Chapter 22 The white dwarf

"Are you Yuri Lee?" Young Yoon Shin growled. "I'm asking if you're Yuri Lee, bitch!"

She was afraid and started at the ground "Um, s- sorry... Yeah, I am."

"Hahahha, seriously? You attacked someone with that body of yours?" All three of them surrounded her. "Hahah, you're fucking crazy."

Young Yoon Shin was enraged. "Honey, is she the one that bumped into you?" - "Yes, that bitch bumped into me on purpose when I was just talking!" She hid behind the three guys. "Hey, that's what she told me. Got anything to say about that?" His gaze was cold and the veins on his face and neck were popping out.

"I... It wasn't anything like that!! I bumped into her on accident because I'm big..."

"Oh? So you admit you bumped into her? Wow. You think you're such a thug?! How scary!" He and his laughing girlfriend stepped closer, cornering her. "It's just too bad for you that I'm a thug too. So tell me! What're you gonna do? Cat got your tongue? Are you mute?"

She stared at him wide-eyed, not even blinking. He lunged at her with a wide palm.

"YOUNG YOON SHIN! WAIT!!"

Stopping before he hit her he looked at the guy in front of him. It was Joon-Woo who arrived just in time. Panting he began talking "I heard noises... And came just in case. What're you doing?"

Yuri still hid her face to avoid randomly getting punched. "Joon..." Young Yoon didn't expect him to be here. "Hey, Joon-Woo!" They all said it at the same time. "Aren't you supposed to be at the dojo? Why are you here?",

"I saw Tae Yang heading there before",

"Yo Joon-Woo, did you cut class to hang out with us?" Sung-Wook Jung wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"No fucking way. Why are you beating up a girl anyway?"

Young Yoon sighed. "I'm so fucking pissed man. That fat bitch hit my girl!" She obviously stood beside her boyfriend again acting like a victim. "What? She hit you for no reason?" he then asked her.

But he knew. 'Yuri wouldn't have done that. So how do I get her out of this?'

"Yo, let it go. She probably didn't mean it."

"Easy for you to say since it didn't involve your girl. I'm teaching this bitch a lesson today for sure, so don't stop me! You asshole." The others laughed.

Joon-Woo glanced at her with a worried face. 'Fuck! Why, of all people, did she have to get caught up with Young Yoon!!'

"Joon-Woo...", she said with a low voice.

'How am I supposed to help you!? They're my friends, what can I do? If I help Yuri.. Young Yoon will get angry. I want to be a part of this group.' Joon-Woo at that moment was stuck. 'These are my friends. We've spent so much time together... If I had to choose one side...'

It was a dead end. 'Of course I'd choose Young Yoon.'

"Yo bitches like her don't even deserve to get beat up. She's so fucking ugly. She does thug shit looking like that?"

She desperately looked at Joon-Woo who said all of this into her face. He grinded his teeth. 'The only thing I can do for her...'

"Fuck..." You could see the pain and anger in his eyes. "If you don't want to get your ugly ass beaten, you'll get your fucking face outta my way."

'... Is to let her get out of this situation.'

The other guys burst out in laughter. "Fuck Joon-Woo! That's so cold!"

"So fucking justified."

'I'm really sorry, Yuri. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have become friends with you", he closed his eyes. 'Sorry...'

She turned around with a wan expression and started trudging away.

'I felt a crazy sense of guilt.'

Yuri Lee stopped one more time. "It's ok, Joon-Woo. Also..." she turned her face, tears running down her face. "Also... Thanks for everything, Joon-Woo."

'Yuri had...'

'Already understood.'

"Yo, why're you letting her go?!" Young Yoon complained. "Leave her alone. You can tell she's a loser. Don't dirty your hands."

He still wasn't going to calm down anytime soon and snapped. "Bullshit! That bitch needs a lesson! Wait here, I'll go get-"

Finally, Joon-Woo snapped and yelled "FUCK! Just leave her the fuck alone, you asshole!"

The two other guys and Young Yoon halted in response to this unexpected reaction.

'Darn it. I overreacted.'

"I'm busy. Let's just go to the internet cafe. I've gotta go to cram school later."

'It should be fine... We're friends after all.'

