43 – How Gangsters Deal with School Violence (14)
1.
“Good work. Then I’ll see you at the agreed-upon time.”
띡.
After washing up, I received a call from Mr. Ha Hyeoksoo saying that he had picked up the items.
Now that all material preparations were complete, Mr. Ha Hyeoksoo’s revenge preparations were finished here.
Well, now all I have to do is finish my own preparations.
To gather the last item I needed, I got up from the bed and grabbed the doorknob of the room.
But someone was turning the doorknob on the other side faster than I was turning mine.
“Oppa, can I come in for a moment?”
Then the door opened, and with the question of whether it was okay to come in, Lira opened the door and entered my room.
“I’ll come in too, Manager-nim.”
Hayan, who was looking at Lira with a full sense of wariness for some reason, added sarcastically.
If she’s just going to barge in like this without permission, why bother asking if it’s okay to come in?
“Oh, oppa, your bed is harder than ours, right? It feels comfortable to sit on.”
“This is Manager-nim’s bed… it’s warm. I can feel Manager-nim’s warmth.”
Not only did they come in, but they also took off the blanket, sat on the bed, and started evaluating the bed, making me feel a slight dissatisfaction.
No, no. Miss just opens the door without asking and comes in. Compared to Miss, these two are quite polite.
But thinking about Miss’s case, the dissatisfaction melted away like snow.
I still remember when she suddenly opened the door and came in while I was sleeping, saying she would sleep well in this bed. So I went out in a daze and went to an empty room to sleep, and every 10 minutes, she followed me and took over the bed.
In the end, I could only fall asleep on a sofa where I could lie down alone, and the next day, Miss was in a bad mood all day. Compared to Miss during those puberty days, these two are… “Oppa, are you uncomfortable by any chance?”
“We’re not bothering you, Manager? If it’s uncomfortable, please let us know.”
“······No, no. I’m not uncomfortable at all.”
“Alright then.”
“If you feel uncomfortable, be sure to tell us. Understand?”
“Yeah.”
Their way of speaking was a bit awkward, but compared to the lady, they were practically experts in manners.
“Also, I was thinking of going to see you first.”
Although it was late at night to engage in a conversation, I had confirmed that Lira was awake at a conveniently good time. I wanted to talk about tomorrow’s events, considering the timing.
Lira seemed to have some serious topics in mind, judging by the earnest expression she had as she looked at me.
As the upcoming discussion would touch upon sensitive matters related to Lira’s wounds, I opened my mouth to seek Haan’s understanding.
“Um·····.”
“At this hour? Are you after me, Manager?”
However, I missed the timing to ask Haan to leave as he made a strange, misconstrued remark first.
“No, not you, Haan. I meant Lira.”
“Lira is a minor!”
“·····Of course, I know that.”
“And yet you’re still going to her?!”
Seeing Haan look at me with an expression of disbelief, I could sense that he had changed a lot since we first met.
By the way, have they already reached the point of calling her Lira without the formal address? Well, they did bathe together, so it might have been easy for them to become close quickly. I hope they become colleagues who can trust and rely on each other.
Both Haan and Lira were incredibly beautiful and talented, but sadly, due to unfortunate reasons, they were also loners with no friends.
So, if the two become close and become each other’s only friends, as a manager, it would be an incredibly joyful thing.
Imagining the sight of hahahahan and Lira holding hands and having fun, I couldn’t help but smile with a sense of satisfaction. Ignoring hahahahan’s words, I went straight to the point.
“Anyway, Lira. From now on, I’ll explain what Hahyeoksu and I will be doing tomorrow. To do that, you’ll have to bring up your story. Is that okay?”
As an outsider, hahahahan asked if it was okay to bring up such a story.
Upon hearing this, Lira looked at hahahahan with a mischievous smile and nodded with a chuckle.
“I already told Unnie everything while we were bathing. I heard Unnie’s story too, even how Unnie has been living. Well, I didn’t hear why we ended up meeting Oppa, but anyway, we share secrets. So it’s okay.”
Even though I didn’t know, it seems hahahahan spilled the beans about her past. Quite unexpected.
“You became friends really quickly, even giving each other nicknames.”
“Because she’s hahahahan Unnie, she’s Hani Unnie. It’s so cute, right? By the way, I want to be friends, but Unnie seems uncomfortable with me.”
Lira leaned against my bed, affectionately patting hahahahan with an odd touch.
Upon this, hahahahan pushed away Lira, who had rested her head on hahahahan’s shoulder, and wore a stern expression.
“Manager, this is making me uncomfortable.”
Right now, she’s the school-certified outcast with no friends, but Lira was once the insider among insiders who led a clique.
In contrast, hahahahan, from the age of seventeen until now, endured all sorts of storms, losing trust and expectations for humanity, becoming a true outsider.
