Chapter 22: Trap of traps

A few days have passed since the inspection.

I’ve been monitoring the movements of Je Galwhalin’s gang during that time, and it seems like they’re about to start moving in earnest.

‘In the original, they targeted the day Kim Noeul participated in the competition.’

I looked at the seat next to me.

It’s normally Kim Noeul’s seat, but she went to another district of Hakdo for the competition today, so she’s not here right now.

I looked at the last message history with Kim Noeul.

[Kim Noeul: Arrived]

[Kim Noeul: Everyone looks like they study really hard]

[Me: Is that an insult?]

[Kim Noeul: Not intended that way, no no]

[Kim Noeul: I’m a little nervous]

[Kim Noeul: I think I could do better if someone cheered me on]

[Me: Ask your teammates to cheer you on]

[Kim Noeul: Ah;;]

[Kim Noeul: Are you doing this on purpose?]

[Me: Do well, so that Haneul High School’s prestige rises]

[Kim Noeul: ㄱㅅ] (TL note: ㄱㅅ is short for 감사합니다, which means “thank you”)

Kim Noeul will soon take the written test, and after that, she will take the practical experiment.

Kim Noeul is not present for today’s attack.

That’s why I’ve been running around with my feet on fire.

“Homeroom is over. Don’t stray and go straight home.”

As soon as the homeroom teacher’s languid words ended, I slung my bag over my shoulder and left the classroom.

And I went downstairs and went to Na Yuna’s classroom.

Na Yuna’s class was still in homeroom, so the classroom door was closed.

As I lingered in front of her classroom, the gazes of the 3rd-grade students going home fell on me.

Most of them were girls.

“Is he that transfer student?”

“Wow, he’s handsome…”

“I heard he’s Kim Noeul’s boyfriend.”

While they were talking nonsense about me, one female student approached me.

“Hello, who are you looking for?”

It was a girl I didn’t know.

Since she’s in the 3rd-grade hallway, she must be a senior to me.

A natural smile, a stance that maintains a proper distance, and a subtle scent of perfume.

In addition, the look in her eyes, subtly looking up at me at a flattering angle.

She was a female student who seemed to have made many men cry.

I think I know why she approached.

I’m used to it because I’ve experienced it countless times in this life.

“Yes. I’m going home with a senior in this class.”

“Really? I’ll bring her after homeroom if you tell me.”

“You don’t need to. We already made plans anyway.”

I tried to get rid of her with the excuse that I had made a prior appointment.

But she was persistent.

“Is the appointment with guys? I think I might know some of them…”

While she was talking, Na Yuna’s class ended homeroom.

Na Yuna, as if she hadn’t forgotten our appointment to go home, hurriedly came out of the classroom.

She smiled at me and then hesitated when she saw the female student attached to me.

“Uh, um, Maru…?”

“Are you here? Let’s go quickly, senior.”

When I approached Na Yuna, the female student who was talking to me narrowed her eyes.

“Ah, so the appointment was with a girl.”

Then she scans Na Yuna from top to bottom.

It was clearly a look of looking down on her.

Na Yuna shrank from that gaze and bowed her head.

“Yes, it’s a girl. Now that you don’t need to help, please go.”

I took Na Yuna’s arm and walked down the hallway.

As the students’ gazes focused on the two of us, Na Yuna’s face was on the verge of exploding.

“Maru, you, you can let go of my hand.”

“Don’t dawdle and come quickly. If you want to get out of this gaze bombardment as soon as possible.”

“…I, I don’t hate it.”

“N, no! That girl from earlier. I meant I don’t hate it because you seem to get along well with her… I might have interfered with a good time for no reason.”

“…I’m seriously annoyed, so don’t link me with that girl.”

“Yes.”

“Going home with senior is more important than talking to that girl.”

“Huh…?”

I whispered in Na Yuna’s ear as she was flustered.

“Je Galwhalin’s side might attack today. It’s safer to go together.”

“…Ah, right. Yes, that’s right.”

