Chapter 8: That Night, in the Alley

When Kang In saw Yoo Suyeong’s furious expression, he was completely bewildered.

What on earth is going on?

When had he ever ignored her?

Their eyes had met, and hadn’t he even acknowledged her with a greeting?

Kang In thought quickly before speaking.

“You think I ignored you?”

“You looked me up and down, you bastard.”

What kind of ridiculous accusation was this?

The person looking the other up and down right now was Yoo Suyeong herself.

“I didn’t do that.”

“And isn’t it rude to just walk past someone like that without saying anything?”

“I didn’t just walk past you. I just really needed to use the bathroom.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, idiot.”

It was a completely pointless argument.

No matter how much Kang In thought about it, he hadn’t done anything that could reasonably have caused a confrontation.

Why is she acting like this?

Kang In calmly looked at Yoo Suyeong’s face.

She seemed slightly drunk, but something still felt strange.

Her mood was completely different from before.

Before he had regressed, their conversation had seemed fairly natural.

He couldn’t figure out what had changed.

His anxiety gradually increased.

Oh Mincheol would be coming outside soon.

But if he simply ignored Yoo Suyeong here, it was obvious that things would become even worse.

Kang In calmly spoke.

“Is something wrong?”

Yoo Suyeong’s eyes widened.

She looked as though she had never been asked a question like that before.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, really? I thought something was wrong. If something bad happened, I can at least listen. Ah! But I’m really sorry, I need to use the bathroom first.”

Kang In quickly escaped from the situation.

Just as he reached the bathroom door, he heard Oh Mincheol speaking to Yoo Suyeong behind him.

It had been extremely close.

Meanwhile, Yoo Suyeong was also getting irritated with Oh Mincheol.

“Is she always like that?”

At least it seemed like he had avoided the worst possible outcome.

Now that his tension had eased, he suddenly really needed to pee.

“Phew~”

After calming himself down for a moment, Kang In left the bathroom.

Bam!

“Ahh!”

A horrifying impact and a scream rang through the alley.

“…Huh?”

An unbelievable sight unfolded before Kang In’s eyes.

Yoo Suyeong’s head had been violently knocked to the side, and beside her stood Oh Mincheol, breathing heavily as he struggled to contain his anger.

“That crazy bastard.”

By returning to the past to avoid the violence that had been directed at him, the target of that violence had simply shifted to Yoo Suyeong.

Meanwhile, Oh Mincheol’s face was flushed red.

He was already completely drunk and had lost control of himself.

“You fucking bitch! I let you go on and on, but you just keep getting in my face, huh?!”

Oh Mincheol raised his fist high.

Yoo Suyeong’s cheek was already red from the first hit, and she tightly shut her eyes.

“……?”

But nothing happened.

She slowly opened one eye and saw Kang In holding onto Oh Mincheol’s arm.

“Mincheol, calm down! What the hell are you doing?”

Grind.

The sound of teeth grinding.

Oh Mincheol stared down at Kang In with wide eyes.

An intense murderous hostility could be felt from him.

“You fucking bastard… What the hell are you doing? Let go of this.”

“No, you’re worked up right now. Calm down.”

Whoosh!

A fist suddenly flew toward him without warning.

“Huh?”

“Huh?!”

Yoo Suyeong and Oh Mincheol’s eyes widened at the same time.

There was no one in front of Oh Mincheol’s fist.

Kang In had already dodged the attack and was standing behind Oh Mincheol.

“I’m telling you to calm down, Oh Mincheol.”

Kang In calmly raised his hands and tried to calm him down.

Oh Mincheol was momentarily confused, but then shook his head.

“Ah, fuck. Am I really that drunk?”

“Yeah, you seem really drunk. But I don’t think hitting Suyeong is right.”

“AAAAH!!! FUCK!!!”

The sudden scream startled both Yoo Suyeong and Kang In.

