Criminal Judge

Chapter 11: A Mafia Lord

***

“We'll see Mr Ethan” the man stood up to leave.

“Oh!, and before I leave, take care of Sun-deok very well, you might as well lose her” the man chuckled and disappeared as if he had never appeared.

***

The words kept ringing in his head continuously as he stared at the buildings below, flickering his lighter in rhythm as he stood there emotionless.

‘Two days’ Ethan thought.

‘It's been two days and she's refused to talk to me’ Ethan sighed and looked back. He was currently at the balcony of the upper part of the Motel, and the view there was glamorous so to say. But he wasn't at all interested in all that. He had gone to her office twice, to pick her up but she had avoided him like a plague.

‘What is wrong with me?” Ethan tapped his head in frustration.

‘It's just a lady, I'm far better than to do this’ Ethan groaned softly as he stared blankly at the void.

“Mr Ethan!” A voice broke his line of thought.

Ethan looked ahead and spotted Mr Kim heading in his direction.

“You seem to be enjoying the view here alone” Mr Kim squinted his eyes while he took his place beside Ethan – a strange file in hand.

“I wish, it all seems to me like blank representations of uselessness” Ethan chuckled as he tugged his hands in the pocket of his coat.

“You seem to be really into my daughter Mr Ethan, that's weird for a Mafia Lord” Mr Kim said sarcastically.

“Don't bring that up,” Ethan said, reducing his humor.

“You know Mr Ethan, others may think otherwise, but I, having studied Psychology know that you've changed.

“Dad once wanted me to study the course,” Ethan smiled widely.

“He said, it'll help me know the right decisions to make as a Mafia Lord. But I was glued to racing” Ethan chuckled.

“The great Gabriel Reyes” Mr Kim shivered a little and sighed.

“You risked your life to save me. I know you wouldn't have pulled that stunt if you were still Lord Reyes” Mr Kim smiled and continued.

“You helped Sun-deok figure out a case that doesn't even concern you at the cost of almost losing your life. I also know you wouldn't do that if you were Lord Reyes” Mr Kim scoffed. He continued.

“Overall…” Mr Kim paused as if waiting for someone to complete the words that hooked themselves on his lips.

“You stayed at my Motel. It's been more than a month you know. If you were still Lord Reyes, I'm sure you'd have booked your flight to another country after that night you spent here” Mr Kim smiled.

“And so, I have no reason to be weary of you, I know my daughter is in safe hands, just find your way into her heart again” Mr Kim concluded and turned to leave.

“Hey, what's that?” Ethan pointed to the file in his hands.

“Oh this?” Mr Kim raised the file and retraced his steps.

“Nothing much, just some random file” Mr Kim smiled and resumed his advance.

Ethan sighed.

‘I guess I'll kill my ego, people sure do change’ Ethan smiled and made his way out of the balcony.

***

A sleek BMW made its way towards a corporation as it earned the admires of passersby. It asked in front of the transparent building and a young man got down.

Ethan sighed and surveyed the area. This time he wasn't dressing like a pauper as he always did, he wore his fitting suit that seemed to give off a Made-For-Me feeling.

Ethan rested on the body of his ride, his gaze fixed on the only exit of the corporation, clearly waiting patiently for something.

“He's so cute” Many ladies said with red cheeks as they passed by.

“He's a Mafia Lord from the Philippines. What do you expect? He's dangerous, do not mess with him” a guy advised with a scoff as he passed by.

“I wish he'd be my LOML” Ethan heard a lady say. He didn't seem to be moved by all the comments and compliments. He was here for something else

***

Mr Han stared at the distance from inside the corporation, his arms folded.

“You prince charming’s here, Sun-deok” Mr Han announced to the lady beside him. She was packing her stuff together, seemingly ready to leave for the day.

“He's wasting his time, I'm not going with him” Sun-deok said, the time of her voice subjected to unimaginable amounts of gravity.

“After he risked his life for your article, and saved your dad, I mean YES, He's a Mafia Lord, but people change. Okay, I mean you've changed him, why won't you get that” Mr Han analyzed, almost raising his voice.

“What he did was unforgivable, destroying what a family has worked for in years, and running to Korea, Not making up for his atrocities. You think I want to walk with that kind of man?!!” Sun-deok burst out at the last sentence, attracting curious gazes.

“We're done here” Sun-deok lips widened into a forceful smile as she made her way out of the office.

***

Ethan smiled as he saw a lady make her way out of the corporation. He moved from his former position into a standing one, as if welcoming a governor.

Sun-deok got to him and halted her movements.

“Why did you come here?” Sun-deok asked. Her tone carried not even the slightest bit of emotion.

“I came to pick you up, just to atone for whatever I might have done to you” Ethan said with literally no expression whatsoever.

“Picking a random lady with literally no strong background like yours in the outskirts of some random corporation in Korea would be atoning for the sin of destroying a whole family's fall back to and returning them back to poverty. Is that what you think?!” Sun-deok raised her eyebrows, scoffed with an expression that seemed to hold back tears. She took one last glance at him and walked out on him.

Ethan cracked his fists in frustration and got into his ride, immediately chasing after Sun-deok.

****

‘What’s his stress?’ Sun-deok thought as she spotted Ethan moving her way with his ride.

She took one last glance behind and turned to a sharp corner that had not enough space for a car of that size to fit in.

“Damn!!” Ethan parked his car, frustration written all over his face as he watched Sun-deok disappear out of sight.

“You should go after her and talk sense into her” Ethan heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Mr Han” Ethan sighed and looked at the narrow path she took.

“I understand you better than you, yourself. I know that you're changed and so I have no reason to hold grudges against you. But she's always been just a lawyer, being a Criminal Judge isn't more of her thing, but she could use some talking” Mr Han smiled and gestured for him to follow her.

“Alright Mr Han, Thanks” Ethan smiled and took off into the narrow space after locking his car.

Mr Han sighed and resumed his advance.

***

Ethan frowned slightly as he made his way through the spaces. It was like a maze and he didn't or couldn't guess where she might have passed. He just based his direction on probability as he navigated through the paths.

“Ethan!!!” Ethan heard a desperate voice from afar.

“Sun-deok!!” Ethan shouted and traced the voice. The instant he found her, he found a delicate scene.

He found a masked fellow, whose left hand seemed to want to choke Sun-deok and right hand equipped with a gun pointed to her head.

“Mmm hmm” The guy smiled scornfully as he halted Ethan who had already shaped into a charging position.

“You don't want to do that do you?, I mean my hands could just pull the trigger by mistake” The guy's smile widened.