# Chapter 6
Who would’ve thought I’d meet him in such a cramped space like this? The very top of that damned school gang rankings and the true protagonist of this novel who even gets to have a love story with the female lead! She was the only girl Gu Haejin ever had a one-sided love for, right? But strangely, I can’t remember the female lead’s name. Anyway, come to think of it, he and I are supposed to be enemies. Always talking about beheading me, stealing the girl I like, leaving Gu Haejin as the second-in-command—it’s quite pitiful when you think about it….
Despite his greeting, he just stared at me intently. Geez. Either leave or say something. Why does everyone here just admire my face? After standing awkwardly for a while with my hand on my stomach, I finally spoke first in an irritable tone.
“…Move out of the way.”
Ah. I must be really drunk. My words keep slurring unintentionally. I felt like I was about to throw up any second. I need to vomit quickly, damn it.
“……”
Kim Pyeonghwa didn’t budge at my words. Are you silently protesting right now? There seems to be only one bathroom here, and I need to use it. Hmm? Why aren’t you moving?
“I guess Devil’s Apex gets drunk even on soda, huh?”
I was about to unleash a torrent of curses with my scowling face, but when Kim Pyeonghwa finally spoke, it was just some unfunny nonsense. Look at this clueless bastard. Does it look like I got drunk on soda? Or is your nose blocked? I must reek of alcohol.
But my brain had lost its proper function to alcohol long ago, so unfiltered words flowed instinctively through my throat.
“You think I’d get drunk on that without even drinking alcohol? What do you take the Thousand-Year Prince for?”
Damn, I actually said that with my own mouth.
Even with my boastful words, Kim Pyeonghwa just curled his lips into a sneer.
“A pretty piece of trash.”
“What did you say, you little shit?”
“Somewhat decent to look at, but worth only a thousand won with absolutely no use—just a pretty piece of garbage rolling around. That’s exactly your level.”
My expression instantly hardened at his insulting words, which I could recognize clearly despite being drunk. This fucking bastard. He must really hate Gu Haejin, as he continued to ramble on as if he had more to say.
“Well, it is impressive that you made it this far with your skills… but do you really think Devil can do anything against Focus? Do you, such a low-class person who dares to think about grabbing and shaking my neck despite it being beyond your station, believe you can defeat Kim Pyeonghwa, the rank 1? Why don’t you just remain a pretty piece of trash and keep licking the asses of those school gang bastards who are so enthusiastic about you, calling you the flower of the school gang? Eternal rank 2, Apex Gu Haejin.”
“Uh… uh…”
His merciless verbal assault left me speechless. And as I slowly processed those words, steam began to boil up from deep within me. W-what did you say? Licking the asses of school gang bastards…? Are you sexually harassing me right now? Are you?! I won’t take it anymore! ARGHHHH!!
“Kim Pyeonghwa, are you done talking?”
“Kuk. What? Are you angry?”
“I asked if you’re done talking, you son of a bitch!! I’ve been going through so much mental anguish since being possessed into this place, and after all I’ve heard, you suddenly appear out of nowhere and start picking a fight! There’s an eight-year age gap between us, you know? Eight years is enough time for mountains to change, fuck! What kind of ill-mannered brat says whatever he wants? You have no respect for… ugh!”
As I was yelling furiously at Kim Pyeonghwa, ready to kill him, I suddenly had to cover my mouth with both hands as the urge to vomit hit me violently. Urk. Damn it. How weak is this body to alcohol?
“…What’s going on.”
When I suddenly covered my mouth and staggered, Kim Pyeonghwa, who had been spewing insults so casually, seemed slightly surprised as his face stiffened. But right now, how he reacted wasn’t important. I practically shoved Kim Pyeonghwa aside and rushed to the toilet, feeling something rising up to my throat.
Thud!
“Mmph!”
Aaaah. It huuuurts!
In the process, I lost my balance and fell, smashing my nose hard against the toilet lid! Owww… the pain was so unbearable that tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to breathe. But something even worse happened.
Drip, drip—
Feeling something liquid-like dripping from my nose, I checked to see if maybe…
Oh my God.
Is this… my blood…?
There was a stinging sensation when I hit it, and now my nose had started bleeding. The sudden nosebleed dripped, staining not only the toilet but also the bathroom floor. With no time to clean it up, I had to immediately stick my head into the toilet.
Blegh… ugh… ulp!
The vomiting had begun.
What had been in my stomach until just now came out mixed with stomach acid. The painful retching continued several times, surprisingly intense considering how long I’d been holding it in. It felt like I was throwing up absolutely everything I’d eaten earlier. It was so difficult that tears rolled down my face without me realizing it.
“Sniff… haa… haa….”
After dry heaving a few more times, I was finally able to lift my head and roughly wiped around my nose, which was stained with blood. Exhausted from vomiting, I just sat down on the bathroom floor and weakly leaned against the wall. Urgh… my stomach still feels nauseous and queasy.
The surroundings were a mess from the blood I had carelessly spilled. Ah, my nose fucking hurts… Why does this feel like the “Gu Haejin suffering era”? If I were my original self, I wouldn’t be drinking and throwing up like this—this weak body belongs to a troublemaker. I felt suddenly upset. Being possessed, mental breakdown, nosebleed, vomiting—it’s just one thing after another. Really.
“…Gu Haejin.”
You’re still here?
Without the strength to turn my head, I just rolled my eyes to look at Kim Pyeonghwa. I had used superhuman strength to push him away and run to the toilet after sensing danger, but he was still standing in the same spot, looking at me with an unreadable expression. Given his personality, he should be furious about being pushed, but he’s surprisingly composed.
