# Chapter 31
I Declare War
“Apex Gu Haejin. We’ve been waiting for you.”
As I exit the officetel entrance, I’m greeted by a situation that’s become so familiar it makes me sick.
Devil faction executive members standing at attention with their heads bowed in greeting. Behind them, five or six other gang members hurriedly bow their heads too. During this past month, these bodyguards who follow me to school every morning under the pretense of “protecting me” never seem to get tired. Only their faces change, but the routine remains exactly the same every day.
“Ah, yeah. Hey.”
Having already thrown up my hands in surrender to their persistence, I now just casually acknowledge their greetings. It was the natural response of someone who’d given up. The gang members begin to line up and walk beside me. I discreetly turn my head and sigh without them noticing.
By the way, it feels like full summer already, with the morning sun beating down hot and intense. As I walk with a grimace, flapping the hem of my uniform top with one hand, a cool breeze suddenly blows against me. What’s this? I look over to see the executive member beside me holding out a portable fan toward me.
Wow, that’s refreshing.
“I thought you might be hot, so I hope this helps a little.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
“Is it cool enough for you?”
“Totally.”
The executive member smiles shyly, as if relieved. You’ve got some serious sense there.
I roll my eyes to look at the portable fan. The small white device in his hand was simple yet cute. And it seemed to be doing its job properly as it felt more refreshing than I expected.
Ah, I think I’ll buy one of these. My hair gently swayed in the artificial breeze.
But he must be hot too.
“What about you?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you’re hot too. And it must be tiring to hold that thing the whole time.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You can’t be fine. Give it here.”
I subtly snatch the fan from his hand and this time hold it up to blow cool air at his face. See? Refreshing, right? It’s more efficient to take turns with annoying things like this. The guy looks quite flustered by my action but carefully nods, not knowing how to react.
“Yes. Thank you, Apex.”
Everything’s fine except for that ‘Apex’ nonsense. Seriously, it’s so cringeworthy I could die.
“……”
After that, only an awkward silence flowed between us.
I really hate this sort of thing! I hate the awkwardness! I glance at the executive guy and notice his uniform isn’t from our school. What the hell. Don’t tell me he comes all the way to our school because of me? That’s insane. What a pain in the ass.
Come to think of it, I don’t even know this guy’s name. Of course, Devil has over 2,000 gang members, and the ones who escort me every day keep changing, so it’s not unreasonable that I don’t know his name. Plus, I hated these cringeworthy situations so much that I initially just kept my mouth shut and focused only on getting to school. These guys were already intimidated by me because I’m an Apex… Ah, I guess I’m too unapproachable for them.
Am I that stiff? Well, considering my face and my past personality, it makes sense… I became a bit gloomy at the thought. But still, he thoughtfully prepared a portable fan in case I got hot. The kid’s cute.
“What’s your name?”
“Pardon?”
“From your uniform, you’re obviously not from our school.”
“Ah…! I, I am! I’m the Mapo District Devil faction’s Metropolitan Area Action Leader Executive, second-year at Seha High School, Kwak Dajin!”
Right, Kwak Dajin. That’s quite an introduction. I was nodding along when suddenly my eyes widened.
“What? Mapo District? Did you just say Mapo?!”
“Huh? Yes. That’s correct.”
Shit. That’s not something you should casually admit, you idiot!
I couldn’t help but doubt my ears. Hahaha. Mapo District? That’s easily an hour away from here. And he came all the way to our school in Seocho District to escort me?
I felt dizzy. It’s nearly 8 o’clock now. Even if he left for his school as soon as we arrived at mine, he’d definitely be late. What a fool!
THWACK-!
“Ow…?!”
Before I knew it, I’d flicked Kwak Dajin’s forehead. Surprised by the sudden attack, he looks at me with a pained yet bewildered expression. Regardless, I stood still with my arms crossed.
“Are you kidding me?”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“Idiot. It’s not me you should be apologizing to, it’s your school record.”
“Huh?”
I mean, what good is a school record to a gang member… But still.
“Won’t you be late?”
“…Ah.”
“I’m asking if you’ll be late after escorting me to school.”
“Are you possibly… worried about me…?”
“That’s right.”
I answered honestly.
Well, actually, it was more guilt than worry. I don’t understand why they try so hard to look after me just because I’m an Apex, when I’m just embarrassed by it all and don’t even care about them. In reality, I’m just a shell with different contents. What does being Apex Gu Haejin even mean to these gang members?
While I was seriously pondering this, Kwak Dajin smiled.
“It’s okay, Apex.”
“What?”
“I consider it an honor to be able to serve you like this.”
“……”
“Just being able to protect you as you gracefully reign as Devil’s king is something all of us in Devil are simply grateful for.”
Don’t smile at me so wistfully.
“Apex, you’re such a warm person that you’d worry about someone like me who’s nothing. If such an amazing Apex like you disappeared… Devil would be destroyed.”
Argh. Argh…! Damn terminal illness. Fuck. It’s like a Möbius strip, this is really shit.
“Let’s… go to school.”
“Yes!”
Seeing Kwak Dajin shout with such vigor, I had to quietly hold my forehead with a deadpan expression. Like I’d ever seriously worry about this ridiculous setup again. Good grief.
“Take this, Apex. It’ll be even hotter at lunchtime than it is now.”
“Haha… thanks.”
“I’ll be heading back now! Take care!”
“Take care!”
At the front gate of Shinju High School, Kwak Dajin pressed the fan into my hand, gave a deep bow, and disappeared, leading the other gang members away. Their loud farewells drew the attention of the other students. I looked at the fan in my hand with a sour expression. It had certainly been comfortable during the trip here, but even when I said it was fine, he insisted on giving it to me with a satisfied look.
