31 – How Gangsters Deal with School Violence (2)
1.
“She’s not here.”
I wandered the streets all morning, but I couldn’t find anyone who could match Miss Ahgasai’s radiance.
“She’s really not here.”
Even though I focused so hard that I could immediately find a needle stuck in the middle of the desert, I couldn’t find anyone who had a radiance comparable to Miss Ahgasai’s and wouldn’t be overshadowed.
“I looked carefully with my eyes wide open, but she’s not here.”
Walking down the street and searching, was it because my view was low that I couldn’t see many people? Climbing up to the rooftops of various buildings for a higher view didn’t help; instead of sparkling lights, I couldn’t even find a beauty.
It was still just lunchtime, and on weekdays, not many people walked around in the morning. However, it was unexpected that I couldn’t even find someone who made me go, ‘Huh?’
Did I use up all my luck in finding Haani?
The meeting with Haani was truly fateful.
It wasn’t like I personally found Haani; it was as if Haani walked into my life on her own two feet.
The sparkling gemstone I earnestly wished for rolled into my arms without me actively seeking it, so it wouldn’t be strange to say that I exhausted all my luck on that.
But Kang Jinhyuk, a man who believes in effort and skill rather than luck.
He learned the importance of luck the hard way in the past, so he does believe that luck is a skill.
However, he also knows that when luck comes knocking, you have to have enough skill to seize it. He is well aware of how crucial that effort is.
When Haani was in danger, if I didn’t have fighting skills, I wouldn’t have been able to save her.
In the end, the saying that luck is also a skill is synonymous with only skilled individuals being able to seize luck.
At least, I’ve lived my life thinking so.
So, if I’ve used up all my luck in meeting Haani, then I just have to display my skills in proportion to the luck spent.
Now was the time to execute the so-called ‘Indian Ritual’ operation.
It’s a relentless and physically demanding task that progresses without certainty, but it’s my specialty. If I keep searching day and night, I’ll eventually find it—a sparkling gemstone that won’t lose to Haani.
“To do that, I should at least fill my stomach first.”
As I diligently search, it’s already afternoon, and my stomach is gradually empty. Now is the perfect time to have a meal.
“Let’s have a hearty bowl of soup and continue the search.”
Fortunately, the place where I am happens to be near the Grandma’s Soup restaurant, which I used to go to with my brother before entering prison. This time, I couldn’t go with my brother because of Haani’s situation.
It’s been seven years since I last went there; I wonder if the owner aunty will recognize me. I’m a bit excited about it.
When my long-lost aunt who recognized me asked where on earth I had been for so many years, I pondered how to respond and turned towards the alley with the beef soup restaurant.
Then, I saw a scene much more worn out than in my memory—the sign and the unchanged interior of the beef soup restaurant.
I felt a lump in my chest at the sight of customers, regardless of age, blowing on the hot soup and the aunt boiling the soup in the kitchen.
“It’s been seven years. Nothing has changed there.”
Probably, the taste hasn’t changed either. If it had, my brother would have been the first to cut ties.
The thick broth, generously cut pieces of meat, homemade kimchi, and pickled radish—all of it. Just imagining it made my mouth water.
“Oh, no. I can’t. It feels insane just to imagine. Gotta go for the special beef soup. Exactly that.”
With a smile on my lips, I headed towards the beef soup restaurant.
No, I tried to.
Kudungtangtang… Quadang… Kkang…
“Uh?”
Until a somewhat inappropriate noise echoed in the completely sealed office with clear tape on the window sashes in broad daylight.
What is it? Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to engage in a brawl at this time? And in an office completely ruined, sprayed red with spray paint?
The office making the loud noise looked empty for at least a few years, judging by my standards.
Of course, to me, it was a loud noise, but to passersby, it was nothing special unless they focused on it. However, for someone accustomed to violence like me, it was an unbearable sound.
Ggang… Kudungtangtang… Quadang…
It didn’t sound like a fight with bare hands. But it also didn’t seem like thugs wielding extensions, as hitting someone with an extension doesn’t produce a dull sound.
Rather, it seemed more like the sound of hitting the floor, ceiling, or walls. Judging by the intermittent irritated shouts, it seemed like they were successfully avoiding the attacks.
