GBH 10

“You k1lled him.”

At the quiet accusation, Hong Jae-min flinched and then scowled in frustration.

“What do you expect me to do about it… It’s your fault for being so weak and falling?!”

He then denied it and roughly pushed Song Yi-heon away. He tried to grab Song Yi-heon’s collar, but Song Yi-heon was faster. Song Yi-heon swiftly grabbed Hong Jae-min’s collar and yanked him. It all happened so quickly that Hong Jae-min was dragged by the tight grip on his shirt.

Was it too much for a high school student to be told he was a murderer? The hand gripping the collar was trembling. Kim Deuk-pal lowered his gaze and noticed Hong Jae-min’s forcibly clenched fist. The fist was shaking slightly. His eyes, wide open in an attempt to look tough, and his tightly clenched jaw were almost pitiful.

“You’re scared.”

Kim Deuk-pal let out a hollow laugh, as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Seeing the young boy pale and trembling, his fighting spirit deflated. He suddenly wondered what he was doing. Talking sense to kids like this was pointless; the only thing they understood was force.

Kim Deuk-pal shoved Hong Jae-min away and took off his jacket. The group that rushed to support Hong Jae-min watched Song Yi-heon carefully. As he threw his coat on a pile of plastic bottles and loosened his neck, he no longer had the same gravitas as before.

“Let’s get this over with quickly. I have a class to attend.”

He waved his fingers lazily, signaling them to come at him. Now brimming with annoyance, Hong Jae-min’s gang finally snapped. They couldn’t believe that they had been intimidated by the outcast Song Yi-heon. A belated sense of shame rushed beneath their skin.

“Y-you fvcking bastard-!”

Their exaggerated behavior was similar to that of prey desperately trying to appear larger in front of a predator. Song Yi-heon rolled up his sleeves and grinned. Tilting his chin at an angle, inviting a punch, he said,

“Come on, hit me. I have some pride fighting a kid. I’ll let you have the first punch.”

“That bastard’s really lost his mind!”

One of Hong Jae-min’s friends lunged forward to take the lead. However, he was quickly pulled back by the shoulder, and Hong Jae-min took his place, swinging his fist. His fist, bulging with veins, slammed into Yi-heon’s cheek.

There was a sharp sound as Yi-heon’s jaw turned from the force. Hong Jae-min stood, panting heavily. The punch was hard enough that the old Yi-heon would’ve been on the ground, rolling in pain. But the current Yi-heon stood firm, his feet rooted in place. He rubbed his jaw and spat.

“Ptui.”

The inside of his mouth was torn, and thick, nearly blood-like spit dribbled down. He wiped his mouth with his thumb, flicking away the blood. His lips, stained with blood, glistened red. His clear, piercing gaze remained fixed on Hong Jae-min as he curved his lips.

“Nice punch.”

“…”

Again. That eerie sensation crept over Hong Jae-min and his group, as if they were facing someone wearing Yi-heon’s face but not actually him. It was hard to reconcile this person with the Yi-heon they knew.

Song Yi-heon had always been fragile. He bleeds easily from small impacts and feels pain several times more intensely than others from the same injuries. That’s why the original Song Yi-heon hated pain and was afraid of getting hurt. Sometimes to the point of seeming overly dramatic.

In contrast, Kim Deuk-pal recklessly explored his mouth with his tongue to check the wound. The only thing that had changed was his soul. The body was the same, so he should feel the same pain the original Song Yi-heon would have felt, but Kim Deuk-pal wasn’t swayed by the pain.

It would be more ridiculous for Kim Deuk-pal, who had risen to the top of an organization with his fists, to show pain from a delinquent teenager’s punch. Even if he felt pain, Kim Deuk-pal wasn’t naive enough to show it.

“You, who are you?!”

Hong Jae-min, who couldn’t understand what was happening, screamed in frustration. Kim Deuk-pal took a step forward, the hem of his shirt peeking out from under his loose-knit sweater as he moved.

