Chapter 18: His Descent (5)

Chapter 18: His Descent (5)

The rainbow of lights from various neon signs brightly illuminated the streets at night and chased the darkness away.

“Heh, this isn't so bad.” Choi Yeong-Su chuckled while taking in the sight of the brightly-lit street.

“You look excited about something, dude.” Lee Min-Sik, the self-proclaimed right hand of Choi Yeong-Su, replied to his 'boss.’

“I don't have to go to school tomorrow, after all. Which means I can mess around for the whole night right now.”

“Huh? What about us, then?”

Choi Yeong-Su grinned mockingly. "Heh, why don't you scoot home first if you're worried about tomorrow "

"No way. It's gonna be a party, so we can't ruin the fun by not being there for you."

"At least you know." Choi Yeong-Su cackled before straightening his back. "Urgh. That little twat trying to act tough really pissed me off, but this is already making me feel better!"

“Ah, that's right. What happened to that bastard?” Lee Min-Sik asked.

Choi Yeong-Su smirked. “Did he come to school yet?”

“No, he's still serving his suspension, I think?”

“Keep watching. It ain't gonna end with a simple suspension. I'll show you how to ruin some punk's life for good. So, get your popcorn ready.”

Lee Min-Sik quickly kissed Choi Yeong-Su's butt. “Haaah. He dared to provoke you, so no freaking way he'll get away scot-free. Am I right?”

"F*ck. I'm telling you, he blindsided me back then. That's all! You know that I can easily beat the living sh*t out of him."

“That's right.”

“But that ain't gonna be enough for me. Gimme a month, and I'll show you that pathetic bastard groveling before me.”

“Since the one and only Choi Yeong-Su said so, which means it'll happen for real then!” Lee Min-Sik gleefully exclaimed.

“At least you know, you dummy. Anyway. Since I'm in the mood, let's just head to that nightclub.”

Choi Yeong-Su and his goons stepped inside a dimly-lit alleyway. Openly entering through the club's front door always felt good, but the ID inspections had gotten more thorough lately, leaving these teenagers with no choice but to use the backdoor. One of the employees was already in their pocket, so he should open the door for them with just a call.

Choi Yeong-Su glanced at Lee Min-Sik. "Did you call our guy "

“Yup, did that before we got here. You know I'm the expert at figuring out your mood, right? Anyway, our guy will open the door when we text him.”

“Yup, you sure know me well, Min-Sik.”

“Kekeke.”

Choi Yeong-Su tilted his head and looked around. “By the way, where did Hyeon-Seung disappear to?”

"Huh? He was right here only a second ago? Did he go to the bathroom or something "

"Urgh, that idiot. Where did he go? Call him on the phone, will ya "

Lee Min-Sik took out his phone and called the other goon, Go Hyeon-Seung. But he got a computerized voice saying the phone number was currently unavailable. "What's this? It says his phone's off."

“What the hell?! F*cking spoiling my mood again. Did he get lost while we were coming here?”

"No, that can't be. That idiot was definitely with us, so... Where the hell did he disappear to? Hang on, Yeong-Su. Imma go and check over there." Lee Min-Sik urgently ran outside the alleyway.

"Eiii, f*cking hell." Choi Yeong-Su grunted and mouthed a cigarette. His mood was getting better, only for Go Hyeon-Seung to piss him off once more. "Nightclub or whatever... F*ck, should I just call up some girls and have fun with them instead "

The girls he 'knew' no longer interested him, but they were still convenient distractions nevertheless. Just a phone call from him, and plenty of willing girls should come running even at this late hour.

"Go Hyeon-Seung, you son of a b*tch! Just where did you even..." Choi Yeong-Su scanned his surroundings while muttering. The alleyway was nestled between tall buildings and never received much outside light, to begin with. Its sneaky location between the buildings meant that it was out of sight from the main street, making it perfect for a quick getaway if cops showed up for ID inspections.

Choi Yeong-Su frequented these alleyways even before he was a high schooler.

But now... For some reason, this familiar alleyway came across as rather sinister tonight.

"Geez, what a sh*tty night..." Choi Yeong-Su groaned, then tossed the cigarette on the ground. While stubbing it out, he pulled out his phone to make a call. But then...

"What the hell " He was calling Lee Min-Sik's phone, but his expression crumpled at what he heard next.

- My phone's off right now, so leave a message after the usual, okay

“Argh, what the hell is the matter with those two?!” Choi Yeong-Su exploded in irritation while stabbing the 'End Call' icon on the screen. Afterward, he shoved the phone into his pocket. Why did the one searching for a missing idiot switch his phone off? Choi Yeong-Su growled, "I'm gonna kill them both when they show up..."

