Tiger Fight
……………
"Hahaha... crazy bitch? Auntie?"
Lee Jin-ah's eyes curved into elegant arcs. But that smile was just a mask. Beneath that thin layer poured pure contempt toward Yeom Hana.
"Yeah, I can tell from how you talk to your elders. Looks like no one's around to teach you any manners at home, huh?"
Lee Jin-ah spat out the vicious insult in a soft, lilting voice.
"So you just go around whoring yourself out, right? Isn't that how it is? Even guys from poor families don't end up like that, but girls from trash homes get passed around by every dick that comes along."
The raw slur stabbed into Yeom Hana's chest like a dagger. It hurt. Poverty, absent parents, a rocky adolescence— she knew those were her weak spots. They'd haunted her her whole life.
Any normal twenty-year-old would've burst into tears or screamed in rage right then. But Yeom Hana was different. Her brain spun faster than her anger.
'Passed around?' In other words, saying her body count was easily in the double digits.
Yeom Hana wasn't the type to back down. And poverty jabs? She'd traded those back and forth so much on galleries that she was numb to them. She wasn't about to crumble from something this lame.
If she were that fragile, she'd have smashed her guitar to bits ages ago and jumped into the Han River to check the water temperature.
Yeom Hana's eyes narrowed. That woman's gaze, her tone, the emotion hidden underneath. Jealousy. Crystal-clear jealousy.
The puzzle clicked into place. Why she'd stolen someone else's phone and chased her all the way here to pick a fight.
Yeom Hana's lips curled into a wicked smirk.
"Aha... I get it now. Auntie, you like older guys, don't you?"
"...What?"
"But he won't even glance at you, so you're jealous and snooped through his phone? Right?"
Lee Jin-ah's smile froze solid. Yeom Hana didn't miss a beat.
"Wow, that's pathetic. What are you even doing at your age? Stealing phones, chasing me down here to take it out on someone way younger."
She drove the final nail home.
"What's wrong? Menopause hitting hard? Hormones out of whack?"
Snap.
Something broke in Lee Jin-ah's head. She no longer saw this thieving stray cat as worth trading words with.
Her shoulders twitched as her right arm whipped back. She wasn't some desk drone. Special Security Management Bureau operations support officer. C-rank detection-type Awakener.
As Han Kang had predicted, Lee Jin-ah wasn't a workout newbie. She'd trained boxing since high school and had amateur wins under her belt.
Her palm sliced through the air. A full-body haymaker that could've shattered a normal person's jawbone.
Crack—!!!
The narrow alley exploded with the sound.
……………
Not the sharp slap you'd expect from a hand meeting cheek. A dull, explosive thud, like slamming a leather heavy bag at full power.
Lee Jin-ah felt the numbness tingling from her fingertips—and regretted it in an instant.
Her palm stung, so yeah, she'd landed it clean. But that was the problem. The eardrum might've burst, or the jaw or cheekbone could've cracked. Cleanup would be a nightmare.
But.
Against Lee Jin-ah's reasonable expectations, Yeom Hana didn't go down.
Her head had definitely snapped hard to the left from the impact. But that was it. She didn't fall.
She stood firm on both feet.
'...What the hell?'
Lee Jin-ah watched as Yeom Hana's head slowly turned back. Her lip had split, blood trickling down, but her eyes weren't dazed—instead, they burned fiercer.
'Hurts, huh?'
Yeom Hana wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. Licking the wound, she tasted iron. This wasn't just a slap. Her brain had rattled from the shock.
'Not a normal person, then.'
That auntie knew how to throw a punch. Martial arts training, Awakener, or both.
No need to hold back, then.
Yeom Hana's lips curled up.
"Wow, Auntie. Dirty hands too?"
That was the signal. No warning, no wind-up—Yeom Hana's fist shot straight out.
But her form was sloppy. No real technique, just a street brawl swing.
Lee Jin-ah swallowed a sneer at the trajectory.
'Classic telegraphed punch.'
Big wind-up, path obvious as day. Textbook amateur haymaker.
Lee Jin-ah had boxing experience and was a C-rank detection-type Awakener. Her bio-radar was useful in fights too. She could sense the opponent's movements, even the twitch of their muscles, crystal clear.
Sway back, counter. Perfect KO setup. A formula she'd drilled thousands of times.
The moment she casually leaned back—
'—Huh?'
Fast. Insanely fast.
A deadly gap between when her brain registered it and when the fist actually arrived.
Her detection had read the path. She could see where it was coming from. She could see it.
But her body wouldn't move.
