Chapter 242: Reverse-1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 242: Reverse-1
'Damn... my arm hurts.'
It had been all well and good to gallantly snap Kim Jin-tae’s aluminum bat in two, but now a sharp ache was blooming in his arm, a heavy, dull pain spreading through the entire limb.
In truth, Kang In-ho hadn't wanted to make a scene.
Initially, his plan was to settle things quietly and take Yun Si-a home—provided the people trying to harm her were just random thugs.
But...
"In-ho, are you okay? But really, it’s not what you think... it’s a misunderstanding. A total misunderstanding."
Once he realized the person behind the attempt to hurt her was someone connected to him, he changed his mind. He would punish them thoroughly.
He would make sure they never even dreamed of doing something like this again.
The largest of the six used his bulk to try and pressure In-ho. In-ho retreated slowly, dodging the swinging fists by a hair’s breadth. Even as he moved, he delivered a sharp kick to the first guy who had tripped earlier, sending him back down just as he was trying to scramble up.
As In-ho continued to back away, the remaining four, emboldened by his retreat, began to swarm him all at once. They were all brandishing weapons of some sort, looking quite menacing.
If this were the Kang In-ho of the Murim world, he could have tanked a few of those hits without a problem. Unfortunately, his current body was untrained. While he could mimic the subtleties of the Flame Wheel Art, the techniques and durability that could only be realized through internal energy were currently out of his reach.
"Whoa, almost got me."
In-ho let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back, narrowly avoiding a wooden plank swinging toward him. Step by step, his retreat eventually brought him back to where Yun Si-a was standing.
"In-ho?"
In-ho glanced back at Yun Si-a, who was staring at him blankly.
"Why aren't you filming? You need to record this so I can claim self-defense later."
He spoke while catching another incoming wooden plank between his elbow and knee. When his opponent struggled to pull the firmly wedged wood free, In-ho suddenly let go.
The opponent stumbled back, losing his balance. In-ho didn't miss the opening; he lunged forward. Leaping into the air, he grabbed the back of the man's head with both hands and slammed it downward.
The man’s face, dragged down by that violent grip, collided directly with In-ho’s rising knee. Another one bit the dust.
"First, that's one."
Hearing the sound and feeling the sensation of something breaking, In-ho immediately ducked. Another baseball bat whistled through the air where his head had been a second ago.
Shifting his center of gravity in a fluid motion, In-ho buried a fist into his opponent's exposed flank. Caught by the unexpected blow, the man let out a wheeze like a leaking bellows and collapsed forward.
"Two."
Four left.
In-ho quickly scanned his surroundings to assess the situation. One was checking on his fallen friends, two were hesitating in a daze, and one was reaching for a baseball bat on the ground.
Using his left foot as a pivot, In-ho spun and unleashed a kick. The boy, unable to react to the high-speed strike, was sent flying backward.
"Three."
He immediately followed up with a straight punch to the guy right next to him.
"Four."
Only two remained. In-ho weighed his next target. The one who had just picked up a weapon, or the one still propping up his friend?
His deliberation was brief; his action was swift.
In-ho closed the distance to the boy holding the wooden bat. Paralyzed by fear, the boy swung the bat wildly. In-ho considered dodging but instead threw the same kick he had used before.
Crack!
His leg and the bat formed a cross. With a splintering roar, the bat snapped in two.
Ignoring the throbbing ache in his leg, In-ho jabbed his fingertips into the boy's Adam's apple. Had this been infused with internal energy, the strike would have pierced through his throat. Fortunately, it only delivered a heavy blow to the windpipe.
"Five."
In-ho approached the now-defenseless opponent and delivered a soccer kick straight to the face.
And just like that...
"Six... want more?"
Having cleared the situation in an instant, In-ho turned to Kim Jin-tae, who was glaring at him from the back as if he wanted him dead.
"......"
Kim Jin-tae, only just recovering from the initial shock, stared him down with wide eyes. But In-ho could tell—eighty percent of the emotion in those eyes was pure terror.
"I'm leaving."
He gave the people sprawled across the park a dispassionate glance and turned around.
"In-ho!!!"
Shin Jeong-ah threw herself at his back as if clinging for dear life, but In-ho twisted his body to avoid her. Shin Jeong-ah ended up eating the hard pavement of the park, her palms and chin scraping painfully against the ground.
"Ah... it hurts... In-ho! Don't go! Just listen to me for a second!"
Normally, one might look back after someone got hurt like that, but Kang In-ho didn't give her a second glance. Instead, he walked toward the woman she hated so much.
"Can you walk?"
A voice dripping with kindness was directed at another woman, not her.
To Shin Jeong-ah, the ache in her heart felt far more agonizing than the stinging pain in her hands and chin.
She watched as Kang In-ho and Yun Si-a drifted further and further away from her sight.
*
In-ho helped Yun Si-a back to his house.
As he supported her, he was secretly worried. The arm and leg he had used to break the bats were starting to swell.
'Either the ligaments are swollen... or it's a fracture.'
He calmly assessed his condition while making sure not to show any sign of pain to Yun Si-a. He knew she would only worry needlessly.
In-ho didn't pry into the details of what happened, and Yun Si-a didn't offer an explanation. Only silence flowed between them as they walked up the hill toward his home.
Once inside, they headed to the kitchen.
"Ah... the food's all cold."
In-ho didn't hide his disappointment at the sight of the cold rice and side dishes.
"Would you... like to eat anyway?"
It felt a bit absurd to ask if she wanted to eat after everything that had happened, but it was the best gesture of care In-ho could offer.
"Yes..."
Yun Si-a nodded with a dazed expression.
And so, an awkward meal began.
Clink. Clatter.
The only sound in the room was the clinking of cutlery.
As they ate, Yun Si-a’s tension began to bleed away, and the reality of what had almost happened to her finally started to sink in.
"Ugh... hic..."
Tears began to well up.
"Sob... hic..."
Her heart, which had been steady in the park, began to thud belatedly against her ribs. Yun Si-a set her spoon down and let big, fat tears drip onto the table for a long time.
"...It's okay."
Before she knew it, In-ho was by her side, gently patting her back. Yun Si-a thought that the way he stroked her back from top to bottom to comfort her felt remarkably like someone older than her.
*
After the dinner of tears and comfort, Yun Si-a—who was in no state to give a lesson—sat quietly on the living room sofa to calm her racing heart.
The hot chocolate In-ho had made seemed to be doing its job; she looked much better than when they had first walked through the door.
"I'll settle things properly at school tomorrow."
"Oh... okay... In-ho, you aren't hurt anywhere, right?"
"No, I'm fine."
He gave her a wide, toothy grin to show he was perfectly healthy.
"That's a relief... It's getting late now..."
She couldn't bring herself to say, "I'm going."
She was too terrified of what lay outside this comfortable house. Would it be okay if In-ho walked her to the bus stop? No, that girl knew where she got off. She might even know where she lived.
As those thoughts swirled, her mouth hung open, opening and closing like a goldfish.
'Yun Si-a, you coward,' she scolded herself inwardly.
"Teacher, do you want to stay the night?"
From beside her, In-ho made an unexpected suggestion.