The room was in complete disarray: papers scattered everywhere, overturned chairs, and a black desk with gold accents that was now heavily scratched and smeared with fresh blood.
Old Man Han's cigar had rolled onto the floor, still smoldering. Han stood near it, a fresh welt blooming on his cheek that was already beginning to swell and redden.
In front of him, Jihyeon stood ground with only a few minor scrapes.
Old Man Han exhaled sharply, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Impressive… I expected you to be on this level, but not like this."
"In my prime, at your age, I wasn't nearly as absurd as you."
Jihyeon shrugged softly.
"Talent, I guess."
With that, both moved at the exact same instant.
Old Man Han kicked a heavy chair straight at Jihyeon, temporarily blocking his line of sight. Jihyeon swatted the chair aside with an open palm, only for Han to instantly appear on his right flank, a pair of brass knuckles driving straight toward his face.
The strike grazed him, but Jihyeon extended his leg, planting a heavy front kick into Han's stomach that forced the old man back.
Jihyeon pressed the advantage, thrusting a straight right toward his face. Old Man Han braced for it, but Jihyeon pivoted his torso mid-strike, driving a heavy elbow flush into his cheek.
Han grunted in pain, forcing himself to react with a high roundhouse kick aimed at Jihyeon's head.
Jihyeon crossed his forearm to block, reinforcing it with his opposite hand. Even so, the force forced him back a few paces. He had to admit—Old Man Han's raw power was no joke.
Sinking low, Old Man Han charged under Jihyeon's guard.
Jihyeon drove a knee upward, but Han absorbed the blow, wrapping his thick arms around Jihyeon's torso. Squeezing tightly, he lifted him clean off the ground.
Jihyeon immediately slammed a series of sharp headbutts straight into Han's face.
Han loosened his grip, releasing him only to land a heavy hook on Jihyeon's cheek. Jihyeon retaliated in kind with a hook of his own, grabbed Han by the back of the head, and yanked him down into a brutal knee strike.
Blood spurted from Han's face, but through sheer grit, the old man grabbed Jihyeon's wrists, forcing his arms down to rain headbutts of his own.
"You like fighting dirty, huh?!" Han growled.
Yanking Jihyeon forward, Han used his shoulder to vault him into the air, slamming him violently onto the floor.
"You should just stay down!" Han roared, driving a heavy fist toward his face.
Jihyeon slipped his head to the side, evading the blow. In that fraction of a second, he trapped Han's right arm with his left, locking the hold firmly. Wrapping his other arm around Han's neck, Jihyeon hooked his leg over Han's back to maximize leverage.
Han's arm was completely pinned between Jihyeon's torso, his left arm, and the leg locking his movement.
Griting his teeth with a deep growl, Old Man Han hoisted Jihyeon up again and slammed him onto the floor a second time.
Upon impact, Jihyeon slipped seamlessly onto Han's back.
The smooth transition positioned him directly behind the old man. He snaked his arm under Han's chin, locking a rear-naked choke behind his head and squeezing with absolute pressure.
To lock the submission, Jihyeon wrapped his legs around Han's torso in a body triangle.
As the oxygen drained from his lungs, Han's strength began to fade. Biting his lip until it bled, he violently threw himself backward into the nearest wall, crushing Jihyeon between his weight and the concrete.
Despite the impact, Jihyeon's grip didn't loosen by an inch.
Refusing to give up, Old Man Han threw frantic elbows back before throwing his entire body sideways onto the floor. Both rolled across the shattered ground.
His vision blurring, Han tried to drag himself back to his feet, but the moment he reacted, a sharp kick caught him flush across the face.
He spat blood as his head bounced off the floor, but through sheer tenacity, he pushed himself up once more.
Ripping off his jacket, Han hurled it straight at Jihyeon's face to blind his vision. Out of nowhere, a strike came flashing through the dark.
Old Man Han had drawn a knife, driving it straight toward Jihyeon in a lethal thrust.
Jihyeon merely smirked.
"Same trick as before."
"It's strange how you keep favoring attacks from that side. It's no coincidence."
"It's because your left eye can barely see, isn't it? That's what I suspected, and this fight proved it. Most of my attacks were directed at your blind spot. Didn't you notice?"
And then, Jihyeon moved.
Leaning his upper body forward until his face nearly grazed the floor, he thrust his leg backward in a sharp upward arc.
His heel drove up violently, catching Old Man Han directly under the chin.
The sheer impact snapped Han's head back, throwing him backward out of control. The recoil was so violent that he lost his balance entirely, the knife slipping from his fingers and clattering onto the floor with a sharp metallic ring.
Old Man Han crashed onto his back, gasping heavily for air. He tried to push himself up, but his body was completely out of energy.
Jihyeon looked down at him calmly.
"Sorry. It's nothing personal. Now, can we talk like civilized people?"
Old Man Han opened his mouth to speak, but the office door suddenly creaked open.
A voice called out from the entryway:
"Man, this place is a total mess…"
"Not that I give a damn… but this place is supposed to be mine in the future."
"So if you don't mind, could you move your ass out of the way~?"
Old Man Han didn't even lift his head, his brow furrowing in irritation.
"Do Ji… what the hell are you doing here?"
Jihyeon turned his head toward the door.
