Kevin has felt a slight suspicion since the moment he observed the lady carefully.
First, the lack of sweat on her face, and then when there is no reaction after he took her hand without her permission—after all, a person in a stressful situation like hers should be in protective mode from any unknown person.
The sudden agreement of the leader about letting him go along with this lady only intensified that feeling, but still he decided to ignore this feeling as just an overthinking of his brain.
But now, looking at the situation, which has turned for the worst, Kevin knows that his suspicion was fu#king right.
Hearing the slow footsteps moving toward him, Kevin's mind, which was raging with various strategies and techniques, began to calm down.
He decided to stop strategizing and look at his situation with a do-or-die condition.
The leader who was keeping Kevin trapped felt the sudden decrease in his continuous efforts to break free and thought that he had finally surrendered to his circumstances, but the next second his eyes widened.
Kevin doesn't like anything about his situation; the feeling of being humiliated and the very thought of these bastards walking away with his possessions like it's their right made his pride hurt. The raging flames of anger keep burning brighter and brighter until Kevin decides to let go of his reasoning and allow anger to consume him.
Kevin opened his mouth as wide as he could and then .....
"bite"
"Glug Glug "
Kevin bit the neck of the leader until his flesh got detached from his neck, and a small fountain of blood started flowing from the leader's neck.
"Guak"
The leader wanted to scream, but blood had filled his mouth, and no comprehensible sound could be made by him. His control over his body begins to slip away. He cursed his stars for sending such unpredictable and dangerous prey.
Kevin did not stop instead he took it as an opportunity. he moved his head backward and then, with every momentum he could accumulate, headbutted the leader on his nose.
'Crack'
A sound of bone breaking resounded in Kevin's ear. He could feel the grip of the leader slipping away, so he took the opportunity and pushed the leader with both hands.
The leader cannot defend himself. His vision unfocused, pain had overwhelmed his senses.
The blood loss from his neck had already drained his strength, leaving him swaying on unsteady feet.
His vision blurred, the world around him dissolving into a haze of shadows and flickering.
'Spit,' 'thwack'
"F#ck."
Kevin cannot help but keep spitting and cursing while cleaning his tongue to get rid of this metallic taste.
He gave a last look toward the unconscious leader whose blood had started to spread on the road.
Kevin decided to ignore it; after all, it's not the first time he had seen this much blood. His profession as a surgeon itself does not allow those who have a weak heart toward gore to move forward in their career.
Kevin looked toward the only conscious person present here beside him.
The lady who had appeared so desperate and helpless, a damsel in distress in front of him just a few minutes ago, is now standing with a foldable knife big enough to carry in her purse while avoiding any suspicion, looking toward Kevin while trembling with a horrified expression on her face.
Her face, once adorned with heavy makeup that had given her an air of confidence and allure, was now stripped bare.
The smudged remnants of mascara streaked her cheeks, and her expression was a kaleidoscope of emotions: fear, desperation, and a flicker of regret that she couldn't quite suppress.
She cannot understand how her situation suddenly turned out like this; just a few minutes ago everything was going fine, they had gotten their prey for tonight, and she had successfully deceived him.
Now all that remained was to rob him, take his identification proof, and drug him while playing the role of a damsel in distress who wished to repay her knight in shining armor through any means.
After he became unconscious, all she had to do was wait for her partners to come after verifying his background to make sure he was not troublesome prey with dangerous strings attached.
If he is a normal person with no background, her partners will handle it while she gets her pay, and if he is someone with a background, she will get away after writing a note filled with praises for the imaginary night they shared.
Looking at Kevin drenched in the blood of her accomplices and his own, he looks like a demon from hell. She can only curse her luck.
"P-Please don't k-kill me. I will do anything you want, but please spare me, she spoke with a trembling voice.
Kevin did not speak; instead, he started moving toward her while limping.
"N-Nooo, please don't. L-Listen t-to me. I am just a chess piece. I have nothing to do with them."
The lady got terrified. She tried to move away, but her legs, frozen from fear, betrayed her, and she fell down on the road, but her pleas never stopped.
Kevin ignored her words and kept moving. Each step he took was deliberate, a testament to his unwavering determination. The pain from his injuries was evident in the way he moved, yet he seemed to draw strength from it, as if it fueled his resolve.
He stopped when she was just out of his reach; he extended his hand, palm upward. The motion was slow and deliberate, ready to take any necessary action in case she acted smart.
The woman flinched at his action, thinking about all possible torture she will have to endure.
But Kevin did not care about her internal struggle.
"Give me my phone, bitch."
He said in a low and hoarse voice.
The lady was too busy panicking that she didn't even register his words.
Kevin's brows frowned in irritation.
"Are you thinking that I will not do anything to you just because you are a woman?" Kevin said with an angry tone.
"Try anything funny and I will put that knife straight through your head," he warned.
The only reason she is still safe is because he needs a victim of this mess to sort this matter legally. After all, this is not his home country but a foreign one.
The moment she heard those words, her trembling increased. She slowly took out his smartphone from her purse and passed it to Kevin.
Kevin looked at his smartphone that had been switched off by her to avoid any variables.
He cannot understand just why he will give his smartphone away when he was suspicious of her. after all, giving away his only way of getting help is not something he will ever do.
Kevin shook his head, ignoring his out-of-character action to focus on the much more important task of getting out of this situation.
Kevin pressed the power button for a few seconds before his phone started vibrating. Every single moment feels like torture to him due to continuous bleeding from his injuries that have deepened due to fighting recklessly. The knife in his back seems to have grazed his organ.
Just as he was about to unlock his smartphone to call David instead of the police because he does not have much belief in them—after all, he has suffered in this country in one day despite it having first place in global public safety ranking—most importantly, in this useless country, his only reliable connection is his best friend, whom he can fully trust.
But the moment his fingers touched the cold screen of his smartphone, a voice so suppressed that it could be completely ignored if not for the silence of the night attracted his attention.
His head moved toward the alley from which this sound came, and his grip on his phone increased.
Ready for anything, the truth of his situation became clear when a sharp pain shot up from the right side of his chest. The pain was so high that Kevin almost lost his footing, but he stabilized himself with sheer will.
When he looked toward his chest to find any clue, his eyes could not help but widen because there, on the left side of his coat, a hole of almost 6 millimeters had appeared, and he could feel the continuous bleeding from it.
"I've been shot."
The words echoed in his mind, cold and unyielding. Kevin's gaze snapped toward the alley, his eyes straining to pierce the shadows that cloaked his assailant. But the darkness refused to yield its secrets, leaving him blind to the threat that lurked within.
He could feel his control slipping, his body betraying him with every passing second. Desperate to stay conscious, Kevin bit down hard on his tongue, the sharp sting jolting him back to the present.
As his body collapsed to the ground, his eyes betrayed him at last, fluttering shut against his will. But even in the darkness, Kevin's mind remained focused on the alley, on the unseen figure who had struck from the shadows.
His wish to see his assailant remained unfulfilled, a bitter regret that lingered as his consciousness slipped away.