“Here, eat.”
“……”
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
Han-gyeol stared blankly at the bread Ire offered before taking it. “Thank you….” He sat on the bed with the bread. Ire had considered calling him aside to ask about what he’d seen earlier but decided against it. Whether it was of his own volition or forced, it was a sensitive topic to ask about so directly.
But the more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
Wasn’t he supposed to hate Park Mu-jin? Why him of all people?
The children in District B tended to become aware of sex relatively early, but Ire wasn’t one of them. He didn’t have much curiosity or desire regarding sex. Gangsan had said it was only possible because he hadn’t experienced it, and that he would know how good it was once he did. Ire’s pride was sometimes hurt by the fact that Gangsan had more experience than him, but that didn’t mean he wanted to have his first time with just anyone.
He was lost in such useless thoughts when the door burst open, and a man with a fierce expression abruptly invaded the room. The atmosphere in the room sank as if doused in cold water when he appeared. The man was Park Mu-jin’s right-hand man and was nicknamed Grizzly Bear. He was large and had a rugged appearance, but the way he fawned over Park Mu-jin every time he saw him was a sight to behold.
“Hey, Hybrid! You, out here!”
Today, he was calling for Ire. Although there had been constant bullying since he came here, this was the first time he had been called out separately, so Seo Young-jun and Oh Nam-gi couldn’t hide their nervousness. When they remained silent and stared at him, he slammed the door with a fierce look.
“I said come out, you bastard! Unless you want to die.”
Ire sighed deeply. Across from him, Han-gyeol and Seo Young-jun were looking at him with worried eyes. As he climbed down the ladder, he met eyes with Oh Nam-gi, who was sitting on the first-floor bed. He shook his head slightly, meaning not to go.
There were surveillance cameras everywhere inside the unit, but they were incredibly skilled at finding blind spots and assaulting trainees they didn’t like there.
“If, if you have something to say, say it here! Why are you taking him away!”
When Seo Young-jun mustered the courage to protest, Grizzly Bear approached him with a ferocious air.
“What did you say, you little shit?”
Ire blocked him.
“I’ll go, so stop it.”
Grizzly Bear glared at Seo Young-jun before roughly grabbing Ire by the scruff of his neck and dragging him outside. Bang! The door closed, and Ire walked down the hallway, held in his grip. The occasional peers they encountered recognized what was happening and averted their gaze, looking away.
After going outside the building and walking towards the lake in the back, Park Mu-jin and his gang were sitting on a bench. As they got closer, Park Mu-jin’s face came into full view. His eyes were filled with murderous intent, as if he were planning to devour him.
He smiled eerily with a cigarette in his mouth, and the gang around him moved away to a distance on their own. When they were right in front of him, Park Mu-jin stood up and blew cigarette smoke in Ire’s face.
“Hybrid. Where did you go during lunchtime?”
Ah….
“I’m asking. Where did you go?”
“I ate in the cafeteria.”
“I heard you disappeared after putting down your tray?”
He threw the cigarette on the ground and strode closer.
Slightly taller than Ire, he lowered his gaze and twisted the corners of his lips.
“You were in the shower room earlier, weren’t you?”
“……”
“I’m asking, you fucking bastard. Was it you?”
“……”
Park Mu-jin tapped Ire’s cheek lightly with the palm of his hand. His face moved each time he was hit, but Ire didn’t even blink. Then, as if he didn’t like it, he punched him in the stomach. Ire gasped, unable to breathe for a moment, and then his hair was yanked.
“I told you not to get on my nerves, didn’t I? Why are you secretly watching other people fuck? Huh?”
“Ugh….”
“How was it to watch? Did it turn you on? Should I fuck you too? Huh?”
Park Mu-jin let go of his hair and touched Ire’s earlobe in a sticky way. Then he put his finger in his ear and rubbed it.
“I’m asking. Should I fuck you?”
He shook off his hand and gritted his teeth.
“Don’t go too far.”
“Ha, don’t go too far? Don’t go too far?”
Park Mu-jin laughed in disbelief before grabbing Ire’s chin roughly.
“It seems like you’ve got nothing to fear in your eyes these days because I’ve been letting you off easy? You must be acting up because you have something to rely on, but that’s only while you’re alive. It’s useless when you’re dead.”
