# Chapter 59
When Dojin arrived at the final location with Baek Han, he frowned at the chaotic situation. Among all the situations they had faced today, this was the worst mess.
Baek Han seemed to share Dojin’s thoughts as he let out an exclamation of admiration beside him. Dojin exhaled a light sigh and lightly clenched and unclenched his hand. Facing those who didn’t know their limits made his anger rise anew.
“Wooden clubs and iron pipes. Are they desperately trying to kill someone?”
“How much must they look down on us to boldly pull off something like this?”
Dojin smiled crookedly as he watched those who were doing everything they were told not to do. Since the other side was being reckless first, Dojin also planned to respond accordingly.
So after looking around, Dojin bent down and picked up a nearby wooden club.
“…Hey, the wooden club is a bit…”
“I’m not going to hit anyone with this.”
Right, he had no intention of hitting anyone with the wooden club.
But since the opponents were armed, he also needed to be armed to deal with them effectively. Thinking Baek Han might need one too, he picked up an iron pipe from the ground and threw it to him.
“You need to defend yourself.”
“That’s true, but I’m not confident I won’t hit anyone with this.”
Baek Han wasn’t reluctant to hold a weapon; he was hesitant because he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t hit someone with the iron pipe. He didn’t know about Kwon Dojin, but once he held a weapon, he was planning to abandon any thoughts of going easy.
“It’s okay. Just make sure there are no serious problems.”
“That’s no problem.”
Baek Han grinned as he lightly tossed and caught the iron pipe. Even though it wasn’t a weapon he had personally prepared, he liked the grip and weight. He finally spun the iron pipe in his hand to gauge its length.
“Even if things get messier here, no one will know, right?”
Dojin didn’t particularly respond. Baek Han wasn’t expecting an answer either, so he didn’t mind and focused on warming up.
“Ten minutes. Finish within that time.”
“I was going to finish within that time even without you saying it.”
As always, Baek Han jumped into the fight before Dojin and boldly swung the iron pipe as he had warned. Instead of using the weapon to cause severe injuries, he aimed only at areas like the shins or the back of the knees to subdue them.
“I don’t think I can do that-.”
Dojin struck the ground with a thud using the wooden club and tilted his head slightly. It was obvious that it would be more about venting anger than subduing, so he pondered for a moment. He wondered if he should discard the wooden club even now.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
With a habitual upturn of the corner of his mouth, Dojin walked leisurely and joined the fight. Due to the indiscriminate swinging of weapons with only minimal distinction between friend and foe, an iron pipe targeted his head as soon as he joined.
After ducking to avoid the attack, he turned his body and struck the opponent’s wrist hard with the wooden club. When the opponent reflexively dropped their weapon due to the pain that felt like their wrist might break, Dojin didn’t miss the moment and dug into his chest, planting a fist in his solar plexus.
“Guh-.”
Hearing the groan filled with agony, Dojin’s anger rose anew. He had barely managed to arrange time by coaxing Habin, who had wanted to go home, but seeing those who turned all his efforts to nothing in an instant, he gritted his teeth in frustration.
Meanwhile, he sensed someone trying to pounce on him from behind. Even in his anger, Dojin didn’t miss this and stepped aside to avoid it. When the opponent lost their balance and staggered after missing their target, he kicked them in the side.
“If you want to finish within 10 minutes, shouldn’t you move faster?”
Baek Han, who happened to be near Dojin, criticized him while watching his still leisurely movements. Dojin glanced at Baek Han and, as if deciding to ignore him, silently neutralized someone nearby.
“This bastard seriously-.”
Baek Han forcefully suppressed the anger that welled up. When Lee Habin was with them, Dojin would at least pretend to engage with him, but without him, there were countless times when Dojin would ignore him.
Baek Han moved diligently with the sole intention of not wanting to waste more emotions dealing with Kwon Dojin.
It was natural that the more desperate person would move more.
* * *
‘When is Kwon Dojin coming?’
Nearly two hours had passed, but there wasn’t even a single text. In that time, I’d caught up on webtoons, novels, games, and even browsed through SNS, so there was nothing left to do.
Still, since I was bored, I ordered a toffee nut latte to have something more to eat, and it tasted better than I expected, so I was in a good mood. Because of that, I could maintain a generous spirit.
It was too boring to keep doing nothing, so I tapped the floor in rhythm with the music flowing from my earphones while searching for new entertainment.
I hadn’t checked out movies yet, so I thought I should focus on that, and diligently reviewed the list of movies recommended by AI. After scrolling through about fifteen of them and finally finding a decent one, just as I was about to press play, a text from Kwon Dojin popped up at the top.
“Finally here.”
My face naturally brightened at the long-awaited contact. Quickly pressing it to check the content, it said he would arrive in about 10 minutes. Ten minutes was a good time to go out early and get some fresh air, so I started gathering my things.