“Kang In, you fucking bastard! Get over here!”

Step. Step. Step.

Oh Mincheol approached Kang In threateningly.

It was like watching an angry beast puff itself up.

Kang In calmly observed him.

He had a habit of grabbing his opponent by the neck.

As long as I don’t let him grab me, I’ll be fine.

Whoosh!

Kang In easily avoided Oh Mincheol’s hand.

At the same time, he rushed toward Yoo Suyeong.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

Kang In grabbed Yoo Suyeong by the wrist.

“…Huh?”

Yoo Suyeong’s confused body was pulled along by Kang In.

The two of them immediately began running without looking back.

“You fucking bastard! Get back here!”

Oh Mincheol’s furious voice gradually faded into the distance.

“Huff… huff…”

A little later, Kang In and Yoo Suyeong, believing they were finally somewhere relatively safe, were gasping for breath in an alley.

“Ah, that fucking psycho…”

“Are you okay?”

“Shit… Ah, fuck…”

One of Yoo Suyeong’s cheeks was swollen and bright red.

It would definitely turn purple with a bruise later.

“Let’s go to a hospital.”

“Forget it. Fuck, where’s a hospital around here?”

“We can look for one.”

Kang In immediately took out his phone.

Yoo Suyeong covered the phone with her hand, looking irritated.

“Ah, I said forget it. Don’t overreact. I can put some ice on it when I get home and somehow hide it.”

She spoke as though it were nothing serious.

She seemed quite accustomed to violence.

Even her tone of voice seemed different from earlier.

“Phew.”

Yoo Suyeong leaned against the wall of the alley and exhaled.

Then she turned her head and looked at Kang In.

“Hey, you.”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Idiot, why did you step in?”

“What?”

“You’re screwed now. Seriously, what are you going to do tomorrow?”

“Ah…”

Was this how things were destined to go anyway?

Was the violent future he had been so worried about always going to happen eventually?

Even so, he couldn’t simply pretend not to see Yoo Suyeong being beaten right in front of him.

As time passed, even Kang In was surprised by himself.

This time, he had stepped forward without thinking about the consequences.

“Haah.”

Kang In also closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head.

Should I use my ability again?

But it seemed difficult to avoid this kind of situation even if he did.

No matter what he did, Yoo Suyeong would eventually be exposed to violence.

If he wanted to protect her, he would have to avoid the situation that led to it in the first place.

But if he suddenly acted on something that hadn’t happened yet, she would probably think he was crazy, and the situation would become even worse.

What if I simply don’t go to the bathroom?

That wasn’t a bad option either.

If he didn’t go to the bathroom, Oh Mincheol might never go outside.

Then nothing would happen to Yoo Suyeong.

It was certainly worth trying.

But…

“……”

Kang In’s mind was filled with a strange sense of excitement.

For some reason, he didn’t want to throw away this moment.

He had genuinely saved a female high school student who was being attacked using only his own strength.

When would he ever have another moment like this?

Oh Mincheol didn’t seem quite as frightening to him anymore.

Tomorrow would come anyway.

If unavoidable situations were going to keep happening, then from now on, he couldn’t keep running away from them.

He had to prepare himself.

“Phew.”

Meanwhile, Yoo Suyeong, who had been staring at the seriously troubled Kang In, scratched her long blonde hair and took out her phone.

“Hey, wait a second.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

Brrring… Brrring…

Yoo Suyeong tried calling someone.

“Hey, can you talk for a second?”

Then she rapidly explained everything that had just happened.

A man’s voice could be faintly heard through the phone.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks.”

Click.

“Who was that?”

“I know a guy, so I asked him to protect you tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Seriously, it’s obvious those guys are going to beat the shit out of you tomorrow.”

Kang In was stunned.

“What do you mean, protect me? How?”