Standing in the doorway was a youth around seventeen years old. He had shoulder-length blue hair cut into a choppy bob with uneven ends, featuring a long, side-swept fringe that completely covered his left eye.
Looking closely, the inner layers and select strands near the back faded into a vibrant emerald green gradient.
He had light blue eyes with pale cyan highlights, but carried the arrogant, contemptuous scowl of a classic thug. Piercings lined his ears. He wore loose black cargo pants, brown combat boots, and a zipped-up black leather jacket featuring a prominent skull printed on the back.
Jihyeon raised an eyebrow.
"Are you his son?"
Do Ji sneered, replying flatly:
"Yeah, yeah. I'm that guy's kid."
He placed a hand behind his neck.
"But hey, why are you talking to me like we know each other?"
Pure disdain dripped from his expression.
Jihyeon didn't flinch, keeping his eyes locked on the teenager.
"We don't know each other. But I just beat your old man."
"And if this place was going to be yours in the future… I guess you're my next opponent."
Do Ji let out a short, cold laugh, stepping into the office with slow, casual strides, as if taking a stroll in his own house.
He glanced at Old Man Han lying on the floor, then surveyed the wrecked office with blood splattered across the floorboards.
"Pathetic," he muttered, more to himself than to Jihyeon.
"The great Han, the guy who thought he was untouchable in Mullae… laid out like trash by some random brat."
Old Man Han grunted from the floor, trying to push himself up on one elbow.
"Do Ji… shut up and… get out of here."
Do Ji didn't even grant him a glance. His eyes remained locked on Jihyeon, evaluating him from head to toe as if examining an interesting insect.
"And who the fuck are you supposed to be?" he asked mockingly.
"Guess you guys are new, huh?"
"A few minutes ago, I ran into an interesting scene out there. Some bastard beaten to a pulp. At first, I thought he was alone—just another idiot coming to challenge this place."
"But along the way, I found more bodies, and I realized it was a crew."
"Looks like I wasn't wrong."
Jihyeon shrugged.
"We're just a group of misfits, but we're pretty good at what we do, aren't we?"
Do Ji took another step forward, thrusting his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket.
"What a touching speech."
"But you know what…?" His smirk twisted even further.
"This place is still mine."
"And if you think beating up the old man means you've won… you're dead wrong."
Jihyeon felt the atmosphere shift. Do Ji didn't seem nervous or impressed at all. In fact… it was as if he had been anticipating this.
"Are you going to fight for him?" Jihyeon asked, gesturing toward Old Man Han with his head.
Do Ji burst into a short laugh.
"For him? Don't make me laugh."
"I fight for myself. And because I hate it when someone walks into my future territory acting like they own the place."
In a flash, Do Ji exploded forward.
His body spun as his hips whipped his right leg downward, driving his heel straight toward Jihyeon's head.
Jihyeon crossed his forearms overhead to block, and in that split second, a single thought flashed through his mind:
He's strong… Taekwondo?
But Do Ji didn't stop. Still suspended in midair, he flexed his planted leg, using the momentum to spring off again. Spinning rapidly, he extended his left leg straight toward Jihyeon's neck.
Jihyeon backstepped, evading it by a hair.
Do Ji landed on his feet with a twisted grin.
"Too bad~ Now try this on for size!"
Leaping off the overturned desk, he executed a 540-degree spin kick, his heel tracing a ferocious arc through the air.
Jihyeon ducked low, slid sideways, and countered with a sharp kick toward Do Ji's face. The impact grazed Do Ji's cheek, causing him to spit a mouthful of blood in rage.
"You bastard…!"
With a sharp snap of his boot, Do Ji kicked a chair straight at him, but Jihyeon caught it effortlessly, using the wood as a shield against the incoming follow-up kick.
Do Ji's leg lodged firmly against the wooden frame.
"You're pretty good," Jihyeon noted.
Do Ji glared at him with utter contempt.
"You talk too much."
Retracting his foot, he whipped it out again without bringing it down, driving a sharp side kick directly into Jihyeon's cheek.
Jihyeon's head snapped back.
The chair was knocked aside, and another swift kick slammed straight into Jihyeon's ribs.
Jihyeon absorbed the hit, caught the leg mid-strike, and countered with a straight right to Do Ji's face. Blood splattered as Do Ji's head recoiled.
Jihyeon suddenly released his leg and dropped his center of gravity, spinning rapidly on his axis. His leg swept across the floor in a low, lightning-fast arc, targeting Do Ji's ankles.
The sweep landed clean.
Do Ji lost his footing as his body plummeted toward the ground. But just before crashing down, he slammed a hand onto the floor, twisted his hips through grit teeth, and unleashed a vertical double kick straight upward.
The double kick caught Jihyeon flush under the chin, sending his body reeling through the air, completely stripped of balance.
Do Ji rolled dynamically, popping up to his feet in one fluid motion.
Seeing Jihyeon still airborne and off-balance, he gave him no room to breathe. Springing into the air, he twisted his hips and unleashed a high spinning hook kick, his heel carving a deadly arc toward Jihyeon's head.
Jihyeon threw his arms up, managing a partial block, but the force drove his body backward through the air.
Even so, Jihyeon managed to stick the landing cleanly, sliding across the floor on his feet.