018 Fists Are Closer Than the Law

As soon as Dorothy crawled under the bed, there was a loud noise and the door opened. Startled, Dorothy’s body jumped and hit her head on the bed. It seemed the door also hit the wall. There was another loud noise like when the door opened.

‘Lizzy.’

What happened to Lizzy? I saw her fall, but I don’t know what happened after that because I escaped through the window. What if Lizzy got hurt?

Now, Dorothy only had Lizzy. If Lizzy is gone, Joo-hwan will leave too. No one will be left in this house. Tears kept coming out, and I couldn’t see ahead. It felt like I was underwater looking outside.

Thud, thud, the men’s footsteps sounded as they came closer. To stop the sobbing sounds, Dorothy pressed her mouth tightly with both hands.

“Hey, look over there.”

“It’s a wolf pelt.”

“I thought there might be only rabbits at best, but did they really steal this from somewhere?”

“But it’s strange.”

The men whispered in low voices as they passed by the bed. They seemed to be going to where the wolf pelt was. Dorothy’s heart pounded loudly.

Rustle, rustle, there was a sound of something being touched where the wolf pelt was.

After a moment of silence, the men’s voices were heard again.

“This is huge. It’s worth quite a bit.”

“We hit the jackpot.”

“Let’s not waste time and get out of here. We need to leave before the ranger comes.”

Hearing the men talk made Dorothy’s heart pound even more.

‘Joo-hwan brought it.’

Joo-hwan gave it to Lizzy. Lizzy was very happy. Dorothy was happy too. The scary wolf wasn’t scary at all.

Moreover, Lizzy said it would fetch a lot of money if sold later. She said they could buy many good things when the peddler came. If the men took it away…

Even though she was so scared that tears and snot were coming out, Dorothy had to protect the wolf pelt. She placed her elbows on the floor and crawled forward a little.

There were sounds of things bumping into each other. The men seemed to be touching various things. Someone shouted joyfully.

—

“Hey! There’s meat here!”

“What, did you really hunt a wolf?”

“Crazy fool, as if. A wolf isn’t some kid’s name. It looks like a stray wolf was attacked by this pack and was dying.”

One of the men spoke gruffly, and someone laughed.

“Haha. Is that really so? Look closely at this wolf’s hide, there’s a wound on its forepaw.”

“See, no way he hunted a wolf. He probably just wanted to show off in front of his woman.”

The men were laughing. They thought Juhwan was a fool.

But Juhwan really did catch it. He fought and caught it. He had a big wound on his arm. Lizzy said Juhwan was an incredibly, incredibly, incredibly strong man who could catch a wolf with his bare hands.

She was angry! Dorothy clenched her fists. Her lips twitched as the snot running down her nose dripped into her mouth.

There were footsteps at the door. Turning her head and pressing her cheek to the floor, she saw Lizzy’s feet. She seemed hurt. She was limping. Lizzy’s small, worn shoes made a tapping sound as they passed by the bed.

Lizzy shouted in a strange voice.

“No! Don’t touch it. It’s ours!”

She seemed scared. Her voice sounded like it was trembling. The men shouted back.

“Who do you think you’re yelling at, huh?”

“Eek!”

Lizzy let out a strange scream. The men laughed again.

“Look at this girl. She couldn’t even squeak a while ago, now she’s got a husband and she’s screaming.”

“She’s really defiant.”

“Where do you get off glaring at us like that!”

With a thud, Lizzy fell to the floor. Through the gap in the bed, Dorothy could see Lizzy’s face. Blood was coming from Lizzy’s nose. What should she do? The image of her stepmother being hit by her father suddenly came to mind. She was scared. She wanted to help Lizzy but was too scared to move.

Her body trembled and she felt like crying again. Dorothy covered her mouth with her hand, and her eyes met Lizzy’s. But Lizzy quickly turned her face away. As if she hadn’t seen Dorothy, as if she were an invisible child, just like her second mother used to look at her.

“….”

She hid alone and was hated. Dorothy thought Lizzy ignored her because she was a bad child. What should she do? Tears poured from her eyes.

The men stood close to Lizzy and laughed loudly.

Lizzy seemed scared. She was definitely much, much more scared than Dorothy. Through Dorothy’s blurry eyes, she could see Lizzy’s body trembling.

She needed to help but couldn’t. She was too scared, and her body trembled.

The men spoke right next to the bed.

“Hey, look at this girl’s fair skin. She’s so skinny, but doesn’t she look appetizing?”

“What if the ranger finds out?”

“What does he know? He doesn’t speak our language anyway. As long as we keep our mouths shut, it’s fine.”

—

I don’t know what the sound is, but it’s bad. Dorothy curled up into a ball, trembling.

What should I do? Lizzie still doesn’t look at Dorothy, and the scary men are right next to her. I wish Joo-hwan were here. Then he would beat these men like wolves.

“But if the ranger comes here, it will be troublesome. It will be a headache if the village chief finds out. You know it’s hard to find a ranger. It will be troublesome if he leaves.”

When someone said that, another man grumbled.

“Then let’s go to the forest.”

“Ah, it’s really cold.”

A man grabbed Lizzie’s arm and lifted her up.

The other men went back to where the wolf skins and meat were. There was a thudding sound. It seemed like they kicked something. There was a sound of something rolling.

The men’s feet gathered by the bed and then walked towards the door. Lizzie was dragged along. Lizzie didn’t say a word anymore. Only small sobs could be heard. It seemed like her feet couldn’t move properly. As she was dragged and fell, the man lifted her up again.

“If you tell your husband, you know! He will come in the middle of the night and burn down this cabin and everything.”

