# Chapter 40
“Do you remember when we first met?”
When we first met… that rainy battle scene? The day I caught a cold with fever?
“It was the ranking battle before the current four Iljinhoe factions were formed. The first National Gang War.”
Ah, he’s talking about the original Gu Haejin’s time.
Since I didn’t know anything about that part, I just nodded vaguely.
“You seemed completely disinterested in the ranking battle then. Like you were forcibly dragged there by Devil’s Number Two, Jung Ion.”
“……”
“…With that bored face that couldn’t be more annoyed, you were just standing there, watching as if you were a bystander. You didn’t even realize that alone was enough to draw everyone’s attention as you stood there with a consistently uninterested expression. Even though that alone was enough for those minor weaklings to kneel and be overwhelmed by your power, I found you strangely irritating from the moment I first saw you. Even then, you were from a middle school no one had heard of, and I knew nothing about you, but hilariously, my brain was warning me. That you, Gu Haejin, were dangerous.”
Oh. Re. Al. Ly? What is this… why do I feel like I need an iron while listening to this story? Ha. Ha. Ha.
I was laughing as if I might cry.
“Anyway, the ranking battle began, and I easily dealt with those pathetically weak gang brats who didn’t even dare touch me. Hmph. It was laughable that such bastards were leading schools as the top dogs. They were all worthless trash. I felt like I needed to step on all those guys, ranking battle or whatever be damned. And I claimed the top position of all gang members. Under the name of Kim Pyeonghwa, the Creator of Cruelty, ranked 1st.”
Shit. Okay, I get it, you’re incredible, so can you stop now?
I wanted to push away Pyeonghwa’s head as he casually mumbled about his achievements and go straight into the hospital. This is too embarrassing to listen to, really.
“There was someone who was the only one standing on two feet along with me at that place. Fuck. The moment those idiots who underestimated you, who were just watching with boredom, started picking fights and acting up, for whatever reason, you instantly trampled them like toys, and then… like an evil angel descending, you stood nobly amidst the fallen bodies and dared to look at me. That was you, Gu Haejin. That bored-to-death expression was gone, and when I saw the smile on your face at that exact moment, for the first time, I felt goosebumps from head to toe. As expected, you’re a dangerous guy.”
Urgh…. Kim Pyeonghwa’s vocabulary, shit… are you a literature major?
Hearing this in person was driving me crazy. Shameful… shameful. My ears are rotting!
In the end, I covered my face with both hands again. It was the second-best option I chose to avoid covering my ears in case he would go berserk. Not even realizing my ears were burning, I kept saying inwardly, shut up… shut up, you bastard. Sob sob. Who the hell got Kim Pyeonghwa so drunk?
“…Noisy…”
“When I fought with someone like you there, I was fucking thrilled. Heh heh… There’s a gutsy bastard who doesn’t fall with one hit from my fist? There was someone crazy enough about fighting who wouldn’t back down against me? That’s you? Fucking… fucking… there’s nothing happier than that, right?”
“Stop. Stop it, you crazy bastard.”
“One of those guys who fell then said it. A smile that might appear once in a thousand years. ‘Thousand-Year Prince.’ Shit. It suits you so perfectly, Gu Haejin. Heh!”
Kim Pyeonghwa kept snickering like he’d lost his mind. By this point, I was starting to suspect that this guy had deliberately gotten drunk to torment me. My expression was rotting miserably as I listened to Pyeonghwa’s barking nonsense. Maybe it’s time to sew his mouth shut… huh?
“You’ve weakened, haven’t you?”
…Crazy. Don’t tell me you.
“Who can I fight as an equal now? There was only you. You were the only one. Why?”
“Kim Pyeonghwa?”
“I told you to stay in front of me no matter what…”
…What?
I was speechless.
The situation was that chaotic.
Kim Pyeonghwa crying? This novel is definitely going off the rails. Last time it was Oh Eundo crying at the arcade, now it’s Kim Pyeonghwa crying. And while drunk at that. The reason, annoyingly, is the misunderstanding about my terminal illness.
Sniff. He quietly cried with his face buried as he tightly grabbed my waist. In this bewildering development, my soul, having lost its will to fight, ran away once more, and everything froze.
Ah… I still wonder why I’m here.
I slightly raised my hand and placed it on Pyeonghwa’s silver hair. It was softer than I expected. Perhaps because it was my first time touching it, it felt unfamiliar. As I gently stroked his head to comfort him, I could feel him flinching slightly.
I put on the most affectionate serious face I could manage.
“Stop crying, you dummy. Who’s dying? I don’t know if these guys are genuinely stupid or just innocent… They’re all going crazy about me dying. How many times do I have to say I’m not terminally ill?”
