Chapter 82: Random Matching (1)

Kwon Suho woke up before Ms. Hong Mi-ri arrived. He yelled at the top of his lungs and threw a fit.

"You sons of bitches! I'll kill you all! Do you know who I am? I can bury you alive with just a flick of my finger! Untie me! If you untie me now, I'll let you live!"

Let us live?

I didn't have a sixth sense for detecting lies, but I could tell that was a lie. Kwon Suho saying he'd kill us wasn't a simple threat. He could probably really do it.

The current Kwon Suho wasn't in his right mind because he was consumed by his 《Quirk》.

"You!!! Fucking!!! Bastards!!!"

See! His frothing at the mouth and struggling like a madman looked just like a salted slug. And Kim Yoo-jung was drawing that scene.

This whole scene was like something out of a hell painting.

"We're screwed."

I just wished Ms. Hong Mi-ri would arrive quickly.

After waiting for a while like that, Ms. Hong Mi-ri clicked her tongue at the tied-up Kwon Suho.

"Kwon Suho. Osung's delinquent."

"...Ms. Hong Mi-ri. What brings such a busy person here?"

Kwon Suho, who had been raging until just now, suddenly started acting like a gentleman as if nothing had happened. Was Kwon Suho's madness just for show?

Weak to the strong, strong to the weak. He was a complete coward.

"I heard you said you'd kill Young-won. As a teacher, it's only natural for me to intervene and mediate conflicts between students. You. It seems you need to come with me to see the Chairman."

"Teacher. We were just joking around between kids. Even if I'm under special management, is there really a need to go to the Chairman for something like this? The Chairman must be busy too. You know that."

"Kwon Suho. You seem to be misunderstanding something. It's not because of you. It's because of Young-won. Young-won recently became a foundation scholarship student sponsored by the Chairman."

"What?"

Kwon Suho made a dumbfounded sound as if surprised.

I thought I'd seen everything about Kwon Suho, but this was the first time I'd seen such an attitude.

"...Him? How?"

"It's the Chairman's decision and I just followed it, so don't ask too many questions. If you're that curious, let's go ask directly. Come on, get in the car."

"Wait a minute! If I'm dragged to the Chairman like this, my father will really kill me this time! Teacher! Please let me off! I'll really die! Teacher!"

The chaebol's delinquent son, whom no one could control, started begging. That desperate expression even seemed cute in a way.

But Ms. Hong Mi-ri's expression was solemn.

"Then you should apologize to Young-won over there, not ask me. If you had listened to people and not misunderstood from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened, right?"

Kwon Suho frowned. He seemed to be popping a vein in his forehead, then bowed his head to me.

"Hey. I'm sorry. I've been having some mental issues lately, and I sometimes lose myself and suddenly get enraged. I was wrong. I'll compensate you well for this incident, so let's pretend it never happened."

Shiver-

I felt like my whole body was boiling, like a chicken being fried in an air fryer. To think the delinquent who ruled Gaeryong City would apologize to me.

I felt like I'd become someone really important.

What should I do?

"How exactly do you plan to compensate me?"

"Money is too boring, so how about a celebrity? Don't you want to be introduced to a celebrity? You know Kwon Sua, the youngest member of Dorangmul Girls who just debuted under our Osung Entertainment? This is a secret, but she's my cousin."

Kwon Suho chuckled. He had a confident expression as if saying, 'All men like women, right?'

Does he think I'm like him, liking all women?

But I was interested.

Isn't Dorangmul Girls the idol group that sings "Dorang Dorang Dorangmul" that I hear every day in Yang Juhee's ringtone? I didn't care for it much, but Yang Juhee loved it.

If I get her number, Yang Juhee would be happy. It seemed better to accept the offer for Yang Juhee's sake, not mine.

"Okay."

By the way, there was also the option of not accepting the apology. But in that case, someone like Kwon Suho would surely try to retaliate against me even more.

I would have done the same if I were him.

"Hey. Kwon Suho."

Just then.

Kim Yoo-jung noona, who had been drawing while half-ignoring our conversation, approached Kwon Suho and held out the picture she had drawn.

"Let's break up. This is a parting gift."

Flutter-

The picture that fell to the floor had dogs drawn on it. Various kinds of dogs.

Seeing that, Kwon Suho closed his mouth.

***

Kwon Suho got into Ms. Hong Mi-ri's car. It was to meet with the Chairman about this incident.

