A Scorching Day Chapter 37

“Ki… Ki Joon.”

Gawon called his name with his split lips. He looked at Ki Joon, standing beside him, with a stunned expression.

“Yoon Gawon.”

A frighteningly hardened voice was heard. Ki Joon, kneeling on one knee, first examined Gawon’s face. His trembling gaze took in the ludicrously wig-wearing head, the cheek beginning to swell, and the split lip.

Ki Joon’s eyes were wavering up close. The towering flames of anger were like a fire demon. It was an emotion so immense that just facing it made his breath catch.

A large hand removed the pitiful wig from Gawon’s head. Tossing it aside carelessly, Ki Joon slowly turned his head.

“This fucking pathetic bastard, what are you doing? You want to die….”

The senior who had been hit sprang to his feet. Scowling fiercely, he clenched his fist and charged at Ki Joon. It was that same senior who had laughed and smashed Ki Joon’s face like hitting a punching machine last time.

But this time, the senior’s fist didn’t reach Ki Joon. A long leg shot out in an instant and kicked the senior in the solar plexus. The motion was concise, but the force was overwhelming. The man, struck squarely, flew far backward with a loud crash.

Ki Joon strode over to him and mercilessly kicked him in the side. The man, face pale, couldn’t breathe properly and gasped, kkeok kkeok.

“Euh, euk, keuk, kkeok….”

“You fucking son of a bitch!”

Another senior charged from behind. Ki Joon lightly dodged and extended his fist. The foot that had been aimed to kick Ki Joon swung through empty air, and he lost his balance. A crack of breaking bone came from his nose, which collided precisely with Ki Joon’s fist.

“Aagh!”

The struck senior clutched his nose and rolled on the floor. Blood gushed from his nose, soaking his clothes. At the sight of blood, the group’s eyes gleamed with frenzy.

“Hey, jump that bastard!”

Three or four rushed at him simultaneously. Just as one grabbed Ki Joon by the collar and raised his fist to strike—Bang! A dull sound erupted, and the one holding his collar let go, screaming. Blood burst from the nose that had been squarely hit by Ki Joon’s headbutt.

This time, Ki Joon grabbed the man’s collar. He fiercely punched the face of the guy bleeding from his nose. With a single, powerful blow, the senior collapsed on the spot, staggering as if hit by a sledgehammer. The onlookers, watching breathlessly, were horrified.

“Wow, fuck, what the hell….”

Dismay spread across the faces of the flustered seniors. The classmates also wore dazed expressions. The image of Ki Joon, who had just taken the beating last time without fighting back no matter how much they hit him, was nowhere to be seen.

Another senior charged in with a yell. Ki Joon grabbed the collar of the man who rushed in, pushing desks aside with a roar, and in an instant threw his large frame over his shoulder, slamming him to the floor. The man, flipped through the air and slammed down, let out an ugly groan and convulsed on the ground.

“Die, you fucking bastard!”

At that moment, one of them raised a chair and charged from behind Ki Joon. Gawon, trembling violently, screamed.

“Ki, Ki Joon. Behind you!”

Ki Joon turned his body nimbly and dodged the mercilessly descending chair. He grabbed the collar of the man who lurched forward and drove his fist into his face. Thud, thud. After two blows, the man crumbled to the ground.

The beaten men looked at Ki Joon with terrified faces. Some seniors were collapsed on the floor, unable to move at all. Ki Joon, staring at them with an emotionless and cold gaze, slid his eyes sideways. His manic eyes stopped on Heo Yeonggyu, who was frozen stiff.

“Euh, euh, uh. Ge, get lost, fuck. Do, don’t come…!”

Heo Yeonggyu, stammering with his chin trembling, hastily backed away. Tripping over his own feet, he fell on his backside miserably and looked up at Ki Joon approaching him with a dazed look.

Ki Joon grabbed Heo Yeonggyu by the collar, yanked him up, and sat him on a chair. As everyone watched breathlessly, he picked up Heo Yeonggyu’s phone from the floor.

After fiddling with the phone a few times as if it were his own, Ki Joon tossed it back to the floor. He crushed and smashed it with his heel, the action cracking without hesitation.

Heo Yeonggyu’s eyes changed as he watched his phone being destroyed before him. Suddenly shifting, he glared and lunged at Ki Joon with all his might.

“You fucking bastard! What the hell are you…!”

At that moment, a THWACK! echoed loudly. Heo Yeonggyu, hit with a full-swing slap, let out a kkeok sound and collapsed onto the classroom floor. His large body rolled pitifully on the ground. After coughing a couple of times, a few broken tooth fragments popped out.

Ki Joon slowly took off his school jacket. Tossing it carelessly onto a desk, he pulled down his tie and muttered indifferently.

“Shut up and sit down.”

“Heuh…! You fucking bastard…!”

Heo Yeonggyu roared like a beast and charged again, but this time he was slammed straight onto the floor. Only after his face was pressed into the ground did he lose the will to resist.

Ki Joon turned the fallen Heo Yeonggyu over and mounted his waist. Grabbing his collar firmly and raising his hand, he commanded impassively.

“Keep your mouth shut. Blood splatter is annoying.”

