Chapter 28: Bread and Candy (5)

The next morning, Lonzo woke up staring at the unfamiliar ceiling of a motel room.

“Ugh… My head…”

A splitting headache pounded in his skull, and his entire body felt as heavy as lead.

His memories of the previous night at the club were hazy—just fragments of a beautiful woman’s smile and a sweet drink.

Groaning, he forced himself to sit up from the creaky bed.

“Ugh…”

That’s when he noticed the strange blue powder scattered on the bed sheets.

“……?!”

Suddenly, a vivid memory from the previous night hit him—a wave of overwhelming pleasure that felt like his senses were melting away.

He gasped for breath, his body trembling as he recalled that fleeting ecstasy.

“Hah… Hah…!”

His anxious eyes darted around the room until they landed on a small table by the bed.

On it lay a few blue, candy-like pills.

A cold sweat broke out all over his body.

He recognized it immediately.

It was Heaven Candy—the worst synthetic drug spreading through the back alleys lately.

Even one hit was said to ruin your life.

Realizing what had happened, Lonzo wiped his face with a trembling hand, trying to calm himself.

‘It’s fine… It was just once. A mistake.’

He convinced himself that it was just an unfortunate accident.

He thought he could pretend it never happened and return to his normal life.

So, he left the motel and tried to resume his usual “clean” mercenary work.

But it was already too late.

“Damn it…!”

No matter how much he tried to focus on his next job, nothing sank in.

His body felt sluggish, his fingers shook, and, most of all, his thoughts kept drifting back to that moment of bliss—and the blue pill that brought it.

He made a series of mistakes during the mission, ultimately failing it.

That day marked the beginning of Lonzo’s downfall as a fixer.

‘It’s okay… Just hang on a little longer. It’ll pass.’

Lonzo tried to reassure himself, still unaware that it was all a calculated trap.

He convinced himself that it was just one bad night and that he could resist if he had enough willpower.

But Heaven Candy wasn’t something that could be quit through sheer determination.

Once tasted, it became a devil’s leash—impossible to break.

He spent sleepless nights fighting the withdrawal, but his fragile willpower was no match for the drug’s relentless pull.

In the end, he found himself searching desperately for another hit.

“Heaven Candy, give me everything you have!”

He spent every cent of his hard-earned savings, gathered from countless mercenary jobs, just to buy more.

But the artificially inflated price drained his funds quickly, leaving him deep in debt to the dealers.

To pay it off, he had no choice but to take on the Ricardo Family’s dirty jobs.

No longer able to choose his clients, Lonzo fell from a respected fixer to a blood-soaked hitman.

“Here. Your weekly dose.”

“F-Faster…!”

As time passed, Lonzo sank deeper into addiction.

As long as he was high, he didn’t feel hunger, pain, or exhaustion.

He’d spend days without eating or washing, either sprawled out in a filthy room, laughing senselessly, or writhing in agony from withdrawal.

His once-sharp gaze became hollow, his body withered away, and those who once cared for him left one by one.

“Sorry, Lonzo. Consider this my last act of kindness. Don’t come looking for me again.”

Even a former comrade, who handed him some money out of pity, couldn’t bear to see his state anymore.

But Lonzo just spent it all on more drugs.

‘I shouldn’t… I can’t keep doing this…’

Though his mind told him to stop, his hands wouldn’t obey.

“Snap out of it, you bastard!”

“Lonzo, you’ve changed. You’re not the man I loved anymore. Goodbye.”

Even his old friends and his lover, who had desperately tried to help him, finally gave up and left.

Now, Lonzo was completely alone.

The most bitter part was that, deep down, he felt a twisted relief that no one was left to nag him or stop him from using.

Being alone meant no one would interfere with his next fix.

============

One day, lost in the euphoria of drugs, Lonzo accidentally caught his reflection in a cracked mirror on the wall.

What he saw made his heart sink—a gaunt, filthy figure with sunken cheeks, cracked lips, and dead, hollow eyes.

A wretched shell of a man.

Was this really him?

Disbelieving, he staggered closer to the mirror.

The once-proud “Rising Star” of the back alleys, the formidable fixer Lonzo Javier, was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, he saw a miserable, broken addict.

Disgust and self-loathing surged through him, and he punched the mirror, shattering it.

As shards clattered to the floor, he roared in despair.

