Near the Academy, in a busy district.
Students from the Academy were coming out of the shops.
Shinnoda, Yang Min-seo, Park Hayeon, and Hitomi were returning from their visit to a karaoke room.
“Going to karaoke was fun, although it was my first time. We should definitely come here again!”
“Ugh, I’m all sweaty!”
“It was really fun!”
Stretching their bodies, they exchanged casual chatter. Yang Min-seo had mostly sung calm songs, while the others livened up the atmosphere.
Shinnoda, in particular, sang ballads very well.
“By the way, Shinnoda, you really sing well!”
“You’re right. Although I don’t know much about music, the manager even gave a bonus after hearing you sing. That’s proof you impressed them.”
“Mr. Shinnoda, you were amazing━!”
They marveled at Shinnoda’s unexpected talent, praising him. Fighting wasn’t all he was good at.
“Hmm.”
Shinnoda slightly blushed.
He usually couldn’t sing well, after all.
‘Actually, this isn’t really my skill—it’s the real Shinnoda’s talent.’
‘Shinnoda’ originally dreamed of becoming a singer or an idol, like most delinquents of his age. Because of that, he practiced a lot, developing pretty decent singing skills.
As they walked together on the street, Hitomi waved upon spotting a familiar face.
“Isiah-senpai! Hi!”
She called out after spotting Isiah leaving a nearby arcade, where she had been playing rhythm games—a hobby of hers.
“NYAAH? MEOW MEOW!”
Isiah reciprocated the wave.
Hitomi had significant social charm, quickly becoming one of the school’s top ‘insiders’ and maintaining regular contact with Shinnoda’s acquaintances. This is how she and Isiah became acquainted.
Isiah quickly rushed to Shinnoda, pulling out a tablet from her arms. She turned it on and typed out a sentence.
“Hey! What were you all up to?”
“We just came back from karaoke. In hindsight, we should’ve invited you too, Isiah-senpai.”
Shinnoda mentioned this with a slightly apologetic expression, and Isiah nodded.
“< sniff > Next time, let me join you!”
“By the way, senpai, can you sing?”
Without thinking, Shinnoda voiced the question that came naturally to him, inadvertently hurting Isiah’s feelings.
“Oops, sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you.”
But once words are spoken, they can’t be taken back.
“GYAAH!”
Isiah, with her fiery glare and fangs bared, lunged toward Shinnoda in a playful bite.
“Ahhh.”
Immediately, a cat punch landed on his chest. Shinnoda berated himself over his careless words as his skin was scratched by her sharp nails.
Isiah quickly typed an angry message on her tablet.
“How could you say that? That’s so mean! Even someone like me wants to try karaoke someday….< sniff >”
Isiah’s eyes filled with tears. Seeing this, Shinnoda remembered her backstory about being bullied in the past, and he felt sorry for her.
“NYAANG?”
With the intention of comforting her for his previous hurtful words, Shinnoda hugged Isiah and gently patted her head. He thought that since she admired the Dark Knight, she might feel soothed this way.
In the process, Shinnoda subtly indulged in his own desires by gently teasing Isiah’s cat ears, covered in soft fur, which flattened and popped back up from his touch.
‘So soft and squishy.’
Shinnoda smiled with satisfaction.
On the other hand, Isiah was just plain delighted.
‘Shinnoda… no, Master Dark Knight hugged me and patted my head…! I’m so happy!’
Isiah’s trembling tail showed her excitement as she wore a blissful expression.
In contrast, Park Hayeon’s expression grew darker.
‘She’s multiplying again…’
She had an odd feeling that the number of women around Shinnoda kept increasing. When they first met, Park Hayeon thought Shinnoda only had her as a close female friend…
‘What am I to Shinnoda?’
Initially, she believed her position as someone who lived together gave her an advantage over others, but the appearances of Laura, Alpha, and Omega shattered that thought.
‘Shinnoda is just a kind person. Asking me to stay at his place probably stems from pity rather than any feelings for me…’
Park Hayeon felt slightly dejected.
“See you.”
“Bye-bye!”
“NYAANG!”
That’s how they reconciled with a hug and Isiah continued on her way. In truth, she wanted to join the group but felt uncomfortable because of her awkward relationship with Yang Min-seo.
“How about we take some sticker photos at the arcade? Friendship photos!”
“Sure.”
“If you wish, Ashikaga-san.”
They headed toward the arcade where Isiah had been.
On the way, Park Hayeon subtly walked closer to Shinnoda and held his hand.
Shinnoda gave her a look that said, “What?” but Park Hayeon, with her face turning red, looked at the floor.
“Eh… Noda-kun and Park-san are holding hands. What’s going on between you two?”
“Huh.”
Park Hayeon let go out of shock and could only stare silently at Shinnoda’s face.
Shinnoda sighed softly.
“What? We’re just friends, best friends, you know. Is it so bad that friends hold hands?”
“Hehe, what? Then I want to too!”