Na Yuna nodded vaguely with a resigned expression.

The two of us left the school and started walking naturally on the route we had scouted in advance.

It was a route that bypassed the academy district on the outskirts of the rotary, not the way to the dormitory.

“Since senior needs to raise her grades on the final exam, let’s stop by.”

I blinked my eyes and delivered the staged lines, and Na Yuna quickly noticed and responded.

“Thank you. It’s my first time going to look for an academy, so I wanted to ask you.”

“Since grades are a priority for now, a short-term special lecture is good. They pick out the grade problem bank for each school, so the hit rate is pretty good.”

We acted as ordinary seniors and juniors going to look for an academy.

There’s a reason I started acting before I even arrived at the academy district.

‘…They’re really following us.’

I saw Hankook High School female students following me and Na Yuna.

It’s the same as the original flow.

They will drive us to the academy district.

While I was lost in thought, I observed Na Yuna.

I thought she was acting quite boldly, but when I looked at her hands, her fingers were trembling.

She is a victim of Jin Heeyoung’s gang.

I know how strong the trauma of bullying is.

Even so, she is now participating in my plan against women who are even more vicious than Jin Heeyoung.

No one has the right to laugh at her trembling hands.

I gently held her hand.

Because if she gets too nervous, it could interfere with the plan.

Her hand trembling stopped.

“Maru…?”

“It’s okay.”

“…….”

“There’s no problem. The disciplinary department is here, and if push comes to shove, I’m here too.”

Na Yuna stared blankly at my face.

And she opened her mouth with difficulty.

“N, no. I’m a girl, so I have to protect you, Maru. I have to repay the favor.”

“You know I’m good at fighting. You can trust me.”

As I was calming her down and looking around, the academy signs came into view.

We finally arrived at the work place.

Je Galwhalin thinks this academy district is their work place, but in fact, it’s just a work place I set up.

“Senior, I’ll go to the bathroom for a moment. There’s a commercial building restroom in that alley.”

“Let’s do that.”

Alleys are always a favorite place for delinquents.

Me and Na Yuna entered a narrow alley between tall commercial buildings.

The number of students carrying books around gradually decreased, and the voices of people gradually decreased.

Now only the breathing of me and Na Yuna can be heard.

“We’re almost there. Wait outside while I use the restroom.”

As I was saying that to Na Yuna, some female students appeared.

“Oh, going to the bathroom? Too bad, it looks like you’ll have to pee in your pants.”

“It’s a pity, but let’s send him to the bathroom~. There’s no need to beat up the guy, right?”

Two female students wearing Hankook High School uniforms appeared in front of us.

I looked back with a calm expression.

Behind me, five female students were blocking our escape route.

One of those five came forward.

I intuitively knew who she was.

Je Galwhalin, the leader of this attack.

Her name was clearly written on her name tag.

Unlike Je Galyeonhwa, her hair was not long, so it was close to a bob.

And her skirt was too short, as if to emphasize her sleek legs.

Her short skirt was for adornment and also to facilitate the kicking techniques that are the specialty of the Je Gal sisters.

“Are you guys the Haneul High School counseling club?”

Je Galwhalin looked at me and Na Yuna with an expression full of dissatisfaction.

And she slapped the heads of the two female students on either side of her.

“Are these b*tches still showing their faces after being beaten by those losers?”

The two girls who were hit on the head were familiar to me.

They were the female students Jin Heeyoung brought when she targeted me and Kim Noeul.

One was a female student with her hair curled up in a pink roller, and the other was a ponytail female student.

They were the girls who were impressive with their punches and kicks, respectively.

They just bit their lips without rebelling even though they were hit on the head by Je Galwhalin.

The hierarchical relationship was clear.

“We are the counseling club. So what did you come for?”

Instead of Na Yuna, who was frozen and couldn’t even open her mouth, I asked them.

The female students had a disgusted expression at my question.

Especially Je Galwhalin’s expression was worth seeing.

“Ah, why is a guy acting up. If you don’t want to get beaten up, stay still, and is that girl over there Kim Noeul?”

