Geum Sungjae

— Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

The city had long since been divided—not by districts, but by fear. They didn't ask here if you wanted to be part of the Union. You were either in, or sooner or later you'd be broken. Almost all the schools caved in. Almost.

There was only one left. And it was there that the Union climbed again and again, as if testing whether they could hold out any longer.

Gotak stood at the entrance to the schoolyard, lazily rolling a cigarette between his fingers. Nearby, on the steps, Baku was loudly arguing with Jun-tae. Shi-eun was silent, as usual, but his gaze was as if he'd already calculated the outcome of any fight ten steps ahead.

“They’ll come today,” Gotak said without turning around.

"Let them go," Baku chuckled. "They've had enough."

Gotak didn't answer. He looked a little further—to where the street ended and the territory everyone unofficially considered "theirs" began.

Union. Where people feared two names more than the consequences. Baekjin is the boss. And Sungjae is the right hand, which could clench into a fist at any moment... or unclench and let everything go to hell.

No one really understood why he was there at all. Sungjae lived as if there were no rules. One day he'd be beating someone's teeth out for the Union, the next he'd disappear for a day to the computer club, leaving everyone to deal with it without him. Sometimes he'd get his people out of the most dire situations, and sometimes he'd get them into them himself. His mood was like roulette. His words were cursed. His decisions were made with a "fuck it" attitude.

"Listen, Gotak," Baku snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Are you even here?"

• Yes.

• You're kind of weird.

Gotak smiled with the corner of his lips.

— I just know who's coming today.

And as if on cue, silhouettes appeared at the end of the street.

First, a few people from the Union. Sungjae walked last, his hands in his pockets, as if he had no interest in what was going on. His hair was disheveled, his gaze lazy but piercing. He yawned without covering his mouth and said something to someone nearby—obviously with another curse word, because the other man chuckled nervously.

"Oh, fuck, you again," Sungjae drawled lazily, coming closer. "Aren't you tired of getting it?"