What am I doing, really? Living long enough to see the day I have to comfort the almighty 1st ranked. Should I be happy about this? Urgh. So tired… I ground my teeth.
“……”
Hm? It’s strangely quiet. What’s going on?
“Hey.”
“……”
“Kim Pyeonghwa. Hey.”
“……”
“Hey. Wake up. Huh?!”
“……”
“You motherf… Are you seriously, for real, sleeping?”
Kim Pyeonghwa wasn’t moving at all, as if he had truly fallen asleep.
What?!
“Ugh. Ugh. UGH! This son of a…!!”
I was seriously pissed off.
I could only let out a hollow laugh in disbelief at the sight of the cursed drunk Kim Pyeonghwa who was veeery comfortably using my knee as a pillow, when someone walked up to the bench with heavy footsteps.
“Greetings, Devil Apex Gu Haejin.”
It was Kim Pyeonghwa’s right-hand man, Focus Number Two Jin Jaeyoung. He bowed his head to me.
“I’ll take our Apex from here. Thank you for your trouble.”
“Did… did you bring him here?”
“Yes. Since Apex Pyeonghwa insisted he had to go, I had no choice.”
But how did you so brilliantly appear the moment he fell asleep?
“He didn’t want me around, so I was watching over the Apex from a distance nearby. Taking care of a drunk Apex is also my responsibility.”
Jin Jaeyoung, who maintained a quiet and rigid posture, answered even what I hadn’t asked as if he could read my mind. Haha. So he was just watching his Apex getting drunk and making a scene with me? He saw all that embarrassing behavior too?
…….
With a silence of unknown meaning.
“…Take him away quickly.”
“Yes. Then I’ll be going.”
At my words, Jin Jaeyoung lifted Pyeonghwa up, supported him neatly, and quickly disappeared. He struggled with removing Pyeonghwa’s arms that were wrapped around my waist in the process. At that moment, I was so embarrassed I couldn’t say anything. I thought I would die from keeping an eye on Jin Jaeyoung’s reaction. Though he didn’t show much of a response.
Anyway…
“Ahhhhhhh…!!”
I held my forehead. Shit. I’m going crazy.
Dawn had broken and morning had come.
After the storm of the drunk Kim Pyeonghwa’s visit had passed, and since it was early morning, my eyes were getting heavy with fatigue, so I turned back towards the hospital. It was quite cold, and I thought I might sleep a bit more…
I dragged the IV pole back inside. Unlike the dawn when I had left, the lobby was now quite noisy with people bustling about. Being a large hospital, there were already many people coming and going. As I was walking towards the elevator, passing by them mindlessly, a familiar figure caught my eye. Clank. My IV stand stopped with a small noise.
That side profile…
“…patient named Jin… discharge… yes? Ah. …thank you.”
“Then… small… would be.”
“…Seoldam Apex’s… wait… declaration of war… you!”
Mumbling at the reception desk, talking with a nurse, then bowing and chatting with someone else beside them, was a person I knew well.
Declaration of war…?
I couldn’t hear the rest properly, but that one word came through clearly, causing inexplicable confusion. I stared intensely at that person and slowly walked towards them.
“Sehwi sunbae. This is going more smoothly than expected…”
As if sensing my burning gaze, the person who had been talking to someone in an unfamiliar school uniform with black hair turned their head casually. Then, their face froze coldly, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.
“…You, Number Two. We’re done here, so let’s go quickly.”
“Shall we? Are you going straight to school, Kwak Dajin?”
I tried to acknowledge him, as it had been a while since I’d seen his face.
Until before I collapsed, he had brought me to our school, which was completely opposite from his, without a single complaint. Just like the other gang members, he had even said cringey things like it was an honor because I was the Apex, given me a fan when I was hot, and even bought me ice cream with his own money… Kwak Dajin.
Besides the trio, he was the only gang member I had somewhat become close to, or rather, thought I had become close to, so I felt especially glad to see him. But before I could even raise my hand, despite clearly making eye contact with me, Kwak Dajin with his rotten expression:
“Yes. I’ve been late a lot lately.”
Haha. With a quick smile, he brushed past me with the person next to him, disappearing among the crowd.
“……”
Ah ah ah.
A Devil gang member who calls someone other than Jung Ion “Number Two.”
A Devil gang member who pretends not to see me, Gu Haejin, the Devil Apex.
I raised my right hand with the IV. On my fingers remained very faint traces of what used to be a wound. It was the small cut from the fan blade that day.
…That was actually quite painful, you know.
Unconsciously, I touched around my heart.
I thought it wouldn’t bother me at all. I thought it was just childish and trivial.
But now that it actually hit me, well, it’s quite.
“Ah, so this is what betrayal feels like.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
