Chapter 3

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With a dull thud, I took a few steps back, and Geuncheol glared at me and shouted.

"Apologize!"

Geuncheol's voice was trembling badly, and I answered without any hesitation.

"Sure, I apologize. I spoke without thinking, so don't misunderstand."

As I approached Geuncheol, he hesitated for a moment and then suddenly started crying.

"Sniff, damn it! Nothing is going right…."

Some classmates looked over, wondering what was happening, but they soon went on their way, and I approached Geuncheol and put my arm around his shoulder.

"Let's go. Don't cry here…."

I practically dragged Geuncheol along. Since his house was in the same direction, we walked toward the apartment complex in silence.

My house is a bit further up from the apartment complex where Geuncheol lives. It's a residential area often called a wealthy neighborhood, and people who live in the apartments envy our neighborhood. The houses have large yards and private parking spaces, so it's no wonder….

I said goodbye to Geuncheol, telling him I'd see him tomorrow, and headed home.

"Min-woo, I didn't tell you, but I quit the cram school…."

I bought two cups of coffee from a vending machine in front of a supermarket near the apartment and went to the playground. Geuncheol sipped the coffee I handed him and sighed deeply.

"Ah… Min-woo, I'm going to get revenge."

I looked at Geuncheol with a surprised expression.

"On what?"

"Against Ji-suk that bitch…."

"How do you plan to get revenge? And what for?"

Geuncheol finished his coffee, crumpled the paper cup forcefully, and threw it away.

"Since she rejected me, I have to get revenge. From now on, I'll study my ass off and get a job that people envy, like a doctor or a judge."

"Well, if that's the kind of revenge, I'll support you."

"But before that, I need to give her one more chance."

I looked at Geuncheol curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I need to go to her and tell her that I'm giving her one more chance so she won't regret it later."

"What if she hates you even more? She just doesn't like you now, but if you say such strange things, she might start to despise you."

Geuncheol shook his head.

"No, I really want to give her a chance. If she despises me for doing this, well, let her!"

Geuncheol checked the time on his wristwatch.

"Min-woo, is it okay if I get home late?"

"Why?"

"I need to talk to Ji-suk today."

"But why?"

"I might get carried away and cause an accident. If you see any signs of that, try to stop me."

I didn't really want to, but I decided to go with him. We walked to where Ji-suk gets off the cram school bus, and fortunately, we arrived on time.

A few moments later, the cram school bus arrived. Several students in school uniforms got off, and Geuncheol approached Ji-suk. She was surrounded by her friends.

"Kim Ji-suk, I need to talk to you. It's important."

"I have nothing to say to you. What are you doing here at this hour?"

Her friends chimed in.

"This is harassment, harassment! If she says no, you shouldn't come to meet her like this. Hey! Do you have a steel plate on your face?"

The noise attracted other students who had gotten off the same bus. A few boys who were friends with Ji-suk surrounded Geuncheol.

It seemed I had to step in. As the situation turned ugly, I ran to where Geuncheol and the boys were entangled.

A rather large boy was grabbing Geuncheol by the collar, pretending to punch him, and several other boys who looked like his friends were standing behind him. Kim Ji-suk was standing a bit away, crossing her arms and watching with a sly smile. I felt a surge of anger. What does she think she's getting out of this….

I grabbed the wrist of the large boy who was holding Geuncheol by the collar.

"Let go of that hand."

"Who are you?"

"Stop making a scene and let go of him first, then we can talk."

"Wow! What a strange way to talk? Are you two in the same gang? Trying to kidnap our Ji-suk or something? You bastards!"

The large boy, who usually wanted to impress Kim Ji-suk, was provoking me, and I was getting angry at her sly smile.

"Please, let go and let's talk. Otherwise, I won't just stand by."

"Asshole, what will you do if I don't stand by?"

The large boy grabbed Geuncheol's collar even tighter, showing off. My father, who is usually great and glorious, always said not to tolerate injustice. Injustice is something that is wrong.

I judged that the boy who was grabbing Geuncheol's collar was doing something wrong and hit him on the nose.

"Ah! Damn it!"

Geuncheol was naturally freed from the boy, who was now enraged and came at me with incomprehensible curses. I put Geuncheol behind me and faced the large boy. The boy, who was usually confident in his boxing, approached fearlessly. He rubbed his nose and was enraged when he saw blood.

"Damn, I'm seeing blood today! You, little bastard! Don't think you'll get out of this alive!"

Although I was concerned about the number of his friends standing behind him, I thought if I could completely subdue the boy attacking me, the others would scatter. I needed to leave a strong impression.

The boy staggered toward me and swung a big punch. The move was so obvious that I laughed, but I ducked to avoid it and hit him on the nose again.

"Ah! You bastard!"

I hit him on the cheek before he could swing his punch.

The boy's head turned sharply from the force and he lost his senses.

"Uaaaaah!"

Unable to contain his anger, the boy let out a scream. This drew the attention of people in nearby shops and even those on the opposite side of the road. Now, not only the cram school students but also people on the street gathered. In the midst of this, the boy who was attacking me had to take a couple more hits to the face.

Two police cars stopped on the shoulder, and the large boy and I were taken to the nearby police station. Geuncheol, trying to stick to his principles, also came to the station, claiming he was involved.

After being separated from the large boy, I sat down. A short while later, his parents arrived at the station.

"What happened? Seok-hoon, why is your face like this?"

The large boy's name must be Seok-hoon. As I was sitting there, his mother approached me.

"Is this the boy who hit our Seok-hoon?"

The woman pointed at me, and a police officer approached her.

"Ma'am, please calm down and sit down. There's a procedure to follow."

But the woman slapped me across the face without warning.

I could have avoided it, but I thought I should just take it.

"You bastard! I've never hit Seok-hoon, not even once, you bad boy!"

I was about to say something, but when I saw my stepmother standing at the entrance of the station, I lost the urge to argue. She must have seen me get slapped by this woman.

My stepmother identified herself to the police and had a brief conversation with Seok-hoon's parents before approaching me.

"Let's go. I heard a rough idea of what happened, but you can tell me the details at home."

"Can we just go?"

"Did you think I would let it go just because you hit my son? It's too late now, so let's go home. I'll show you how I'll deal with them later."

***

The next day.

My stepmother used all the connections of my great and glorious father to successfully uncover the identity of the woman who slapped me and even found out what Seok-hoon's father does. Of course, my father supported my actions and said that if something like this happens again, I should stand up for my friend.

But what a coincidence….

It turned out that Seok-hoon's father was the CEO of a supplier company that provides goods to my father's company. At my father's word, Seok-hoon's mother came to my mother, bowed deeply, and apologized.

But my stepmother was not satisfied with that.

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