PEN Vol 2 Ch. 9

Startled by the ear-splitting loud noise, Lee Haegyun finally remembered the presence of the car behind him and hesitated in confusion. Sejin glared in frustration at the man interrupting him from the car, then shouted at Lee Haegyun again.

“Hit me! Go on, hit me!”

He wasn’t afraid of getting hit by Lee Haegyun. In fact, Sejin was more than ready to hit him back.

However, he knew that if he wanted to avoid having to pay for damages later, he’d need to get hit first. If he struck him first, he’d be the perpetrator, but if he got hit and then struck back, it would be considered self-defense and retaliation.

“F*ck, d*mn it….”

However, Sejin’s wish wasn’t fulfilled.

Shocked by how aggressively Sejin was pushing into his face, Lee Haegyun released his grip on Sejin’s wrist and started to back away.

Glancing between the car that was still blaring its horn for nearly a minute, and Sejin, who stared him down with fierce eyes, Lee Haegyun cursed under his breath and quickly left.

Watching Haegyun’s retreating figure, Sejin cursed inwardly.

What a waste.

It had been a perfect opportunity to let out all the pent-up frustration he’d been holding in, but someone had ruined it.

Still clutching his fists, Sejin stood there for a moment as he stared at where Lee Haegyun had disappeared before walking towards Cheon Sejoo’s still honking car. The loud sound only stopped once Sejin got into the passenger seat.

“Why did you interfere?”

Sejin immediately demanded an answer, glaring at Cheon Sejoo, who raised his eyebrows in response.

Cheon Sejoo, staring at Sejin with a stern face, paused for a moment, thinking he must have misheard before he replied.

“What?”

“Why did you honk your car?”

“…”

But Sejin was dead serious.

He was genuinely upset about missing out on such a perfect chance.

Cheon Sejoo’s handsome face briefly showed a look of disbelief.

For a moment, he seemed lost for words, staring at Sejin blankly as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then, with an incredulous scoff, he asked.

“Are you a masochist or something?”

“What? What does that even mean? Stop changing the subject. I asked why you interfered. If you hadn’t, I could’ve hit that b*stard.”

“…”

Sejin scowled, speaking as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And once again, Cheon Sejoo was left speechless by his words. He clamped his mouth shut, staring at Sejin, who had just said something utterly incomprehensible.

If Kwon Sejin had gotten into a fight with that punk, it was clear that Sejin would’ve been the one to get beaten to a pulp. Even if, by some miracle, Sejin had managed to land a punch, he would’ve been the one taking the brunt of the blows afterward … but he actually thought he could hit him?

What kind of logic is that?

Does he really think it’s worth getting hit ten times just to land one punch?

Cheon Sejoo shook his head as he pondered this, and soon realized that Sejin was probably this terrible at math and quickly understood.

This idiot must really think this way.

“Does that b*stard keep bothering you?”

Cheon Sejoo decided to change the subject, knowing that continuing to discuss the whole “getting hit and hitting back” issue would only frustrate him to no end. He tried to keep his voice calm, but his simmering anger bled through in the sharpness of his tone.

At Cheon Sejoo’s question, Sejin let out a sigh as if he were being asked something utterly pointless. He then fastened his seatbelt and replied.

“He just annoys me a little.”

“Do you really call that just a little annoying? That guy was waiting for you in front of the school gate the whole time.”

Sejin might not have known it, but Cheon Sejoo had been moments away from losing his temper.

Even though everything about Sejin was different from Hye-in—his gender, name, appearance, and actions—the fact that he was the same age as Hye-in and being bullied at school made Cheon Sejoo want to rush out of the car several times while watching Sejin deal with that punk.

If he had just a little less self-control, he’d probably be sitting in the back of a police car instead of his Porsche right now.

But Sejin, unaware of Cheon Sejoo’s inner turmoil, found his interference simply annoying.

Haah.

Letting out another short sigh, Sejin briefly glanced at Cheon Sejoo and spoke.

“This isn’t something you need to be involved in. If it bothered you so much, you should’ve gotten out of the car earlier and chased him off. All you did was honk, so what does it matter now whether he bothers me or not?”

If I had gotten out of the car, that b*stard would be dead by now.

Cheon Sejoo held back the urge to respond that way, instead, he simply stared at Sejin.

