Fat Tiger stood at the doorway,
blocking the only exit.
His eyes locked onto me, cold and unblinking, making my skin crawl.
What happened yesterday was just an accident.
I had accidentally knocked over his drink.
But now—
he was using it as an excuse to mess with me.
A smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Kid, you've got some guts, huh? Daring to touch my stuff?"
I lowered my head, unable to look at him.
My voice was so soft even I could barely hear it.
"…I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to."
But apologies—were completely useless.
He suddenly reached out, grabbed my backpack strap, and yanked hard—
the whole bag flew across the room.
It hit the windowsill, then fell straight down to the ground floor.
I froze.
It felt like someone had punched me in the chest.
Anger shot up from deep inside, burning my mind blank.
"What are you doing?!"
It was the first time I had ever raised my voice.
But before I could finish the sentence, Fat Tiger lunged at me.
He was a full head taller than me.
The moment his fist came down, there was no way I could dodge.
A loud buzz filled my ears.
A sharp pain shot through my nose, and my vision went dark.
Then came the second punch, the third…
He pinned me to the floor, my face pressed against the cold tiles.
The metallic taste in my mouth told me my nose had started bleeding.
I tried to struggle,
but he was too strong—
every punch crushed the air out of my lungs.
And my classmates?
They just sat quietly at their desks.
Some pretended to be writing homework, acting like nothing happened.
Some sneaked a glance at me, then quickly looked away.
A few… even laughed.
That scornful laugh hurt more than his fists.
When the homeroom teacher walked in,
he only frowned.
He didn't say a single word.
Not until the very end did he toss out one cold sentence:
"If you want to cause trouble, do it outside. Don't disturb the others."
Then he turned and left.
At that moment, something inside me completely broke.
I shoved Fat Tiger away with everything I had,
staggered to my feet, my face covered in blood.
I pointed at him and roared:
"Just wait till after school!!"
But Fat Tiger only sneered.
He clapped his hands clean and walked out like nothing had happened.
The air in the classroom felt frozen.
Only the buzzing of the fluorescent lights remained—
and my pounding heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I wiped the blood from my face,
and only one thought remained in my mind:
That bastard… I won't let this go.