Chapter 8

※?8th Chapter

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“You were all over me just a moment ago, but now you’re pushing me away?”

“I don’t like it! I don’t like it at all!”

As the situation escalated, Geunchul opened his eyes wide and rushed forward.

“You damn bastard!”

Caught off guard by Geunchul’s sudden appearance, Jang Hahjun pushed Jisook towards Geunchul, looking flustered. Geunchul caught Jisook, who was stumbling backwards, and approached Jang Hahjun.

“Filthy bastard!”

When Geunchul glared at Jang Hahjun, he smiled.

“Hmph, a little worm like you got involved. Did Jisook bring you here? I don’t know how long you’ve been watching, but we were just having a lovers’ quarrel. I can’t tolerate you eavesdropping. But I’ll let you off this time, so just go. You might have misunderstood….”

“Shut up and go to hell! I saw you forcibly hugging her, you damn bastard!”

Seokhoon and I immediately stood up and approached Geunchul to lend him support. Jang Hahjun started laughing loudly.

“Hahaha! You guys were intentionally eavesdropping, weren’t you? You dirty bastards…! I was going to let it go, but I can’t anymore. Let’s fight!”

Jang Hahjun took off his watch and placed it on the table, then approached Geunchul.

Before Seokhoon and I could get close, Geunchul was hit in the face several times by Jang Hahjun and fell to the ground.

“Ugh…!”

As Geunchul fell, Seokhoon rushed towards Jang Hahjun.

Jang Hahjun, slightly taken aback by Seokhoon’s large build, easily dodged his punch and hit him in the side.

“Oof!”

Seokhoon, hit in the side, curled up, and Jang Hahjun aimed a punch at his jaw.

“Aaaah!”

After easily subduing Geunchul and Seokhoon, Jang Hahjun looked at me with a relaxed expression as I approached.

“Do you want to get hit too?”

“I’ve done a bit of exercise, so I think you should get hit as much as my friends did.”

“Hahaha, you’re crazy….”

I asked Jisook, who was trembling with fear.

“I want to beat this guy up a bit. Is that okay?”

Jisook just stared at me blankly, as if telling me to run away and not get hit.

“This guy needs to be taught a lesson. Is it okay if I take care of him a bit?”

I don’t know why I was asking for her permission, but I felt I had to. She nodded silently, and Jang Hahjun, watching this, started laughing loudly.

“Hahaha, are you trying to be funny? Oh… I have to deal with these young brats… I’m so embarrassed….”

Jang Hahjun shook his wrists and suddenly swung his fist.

Although he swung his fist quite fast, I could already see his movements.

People who have done boxing for a long time predict attacks by watching the shoulder movements rather than the fists. Even though it was a fast punch, Jang Hahjun’s attack was not threatening to me, as I had already gauged the direction and timing.

I slightly moved my head to the side to avoid his punch and hit his side.

Then I immediately punched his jaw.

“Ugh!”

Jang Hahjun fell to the ground but quickly got up, panting.

“You little bastard! You’re dead!”

“Geunchul still hasn’t been hit enough. Geunchul, how many times did this guy hit you?”

I asked Geunchul, who was sitting on the ground, massaging his cheek. Jang Hahjun looked flustered by my calm demeanor.

“Screw it, I don’t know! Why are you asking this in this situation?”

“I said I’ll hit this guy as many times as you were hit….”

“Damn, a hundred times!”

“Okay, noted!”

As I approached Jang Hahjun, he started swinging his fists wildly. The punches, thrown in a state of excitement, were not threatening at all. I deliberately hit his exposed sides and abdomen without putting my full weight behind the punches. Even though I was hit by his weak punches, I felt like I would fall, so I chose to open my hand and slap his cheeks.

After a few slaps… Jang Hahjun finally surrendered before I could reach a hundred.

“S-S-Save me…! Please!”

