Chapter 12

Chapter 12

‘I wonder what we’ll find today~’

Kim Hyuk-soo was a student at Hanram High School.

He had recently developed an enjoyable hobby. It was to steal unattended belongings from the library reading room with his friends, seizing the opportunity when the owner of the seat left their things and went somewhere for a while.

This library, where they had recently settled, was safe because it was far from school and home.

It was easy to work while avoiding the eyes of the so-called ‘iljin’ (bullies), and there were many blind spots without cameras inside the library, making it convenient to keep watch.

Moreover, even if things went missing, the staff would try to hush things up and wouldn’t even conduct a belongings inspection, let alone call the police.

“It’s a piece of cake today, too.”

“Tsk, just a few secondhand books. The pens are cheap too.”

“Just think of it as a day’s earnings.”

“What earnings? It’ll take more effort to put them up for sale on ‘Damgeun Market’.”

They were now organized. Two friends would always keep watch, and after he had packed the items into his bag and come out, they would sell them to secondhand stores or junk shops.

It was a surprisingly lucrative way to make money, and recently they even got their hands on a laptop and made it their own.

But as Kang Hyun said, does a needle thief become a cow thief?

“This isn’t enough.”

As he became accustomed to skillfully committing petty theft, Kim Hyuk-soo developed a dream. A dream to make a bigger score, and even a plan to realize it.

“If I’ve found a place full of these naive fools, I have to do it bigger. Who can I satisfy with just this kind of stuff?”

He was now planning to try for more valuable items.

Tablets, cell phones, rings.

He thought anything would do. He could just work on these small things, and after about two weeks, when the staff calmed down, he could steal everything and clean up.

“Those idiots can’t catch us anyway. We’ve done it so many times, but they never call the police? We could make this bigger. What do you think?”

He muttered, but his two friends, who always agreed, were strangely silent.

“What? Why are you guys mute like you’ve eaten honey… huh? What the, who is that?”

Two large men were standing in front of them.

One was tall with a handsome face, and the other had a crew cut, tanned skin, and a fierce expression.

The tough-looking one of the two was even holding a baseball bat in one hand and menacingly massaging his shoulder, and they both seemed quite angry at them for some reason.

As Kim Hyuk-soo flinched, the tough-looking man spoke in a languid voice.

“Hey, Kang Hyun-ah. Kim Hyuk-soo is here.”

“Fortunately, he hasn’t gone home yet.”

The tough-looking guy’s words made the neat-looking one grin.

“What, what are you saying?”

“Hey, Kim Hyuk-soo! Let’s inspect your bag. I need to get my qualification textbook back.”

“W-what?”

“We know everything, so don’t even think about denying it. Want to open your bag? Or do you want to get hit with the bat and then open it?”

***

Kang Hyun exchanged signals with Han Hyun-ho, who pretended to be furious and about to swing the baseball bat.

It was an idea that started from the possibility that they might have hidden the stolen goods at school because they had nowhere else to put them, and everything fell into place perfectly as they managed to meet the group right away.

“Kim Hyuk-soo, Ahn Jong-han, Im Seok-jin. How do you think we know your names?”

As Han Hyun-ho threatened them and took a step closer, they flinched and backed away.

“Now, don’t even think about running away, hand over your bags.”

There were three on the other side, and two on Kang Hyun’s side.

It was an action that made the 2 vs 3 numbers seem meaningless. However, it seemed that they had indeed dominated the atmosphere, as Kim Hyuk-soo’s group was overwhelmed and kept retreating. They seemed like mere kids after all.

But Kim Hyuk-soo and his group, who wouldn’t give in easily, soon started ranting and raving.

“Do you have any evidence? Why are you asking to see someone else’s bag?”

“What school are you from? We’re from the ‘Hanram High Thunder Clan’, you bastards!”

Han Hyun-ho burst into laughter, finding them amusing.

“Hahaha, look at them trying to act tough. Hey! Are you that scared to show your bags? You guys haven’t even been to jail, have you?”