“Me? Song Yi-heon.”

“Don’t joke around! That bastard would’ve just taken the hits and cried like a baby, ack-!”

“Your tongue’s too loose, Jae-min.”

Kim Deuk-pal’s fist struck Hong Jae-min right in the stomach. His small yet bony fist hit the target with precision, causing Hong Jae-min to double over and retch. That was just the beginning. As their leader was attacked, the others charged in with crazed eyes.

“Hey, fvck, hit him!”

Just as they unnecessarily added “fuck” to every sentence, Hong Jae-min’s gang’s punches were equally sloppy and unnecessary. They had seen a lot and thought they knew what they were doing, but their moves were slow, flashy, and loud. A disorganized mess. That’s how Kim Deuk-pal summed up the kids charging at him as he swung his fists.

“Urgh-!”

The experienced fist of a veteran was skilled and fierce. He mainly aimed for vital points. Song Yi-heon’s delicate skin couldn’t withstand the high-intensity impacts and peeled off, quickly covering his knuckles with blood. But Kim Deuk-pal didn’t hesitate or slow down.

Song Yi-heon used one guy he had tripped as a stepping stone to jump up. He kicked the chest of an oncoming attacker and delivered a strong punch to the face of another. The teenage body was light and quick. It moved exactly as Kim Deuk-pal wanted.

“You bastard!”

A big guy, bear-like in size, pounced on Song Yi-heon from behind. Sensing the shadow looming over him, Kim Deuk-pal lowered his center of gravity. He tried to grab the arm of the bear-sized guy to throw him over his back. The mental simulation was perfect. He even grabbed the arm. The problem was that Kim Deuk-pal has not fully adapted to Song Yi-heon’s physique.

“…!”

Kim Deuk-pal’s eyes widened at the enormous weight pressing on his shoulders. If it were Kim Deuk-pal’s tall, strong body, throwing the big high school student would have been nothing. But now he was in Song Yi-heon’s slender body. It was impossible to flip someone nearly twice his size.

The large student whose arm was grabbed was filled with glee when he saw Song Yi-heon pinned down and trembling helplessly. Pressing down with his full weight, he shouted:

“Got him!”

The guys who had been knocked down by punches earlier came rushing in. The big student restrained Song Yi-heon’s arms from behind and lifted him up. Song Yi-heon glared up, panting heavily. He twisted his upper body trying to free his arms, but it only drained his strength.

“Move aside.”

Hong Jae-min, pushing aside the others, approached with a sinister tone. In his hand was a wooden club, probably picked up from the incinerator. He held it like a baseball bat, dragging it along the ground. His target was Song Yi-heon’s head.

“If you don’t want to get hit, hold him tight.”

Feeling the student restraining him swallow hard and stiffen, Kim Deuk-pal wore a bloody smirk. His upturned eyes glared at Hong Jae-min.

“You little shit, you’ve only learned bad things.”

“Shut up, you bastard.”

Hong Jae-min raised the wooden club high. With the sun behind it, the club became a black silhouette against the sky. Song Yi-heon also raised his head. His squinting eyes, dazzled by the light, didn’t lose sight of the club.

“Phew-, you’re done for.”

Hong Jae-min took a deep breath and swung the club. It was halfway through the swing when Song Yi-heon kicked off the ground. Using the boy restraining him to stabilize his upper body, he threw all his weight into a powerful kick. Hong Jae-min was hit in the chest and rolled backward.

“Ughh!”

“Jae-min!”

The surprised kids called out to Hong Jae-min.  The big guy holding onto Song Yi-heon was no different. Song Yi-heon immediately smashed the back of his head into the guy’s face. The sharp pain surged through the back of his skull.

“Ack!”

The big kid, now covering his bloodied nose, staggered back.

