A few days later.
Everyone was gathered in the living room. Warren, Max, Derrick, Vin Jin, Sally, and Sujin sat patiently around Seongji Yuk, who looked very tense.
Vin Jin cleared his throat. "Uhm... Teacher... Why have you gathered us like this?"
Seongji Yuk glared at him and pulled out his phone. A photo displayed on the screen—the results of Vin Jin's final exam from middle school. Seeing the results, Vin Jin's face darkened. Except for PE, he had failed every subject.
Vin Jin laughed nervously. "Haha... There might be some mistake... I definitely answered every question."
Seongji Yuk nodded. "Yeah, you did. But you couldn't get even one of them right."
Vin Jin gulped and stayed quiet. Seongji Yuk pulled up another photo on his phone—a student attendance record. In the last three months, Warren had been to school for only two weeks.
Seongji Yuk asked, "Do you want to explain anything? Before that, let me show you another thing."
He switched to another photo—Sally's school attendance. It was the same case for her. Next were Max and Derrick. It was the same for all of them, though at least Max and Derrick had better attendance.
Everyone's faces darkened. Only Sujin remained composed. Warren stood up and came before Seongji. All this time, they had been able to live stably because of Seongji Yuk and Baki. Even with all the money Sally got from rent and what her grandmother sent her, it would be impossible to maintain such a large group.
Warren bowed ninety degrees. "Sorry, hyung. I don't want to study. I want to continue with the Hostel. It's not only me—Sally, Max, and Derrick want the same thing."
Seongji Yuk's expression was complicated. He could clearly see the boy's determination. "Are you sure?"
Warren nodded. Seongji Yuk had no choice but to agree. He looked at Vin Jin. "And you... What do I even do with you? Either you have to repeat the year or transfer to another school. After talking to your class teacher, I found that almost no school will take you in with such grades."
Vin Jin lowered his head. Seongji pressed his throbbing forehead. "There's a vocational school called Jae Won High School. I've talked with them. They'll take you in, but it's in central Seoul. There's another school called Choongang High School which has offered a scholarship to Sujin. So I've decided to move to central Seoul."
Then he looked at Warren and the others. "Baki has decided to move there with everyone. Will you guys come with us?"
Warren shook his head. "I'll stay here with Sally."
Max and Derrick also said, "We'll stay here with Boss."
---
Chungcheong
After investigating Jichang Kwak, Baki learned that after the incident in Seoul, Jichang had retreated to Chungcheong.
Though Baki didn't know why, he was curious about everything—about that red-haired kid called James Lee, about the guy who defeated Jichang Kwak, and mostly, about the person who had previously attacked Hostel. Though he wasn't sure, he felt all these incidents were interconnected.
As he sped down the road, there were no establishments or people in sight. Even the road was void of any vehicles except his. Suddenly, he saw an older man with white hair wearing a green athletic shirt with black stripes on the sleeves and a yellow jacket, pulling a cow along.
He stopped his bike beside the old man. "Hey, grandpa, do you know anyone named Jichang Kwak?"
The old man looked at him, confused, then waved his hands angrily. "Brat, don't disturb me mid-work! I don't know any Jichang Kwak or anyone else."
Baki suddenly felt someone's gaze on him. He looked around but found no one. A knowing smile appeared on his face. He turned to the old man. "Thanks, grandpa!"
With that, he left. Not long after, several large men stopped him on the road. They blocked the path and surrounded him. "Looking for Jichang Kwak?"
Baki grinned and slowly dismounted from the bike. "Yeah. Why? Is there a problem?"
Suddenly one of them punched at his face. Baki grabbed the punch and twisted the man's whole body upside down, slamming him into the ground.
Two more men rushed in. Baki slid forward and hit them in the stomach with body blow punches, sending them flying back. Another swung at Baki's head with a shovel. Baki grabbed the shovel, pulled the man toward him, and sent him flying with a leaping roundhouse kick.
All the men rushed at him together. Baki easily dodged their attacks, jumped onto one man's head, and smashed him headfirst into the ground, creating a crater.
Two men attacked him with shovels. Baki ducked down and countered with an elbow to the chest, sending one flying back. Then he threw a jab, a low kick to the ankles, and a spinning roundhouse kick at three incoming enemies.
Another rushed from behind. Baki twisted aside, grabbed him, and pulled him over his shoulder, smashing him onto the ground on his back.
