episode_0041

Jegal Hwarin’s kick was aimed at Kim Noeul’s thigh.

Kim Noeul tried to grab her ankle, but suddenly Jegal Hwarin’s ankle turned.

‘Ankle rotation…?’

Looking ahead, Jegal Hwarin was spinning around and it seemed like she was about to kick with her other foot.

The previous kick was a fake; the spinning kick she was witnessing now was real. Kim Noeul gave up on dodging and raised her arm to block the kick.

The dirt and stones on Jegal Hwarin’s shoe roughly scraped past Kim Noeul’s forearm.

Frowning, Kim Noeul took a step back. Jegal Hwarin didn’t give her any room.

“Keep running away!”

Jegal Hwarin lunged forward again. Watching the kick, Kim Noeul pondered.

‘Another fake this time? Or using my psyche against me for a real hit this time?’

While contemplating, Jegal Hwarin’s foot had already approached closely, and Kim Noeul eventually blocked it with her arm again.

Once more, her skin grazed as the kick landed on her arm.

“What’s wrong? You talked big earlier, but you’re already scared?”

Jegal Hwarin chuckled while patting Kim Noeul’s forearm. Kim Noeul observed Jegal Hwarin lightly hopping in place.

‘A fighting style that manipulates the opponent’s psyche with footwork. Different from the fights I’ve had so far.’

Kim Noeul, who had won victories against ordinary bullies through simple displays of strength, was now facing something different.

In a fight with Jegal Hwarin, predicting how the opponent would act was crucial to approaching victory.

However, Kim Noeul lacked confidence in her fighting instincts.

‘Fighting instincts are honed through repeated experiences in battles, but I’ve lived a quieter life than that woman…’

If it came down to psychological warfare, she would keep falling behind. Kim Noeul took a deep breath and clenched her fist.

Overwhelming power surged into her fist.

‘Let’s not doubt myself in unfamiliar territory now. I just need to evolve my own style.’

With renewed focus, Kim Noeul this time took the initiative to approach Jegal Hwarin.

Jegal Hwarin straightforwardly ran towards Kim Noeul and aimed a knee at her face.

‘Stupid girl, you were just a strong gorilla.’

Just before Jegal Hwarin’s knee could reach Kim Noeul’s face, she extended her leg forward and planted it on the ground. As a result, Kim Noeul’s body, which was moving forward, suddenly stopped.

Jegal Hwarin’s knee grazed right in front of Kim Noeul’s face in vain.

“What!?”

Amidst Jegal Hwarin’s astonishment at Kim Noeul’s physical ability to neutralize momentum with a simple force, Kim Noeul threw an uppercut towards Jegal Hwarin’s chin.

“Gah!”

As the punch landed on Jegal Hwarin’s chin, she fell backward and quickly sprung back up. She felt blood trickling from her torn chin and squinted.

“You…! Playing dirty tricks!”

“That’s what you’re doing.”

Kim Noeul punched straight towards Jegal Hwarin again. For a moment, Jegal Hwarin’s punch seemed like a giant hammer coming at her.

As Jegal Hwarin groaned and dodged the punch, Kim Noeul’s flurry then targeted her abdomen. Jegal Hwarin pulled her abdomen back to lessen the impact.

“Ugh….”

While enduring the pain, Kim Noeul managed to land a kick on Jegal Hwarin’s abdomen. Despite the agony, she continued to strike Jegal Hwarin’s face with her other hand.

Thud! Thud!

Unbelievably loud thuds echoed, almost unimaginable coming from a person. Amidst this, Jegal Hwarin, screaming in agony, pushed Kim Noeul away with all her might. Kim Noeul fell to the ground, preparing for the impending pursuit.

However, Jegal Hwarin gave up the chase, stepping back and clutching her face with both hands.

Her entire face stung. Each of Kim Noeul’s punches felt like being hit by a sledgehammer.

“Damn it… my face…!”

Jegal Hwarin’s swollen cheek turned towards Kim Noeul once again.

Kim Noeul clenched her abdomen feeling pain, biting her lip as she held it with one hand.

“My stomach hurts so much. I can’t avoid it.”

However, if she fought without straightening her back, she wouldn’t be able to fully utilize her greatest strength, her punching power.

To completely bring down Jegal Hwarin, she needed to transmit the power from her waist to deliver a perfect straight punch.

“Get lost, you bastard!”

Jegal Hwarin, grimacing in pain, charged at her frantically. As he lunged forward with a flying kick, Kim Noeul watched until the very end.

“Yes, believe in my physical strength.”

Gritting her teeth, Kim Noeul took Jegal Hwarin’s kick on her side. It hit a sensitive area, momentarily blurring her vision, but she was prepared for the pain.