Hitomi, making a playful face, grabbed Shinnoda’s other hand and moved forward. Shinnoda, though unsure, walked along with her.
A large arcade.
The entire four-story building was an amusement center.
They entered the sticker photo booth machine, inserted their money, and took photos. Shinnoda stood in the center, while the others posed beside him.
“Hyeon, be cuter! Why do you act like a guy when you have such a feminine figure?”
Behind Park Hayeon, Hitomi suddenly grabbed her chest as she spoke.
“H-Hyeon? Rather than that, why are you grabbing my…!”
With a beet-red face, Park Hayeon pushed Hitomi’s mischievous hands away.
“Hmm.”
Shinnoda turned his head to avoid the scene.
“Ashikaga-san, isn’t it better to maintain some dignity?”
Yang Min-seo, also blushing, shook her head in disapproval, clearly uncomfortable with what she had witnessed. To her, Hitomi was nothing short of shocking. She’d seen plenty of spoiled rich kids addicted to drugs, but never someone as wild and unpredictable as Hitomi.
“EHET. There’s no law saying daughters of reputable families must behave like suffocating noblewomen. You too, Min-seo, should show your true self, your Honne!”
Click. Click.
They took both group and individual snapshots. Hitomi edited most of them. Initially, her unfamiliarity with Korean caused some trouble, but thanks to her prior experience with similar machines in Japan, she soon grew adept at using it.
Vrrrrr. The machine began printing the photos.
“Alright, let’s each take these as tokens of our friendship!”
“Sure.”
Shinnoda handed Park Hayeon her share of the photos and carelessly stuffed the others into his bag.
“Ashikaga-san is really skilled at this. Looks like you did a lot of this in Japan?”
“Yep! I love taking pictures!”
Yang Min-seo slightly marveled at her reply, and Hitomi answered cheerfully. She had a habit of collecting photos with her friends.
Hitomi pocketed the prints into her bag.
*
In a bustling area of Incheon filled with motels and hotels.
Trash and cigarette butts littered the streets, with gangs of delinquents roaming and smoking.
Inside a 24-hour convenience store of a well-known brand, Hwang Hyo-joo bought drinks and snacks.
“Miss, would you mind waiting inside for a moment? I seem to have eaten something bad for lunch, and my stomach’s been aching since.”
Clutching his stomach, the bodyguard asked for a brief moment in the restroom, which Hwang Hyo-joo acknowledged with a nod.
“Absolutely, under no circumstances should you leave the store. And if anything happens, scream loudly!”
“I said, don’t worry, it’s not a lawless area. We’re in the middle of the city.”
After much cautionary advice, the bodyguard disappeared from view. As soon as he was gone, Hwang Hyo-joo seized the moment to step outside.
“How long has it been since I’ve walked alone?”
Hwang Hyo-joo strolled the streets, observing the rows of motels and women in revealing outfits.
Then, a group of delinquents noticed her walking alone and approached.
“Hey there, lady. I instantly fell in love. Could you give me your number?”
“What? No.”
Hwang Hyo-joo gently waved her hand to indicate refusal.
But the delinquent pressed on.
“Oh come on. Let’s just talk. Maybe grab a coffee.”
“I’m sorry…”
She gave a small shrug, and the young man frowned, clearly irritated.
“Ugh, what the hell. Why so high and mighty? What’s with that stuck-up attitude?”
“Excuse me? Are you crazy? If you keep this up, I’ll call the police. Leave now.”
Hwang Hyo-joo was dumbfounded by the sudden attitude change and, prepared to scream if someone touched her, returned to the convenience store.
“KYAAK.”
The gang quickly closed in, grabbing her hair and dragging her into an alleyway. Hwang Hyo-joo was pulled along helplessly.
“Damn, what are we going to do with this chick?”
“We could take her to Jae-hoon’s place and… you know.”
“Is his little brother not at home right now?”
“Ah, whatever.”
The gang unceremoniously dropped her on the dimly lit, empty alley floor, and began beating her. Hwang Hyo-joo’s pristine skin was scraped, her nasal bone broken, and her body was bruised in blue-black patches.
“Don’t stomp on her face, though. Whoever knows who this woman is.”
“Sorry, sorry. She kept trying to escape, so she got herself beaten up. Dumb broad.”
“Such a cocky attitude for nothing.”
They lifted her to bring her back to their hideout.
At that moment, footsteps approached from the alley leading to the main road. Two people slowly revealed themselves.
It was getting close to evening, and as the sun sank behind them, their facial features and attire were hard to discern.
“What the hell, where are these kids from?”
“Hey! Go screw yourselves and scram.”
CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
The crunch of broken glass underfoot was followed by the appearance of a blond-headed delinquent and a petite girl with tidy silver hair.
A very mismatched pair.
Shinnoda and Yang Min-seo were on their way to the Red Knight’s base in Incheon. They had some spare time before nightfall, so they were wandering the streets when they heard a scream and decided to investigate.
