Chapter 8

< Mad Dog Mode ON >

#8

Mad Dog Mode ON

The monotonous school life made people feel bored. The routine of going to school, attending classes, coming home, and studying various things at home was a common daily life.

Among the third-year students at Dongseong High School, half had already gone to the field for employment, and the rest were studying for the college entrance exam in a self-study atmosphere without any interference.

Meanwhile, the school had become the world of Hong Jinpyo, a second-year student who had transferred from Seoul.

Hong Jinpyo formed a circle that didn't exist at Dongseong High School and started mimicking gangsters, even recruiting first-year students.

“You said your name is Myeongsoo, right?”

Myeongsoo lifted his head at the voice from beside him. The transfer student Hong Jinpyo was looking down at him with a nasty smile.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Hey, aren’t you close to a guy named Muhyuk? I heard he only studies these days. I heard you guys were close. I don’t know anything about it.”

“Leave me alone. Teenage boys, geez, I’ve already calmed down. There’s no reason for us to clash.”

“You’re annoying me.”

“Back off. Why are you bothering a kid who’s focused on studying? Muhyuk hasn’t done anything to you.”

Their conversation continued until the break was over.

“I don’t like it when someone is above me. But... the kids seem to be more afraid of that Muhyuk guy. I don’t like that.”

“I told you to leave me alone.”

“Hey, you little punk. Without Muhyuk, you’d be cowering in the corner, right? Are you going to glare at me? Can’t you see that?”

The lackeys around him started cursing at Myeongsoo. After a while, they stopped at Jinpyo’s gesture.

“I always want what I want and do what I want. I want to step on Muhyuk, and you seem like the perfect bait. What did you do to deserve this? Being friends with Muhyuk is your crime. Hey, take him away.”

At Jinpyo’s command, the kids surrounded Myeongsoo. Myeongsoo resisted, but he was too small and weak to win.

* * *

Bang!

“Muhyuk!”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

The one who burst through the back door was a kid who was in the same class last year and is now in the same class as Myeongsoo.

“Myeongsoo was taken by Jinpyo. He seems to have gone to the band room.”

“What?”

“He’s been provoking you by mentioning your name for a few days. Myeongsoo didn’t say anything, right?”

“...Shit.”

I clenched my teeth and stood up.

No matter how much you try to avoid it, some things don’t change.

“Band room?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks. I’ll buy you a meal later.”

“Hurry up.”

As I left the classroom and headed to the annex, Hyunseong was running down the corridor, having heard the news.

“Muhyuk, what’s going on? Why is that kid taking Myeongsoo?”

“It’s probably because of me. Hey, you’re in the sports club, right? Stay out of it. Don’t get into trouble that could affect your college plans.”

“Fine. I don’t need to go to college.”

“You don’t need to, kid.”

Hyunseong, who had been training hard for a year, had become a promising judo athlete in Busan. If he got involved in a violent incident now, he might have to give up his dreams.

The anger that had been building up in my mind as I walked subsided. My head was cold, but my heart was burning.

‘Damn... this isn’t something that can be solved by avoiding it.’

I saw a broomstick in front of the annex and picked it up.

“Hey, Hyunseong.”

“Yeah.”

“Block anyone from coming in. Teachers, anyone. Can you do that?”

“Can you handle it alone?”

“Hey, I’m Kim Muhyuk. Did you forget who I am?”

“Ha, Kim Muhyuk is still alive? Got it. And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Friends don’t need to say thanks.”

“Be careful. I heard Jinpyo’s dad is a big shot.”

I know. I know.

Myeongsoo’s dad is a big shot in Busan, but he couldn’t do anything against Jinpyo’s dad.

He started as a prosecutor in the public security department and is now the head of the criminal investigation department in Busan, a political prosecutor.

Jinpyo’s dad is a prosecutor from Korea University, one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

Hyunseong stood guard at the entrance of the annex. I picked up the broomstick and entered.

The band room in the basement of the annex.

It’s called a band room, but Jinpyo had turned it into his own territory, controlling the school.

As I walked down to the basement, the sound of my footsteps and the broomstick dragging on the floor echoed in the quiet annex.

I opened the door to the band room and entered.

The smell of cigarette smoke and men filled my nose.

“Wow, it’s true. They say Muhyuk appears like Superman when someone touches Myeongsoo. You really came.”

Fortunately, Myeongsoo was still conscious. He looked like he had been hit a lot, but it wasn’t as bad as breaking his legs.

“...Hey, if you want to see me, come directly. Why are you touching my friend?”

Hong Jinpyo, sitting at the back, looked at me and chuckled.

“Why did I do that? Ha, just for fun?”

“Fun? Is this fun?”

He ignored me and asked the others.

“Why is he using standard Korean? Hey, isn’t Muhyuk from Busan?”

“Yeah, he was born and raised in Busan.”

“Let Myeongsoo go and play with me. I’ll make it more fun.”

Jinpyo finally turned to me again.

“Huh, is this the loyalty of a Busan man? You look tough. Let Myeongsoo go and play with me. Like a movie? Hey, take Myeongsoo to the nurse’s office.”

