The Pit Behind the Abandoned Church

Harin finished closing up, grabbed her bag from the desk, and was about to switch off the gym lights.

That was when the door creaked open with a chime.

Startled, she spun around on reflex.

Yoon Lee-gang stood there in a suit. Apparently he hadn't come to work out—the oversized sports bag he always carried was nowhere to be seen.

She hesitated over whether to turn off the lights, then finally killed them anyway and walked over to where he stood silently by the entrance.

"Did you come here to work out?"

She asked as she slipped off her slippers and changed into her sneakers at the locker.

"Just did. The lights were on, so."

What, did he come to check up on fire safety or something?

Harin tilted her head up to glance at him. For some reason, his face was rigid, set hard as stone.

"What are you doing after work today?"

He asked out of nowhere.

"Going home."

"Tomorrow's the weekend. If you've got nothing going on, come somewhere with me."

"I have a shift at the barbecue place tomorrow."

When Harin refused, Lee-gang tilted his head and answered with utter shamelessness.

"Skip it."

There wasn't anyone to cover for her, and he was telling her to just ditch it. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No."

With every last coin mattering, why on earth would she take a day off?

"I have to cover the living expenses and Grandma's hospital bills all on my own. And Hayul's vacation is almost over—he'll be back in school soon……"

"……"

"I don't have time to play around with you."

Harin spoke in a voice heavy with exhaustion, adjusting the strap of her bag.

Lee-gang was silent for a moment. Then he let out a long breath and lowered his head.

"I could take care of that piddling little sum for you."

He raised his head, murmuring the words in a low rasp.

What's gotten into him?

Harin frowned. He was different from usual, and it put her on edge—but the last train was what made her truly anxious.

After coming home late last night and worrying her grandmother and Hayul, she absolutely had to get back early today.

She checked the time on her phone screen and spoke.

"It's almost time for the last train. I have to go."

"……"

Lee-gang just stared at her quietly, offering no answer.

"See you later."

She had no choice. The instant she brushed past him and moved to step out the gym door, his hand shot out like lightning and snatched her wrist.

And then—being dragged out of the gym and shoved into the passenger seat of his car all happened in the blink of an eye.

He turned the ignition and tore down the road.

"Hey, stop the car!"

"……"

"I said stop the car!"

Harin's voice was sharp as a blade, but he only kept his eyes forward, his face carved from ice.

Headlights sliced through the dark national highway as the car flew at a insane speed. Cold sweat beaded at Harin's fingertips.

She peered out the window, but the heavy tint left everything outside pitch black. She briefly considered opening the door and jumping—but the car was moving too fast for her to work up the nerve.

How long had they been driving? The car finally stopped behind an abandoned church on the outskirts of Gohyeon City.

Lee-gang got out first and hauled her out by force.

"L-let go of me!"

Harin tried to wrench her hand free, but his grip was stronger.

And so, helpless, wrist locked in his grasp, she was pulled through the church's back entrance.

WHOOOAA—!

A roar of cheers loud enough to split the ceiling slammed into Harin's ears.

They passed through a cluttered space like a junk-filled storage room and started up a narrow, steep flight of cement stairs.

Chasing his long strides, she nearly stumbled more than once, but he didn't spare it a glance.

At the top of the stairs stretched a high steel terrace.

Lee-gang pushed her forward by the back.

The moment her feet carried her out toward the railing, the inside of the abandoned church spread out below her in a single view.

The church was boiling over with madness. The sparring ring at the center was stained dark with blood, and atop it two men, soaked crimson, were beating each other into the mat.

The crowd waved fistfuls of cash and screamed themselves hoarse, while the screens above the dais flashed wagers climbing into the tens of millions of won.

Harin's breath caught at the sight. She didn't need anyone to tell her. This was an arena. An illegal underground fight ring.

The ground seemed to give way beneath her feet. It felt like sinking into a swamp.

Tung. Tung.

Every time Lee-gang's heels crossed the steel floor behind her, they let out a chilling clack.

She felt warmth at her back. He was standing close—too close.

The instant she twisted sideways, thinking only of escape, a cold, hard hand clamped around the nape of her neck.

As if commanding her not to look away, to watch it through to the very end, he pressed down firmly on the back of her neck and leaned in over her.

"You need money, don't you?"

His breath brushed right against her ear.