On the surface, we had reconciled over the idol's number, but since an incident occurred, it needed to be wrapped up one way or another.

It was close to midnight.

Just as I was about to get into the passenger seat of Ms. Hong Mi-ri's car,

"Hey. Ha Young-won, this is a gift for you. It's an unfinished drawing, though."

Kim Yoo-jung noona handed me a drawing that looked like '♂'. I rolled it up carefully and put it away.

Soon, Kim Yoo-jung turned her attention to Ms. Hong Mi-ri.

"Ms. Mi-ri. You look much better than when I saw you a few days ago. When did you get that new butterfly tattoo on your neck?"

Butterfly tattoo?

I was surprised, and so was Ms. Hong Mi-ri. Ms. Hong Mi-ri soon made a "hmm" sound.

"Yoo-jung, you're interesting."

To see the spiritual butterfly that others can't easily see.

Could it be that Kim Yoo-jung noona's talk about seeing the 'essence' was actually true? I thought she was just spouting nonsense because of her art disease.

This was talent as an Observer.

"Yoo-jung, let's have a talk sometime soon."

"I'll be waiting. And Ha Young-won. Come visit again sometime. Anytime. I'll tell you the new door lock password."

Whisper whisper-

The password tickled like a spring breeze.

Vroom-

Finally, the car started. I unfolded the drawing I received from Yoo-jung noona.

The arrow standing tall above the circle looked quite gallant.

Actually, my essence is quite gallant. It was one of my pride points, though I didn't reveal it to others.

Anyway, with that feeling, the car headed towards the mansion where the Chairman was. It was Yoo Dahee's house.

I wonder if I'll get to meet Yoo Dahee...

It's become a bit awkward after avoiding her for a few days.

As I was thinking this, Kwon Suho, sitting in the back seat, asked,

"So. Why was this Ha Young-won recommended as a scholarship student? What kind of talent does he have?"

"Hmm? Well, that's..."

Ms. Hong Mi-ri trailed off. She probably wants to hide what talent I have.

I should step in.

"Hyung. I haven't told anyone until now because I was afraid people would look at me strangely. But I can see things others can't, and sometimes I even see ghosts."

"Really? It sounds like you're lying right now."

"Actually, it's a lie that I sometimes see ghosts. I see ghosts often."

"...Oh, shit. Are ghosts really real?"

"And sometimes when I look at people, I can see the problems they're suffering from. Hyung. You said you've been feeling upset lately, right? Are you having trouble eating by any chance?"

"...Oh, damn. How did you know? Really? Did you hear it from someone? Did you hear it from Eun-jung? Eun-jung. The ugliest one. Remember? She came to our house. You."

"I didn't hear it from Eun-jung noona. I didn't hear it from anyone. I can just sense it."

"Oh..."

Kwon Suho was impressed. He must have realized that my story wasn't a lie.

"Then... can you tell what the problem is? Is it because I ate too much dog meat? What do you think it is? What on earth is the problem? Even doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. Huh?"

What's this about dog meat? It seems Kwon Suho liked dog meat.

According to my guess, 《Quirks》 were related to a person's usual behavior, lifestyle, and underlying psychological factors.

There must be a reason why Kwon Suho developed 《Vegetarianism》.

Dog meat. Whatever it is, Kwon Suho seems to have his own suspicions.

Soon, Kwon Suho leaned forward from the back seat and asked,

"So what do you think? Can this be cured?"

Can it be cured? Easy.

It would be nothing for me to cure Kwon Suho's quirk with just a flick of my finger.

"Well... Hmm."

But I deliberately trailed off. In a way, I was holding Kwon Suho's leash now.

"Hey! Are we keeping secrets from each other?"

What do you mean, 'each other'?

This bastard, he was just screaming about killing me a moment ago, and now he's acting all friendly?

Is this the world of popular kids?

I heard that among popular kids, they date their ex's friends, their friend's exes, and just go around dating each other. It means they're specialized in redefining relationships.

"I really feel like I'm dying. Just smelling meat makes me nauseous and queasy. Even the smell of this car's leather seats... I feel like I'm going to throw up. I can't even stand people's sweat smell or body odor, you know?"

Is it that serious?

It makes sense. Everyone acted like crazy people when they first got their quirks. Jung Sojin was proof of that.

But from observing guys like Park In-bae who got quirks, it seemed that after a few weeks, they gradually 'adapted' to their quirks.

