[MONDAY]
My arms don't exactly hurt, but they sure feel weird from all that exertion yesterday. I went to work out with Euntae in the morning, and I heard from him that Daniel's condition seemed to be improving.
I got to class early, like I usually do, and went over the material while I waited for class to begin. I saw Jay entering, followed by Mira and Zack (yes, they're still very much a single unit), Yui, Crustal, and all my other classmates other than Daniel. Homeroom began and ended without any drama.
The "drama" began during recess. A student from another class (a freshman, I heard from the others) appeared together with Zoe, and they sat together at their desk. This guy, it seemed to me, was invading her personal space a little, but she let him.
Come to think of it, Zoe used to come to our store quite often, every time Dan was around, and stopped coming a day after Dan disappeared. Zoe had told me on the last day of her visit that she thinks Dan must've returned to his home to take a break from everything. She looked concerned, but I didn't hear from her again.
And here she is, sitting together (or rather under) this new guy, inside our class, though. Everyone seemed to be worried; this guy was apparently a very problematic one, and there was a confrontation between him and Zack, which ended in Zoe dragging him out of the class with her.
I was still confused as to what was going on, and was told by Mira that Zoe and "Logan" started dating out of the blue. Well, wasn't that rather quick, though? I've heard and actually thought that she's a bit shallow from my initial impressions of her, but whether she's confirming it or going against it (this Logan guy doesn't exactly fall into what's socially considered to be "a handsome man"), this going-out-with-someone-out-of-the-blue thing sure is weird. Well, her life, her choice, I suppose.
___________
'OHHH!'
That's how it was. Zoe was dating Logan to protect Dan from bullying.
That guy, Logan, knew Dan since they were kids, and he used to bully him for a long time.
Dan moved him, partly because of that. I can't imagine how terrible it must've been to move all the way over here, to have him follow Dan here, and to relive it all over again.
Most importantly, Daniel's awake!
I just heard from Dan. He's resting at their home. I guess I'll see him tomorrow at school.
I had to take a detour on my way back home, because I saw a group of guys stopping random people and spray-painting 'X's on their shirts. I only saw them from afar, and they looked like trouble. I didn't want to get involved, so I quietly left.
.
.
.
I had talked with my parents, my brother, and I just hung up the call with Aunty. As expected, I got scolded for getting myself into unnecessary trouble. And I didn't even tell her the main part-
You know, the part where Mr. Kim "hired" me, and I will probably be associating with him for a bit.
Don't get me wrong, it's not because I'm overconfident in my abilities to escape death at the hands of thugs; it's just that after thinking sufficiently over it, it seemed to me that this could be the opportunity to get some information about this that the police or other elders possibly cannot. Especially after visiting Jiho in prison and hearing how the police can't get involved directly in the matter due to lack of evidence, I thought perhaps that I could get some information out of this (safely, of course) and then tell her.
She, of course, wouldn't allow it if she heard of this, so this is a gamble I'm making here. I know I probably shouldn't, but if I see a chance to resolve a situation, the kind that doesn't come by on a daily basis, I should probably take it, right?
(A/N: For any normal person who is not inside a fabricated reality: NO!)
Now, if my grades suddenly started dropping, of course everyone would be suspicious, I gotta keep it all together.
________________________
I reached the address at which I was instructed to come by boss. I met up with him a few more times after that day, and he taught me a lot more things. It was quite different from what I had imagined; he didn't go about it in a structured way. Whatever was taught was done on the basis of usefulness. 'This is to assist in your work, I wasn't planning to train you into my successor or anything, not to say I think you have the potential for that. Hahaha': I remember him saying.
'Whatever did he mean by "his successor", though? Was he just making a joke or did it carry some other meaning?' As I was thinking about this, my phone vibrated.
"Come inside. 7th floor."
'Am I supposed to go inside this building now? And what does he mean by 7th floor? 7th floor, where? Which room? And do I just enter like that into such a building, wouldn't they have security?'
My phone vibrated again. A photo of a card. "Show this at the reception." Well, okay, that settles it then.
I did as I was told and was shown inside. I entered the lift wearing a mask and pressed 7.
The lift stopped at the seventh floor, and I stepped out. As I did, I noticed why he didn't specify '7th floor where'. The room was the only thing in there, excluding the balcony on the other side.
I knocked on the door. No response. I sent him a message saying I was outside, and there's still no reply. Did he call me here to mess with me =_=
'Well, he's boss and I'm me.' I decided to wait outside and proceeded to call him this time. Nothing. After two unsuccessful attempts, I finally had enough.
"Excuse me, I'm entering." I said as I pushed past the door. I stepped into what was definitely a huge room with a set of large furniture. What's more, there's money lying around the floor. Currency of small denominations, piled up together all over the floor.
'Is this with how little regard they see money?'
"Boss? Are you in here?" He should've been, since he asked me to come up here. But then, where is he?
I moved further into the room, and sure enough, there he was, lying on the couch.
Unconscious.
'Is he alright-'
"Are you alright? Mr. Goo? Hello-"
I walked closer to him and that's when I saw the countless bottles of alcohol laid out in front of him.
'Ow.'
He passed out from drinking-
'Why did he call me if he was planning on passing out from drinking? Wasn't he sober when he texted me?
Drinking? Is he even an adult?'
I had sudden flashbacks to a day when that Gun guy was trying to buy alcohol and refused to give me an ID when I asked.
Then again, what was I even expecting? These guys are proper gangsters who are illegally extorting money out of teens. It shouldn't be surprising if he's illegally drinking alcohol while he's at it.
But why am I having to deal with this?
Well, of course because I agreed to do this =_=
There's no one to blame but me T_T
No but seriously, though-
"Mr. Goo, boss, hello? Can you hear me?"
'Should I try sprinkling wate-'
"AHH F*CK YOU TOO GUN I'LL TAKE YOUR F*CKING EYES OUT!"
"Ahh!" I screamed in surprise.
"Who...........is thAT?" He says in a drunken-person-voice.
"Umm hello? You'd asked me to come here, just a while ago, do you remember? Boss?"
"Oh....it's you..."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"...."
"...."
"You know what, I think I'll come at another time." Drunk people are scary. I have experienced encountering one when I was younger, and that did not end beautifully. I should probably just go.
"Wait, get me a glass of water...Kyra."
🥲
I looked around the room for water. There were several bottles of mineral water sitting on the table. I rinsed a glass at the kitchenette, poured water into it, and took it to him.
He accepted the water and started sipping. Suddenly, halfway through, he abruptly dropped the glass, dashed towards the sink. The glass hit the floor but luckily didn't shatter, thanks to the carpet. Nonetheless, water spilled everywhere.
"What's happening?"
It seems he's now vomiting, expelling all the alcohol from his system. It's rather unpleasant to witness.
To think this is just the beginning of this day—how tiring.
The God Dogs are fighting J High now in the webtoon, I contemplated for long what to write, hope you like it.
Thank you for reading.