“Why! Unnie said she wanted to be close to me while bathing!”
“That’s to fulfill the manager’s trust, not because I want to be close to you.”
“Oh, this is really shocking. Is our relationship just business?”
“Yeah.”
The difference in their personalities was clearly evident.
Nevertheless, they seemed to match well enough, so the worries about ‘what if the two don’t get along’ melted away.
Li Ra would probably say she’s fine. With a lighter heart, I opened my mouth and started a brief explanation about what would happen tomorrow.
“First of all, Li Ra, I had a talk with Ha Hyuk-soo and decided. If you have any thoughts, you can join too.”
“Yes? Um… What is it?”
“Revenge.”
“Revenge? Like vengeance?”
“Yeah, vengeance.”
“What revenge, and against whom?”
“Your revenge. We’re going after those troublemakers like Geum Deok-soo and the Geumil Faction backing him, along with those bastards who harassed you following that guy.”
“…”
At my revelation that revenge was finally possible, Li Ra looked deeply moved, half-opening her mouth, staring at me with a blank expression.
hahahaha, my summary was indeed perfect.
Explaining the process of how I ended up seeking revenge with Ha Hyuk-soo would make the story too long. So, cutting out the details, I encapsulated revenge in a concise and understandable summary, avoiding boredom for the listener.
Of course, just saying this much felt somewhat lacking, so I decided to fill in the gaps.
“Oh, by the way, Ha An, we’re going to take revenge on Li Ra tomorrow. Are you coming too?”
This is how a considerate adult acts. Ha An is also present here, and if we talk privately about Li Ra’s revenge without him, he might feel left out. Once you start feeling left out, it can lead to significant relational problems.
Of course, I didn’t expect him to respond with a casual “Sure, why not.”
Ha An was the official trainee of Barun-Gil Entertainment, and judging by his trembling muscles, he seemed to have worked hard today. Besides, practice has to be done every day, and Ha An is a complete beginner, so now is the most crucial time. So, there’s no way he can keep up.
Asking Ha An out of courtesy if he would feel left out was just a formality; I had no intention of taking him along.
And Haan would probably say that if he had any sense, he would know that I did it out of consideration. Besides, there’s more important training to do.
“So, Manager, are you going to fight those thugs tomorrow?”
“Huh? Well… I don’t think they’ll just listen to what I say. It’ll probably end up that way.”
“Well then, I’ll go.”
“Huh?”
But there was one thing I overlooked.
“How do you endure watching the manager fight? You could go watch the revenge match with Trainer and tell them that we couldn’t practice today. It’s okay.”
Haan lacks social skills, so he has no sense in this area.
Hmm, it’s a bit awkward. But I can’t just say, “Are you going to come first?” now. If I did that, he might get angry and think I’m picking a fight, or even if he doesn’t get angry, it would hurt his feelings.
So there was no choice. I had to take him along.
I made a resolution to be careful with my words in the future, and I casually spoke to Lira, who was still looking at me with a half-opened mouth and a blank face.
“Haan should go too. Then the three of us can go together tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this, Lira couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out with all the patience she had been holding in until now.
“What do you mean by saying that as if we’re going on a drive!”
She had impeccable timing for a tackle.
I’m sure she’ll do well when she debuts and appears on entertainment shows.
Indeed, Lira was the best idol I had acknowledged.
2.
“Seriously, this is unbelievable. I asked for help, but I never expected to be helped like this…”
In the early dawn, before the sun had properly risen, Haru, who had barely gotten any sleep, woke up and realized that things were going differently than expected when she saw the car.
“What are you doing, Lira! If you don’t hurry, you’ll be late! We’re going to start after breakfast, so we need to go quickly!”
“Yes, Lira. My dad knows a great restaurant near the martial arts studio, and it gets really crowded there from early morning. If you want to eat without waiting in line, we need to go quickly. So, hurry up.”
This was because Ha Hyuk-soo in the driver’s seat and Kang Jin-hyuk in the passenger seat were calling out to themselves while riding in the van for martial arts studio members.
“But hey, is this really okay? Not only did we take the keys and come out at night, but if we get caught by the manager using it like this, I’m in big trouble.”
“It’s okay. I can cover for you. Even if you do get in trouble, I can arrange a job at my really close friend’s company.”
“Oh, really? Well, since I’ll be seeing your face from now on, you won’t lie, right?”
“Of course not. Do you think I would deceive Ha Hyuk-soo? He’s Lira’s father.”
“Our Lira? Why is she your Lira! Don’t talk like that; she’s not your Lira yet! We haven’t even signed a contract!”
“Well, then it’s ‘Our Lira (in the making),’ right?”
“Fine. That’s correct.”
······Should I just get revenge?
Hari seriously pondered about that.
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Of course, he only pondered.