Free Web NovelThe monotonous routine of school life had begun to feel stifling. Go to school, attend class, go home, study. Just a normal cycle.
By now, half of the third-years at Dongsung Technical High School had already left for job training sites, and the rest were left alone to self-study for the college entrance exam. The atmosphere was quiet, untouched.
In the meantime, the school had become the domain of the new transfer student, Hong Jinpyo, a second-year from Seoul.
Jinpyo had formed a “circle”—something Dongsung had never seen before—and even pulled in first-years, mimicking a gangster clique.
“You. You’re Myungsoo, right?”
Myungsoo looked up at the voice from beside him.
There stood transfer student Hong Jinpyo, grinning with a look that rubbed him the wrong way.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I heard you’re close with that Muhyuk kid. What’s he up to these days? Just studying? People say you’re tight, but I’ve never met him.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s not some angsty teenager anymore—he’s pulled himself together. You won’t have to cross paths with him.”
“He bothers me.”
“Let it go. Why’re you picking on a guy who’s trying to keep his head down and study? Muhyuk never did anything to you.”
The conversation between Myungsoo and Jinpyo dragged on until the end of break.
“I don’t like having anyone above me. But... people are more scared of that Muhyuk kid than they are of me? I don’t like that.”
“I said, leave him alone.”
“You fucking hick shrimp. If Muhyuk weren’t around, you’d be crying in the corner right now. Who are you glaring at, huh?”
The cronies nearby began cursing at Myungsoo. After a while, they fell silent with a single wave of Jinpyo’s hand.
“I’m like this. If I want something, I take it. If I want to crush something, I do. But if I’m gonna crush Muhyuk, using you as bait seems just right. It’s not your fault—you’re just # Nоvеlight # guilty by association. Take him.”
At Jinpyo’s order, his lackeys began to surround Myungsoo. He resisted, but he was small and weak—he never stood a chance.
* * *
Bang!
“Muhyuk!”
“Huh? What’s going on?”
The one who burst through the back door was someone who had been in the same class as me last year—and was now in Myungsoo’s class.
“Myungsoo got dragged off by Jinpyo. I think they went to the band room?”
“What?”
“He kept bringing up your name, picking fights. Didn’t Myungsoo say anything?”
“······Shit.”
I gritted my teeth and stood up.
So this is how it is. No matter how much I try to avoid it—some things never change.
“The band room?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“Go, now.”
As I rushed out of the classroom toward the annex, I saw Hyunseong running from the end of the hall—he must’ve heard too.
“Muhyuk! What’s going on? Why’d that bastard drag Myungsoo off?”
“Probably because of me. Hey, you’re in the athletic club. Stay out of this. If something happens, you could lose your shot at college.”
“Screw that. I don’t care about college.”
“Don’t talk shit, idiot.”
Hyunseong had trained hard for the past year, rising as a judo hopeful in Busan. If he got caught in a violent incident now, it could destroy everything he’d worked for.
The rage that had filled my head calmed as I walked. My head was cool, my heart hot. free𝑤ebnovel.com
‘Ha... This was never something that could be avoided.’
I saw a mop stick near the annex entrance and picked it up.
“Hey, Hyunseong.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let anyone in. Teachers, anyone—stop them. Can you handle that?”
“You sure you can take them alone?”
“Hey. I’m Kim Muhyuk. Did you forget who I am?”
“Pfft. Kim Muhyuk really isn’t dead, huh? Got it. And... thanks.”
“Don’t be stupid. We’re friends.”
“Don’t go overboard. I hear Jinpyo’s dad’s a big shot.”
Yeah. I know.
Even Myungsoo’s dad, who was a pretty loud figure in Busan, had to stay quiet under pressure.
Jinpyo’s father? He’d started as a public prosecutor in the Central Investigation Bureau, laid low for a while, and now served as Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Division at the Busan District Office. A political prosecutor from Korea University, considered elite among elites.
Hyunseong stood guard at the annex. I broke the mop stick with my foot and carried the jagged end into the building.
The band room was in the basement.
It was called the band room, but Jinpyo had made it his own personal den after taking control of the school.
As I walked downstairs, my footsteps and the scrape of the broken mop echoed through the empty annex.
I reached the band room door and kicked it open.
Cigarette smoke and the foul stench of sweat and boys hit my nose.
“Well, damn. Guess it’s true what they say. Touch Myungsoo and Muhyuk shows up like Superman. You really came.”
Thankfully, Myungsoo was still conscious. He looked badly beaten, but at least his leg hadn’t been crushed—unlike what I remembered.
“Ha... If you wanted to see me, you could’ve just asked. Why go after my friend?”
Jinpyo, sitting in the back, laughed as he looked at me.
“Yeah, why did I do that? Haha... I guess it was fun?”
“Fun? This is fun to you?”
He ignored me and turned to ask his lackeys.
“Listen to this punk, trying to sound classy with standard Korean. Isn’t this guy from Busan?”
“Yeah. Born and raised here.”
“Let Myungsoo go and come play with me. I’ll make it more fun.”
