SBTGC 02

Chapter 02

At that moment, rather than the question of how he knew my name, I felt a certain conviction. In a world where everything felt unfamiliar and ambiguous, it was solely because of the man’s voice, clearly pronouncing my name, that I felt this way.

Ah, I absolutely hate this kind of either-or situation!

After a moment of deliberation, I quickly climbed into the passenger seat. The moment I fastened my seatbelt, the car shot forward like a bullet.

*Eek!*

Instantly, the man blocked my body, which was about to lurch forward, with his right arm.

“Hold onto something.”

Then can I hold onto my head? I feel like tearing it out right now…

Meanwhile, the man had turned into an alley between buildings, speeding along as if he didn’t care what was lying in the alley.

But what shocked me even more was the speed the man was driving.

The scenery outside the window flashed by, leaving trails. I checked the dashboard with terrified eyes.

“…….”

…120km/h in an alley like this? Is he out of his mind?

“Um, I think this is too fast….”

“I can’t help it right now. Bear with it for a bit.”

I only understood the meaning of his words after checking the side mirror.

*Wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo….*

The police cars that had arrived late earlier were chasing our tail. And at the same speed the man was driving.

The man skillfully dodged people and obstacles in the alley, weaving left and right.

It was a near-astounding level of skill, but this wasn’t the time to be impressed, so I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t bring myself to look ahead.

I’m going crazy!

My body, held in place by the seatbelt, lurched from side to side due to the rough driving. I thought, as my head banged *thump*, *thump* against the window.

Surely I’m not being chased right now, am I?

Why? I haven’t done anything wrong!

Meanwhile, the rattling of the car subsided a little. But for some reason, the speed seemed to have increased more than before.

What’s going on?

With an uneasy feeling, I lifted one eyelid. We had left the alley and were now on a road.

“…….”

Not just any road, but a highway.

I looked back at the driver’s seat with shocked eyes. Since he was wearing a mask, I couldn’t check his expression anyway, but even without looking, I could tell he was calm, unlike me.

I turned my gaze back to the side mirror. The police cars were still closely following us.

No, one of them seemed to increase its speed even more and changed its position to our left.

*Crunch!*

The approaching police car grazed our side and pulled away.

They say when people are too scared, they can’t even make a sound. I didn’t want to confirm the truth of that saying like this!

I swallowed my scream and gripped the handle tightly.

Without a trace of panic, the man avoided the successive collisions with near-acrobatic skill. Then he abruptly reduced speed, sharply turned the wheel, and doubled back the way we came.

It was around then that a strange sound was heard.

*Tudok.*

With a crushing sound, the steering wheel was ripped out by its roots.

*Huff.*

I stared at the torn-out steering wheel with shocked eyes.

Did he just… rip the steering wheel out with his bare hands?

Ripped out? The steering wheel?

“Ah….”

The man let out a sigh as he looked down at the steering wheel.

Hey! *I’m* the one who should be sighing!

As I looked back and forth between the pulled-out steering wheel and the man with shocked eyes.

“It’s okay.”

Okay? Nothing about this looks okay!

“Anyway, a curve is coming up soon….”

He muttered, tossing the steering wheel out the window.

In a very calm manner.

“Then we’ll just jump out at that point.”

“…Excuse me?”

What did I just hear? Do what?

“You can’t turn the wheel from now on. The car’s useless, so at this rate, they’ll catch up soon. There’s no other choice but to jump out.”

“…….”

“From then on, we’ll have to move on foot instead of by car, but it can’t be helped.”

…Crazy bastard.

That’s definitely a crazy bastard. I used up the courage I’d mustered just to get into this crazy bastard’s car.

I wished I could go back just 10 minutes and change every choice I’d made.

I knew it! I shouldn’t have gotten in! I should have just run towards those police cars!

Idiot! What on earth made you overestimate yourself like that?

“Get ready within a minute. We’re jumping out right away.”

While I was blaming myself internally, the man spoke, looking back at me.

“Open the door now.”

By that time, I had even forgotten to breathe.