With one hand, Kim Noeul grabbed Jegal Hwarin’s ankle. Caught off balance by his trapped ankle, Jegal Hwarin was taken aback.

“Let go!”

Ignoring his words, Kim Noeul straightened her back. Enduring the pain, she twisted her body after turning her waist and then threw another punch.

Kim Noeul’s fist, with the full force of her upper body rotation, landed on Jegal Hwarin’s cheek.

“…!”

Jegal Hwarin couldn’t even scream as he staggered sideways, hitting his back against the alley wall.

Bicycles leaning against the wall fell over Jegal Hwarin’s body. Despite flinching, he kicked a few bicycles with his feet.

“You… damn woman…”

The face known for its resemblance to Jegal Yeonhwa, a proud cat-like appearance, was now covered in blood from Kim Noeul’s blows.

Even with her face in a mess, she staggered to her feet, placing a hand on her knee to maintain her breath.

“Aren’t you tired yet… Stop now.”

Kim Noeul, bending due to the pain in her abdomen, addressed Jegal Yeonhwa. However, Jegal Hwarin paid no attention.

“G-Geez, stop? If I stop here, I’m really screwed, aren’t I?”

If she failed this time, she would truly receive ‘education’ from her sister. Not only that, she would be in big trouble at the upcoming end-of-term meeting at Ojakgyo Bridge.

“Damn it, all because of you. If your sister hadn’t suddenly shown up and caused trouble…! I wouldn’t have ended up like this…!”

“…Think about the misdeeds you’ve committed. It’s karma.”

“What does that mean, you bitch!”

Summoning his last ounce of strength, Jegal Hwarin approached Kim Noeul. Trying to grab her foot aimed at her abdomen, Kim Noeul missed as he spun his ankle.

“Oh right, a fake!”

Delayed in recognizing the fake due to the pain in her abdomen, Kim Noeul saw Jegal Hwarin smirk triumphantly as his second roundhouse kick successfully struck her chest.

“Argh…!”

Excited by Kim Noeul’s first distorted expression, Jegal Hwarin punched her face. She felt warm blood on her forehead.

“Stop it!”

As Kim Noeul stepped back covering her nose with her hand, Jegal Hwarin clung to her like a madman. Even after clinging, he continued to strike her abdomen with knee kicks.

“Get lost! Get lost!”

“Ugh! St-stop!”

Grabbing Jegal Hwarin’s waist with both hands, Kim Noeul spun around. For a moment, Jegal Hwarin’s face lost its expression as he floated in the air.

‘What strength…’

With a grunt, Kim Noeul threw Jegal Hwarin aside. Colliding with the wall again and buried under a pile of trash, Jegal Hwarin couldn’t get up.

“Kim… Noeul… you bitch…”

Trying intermittently to move his body while convulsing, he failed. Overwhelmed by the stench of the garbage heap, Jegal Hwarin closed his eyes in a daze.

That was the end.

Jegal Hwarin had lost.

Sky High’s senior members, who were falling behind due to lack of numbers, witnessed the scene.

“K-Kim Noeul defeated Jegal Hwarin! Their leader fainted!”

“Sky High caught Jegal Hwarin!”

At the shouts of the senior members, the Korean High gang looked bewilderedly towards the direction of the trash heap.

There lay Jegal Hwarin, unconscious, and Kim Noeul, glaring at them intently.

Kim Noeul was not unscathed either.

The tie hung loose like a belt, and the shirt was dirtied by Jegal Hwarin’s footprints. His face was stained with blood, and his glossy hair had turned into a mess.

Yet, despite his injuries, as he stood there glaring fiercely, Korean high school students felt a chill run down their spines.

“Now we have no choice but to trust SC.”

“Right, because Yu Hana is there…”

Though the Korean gang tried to hold onto hope, Kim Maru’s words as he approached Kim Noeul shattered that hope.

“Sorry, but she’s already involved there too.”

“What?”

Kim Maru took a picture of Jegal Hwarin buried in the trash heap.

“I should send this to Veritas and ask them to write an article about it.”

After taking the photo, he continued, “That woman, whoever she is, will end up like Jegal Hwarin.”

“What are you talking about…?”

Ignoring the feeble muttering of the Korean high school student, Kim Maru answered a call. He deliberately put it on speakerphone.

“Maru Hoobae? This is Handoa.”

“Yes. Is everything settled?”

“Yeah, it’s mostly sorted out.”

The calm voice of Handoa coming from the phone made the faces of the Korean high school students darken.

“Maru mentioned that an accomplice showed up, but this…”

“Don’t worry. She has no intention of harming us. We’ll head there now.”

