"Things started feeling off yesterday," Kwangwoon said, his voice rough.
"I couldn't reach her. No matter how many times I called, she kept hanging up. Then later… she just turned her phone off."
Standing across from Park Dong, Kim Kwangwoon held up his phone, two guys lingering behind him with cigarettes between their fingers.
Smoke curled lazily into the air as he held his phone in front of Park Dong showing Irina's message.
"And then this morning… I got this."
The message was short.
|Don't contact me anymore. You know the reason better than I do.|
Kwangwoon face was a wrecked dark circles carved deep under his eyes, sweat clinging to his temples, his expression twisted somewhere between panic and rage.
His jaw tightened.
"Huh?" Kwangwoon scoffed at Park Dong. "You think I wouldn't know what you did at Suwon Station? You really think I wouldn't know?"
Behind Park Dong stood Suwon and Daegyu, who'd they dragged along without much discussion.
"I get what you're trying to imply," Kwangwoon tries to hold his grief, grit his teeth. "But you don't go around snitching unless you're sure."
Spit flew as he spoke, his irritation spilling over. "Who the hell are you to meddle in someone else's relationship, huh? You little punk."
Park Dong didn't respond.
He just stared back at him expression flat, unreadable.
That only made Kwangwoon angrier.
"Answer me when I'm fucking talking to you," he barked. "You hear me, you bastard?"
One of the guys behind. "Look at this guy. Acting tough but can't even open his mouth. What a pussy."
Suwon, meanwhile, glanced around the park uneasily.
…This park again?Is this place some kind of official battleground or what? Why do I keep getting dragged into shit like this…
He stole another look at Kwangwoon's group.
Scary, Being surrounded by older guys like this… they're like a swarm of locusts.
But he felt somewhat relax despite this situation.
Still
He take a quick look at the hyung in front of them.
they're not like Jeong Chulgyu. Not like Jinwoo's group. Not like Seojin.
If I had to compare… they're more like those dudes from Latte World.
A strange sense of confidence crept in.
Suwon shoved both hands into his pockets, a smug smirk and thought crossing his mind.
Yeah. I'm not scared of this kind of stuff anymore. Guess I've grown up without realizing it.
Suddenly a sharp voice cut into him.
"Take your hands out of your pockets, you fucking punk."
Suwon froze, then hurriedly pulled his hands free.
…Nope, Still scary.
Park Dong finally spoke.
"I wasn't the one who told her."
Kwangwoon slid a cigarette between his lips, eyes narrowing. "Don't lie to me."
He flicked his lighter, the flame trembling as it caught.
Smoke curled up around his face as he exhaled slowly.
"I know you're close with Rina," he said, voice low. "But even if this mess gets dealt with, it should've been handled by me. Am I wrong, huh?"
One of the guys beside him scoffed. "Yeah, little shit. Sure, what he did was trash but who the hell are you to stick your nose in?"
"Shu-shut up," Kwangwoon snapped at him giving him a nervous side glance.
He turned back to Park Dong, jaw tight."You fuck… To Rina I really…fuck" His voice cracked.
"Do you have any idea how much I... how much I"
He stopped, shoulders shaking.
Tears welled in his eyes.
"Ah… how the hell did it come to this…"
Park Dong stared at him, stunned not with sympathy, but disbelief.
Wow. He's actually crying?What a pathetic loser.
Suwon grimaced and subtly stepped back.
The sight made his skin crawl.
Is he serious? Anyone watching would think he's the victim here.
Kwangwoon wiped at his face angrily.
"I was trying to clean things up. And someone like you fuck"
But the one who should've been breaking down wasn't him.
There was a limit to how twisted this could get.
Park Dong let out a short, mocking sigh.
That was enough.
Kwangwoon's eyes snapped open, fury blazing through the tears.
He stepped forward.
"What… you insolent little bastard!"
His fist flew.
The punch landed clean against Park Dong's cheek, the sound sharp and final, snapping the moment apart like glass.
Then, out of nowhere, a fist crashed into Kwangwoon's face.
The sound was dull and brutal
thud.
And for a split second, time seemed to stutter.
Kwangwoon's body twisted sideways, his cigarette flying from his mouth as he was sent sprawling.
He hit the ground hard, the back of his shoulder slamming against the pavement before he rolled once and stopped, groaning.
His two friends froze.
Their eyes widened in pure shock, mouths hanging open as if their brains hadn't caught up with what they'd just seen.
One of them instinctively stepped back, nearly dropping the cigarette between his fingers.
The other one recover. "Wh.. Who are you?! What the hell did you do?!"
Suwon and Daegyu, who had moved in front of Park Dong the moment the punch landed on him, whipped their heads around.
"…S–Seojin?!"
A few seconds earlier.
Seojin had been walking toward the back of the park, jaw clenched tight, fists buried deep in his pockets. He's trying to hold himself back before seeing Kim Kwangwoon or he might just explode at him the moment he sees him.
But no matter how hard he tried, the image wouldn't leave his head Seol Hyorim shaking in his arms, her shoulders trembling as she cried, her face buried against his chest. The way her hoarse voice from all the crying.
Seojin couldn't stop himself from shaking but he forced it down, again and again.For Seolhyo.
No fighting.
No fighting.
No fighting.
NO FUCKING FIGHTING.
He repeated it like a chant as he walked, jaw locked, teeth grinding so hard. The image burned behind his mind no matter how much he tried to push it away Seolhyo clinging to him her body trembling, her tears soaking into his uniform. All of it because of that bastard.
Just as he reached the edge of the park, raised voices cut through the night.
"What you insolent little bastard!!"
Seojin's steps quickened.
Ahead, Park Dong stood frozen, one hand pressed to his cheek, eyes wide with shock. Suwon and Daegyu were planted in front of him, shoulders tense, clearly bracing for another hit.
And a few steps away was Kim Kwangwoon.
He was glaring at Park Dong like a predator sizing up its prey, fists clenched, chest heaving, ready to swing again.
That was it.
The last thread of Seojin's patience snapped.
Seojin didn't even waste a second to hesitate he crossed the distance in a heartbeat and drove his fist forward.
Crack.
The punch landed squarely against Kwangwoon's face, sharp and solid. The impact sent him reeling, his body twisting before he crashed hard onto the ground. For a split second, the park fell dead silent.
Kwangwoon's friends stared in horror, cigarettes dropping forgotten from their fingers.
Kwangwoon lay sprawled on the ground, his mind scrambling to make sense of what had just happened.
Did I… get hit by a car?
That made no sense. How would a car even get in here and since when do cars punch people?
His thoughts slipped and tangled, vision swimming as the world tilted and shook. A sharp ringing screamed inside his ears, drowning everything else out. He tried to push himself up, but his arms betrayed him, strength draining away as if it had been ripped straight out of his body.
After a moment maybe seconds, maybe longer he managed to steady himself enough to lift his head.
A shadow loom over him.
A voice followed, low and cold.
"…You shouldn't go around hitting people that you called to talk hyung. Looks like I'll have to teach you how to talk properly."