Episode 7: Why Are You Showing Up Already?
Lunch break.
Someone roughly pushed open the classroom door and walked in.
Thud—
“Hey. Is Kim Dohyun here?”
The noisy classroom instantly froze. The students quietly sat down, glancing nervously at each other.
A blond male student strode into the middle of the room.
The group of delinquents following him snickered from behind, creating an ominous atmosphere.
What the hell? Why is that guy showing up already?
Choi Kihoon. [TLN: Change Choi Gihoon to kihoon]
The NTR villain who targets Seo Yuna.
He’s a character who appears when Seo Yuna’s affection level exceeds 50%, solely to torment the protagonist.
It seemed like the butterfly effect of me twisting the original story had caused him to appear earlier than expected.
I still remember the rage I felt when he overpowered the protagonist and caused the bread-shuttle ending.
[TLN: “bread shuttle (빵셔틀)” is a slang term used to describe someone who is bullied or forced by their peers to run errands, such as buying bread or snacks from a store. It symbolizes a submissive, powerless role in a school hierarchy.]
Damn you, Golden Sun (Geum Taeyang), you bastard.
His sharp eyes locked onto me.
“Are you Kim Dohyun?”
I answered indifferently.
“Why ask when you already know?”
The classroom instantly grew colder at my response. My classmates’ faces turned pale with shock.
Choi Kihoon smiled and briskly walked up to me.
His lackeys blocked the classroom door, sealing off any escape.
“You’re close to Seo Yuna, huh? What’s up with you two? Are you dating?”
The corner of his mouth twisted in a sneer.
“Do you know what I hate the most?”
I shrugged and replied casually.
“How should I know? Do you know what I had for breakfast today?”
At that moment, the students in the room held their breath. Choi Kihoon’s eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down.
“When someone messes with my stuff.” he said mockingly.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
So basically, he was saying Seo Yuna was his “property,” and I should keep my hands off.
He had to be out of his mind.
Crossing my arms, I replied nonchalantly,
“Did I steal your stuff or something? I don’t remember doing that.”
His lackeys reacted immediately.
“This bastard’s nuts.”
“You crazy? He’s so full of himself.”
They eyed me arrogantly, sizing me up as they smirked.
I sighed inwardly.
This is such a cliché pattern.
My classmates glanced at me with concern, whispering nervously. A few of them had their heads down, seemingly just waiting for the situation to pass.
I turned my head toward the group of delinquents and said,
“Lackeys, step aside.”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
“What… what did you just say?”
One of the delinquents tried to step forward, but Choi Kihoon raised his hand to stop him.
“Enough.”
His voice was low but firm.
The group fell silent instantly.
Choi Kihoon looked at me with curiosity.
“I didn’t know you were this feisty.”
“I didn’t know you’d act this pathetic. Getting rejected by a girl and storming into someone else’s class—what do you think you’re doing?”
At my words, the delinquents began to get rowdy again, but Choi Kihoon casually waved his hand to quiet them.
He stepped closer, now standing right in front of me.
“You’re an interesting guy.”
After a moment of looking down at me, he raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk.
“I warned you.”
With that, Choi Kihoon turned and headed toward the back door. His gang followed, glancing back at me as they left.
The classroom erupted into chatter as soon as the door closed.
Once Choi Kihoon’s group was gone, someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Jinyoung.
“You okay? If those punk bastards had thrown a punch, I would’ve jumped in and….”
I shot him a glance.
I’d seen him pretending to sleep at his desk just moments ago.
“Really? You?”
He coughed awkwardly, straightening up with a proud expression.
“Oh, you saw? I was staying still on purpose, watching over you and waiting for the right moment to step in.”
“Right, pretending to snore while lying down was all part of the plan?”
“That was… let’s call it a moment to gather my strength. Anyway, I saw everything that just happened.”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
“Sure. And by the time you finished ‘gathering your strength,’ I’d probably be lying in the hospital.”
Jinyoung flinched at my words, coughed a few times, and avoided eye contact.
“Don’t lie. I saw you hitting the punching bag yesterday.”
“…You noticed?”
“Anyway… Your line earlier was awesome. ‘Lackeys, step aside.’ That gave me chills.”
Great. Another self-inflicted cringe memory added to the pile.
*
Near the end of lunch, Seo Yuna returned to the classroom.
She spotted me sitting by the window with my arms crossed, staring outside. Without hesitation, she approached me.
“Hey, did something happen?”
“What?”
Feigning ignorance, I turned my head away.
Yuna stopped right in front of me, knocking on my desk.
“The atmosphere was weird when I came back. Everyone’s acting on edge. Did something happen?”
I shrugged.
“Nothing happened.”
“Liar.”
She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.
“Your expression is weird.”
“What’s weird about it?”
“The corners of your mouth are slightly up.”
I chuckled softly and turned my head again.