He briefly wondered if he should also try searching for the two missing idiots, but gave up after thinking that they might miss each other. All he could do for now was shove his hands inside his pockets and angrily kick the ground. His nerves were getting pricked by the odor of cigarettes wafting from somewhere, too.

Wondering where that smell was coming from, Choi Yeong-Su glanced at his own cigarette on the ground, but he had already stubbed it out. In that case... what was up with this acrid smell coming from so close by

"Urgh, what the hell " Choi Yeong-Su turned his head. Finally, he noticed a shadow looming over him. "Heok?!"

Choi Yeong-Su jumped up in surprise and stumbled back, only to trip over a jutting piece of rock and crash ungainly to the ground.

Thud!

"Ouch!" Choi Yeong-Su cried out but still quickly raised his head to look at the owner of the shadow. He could see the pitch-black figure of a person standing between the extending shadows of the buildings and a single lick of ember burned brightly within the darkness.

Cruuunch!

“Kkeuh...?!” Choi Yeong-Su wanted to scream at the extreme pain shooting up from his right hand, but for some weird reason, not much sound came out of his mouth. His body even stopped listening to his brain's commands. The 'fear' exceeding the limits of pain was driving him crazy.

'Is... is this a dream? Am I dreaming or something '

The pain shooting up from his right arm was murderous. In that case, why couldn't he scream like normal? Trying so hard to scream only got him a sore throat with no sound, which made everything so much worse and... so much more terrifying.

Kang Jin-Ho grinned coldly. “Well, then. Think about it one more time.”

“...!” Choi Yeong-Su tried to say something, but his lips didn't want to listen to him.

“Still don't get it, huh?”

Cruuunch!

This time, it was the left hand. Choi Yeong-Su began spasming like he was suffering from a stroke. His eyes turned bloodshot like he had become a madman. And just like a second ago, no sound came out of his mouth.

Kang Jin-Ho quietly growled, “Think. If you can't figure it out, then... It's not going to end.”

Choi Yeong-Su desperately racked his brain. He needed to answer. He must answer!

“Now, talk.”

Choi Yeong-Su gave his everything to open his mouth. But what could he possibly say when his vocal pressure point had been sealed already

“I can't hear you.”

Cruuunch!

It was now the right leg. Choi Yeong-Su's arms shot up in shock. Pain beyond description drove him utterly crazy inside. He flailed about like a drowning man.

Kang Jin-Ho stared at Choi Yeong-Su before whispering softly, “Do you wish to speak?”

Choi Yeong-Su desperately nodded. His face had long become a mess of tears and snot.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Choi Yeong-Su nodded hard enough to snap his head off.

“But... Did you stop when Park Yu-Min begged you to stop?”

“...!”

"Relax. I won't hurt you more than what you've already done. Try to remember everything you've done. Then, you'll get a good idea of what I'm going to do to you." A chilling grin formed on Kang Jin-Ho's face again. "Now, speak."

“...!”

“I can't hear you!”

Cruuunch!

Choi Yeong-Su trembled on the ground like a wet dog. But Kang Jin-Ho was still unfazed by this sight, his words remained calm and relaxed. “Speak up.”

“...!”

“What was that?”

Cruuuunch!

Choi Yeong-Su wanted to bite his tongue if he could. Dying felt like a better option than being subjected to this indescribable pain. But he just couldn't move any muscle around his mouth no matter how hard he tried.

“You still can't figure it out?”

Choi Yeong-Su looked up and silently pleaded with Kang Jin-Ho. He couldn't speak nor move his body, but... The light in his eyes should still reach his tormentor.

“I guess I should stop messing around, then. Now, speak.” Kang Jin-Ho finally unsealed Choi Yeong-Su's vocal pressure point.

The latter, still trembling pitifully, reached out with his faltering hand at Kang Jin-Ho. “P-p-please... don't... kill me...”

"I'm not going to kill you. That will be letting you off the hook too easily. So, speak. What have you done wrong? What was your mistake "

“I... I'm so sorry...”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “That's not what I wanted to hear...”

“P-please, I...”

“Listen well.” Kang Jin-Ho leaned in closer. “Your mistake was provoking me.”

Choi Yeong-Su hurriedly nodded.

"But that's fine, I was thinking of letting most of the crap slide, you see. I tried to be more understanding even if you had gotten on my nerves since this isn't the world I used to live in."

Choi Yeong-Su continued to nod, even though he couldn't understand what Kang Jin-Ho had said just now. His instincts told him to keep nodding away, so that was what he did.

“But then, you went ahead and did something unforgivable.” Kang Jin-Ho's eyes grew so much colder and murderous as he glared at Choi Yeong-Su.