“If you want to stay in the car, I won’t stop you, but in these cases, it’s better to jump out. Getting out of a rolled-over car is more troublesome than you think.”

I stared blankly ahead. Even with the steering wheel pulled out, the car was smoothly speeding along the highway. There were no vehicles ahead, and the road stretched straight, but this state wouldn’t last long.

I’m going to die. I’m really going to die…

“I’ll count to three. On three, we jump.”

No, I don’t want to! You jump out yourself!

Either way, I’d die, but who in the world would jump out just because someone said so?

Even if such a person exists somewhere, that’s someone else’s story. At least, I’m not that person!

I shook my head vigorously. My vision quickly blurred.

As I bit my trembling lip, the man who had been gazing at me steadily asked.

“…Are you crying?”

Wouldn’t you cry if you were in my shoes?

I opened my eyes and ended up in a strange place, called the police only to have some crazy bastard show up, and now I’m about to die because I trusted that crazy bastard!

I was so terrified that I couldn’t even make a sound, just silently shed tears.

And a few seconds later.

The man, who had been looking at me for a moment, clicked his tongue and suddenly leaned his upper body towards me.

I flinched and leaned back, but behind me was a dead end anyway.

Pressing my back against the closed door, I stared at the skull. If I wasn’t mistaken, the man was trying to hug me.

You crazy bastard!

“Wha… what are you, wh-wha….”

“Seems like you can’t do it voluntarily. I’ll help you.”

*Ack!*

Shaking my head, I grabbed the man’s shoulders. Instead of coming closer, he stopped moving and looked at me.

It was only then that I could finally express my refusal.

It was just one word, though.

“I-I don’t want to….”

“…….”

“I’m not jumping out. Just… just slow down. Step on the brakes. That’s better, isn’t it!”

“Then they’ll catch us as we are?”

He asked back immediately.

“If you get caught by them, you really won’t be able to go home from then on.”

Really? But it’s the same thing even if I jump out—I still can’t go home.

I blinked my wet eyes and thought of the police cars behind us. If I couldn’t trust anyone, who were those people chasing us?

“Who are they? Why are they… why are they coming after me?”

“Because they want Myeongse-na-ssi to be here.”

“So why? Where is this place?”

“That….”

After a moment’s thought, the man said.

“If you jump out with me, I’ll explain then.”

Hey, you crazy bastard!

“What kind of nonsense is that! If we die, I won’t be able to hear any explanation anyway!”

“You won’t die.”

His voice was full of conviction.

“You won’t even get hurt. I promise.”

I stared into the hollow eye sockets of the mask, then looked ahead again.

I could see a curve not far away. Soon, the car would break through the railing and fall down below.

It’s a crazy idea. I know it’s a truly crazy idea. But I replayed the absurd situations that had happened one after another since I opened my eyes, and after the recollection, I stared at the skull mask in front of me.

The suspicious man who appeared at just the right time, saying he’d take me home.

…Ah. I don’t know anymore.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and hugged the thick neck in front of me.

The man’s body flinched for a moment, but then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me towards him. My body easily moved into the driver’s seat.

With his foot braced on the car’s floor, he opened the driver’s side door. *Whoosh*—the rushing wind and the rapidly passing nightscape flooded in.

At that, I squeezed my eyes shut one last time. I didn’t have the courage to keep my eyes open until the moment we jumped.

*Whoosh!*

The body embracing me threw itself outward. There was not a trace of hesitation in the body pressed against mine.

The sensation of falling enveloped my entire body, and I gritted my teeth and endured that dizzying feeling.

From behind, I heard sounds of something crashing hard—*crunch*, *bang!*—and crumpling, probably the police car we had been in.

As the falling sensation ended, our bodies landed somewhere and began rolling and bumping around repeatedly.

I frowned as the impact and pain were felt directly, but I couldn’t even let out a groan. Even with my eyes closed, I felt dizzy.

…Will I be able to get up?

Just as I was able to form coherent thoughts, the rough motion came to an end.