My daughter lay in a hospital bed in Queens after a six-hour emergency spinal operation, and not a single member of our community association came to see her.
I stared at Min-jun, then at the quitclaim deed, then back at the ink pad. The smell of desperation hung heavy in the cramped, dusty backroom. My former apprentice, the young man I had taught to hold a needle and thread, now stood before me, demanding my life’s work.
“I will not sign,” I said, my voice low, steady. My hands, surprisingly, did not tremble.
Min-jun’s face contorted. “Are you mad? He will take the shop! He will ruin us both!” He grabbed me by the lapels of my work coat, his fingers digging into the worn fabric. “Don’t you understand the danger?”
He screamed, his breath hot on my face. “Boss Kang does not joke! He will come for you! For me!”
I looked him in the eye, seeing not just fear, but a flicker of the entitlement that had led us here. “You made your choices, Min-jun.”
Before the physical struggle could escalate further, a shattering crash ripped through the air. The heavy door’s glass panel exploded inward, splintering across the floor.
Two hulking figures, Boss Kang’s enforcers, kicked the door clean off its frame. It crashed against the wall, sending up a cloud of dust and plaster.
They didn’t waste a single word on me. Their eyes fixed on Min-jun.
In one swift, brutal motion, they barged into the narrow room. One grabbed Min-jun’s right arm, twisting it behind his back with an audible crack. The other pinned his left.
Min-jun screamed, a high, desperate sound. “No! Let me go! Appa!”
They ignored his pleas, ignoring my stunned silence. Without a word, without a glance back, they dragged him, thrashing and screaming, out through the shattered doorway and into the rear alleyway. I heard the distant thrum of a car engine, then the screech of tires peeling away.
The backroom was silent once more, save for the faint tinkling of settling glass and the ragged sound of my own breathing. The air smelled of dust and fear. Min-jun was gone.
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