"I'll sponsor you. Quit the part-time jobs and fight here as a fighter."

Her heart slammed against her ears, its thunder spreading through her like the pounding of a war drum.

She glanced sideways and met Lee-gang's eyes, his face still hard as stone. Then, slowly, the rigid line of his mouth began to loosen, curving into a cold, glacial smile.

"Pocket change like that—you can make it easily here."

Frozen in place, Harin looked back down at the ring.

Beneath lights that bled across the canvas like spreading blood, men in half-finger gloves smeared thick with gore hammered into each other without a shred of rules.

No weight classes. No regulations. A barbaric game where the first one to fall simply lost.

"So? Fancy trying your hand?"

A sneering voice tickled the edge of her ear.

One of his hands pressed down heavy on her shoulder, while the other stretched out to grip the railing, as though caging her against his own body.

At the heat radiating against her back, Harin instinctively hunched in on herself.

I've been caught by something I can't escape.

Fear rose slowly from the soles of her feet.

The world reeled before her eyes.

In that moment, the faint trace of his cologne that surrounded her—and the soap scent woven into it—smelled like the raw stench of blood.

I have to get out. I have to run.

The crowd's deafening cheers and the lights slashing at random combined into a nausea that hadn't existed before.

With bile climbing to her throat, Harin coughed out a dry, hacking rasp. Then she shoved Lee-gang back with everything she had and bolted for the stairs.

Tung. Tung. Tung.

The sound of his heels pursued her, sharp and clear.

Her ears felt stuffed with cotton. Cold sweat, dizziness, a surge of nausea. She felt like she might pass out.

Racing down the steel steps, Harin's soles slipped and her ankles twisted again and again.

Only when she finally shoved through the storage room door did she begin dragging in ragged, gulping breaths.

The gravel parking lot was filled with nothing but dark, empty cars, and the crowd's fevered roar faded into the distant chirring of crickets.

Only after blurting out into the open did she belatedly realize she had nowhere to run.

"Ah, f—"

A low, irritated mutter came from behind her.

Harin's feet wobbled weakly on the gravel as she turned. Lips twisted with disgust, she looked back at him with a face drained of color.

Watching her like that only stoked Lee-gang's irritation further.

What was wrong with her, jumping straight to terror like that?

"Done running?"

He scratched his temple as he spoke. His gait as he approached her was utterly relaxed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Lee-gang let out a dry, clipped laugh.

"You said you needed money."

"……"

"So I'm the sucker who's offering to hand it to you."

Anyone listening would think she'd grabbed him by the collar, begging him for cash.

Harin stared at him with wary eyes, then finally spoke. The end of her sentence trembled.

"Is this about the hospital bill from before? I said I'd pay you back. You're the one who refused."

She couldn't understand what had soured his mood, why he was twisting everything so maliciously.

Lee-gang approached her with flat, unreadable eyes.

"So? You don't want to?"

"D-do what, exactly……"

"You wanted to fight so badly, didn't you? I'm offering to set the stage for you. Make money and box. Two birds, one stone."

As she met those dead, bottomless eyes, Harin's gaze wavered.

Is that all it is to him? Just money? Just boxing?

She had no idea what he took her for. Did he think that because she'd trained as an athlete her whole life, her brain cells were made of muscle too?

Her gaunt, worn-thin face contorted—and in a heartbeat it was blazing with fury.

Harin clenched her jaw, balled her fist tight, and drove all her rage into a straight punch aimed at Lee-gang's face.

Thwack!

The dull impact rang out across the parking lot, silent but for the crickets.

The sudden shock folded his upper body sideways. Without a word, he clamped a hand over his mouth.

Harin withdrew her fist, flushed and gasping. Her fingertips throbbed.

A beat of silence. Until he lifted his head, those few seconds stretched out impossibly long.

Lee-gang slowly lowered the hand cupped over his mouth. There was no pain in his face, no anger. He simply raised his eyes and looked at her.

And then a wry laugh gathered at the corner of his cynical, frozen mouth. A vitality that hadn't been there before was flickering across his face.

Harin stared at the sight, dumbfounded. It felt as though ice water had been dumped over her fury-throbbing head, snapping her mind sharply, terribly clear.

A chill crawled down her spine. That man was, without question, insane.

Her instincts were screaming at her.

Run.