Chapter 14: Join Me, Joonwoo

Suho Kang's POV

"Kim Heejin?" I said instinctively, observing the familiar face behind me.

"I see you remembered my name," she said with a satisfied tone.

"Hard to forget a face with such a full of herself expression," I said before continuing on my way.

"Wait!" she said, walking slightly faster to catch up with me.

"I thought you were supposed to be expelled," she said beside me.

"It was temporary, and after my legal guardian was summoned, I was able to return to high school," I replied without much concern.

"I see," she said in a low voice.

I didn't know why she was currently following me during my journey, but I must admit that the silence during our walk was surprisingly pleasant.

"I wanted to know... Are you close to Yu Dayeon?" Kim Heejin suddenly asked, slightly hesitant.

Looking at her and her face clearly troubled by my silence, I quickly understood the situation, and frankly, it was a completely messed up situation.

I'm literally the guy who sent her older brother to the hospital, and she's starting to have a crush on me? Seriously?

"I'm just friends with her brother Yu Ijin, but I've had the opportunity to talk to her several times," I said, trying to keep my calm.

The last time I rejected a rich high school girl's romantic feelings, I ended up kidnapped and killed.

Although I'm much stronger now, I'm going to avoid playing with fire this time.

"Great, we should go to karaoke sometime with my friends," she said, turning to me.

"How about this weekend?" she said, blocking my path.

I couldn't help but sigh. Girls these days are downright aggressive when they're interested in a guy, or is it just me who attracts the aggressive ones?

"I don't think I'd be welcome among your friends. I did send your brother to the hospital, after all," I said, walking around her to continue on my way.

"We should rather have a duo outing this weekend, if you're okay with that, of course," I said, glancing over my shoulder.

"Uh... yes... yes, that's perfect. See you this weekend," she said, leaving without looking back.

"She forgot that we'll definitely see each other tomorrow since we attend the same high school," I said to myself, watching her quickly move away as if she had just pulled off a heist.

Although I find Kim Heejin pretty, I can't help but see her as a high school student despite her being 18, even though I'm the minor here with my 16-year-old body.

But I'm still willing to be friends with her to start. She'll end up becoming a beautiful MILF with time anyway.

There's also the fact that the path I've currently chosen in life is extremely dangerous. I'll definitely need personal connections with government members to get out of trouble sometimes.

"Kim Heejin's father will do. I'll just have to 'secure' some compromising information on him later," I said after reflection.

Controlling his daughter won't guarantee total support from him. To have him under control and avoid certain troubles later, I need to obtain this compromising information.

…

"Nice to meet you, my name is Joonwoo Choi," declares a slightly skinny teenager in front of me.

Finally, I was able to reach Joonwoo's location without any problem, and he was waiting for me with Hansol.

"You were slightly late, boss~," Hansol declares with a slightly teasing tone when saying the word "boss."

It seems that after our visit to Chunwoong, she has started to recognize me more as the new leader.

"I was busy with someone," I said simply, taking a seat.

"Hi Joonwoo, I'm Suho Kang," I finally introduced myself to Joonwoo, who thought I was deliberately ignoring him.

"What did Hansol tell you before I arrived?" I said, signaling a waiter to take my order.

"She mentioned that you could help me change," he said, clenching his fists under the table.

"Oh... I see," I said simply before continuing to express myself.

"You're a victim of bullying, Joonwoo, aren't you?" I asked, looking directly into his eyes.

My words seem to have hit the mark, judging by the expression on Joonwoo's face.

"Don't worry, I don't judge you and I never will," I said, taking some coffee brought by a waiter.

"Ouch... damn, that hurts," I said because of the pain in my mouth inflicted by the hot coffee, and the injury Hansu gave me doesn't help.

"Sorry, I was saying that I wouldn't judge you," I said, giving a slight smile to try to relax him.

"It started in middle school, I was friends with..." Joonwoo began to want to tell his life story, but I interrupted him by raising my hand.

"Is there a problem?" he said, disconcerted.

"I'm not here to listen to your life story, Joonwoo, but to help you. In exchange, join me and enter my organization," I said, avoiding using a word like "gang" to describe the ghost troop.

"I... I'm not sure," he said, clearly troubled.

"I told you he was a loser, Suho. We're wasting our time," Hansol suddenly declares.

It seems she has lost patience, but I decided to ignore her harsh words and continue my conversation with Joonwoo.

"Do you know why I didn't want to listen to your story, Joonwoo?" I asked, forcing myself to drink my coffee.

"I don't know," he said in a low voice.

"It's because it's not important to me and your surroundings," I said, a half-truth.

Yes, it's not important for me to listen to him since I already know him, but for his family and his geek friend, it's another story.

"So the question is, Joonwoo: what's most important to you right now in this world?" I said firmly to him.

"I want... I want to have friends, a girlfriend, to be able to go to high school without fear..." Joonwoo said loudly, emptying his heart.

"A real loser," Hansol mutters, rolling her eyes, but I could see that her gaze had softened slightly while looking at Joonwoo.

Joonwoo's voice ended up attracting the attention of other customers towards us, but I didn't care.

"I can promise you safety at school and to be your friend if you join me, Joonwoo, but as for a girlfriend... Sorry," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Sniff sniff, okay I'm in," he said after composing himself and wiping the tears from under his eyes.

"Great, to celebrate this, delete that stupid chat application and let's eat something delicious," I said, signaling another waiter to place an order.

"Do I really have to delete the application?" he asks, clearly hesitant.

"Wow, you really are addicted," Hansol declares, shaking her head in disappointment.

"You don't have to, you'll do it when you feel ready, but I just think that thing will only bring you trouble," I said, reassuring him but still warning him against the application.

In the end, I ate with Joonwoo and Hansol. Afterwards, Joonwoo left in a good mood.

Of course, I gave him the address of Hansu Seong's dojang before he left, but I'm just doing it as a temporary measure.

I prefer that he train under Samdak's tutelage rather than Hansu Seong's. I should also train him personally.

"So, what's the program?" Hansol asks, stretching slightly.

"We're going to find our temporary teacher for training and call PNG... I mean Myeong Seong," I said, walking towards Chunwoong.