Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Ambush in the Bathroom
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Lee Dae-hyuk's question made Joo Hyo-min tilt her head.
"Since we're at karaoke, singing sounds good. But the other team members aren't here yet...."
Karaoke was a place for everyone to enjoy anyway.
She had asked because she thought it might be better with more people around.
But Lee Dae-hyuk shook his head.
"It's a bit embarrassing to sing in front of everyone else."
"Pardon?"
"I'm going to sing a ballad. Haha."
"Oh, alright.... I'm fine with it."
At Joo Hyo-min's words, Lee Dae-hyuk smiled and picked up the microphone from the stand.
"Ahem."
After clearing his throat, Lee Dae-hyuk punched in his favorite song number on the remote.
'Funny how I remember this stuff.'
As he pressed the buttons firmly, a ballad melody flowed from the karaoke machine.
Gripping the mic, Lee Dae-hyuk hesitated.
His chest tightened.
The soft, melancholic melody dredged up memories of his past.
Memories of his embarrassing thug days, and his first love that had hurt so much because it came so late compared to others.
I love you—it's the only thing I can say: that I love you.
Even though you've left, and those words mean nothing now.
At the end of this farewell we'll never meet again, I hope my feelings reach you.
Looking back now, it was a childish song.
It didn't suit a thug at all.
But it was the song his one true love had liked, so he'd practiced it countless times and sung it for her.
Then time passed, she left him to live an ordinary life.
And this song remained his favorite from his days living as Kim Gun-woo.
Along with memories of love, and the lingering regret of that brief happiness.
Meanwhile, Joo Hyo-min was staring at Lee Dae-hyuk in surprise as he sang.
Not because he sang well.
It was his inflection, his voice, his eyes....
Everything came across so heartfelt and sorrowful.
'Does he have some story behind it? Now he's got me curious....'
Joo Hyo-min, who had been flipping through the songbook on the sofa, stared straight at Lee Dae-hyuk.
'He's such a weird guy. Handsome, sure, but still....'
He was still a weird guy, no doubt.
To shake off her interest in him, Joo Hyo-min turned back to the songbook.
Right then, the worst(?) incident happened.
Park Min-chan, who had passed out drunk, suddenly started vomiting.
"Urk!!"
"Ah, Team Leader!!"
The startled Joo Hyo-min shouted urgently at him.
But Lee Dae-hyuk moved first.
Thud-!
He swiftly grabbed the trash can and shoved it in front of Park Min-chan's mouth.
"Bluergh!"
Splatter-. Splatter-!
The trash can filled up with Park Min-chan's vomit in an instant.
Seeing that, Lee Dae-hyuk and Joo Hyo-min both sighed in relief.
"Do you work out? You're so fast."
At Joo Hyo-min's praise, Lee Dae-hyuk shrugged.
"It's embarrassing to get praise for something like this."
"I think this smell is more embarrassing. But what do we do? If we leave the Team Leader like this, one trash can won't be enough...."
"I'll take care of it."
Lee Dae-hyuk hoisted the struggling Park Min-chan onto his back.
The vomit around Park Min-chan's mouth was gross, but what could he do?
Better to deal with the biggest mess first than wait for others.
"...I'll come with you. I'll get the door."
Joo Hyo-min carefully opened the karaoke room door, holding the trash can full of Park Min-chan's vomit.
***
The bathroom was in an alley behind the karaoke building.
It hadn't been cleaned properly, with yellow grime caked all over the floor.
"Urk!"
Park Min-chan was clutching the toilet and heaving up more vomit.
Gurgle-!
Lee Dae-hyuk emerged from the stall next to him, having dumped the trash can's contents.
"You must have bullied your employees like that a lot, so think of this as karma."
Lee Dae-hyuk had sent Joo Hyo-min back to the room and was cleaning up.
"Urk!"
"Tsk tsk tsk. It's gonna overflow. Gonna overflow."
Park Min-chan kept spewing into the toilet.
As Lee Dae-hyuk clicked his tongue at the sight—
Bang-
The bathroom door flew open, and four burly men wearing masks entered.
'Hm?'
Lee Dae-hyuk turned at the sound of their heavy footsteps, furrowing his brow.
They looked suspicious as hell.
They washed their hands at the sink, cursing loudly enough to be heard.
"Ah... fuck. What the hell is this smell?"
"Did he eat shit or something? It's making me wanna puke."
'......'
Lee Dae-hyuk felt puzzled by their cursing.
This was a small karaoke bathroom.
At this late hour with no customers, four strapping young men barge in picking a fight?
And wearing masks, no less.
Sensing something off, Lee Dae-hyuk gave a wry smile.
'Cute.'
A normal person might panic in this situation.
But in his days as Kim Gun-woo, he'd been ambushed like this dozens of times.
Step-.
Lee Dae-hyuk stared them down.
'Is this my first real fight in this body?'
Unlike when he'd saved Kim Jae-woon or Jung Hee-joo, he was alone now.
'How much can I do?'
The anticipation of real combat awakened his senses.
But he was Lee Dae-hyuk now, not Kim Gun-woo.
This body was far too lacking to fully draw on his accumulated experience.
Lee Dae-hyuk's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
In the process, something caught his eye.
A fountain pen bulging from Park Min-chan's inner pocket gleamed under the fluorescent light.
Swipe-
Lee Dae-hyuk naturally supported Park Min-chan while pocketing the luxury pen with his right hand.
"Team Leader, time to get up. The staff are waiting."
He subtly emphasized that he had company.
Preparations were done, but if possible, he wanted to avoid the fight.
Did his intention get through?
One of the masked thugs chuckled mockingly at Lee Dae-hyuk.