Ha, how embarrassing. Thinking that he must have seen everything I just did makes me want to hide somewhere from the shame. Fuuuck… he already seemed to dislike me, and now how much more will he mock me? Gu Haejin, huh?
Just recalling what Kim Pyeonghwa said earlier made my blood boil, and I desperately wanted to snap back at him, but I had no strength to move, so I just let it pass.
“What? Never seen someone throw up before?”
It might be my imagination, but Kim Pyeonghwa’s state looked a bit strange. His expression seemed to maintain its usual blank look, but there was a sense of confusion in it. He looked down at the bloody mess around the toilet and on the floor, then looked back at me with a severely furrowed brow.
I could feel the atmosphere gradually becoming rigid due to Kim Pyeonghwa’s strange reaction. Ah. This is awkward… Hmm. Oh, right! Come to think of it, there was something I absolutely needed to tell him. I hesitated for a while, wondering whether to say it or not, then decided it’s better to get the embarrassment over with! So I spoke with the brightest smile I could manage.
Even though I’ve been possessed, you know, right? We’re both Apexes. As fellow Apexes, there’s a certain level of dignity to maintain, and it’s embarrassing, right? Being humiliated in front of these kids when I’m the older one. So what I’m saying is!
“Sorry, but can we pretend today never happened?”
“What?”
“You’d understand, right? What I mean…”
I don’t know why I’m getting so sleepy right now.
Still, feeling that I’d conveyed my point, I gave a faint smile as my eyelids slowly collapsed, with Kim Pyeonghwa’s blurry but handsome face being the last thing I saw.
Let’s see if I ever drink alcohol in this body again.
Park Hanseo had been waiting for twenty minutes for the Apex to come out of the bathroom. Even though he wanted to follow him in, he knew if Haejin, with his sharp hearing, caught him disobeying the order not to follow, he would be mercilessly crushed. So he had no choice but to wait patiently.
“Uh, Apex?!”
At first, he had to doubt his eyes. When someone came out of the bathroom, he quickly approached thinking it might be Haejin, and it was indeed the Apex. The problem was that he was being carried in what’s commonly known as a “princess hold” by another man. What was even more shocking was the person carrying Haejin.
“K-K-K-Kim Pyeonghwa?!”
Park Hanseo was horrified to see Kim Pyeonghwa, the Apex of the rank 1 Iljinhoe Focus and the reigning number one among the four major Apexes. Why is he here?! No, more importantly, why is he with our Apex! And carrying him like that??
After a brief moment of panic, he immediately took a hostile stance. It was a tense situation. Who would have thought he’d encounter the Apex of Focus here? Among the four Iljinhoe, Focus and Devil had the worst relationship. Kim Pyeonghwa and Gu Haejin were like opposite ends, with the worst compatibility in both personality and methods. With the Apexes having a bad relationship, naturally, the relationship between their gangs was even worse. Fights between Focus and Devil always resulted in terrible bloodshed.
This was Park Hanseo’s first time seeing Kim Pyeonghwa in person, but he knew from what he’d heard that the man was as crazy as his own Apex. He was especially ruthless in his fighting style, unparalleled in cruelty. There was a reason Kim Pyeonghwa was called the “Creator of Cruelty.” Anyway, his Apex was now with such a person. And in such a defenseless state!
“Take him and get out.”
“Huh? Ah… ah?!”
Even as an officer of Devil, fear was still fear. He was prepared to fight at any moment, but Park Hanseo couldn’t control his pounding heart and trembling body. Already sweating nervously and frozen in tension, he was surprised by Kim Pyeonghwa’s unexpectedly ordinary actions.
He roughly handed Haejin over to Park Hanseo with an annoyed, irritated expression.
“Our… our Apex, why do you have him! What are you planning?!”
Park Hanseo stopped Pyeonghwa, who was about to walk past him, with a sharp voice. It was a desperate will to protect his Apex.
Pyeonghwa stopped abruptly. He was the type who only felt satisfied after mercilessly crushing anyone who irritated him and putting them beneath him. This little prick has a death wish. Without hesitation, Pyeonghwa swung his fist at the Devil gang brat.
“……!”
Park Hanseo had to swallow hard.
It was because of Pyeonghwa’s solid fist, forged through countless fights, that had stopped right in front of his eyes. Pyeonghwa had halted just before hitting him.
Fuck.
“Sorry, but can we pretend today never happened?”
“What?”
“You’d understand, right? What I mean…”
He didn’t know why this damn conversation came to mind. That fucking guy. Pyeonghwa glanced at Haejin being held in Park Hanseo’s arms.
Pyeonghwa still couldn’t forget that image. There was no smell of alcohol, and his face had looked fine. But Gu Haejin, who hadn’t been drinking, suddenly vomited and dripped blood everywhere. The floor covered in blood and Gu Haejin barely breathing overlapped in his mind.
And then with a half-resigned face, as if he’d given up, he said that.
An Apex saying such things and making such an expression to the person he despises the most? Why doesn’t he just die. Fuck.
With a colder expression than ever, Pyeonghwa slowly lowered his arm. Then he just walked out of the place with a murderous aura.
“Ha….”
I… I survived.
The Apex of Focus was a madman who would beat someone to death if he decided to fight them. Though he wasn’t sure why Pyeonghwa had left him unharmed, Park Hanseo sighed in relief and, for now at least, thought that way.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