From the sound of footsteps or extensions hitting the walls and floor, it didn’t seem like the attackers were particularly skilled. Taking that into account, it appeared that the person being attacked was doing a great job of dodging.
I listened to the sound of footsteps, and the movements of the person avoiding me were very light. It felt as if they were dancing, and their delicate footwork was conveyed to me through faint footsteps.
“By the way, it’s really light. Just by hearing the sound, you’d think it’s a woman fighting.”
I looked up and observed the commotion happening on the third floor through the sound. In the distance, I heard another set of footsteps.
It was the sound of customers leaving after enjoying a satisfying bowl of soup.
As I watched them checking their tongues or patting their bulging bellies, I felt a sense of satisfaction and deliciousness that seemed to reach me as well.
“Ah, I should hurry up and go get some soup.”
Suddenly, my attention was caught by the sound of a fight. In an instant, my focus shifted, and I turned my steps towards Halme Gukbap Restaurant.
No, I tried to turn.
Crash!!!
Until the horrifyingly violent noise that could not be ignored from above my head.
Before I could process the sound of glass shattering and exploding, I reflexively raised my head. The sunlight reflected off the glass fragments falling like starlight, along with a mass of something the size of a person, directly above my head.
The moment I realized that, time split into countless fragments of a second, and each fragment transformed back into a second.
In the completely slowed-down time, I was the only one who could move freely, and I was able to accurately perceive what was falling towards me.
Due to the bright sunlight and the backlight, at first glance, I thought the mass I saw was something the size of a person. But it wasn’t just something the size of a person.
“·······This is insane!”
What was falling towards my head was not just something the size of a person, but something the size of a person that was only something the size of a person.
In other words, a real person was breaking the window on the third floor and falling from the head down.
And it was a girl! A female student wearing a school uniform!
The moment I realized that what was falling was a person, and not just any person but a female student, my heart sank and the blood in my body cooled down, giving me a chilling sensation.
However, the feeling of panic was fleeting, and the decision of what to do and the execution of that decision were also fleeting.
I was moving my body to do what I had to do after consuming only two pieces out of the dozens of fragments that were divided in a split second.
If I fall like this, my head will shatter and I will die. So I have to endure it.
The shock that would be transmitted to my body would be greater the more I receive it from below, so I had to receive it as much as possible from above and land without any shock.
Normally, there would be no way to think of the word “impossible” when it comes to keeping it in my head.
But I had a body and physical abilities that made it possible for me, and I also had reflexes that could perform all of those processes meticulously and quickly.
Blame. Thud.
I forcefully kicked the ground with my left foot and jumped up, landing on the outer wall of the building.
While making the two leaps, the female student was still falling from a height of two floors below.
Alright, I won’t be late.
Thanks to quick judgment, I sincerely felt relieved that I wasn’t late, and I timed the final leap.
One. Two. Now!
Thud!
The moment the female student’s head was about to fall, I kicked the wall and embraced her in my arms.
At the same time, I rotated in the air to adjust my posture for a smooth landing, and when I landed, I bent my legs and absorbed all the impact with my lower body so that the shock wouldn’t reach the female student held in my arms.
Thump.
A perfect landing where no shock was transmitted to the one embraced in my arms.
It’s been a while since I moved sincerely, and I was quite anxious, but as they say, even if you forget your head, your body remembers. My body perfectly achieved what I had hoped for.
Yes, my body has been trained through such tough experiences. It’s only right to do this much.
Acknowledging and praising my body up to this point, I asked the female student held in my arms if she was okay.
“Phew. It’s been a while since I moved so quickly. It’s tough. Are you okay over there…”
“Ugh! Those bastards not only insulted us but also pushed people from the third floor?! Seriously, they’re dead!”
However, the female student who was in my arms didn’t seem the least bit shaken, even doubting if the person who just fell after breaking the window was real. She got up from my embrace without hesitation and rushed towards the entrance of the building again.
Tadadadak!
Just like the footsteps I praised earlier for sounding feminine, the girl, now running with a completely similar light footstep, took six steps.
Kwadangtang!
Collapsed on the ground like a cut puppet.
Right after, blood started spurting from her head.
“aaah!”
Call 911! An ambulance!!!