Chapter 21: Doki Doki literary club

Even after buying clothes, Seon-a and I wandered the streets for a long time.

Our stomachs started to rumble, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a snack bar, and then watched a currently popular movie.

After the movie, we went to a record store and bought albums by our favorite artists.

It wasn’t much of a compensation for the clothes, but I paid this time.

Anyway, it was a fun time. Things I would have done alone before felt new with a friend by my side.

Seon-a had a smile on her face the whole time we were out, so she must have enjoyed it too.

I was glad I wasn’t the only one having fun.

“Hah, I’m exhausted.”

The time was now 5:30 PM.

The sun was beginning to set.

 

Probably because we had walked so much, Seon-a sat down on the fountain where we first met today, massaging her bare legs revealed below her short skirt.

Watching her, I felt a mischievous urge and ruffled her hair.

Seon-a glared at me, her face pouting. I poked her puffed-up cheeks, like a blowfish.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll go get some ice cream.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Leaving the tired-looking Seon-a, I started walking to a nearby ice cream shop.

With each step, my skirt fluttered wildly.

For a moment, the wind blew right between my thighs, and a wave of embarrassment washed over me.

I stopped and checked my reflection in a shop window.

A knit cardigan, a crop top, and a black mini pleated skirt.

The outfit Seon-a had picked out for me first.

It looked pretty good, as expected of Seon-a’s taste… but it felt awkward, like it wasn’t me.

The only consolation was that my bare legs felt cooler than before.

For reference, the clothes I originally wore were stuffed into a shopping bag after Seon-a insisted this outfit suited me much better.

“Where was it…?”

I came to my senses and looked around, but it had been a while since I’d been here.

I was having trouble remembering the location of the shop I used to frequent.

I looked around and found a familiar alleyway, then headed into it.

A deserted side street I used to take often.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a shop here; it was a shortcut to another block.

“Hey, stop right there.”

But when I was about halfway through the alley, a rough voice came from behind me.

I turned around to see two men with bleached, damaged platinum blonde hair, cigarettes dangling from their lips, dressed like typical thugs, slowly approaching me.

“Hey missy, if you have time, wanna hang out with us?”

“It’ll be fun.”

“No, thank you.”

Were there still thugs like this these days? It wasn’t the 80s.

The thugs swaggered towards me.

I frowned and shook my head, rejecting the man’s offer curtly, and turned to go back the way I came.

But at that moment, a hand grabbed my shoulder.

I barely suppressed the urge to throw a punch and turned around again. The same men stood there with unpleasant smirks.

“Hey, come on, why don’t you reconsider?”

“If you don’t want to get hurt.”

“We’re excited because we haven’t seen a b*tch like you in a while.”

“If you got us worked up, you gotta take responsibility, huh? If you come quietly, we’ll f*ck you gently.”

Get hurt? Seriously, these scrawny guys… It was so absurd I let out a snort.

A hand snaked towards my collarbone.

A hot palm fumbled at a sensitive area, but instead of feeling aroused, my body went cold.

It was a big mistake to think a woman’s body was weak.

Anger and a string of curses welled up inside me, but I kept my voice calm, gently removing the man’s hand from my shoulder and warning him in a quiet tone.

“If you keep this up, I’m calling the police.”

“Police? Hahaha, if we were scared of cops, we wouldn’t have started this sh*t.”

“This b*tch is pretty bold, huh? Haven’t you heard that fists are closer than the law?”

“You son of a b*…”

These bastards were really pushing it.

My teeth clenched, and my fists balled up.

But before I could curse, someone else beat me to it.

“The law is closer than fists? That’s a good saying. I’ll teach you that lesson today, on your pathetic bodies.”

“Huh?”

Thwack!

A large fist slammed into the side of the face of one of the sneering thugs.

My eyes widened at the suddenness of it all.

Even though it was a surprise attack, I was momentarily stunned by the blow I hadn’t even seen coming.

Then, I heard a voice, presumably from the owner of the fist.

A prominent nose that wasn’t overly imposing, sharp eyes, pale skin, thin lips, and flowing black hair.

A face with a delicate beauty, despite belonging to a man.

It was a face I knew well.

…Why are you here!?

“S-Senior?”

“W-what the hell, you bastard!”

The first guy who got hit passed out.

The remaining one, seeing him crack his knuckles and slowly approach, screamed and charged recklessly.

The outcome was obvious.

His fist shot out like an arrow and landed squarely in the thug’s stomach.

A clean uppercut, not something you’d expect from a beginner in fighting.

“Ugh…”

The guy who got hit without knowing what was happening didn’t pass out like the first one.

Instead, he collapsed on the ground, clutching his stomach and spitting out saliva.

He paid no attention to that and grabbed the fallen thug by the collar.

The shirt collar tightened around his neck, and the thug choked, gasping for air.

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t particularly help you.”

Oh, yes. I see.

I looked at his indifferent expression with cold eyes.

True to his nature, he wasn’t the type to go out of his way to help others.

Then why did he intervene? I couldn’t understand it at all.

“I happened to see you passing by, and something came up that I wanted to test.”