Humans are really amazing. And from what I experienced today, humans can be scarier than ghosts in some ways.

It's been a day full of terrifying things.

"We've arrived."

Anyway, we arrived at that huge mansion again. The terrifying housekeeper ajumma frowned at me.

"You're here again. What trouble did you cause this time?"

She was a really scary ajumma.

Chairman Cheon Dae-gon was asleep, they said. We have to meet him early tomorrow.

"Stay the night. I'll prepare a room for you."

The terrifying housekeeper ajumma prepared a room on the third floor.

I looked around the third floor corridor wondering if Yoo Dahee was there, but she wasn't visible, maybe sleeping.

I felt slightly relieved. I don't know what face I should make when I meet Yoo Dahee.

Of course, there was a downside. I had to sleep in the same room as Kwon Suho.

The room was spacious enough, but I just didn't like being in the same space as this guy.

Kwon Suho, being a popular kid, was more talkative than I expected.

"When I was young, I had a dog, a Golden Retriever. I got it as a gift when I entered elementary school. By the time I was in 6th grade, it had grown almost as big as me. I used to walk it, feed it, bathe it, and even travel with it. Its name was Geumdaeng-i."

"......"

"And on the day I became a middle school student, my father gave me a golf club and told me to hit Geumdaeng-i. I resisted. I got beaten up badly. I was beaten every day. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't die, so I beat Geumdaeng-i mercilessly. It was in so much pain."

It was a terrible story. Why is he telling me this?

Kwon Suho's story continued.

"I had no choice. I had to beat the dog to survive. I beat Geumdaeng-i to death like a real dog, and in a way, I felt relieved. I thought, ah, it's over now. Not knowing that Geumdaeng-i would end up on my dining table the next day. Dog meat. It was really cruel."

I heard that in the past, they used to kill dogs brutally. They would hang the dog and beat it mercilessly with a club.

I've heard that some people who saw this sight would stop eating meat.

"After that, my father brought many dogs and made me beat them to death. When the dogs stopped moving, they would end up on my dining table the next day. If I left any, I would be beaten to death."

It was a bit uncomfortable and terrifying to listen to this one-sided story. But as I listened, I became curious.

"But why did he do that? Why the dogs?"

"They say dogs can see ghosts. If we kill such dogs mercilessly and eat them, wouldn't I become like that too? That's what my father thought. It's crazy talk."

Making someone who can see ghosts...

It's Observer training.

It was clear that the former orphanage director Kwon Oh-sung did this to make his son Kwon Suho an Observer.

"...So did you really start seeing ghosts?"

"No. But at some point, I couldn't get the sound of dogs barking out of my ears. Especially when someone lies, I hear dogs barking. I've gone completely mad. Look at this picture."

The parting gift Kim Yoo-jung gave to Kwon Suho was a picture of dogs. Kwon Suho frowned looking at it.

"I never told anyone about the dogs. That psycho woman. How on earth did she know? You said you can see ghosts, right? What do you think? Are there dogs around me? Do they want to kill me?"

"...I'm not sure about dogs..."

"None of the dogs I beat to death with a golf club ever resisted me. If only they had attacked me, it might have been better. The sound of dogs barking..."

Kwon Suho was a complete madman too. With that kind of home education, he couldn't grow up normally.

If it were me, I would have really hated even looking at meat.

Of course, I didn't want to sympathize with him. This guy was clearly the one who caused Gu Hyena's death and an unforgivable psycho.

Thinking that a lot had happened, I went to sleep to prepare for tomorrow.

Actually, I was supposed to send Jung Sojin and the "Exploration Party" into the corridor today, but a lot had happened and I found it hard to think about various things, so I decided to postpone it to tomorrow.

As I closed my eyes to sleep, I kept hearing the sound of dogs barking, though it might have been my imagination.

Then, when I opened my eyes to a chilling sensation,

"Damn it... What's this?"

For some reason, I was standing in the dark old school building. I had ended up in the corridor even though I hadn't put myself in as a player.

This was a completely unexpected 'variable'.

Why on earth?

"Tick tock tick tock."

Just then. I heard a familiar clock sound from around the corner.

Soon, a pale face with a long neck popped out, its pitch-black eyes curved like crescent moons.

"Hehe. Found you. Hehehe."

So this is the second floor!

I don't know what's going on, but I need to run away first!