Within just a few seconds, all the large men were lying on the ground, groaning. Baki shook the dirt from his clothes, walked to one of the guys, and crouched down.
"So? Who sent you? Don't bother lying. I've been very patient, but if you lie... it'll be harmful to yourself."
"He's one of my men." A man wearing a white tank top, camouflage pants, and tan boots said as he walked in.
Baki slowly stood up. "Hmm... You look similar to someone I know, brat. Anyway, what's with you? Why did you send them after me?"
Jihan Kwak didn't answer and instead threw a punch at Baki's face. But before his punch could reach halfway, a fist connected to his stomach. He bent over and coughed up water.
Baki grabbed his hair and tilted his head toward him. "I'm guessing you're Jichang Kwak's brother. But it seems you don't have his talent and patience."
Jihan gritted his teeth and tried to throw another punch, but Baki kneed him in the face. "Tch! Why do you have to be so unruly, brat? I'm a friend of your brother."
Suddenly, a punch smashed at Baki's face. "Leave him!" A muscular man wearing a black shirt and purple camouflage shorts shouted.
Baki caught the punch with his palm and flipped the man upside down, smashing him into the ground.
Jebeom lay on the ground, looking at Baki, who was grinning. "H-He's so strong!"
Jebeom got up and was about to rush at Baki again, but someone stopped him. A tall man wearing a police uniform said, "Jebeom, stop it. You can't win against that man."
Baki grinned as he saw Jichang Kwak. He tossed Jihan aside and walked to Jichang. "Hey, man, what's up? What's with your brothers? Why did they attack me out of nowhere?"
Jichang glanced at the fallen Jihan and sighed. "They're still young and brash. Sorry for their misbehavior. So? What are you doing here?"
Baki answered, "What happened? Why did you leave Seoul?"
Jichang shook his head. "Let's go to our base first and talk there."
Baki threw the key to one of the men groaning on the ground. "Keep my bike safe until I return."
With that, he followed Jichang Kwak to the base.
---
Inside a medicinal bath, Jebeom laughed. "Sorry! We misunderstood. We didn't know you were friends with Jichang."
Baki was in a medicinal bath filled with snakes. "Hahaha! Don't fret about it!"
Then he turned to Jichang, who had changed out of his uniform. "So? Mind telling me now what happened?"
Jichang Kwak nodded. "Do you remember 'him' from Cheonliang?"
Baki questioned, "That red-haired brat? He did this to you?"
Jichang shook his head. "No, but he's involved in it. Do you remember when he talked about the four crews and Charles Choi?"
Baki nodded. "Yeah. He wanted to recruit me into it."
Jichang nodded. "Remember the last time I warned you to stay safe because someone was hunting down the kings? It was that same day I was attacked too. It's all part of a bigger plan. The four crews are tools created by Charles Choi to earn money for his business. Since I was in Seoul at that time, I was one of the obstacles in his path. It was the same case for all the other kings. So Charles Choi hunted down the kings to clear his road."
Baki took in everything and nodded. "But how did he hunt down all the kings? How could it even be possible?"
Jichang Kwak shook his head. "Charles Choi... he has monsters working for him. I don't know why, but those monsters obey him. That kid James Lee—he's just one of them. He alone hunted down all the first-generation kings."
Baki was shocked to hear that. "How? He wasn't that strong at that time. How could he grow so strong so quickly and hunt down the kings?"
Jichang shook his head. "I don't know. And he's just one of the monsters working for Charles. Even the son of the leader of the legendary Fist Gang, Gitae Kim, works for Charles Choi."
Baki scratched his head. "What is this Fist Gang?"
Suddenly, the old man Baki had previously met walked in. "Fist Gang was created by the legendary Gapryong Kim during the pre-generation to fend off the invading Yamazaki clan. And they alone stopped the entire Yakuza and Yamazaki clan from invading South Korea."
Baki was shocked to hear such history. "Is that so? So what are you going to do from now on?"
The old man answered, "I am Noh Bakgu, the driver of Gapryong Kim. We are preparing our revenge on Charles Choi because he is the one responsible for Gapryong Kim's death. He was one of the members of the Fist Gang. Anyone who was part of Gapryong Kim's Fist Gang is obligated to take this revenge."
Jichang Kwak added, "I am indebted to this elder. So I want to help him."
Baki understood everything. He couldn't have imagined that such a large conspiracy was going on.