Test? An unknown word sent a shiver like an icicle down my spine.

“Ugh, aaargh… Hey, you bastard, let go!? I’m calling the police!!”

“Hah?”

“P-Please stop, Senior…”

The man being choked managed to speak.

A moment ago, he wasn’t scared of cops? His attitude changed like flipping a palm, utterly pathetic, but if this continued, something really bad might happen.

I stepped forward, raising my voice to stop the fight before it escalated, but he flicked his tongue like a snake and tightened his grip on the collar.

His eyes, cold and bright, were filled with a strange excitement I had never seen in him before.

“Didn’t you just say that fists were closer than the law?”

“Eek…!”

“Let me tell you a good fact. Do you know what stands above law, fists, and all that? It’s money.

And I have a lot of money. Which means, even if I bury a piece of trash like you here, no one will say anything.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his fist moved, and a dull thud echoed.

The next moment, blood gushed from the man’s nostrils. It happened so quickly that the man’s pupils dilated before he could even scream.

“That’s enough. If you really call the police…”

“I don’t care. This guy will be the one going to jail anyway.”

I tried to stop him, but the tight grip on the collar showed no signs of loosening.

Instead, veins bulged on the back of his pale hand.

His head creaked as he turned his gaze towards me.

His usual composure was gone, replaced by the look of a viper eyeing its prey.

My body froze.

“Before that, I have something to ask you. You told me that all humans are equal. Can you then say that this ‘trash’ has the same value as you or me?”

“Let go of his collar first. A little more and he might actually die…”

“Don’t worry. He might have some lingering injuries, but I won’t kill him. More importantly, I’m asking you a question.”

A sudden question, thrown in after a sudden appearance.

Why was the conversation we had in the gym storage room coming up here? I didn’t understand it at all, but the priority now was to calm down this agitated man before he really crossed the line.

I forced my stiff brain to work and squeezed out some words.

“That was strictly about the essential level of things.”

“Essential? Don’t bring such unknowable concepts into the discussion. Isn’t that just escaping reality?”

He didn’t seem to like my answer, as another thud, heavier than the last, echoed.

A few of the man’s teeth flew into the air as he was punched in the mouth.

His fist gradually turned red.

I unknowingly frowned, and he, seeing me, twisted one corner of his mouth into a pleased smirk.

“Stop it!”

“No? Until you answer my question properly, I’m going to hit this guy.

Why, did you forget the question? Then I’ll ask again. Is trash like this truly equal to beings like us?”

“…Certainly, that thug might be inferior to you, Senior. But, just because he’s inferior, you have no right to bully him.”

“Wrong!”

His fist cut through the air fiercely once more.

Blood splattered everywhere, staining my sneakers.

The thug’s face was gradually crumpling like a crushed can.

Should I intervene? Or not?

My hesitation was brief.

I strongly grabbed his enraged arm.

But he shook me off as if brushing off an insect clinging to his arm.

Pushed unexpectedly, my back hit the wall with a thud, sending a sharp pain through it.

Clutching my sore back, I glared at him. But the sneer on his lips didn’t disappear.

“Inferiority itself is a sin. My hitting this guy is a perfectly righteous act.”

He then released the thug’s collar and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him over. He elegantly lifted his shoe and stomped on the fallen thug’s face repeatedly.

A horrifying sight.

His relentless questioning felt more like an obsession.

Though he was smiling, his expression seemed strangely anxious. I scrutinized his face.

I recalled the conversation we had in the gym storage room yesterday.

I had directly refuted the world he had believed in without a doubt, so the shock must have been considerable.

To overcome that shock, he had to somehow break my logic, which led him to this violent behavior.

It didn’t take long for him to completely lose his usual composure.

As I remained silent, lost in thought, he straddled the thug lying on the ground and raised his fist high.

There was no hesitation in his ruthless hand.

Violent thuds and muffled screams echoed one after another.

“Stop.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Stop i—”

“Sorry, I can’t quite hear you.”

Watching the thug, who already looked half-dead, I clenched my fists tightly.

Doubts be damned, why was he doing something so cruel? Did his own values mean that crippling someone was nothing? As my head cooled, the bewilderment slowly faded, replaced by anger.

Even if he was trash who tried to r*pe me, that didn’t mean he deserved to be beaten to death on the street.

If he kept hitting him, he might actually die. How many times did I have to tell him to stop before this idiot understood…?!

“What, nothing more to say? How boring—”

“Stop it, you bastard!”

Thwack!

After a long period of endurance, my fist finally shot out satisfyingly.

A solid impact, a thrilling sensation that jolted my entire body.

I smiled faintly. But this time, the smile didn’t last long.

It was just one punch, just one single punch, just the punch of a delicate girl! Watching his body fly through the air for a long moment before landing far away, I thought.

Ah… I hit him too hard.

“Sia? What are you doing there… Huh? That person is the student council vice president…”

“Sorry!”

“Kya, kyaaak!?”

Perhaps because I hadn’t returned for a long time.

Suddenly seeing Seon-a, I grabbed her wrist and started running.

Seon-a let out a shrill scream at the sudden sprint, but the priority now was to get out of here as quickly as possible.