Seol Minsu's eyes fixed on Suwon like a hawk spotting prey."...Come here."
Suwon flinched, his breath catching in his throat. His whole body began to tremble.W-Why is he calling me over…? he thought, panic creeping up his spine. Is he going to hit me too? But… I didn't even do anything…
Minsu's tone dropped, colder this time."I said come."
The silence that followed was suffocating. All eyes turned toward Suwon as he took a hesitant step forward… then another. His shoes scraped lightly against the floor, every movement echoing like a countdown.
He stopped right in front of Minsu, head lowered, fear written all over his face.Minsu raised his arm slowly, his shadow falling over Suwon's face
but before the blow could land, a hand shot out and grabbed Minsu's wrist, stopping it mid-swing.
The crowd gasped.
The grip was firm, veins visible from the tension.
"...That's enough," a calm but sharp voice said.
Minsu turned his head, his eyes narrowing as he saw who it was.
Seol Hyorim's eyes widened the moment she saw who had stopped her brother."...S–Seojin?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
Seol Minsu's head turned toward me slowly, his expression carved with disbelief.
Shock flickered in his gaze faint, fleeting before it hardened into anger.
His jaw clenched, his teeth grinding audibly.
For a brief second, the entire place went still.
Around us, the others gasped.
"Holy shit did he just stop Minus Hyung?"
"Is he insane?"
"Bro's dead. He's actually dead."
Parkdong and Lee Daegyu eyes went wide, not with relief but with sheer terror at what I'd just done.
And Seolhyo her face drained of color, lips parted, caught between horror and something I couldn't name.
The tension between them was so sharp it felt like the air itself might tear.
Minsu's jaw tightened, veins rising along his neck and forearm.
His breathing grew heavier eyes burning red with fury.
Then, with a violent twist, he tore his wrist free and drove a heavy punch toward my face.
I slipped my head just off the line, catching his arm with a parry and twisting forcing him to stumble half a step.
Minsu leaned closer, his breath hot and ragged. "You…" His voice was low, like a growl. "…do you have a death wish?"
My grip on his wrist tightened, even as my body screamed at me to let go. I stood my ground, pulse hammering.
"I said that's enough."
The crowd gasped.
He recovered instantly, swinging low with brutal force. I blocked with my forearm, the impact reverberating down to my elbow, then answered with a clean jab cross to his jaw. His head snapped, but instead of dropping, his grin widened.
"Not bad," he growled, voice low enough only I could hear.
Then he came at me.
Every strike was like a hammer. I weaved, blocked, countered with jabs and hooks, using tight footwork to stay alive. For a few exchanges, I held my ground his punches meeting my guard, my counters landing sharp against his ribs and chin.
But the difference was clear. Every time I hit him, he barely flinched. Every time he hit me, the shock rattled through my body, bruises blooming under the skin.
A knee drove into my stomach I absorbed it, twisted with the momentum, and tried to sweep his leg out in a throw. For a heartbeat, his balance faltered, but his sheer strength anchored him. He caught my shoulder, shoved me back hard, and I slammed against the wall of bodies surrounding us.
Breath ragged, vision tunneling, I pushed off the ground and squared my stance again. My fists came up, guard tight, chin down.
He rushed in, and I met him ducking under a wild hook, countering with a short uppercut that cracked against his chin. His head jolted back, but his eyes only burned hotter.
I knew I was being overwhelmed, body screaming from the punishment, but my feet refused to move back.
No one breathed.
Seol Minsu, the monster who dominate the Yongin, was actually being held back. Fists slammed, feet shuffled, sharp cracks of impact echoed against the air but Seojin didn't fold.
"Holy shit…" someone whispered.
Every jab, every block, every counter, the crowd's disbelief only grew. This wasn't supposed to happen. Anyone else would've been crawling on the ground by now, but Seojin stood his ground, slipping under Minsu's wild hooks, landing crisp shots to his ribs and jaw.
"Is he crazy?" Park Dong muttered, sweat dripping down his temple. "That's Minsu-hyung!"
"And he's fighting back…" Lee Daegyu voice trembled, caught between fear and awe.
Minsu's grin only stretched wider with every hit he took, his eyes alight with fury and thrill. Seojin's guard shook, body staggering under each blow, but he refused to back down. Bruises were already blooming across his arms, his lip split, yet his fists never lowered.
Then it happened.
Both lunged Minsu with a brutal, swinging hook meant to end it, Seojin with a tight, desperate counter aimed straight at the chin.
For a split second, time froze, the crowd gasping as the two strikes carved their arcs toward each other.
"STOP!!"
Seolhyo's scream tore through the night, raw and breaking. She shoved through the wall of onlookers, tears streaking down her face, her voice cracking. "STOP IT, PLEASE!!"
The two froze mid-motion, fists trembling inches from landing.
"STOP!!"
Seol Minsu froze mid-step. A sudden weight clung to his side arms wrapped tightly around him.
He looked down to see Seol Hyorim, eyes glistening with tears, clutching his jacket.
"Are you... a gangster now?" her voice cracked, trembling with pain. "Is hitting people all you know how to do?"
She pressed her face against his side, tightening her grip as if to hold him still. "Please... just stop. They're my friends…"
Her gaze darted toward Yang Jinsu, bruised and trembling, then over to me, standing a few steps away.
"This one's my friend too," she said, voice shaking. "They all are."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, sliding off her chin as she whispered, "If you touch them one more time... I'll leave that shitty house."
The words hung heavy in the air.
Minsu stood silent, his expression unreadable.
Then he shut his eyes, the tension in his shoulders loosening ever so slightly. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth, flicked it to the ground, and crushed it under his shoe.
For a moment, he stared straight at me eyes hard, searching then turned his back.
"Everyone," he said quietly, "clean up the mess."
"Y-yes!!""Pick it up! Hurry!!"
The onlookers scrambled, gathering candles and cups in a panic before fleeing the scene.
"Where's the motorcycle?" Daegyu asked.
"Ah right, right!!"
Soon, only the siblings and me remained.
Seol Minsu's eyes lingered on me I didn't move, just met his stare in silence. Then his gaze shifted to Seol Hyorim, who stood a few steps away, hood drawn up, wiping her tear-streaked face with her sleeve
Minsu glanced back once more, his voice low. "I told you before those guys have been trash since middle school."
Hyorim wiped at her wet cheeks with her sleeve, eyes red. "So this is your way of protecting me?" she asked, voice trembling. "We're at the age where we can receive confessions, even confess ourselves... but you"
Her voice broke. "You act like trash and see everyone else as trash."
"Watch what you say," Minsu warned coldly.
But Hyorim's tears only flowed harder. "Please," she whispered, "just leave me alone."
Her hand covered her face, voice muffled with sobs. "You don't care about my life, do you? About how I feel? Sniff…"
She lifted her tear-streaked face, trembling.
"Now how am I supposed to face the others? You ruined everything...!"