Questism and Lookism: Am I Suhyeon Kim?

The street echoed with every blow. Pah! Pah! Pah! Seok Kang wasn't fighting to win... he was punishing him, punch after punch, without mercy.

"Are you the dog Suhyeon Kim sent to stop me? Who do you think I am?" he spat contemptuously on his worn clothes, as his fist crashed into Hyeondong's bloodied face again.

Hyeondong's body no longer looked like that of a fighter. It was a bag of purple flesh, trembling, covered in sweat and blood. His face was deformed by bruises: one eye closed, his lip split, his breathing labored.

"You're nothing but trash. I can't believe they sent a guy like you after me," Seok shouted, then kicked him in the face.

Blood splattered on the walls. He fell. Once... twice... three times.

Seok's laughter echoed in the night. But he wasn't smiling. There was no pleasure on his face. Only rage in his closed eyes, a very spiteful rage.

Seok Kang was taking revenge. For losing the title. For losing South Gangbuk. For being displaced by someone like Suhyeon Kim.

And now, this idiot... this untalented soldier dared to stand in his way.

"How pathetic," he said as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up with one hand. "Do you really think that stopping me will change anything? Idiot, understand once and for all that you will achieve nothing by standing up!"

Hyeondong coughed. Blood poured from his mouth. But then he muttered with effort:

"My lord... told me to protect this place."

And he struggled to his feet again.

But with one swift movement, Seok... broke his nose with a punch, causing Hyeondong to fall to the ground.

But he crawled, trembling, until he was on his knees again, watching the blood drip from his head.

"I... I know I can't beat you. But..." he coughed, "if I can put up a fight... maybe I can buy some time. My lord... is still fighting for Gangbuk. I have to hold out... until the end."

Another blow came quickly. The sound was terrifying, Hyeondong's jaw twisted slightly, and he spat blood on the ground.

"Why do you insist, you bastard?! You can't even speak properly anymore!" he said, frowning.

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE, YOU FOOL!?"

Hyeondong, breathing heavily, smiled from the ground with bloodied teeth.

"Why? Because... when I see Suhyeon... I see someone who doesn't leave us behind... who fights as if we were his family. I... want to grow up alongside him," he coughed again, "even if I have no talent... even if I have to crawl... even if I have to work twice or three times as hard to catch up with the others..."

Seok kicked him in the stomach. The air left him. His body crumpled.

"Aaahhh!"

But even so, Hyeondong muttered, enduring the pain:

"I won't let you pass before my lord... not without fighting until I die."

"You're nobody!" Seok shouted, stomping on his back in rage.

"You're just a weak obstacle!"

"Then..." Hyeondong spat, his voice trembling, "...I'll be the best obstacle I can be."

"If you love your master so much, bitch, die for him!!" Seok said as he grabbed Hyeondong's head and slammed it against the pavement.

The seconds felt like an eternity. Blood splattered everywhere. Hyeondong's body stopped shaking. Her skin was cold... her vision blurred... and then she closed her eyes.

She thought of Suhyeon. She thought of that time when she thought about giving up, and Suhyeon reached out to his.

(Hyeondong, don't give up. Don't let others see you like this. Be strong.)

And he smiled.

"I'm sorry, sunbae... I couldn't do it. I failed you. I hope you can forgive me," he thought, accepting his defeat.

But then, something pierced him.

A strange, warm, bright energy... that wasn't his own.

His eyes flew open. A black and gold light surrounded him for a second, as if his body had been blessed by something invisible to the human eye.

His body... was changing, and his breathing stabilized.

The pain disappeared completely from his body.

Enhancement System Activated – Loyalty Core Recognized

[Hyeondong Lee]

Height: 179 cm

Weight: 75 kg

Strength: SSR

Speed: SR

Potential: A (Ascended)

Intelligence: B

Endurance: SR

Hyeondong slowly stood up, no longer with difficulty, but with a strength that overflowed from within him. Seok frowned. That aura... that look.

He ran towards him, arms outstretched, looking to suplex him. But Hyeondong saw it coming... slowly. And for the first time, he was the one who struck first.

Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah! Pah!

Five consecutive blows! Fast and accurate. Seok backed away, surprised, blood spattering from his eyebrow.

"This is for Suhyeon," Hyeondong said, with contained rage.

"For everything you don't understand."

His blows weren't perfect, but they carried more than just technique: conviction.

"Feel the pain I had to endure!!!" he shouted as he hit him from all directions, leaving Seok no time to react.

Seok launched one last desperate attack, but Hyeondong dodged it with the slightest movement of his neck, as if he already knew where it was going.

His gaze was not that of just any boy. It was that of someone who had hit rock bottom and yet was still standing.

Hyeondong grabbed him by the neck.

"This isn't about revenge... Seok," he said, breathing heavily.

He lifted him up with a strong grip.

"It's because of everything you've done to me... to everyone else..."

And in an instant, he slammed him to the ground.

Pah!

The noise echoed throughout the room. Seok tried to get up, but his body wouldn't respond. His pride was shattered before he could do anything.

Hyeondong fell to his knees beside him, exhausted, trembling inside. He looked up at the sky, his eyes glazed over.

"I didn't get stronger. I just stopped running... to protect what really matters."

Knowing he had won. He really had won.

Hyeondong stood up more confident than ever. And for a brief moment, a purple trail appeared in his eyes, which vanished instantly.

"You said... you would beat me, right?" Hyeondong asked, spitting blood from his mouth onto the floor, his breathing a little calmer, but his eyes burning with confidence.

Seok Kang did not respond. His gaze, somber, fell under the weight of defeat on his shoulders.

Hyeondong smiled, barely. A trickle of blood ran down his chin, but he didn't care. And then, with a big smile, he replied:

"Nah, I'd win."

---

Author's Note:

Lately, I haven't been feeling very well health-wise, and work has been piling up, which keeps me quite busy.

Because of that, the frequency of my chapter uploads will decrease a bit. I hope you understand.

Thank you for your patience and support! :]