Finally, Jinpyo looked at me again.
“Whoa, what is this, loyalty? Like something out of a movie? Let’s go, just us two. Somebody take Myungsoo to the nurse’s office.”
“Okay.”
One guy, clearly afraid, carried Myungsoo out. Even bleeding, Myungsoo gave me a worried look.
‘Tsk. Who’s worried about who here?’
Now that he was gone, I had time to glance around.
There were some unfamiliar faces—probably first-years—but most of them I recognized. One of them was Cheolgu, who had gone to middle school with me. He flinched at my gaze.
“Cheolgu. I’m seriously about to kill someone today. Get out. If you don’t want to die.”
After glancing nervously at the others, Cheolgu slipped past me and muttered:
“Sorry.”
“Shut up and get lost.”
Laughter broke out among Jinpyo’s group, but Cheolgu didn’t care. He ran out.
I locked the door behind him.
“Oooh~ Kim Muhyuk~”
Ignoring Jinpyo’s mockery, I turned around.
“I don’t care if you play gangster. I’ve really just wanted to live a quiet school life. But you came for me anyway—dragged my friend into it. What, life got too boring? Wanted to die in a ‘fun’ new way?”
I gripped the broken mop like I was going to snap it in half.
“Let me show you how your half-assed little gang act comes crashing down. You’ll love it.”
“What? Pfft! Is this guy insane? Look, I’ve got goosebumps on my arms! What is this, a movie? What are you, the Terminator?”
Jinpyo’s cronies were starting to rise.
“Guys? What are you doing? Get him.”
But they hesitated. No one wanted to move first.
Everyone here except for Jinpyo knew what “Mad Dog Kim Muhyuk” meant. Just because I’d been quiet didn’t mean my past disappeared...
This wasn’t some yakuza knife fight. A high school brawl was still just a dogfight.
Frustrated, Jinpyo screamed at the reluctant lackeys.
“What the fuck are you doing?! Get him! Don’t you know who my dad is?! If he so much as touches you, I’ll have him rot in jail for life! Now go!”
Finally, their hesitation vanished.
“Let’s go!”
Around ten kids charged at me, swinging bats and drumsticks.
One big guy, probably a first-year about Hyunseong’s size, came at me barehanded, reaching for my collar like a bull.
I swatted his hand away with the mop, then slammed my knuckles into his throat.
“Guh, guh!”
Anyone who’s taken a blow to the throat knows—it doesn’t matter how big you are.
As he collapsed, clutching his neck, the others froze.
“Come on. It’s been a while, but Mad Dog Kim Muhyuk is ON, motherfuckers!”
With that, I charged into the pack.
Someone hit my back with a bat. Another grabbed my ankle and tried to pull me down.
One hit, two hits back. It was, as always, a proper dogfight.
A few minutes later...
I wiped the blood from my forehead. The room, now strewn with groaning bodies and blood, was silent except for me, still standing.
“Shit. I’m getting too old for this. Why are these little shits so damn vicious?”
Jinpyo, who had stayed to the side, began backing away in terror.
“Don’t come any closer! Stay away!”
“Why so scared? Didn’t you call me here because you thought you could take me?”
My eyes stung—blood was getting in them. I wiped at them with a hand already soaked in blood. It didn’t help.
Jinpyo kept backing away, nowhere left to run. He started babbling.
“Don’t touch me! You’ll rot in prison if you do! I’m sorry, okay? I won’t mess with your friends anymore. Let’s end it here.”
“Haha. You should’ve said that from the start.”
Was that a threat or a plea?
“My dad’s a prosecutor. A chief prosecutor. Don’t you get it? He can bury you for life. Stop now, and I won’t press charges.”
“A prosecutor? What the hell is that worth right now? Cops, judges, laws? None of that means shit right now. The only law in here is fists. Isn’t that why you called me?”
I grabbed his jaw as he trembled.
“Jinpyo. Let’s start with a beating.”
“······Don’t.”
I ignored him and slapped him across the face—hard.
Blood dripped from his mouth as his head snapped to the side.
“That’s for hitting my buddy Myungsoo. Cheap price, huh?”
Then I hit the other cheek.
“That’s for dragging me into this when I was minding my business.”
Suddenly, chaos broke out outside the band room. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Someone was trying to break down the locked door.
“Looks like we’ve got company. Better hurry.”
I grabbed his arm. His eyes shook violently.
He looked up at me, face bloodied, and begged:
“Don’t... please, don’t...”
“Enjoy eating with your left hand for the rest of your life.”
Snap.
A grotesque sound accompanied his arm bending the wrong way.
“AAAAAGH! AHHHHHHH!!!”
At that moment, the band room door burst open. Teachers and Hyunseong rushed in.
They were greeted by the sight of more than ten collapsed students, Jinpyo screaming in pain, and me—grinning, covered in blood like I’d returned from hell.
Everyone froze.
I turned to the teacher nicknamed “Snake” and bowed.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
< Mad Dog Mode ON > End.
