to help Lizzy, but she was too scared to move.
Her body trembled, and she felt like crying again. As she covered her mouth, her eyes met Lizzy’s.
But Lizzy immediately turned her head away.
As if she hadn’t seen Dorothy. As if Dorothy didn’t exist. Just like how her second mother used to look at her.
“…”
Dorothy was hiding alone, being hated. Lizzy pretended not to know her because Dorothy was a bad child. What should she do? Tears poured out endlessly.
The men approached Lizzy and laughed loudly.
Lizzy looked even more frightened than Dorothy—much more. Through her blurred vision, Dorothy could see Lizzy’s body shaking violently.
She had to help, but she couldn’t. She was too scared, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The men spoke right beside the bed.
“Hey, look how pale her skin is. She’s so skinny I didn’t notice before, but she’s not bad.”
“What if the mountain keeper finds out?”
“What’s there to find out? He can’t even understand us. As long as we keep quiet, it’s fine.”
Dorothy didn’t fully understand, but she knew it was something bad. Trembling, she curled her body into a ball.
What should she do? Lizzy still wasn’t looking at her, and the scary men were right there. She wished Juhwan were here. If he were, he would beat them all like wolves.
“But if we do it here, it’ll be trouble if the mountain keeper comes. And if the village chief finds out, that’s a headache too. You know how hard it is to find a mountain keeper. It’ll be a problem if he leaves.”
At those words, another man grumbled,
“Then let’s go to the forest.”
“Ugh, it’s freezing out there.”
One man grabbed Lizzy’s arm and pulled her up.
The others returned to where the wolf hide and meat were. Thudding sounds followed—something was kicked, rolling across the floor.
The men gathered by the bed again, then headed for the door. Lizzy was dragged along. She didn’t say anything anymore, only small sobs escaped her. She couldn’t walk properly. When she fell, the man pulled her up again.
“Walk properly!”
“If your husband finds out, you know what’ll happen! He’ll come in the middle of the night and burn this hut to the ground!”
Shouting threats, the men left the house with Lizzy. From beyond the doorway, her faint voice could be heard.
“Please… don’t… stop…”
Even after they were gone and everything went quiet, Dorothy couldn’t move for a while. Then she heard their laughter outside again.
‘Lizzy!’
They were taking Lizzy away. Something terrible would happen. She might never come back.
Dorothy crawled out from under the bed and ran to the wooden window. Sobbing, she hid and peeked outside. She saw the men dragging Lizzy away while carrying the wolf hide and meat.
The men were terrifying—but even more terrifying was Lizzy being taken away.
Her cries slipped out between the fingers covering her mouth. No matter how hard she tried to hold them in, they kept escaping. Finally, she couldn’t suppress it anymore.
“Waaaaaah!”
Her wailing filled the house.
‘Juhwan, Juhwan, where are you…’
Hurry. Lizzy is being taken away. Please come quickly. Chase those men away. Please save Lizzy.
As her cries spilled out the window, the men stopped and turned back. Their eyes were terrifying.
They were almost home. Just a little further, and the house would appear through the trees.
Juhwan quickened his pace, but Gus suddenly stopped. He pointed at himself, then toward the forest. It seemed he was going to head back now.
Juhwan nodded, about to thank him for the day—
Then suddenly, a child’s cry echoed from afar.
‘Dorothy!’
He had heard her cry before, but this time it was different. Louder. More desperate. It sounded like a scream.
Something had happened.
Something had happened at home.
Juhwan’s massive body kicked off the ground as he sprinted through the trees.
The house came into view quickly.
Too slow.
He had to go faster.
The child’s cries seemed to pull him forward.
In an instant, he broke through the forest and reached the clearing—
Strange men were dragging Lizzy away.
That one scene told him everything.
In this rotten world, when men drag away a woman who can’t resist, there’s only one reason.
There was blood on Lizzy’s face.
Something snapped in his mind.
‘I’ll kill them!’
Juhwan’s large body rushed forward in a flash. The men only noticed him too late—their eyes widened.
But before they could react, Juhwan’s fist flew.
He punched the man dragging Lizzy by the arm. The man collapsed to the ground as if he had been slammed into it.
Juhwan felt something like bone breaking in his fist. The man’s face instantly became covered in blood. His nose twisted into a strange shape. A fragment of a tooth stuck into Juhwan’s knuckles.
The men couldn’t say a word.
They couldn’t even scream.
Before they could react, Juhwan grabbed the fallen man by the collar and lifted him up. His eyes were open, but his body hung limp—he had fainted.
But that wasn’t enough.
He couldn’t forgive them.
Human nature was filthy and cruel—once you were looked down on, it was over. If that was true even in modern society, how much worse would it be in a place like this?
There was no place where the saying “fists are closer than the law” fit better than here.
He had to make sure they would never return. Never even think of it again.
A dark fire blazed inside him.
No one must ever set foot here again.
He had to crush them completely.
Juhwan smashed his fist into the man’s face again. The bloodied face caved in, as if dented.
Just as he was about to strike again—
Another man, holding a sickle, moved.
“U…ah…”
Behind him, he heard rustling. A long shadow stretched across the ground—the man raised the sickle high.
Juhwan released the man he was holding and turned.
At the same time, his right hand shot out.
His large body surged forward, grabbing the man’s arm holding the sickle.
With a squeeze, the sickle dropped to the ground.
Grabbing the man’s shoulder tightly with his left hand, Juhwan twisted the arm in the opposite direction.
“Gaaaah!”
With a cracking sound, the man screamed. His arm broke, his shoulder dislocated. It hung limply.
Juhwan struck him down with a powerful punch from above. Blood sprayed from the man’s face as he collapsed.
“Ugh…ugh…”
Another man, holding an axe, made a strange sound and turned to flee.
Juhwan grabbed him by the head—his greasy hair clenched tightly in his fist—and seized one of his legs.
Lifting him into the air, the man dropped his axe in shock.
“Ahhh! Ahhh!”
Suspended by his hair, the man screamed in agony. His body weight pulled at his scalp as if it would tear off.
Juhwan lifted him high with both hands.
The man hunched like a turtle, straining his neck. If he fell wrong, his neck or spine would be ruined. He flailed desperately, trying to avoid that fate.
Ignoring him, Juhwan hurled the man to the ground.
The man hit the ground with a sickening, bursting sound, then rolled across it. Crying, he writhed like a worm.
But it wasn’t enough.
Juhwan ran forward and kicked him in the stomach. The man doubled over like a shrimp, blood gushing from his mouth. Again. And again—Juhwan kept kicking him.
“Juhwan! ##! ####.”
Gus shouted something and grabbed him, forcing himself between Juhwan and the man. He struck Juhwan’s arm with his wrinkled hands and pointed toward the house.
Turning his head, Juhwan saw Lizzy staring at him with wide eyes.
“…”
From the window came the sound of crying.
Looking over, he saw Dorothy, sobbing softly, staring at him with frightened eyes.
He had gone too far.
He knew how he must look to women and children—yet he had shown them this terrifying side.
Even if it was to protect them, frightening was still frightening.
The blazing rage inside him sputtered out with a hiss.
Like a red-hot fire turning instantly into black charcoal, only thick smoke remained.