I had been sitting in one place for over two hours without even studying, and my limbs were getting stiff.
As I grabbed the door handle to return my drink and leave the café, I remembered the strange person I had met at the crosswalk before coming to the café, and my shoulders trembled.
‘It should be, fine?’
Two hours had already passed, so they probably weren’t around here anymore. Besides, they said they were looking for Kwon Dojin, so there was a high chance they had gone elsewhere. There had been enough time to go around this area and then some.
I tried to suppress the anxiety swirling in my heart. I couldn’t keep standing in front of the door forever, so I closed my eyes tight and left the café.
Still, just in case, I should loiter in front of the café instead of going far. I didn’t forget to send reproach to my past self from just three minutes ago for my short-sightedness.
As I trudged down the stairs and came outside, there was a flower bed in front of the building, so I sat down on the edge. I rested my elbows on my raised knees and made a flower cup with my hands. I watched the passing cars and people while tapping my cheeks with my fingers.
“Ah, that car is this year’s new model.”
They said sales increased after the design changed, and it really has become prettier. But I still think the company logo isn’t pretty.
I continued with such trivial thoughts. It was because I was tired of looking at small screens. I blinked my eyelids, hoping for time to pass even a minute faster.
I wondered if I shouldn’t have promised to have dinner together. Such regret passed through my mind briefly. But I had done both grateful and sorry things to Kwon Dojin today, so it made sense to grant him one wish for a fair balance.
“Wow-. He’s really here?”
“I told you he would definitely be here.”
“Hey, you there.”
A cool breeze swept past me. My hair fluttered, blocking my vision, but it was a pleasant breeze, so it was fine.
“Hey! You sitting on the flower bed, I’m talking to you!”
A loud voice echoed through the alley. It was definitely one of the voices I had just heard. Curious about who was being called in such a loud voice, I looked around, but there was no one sitting on the flower bed except me.
Huh? Me?
Feeling something strange, I looked around again. Even if I washed my eyes and looked, there was no one sitting on the flower bed except me. Unable to deny this reality, I very slowly turned my head toward the direction the voice had come from.
Really me…?
Pointing at my chest with my index finger, I confirmed one last time. In response, as if they had been waiting, a group of four people nodded.
I wondered what business these fierce-looking individuals could possibly have with me to call out. I instinctively felt that they didn’t have good intentions.
With the intention of running away if necessary, I hesitantly got up. Matching my movement, the group approaching me exuded a rough appearance.
“We’ve been in a bad mood lately because of Kwon Dojin and Baek Han, you know?”
“And look, here’s someone who’s close to both of them?”
You’re saying you don’t have the courage to mess with Kwon Dojin and Baek Han, so you’re going to bother me instead, is that it?
That’s how it was interpreted no matter how I heard it. It really seemed like I needed to run away, so I slowly backed away.
“If you’re thinking of running away, why don’t you give up? There are friends behind you too.”
I quickly turned around at these words, spoken with a sneer. True to what they said, there were indeed two people standing there.
“This isn’t right…”
They brought six people just for someone as insignificant as me? A hollow laugh escaped at the absurdity of the situation. At this point, it seemed like the world was not just tormenting me but was determined to harass me.
How should I escape this situation? Running away? That wouldn’t be possible when the path was blocked. Then a head-on breakthrough? I’d be lucky not to get hurt doing that.
Although I felt truly hurt in my pride and inadequate, the most effective and ideal solution was for Kwon Dojin to arrive at this location before anything happened.
I should blame myself for having neither athletic ability nor muscle!
I thought that perhaps I should learn at least the minimum self-defense techniques from Kwon Dojin to protect my body. But I wasn’t a character in the “Inso” world, and there was no way I could survive being ganged up on.
I was scared, but to avoid showing it, I tightly closed my eyes and then opened them. Looking at the approaching group, I prayed that I wouldn’t get too seriously injured.
They had now completely surrounded me. Having completely blocked all escape routes, their confidence, which was already overflowing, seemed to have skyrocketed as the corners of their mouths turned upward.
“If you’re going to resent someone, resent Kwon Dojin and Baek Han.”
This nonsense didn’t even make me angry.
“You guys are threatening me, yet what kind of nonsense are you spouting with such confidence?”
I swallowed dry saliva. Despite my attempt to respond with dignity, the pounding of my heart filled my eardrums.
“Ha, this tiny thing really-.”
The person furrowed their brow and raised their fist. I reflexively backed away, but my steps were blocked by the edge of the flower bed.
I’m going to get hit-!
“That’s far enough.”
At the sudden intrusion of a somewhat arrogant voice, everyone surrounding me froze for a moment. Finding it strange that they would stop at just one word, I turned my head in the direction of the voice. There, I saw a completely unexpected figure and opened my eyes wide in surprise.
It was Ji Haecheon.