Song Yi-heon quickly broke free. He pushed through the kids surrounding Hong Jae-min in confusion and clenched his fist. He threw another punch at Hong Jae-min, who was just being helped up. Just as Hong Jae-min was about to fall without even screaming, a high-pitched warning rang out from above.

“Hey! What are you doing? Stop right now!”

Jung Eun-chae shouted urgently, hanging from a window upstairs.

* * *

The reason Hong Jae-min’s gang didn’t run away while Jung Eun-chae was rushing to the incinerator was because they felt wronged. As they say, humans are emotional animals. Forgetting their past bullying of Song Yi-heon, they were indignant about being beaten today, clutching their bruises and breathing heavily.

Though they knew they were partly at fault, they couldn’t bear to see Song Yi-heon get away with the fight unscathed, so they waited for the school authorities to punish him.

“Ah, shit…”

While waiting, Hong Jae-min’s group kept cursing under their breath and spitting. Unlike the kids trying to act tough to preserve their last shred of dignity, Song Yi-heon calmly tidied himself up. He put on his coat and habitually felt his inside pocket.

“Sigh-“

The inside pocket was flat. Kim Deuk-pal, worried that he might have unintentionally caused trouble for the real Song Yi-heon by getting caught by the teacher, let out a heavy sigh when he found no cigarettes. He ran his fingers through his short hair, tousling it left and right.

He didn’t swear or show irritation. It was just a small gesture of frustration. Yet Hong Jae-min’s group suddenly grew quiet, as if watching Song Yi-heon’s mood. After that, the incinerator area fell into silence until Jung Eun-chae arrived. Only furtive glances at Song Yi-heon were busy in the quiet, like a silent outcry.

“You kids!”

Song, Jung Eun-chae sprang out from around the corner of the building, using her white hand on the wall as support. Choi Se-kyung, who had followed her, caught her as her legs nearly gave out, exhausted from sprinting. A head taller than Jung Eun-chae, Choi Se-kyung blinked innocently, clueless about the commotion.

Se-kyung looked surprised. His slightly droopy eyes widened as he surveyed the scene spattered with drops of blood. At first glance, it seemed like an exemplary response of concern for the injured students, showing basic human empathy. At the same time, it was an attitude clearly distancing himself from any involvement in school violence.

While showing concern but maintaining distance, Se-kyung’s composure wavered as he recognized the faces at the incinerator. The student he thought was Song Yi-heon, surrounded by Hong Jae-min’s gang, was actually the boy he had met at the bookstore during winter break.

His chestnut-colored hair had grown out a bit, softening his youthful appearance, but he still looked young with sharp eyes that made him want to tease him.

This was the second time Choi Se-kyung had mistaken him for Song Yi-heon.

“You kids, what’s going on! Who told you to fight at school!”

Even though the petite female teacher puffed up her chest and shouted, it wasn’t very threatening. The seated kids reluctantly and slowly stood up, dusting off their pants. Only Kim Deuk-pal took his hands out of his pockets and bowed politely.

“Teacher, you’ve arrived.”

“Crazy bastard, what’s wrong with him?”

One of Hong Jae-min’s gang made a circular motion near his temple, mocking Kim Deuk-pal. When Deuk-pal casually glanced over, the boy averted his eyes, wincing as his injuries throbbed.

It wasn’t that they were scared because Kim Deuk-pal was good at fighting. Although they had been beaten one-sidedly by Kim Deuk-pal, what truly frightened Hong Jae-min’s gang was something else. The only way they could explain Song Yi-heon continuing to throw punches with the same intensity even when his skin was split open and flesh was exposed was that he must be crazy. Hong Jae-min’s gang was wary of the madness that allowed him to fight without feeling pain even when bleeding.

The fight itself wasn’t that impressive, especially considering Kim Deuk-pal, who was tipped to be the next boss, was involved. However, it shattered the gang’s expectations and left a lasting impression among the teenagers. Whatever had happened during winter break, Song Yi-heon wasn’t the same person as before. He had changed.