Sejin, with the tips of his ears and cheeks still flushed, perhaps from a lingering fever, yet he wore a sarcastic expression as if the bullying from that punk was nothing.

Cheon Sejoo clenched his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself, feeling a surge of anger. He didn’t want to reveal just how much Sejin’s situation was affecting him, but at the same time, he also couldn’t just let this pass without saying anything.

After Hye-in’s death, Cheon Sejoo had spent a long time resenting her.

Why didn’t she tell me?

If she had just said something, he would have done whatever it took to stop the bullying. Even in her final message, there had been no mention of it, not a single word of plea for help. And he had found it unbearably unfair.

That’s why Cheon Sejoo couldn’t be certain that Sejin, who seemed to be doing fine on the surface, was actually okay. Since Kwon Sejin hadn’t opened up to him, there was no way of knowing if he was slowly breaking down inside, just like Hye-in had been.

“If you can’t stand that b*stard bothering you anymore, just tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

At his sincere words, Sejin’s expression hardened.

His clear, glass-like eyes turned toward Cheon Sejoo. Every time Cheon Sejoo acted as if he were genuinely responsible for him, Sejin found it harder and harder to suppress the growing expectations inside of him. However, as much as Sejin was beginning to hope that this man might actually mean what he said, he couldn’t help but scoff at his offer this time.

Lee Haegyun and Cheon Sejoo were cut from the same cloth.

Though Sejin hadn’t been a victim of extortion, he knew that Lee Haegyun regularly bullied other students for money. Just like how this man’s colleagues had shoved debt onto Sejin’s mother, taking her salary, Lee Haegyun was no different from them. Yet here Cheon Sejoo was, offering to “take care” of Haegyun? It was beyond laughable.

“Are you a cop or something? Stop acting like you’re more than you are.”

Sejin asked coldly, then let out a sharp breath, as if it were absurd before he continued.

“That kind of b*stard will just grow up to be someone like you. It’s pathetic. I don’t even want to deal with him. Don’t try to interfere in my personal life.”

At Sejin’s words, as if he were building a wall between them, Cheon Sejoo twisted his lips into a bitter smirk.

A chill ran through Cheon Sejoo’s sharp gaze, and as he roughly stepped on the accelerator, the car roared forward, the engine growling as it sped down the road. His grip on the steering wheel tightened so hard that a faint sound of his knuckles cracking could be heard.

Despite being bullied, Sejin’s attitude was to brush it off and tell him to mind his own business. That kind of reaction made Cheon Sejoo’s anger flare uncontrollably. He knew it meant that Kwon Sejin still hadn’t fully opened up to him, but even knowing that, he couldn’t suppress the anger that was bubbling up inside him.

Clenching his jaw, Cheon Sejoo finally snapped, speaking whatever came to his mind.

“How is this your personal business? If that b*stard pulls that crap in front of me again, I’ll run him over with my car, so just know that.”

At those chilling words, Sejin turned his eyes to Cheon Sejoo in silence.

“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t think I can do it?”

The man’s mocking tone was different from usual. This time, Cheon Sejoo resembled the gangster that Sejin remembered him to be, but despite his intense expression, the glare in his eyes wasn’t frightening.

You’re just the same as Lee Haegyun.

Even though Sejin understood the hidden meaning behind the conversation, the man didn’t address it at all. What upset Sejoo wasn’t just that Sejin was being bullied by Lee Haegyun, but that he was trying to ignore it.

Why are you getting mad over this?

Sejin couldn’t understand. The idea that his being bullied was making Cheon Sejoo angry felt almost like it meant the man cared deeply for him… Didn’t it?

Do you really think you’re different from Lee Haegyun?

Suddenly, a question rose in his mind, but Sejin didn’t voice it out to Cheon Sejoo.

The truth was, deep down, Sejin already knew.

This man was different from anyone else.

He wasn’t like his father, his uncle, or Lee Haegyun. None of them were anything like him.

But driven by his intense instinct to protect his pride made it hard to admit that Cheon Sejoo was different from anyone else. Ignoring the strange warmth rising somewhere in his chest, Sejin scoffed and replied coldly.

“Is that really the best you can come up with? That’s such a classy solution, so typical of a gangster.”

At Sejin’s sharp retort, Cheon Sejoo simply smiled wordlessly and pressed down on the accelerator. With a loud engine roar, the car sped across the road. In silence, the two of them headed toward Ehwagak.