What? Before he could even understand the words, his arms were grabbed from behind, and his knees were kicked out from under him. Ugh, as he knelt down in dismay, someone ruthlessly pressed down on the back of his head. Ire laughed in disbelief and looked up at Park Mu-jin.
“Let me go when I’m asking nicely.”
“Still putting on airs. You pathetic bastard.”
As he tried to break free, the other guys grabbed his legs. Then his body was lifted into the air.
“Fuck!”
“Hybrid. You hate water, don’t you? You shuddered every time you swam.”
“……!”
Before the words were even finished, they threw Ire into the lake. His body flew through the air, and with a splash, he sank below the surface in an instant. The artificial lake was deeper than he thought, and it would be difficult to get out at night. Watching the now calm lake, Park Mu-jin took out a cigarette. Then he checked his wristwatch and timed it.
One, two, three,
“Mu-jin, should we stomp on that bastard’s head when he comes up?”
“Instead of that, let’s taste him this time.”
“Crazy. Do you want to get a disease?”
“If you don’t want to, then don’t. I’m going to try it.”
The time passed as they gathered and made low-quality jokes, giggling. One minute passed, then two, and even after five minutes, the surface of the water remained still. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on that spot. He should have come up by now, but there wasn’t even a sign of him.
Park Mu-jin tilted his head with his hands in his pockets.
“Is he really dead?”
“Should we go in and get him?”
Park Mu-jin shook his head without hesitation.
“Leave him.”
After all, the officers were away for a meeting today, and there weren’t even any surveillance cameras around. Even if things got out of hand and the inside story was revealed, he could just deny that he had done anything wrong. Wasn’t it these lacking guys here who actually threw him?
As he continued not to come out, the corners of Park Mu-jin’s lips curved upward.
“Let’s go back.”
The moment he smiled and turned to leave, a flash of a gleaming blade came under his chin. The other guys also turned pale as if they had seen a ghost. Ire, soaked in water, was pointing a knife at him with a chilling expression. It had happened so suddenly that no one had even sensed his presence.
Belatedly, Park Mu-jin groped for his waist.
Although it was forbidden in the training camp, the dagger he had secretly brought was gone.
“…When did you!”
Ire touched Park Mu-jin’s chin with the tip of the knife.
“I warned you. Don’t go too far.”
The tip of the knife now ran up his cheek and stopped at his temple. The guys gathered around him were huffing and puffing but couldn’t move easily. Park Mu-jin finally lit the fuse for the guys who were waiting for the leader’s permission.
“What are you doing! Beat him up, you bastards!”
Grizzly Bear took a step forward as if he had been waiting for it, and Ire swung the knife without a moment’s hesitation. As soon as the tip of the knife grazed Park Mu-jin’s cheek, a red line appeared, and red blood dripped down. Park Mu-jin’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected him to actually cut him.
“Yo, you…!”
Seeing him trembling while holding his bleeding cheek, the other guys turned pale and stepped back. Ire didn’t stop and pressed the tip of the knife against the area below Park Mu-jin’s neck.
“Why is your learning ability so low? Don’t you know what ‘don’t go too far’ means?”
“You, you bastard…!”
Without listening any further, he raised the knife threateningly, and Park Mu-jin raised his arm and cowered. Ack! His face contorted belatedly at the action that had come out without him realizing it. His eyes were stained with fear, shame, and anger. Watching him bite his trembling lips tightly, Ire pointed the tip of the knife and gave his final warning.
“Don’t follow me. You’ll really die then.”
As he tried to leave, the gang naturally cleared the way. He was planning to leave a proper scar on their faces if they attacked again, but it seemed like they weren’t stupid.
He returned to the dorm soaking wet, and Seo Young-jun and Oh Nam-gi looked at him with pity. Ire only gave a bitter smile in response to their questions about whether he was okay.
“Did you get hit a lot…? Still, it’s a relief that your face is okay.”
“You bastard. Is that supposed to be comforting?”
Han-gyeol’s eyes met his beyond the two bickering guys. He averted his gaze and lay down on the bed, pulling the blanket over his head.
After entering the bathroom, he took off all his clothes and scrubbed the ear that Park Mu-jin had touched.
That crazy bastard. Why is he putting his finger in people’s ears and acting up?
When Kim Ha-yoon touched him, it didn’t feel this bad…. Then his face hardened. He couldn’t understand why he had thought of that man of all people. What was the difference between that man and this man?
.
.
.
No. Still, is Kim Ha-yoon a little better?