Chapter 43, Chapter 4: The Knot (3)

"You're really something, Sim Byung-soo. You seem to have a sharp mind when it comes to tormenting people."

I said with a sarcastic tone.

I was so embarrassed that I felt like bowing my head.

Sim Byung-soo had tailed me for a whole day, disguised a classmate as a patient to lure me, and planned to have the delinquents teach me a lesson.

All for me.

I didn't know what to do with his overwhelming affection.

I was at a loss, my mind and body overwhelmed.

Looking back, ever since I returned, I had been living a spectacular life like in a movie.

I became a victim of stalking and was about to be in an action scene.

"Is this fun for you?"

I glared at Sim Byung-soo and growled.

The surprise and confusion had given way to anger and hatred.

I hated Sim Byung-soo as much as he hated me.

Because he didn't seem to regret what he had done to Park Jeong-hoon at all.

And he even took on an attitude of retaliation against me.

"Of course, it's super fun. I couldn't sleep all night from excitement."

"......"

"I'm going to be expelled and moving anyway... So, I thought I'd take care of you before I leave."

"You haven't changed since elementary school. You're unnecessarily diligent. How long do you plan to keep this up?"

"Don't lecture me so arrogantly. Do you even know your place? I might not even look at you if you cling to my pants."

Sim Byung-soo laughed eerily, like a villain in a movie.

It seemed impossible to resolve this situation peacefully.

"Do you know something?"

Sim Byung-soo suddenly changed the topic.

"What?"

"You chose Park Jeong-hoon over me. And you're paying the price for it right now."

Sim Byung-soo's twisted logic made my brows furrow. Choosing Park Jeong-hoon over him...

It didn't really resonate with me.

"You look confused. I'll explain it once, so listen carefully."

Sim Byung-soo continued calmly.

"If you hadn't helped Park Jeong-hoon, I wouldn't have been expelled or sued."

"Of course, that's obvious..."

"You're right. I'm stating the obvious. If you had ignored Park Jeong-hoon, this situation wouldn't have happened. Your conscience might have been a little guilty, but..."

"......"

"But you chose to help Park Jeong-hoon. At that moment, you declared yourself my enemy. So, what do you think? Isn't it you who caused this situation, not me?"

Sim Byung-soo's long speech was clearly twisted logic.

He was blaming me for causing this situation, but he was being unreasonable.

However, if we only consider the logic, he wasn't entirely wrong.

If I had ignored Park Jeong-hoon?

Sim Byung-soo would have continued school as usual and wouldn't have planned to have the delinquents teach me a lesson.

But that wasn't the picture I wanted.

I had long decided to stand on the side of the weak.

Even if I could turn back time, my choice wouldn't change.

"Sim Byung-soo."

I called out to him in a low voice.

"Why? Are you starting to regret it a little?"

"Not at all. You're good at rambling."

"Ha... This kid still hasn't come to his senses. Hey, give him a good beating, but focus on his wrists. Make sure he can't even see the letter 'S' in the college entrance exam."

As Sim Byung-soo gave the order, two delinquents approached from the front and two from behind.

In the tense situation, a word from the gym teacher came to mind.

- Eunbi, you can't punish someone who breaks the rules with the rules. When that happens, you have to step outside the rules to an appropriate extent.

I realized that today was the first time I would have to step outside the rules I had set for myself.

A doctor who should heal people resorting to violence?

It was a truly unpleasant and repulsive idea, but I had to cross that line today.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Today, I decided to follow the Code of Hammurabi instead of the Hippocratic Oath.

'If I focus, I can't lose.'

I loosened up my body by stepping in place.

Strictly speaking, delinquents aren't good at fighting.

They just form a group of troublemakers and mistake the group's strength for their own.

So, if I handled it well, I could easily take them down, having practiced boxing for two years.

Pabababat!

I first charged at the one in front of me like lightning.

When a big guy tried to grab my collar, I turned my body to avoid him easily.

Paaaak!

I landed a solid hook on the big guy's side.

He couldn't even scream, just gaped with his mouth open, drooling.

I wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity.

With my second punch, I hit the big guy's chin, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The delinquents were shocked, as if cold water had been poured over them.

They had apparently mistaken me for a model student who only knew how to study.

But what could they do?

I was quite skilled in boxing besides studying.

"Hey? Look at this kid?"

The guy next to the big guy, who looked like a lollipop, suddenly kicked me.

A surprise side kick aimed at my temple.

I blocked it with lightning speed, raising one arm. Then I kicked the lollipop's leg, which was standing precariously on one foot.

"Aiyayayaya!"

The lollipop fell on his butt, writhing in pain.

I didn't hesitate to strike again.

It didn't matter if they were following Sim Byung-soo's orders.

They had intended to beat me up anyway.

So, it was right to repay them in kind.

That was eye for an eye, tooth for tooth.