"Ah... Right", Young Yoon touched his head. "Wow, you scared me. What's with your shouting?" He then looked up, stared at Joon-Woo with his cold eyes. "You think you're tough now? Huh? Fucker? Crazy piece of shit. You think you can mess with me since we let you chill with us?"

"Hey! What the fuck is wrong with you?" the other one said. "Grab him!" They tried stopping Young Yoon from completely going ham on Joon-Woo.

He stood there like he was just betrayed. He felt empty.

'I finally knew then.'

"This puny bitch ass motherfucker!"

'He wouldn't lunge at me like that if we were really friends.'

"Hey! You idiot!"

"Stop it! Bitch."

'If we were really friends, I wouldn't be so scared. I was wrong from the start. By wanting to be a part of this group I was at the bottom of the food chain.'

"You stupid dickhead! What if Tae Yang sees you?!"

Young Yoon flinched.

'This group, from the start... Was just a group of thugs centered around Tae Yang Lee as their leader.'

"Shit!", he walked past Joon-Woo. "Yo Joon-Woo Choi, wipe that stupid look off your face, or you're dead."

"Fucking shit." They all left.

He was angry at himself. 'How pathetic could I be?' he thought. 'I blabbed on about three-leaved clovers and all that...'

Staring at the ground he clenched his teeth, crying. '...But in the end, I trampeled all over that three-leaved clover.

Back in school he wanted to meet one specific person. 'Tae Yang... He should be on my side, though...'

'I had always believed that Tae Yang would help me.'

Standing in front of the door, having the door handle in his grip, he eavesdropped on them. "Hahahaha! Oh damn! Fucking funny as hell",

Haha! So I called her to beat the crap out of her... Her name's Yuri Lee."

As Joon-Woo listened to what he said his heart began racing and the anger in his eyes revealed itself.

"But she ain't some tinkerbell. More like a tanker truck! Hahaha! But then Joon-Woo came out of fucking nowhere whining about wanting to go to the internet cafe."

Tae Yang, as his friend, of course defended him. "Hey, let him be. He hasn't had the time to go to the internet cafe these days."

"Shit! If it wasn't for him, keke..." Young Yoon was leaning against something while talking to the sitting Tae Yang. "Then what? Sounds like you might've gotten yourself beat up instead, hahaha." Tae Yang and Young Yoon burst out laughing. Then he said "Yo! You're weak as hell" with a serious face.

At that moment the door opened. "Tae Yang Lee!" It was Joon-Woo. "You! Don't you know who she is?"

"Joon-Woo, you just got here? What're you talking about? Not feeling well?" Tae Yang greeted him like usual, like friends would. Young Yoon on the other hand wasn't very amused at his sight. "That jerk is at it again..."

"Don't you know who you're laughing about?"

Tae Yang then understood how serious Joon-Woo was. "How should I? Didn't you say she was Yuri Lee? From class three or something?"

He still was mad. "How can you... Not know who she is?"

"What? I'm not a god! I can't remember everyone!" It then struck him. "Oh! Now I remember! It's that girl! The one from your cram school!" While Tae Yang remained calm and in a good mood, Joon-Woo was the complete opposite.

"IF YOU REMEMBER, THEN YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT! YOU ASSHOLE!!"

'I was channeling all my anger at how pathetic I was the day before.'

Now they both got loud. "I'm not even fucking close to her! Why am I supposed to give a damn about her feelings?!" - "You said it yourself!! A friend's friend is your friend!" Tae Yang's eyes glowed red. His blue. "Then should I embarrass you in front of her? I said that because she's your friend!"

"So it was a lie?! And now you're all laughing together about her?!"

"You're acting all weird about it!! You're my friend, not hers!"

Joon-Woo facepalmed and covered his face, leaning away his head held high. "Damn it."

All the students in the classroom were watching them argue. Tae Yang observed them for a hot second, then jumped out of his seatvand shouted "Fuck!!" He grabbed Joon-Woo "So? What're you gonna do?"

Tae Yang's face wasn't one of a friend anymore. It was cold and he was enraged. "Take it easy. Want me to kill you?"

Joon-Woo just stood there.

'This asshole at the top of the food chain... Is self-conscious of those at the very bottom, enough to get mad at me.'

Then, he arrogantly glared at Tae Yang. "Kill me then, motherfucker."

'It was pathetic.'

~Chapter 22, end.

Merry Christmas everyone!