“Haah. That guy I just called knows Oh Mincheol really well too. His name is Kang Taehun, and he’s even better at fighting than that bastard. He’ll be waiting for you in front of the school gate tomorrow morning. He’s over 190 centimeters tall, so you’ll spot him right away.”

“Ah…”

Kang In still looked uneasy, so Yoo Suyeong scratched her head and explained.

“Don’t worry. He’s got a sense of loyalty too, so he probably thinks pretty well of you right now. After all, you stepped in to save me.”

Kang In had no idea what kind of person this guy was.

Could he have been the other guy she had been talking to earlier?

Was he perhaps her boyfriend or something?

Kang In didn’t know why he was even thinking about it.

Either way, Yoo Suyeong was repaying him for saving her.

So maybe she did have a decent side after all.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“…Ah, shit. By the way, where are we?”

Yoo Suyeong looked around awkwardly, apparently embarrassed by the situation.

“I don’t know. We ran here without thinking. Hold on.”

Kang In opened the map on his phone.

Fortunately, there was a bus stop nearby.

“There’s a bus stop around here.”

“What are you going to do about your bag?”

“…I guess I’ll have to leave it.”

It was a bag his mother had bought for him.

Kang In felt terribly sorry about losing it.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“What? Me? Worry about yourself, idiot. I’m cutting ties with those bastards this time. Fuck.”

Yoo Suyeong spat toward one side of the alley.

“Yeah.”

Kang In answered quietly.

He had decided not to use his ability.

Now that he had come this far, he absolutely didn’t want to throw away this situation.

And…

“……”

Kang In glanced at Yoo Suyeong.

He didn’t want to throw away this precious connection, either.

Since things had turned out this way, he would go home and prepare thoroughly for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Yoo Suyeong had been lost in thought as well, and she glanced at Kang In.

“…I see you a little differently now.”

“Huh?”

“Dealing with Oh Mincheol is fucking difficult.”

“I don’t know either. I don’t know why I stepped in.”

“Do you work out or something?”

“Uh… I do a little.”

“Ooh~ That explains it.”

Yoo Suyeong gave a small laugh.

When she smiled like that, she looked even prettier.

Brrring~

Suddenly, Yoo Suyeong’s phone rang.

The screen displayed the name Kim Hyunsu (Mad Dog).

“Ah, fuck. I should block him.”

Click.

Yoo Suyeong casually ignored Kim Hyunsu’s call.

Kang In wondered if she was really going to be okay.

Still, it seemed like she had a reliable person backing her up, so there was probably no need to worry too much.

Before he knew it, Kang In was subtly looking at Yoo Suyeong’s phone.

“Hmm, well… Could I maybe get your number…?”

Hiss!

“Oh! Hey! The bus is here! I’m going first! Don’t worry too much about tomorrow!”

Yoo Suyeong spotted the bus and waved before running toward it.

“Uh… yeah. Take care.”

Kang In raised his hand and gave her a small wave.

“Phew.”

Once everything around him became quiet again, Kang In raised his head.

The night sky stretched above the gloomy alley.

After a storm had passed, complicated emotions were still swirling inside him as its aftermath.

He had now completely turned Kim Hyunsu and Oh Mincheol into enemies.

From tomorrow onward, he really needed to prepare himself.

He had always chosen to avoid violence, but now he needed to learn how to face the difficult reality in front of him.

Fortunately, he had gained an ally through Yoo Suyeong.

He still didn’t know what kind of person this ally was, but he would find out tomorrow when they met.

He didn’t have a bad feeling about it.

Just as Yoo Suyeong had said, perhaps this person really could protect him.

“Let’s just go home.”

Kang In got on the bus as well.

After the bus started moving, the alley where Kang In and Yoo Suyeong had been disappeared behind the window.

Suddenly, he felt an unpleasant sense of disconnection, as if he had entered another world and then returned from it.

He couldn’t believe that he had actually been in a place like that.

I’ll work out a little while watching Modern Life on YouTube again tonight, then go to sleep.