# Chapter 58
Now that I had contacted Kwon Dojin, it was time to leave the house and head to the café. I left my bag behind since I’d be coming back, only taking my phone and earphones.
My battery was running low, but I could borrow Kwon Dojin’s charger for that. I hadn’t asked during our call, so I sent a message, and he immediately replied to go ahead.
After checking my belongings one last time, I headed to the entrance. Kwon Dojin said it would take about an hour, but judging from Baek Han’s shouting and the surrounding commotion, I should probably plan to be at the café for two or three hours.
Tap-tap, I finished putting on my shoes by tapping the toes against the floor and left Kwon Dojin’s place. I used a map app to find the nearest café. Fortunately, there was one just a block across from the apartment, which was satisfying.
If it had been far, I would have contemplated going home dozens of times. With my earphones in, I trudged along until stopping at a crosswalk. As I stared intently at the red light, praying for it to change quickly, I felt someone tapping my shoulder.
I turned around in shock to find a stranger standing there. Caught off guard, I blinked several times, taking a moment to assess the situation.
“Excuse me.”
Though I didn’t know this person at all, they seemed to be addressing me, so I pulled out my earphones. The music abruptly stopped, and I could hear cars driving on the road.
“What—?”
Feeling awkward talking to a stranger, I couldn’t complete my sentence. I hesitantly stepped back, and the other person also retreated slightly.
“It’s nothing really, but have you seen Kwon Dojin around here?”
Kwon Dojin?
Instinctively, I backed up a couple steps at the question about a person rather than directions. Why were they looking for Kwon Dojin, and why ask me about it?
“No, I’m not a strange person—”
It’s not like I would trust someone just because they claim they’re not strange. If anything, that makes them seem more suspicious.
“Really, I’m not a strange person—!”
They reached out toward me urgently, making me flinch and back away further. Just then, I vaguely noticed the traffic light had turned green, so I quickly checked if any cars were coming and bolted across.
“Wait—!”
I heard a voice calling me from behind, but there was no way I would stop for that. After all, I was running because of them!
I didn’t know the exact route, but I had roughly memorized the way to the café, so I ran in that direction.
Glancing back, I saw the person standing frozen with their arm outstretched toward where I had run. The traffic light had turned red, preventing them from following me.
Still, to be safe, I turned into an alley. I checked the café location on the map app and looked around. Fortunately, the café was just a 2-minute walk away, so I resumed my sprint.
“Huff—so—hard—to—breathe—!”
I don’t even know why I have to go through this trouble!
Still, I figured it was better to quickly escape to a crowded place than be caught, so I didn’t stop running. Exhaling heavily, I entered the building with the café and climbed the stairs.
Only after entering the café on the second floor did I catch my breath. Being a weekday afternoon, there weren’t as many people as I expected, but I felt relieved thinking it would be safer than outside since it was a public place.
After ordering a drink, I found the most secluded seat possible. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. Heat was still gathered at the top of my head, so I shook my hair vigorously.
“I feel even more tired now.”
I had thought my fatigue might have eased a bit after sleeping, but this brief sprint left me twice as exhausted as before. I truly realized there was no connection between my body and exercise.
While lamenting my situation, the buzzer I was holding vibrated. I trudged over to get my drink, returned to my seat, and picked up my phone.
I needed to contact Kwon Dojin but had forgotten due to exhaustion. Thinking I could at least text him now, I moved my thumb to send my location along with a map.
[I’ll contact you when I get there.]
A quick reply came with an emoticon—a rabbit saying “sorry” and apologizing. It seemed like an emoticon I hadn’t seen before, and the thought “When did he buy this?” briefly crossed my mind.
[ok]
There was no need to respond at length, so I just sent two initial consonants and turned off my phone. My body, tired from just three minutes of running, demanded hydration, so I emptied a third of my iced tea.
“…This place is a fail.”
It was obvious they used the common iced tea powder. Most cafés do make it that way, but occasionally there are cafés that use actual black tea.
Still, it wasn’t bad. I put down the cup and plugged the charger into the outlet. Seeing the charging indicator appear on my precariously low battery made me feel at ease.
I sat with my legs crossed, tapping my foot, and searched for webtoons or videos. Nothing is better than such content for killing time. I flipped through screens rapidly, hoping Kwon Dojin would return as soon as possible.
