3: Chapter 3 Revenge at the Gate of Night Tide

The snow in Busan was still falling, getting heavier and heavier, flakes hitting the glass windows and melting into trails of water.

After leaving the funeral parlor, Liu Zijun returned to the Busan Lotte Hotel.

He tossed his black overcoat onto the sofa and slumped down by the edge of the bed.

His fingertips brushed over his phone.

Choi Soo-myung's burial was scheduled for ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

After seeing him off on his final journey, he would go to Seoul to find Choi Sulli and check on Park Soyeon's situation.

"Emily! Help me look into The Peninsula SM Entertainment Company and Choi Sulli's situation. The more detailed, the better."

"Also, look into the details of a group here called T-ARA."

Liu Zijun dialed a secret number and spoke.

An electronic voice sounded from the phone: "Jayden! Could those little vixens from Europe and America or the beauties from China not keep you? You actually went to The Peninsula?"

Liu Zijun said helplessly, "This is very important to me, Emily!"

The electronic voice went silent for a moment before speaking again: "I'll email you once I have the results."

Liu Zijun acknowledged it, thought for a moment, and then said, "I'll likely be staying in Seoul for a while. Contact me anytime if anything comes up!"

The electronic voice fell silent again for a while before sounding: "It seems this Choi Sulli is very important to you?"

Liu Zijun thought of that sweet girl and said, "Yes."

What he didn't say was that in his past life, this girl would have been very important to her too.

It was just that in this life, Emily didn't know Choi Soo-myung yet.

Because in the past life, Choi Soo-myung didn't join the organization until 2013.

Hanging up the phone, he stood up and washed his face with cold water. The man in the mirror was truly young, but his features were cold and hard, with a hint of fatigue in the corners of his eyes that couldn't hide the ruthlessness in his bones.

In his past life, he had struggled through hail of bullets; in this life, he could only see his brother off on his final journey and fulfill his last wishes.

Why hadn't he been reborn like himself, instead dying in a car accident anyway?

He tugged at his tie, grabbed his wallet and phone, and a sudden urge to drink surged in his heart.

Night Tide, the largest bar in Busan, was located in the seaside commercial district.

He hadn't visited The Peninsula in his past life, so he might as well take a look in this one.

It was just that everything had changed.

Pushing open the bar door, deafening electronic music hit him, mixed with the smell of alcohol and perfume.

It was already winter, but that didn't stop the girls from dressing scantily.

Men and women in the dance floor swayed to the music, the lights flickering, making the entire space feel somewhat hallucinogenic.

Liu Zijun was quite composed; he had experienced plenty of such noise in his past life.

He walked straight to the bar and found a seat in the corner.

Liu Zijun said in somewhat rusty Korean language, "A glass of whiskey, with ice."

The bartender was a young guy with pink hair. He raised an eyebrow, skillfully mixed the drink and pushed it in front of him, muttering softly.

"There have been quite a lot of Chinese tourists lately."

Liu Zijun picked up the glass and took a sip. The pungent liquid slid down his throat, slightly easing the stifling feeling in his chest.

He looked up and scanned the bar, his gaze drifting across every corner.

This was a professional habit of his.

His gaze finally landed on a secluded booth diagonally opposite him.

A woman sat there alone, a very beautiful woman.

She wore a creamy-white knit sweater with a black overcoat over it, her hair loosely tied back, revealing a slender neck.

The light fell on her face, making her exquisite features visible—a pert nose, soft lips—but a trace of unshakeable sorrow was etched between her brows.

Several pink cocktails sat before her. She held a square glass, but only lightly brushed her fingers against the rim, not taking a sip for a long time.

The woman seemed lost in thought, sighing softly from time to time.

Her somewhat haggard appearance was like a swan drenched by rain, fragile yet moving.

As expected, beautiful women are attractive everywhere.

He, Liu Zijun, had never been a good person.

If it were his past life, or even any other time in this life, he would have been happy to have something happen with a beauty.

But today, he only wanted to drink.

In his past life in Africa and the Middle East, the blood on his hands was enough to wash several times over, let alone sleeping with women.

Returning in this life, he was still a lone outlaw; what did the joys and sorrows of others have to do with him?

He drank glass after glass, the ice in the whiskey clinking with a soft "ding-ling."

The music in the bar changed to a soothing Korean language love song. It sounded decent, and he could roughly understand the meaning.

