Chapter 7: Why are you showing up already?

Lunch break.

Someone roughly opened the classroom door and entered.

Thud-

“Hey, is Kim Dohyun here?”

The noisy classroom froze instantly.

The students quietly sat down and only exchanged glances.

A blonde male student walked to the center of the classroom.

His gang snickered behind him, creating an ominous atmosphere.

‘What the hell? Why is that bastard showing up already?’

Choi Gihoon.

The NTR villain targeting Seo Yuna.

He usually appeared to torment the protagonist when Seo Yuna’s affection level exceeded 50%.

It seemed that, due to the butterfly effect of twisting the original story, he showed up earlier than expected.

When the protagonist was beaten by him and ended up as a lackey, it infuriated me to no end.

‘Damn you, Geum Taeyang.’

His sharp gaze turned toward me.

“Are you Kim Dohyun?”

I replied indifferently.

“Why are you asking if you already know?”

The classroom turned cold in an instant.

The expressions of my classmates were filled with shock.

Choi Gihoon smiled and strode up to me.

His gang blocked the classroom door, sealing off any escape routes.

“You’re close with Seo Yuna, right? What’s going on? Are you two dating?”

The corner of his mouth twisted.

“Do you know what I hate the most?”

I shrugged.

“How would I know? Do you know what I had for breakfast today?”

At that moment, the students held their breath.

Choi Gihoon squinted and scanned me up and down.

“When someone touches my stuff.”

He spoke with a sneer.

“Do you understand what I mean by that?”

‘So, what this psycho was saying is that Seo Yuna is his “property,” and I should stay away from her?’

‘What a lunatic.’

I crossed my arms and replied nonchalantly.

“Did I steal something of yours? Because I don’t remember.”

At that, one of his gang members reacted.

“This bastard’s crazy.”

“Are you insane? You’re acting way too cocky.”

They scanned me from head to toe, trying to intimidate me.

I sighed inwardly.

‘Seriously, this is so cliché.’

My classmates looked at me with worried faces, murmuring among themselves.

Some hung their heads low, hoping for this situation to end quickly.

I turned to his gang and said, “Minions, back off.”

The atmosphere froze.

“What… what did you say?”

One of them started to step forward, but Choi Gihoon raised his hand to stop him.

“Enough.”

His voice was low but firm.

The gang fell silent instantly.

Choi Gihoon looked at me with intrigue.

“I didn’t expect you to be so feisty.”

“And I didn’t expect you to act so pathetic. Coming to someone else’s classroom just because a girl rejected you—what are you doing with your life?”

His gang began to stir again, but he waved his hand dismissively, quieting them down.

He leaned in close to me.

“Interesting guy.”

After a pause, he smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.

“I’ve given you my warning.”

With that, he walked toward the back door.

His gang followed, throwing glances back at me as they left.

The moment the door closed, the classroom buzzed with relieved chatter.

***

After Choi Gihoon and his gang disappeared, someone tapped my shoulder.

It was Jinyoung.

“You okay? If those punks had thrown a punch, I would’ve—”

‘This guy.’

‘Just a moment ago, he was lying on his desk pretending to be asleep.’

I glanced at him.

“You?”

Jinyoung cleared his throat awkwardly, putting on a smug expression.

“Hey, I was keeping an eye on things, okay? I didn’t move on purpose, waiting for the right moment to strike.”

“Right, lying down and snoring was part of your strategy?”

“That was… just me catching my breath. Anyway, I saw everything.”

I let out a dry laugh.

“Yeah, by the time you finished ‘catching your breath,’ I’d probably be in a hospital bed.”

He winced and coughed awkwardly, avoiding my gaze.

“Stop lying. I saw you practicing on the punching bag yesterday.”

“Was it obvious?”

“Anyway… your line earlier? Absolute gold. ‘Minions, back off.’ I got chills.”

Great. Another cringe-worthy memory added to my collection.

***

As lunch break was about to end, Seo Yuna returned to the classroom.

When she saw me sitting by the window with my arms crossed, staring outside, she immediately approached.

“Hey, what happened?”

“What?”

Feigning ignorance, I turned my head.

Yuna stopped in front of me and tapped on my desk.

“When I came in, the atmosphere felt weird. Everyone was acting all nervous. Did something happen?”

I shrugged.

“Nothing happened.”

“Liar.”

Narrowing her eyes, Yuna scrutinized my expression.

“Your face looks strange.”

“What’s strange about it?”

“Your lips—one corner is slightly raised.”

I smirked and turned away.

“Yuna.”

Before she could probe further, one of our classmates grabbed her arm from behind.

“Why?”