She barely dodged the face shot, but the next hit was already there. Solar plexus. A gut-wrenching impact that felt like her organs were rupturing.
Thud!!
"Kuhk...!"
Lee Jin-ah's body folded into a 'ㄱ' shape. Breath caught in her throat. Her diaphragm spasmed, refusing air. Her guts felt crushed in an instant. Breathing stopped, vision flashing white.
'What the fuck, is this human strength...?'
That trashy bitch was definitely an Awakener.
Lee Jin-ah staggered back with a big step. Her legs were already jelly.
Yeom Hana sauntered forward, casually shaking out her fist.
"Auntie, you work out a bit? Too bad. One more and you might drop dead."
Yeom Hana's fist sliced the air again.
In that instant—
Lee Jin-ah's body moved on reflex.
Thwack!
"—!?"
Yeom Hana's brain rattled. No pain, just a stun like jamming a high-voltage taser straight into her skull. Vision cut out, the world spinning wildly.
Lee Jin-ah hadn't thought it through. Pure instinct in the heat of crisis. A habit punch.
Using the incoming force against them. Check hook. Spin out of the blind spot while twisting a short, sharp counter into the jaw.
Yeom Hana wobbled, and at the same time, Lee Jin-ah clutched her gut and dropped to one knee.
……………
"Hah... hah..."
"Ugh..."
Ragged breaths filled the narrow alley. The two women staggered apart, putting distance between them.
Lee Jin-ah clutched her solar plexus with one hand. Every breath in and out brought stabbing pain.
'Fucking psycho. That fist is what...'
Yeom Hana wasn't unscathed either. She cradled her jaw with one hand, bracing against the wall and shaking her head hard. The world still spun for her, and a high-pitched ring echoed in her ears.
'For an auntie... not bad?'
The two glared daggers at each other.
But no more fists flew.
Escalating here would draw too much noise. Cops would show, and whether it was government agent Lee Jin-ah or unregistered Awakener Yeom Hana, they'd both be screwed.
Tacit truce.
Her voice trembled slightly from catching her breath, but Lee Jin-ah spoke first.
"Delete it."
"...Huh?"
"The seed from your band senior. Delete it."
Yeom Hana blinked blankly for a second. Brain still foggy from the concussion, it didn't click right away.
Delete the seed? What seed? Farming?
Then it hit her.
'Oh.'
The pregnancy test prank. The AI-generated photo she'd sent Han Kang ajusshi as a joke.
Un-fucking-believable. This auntie had bought it hook, line, and sinker and chased her down here.
Eavesdropping, hacking, whatever—she hadn't even verified it properly, just flipped out over a pic.
The words 'Hell no, not deleting shit' bubbled up to her lips.
But Yeom Hana shut her mouth.
'Hold up...'
Her mental calculator whirred.
If she yelled 'Not deleting it. I'll have it my way,' right here? That auntie's eyes would roll back. She'd bolt straight to ajusshi and tattle: 'That bitch you knocked up says she's keeping it.'
That'd complicate everything. Ajusshi knew it was a joke, but with her meddling, shit could hit the fan.
Tell the truth, 'It was fake, actually'? Nah, even worse. Felt like losing to her, handing over leverage.
Truth was too annoying to spill, but pushing the lie felt off too.
No choice, then.
"What's it to you, Auntie? It's between me and ajusshi."
Yeom Hana jutted her chin out, cutting it short. No yes, no no.
"That's why I'm doing this."
Lee Jin-ah ground her teeth at the cheek.
Killing intent flickered in her eyes again. But Yeom Hana just shrugged.
"Why? Mind your own damn life, Auntie. Stay out of other people's love lives."
"Ha..."
Lee Jin-ah exhaled in disbelief.
Sick of bantering with this hag, Yeom Hana turned to leave.
Lee Jin-ah muttered at her back.
"You'll regret it."
"More bullshit."
Yeom Hana snorted.
"Ajusshi likes me. Doesn't give a shit about you. That's why you're stealing his phone and seething like this."
Lee Jin-ah's face twisted. But she didn't break. Instead, she sneered coldly, like it was laughable.
"Likes you? Han Kang sunbae? Don't flatter yourself. You think he'd see trash like you as a woman?"
"........."
"Know your place. He just fucked you 'cause you're cheap and easy, you dumb slut."
Yeom Hana's steps faltered. Rage boiled up, but she didn't turn. Instead, she flipped her off high over her shoulder.
"Yeah, sure thing, Auntie. Manage your menopause hormones better."
The two women walked off in opposite directions.