Chapter 3
Trash Belongs in the Trash
From that day on, Park Kwang-seok began to move exactly as No Hyung-jin instructed.
No—he wasn’t just following directions. He was carefully digging a trap, step by step, according to Hyung-jin’s plan.
“Are you crazy, you bastard? It’s been two weeks and you still didn’t bring the money?”
A fist slammed into Kwang-seok’s face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
He looked up at Jo Hyuk-woo, furious and helpless.
“I told you, I don’t have any more money! How can I give you fifty thousand won every week? Do you even know how much I’ve given you already? It’s over five million won!”
“Bullshit. No way it’s that much.”
Hyuk-woo scoffed, but one of the boys beside him nodded.
“It probably is.”
“What?”
“You’ve been taking at least fifty thousand each time—sometimes a hundred thousand. It’s closer to six million.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’ve been milking him since first year. Pretty good haul.”
“So what? You think you can stop paying just because you’ve given that much?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck off, you piece of shit!”
A kick landed hard in his stomach. Kwang-seok groaned, rolling on the ground, as Hyuk-woo and his gang surrounded him and started kicking mercilessly.
“Has this bastard lost his mind because we’ve gone easy on him? You think you can defy the Supreme Gang?”
“Supreme Gang, my ass.”
“What? You crazy fuck! We’ve got twenty guys in our crew! That’s more than enough to deal with trash like you!”
Another kick.
Then, spitting on his bruised face, Hyuk-woo sneered.
“Ptoo! Filthy bastard. That’s it. Starting next week, it’s a hundred thousand. If you don’t bring it, I’ll come to your house, trash your whole family, and run a train on your mom. Got it?”
Laughing with his cronies, Hyuk-woo walked away.
Kwang-seok struggled to stand, his face smeared with dirt, tears, and blood—but in his eyes burned a fierce light of rage.
“Just wait, Jo Hyuk-woo. You won’t be doing this much longer.”
* * *
“Teacher, please help me.”
Park Kwang-seok turned to his teacher for help.
But, as always, the response was the same.
“It’s not long now, Kwang-seok. Just endure it a bit more. Once you graduate, you’ll never have to see them again.”
“There’s still a year and a half left.”
“That time will fly by.”
“I might die before then.”
“Life is hard for everyone.”
“But he’s already extorted six million won from me! He’s got a gang now—calls it the ‘Supreme Gang’—they’re basically little thugs!”
“I know, I know. They’re just kids playing gangster. It won’t last long.”
“Teacher, please…”
Sigh. “I don’t know what to do. You’re my student, but so is he. It hurts to punish my own students. Think how his parents would feel.”
“What about me?”
“That’s why I’m asking you to bear with it a little longer. Better for one person to suffer than for many to be hurt, don’t you think?”
The excuses were endless.
Hanging his head, Kwang-seok walked out of the teachers’ office.
He had expected this—he’d asked for help more than once, and every time, the teacher brushed him off with words like that.
As he stepped outside, a shadow followed. When Kwang-seok entered a quiet alley, the figure stepped forward.
“How’d it go?”
“Just like you said.”
“Figures.”
Seeing his face, No Hyung-jin only shook his head. Teachers were the same—past, present, and future alike. All desperate to avoid responsibility.
“Still, is it really okay to go this far?”
“Then what else can you do? How are you going to get out of this otherwise?”
“…”
Hyung-jin was right. Without this, there was no escape.
“Besides, don’t you want to meet my sister again—properly this time? You’ve got to show her something real if you want to impress her.”
“That’s true.”
He knew why he’d been rejected. He’d always kept quiet and invisible, never showing his feelings—just one letter, nothing more.
“So just hold out a little longer. This isn’t that teacher’s useless advice—I’ve got a solid plan.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
Park Kwang-seok steeled his heart. He could tell this wouldn’t last much longer.
* * *
“Protection request?”
“Yes.”
The police officer’s face twisted with annoyance.
“We’re busy. Don’t mess around, kid. Go home.”
“I’m not joking! My life is in danger!”
“Jesus, you kids make a fuss over nothing.”
“What’s going on, Officer Kim?”
Kwang-seok had gone to the local station to report the bullying and request protection, but the cops looked more irritated than concerned.
“Nothing serious. Just kids fighting.”