He remembered Choi Soo-myung telling him about Korean entertainment back in Africa. He hadn't really listened to much, only recognizing a few members of Girls Generation and the ones Choi Soo-myung talked about most, like Choi Sulli and Park Soyeon.

Thinking of this, the corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk, which quickly faded.

"Damn it..."

Liu Zijun cursed under his breath and took another large gulp of alcohol. The liquid flowed down the corner of his mouth, dripping onto his expensive black shirt, but he didn't care.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a man in a floral shirt sneakily walking up to the woman's booth.

While the beauty was looking down at her phone in thought, the man quickly pulled a small white pill from his pocket and dropped it into her untouched cocktail.

The pill dissolved quickly, leaving no trace.

The man's movements were very practiced and discreet; he was clearly a repeat offender.

After doing all this, he even raised an eyebrow triumphantly, turned, and walked to the other side of the bar to exchange glances with several of his scoundrel friends.

Judging by their attire, they were either wealthy or influential.

Liu Zijun saw everything. His fingers only paused for a moment before he picked up his glass and took another sip.

Whatever. Whether it was drugging or even coercion, it was someone else's business.

He, Liu Zijun, had long lost the inclination to meddle in things that didn't concern him.

"Oppa! Can you buy me a drink?"

A woman dressed quite flamboyantly and scantily approached Liu Zijun to strike up a conversation.

Liu Zijun didn't even look up, saying in a low voice, "Not interested..."

"Oppa! I'm free tonight..."

The woman clearly didn't intend to give up.

"Get lost..."

Liu Zijun had no patience and barked out.

"aishiba..."

But before the woman could finish cursing, she saw Liu Zijun look up with bloodshot eyes. It gave her such a fright that she quickly ran back to her friends.

Liu Zijun finished his last glass of whiskey, placed the glass on the bar, took out his wallet, threw a few korean won on the table, and got up to leave.

Just as he moved, he heard a low "mm-mm..." from the woman diagonally opposite.

Seems like she was starting to feel dizzy.

Liu Zijun didn't look back and walked straight toward the bar entrance.

Stepping out of the bar, a cold wind mixed with snowflakes hit him.

He wrapped his overcoat tighter. Just as he was about to step forward, he heard a sinister shout from behind.

"Hey! Stop! aishiba... You! Stop!"

Liu Zijun turned around to see Zhao Chenghao standing at the bar entrance with five or six men in black jackets, all looking fierce and holding steel pipes and baseball bats.

Zhao Chenghao's face was still swollen from where Liu Zijun had slapped him not long ago.

At this moment, he pointed at Liu Zijun, his eyes red.

"aishiba! You brat, you dare hit me? Do you know who I am? If I don't cripple you today, I, Zhao Chenghao, would have lived in Busan for nothing!"

Liu Zijun narrowed his eyes. The alcohol was kicking in, but the coldness in his eyes grew even sharper.

He let out a drunken burp and said slowly, "What? You got beaten earlier, and now you've brought backup?"

His Korean language was still rusty, but it carried an intense chill.

Good timing!

A gang member with a buzz cut stepped forward with a steel pipe, pointing it at Liu Zijun's nose and cursing, "Moya? You brat, hurry up and get on your knees to apologize!"

"A foreigner coming to our Seven Star Gang's territory and daring to be so arrogant? You'd better prepare to lie in a hospital bed!"

Hearing this, Liu Zijun sneered, "Seven Star Gang? What kind of nobodies are they?"

"Hey! You're looking for death!"

The buzz-cut man roared, his mouth full of profanity, and swung the steel pipe toward Liu Zijun's head.

Liu Zijun stepped to the side, easily dodging it, and simultaneously grabbed the man's wrist, snapping it violently.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of a bone breaking rang out, and the buzz-cut man let out a heart-wrenching scream.

"Ah—! My hand! My hand is broken!"

Liu Zijun kicked him in the stomach. The buzz-cut man flew back, falling into the snow and curling up in pain.

The other thugs were stunned for a moment before rushing forward with bloodshot eyes.

"Bang!"

"Crack!"

"Thud!"

In an instant, the sounds of fists hitting flesh, bones breaking, and bodies falling into the snow rose and fell at the entrance of the Night Tide Bar.

Although Liu Zijun had drunk quite a lot, dealing with these street thugs was still easy.

Every punch and kick landed heavily on them.

He didn't kill them; he was just releasing the frustration in his heart.

Soon, all five gang members were lying in the snow, each with broken arms or legs, wailing for their parents.