The men yelled and left the house with Lizzie. Lizzie’s voice was faintly heard as she crossed the door. Don’t do it, please don’t.

Even after the men all left and it became quiet, Dorothy couldn’t move for a while. The men’s laughter was heard again from outside the door.

‘Lizzie!’

Lizzie is being dragged away. Something bad will definitely happen. She might never come back.

Dorothy crawled out of bed and ran to the wooden window. Crying, she hid by the window and secretly watched. She saw the men dragging Lizzie, holding wolf skins and a meat barrel.

The men were very scary, but Lizzie being dragged away was even scarier.

A sob escaped through the fingers covering her mouth. No matter how much she tried to block it with her hands, the sound kept escaping. She couldn’t hide the bursting sound. The sob she had been holding back finally burst out.

Waaaah.

Dorothy’s sobs echoed throughout the house.

‘Joo-hwan, Joo-hwan, where are you.’

Come quickly. Lizzie is being dragged away. Come quickly and drive those men away. Help Lizzie.

As the sobs went out through the window, the men stopped and turned around. The men’s eyes were very scary.

Almost home. Just a little more and the house will be visible through the trees.

Joo-hwan hurried his steps, but Gus stopped. He pointed at himself with his finger, then pointed back at the forest. It seemed like he was thinking of going back now.

As he nodded and was about to express his gratitude for the day, suddenly a child’s sob was heard from afar.

‘Dorothy!’

He had heard the sobs before, but this time it was different. Louder and more desperate. The sobs sounded like screams.

Something is happening. Something has happened at home.

—

Juhwan’s massive body kicked off the ground and started running between the trees.

The house was close. If you see the clearing between the trees, the house is beyond it.

It feels like the skin is being pulled back because of the speed. But it’s too slow. He needs to go faster. The sound of the child’s crying seemed to pull him forward.

In an instant, he ran through the forest to the distance where the house was visible.

Strange men were dragging Lizzy by the arm.

Just by seeing that one scene, he knew what was happening. In this messed-up world, when men drag away a woman who can’t resist, there’s only one thing they intend to do.

There was blood on Lizzy’s face, visible from afar.

It felt like a light bulb in his brain exploded. The light went out. His mind went dark.

‘I’ll kill them!’

Juhwan’s large body rushed towards the men in an instant. The men’s eyes widened as they noticed him belatedly.

But before they could react, Juhwan’s fist flew through the air. As his fist struck the face of the man dragging Lizzy’s arm, the man fell to the ground as if sinking.

The men couldn’t say anything. There wasn’t even a scream.

While they couldn’t react, Juhwan grabbed the collar of the man who had fallen to the ground and lifted him up. His eyes were open, but he was already limp. It seemed he had fainted.

But no. He couldn’t forgive. He shouldn’t.

Human nature is dirty and ugly, once you are looked down upon, it’s over. If that’s the case in modern society, how much worse would it be in this era?

There’s no place where the saying “the fist is closer than the law” fits better than here. He had to make sure these guys never came back here, never even thought about it.

A black darkness burned like fire in his heart. No one should set foot here. There should never be anyone like this again. Crush them completely.

Juhwan struck the man’s face with his fist once more. The man’s blood-covered face was crushed. It looked like it had caved in.

Just as he was about to strike again, the man with the sickle moved belatedly.

“Ugh…ah….”

He heard the rustling sound of the man with the sickle moving behind him. The shadow on the ground stretched long. The man’s shadow was raising the sickle high into the air.

Juhwan let go of the collar of the man he was holding, stood up, and turned his body.

At the same time, his right hand shot out.

Juhwan’s large body rose above the man’s head, and his right hand grabbed the arm of the man holding the sickle.

As he applied force, the sickle the man was holding fell powerlessly to the ground.

Juhwan grabbed the man’s shoulder with his left hand and twisted the arm holding the sickle in the opposite direction.

“Arghhhhh!”

With a cracking sound, the man screamed. His arm broke and his shoulder seemed dislocated. The man’s arm hung limply and shook.

—

—

“Ugh, ugh.”

The man holding the axe made a strange sound and turned around.

Juhwan grabbed the head of the man who was trying to run away. He grasped the greasy hair with his fingers and grabbed one of the man’s legs.

As he lifted him up, the startled man dropped the axe.

“Aaah! Aaah!”

As he was lifted into the air by his hair, the man screamed in pain. The weight made his hair feel like it was about to be ripped out.

Juhwan lifted the man high into the air with both hands.

The man hunched his shoulders like a turtle and strained his neck. If he wasn’t careful, his neck and back would be damaged. He would be unable to move for the rest of his life. The man flailed his arms and legs, screaming to avoid that fate. His fingers scratched Juhwan’s hand in vain.

Ignoring the man’s actions, Juhwan threw him with all his might.

The man hit the ground with a sound like a frog being squashed. Unable to withstand the force of the throw, the man rolled away. He writhed on the ground like a caterpillar, crying.

But it wasn’t over yet. The anger hadn’t subsided. Juhwan ran up to the man and kicked him in the stomach. The man curled up like a shrimp. Blood gushed from his mouth. Again. And again, Juhwan kicked the man.

“Juhwan! ##! ####.”

Gus shouted something and hugged Juhwan. Gus forced himself between the man and Juhwan, hitting his arm hard with his wrinkled hand. Then he pointed towards the house.

When Juhwan turned his head, he saw Lizzie staring with wide eyes.

“….”

He had done it. He knew how he looked to the woman and child, but he had shown a terrifying side in front of Lizzie and Dorothy. No matter how much he was trying to protect them, it was still scary.

The anger that had been burning fiercely just moments ago fizzled out with a hiss. Like a red ember turning into black charcoal in an instant, only smoke remained.