Kang Hyun also, finding their pathetic words ridiculous, delivered the ultimatum he had prepared.

“You three! If you admit your wrongdoing here, apologize, and write a promissory note for compensation, we won’t call the police. Just based on the dates on the list, you’re guilty of 18 counts of theft, and with this much, even without a prior record, you’ll get a direct 9th disposition under the Juvenile Act.”

For a moment, Kim Hyuk-soo and his group froze.

But Kang Hyun didn’t stop and added one more thing.

“Or, try and fight us.”

With the word “fight”, he tossed the baseball bat that Han Hyun-ho had prepared to them.

Clang!

“…?”

“Hey, small fry! Try attacking us with that. We’ll still win, even the two of us.”

The three, who had a dumbfounded expression for a moment, finally realized that Kang Hyun and his companion were provoking them and started hurling insults.

“Are these beggar-like bastards crazy? Fuck, do you really want to die that badly?”

“Hey! Let’s get them!”

Naturally, Kim Hyuk-soo picked up the baseball bat and started charging at the two as if they were gangsters.

On the other hand, Kang Hyun and Han Hyun-ho shared a look, exchanging signals only they could understand. Then, they took a defensive stance, stepping back.

This was all part of Kang Hyun’s plan to provoke them.

But Kim Hyuk-soo, unaware of this, lost his temper and swung the baseball bat, and Han Hyun-ho narrowly dodged it and started shouting.

“Gangsters are killing people!”

Then, as the other two surrounded Kang Hyun and raised their fists, Kang Hyun also responded defensively and said in a loud voice,

“Not satisfied with stealing, now you’re trying to hit people?”

The two, enraged, tried to grab Kang Hyun.

But Kang Hyun nimbly dodged, provoking them. At the same time, he kept an eye on Kim Hyuk-soo with the baseball bat, and fortunately, Han Hyun-ho was marking him well.

Han Hyun-ho was skillfully dodging Kim Hyuk-soo’s attacks. Judging from Han Hyun-ho’s physique, it seemed like he could easily snatch the bat away from the flimsy high schoolers, but he raised both hands to block the attacks and started stepping back.

It even seemed like he was intentionally taking some hits.

‘Not bad.’

Kang Hyun was also coping well with the physical confrontation. He was somewhat athletic, and in the past, he used to get into fights with his friends and enjoyed sports like boxing, so his movements were quick.

‘Just a little more…’

He wouldn’t even flinch if those two weaklings attacked him.

But he didn’t throw a single punch and kept retreating.

Without them noticing, Kang Hyun and Han Hyun-ho were slowly leading them from the narrow back alley of the school towards the main street.

And at that moment,

Beep, beep!

“What, what’s that?”

“What’s that sound!”

The sudden commotion bewildered them.

“What else could it be? It’s the police.”

But Kang Hyun and Han Hyun-ho, who had already planned this, grinned at each other.

Then, as they calmly dusted themselves off and made way, police cars with sirens blaring entered the main street in front of the school.

The searchlight beams soon illuminated Kang Hyun and Kim Hyuk-soo’s group.

The police had arrived due to Kang Hyun’s report.

“If you really hit someone when they tell you to, don’t you know you’re screwed?”

After a brief, relaxed smile, Kang Hyun shouted as loudly as he could so the police could hear him clearly.

“Help! This is unprovoked assault!”

Han Hyun-ho, unable to hide his amusement at the situation, followed suit and shouted.

“Save me! They’re hitting me with a baseball bat!”

To the arriving police officers, the scene looked like chaos, with the agitated delinquents mercilessly assaulting Kang Hyun and Han Hyun-ho.

The situation perfectly matched the police report, and one of them was even holding a baseball bat?

“Control room, we have a situation here. Hanram High School main gate, appears to be a gang violence case. Requesting backup.”

“You are the perpetrators of aggravated assault! Stop your actions immediately and step back.”

“Drop your weapons and put your hands up!”