Geez. I smiled slightly.
*Slide-*
When I open the classroom door, as always, the trio is gathered around my seat. These guys never go to their own classrooms and just hang around in our class every day, ruining the atmosphere. Of course, the number one culprit in ruining the class atmosphere was sadly me. Damn it.
“You’re here?”
“Have you arrived, Apex?!”
“Apex. Good morning.”
Their faces were tense, as if they were discussing something serious since morning. But as I approached, they quickly relaxed their expressions and greeted me warmly. Mmm. I nodded vaguely and pulled out a chair to sit.
Ah, it’s hot. The classroom was just as muggy and stuffy as outside.
The weather’s gone crazy. It’s only June but it’s fucking hot. If it’s like this now, will we die from the heat in August? I’m already dreading it. Almost instinctively, I turned on the portable fan Kwak Dajin had given me.
Whirrr-
“What were you guys talking about?”
I casually asked the trio as I enjoyed the breeze.
My bangs fluttered in the cool air. Ahh. This is so refreshing. I suddenly thought I would have regretted it terribly if I hadn’t accepted it. No, I would have definitely regretted it and kicked myself for not taking it.
……?
Huh?
The trio, who would normally be talking excitedly to me about various things, was strangely quiet. I looked at them questioningly, and all three seemed to be hesitating, watching my reaction carefully. At first I ignored it, but given their serious mood earlier, I instinctively sensed something had happened.
“What is it?”
“Ah, Apex, it’s…”
When I raised my eyebrows in inquiry, Park Hanseo, who first met my gaze, made a couple of dry swipes at his face with a troubled expression. What could possibly be so serious that our shameless Park Hanseo, who normally spouts the most cringeworthy things without batting an eye, is hesitating like this? Until then, I was still relaxed, resting my chin on one arm.
“Gu Haejin.”
Jung Ion, who was beside me, finally seemed to decide to take the lead, sighing heavily before opening his mouth.
“There are two pieces of news.”
“…What are they?”
“But both are bad news. One of them is extremely bad.”
Bad news? And one of them is extremely bad?
I narrowed my eyes slightly, not yet fully understanding what Jung Ion was saying. If these were really such terrible things, as he claimed, Jung Ion who was telling me this, as well as Park Hanseo and Shin Amin who were silently listening, were all clenching their fists.
“You’re well aware that Jang Seoldam has disappeared over the past month, right?”
I nodded quietly once.
After the ridiculous rumor about my terminal illness spread to all gang members nationwide through the community, one month has passed. So far, nothing particularly notable had happened in each of the school gangs… Except one person whose behavior changed dramatically right after that.
The fact that Jang Seoldam, one of the four Apexes from Coup d’état, had disappeared.
At first, since Jang Seoldam was known for being eccentric and unpredictable, everyone in the gangs thought it was just a minor incident and didn’t pay much attention. But it’s now been a month. Jang Seoldam disappeared at some point without a trace, to the extent that not even the advisors, who were essentially the information brokers of the gangs, could locate him.
Not a single strand of hair left behind, completely vanished.
I hadn’t seen him recently either. Although the Apexes’ schools were quite far apart by district, we often spotted each other on the streets. I frequently saw Kim Pyeonghwa and Oh Eundo, but Jang Seoldam…
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen him since our psychotic first meeting when he destroyed my Dormy steak. Even though I had that crazy encounter at the arcade with those two—Kim Pyeonghwa and Oh Eundo—just the other day. Anyway, what’s the point?
“The first bad news is.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not just Jang Seoldam who’s disappeared, but the entire Coup d’état faction.”
“Ugh…!”
Clunk. At that moment, I dropped the fan I was holding.
“G-Gu Haejin…!”
“APEX!!”
“Apex. Are you okay?”
I bit my lip, my expression hardening at the sting in my fingers. Looking at my hand, there was a cut wound with blood flowing. I must have accidentally touched the spinning fan blades. Since it wasn’t made of a soft, flexible material but of thin plastic, it seemed to have cut me a little.
I was a bit surprised, but it was bearable. The only problem was that I absolutely hate stinging pain. The startled trio around me shouted urgently.
Ugh… so noisy, it’s distracting.
“Fuck. Does anyone have a band-aid?!”
“Apex, where did you get this? It’s practically a murder weapon!”
“Red medicine… no, should I get some bandages? Ah, shit.”
Stop making such a fuss, you idiots. It’s just a small cut, but they were seriously overreacting.
Jung Ion yelling loudly around the classroom looking for a band-aid, Park Hanseo growling at the innocent fan that fell to the floor when I dropped it like he was about to destroy it, and Shin Amin stammering in confusion as he rolled his blank eyes around.
Ah, this is unbearable. You guys are turning our otherwise quiet classroom into a tense silence!
“Sut up and ket on wif the ftory?” (Shut up and get on with the story?)
“No, your blood…!”
“Gasp!”
“…Ah.”
After roughly pressing the wound with my other hand to apply pressure, I put my finger in my mouth as a sort of first aid while speaking, and the trio froze as if someone had hit the pause button when they saw me.
Wow. Your reactions are truly spectacular. Shit. What! What! Haven’t you ever seen someone suck their finger before?!
I glared at them fiercely out of irritation, and only then did they properly sit down again. But why are your faces turning red? I don’t understand at all.
“Hah… Anyway, what I was saying…”
Jung Ion glanced at me sucking my finger and then, as if coming to his senses, began to explain things step by step. I just rolled my eyes slightly to look at the fan that had turned off from the collision earlier.
The blade part with a tiny bloodstain on it.
Suddenly, the back of my neck started to feel stiff.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