“Aaaah… Aaaaargh!!!”

He had tried quitting before, but every time he failed, overwhelmed by the unbearable pain of withdrawal.

But this time was different.

Seeing his own reflection terrified him more than death.

‘I have to stop… This time, for sure…’

Lonzo gathered all the Heaven Candy he had stashed and dumped it into the toilet, flushing it away.

Then he locked the door, barricaded the windows, and isolated himself in the room.

Immediately, hell began.

His body twisted in agony, his bones felt like they were breaking, and it felt like bugs were crawling under his skin.

Cold sweat drenched him as he vomited bile.

Hallucinations danced before his eyes—voices of the dead, mocking laughter, and screams ringing in his ears.

He clawed at his own skin, slammed his head against the wall, and writhed on the floor, screaming.

At some point, he lost track of time.

It would have been easier to just die, but he clung to life.

When he finally regained some awareness, he was lying limp on the floor, barely breathing.

He thought he had survived the worst of it.

He even managed a faint, hopeful smile, thinking he had finally broken free.

But when he came to his senses, Lonzo found himself face down on the cold ground in a back alley.

‘What… What happened?’

In front of him stood the familiar figure of the drug dealer, dirty boots inches from his face.

‘Wasn’t I locked in the room? How did I get here?’

His memory was full of gaps.

One thing was clear—he was back to groveling for drugs at the dealer’s feet.

“Still can’t get enough? Even after all you took?”

The dealer sneered, yanking Lonzo up by his hair.

He shoved his filthy shoe in Lonzo’s face.

“Last chance. Lick this clean, and I’ll give you one for free.”

Lonzo hesitated.

The last fragment of his humanity screamed at him to refuse.

But the pain of withdrawal drowned out that tiny voice.

Clenching his eyes shut, he stuck out his trembling tongue and licked the grimy boot.

Tears streamed down his face as his dignity shattered.

The dealer burst into cruel laughter and tossed a blue pill to the ground.

Lonzo snatched it up, swallowing it instantly.

The agonizing pain vanished, replaced by pure, blissful ecstasy.

He felt alive again—happy, but with a happiness tainted by deep sadness.

“Aah… Aaaah…”

He made incoherent noises as his limbs convulsed, tears mingling with a delirious smile.

“Pathetic junkie,” the dealer muttered, looking down at him with contempt.

“Time to toss him. He’s about used up.”

The words faded into the background as Lonzo’s mind spiraled into a drug-induced haze.

He saw familiar faces—former allies, friends, his lost lover, even the family he could barely remember.

He wept and apologized to them in his vision, but today, something was different.

Among the blurry hallucinations, a figure he had never seen before appeared—a radiant, angelic presence, glowing with warm light.

It looked like… an angel.

A sudden realization struck him.

‘Am I dying? Is that angel here to take me away?’

It didn’t matter.

Angel or demon, anything was better than this wretched life.

He would go anywhere to escape.

‘I’m sorry… everyone.’

As his consciousness faded, regret flooded his heart.

If only he had one more chance to live right…

Just then, a soothing warmth enveloped him, penetrating deep into his soul.

Instead of cold despair, he felt a gentle light filling him with peace.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

“………”

The noise in his head was gone, replaced by a calm, clear voice right in front of him.

“Are you alright?”

Lonzo looked up to see the angel he had glimpsed earlier.

She wasn’t a hallucination—she was real.

Too stunned to respond, he just stared blankly at her.

The angel tilted her head slightly, then quietly extended both hands toward him.

In one hand was a piece of simple bread, wrapped in paper.

In the other, the familiar blue pill—Heaven Candy.

Lonzo’s gaze wavered.

But something was different.

He didn’t feel that uncontrollable craving when he saw the drug.

Instead, a long-forgotten feeling resurfaced—hunger.

His stomach growled, and his body yearned for sustenance.

Trembling, Lonzo reached out.

Finally, he chose the bread.

Carefully unwrapping it, he took a bite, stuffing it into his mouth as tears spilled from his eyes.

The rough, plain bread tasted like the most delicious thing in the world.

He felt the texture, the act of chewing, the sensation of swallowing—all reminding him that he was alive.

Overwhelmed, Lonzo broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Thank you… Thank you… Thank you…”

His voice cracked as he repeated those words over and over, grateful for the simple gift of food—and the chance to feel human again.