It was the tit-for-tat algorithm I had chosen.

I punched the fallen lollipop's stomach.

He clutched his stomach and rolled around on the ground.

Two out of the four delinquents were down in the blink of an eye.

The remaining two delinquents were too scared to even approach me.

"What are you doing? Finish what you started."

I taunted them by wiggling my finger, and they ran away.

Of the five who gathered here, the two who ran away seemed the smartest.

They had already assessed the situation.

"Shit, this can't be happening?"

I approached Sim Byung-soo, who was backing away.

Sim Byung-soo, now the prey, looked pitiful.

A fool who only knew one thing and was ignorant of the rest.

If he had wanted to torment me properly, he should have known where I was going and not just followed me.

"Eunbi, were you supposed to be a gangster, not a doctor? How did you take down the strongest guys in our school in one go...?"

"Stop worrying about others and worry about yourself."

I narrowed the distance between us and glared at Sim Byung-soo.

On closer inspection, Sim Byung-soo looked thinner than before.

He must have been under a lot of stress from being expelled and sued.

It wasn't particularly pitiful, as it was all his own doing.

His suffering, though immeasurable, was probably just a drop in the bucket compared to the pain Park Jeong-hoon had endured.

"I'll return your empty words to you. You're the one who twisted the situation to this worst-case scenario."

"Me... me?"

Sim Byung-soo asked, disbelieving.

"Yes. If you hadn't tormented Park Jeong-hoon, would this have happened?

"......"

"If you had just used your money to boss around the delinquents and played king, you wouldn't have been expelled or sued."

Before hitting him, I verbally attacked Sim Byung-soo.

This fool didn't understand that logic was a double-edged sword.

"What? Do you think I'm wrong?"

"Ugh..."

Sim Byung-soo bit his lip, angry at the reversed situation.

I just regretted that Park Jeong-hoon wasn't here to witness this.

It was a shame that I had to enjoy this spectacle alone.

"Anyway, don't hit me. You're going to be a doctor, right? Is it okay for a doctor to hit people?"

Sim Byung-soo started to argue.

I rolled my eyes and clenched my fist.

"Is that what a madman who burned his friend's wrist with a cigarette should say? Is your body made of gold and silver, while Jeong-hoon's body is just trash?"

Unable to contain my anger, I hit Sim Byung-soo's sides with hooks one after another.

"Aaahh..."

Sim Byung-soo, unable to bear the pain, knelt down and panted.

"Low and cowardly scum, consider yourself lucky that this is where it ends."

I pushed Sim Byung-soo's forehead with my finger, making him fall over.

Despite achieving my goal, my heart felt heavy as I walked home.

I couldn't understand why, which was frustrating.

* * *

Back home, I leaned against the headboard of my bed and looked up at the ceiling.

After giving Sim Byung-soo a good lesson, my emotions had been strangely low.

This emotion was clearly contradictory.

I had wanted to hit Sim Byung-soo for a long time.

Today, I finally released some of that pent-up frustration.

So, I should feel relieved and satisfied now.

'But why...'

I asked myself, but a proper answer didn't come to mind.

- Anyway, don't hit me. You're going to be a doctor, right? Is it okay for a doctor to hit people?

Was Sim Byung-soo right?

Was I receiving divine punishment for causing someone pain when I should be healing and comforting patients?

It was a somewhat reasonable analysis, but it didn't fully explain my current feelings.

'In the end, it comes to this.'

I sighed deeply, as if the ground had opened up.

I couldn't pinpoint the cause of the subtle emotional change, but I had a clear realization.

Standing up for the weak means becoming the enemy of the strong.

In my previous life.

Before today's incident.

I had never thought about this.

After using my knowledge from the past to help the sick, I always felt a sense of inner fulfillment.

I had always received appropriate rewards, whether materially or through connections.

But today, for the first time, that golden formula broke.

Helping the weak means, in reverse, standing against the strong.

If I don't change my values, I might have to fight the strong for the rest of my life.

'But... I have to go on. I can't give up just because it's difficult and dangerous.'

Helping the weak was the path I chose, the path I wanted.

I had to bear the responsibility and burden that came with it.

The pain would double when I enter medical school and start training at a hospital.

But if I use my knowledge from the past well, I can navigate through it.

The god of medicine must have given me the gift of regression for this purpose.

Lost in various thoughts, I sat at my desk.

On the desk was the bookend that Kim Yo-han drew for me in elementary school.

Reflecting on the innocent feelings and emotions of that time, I realized the nature of the unpleasant feeling I was experiencing.

The answer was closer than I thought.

As a high school senior preparing for the college entrance exam, I had realized the cold reality through Sim Byung-soo.

But I had to move forward.

To create the world I wanted.

I couldn't take my eyes off the bookend for a long time.

Saying goodbye to the innocence and purity I could never return to.