Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 15
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The thug, who looked like he might've learned how to get beaten up from older delinquents, covered his head with his arms. But Kyung-wan knew how to break that kind of guard.
A bundle of socks struck the thug’s knees and shins. Though the batteries were wrapped in layers of fabric, their lumpy and solid nature couldn't be completely concealed.
“Aaagh!”
When a solid object struck the spot where all his pain was concentrated, the thug screamed, and the arms covering his head dropped instinctively.
Kyung-wan’s blackjack didn’t miss that moment, it flew straight for the thug’s head. The heavy blackjack slammed into the side of the thug’s temple, sending him halfway into unconsciousness. The second blow to the area near his ear almost knocked him out cold.
“Hey, you fucking bastard, stop!”
“Kyaaa!”
The fellow thug, shocked by how fast things had escalated, froze in confusion, unable to tell if this was a dream or reality. But when he saw Kyung-wan raising the blackjack for another swing, he snapped out of it and grabbed Sunmi by the hair, shaking her as he shouted at Kyung-wan.
But who was Kyung-wan? Naturally, he didn’t bat an eye at such dirty tactics. Instead, he continued to stomp and beat the thug lying at his feet while saying,
“Sunmi. I can’t save you, but I’ll make sure to get revenge.”
Whack! Whack!
As Kyung-wan kept hitting him hard enough to knock his senses out, the thug on the ground instinctively begged for mercy.
“S-Stop! Please!”
“What the hell gives you the right to say ‘stop,’ you dumb thug bastard!”
Kyung-wan was the kind of person who’d sooner throw stones at Jesus or Buddha than show mercy to a thug.
The other thug, who had been grabbing Sunmi’s hair, finally gave up and let her go, then charged at Kyung-wan.
“Stop it, you motherfucker!”
“Nope~. Baaa~.”
Kyung-wan stuck his tongue out to taunt the charging thug, but contrary to his words, he took a half-step back. The thug bared his teeth and upper gums in a snarl, pulling out a knife. The skull tattoo on his forearm twitched menacingly.
Kyung-wan clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Are knives like passive skills for thugs these days?”
“Shut up!”
The skull-tattooed thug fumed at Kyung-wan’s provocation. He wanted to charge immediately, but his fallen comrade lay between them.
Kyung-wan landed a low kick on the head of the fallen thug and continued to provoke the skull-tattooed one.
“Not coming? Your buddy’s gonna get beat to death at this rate.”
To Kyung-wan, the guy was just another street thug, but the tattooed man had his own share of fight experience. After seeing his comrade go down in one hit, he couldn’t afford to be reckless.
And Kyung-wan targeted that very caution with another low kick.
Whack!
With a full-body swing, the clean low kick drove the downed thug’s nasal bridge into the top of Kyung-wan’s foot. The cartilage crunched, and the pain was so intense the thug couldn't even scream, he just clutched his face and squirmed like a bug.
Kyung-wan took a few steps back to avoid tripping over the writhing body, and the skull-tattooed thug saw an opportunity.
“Die!”
The thug leapt over his fallen friend and charged at Kyung-wan, stabbing forward with the knife aimed at Kyung-wan’s abdomen.
But he shouldn’t have.
The moment he jumped, Kyung-wan threw the battery-packed blackjack he had in his hand.
There was no time to dodge. The short-distance throw nailed the thug square in the face, and before he could recover, Kyung-wan’s clean side kick slammed into his throat. Having just taken a heavy object to the face and with his vision narrowed, the thug had no way to react.
“Ggk!”
Unable to breathe and on the verge of blacking out, the thug showed impressive willpower by not letting go of the knife, but he didn't even realize Kyung-wan had slipped behind him.
Whack!
“Grrk!”
With a wet thud, Kyung-wan’s foot smashed into the thug’s groin, and the skull-tattooed punk collapsed, foaming at the mouth and eating dirt face-first.
Kyung-wan picked up the sock bundle, spun it around, and approached Junggo. Startled, Junggo let go of the boy he had been holding without realizing it.
Kyung-wan placed a hand on Junggo’s shoulder. Seeing the boy flinch, Kyung-wan asked,
“Wanna tell me why this happened?”
“…”
Junggo didn’t respond. He swallowed dryly, tension in every line of his body, as if there was something he couldn’t say.
But Kyung-wan didn’t need words to get answers.
To ask the right question, he exercised some imagination. There was only one reason he’d get involved with punks like that, and it was Junggo. And the only reason he got involved with Junggo was,
“It’s because of Miyeon, right?”
“…”
Junggo said nothing, but the way he froze was enough of a ‘yes.’
“Those bastards told you to bring Miyeon to them, didn’t they?”
“…”
Another yes.
“So you figured you’d get a taste before they did, huh?”
“…”
Also yes.
“And I got in your way, so you told them they’d have to get rid of me first to get to her, huh?”
“Gulp…”
Junggo stiffened as he met Kyung-wan’s smiling face, clearly wondering how the hell he figured all that out.
“You bastard.”
Sunmi, listening nearby, spat a venomous curse. Kyung-wan just laughed like he was enjoying the whole thing. To Junggo, that smile was terrifying.
“Funny guy. You’re really something.”
“W-Wait!”