"If you're drunk, take your old geezer and fuck off quick. Your wife's probably worried."
Lee Dae-hyuk showed no reaction to the thug's jab.
Despite his words, they didn't make way—instead, they glared at him fiercely.
He acted like street trash on the surface, but Lee Dae-hyuk could tell.
Proper stride length.
Sharp eyes and broad shoulders.
These were properly trained gangsters.
'No choice, huh....'
Lee Dae-hyuk's gaze turned cold.
Now he had to fight.
As he bit his lip—
The black-masked thug blocking him raised his right hand.
Crack-!
He suddenly smacked the back of Lee Dae-hyuk's head, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey, you punk. No answer? Ignoring people?"
"Yeah. When someone's talking, you answer, right?"
"Kekeke. His head's gonna explode. Go easy. Go easy."
As the masks muttered one by one, Lee Dae-hyuk smirked faintly.
In the end, the fight was unavoidable.
'Exciting, actually.'
Even living as Lee Dae-hyuk, his soul was Kim Gun-woo's.
He wouldn't back down from a fight coming to him.
But first, he had a question.
"Who sent you?"
"What? Ha! Who'd send us?"
One black mask shrugged.
The permed-hair mask scratched his chin and approached Lee Dae-hyuk.
"Just bad luck on your part. Heh heh heh."
Hearing the permed mask's taunt, Lee Dae-hyuk carefully laid Park Min-chan on the floor.
"Sleep a bit more, sir."
Lee Dae-hyuk looked straight into the permed mask's eyes.
"I have a guess who it is. But I'd like to hear the name directly for payback.... Well, guess I'll get it another way."
He planned to beat them to a pulp.
Then use psychometry to find out—it'd be simple.
"No time-wasting. Come at me."
Lee Dae-hyuk beckoned with his left hand, provoking the masks.
"Yeah. Fuck! You're dead today!"
The skinhead mask in front threw a light jab at Lee Dae-hyuk's jaw.
Whoosh-!
The punch carried such heavy weight it whistled through the air.
Likely a former boxer, it was a precise, no-frills strike.
Lee Dae-hyuk's prediction was spot on.
The ex-boxer skinhead was grinning.
Tight space.
A normal person couldn't dodge a jab this perfect.
He expected Lee Dae-hyuk's jaw to shatter—his eyes widened.
Tap tap-!
Lee Dae-hyuk stepped back swiftly and deflected the fist with his left palm.
Slap-!
"Huh!"
The skinhead mask's face twisted.
'How the hell?'
Outside parry.
An advanced boxing technique using the palm to slap away the opponent's fist.
'Did he train in boxing?'
The skinhead couldn't comprehend.
He knew Lee Dae-hyuk went to Chu Dong-hyun's gym.
But a beginner who'd trained less than a month showing this level of movement? Impossible.
The skinhead mask showed an opening in his shock.
Lee Dae-hyuk didn't miss it.
His left hand grabbed the back of the skinhead's collar.
"Huh?"
A dumb sound escaped the skinhead.
He was confident in his strength.
But.
"This motherfucker, who the hell does he think he—"
The skinhead couldn't finish.
His sloppy stance preparing for a strength contest.
Underestimating the opponent narrowed his vision.
Tap-!
"Wha—?!"
Crunch-!
He ate Lee Dae-hyuk's outer leg sweep clean.
Brr-!
The skinhead slammed his head into the toilet bowl full of Park Min-chan's puke.
After shuddering a few times, he went limp.
Lee Dae-hyuk's gaze turned to the remaining masks.
"Next."
"......"
An unexpected turn.
Lee Dae-hyuk's icy words.
The masks' atmosphere froze solid.
'How...?'
Kim Min-gyu and the others doubted their eyes.
The skinhead was an athlete too, a pro who'd never lost one-on-one.
Yet taken down so easily by that scrawny depressed guy.
Their leader, Kim Min-gyu, instinctively knew something was wrong.
But what could he do?
A pro finishes the job, even in surprises.
"Take him out."
At Kim Min-gyu's order, the permed mask charged Lee Dae-hyuk.
"You shitty bastard!! I'll fuck you up!!"
The perm cursed, but Lee Dae-hyuk stayed calm.
'In tight spaces like this, it's actually better.'
Smirking coldly, Lee Dae-hyuk charged back at the perm.
Tap tap tap-!
"!!"
A right hook aimed at Lee Dae-hyuk's jaw.
Frantic shoe steps erupting at once.
The perm's eyes bulged.
The distance had closed instantly—his fist sliced empty air.
But that realization ended in searing pain.
Crack-
"Ghak-!"
Hit on the wrist by Lee Dae-hyuk's knife hand, he staggered back.
And in that moment.
The fountain pen in Lee Dae-hyuk's right hand began to dance.
Stab- Stab-!
Flesh-ripping sounds echoed with his fluid hand movements.
"!!"
The perm's eyes widened.
The pen pierced his right armpit and side.
And finally.
Stab-!!
His right calf.
"Argh!"
Blood poured from the three holes, and the perm mask collapsed.
"Ugh. Ughhh."
"Weaker than a knife, but it has its own feel."
Lee Dae-hyuk alternated glances between the writhing mask and the bloody pen, smiling in satisfaction.
In his previous life, Kim Gun-woo had innate talent for fighting.
Not just fists or kicks, but efficient use of knives, bats, sticks.
But after becoming Hanseong派的 boss, he subdued foes barehanded.
No need for tools when he could handle anyone without.
Plus, Korea's top fist and a gang boss using tools lacked dignity.
But.
In emergencies like this, dignity took a backseat.
"Alright. Let's keep going."
Sneering, Lee Dae-hyuk took a step forward.
Boss, Become a Chaebol