“Got it. But…”

“Why?”

“Are you hurt?”

“…No, I’m fine.”

“Oh… That’s a relief…”

Upon hearing Handoa’s unusually gentle tone instead of her usual authoritative one, Kim Noeul narrowed her eyes.

“Maru protected Kim, No, Eul, so don’t worry.”

Kim Noeul suddenly intervened in the call with Handoa.

“You didn’t ask.”

“Maru protected me…”

“I’m hanging up.”

I immediately ended the call. Kim Noeul, who had been watching the backs of the Korean high school students who had left dejectedly, suddenly slumped to the ground.

“Can I rest for a bit before going…?”

“Sure. You’ve worked hard.”

It occurred to me that this was the first time Kim Noeul had properly fought against leading characters. Impressed, I gently stroked her noble head.

“What’s this?”

“Stroking your head? You often do it to me.”

“It feels weird receiving it back.”

Seeing Kim Noeul’s embarrassed and softened voice like Handoa’s just now, I felt unfamiliar.

So I immediately withdrew my hand. As soon as I did, she raised her head, looking at me with sparkling eyes like a puppy.

“Why stop?”

“Just because.”

“If you keep doing it, I might get better sooner…”

“….”

I glanced at the senior members around us. They seemed to have sensed the mood and were focusing on their tasks, giving us space.

“Well, you’ve done well.”

As a gesture of encouragement, I ruffled her long hair. Kim Noeul quietly closed her eyes, focusing on that sensation.

“Hana, isn’t that her?”

One of Yu Hana’s group pointed towards where two girls were.

There, Yu Hana saw the face of Jung Soyeon, whom she had longed to see, and another girl covering her face with bangs.

“Yeah, damn bitch. Let’s go straight there.”

Yu Hana led her gang, blindly following behind. No one dared to stop them.

Passersby on the street, sensing their menacing aura, automatically avoided them.

As the atmosphere around them grew tense, Jung Soyeon and Na Yuna also noticed something amiss.

Na Yuna turned around, pretending to be surprised.

“So, Soyeon…? There are people behind us…!”

“Huh?”

Jung Soyeon heard Na Yuna’s words and turned around.

And her eyes met hers.

An old grudge.

A sister’s enemy.

A woman she wanted to meet yet hoped never to encounter.

“Hey, Jung Soyeon. Long time no see, huh?”

“…Yu Hana.”

Hearing the dry tone in Jung Soyeon’s voice, Na Yuna swallowed nervously. The stark difference in Jung Soyeon’s usual demeanor made her uneasy.

“Sending someone to the Boys’ Home and expecting them to live well like that? Shouldn’t they be tormented by guilt and holed up in a corner?”

“Don’t just blabber on about having a big mouth. Because of you, Sohye still can’t get up.”

“No, damn it. How is that my fault? I didn’t even do it myself.”

“You ordered it! You were the instigator!”

“If we just keep talking like this, it’s no fun, right? Hey, kids, quiet down for a bit.”

“You, there are a lot of people watching here. Can you handle it?”

Nayuna gathered her courage and stood in front of Jung Soyeon. Yuhana looked Nayuna up and down and sneered.

“A real loser who can’t read the atmosphere… Handle it? What nonsense. I’m currently messing around with the loser. Should I transfer here too?”

“…There’s no place for a criminal like you at Hakkdo.”

Yuhana, scratching her head at Jung Soyeon’s mention of ‘criminal,’ furrowed her eyebrows.

“Jung Soyeon. Don’t think about getting hit once; think about getting beaten up multiple times. It pisses me off thinking about how you and your little sister screwed up my life.”

“Why, should I make your life even more screwed up?”

As the conflict between Jung Soyeon and Yuhana reached its peak, a group from the Yuhana gang approached.

The female student standing at the front of the group had a badge on her arm that read ‘Leader.’

Having heard some information about them beforehand, Yuhana guessed their identity.

“Oh, they’re the Leaders? Students pretending to be police officers?”

The Leaders, who had now gotten closer to Yuhana’s gang, stopped walking. Han Doa, standing at the front, called out to Jung Soyeon and Nayuna.

“Step back, you two. We’ll handle the rest.”

“We are guests at Hakkdo. Is this appropriate?”

“You’ve chosen the wrong place.”

Han Doa drew her sword as she spoke.

“This is a student-governed area. Unlike society, there are no consequences even if we punish you.”

“Oh my~. Scary~. If you put it that way, aren’t you the same? There’s nowhere for you to cry to after hitting us, right?”

“Quit the talk. Come at us.”

“I’ll take care of the girl with the sword! Take them all down!”

Yuhana’s gang clashed with Han Doa’s Leaders.