“Yuna, hold on a second.”
Still eyeing me suspiciously, Yuna was stopped by a girl from our class who grabbed her arm from behind.
“What is it?”
The girl pulled her to the back of the classroom and whispered something to her.
I pretended not to notice and looked back out the window, but I couldn’t miss how Yuna’s expression hardened with every word.
Ah, crap. Here we go.
Not long after, Yuna marched back to me, fuming.
“What happened with Choi Kihoon?”
“I told you, it was nothing.”
“Nothing? I heard he came here to threaten you.”
Yuna glared at me with one hand on her hip.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly threatening… He just talked nonsense for a bit and left.”
“Nonsense? And the part about almost fighting with you?”
How exaggerated has this story gotten already?
I sighed and rubbed my face.
“It wasn’t a fight. We just exchanged a few words.”
“So, what did he say?”
Yuna asked with a serious expression.
“He talked about you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
At my response, Yuna’s expression twisted.
“That crazy bastard said something stupid again, didn’t he?”
Her clenched fists made it clear she was livid, ready to storm off and grab Choi Kihoon by the collar at any moment.
I quickly stepped in front of her.
“Nothing good will come from getting involved with guys like him. Just stay put.”
“Then what about you?”
“Me? I stayed put, didn’t I?”
Yuna gave me a sharp glare as if she’d already heard about what I said earlier.
“It was just a few words. I didn’t even fight him.”
“A few words? You probably provoked him completely.”
“…”
“With your personality? No way you kept your mouth shut.”
“You almost got yourself into serious trouble. Choi Kihoon isn’t someone to take lightly. Getting involved with him is nothing but a headache.”
Honestly, I wasn’t keen on having things get more complicated either. This was bound to happen eventually, though.
“Just let me handle it. Don’t get involved or make this messier than it already is.”
Yuna stared at me silently for a moment before finally turning her head away.
In the game, depending on the choices, the conflict with Choi Kihoon could either escalate or lead to a route where you avoid getting tangled up with him.
Based on my actions, I’d clearly chosen the path of escalating conflict.
No use crying over spilled milk.
There was no going back now.
‘Choi Kihoon, I despise NTR trash like you with every fiber of my being.’
With that vow silently made, I turned my gaze toward the window.
Outside, the sky was already growing darker, and yet another storm seemed to be brewing.
*
Kang Chul leaned against the corner of the gymnasium.
Right in front of him was a boy skipping rope, none other than Kim Dohyun.
The newbie who had impulsively signed up yesterday.
Skipping rope for 40 minutes without a break?
Kang Chul’s eyebrows twitched.
Jump rope is a fundamental boxing exercise for building core strength and footwork. While effective, maintaining it for that long is exhausting even for seasoned athletes.
But this guy was casually jumping, his face dry without a single drop of sweat.
“…….”
Kang Chul crossed his arms and continued to observe. Dohyun’s wrist and foot movements were almost perfectly consistent.
Excellent sense of balance.
Who is this kid? His body is naturally in rhythm.
“Kim Dohyun.”
Kang Chul gestured to him.
“Yes?”
Dohyun stopped skipping rope and walked over without a hint of fatigue.
“Hit the sandbag.”
Dohyun tightened his wraps, put on his gloves, and stepped up to the sandbag.
Thwack—!
The first jab.
Kang Chul’s eyes sparkled.
‘Fast.’
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Jabs and straights followed in rapid succession.
Dohyun’s posture after each strike remained stable, without any unnecessary movements.
Thwack—!
As Dohyun finished with a hook, Kang Chul finally spoke.
“Stop.”
“Was something wrong?”
“Your hook’s angle.”
Kang Chul lightly tapped Dohyun’s elbow.
“Coming in from this angle will let you dig much deeper.”
Dohyun nodded and adjusted his stance.
Thwack—!
The sandbag swayed heavily.
What’s this? He fixed it immediately after one correction?
Kang Chul’s lips twitched as if holding back a smile.
“Good. Your hook is solid.”
Dohyun took a moment to catch his breath and removed his gloves.
Watching him, Kang Chul’s mind was already running simulations.
This guy’s a boxing prodigy. His arm and shoulder rotation, weight transfer, sense of balance—all the fundamentals of boxing are ingrained in his body.
If polished properly, he could potentially win an amateur tournament within a month.
“Kim Dohyun.”
“Yes?”
“How about a sparring match?”
“Sparring?”
Dohyun tilted his head.
“With whom?”
“Hey, Seung-tae!”
Kang Chul called out, and a man stretching in the corner walked over.
The man, about 175 cm tall with a solid build, was Choi Seung-tae, a two-year boxing veteran with amateur experience.
“Coach, you mean with this guy?”
Seung-tae glanced at Dohyun and chuckled.
“Think he’ll be okay?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Kang Chul smiled and pointed to the ring.