Je Galwhalin pointed at Na Yuna with a nod.

“But I heard Kim Noeul is pretty good at fighting, but she’s a f*cking pig.”

“She can’t even lift her head now? She must be scared.”

The surrounding female students giggled and ridiculed Na Yuna.

Na Yuna barely raised her head and met Je Galwhalin’s gaze even while trembling.

“I’m not Kim Noeul.”

“Then what are you, you cow.”

“…I, I’m not a cow, I’m Na Yuna. Same counseling club.”

Na Yuna admirably continued the conversation with Je Galwhalin.

But Je Galwhalin didn’t seem to want to continue the conversation, perhaps because she was in a bad mood.

“If you’re not Kim Noeul, then… you’re nothing, right? What do you believe in to talk to me? Hey, there’s nothing to see, so beat her up.”

When Je Galwhalin raised the corners of her mouth and gave the order, the female students approached menacingly.

“Rin, what about the guy?”

“Just hold him back. It’ll be annoying if he runs away and reports it.”

At Je Galwhalin’s words, two female students blocked my way.

When they saw my face up close, their eyes widened.

“…He’s Kim Maru.”

“He’s more impressive in person…”

The two didn’t think of me as a threat at all and were busy blatantly scanning my face and body.

And that carelessness made them allow a critical hit.

Without hesitation, I punched the throat of one female student with my fist.

The suddenly ambushed girl coughed and sat down.

“Oh, crazy!”

The other female student was flustered and hurriedly blocked her neck with both arms, but this time I aimed for her chest.

I punched her chest, which was quite hard for a girl, and knocked her down.

Perhaps because she was embarrassed by the unimaginable power, she touched her chest and complained of pain.

I didn’t stop and kept kicking her chest with my foot.

“Aaaagh! F*ck! The guy here is going crazy!”

“Cough… M, my throat hurts…”

When the two girls were instantly retired, the girls who surrounded Na Yuna looked at me with surprised eyes.

Je Galwhalin crossed her arms and looked at me.

“Ah… So you’re a bit of a fighter? Well, that’s why you’re so fearless.”

Je Galwhalin left Na Yuna alone and came straight to me.

She walked over, kicking the two fallen female students with her feet.

She looked up at me, maintaining a certain distance from me.

“You said Kim Maru. If you just stayed still, you would have been fine, but you crossed the line. Take a few hits.”

“Can you handle the aftermath of doing this?”

“What? Aftermath? Pfft!”

Je Galwhalin covered her mouth and suppressed her laughter.

She trembled and suppressed her laughter, then continued.

“Do you think you can handle the aftermath of touching Ojakgyo? You’re just a student from a shabby high school in the outskirts?”

“What a naming sense. Did you form it on July 7th? Are you guys the weaver girl? Where’s the cowherd?” (TL note: Reference to a Korean folktale)

When I sneered, Je Galwhalin sighed and raised her arm.

“This d*mn guy, because he’s a guy, I was going easy on him…”

Before her arm could reach me, I shouted loudly.

“Help! There are gangsters here!”

“You’re talking nonsense, I’ll hit your mouth first.”

Je Galwhalin was about to hit me, but she stopped when she heard the screams of the female students behind her.

“What? What’s going on…”

She couldn’t finish her words.

An absurd scene unfolded before her eyes.

One of the female students who was threatening Na Yuna was being stepped on by a girl wearing a Haneul High School uniform.

Je Galwhalin slowly opened her mouth as she looked at the female student wearing the Haneul High School uniform.

And she muttered quietly.

“Why are you here…”

A ponytail female student wearing a long sword at her waist and an armband with ‘Disciplinary’ written on it on her arm was glaring at the Hankook High School female students with blazing eyes.

“This is the patrol area of Haneul High School’s disciplinary department.”

Haneul High School’s disciplinary department head, Han Doa, drew her sword and pointed it at Je Galwhalin.

“You threatened Haneul High School students, so from now on, the disciplinary department will respond.”