“Yeah.”

One of them, looking at me, took Myeongsoo out. Myeongsoo, bleeding, looked at me with worried eyes as he left.

‘Who’s worrying about who?’

With Myeongsoo gone, I had a chance to look around.

There were quite a few faces I didn’t recognize, but most were familiar. The unfamiliar faces seemed to be first-year students.

“You’re here too?”

Chulgu, who went to middle school with me, flinched and looked at me.

“Chulgu, I feel like I’m going to kill someone today. Get out. If you don’t want to get hurt.”

Chulgu, looking around, left the group and passed by me.

“Sorry.”

“Shut up and get out.”

Laughter erupted from Jinpyo’s group, but Chulgu ran out without a care.

I locked the door as soon as Chulgu left.

“Ooh, Kim Muhyuk.”

I ignored Jinpyo’s mocking voice and turned around.

“I don’t care if you want to play gangster or not. I just wanted to have a quiet school life. But why are you bothering me and involving Myeongsoo? Is life so boring that you want to stir things up?”

I gripped the broomstick tightly.

“I’ll show you how your half-assed gangster play collapses. Watch and learn.”

“What? Hahaha. Are you completely crazy? Hey, do you see the goosebumps on my arm? This isn’t a movie. Who do you think you are, Terminator?”

The kids around Jinpyo were slowly standing up.

“Hey, what are you doing? Beat him up.”

But Jinpyo’s gang hesitated and didn’t rush in easily.

The only one who didn’t know about the mad dog Kim Muhyuk was Jinpyo. Just because I had been quiet for a while doesn’t mean my past disappeared...

It’s not like we’re fighting with knives like real gangsters. A high school fight is just a dogfight.

Jinpyo, angry at the hesitant kids, shouted.

“What are you doing? Beat him up! I told you what my dad does, right? If you touch that kid, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in jail. Don’t worry, just beat him up.”

The hesitation in the kids’ eyes disappeared.

“Let’s go!”

The next moment, over ten kids rushed at me, each holding a baseball bat or drumstick.

The first one, a first-year student about the same size as Hyunseong, charged at me with his hands outstretched, like a bull.

I hit his hands with the broomstick and simultaneously struck his ulna with the back of my hand.

“Cough, cough!”

Anyone who has been hit on the ulna knows. It doesn’t matter if you’re big or small; it’s useless.

The kids who were approaching stopped for a moment, seeing him fall and grab his arm.

“Come on. It’s been a while since Kim Muhyuk’s mad dog mode was on. You bastards!”

As I said that, I plunged into the group.

Someone’s baseball bat hit my back. The kid who fell tried to grab my ankle and pull me down.

It was a one-to-one, two-to-one fight, a literal dogfight.

A few moments later.

I wiped the blood streaming down my forehead. After about five minutes of fighting, the only one standing was me, surrounded by the groans and blood of the fallen.

“Damn. It’s been a while since I fought. Why are these kids so vicious?”

Hong Jinpyo, who had been standing aside, took a step back with a pale face.

“Hey! Don’t come. Don’t come!”

“Why are you so scared? You called me out because you were confident, right?”

My eyes were stinging from the blood, so I kept wiping them with my hand.

But my hand was also covered in blood, so it didn’t help much.

With no place to retreat, Jinpyo started babbling.

“Don’t touch me. You’ll end up in jail. Don’t come. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you again. Let’s stop.”

“Hahaha. You should have done that from the beginning.”

I don’t know if he’s threatening or begging.

“Hey, my dad is a prosecutor, a head prosecutor. You don’t know, but a head prosecutor can make you spend the rest of your life in jail. Let’s stop. If you stop here, I won’t make it an issue.”

“Prosecutor? What good is a prosecutor or a judge now? The closest thing to the law is a fist. That’s why you called me here, right?”

I grabbed his trembling chin and laughed.

“Jinpyo, let’s start with a few hits.”

“...Don’t.”

I ignored him and slapped him a few times.

His mouth was bleeding, and blood dripped from his head as it turned.

“This is for hitting our good Myeongsoo. Cheap, right?”

This time, I hit the other cheek.

“This is for calling me out when I was minding my own business.”

At that moment, the band room door started to get noisy.

Someone was trying to break it down.

“People are coming. We need to hurry. This is for breaking Myeongsoo’s ankle.”

I grabbed his arm. Jinpyo’s eyes started to shake rapidly.

The kid, with a battered face, begged me.

“Don’t... Please, don’t...”

“Eat with your left hand for the rest of your life.”

Crack.

With a strange sound, Jinpyo’s arm bent backward.

“Aaaah! Ah! Ahhhh...”

At that moment, the band room door broke open. Teachers and Hyunseong came in.

The sight of over ten fallen students, Jinpyo screaming and rolling on the ground, and me, covered in blood, laughing like I had just returned from hell, left everyone speechless.

I bowed to the teachers, who were looking at me like venomous snakes.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

< Mad Dog Mode ON > End