“Hey, kid, don’t waste our time. The police have real work to do.”
“I’m really getting beaten and robbed!”
“Then tell your teacher or your parents. Not the police.”
“I did. They ignored me.”
That just made the cop frown deeper.
If both his parents and teacher ignored it, it must just be childish squabbling—at least, that’s what they thought.
“Listen, brat, get lost. We’re busy!”
“I’m making an official report—”
“Then tell your teacher! If you don’t, I’ll charge you for obstruction of duty.”
“What?”
“I said, go!”
With an angry wave, they threw him out.
As Kwang-seok stepped outside, shaking his head in disbelief, a familiar voice greeted him.
“Told you so.”
Hyung-jin was waiting by the door, smirking. Just as he’d expected, the cops didn’t lift a finger.
In this era, the police only cared about bribes—they never did real work.
Not that much had changed in the future, either.
“I think this should be enough, right?”
“No, there’s one last step.”
“One more?”
“Yeah. Once that’s done, everything ends.”
* * *
“You son of a bitch—you still haven’t learned, have you?”
Jo Hyuk-woo marched toward Park Kwang-seok’s house with three of his gang members.
After Kwang-seok had tattled to the teacher—and even visited the police—Hyuk-woo had gotten a warning call telling him to keep quiet. That was the last straw.
“Today, I’m going to fuck him up.”
He stormed straight to the house.
Kwang-seok hadn’t shown up at school for three days, clearly afraid of what was coming.
Ding-dong.
“Who is it?”
It was Kwang-seok’s voice, over the intercom.
“Open the door, you fucking bastard!”
“…”
“Not opening? If you don’t, you’re dead.”
Click.
The line cut off.
“That little shit…”
Hyuk-woo’s face twisted with rage. He thought he was being mocked.
“What do we do?”
“What do you think? We climb the wall and beat his ass!”
“How? He’s not opening the door.”
“Who said anything about the door? Get down!”
One boy crouched, and the others used him as a step to climb over the wall. Soon, they were inside the yard.
“There you are, bastard. You’re dead.”
But Kwang-seok quickly drew the curtains and locked the doors.
“This little shit! Smash the window!”
Crash!
Glass shattered, and they climbed through, kicking him as soon as they saw him.
“You snitched to the teacher, huh? Say it! Say ‘I’m dead today!’”
They beat him mercilessly—until a sound pierced the air.
WEE-OOO, WEE-OOO!
A siren. Somewhere nearby.
The gang froze.
“Shit.”
“What do we do?”
“Let’s go.”
Maybe the sirens weren’t for them, but someone might’ve seen them climb the wall. That could be trouble.
“You’re dead, you hear me? I’ll finish you one day.”
Spitting one last time, Jo Hyuk-woo stormed out.
Once he was gone, Kwang-seok, who had been curled up on the floor, slowly stood.
But his expression was different this time—almost… relieved.
Not that he’d suddenly become a masochist who enjoyed pain—but something had changed.
“Hello?”
He picked up the phone.
“Yes, it’s confirmed? Got it. Time to wrap this up.”
After hanging up, he walked out of his room holding a baseball bat.
“Mom’s going to be pissed about this.”
With that, he started smashing everything in the house—furniture, TV, appliances—until nothing was left intact.
* * *
Of course, when Kwang-seok’s parents came home, they exploded.
Everything was destroyed—TV, windows, washing machine, microwave—completely wrecked.
And when they heard the full story, rage surged to the tops of their heads.
“We’re going to the school. Right now.”
They couldn’t just let this go. But before they could leave, No Hyung-jin stopped them.
“If you go, the school will just make the kids apologize and sweep it under the rug.”
“How do you know that?”
“You think Kwang-seok didn’t already tell the teacher?”
“What? Damn it!”
His father’s eyes filled with tears of fury. He had never imagined his son was suffering like this.
“So what do we do? Endure it again?”
“No. There’s no need to. We’ve already prepared for this—Kwang-seok and I saw this coming.”
“Prepared… how?”
“Yes. But since we’re minors, we can’t act legally on our own. We’ll need your help, sir.”
“Say the word. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He meant it—even if it came to killing those boys.
But Hyung-jin only smiled faintly.
“No need for that. The hell they’re about to face… will be far worse than death.”