As Kyung-wan tightened his grip on Junggo’s shoulder and raised the hand holding the blackjack, Junggo panicked.
But it was no use. The heavy object dropped onto his face without hesitation.
Whack!
“Aaagh!”
Whack! Whack!
“You’re so funny.”
“Agh!”
“You’re just hilarious.”
“Stop!”
“Nope.”
Whack! Whack!
The blackjack slammed into Junggo’s temple. As he staggered, Kyung-wan grabbed his shoulder to keep him steady and laughed in delight.
“Puhahaha!”
Then he swung again.
Whack! Whack!
“Oppa! Stop it already!”
Worried things might go too far, Sunmi tried to stop him. Kyung-wan looked at her in surprise and said,
“What? You’re still here?”
“Where would I go, idiot?!”
Sunmi wasn’t the type of girl to run off and abandon the boy who risked himself to save her.
Kyung-wan clicked his tongue at the naïve girl.
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
“What?”
“You should learn to live a little smarter. When something smells like trouble, best to keep your distance.”
Not wanting to hear any more of Kyung-wan’s bullshit, Sunmi grabbed his sleeve and tugged.
“Anyway, let’s get out of here!”
What she really wanted was to get away from this place. Kyung-wan, now snapped out of his manic thrill, dropped all interest in Junggo and quickly headed back to the facility.
He was a bit worried about the consequences, but not enough to lose sleep. At worst, he’d end up in juvie again.
A few days after Kyung-wan returned to the facility with Sunmi and a boy named Hyogun, chaos erupted.
Two punks in bandages, casts, and on crutches, along with a hulking brute helping them along, and a severely bruised Junggo… not to mention the cops.
The director immediately sensed something bad had happened.
After hearing from the police, he called for Kyung-wan.
“Kyung-wan! Hey, Kyung-wan! Agh!”
As the head of a protective facility, he barely swallowed back the curses that were about to fly at the kid who caused all this mess. If they hadn’t been in front of the cops, he would’ve unleashed them all.
Not knowing where Kyung-wan was hiding, he could only shout and hope. Thankfully, some helpful kids passed along the message.
“You called?”
As soon as Kyung-wan showed up, the tattooed brute with full-sleeve ink cut in before the director could speak.
“You the little shit who beat my boys like dogs?”
“Your boys?”
“These ones.”
The brute gestured at the two wounded kids draped over his shoulders.
Kyung-wan responded coolly.
“You look really young for a dad.”
The brute blinked in confusion, not getting it. Kyung-wan went on.
“Two sons that grown? Must’ve gotten married real early, huh?”
“…Heh. You cheeky little punk.”
The brute finally realized Kyung-wan was messing with him and gave a wide grin, one that anyone who knew him would find menacing.
Just then, the police officer cut in.
“Lee Kyung-wan, right?”
“Yes.”
“You admit to beating them up like that?”
“Beat them? We fought.”
“So you did beat them.”
“Officer, I’m claiming mutual combat.”
“Mutual?”
“What the hell is this bullshit?!”
The cop was baffled, and the brute's eyes bulged in fury. His boys were wrecked and that kid was fine, how the hell was that mutual?
But Kyung-wan stayed calm.
“You’re not seriously suggesting I, all by myself, beat down those three grown men, are you? That’s pretty unrealistic, right?”
“Then why don’t you have a scratch on you?”
“Because I dodged well. If I’d taken even one hit, I’d be in the hospital right now, wouldn’t I?”
The excuse was surprisingly plausible, and the officer asked with a stern face,
“We have testimony that you used a weapon.”
“I just stuck some batteries in a sock. Even if they’ve got thick skulls, I didn’t want blood. Turned out to be a good idea, since they pulled a knife.”
The officer frowned and glanced at the brute, who also scowled and snapped,
“You got proof?”
“I got a witness. The kid your ‘sons’ kidnapped to lure me out.”
“They’re not my fucking kids!”
Panicked and trying to redirect the conversation, the brute's reaction only made the officer's expression turn darker. The more he heard, the messier this got.
“Let’s head to the station and sort this out.”
Realizing he might end up taking the fall alone, the cop decided to call for backup from his seniors.
Naturally, the brute protested.
“What?! You’re not arresting him after what he did?!”
“Tch. I said we’ll talk at the station.”
The cop frowned, and though the brute looked displeased, he had no choice but to comply. Like it or not, thugs were powerless against the law.
“Name.”
“Lee Kyung-wan.”
“Age.”
“Wait, am I here as a suspect or as a witness?”
“Age.”
“Suspect or witness?”
The cop, already annoyed, glared at Kyung-wan, but the kid won the exchange.
“You admit to using a weapon, right?”
“If I hadn’t, you’d have seen me in a hospital bed.”
“So you’re claiming self-defense?”
“Mutual combat. Mutual.”
“Sigh…”
The cop sighed deeply. If the kid had claimed pure self-defense, he could’ve smacked him upside the head with the case file for talking nonsense. But “mutual combat”? That might actually hold up.
“You know you’re not injured, right?”
“I know.”
“But they’re seriously hurt, so the settlement cost’s gonna be high.”
“I’m broke.”
“If there’s no settlement, you could get formally charged.”
“Guess I’ll enjoy another round of state-funded meals.”