I looked at Geunchul’s reaction. We have been in the same class since high school, and we know each other very well. Geunchul understood the meaning of my gaze. He nodded, indicating that it was enough, and although I was disappointed that I couldn’t reach a hundred, I had to stop hitting Jang Hahjun.

“You guys… You’ve made a big mistake….”

As Jang Hahjun spoke, I raised my hand to slap his cheek again, and he covered his face with both hands, shouting.

“No, no! I must be crazy! I was just talking nonsense. Please take her and leave here….”

Hearing this, Geunchul quickly wrapped his arm around Jisook’s shoulder and left the auditorium, followed by Seokhoon and me.

I thought I wouldn’t see Jang Hahjun again after meeting him at the church, but I was wrong.

***

Exactly three days later, after finishing my night class and passing through the school gate, I saw muscular men get out of a black sedan and approach Geunchul and me.

“Hey, brat! Stop for a moment… Is your name Jung Minwoo?”

“Yes, who are you?”

“Our boss wants to see you. Get in the car.”

The man in the black suit pointed to the car.

“Who is your boss?”

“You’ll see when you get there.”

“I can’t go with someone I don’t know. Tell your boss to come here himself.”

The man in the black suit, who seemed to be the leader, scowled and shouted.

“You should listen when I’m being nice….”

At that moment, the muscular man standing next to him spoke.

“Boss, should we rough him up? He doesn’t seem to listen to words….”

“It’s in front of the school. There are many people watching, so don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“Got it, boss….”

After their conversation, I said to the tall man.

“Tell the person who wants to see me to come here himself. I’m going home.”

I walked away without looking back, and Geunchul, with a fearful expression, followed me.

“Damn, who are those guys?”

Geunchul whispered, and I just shrugged, indicating that I didn’t know.

Looking back, I saw that they were following us in the car they had arrived in.

“They seem like gangsters….”

Geunchul’s eyes widened in surprise at my words.

“Damn… Why are they here?”

“I don’t know… They might do something when we get to a less crowded area. When that happens, don’t get involved.”

“Are you telling me to run away and leave my friend behind?”

I burst out laughing at Geunchul’s words.

“Hahaha, me getting beaten up? It’s the opposite. It’ll be troublesome if the police get involved. Just find out why they’re looking for me and go straight home.”

As expected, as soon as we turned from the main road into a side street, the car they were in stopped in front of us.

I sent Geunchul to the opposite side of the road and walked towards the car. The men I had seen at the school gate got out of the car.

“Brat, are you trying to start something with us? You might end up dead. So, get in the car quietly.”

“Just go away. And stop calling me a brat. You’re not much taller than me….”

The men who got out of the car started laughing at my words.

“Hahaha! You’re a funny kid!”

Then the muscular man next to me spoke.

“Boss, should we rough him up? There’s no one watching here, so I can take care of it.”

The tall man in the black suit thought for a moment and nodded.

The muscular man, looking quite pleased, smiled widely and approached me. The other muscular man behind him just watched the situation with his arms crossed.

The muscular man swung his fist at me, but I dodged it. I thought that people in a gang would have some fighting skills, but he was just a fat pig. Disappointed, I decided to take him down quickly. I aimed for his vital points. I dodged his punch and hit his jaw.

Usually, a hit to the jaw causes a person to faint momentarily. However, either because he didn’t put his full weight behind the punch or because the muscular man had a surprisingly tough build, he didn’t flinch.

“Look at this kid? He can hit. He must have learned some boxing.”

Instead of swinging his clumsy fists, the muscular man spread his arms and tried to grab me. It seemed like he was more into wrestling or judo. I knew that if I got caught by these guys, I would have a hard time, so I dodged his attempts to grab me.

The muscular man was prepared to take a hit to grab and knock me down. However, what he didn’t expect was that my fighting skills weren’t limited to boxing.

Boxing was just the most practical fighting technique I knew, and there was no need to show anything else. But the muscular man needed a big shock.

First, he had too many weaknesses, and I needed to take him down with one hit.

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