The girl dragged Yuna to the back of the classroom and whispered something to her.

I pretended not to hear and turned my gaze outside the window, but I couldn’t miss how Yuna’s expression hardened as they spoke.

‘Damn it. This is starting to get annoying, just as I thought.’

Not long after, Yuna stomped back to stand in front of me.

“You! What happened with Choi Gihoon?”

“I told you, nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing. I heard he came and threatened you.”

Yuna placed a hand on her hip and glared at me.

“Well, it wasn’t really a threat… more like he just spouted some nonsense and left.”

“Nonsense? You mean he almost fought with you?”

‘The story had already been exaggerated this much?’

I sighed, covering my face with my hand.

“It wasn’t a fight. We just exchanged a few words.”

“What did he say?”

Yuna asked, her gaze serious.

“He talked about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

As soon as I spoke, Yuna’s expression twisted.

“That crazy bastard was running his mouth again, wasn’t he?”

Seeing her clench her fists, it was clear her anger had already boiled over.

She looked ready to storm off and grab Choi Gihoon by the collar.

I quickly stepped in to stop her.

“Getting involved with people like him won’t do you any good. Just stay out of it.”

“And what about you?”

“Me? I stayed out of it, didn’t I?”

Yuna glared at me as if she had already heard everything I said earlier.

“We just exchanged a few words, I swear. There wasn’t a fight.”

“A few words? More like you provoked him.”

“There’s no way someone with your personality kept their mouth shut, is there?”

She sighed and dropped into a chair at a desk.

“You almost got yourself into big trouble. Choi Gihoon isn’t someone you can mess with easily. Getting tangled up with him is a headache.”

“I didn’t want this to get more complicated either. This was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“I’ll handle it. Just don’t make things worse by getting involved.”

Yuna stared at me silently for a moment before turning her head away.

In the game, depending on your choices, the conflict with Choi Gihoon could either escalate or become less severe.

Judging by my actions now, it’s clear the escalation route was locked in.

The water’s already spilled.

There’s no turning back now.

‘Choi Gihoon, I despise NTR trash like you.’

I made that resolution inwardly as I shifted my gaze out the classroom window.

The sky outside was already darkening, and another storm seemed to be brewing.

***

Kangcheol leaned against a corner of the gym, observing.

The person skipping rope in front of him was Kim Dohyun, the new member who had joined yesterday by chance.

‘Forty minutes of skipping without a break?’

Kangcheol’s eyebrow twitched.

Skipping was a basic boxing endurance exercise, excellent for building core strength and footwork.

However, even most athletes found it grueling to maintain for that long.

Yet there Dohyun was, skipping lightly without even a bead of sweat on his face.

Kangcheol continued to watch with his arms crossed.

The movements of Dohyun’s wrists and feet were almost perfectly consistent.

‘What is this kid’s deal? His body has rhythm ingrained in it.’

“Kim Dohyun.”

Kangcheol gestured to him.

“Yes?”

Dohyun stopped skipping and walked over, still not sweating at all.

“Try hitting the sandbag.”

Dohyun tightened his wraps, put on his gloves, and positioned himself in front of the sandbag.

Thwack!

The first jab.

Kangcheol’s eyes gleamed.

‘Fast.’

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

A series of jabs and straights followed in quick succession.

Even the way he reset his stance after each punch was stable.

Thwack!

The final hook landed, and Kangcheol finally spoke.

“Wait a second.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Your hook stance.”

Kangcheol lightly tapped Dohyun’s elbow.

“If you hit from this angle, you can dig in deeper.”

Dohyun nodded and adjusted his position.

Thwack!

The sandbag swung violently.

‘What the hell? He fixed it after just one correction?’

Kangcheol’s lips twitched.

“Good. Your hook is solid.”

Dohyun took off his gloves, catching his breath.

As he observed, Kangcheol’s mind was already running simulations.

‘This kid’s a boxing prodigy. The rotation of his arms and shoulders, his weight transfer, his balance—all the fundamentals of boxing are already ingrained in his body.’

‘With proper training, he could win an amateur tournament within a month.’

“Kim Dohyun.”

“Yes?”

“Want to spar?”

“Spar?”

Dohyun tilted his head curiously.

“With who?”

“Hey, Seung-tae!”

Kangcheol called out, motioning to a man stretching in the corner.

The man walked over, standing about 175 cm tall with a solid build.

He was Choi Seung-tae, a second-year boxer with amateur experience.

“Coach, you want me to spar with him?”

Seung-tae glanced at Kim Dohyun and chuckled lightly.

“Think he’ll be okay?”

“We’ll see,” Kangcheol said with a grin, pointing toward the ring.