Kim Hyuk-soo and his group, startled by the sudden appearance of the police, instinctively raised their hands and stopped moving.

However, perhaps because it was dark and they couldn’t see clearly, the police officers quickly surrounded them and forcefully subdued them.

Then, the boys, feeling rebellious against the coercion, started to cause a scene.

“Ah, fuck, we didn’t do anything!”

“We didn’t even hit those guys, they started it!”

“I’m not with them!”

Kim Hyuk-soo, Ahn Jong-hwan, and Im Seok-jin each tried to resolve the situation in their own way, but it was too late. Kim Hyuk-soo was already handcuffed from behind.

A police officer approached Kang Hyun and Han Hyun-ho, who were standing back, dusting off their clothes.

“Are you boys alright? Are you hurt?”

“Oh… that. I got hit here and there.”

“I think I was hit with the baseball bat about thirty times. Ouch, my leg!”

Han Hyun-ho, who was standing next to him, suddenly collapsed on the spot and started complaining of all sorts of pain.

‘Let’s see what they do now.’

This was the end of the first phase of the plan.

All that remained was the negotiation for rehabilitation.

***

“Kim Hyuk-soo. Why couldn’t you just stop? You shouldn’t have kept provoking the police and ended up sleeping in a holding cell, tsk tsk.”

In the police station holding cell, Kang Hyun approached Kim Hyuk-soo, who was sitting hunched over with disheveled hair, and sat on the chair next to him.

“Get lost.”

“Really? Hmm, but… if I leave, you’ll become an aggravated assault offender? I came to help, and you’re telling me to just go?”

“W-what?”

Seeing Kim Hyuk-soo’s eyes filled with fear, Kang Hyun smiled with an amused expression.

“Listen carefully, I’ll tell you how things are going.”

The boy gave him an untrusting look, but Kang Hyun continued speaking without minding it.

“First of all, you were arrested at the scene as perpetrators of aggravated assault. Of course, if you listen to the police officers and stay here, you might be released with a warning, but the investigation of the case will continue.”

“What? Why?”

“You still don’t understand the situation? If we don’t settle, you’ll be prosecuted for aggravated assault, investigated at the prosecutor’s office, and then go to court for trial, get sentenced to community service and juvenile probation, and have a criminal record. By then, it’ll be too late for regrets. Got it?”

“Sh, shit.”

“Oh my, you still haven’t come to your senses? Should I just go?”

“S-sorry!”

Kim Hyuk-soo’s tough act seemed to have ended there. As Kang Hyun got up from his seat, Kim Hyuk-soo approached him with a petty expression.

“I was wrong. I’ll return the things I stole from you, so please settle.”

“Huh? That’s not all, is it? You didn’t just steal our things.”

When Kang Hyun showed him the list of stolen items he had brought from the library, Kim Hyuk-soo’s eyes shook violently.

The things he had been doing without thinking were now becoming a major crime, constricting him.

“Based on the value, it seems like it’ll be around three to four hundred thousand won, but it’ll probably be more expensive to actually compensate, right? You’ll have to return these or compensate with money, won’t you?”

“I, I don’t have money now. I’m sorry, please…”

“Well, I don’t know if the police will let you off with just an apology. I’m just giving you a chance. Honestly, if I had just reported this, as I said before, it’s 18 counts of theft.”

“Th, theft?”

“Yes. Theft! It might have been an action you did without thinking, but that’s theft. Anyway, that’s why you have to compensate, of course.”

Kim Hyuk-soo seemed to finally realize his mistake.

“Anyway, aside from this, you have to sincerely apologize to the people you’ve wronged so far. I’ll tell you exactly how to apologize.”

“The money, the money…”

“Tell your parents, or get a part-time job.”

At Kang Hyun’s firm words, Kim Hyuk-soo made a tearful face and started shedding tears like chicken droppings.

“Sob, sob, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“Are you a one or two-year-old? You committed these acts without even thinking about what would happen? Anyway, contact me when you get out tomorrow.”

With those last words, Kang Hyun turned and left.

—————

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