* * *
Baek Han looked contemptuously at Kwon Dojin, who wasn’t hiding his thoroughly depressed mood. Even he, who had less time to play with Poppo, was working quietly—why was that guy acting like this?
“What about the other side?”
At Dojin’s question, Baek Han, sitting with his chin resting in his hand, checked the message on his phone.
“They say they’re wrapping up.”
“Really?”
Dojin, immediately brightening, threw aside the opponent whose collar he was gripping. Although there was a dull thud as the person collapsed, he didn’t even look back.
“Then I’m leaving now.”
“I hear there’s another fight somewhere else?”
“Sh—”
His bright expression crumpled within a second. Stopping mid-curse, Dojin pushed his hair back and exhaled a sigh. Like releasing pent-up stress after exams, disturbances were breaking out everywhere.
Fighting itself wasn’t unusual, so he typically didn’t care much, but they had to step in since people were fighting regardless of time and place.
Above all, the biggest problem was that the frequency was severe compared to previous years, even considering it was right after exams.
“Are they collectively going crazy these days? Or is there some event I don’t know about?”
Why has the frequency of incidents increased?
Dojin silently agreed with Baek Han’s muttering. Baek Han and Dojin had already enforced rules in three locations. Considering that at least 20 people gathered at each site, they had dealt with around 60 people.
Ahn Ji Yu and Sunwoo Hyun must have dealt with about the same number, yet another fight had broken out. The two couldn’t understand the current situation, increasing their irritation.
“Just handle the fights reported now and then end it. We can round them all up later.”
“How would you identify them specifically?”
“Identify? Is that necessary?”
Dojin scanned those crawling on the ground and sneered. With so many people causing disturbances, identifying individuals would be meaningless. So rounding them all up together wouldn’t be unfair to anyone. They must all be connected in some way.
“I can finally play with Poppo.”
Baek Han rose from his seat, stretched, and smiled with satisfaction. They had spent quite a lot of time on unexpected incidents. For him too, it was better to handle everything at once later rather than continue with these wasteful tasks.
“Tell Ahn Ji Yu and Sunwoo Hyun to go home too.”
“I can hear Ahn Ji Yu’s happy voice from here.”
Baek Han chuckled and quickly typed on his keyboard. As soon as he sent the message, Ahn Ji Yu checked it and expressed his joy with a cheering emoticon.
“I wonder when that bastard Ji Haecheon is going to work.”
Baek Han stretched and muttered with dissatisfaction. Dojin, giving him a sideways glance, thought Ji Haecheon probably wouldn’t step in at all, and left the place first.
“Where is the location?”
Baek Han, who kicked away the legs of someone sprawled in his path, checked his phone. It took some time to find as it was already buried among report messages from others.
“Ten minutes from here.”
“They won’t disperse on their own within 10 minutes, right?”
“If they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have started fighting in the first place.”
Dojin thought so too. Probably when they arrived, they would find exhausted people gasping for breath. Baek Han and he would just need to subdue such a group appropriately.
In reality, neither Dojin nor Baek Han particularly enjoyed getting involved in others’ fights, but they did it only because they agreed with the principle that they should do their job since they were paid.
“Please don’t crack someone’s head this time.”
“We’ll see.”
Dojin dismissed Baek Han’s words lightly. He didn’t crack heads intentionally; it was something beyond his control if heads got cracked during the process of subduing them.
“Aren’t you supposed to not hurt people who came to intervene?”
“I’m a bit angry, you see.”
How could I not be angry when my time with Habin was interrupted?
“Lee Habin should see you fighting.”
Baek Han clicked his tongue at Kwon Dojin, with whom reasoning was impossible. Dojin vaguely thought that Habin wouldn’t be that shocked even if he saw him fighting.
It was just his prediction, of course. But given Habin’s personality, wouldn’t he worry more about someone he knows than a complete stranger? Above all, Habin doesn’t have the courage to watch a fight directly.
“Aren’t you worried about future consequences?”
“If I had thought about that, I wouldn’t have entered the hierarchy in the first place. The same goes for you, right?”
Since it wasn’t wrong, Baek Han shrugged and focused on finding the way. Having ended the pointless conversation briefly, Dojin realized his gloves were dirty and frowned.
If he had known so many fights would break out, he would have brought extra gloves—it was an error in judgment.
It seems he’ll need to wash again when he gets home.