Thwack, thwack, thwack… Bloody, dull sounds rang out continuously. Though it was slaps to the face, the sound was no different from being punched with a fist.

Ki Joon continued to strike Heo Yeonggyu’s cheeks. The intent behind hitting with his palm rather than his fist was clear. To inflict the humiliation that as a fellow male, he was nothing. And to be able to hit him more.

“Kkeok, heuh, heuuh, euuuu….”

Heo Yeonggyu let out a pitiful crying sound. His face, completely destroyed, was a mess too gruesome to look at. Finely splattered blood thoroughly stained Ki Joon’s palms.

Gawon stared at the scene, unable to breathe. He had to stop him. No more. But even knowing that, his hands and lips trembled, and he couldn’t do anything. Overwhelmed by the overpowering emotion, his body had completely frozen.

His stomach churned. His chest constricted, and he couldn’t breathe. That kid, beating someone as if to kill him right in front of him—was that really the Ki Joon… he knew? That kind, yet somewhat clueless boy—was it really him…

“Hey, Ki, Ki Joon… at this rate, he’s gonna die.”

Unable to watch any longer, Kim Wonjae tried to stop him, but Ki Joon kept slapping Heo Yeonggyu’s cheeks as if he couldn’t hear. It was a long while before Ki Joon’s motion of striking Heo Yeonggyu ceased. He stood up and swept back his fallen bangs with his bloodied hand.

“Write this with your own hands. I don’t want to touch it.”

Ki Joon nodded toward the wig lying on the floor. Heo Yeonggyu, like a person who had lost his wits, crawled on the floor and fumblingly picked up the wig. His face, with his entire face busted open and the wig put on his head, was grotesque.

Ki Joon crooked the corner of his mouth.

“Looks good. Hey, take a picture.”

“Huh? …Ah. Yeah.”

Kim Wonjae, who had been blankly watching the scene in a daze, pulled out his phone as if possessed. Click, click. Every time the shutter sound went off, Heo Yeonggyu bowed his head, shedding tears in anguish.

Ki Joon also took both photos and videos with his own phone. Even though leaving evidence could only bring harm, he didn’t hesitate.

“Kneel in front of him.”

Ki Joon nodded toward Gawon and instructed. Heo Yeonggyu, who had been following Ki Joon’s words like a soulless person until now, hesitated this time.

But the oppressor who had turned the classroom into a wreck in an instant didn’t wait. As Ki Joon raised his hand again, Heo Yeonggyu let out a strange hik sound and hunched his shoulders.

“Kkeu, euup, I, I’ll, do it, so stop… stop hitting me… fu, fuck….”

Heo Yeonggyu made a crying sound, biting his split lips. Crawling on his knees to Gawon, he plopped down and knelt before him. Gawon stood frozen in place, staring down at him.

“What are you doing, you piece of shit. If you’re on your knees, you better beg like your life depends on it.”

Ki Joon, hands in his pockets, pressured Heo Yeonggyu with a chilling voice. In front of the entire class watching breathlessly, Heo Yeonggyu dropped his head with a thud.

The moment he said “…Sorry.” to Gawon in a barely audible voice, Ki Joon’s foot flew. Heo Yeonggyu collapsed helplessly to the side.

“Ugh!”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“So, sor…ry…. Heuh, euugh, I’m sorry….”

Hit again by the merciless kick, Heo Yeonggyu fell to the side, then slowly wiped his tears with the back of his hand and got up.

“Sorry to who. Speak properly.”

“To… Yoon Gawon… I’m sorry….”

Ki Joon nitpicked like that several times, crushing Heo Yeonggyu. Gawon watched from beginning to end with an expressionless face as Heo Yeonggyu, reduced to a bloody mess, wore the wig in a ludicrous state and bowed his head endlessly, apologizing before him.

He felt strange. In an unreal situation, as if dreaming, Gawon was numb. Of course, it wasn’t because he pitied Heo Yeonggyu. Even seeing him reduced to such a humiliating state in front of everyone, not a shred of sympathy arose.

Because this was exactly what Heo Yeonggyu had been doing to him for over a year. If Ki Joon hadn’t shown up at the right time, he would have been crawling between Heo Yeonggyu’s legs in that state by now.

Whether Heo Yeonggyu knelt before him and apologized or ran around naked, it didn’t matter. No matter what form Heo Yeonggyu showed in this moment, it had no effect on him. In short, he was beneath his notice.

Then why did he feel like crying so much? Why did this vast, dizzying wave of despair come rushing in, making him tremble with fear…

“Yoon Gawon doesn’t like your apology, you fucking bastard.”

Heo Yeonggyu fell to the side again. Watching Ki Joon press down on his crying face with his foot, still in his slippers, something inside Gawon crumbled with a resounding crash. The explosive, silent roar awakened the completely frozen Gawon and made him move.

“You should apologize properly, right? Huh?”

“Stop it.”

Gawon opened his trembling lips. At that moment, the foot that had been grinding Heo Yeonggyu’s face stopped.

“Ki Joon, that’s enough… stop it now.”

Ki Joon turned his head. His eyes, which had been like those of a reptile with all warmth evaporated, slowly took Gawon in. The rampage that no one had been able to stop subsided at once with a single slender thread of a voice.