Gangdong, Seoul
Daniel walked up to an abandoned warehouse called "Youth Building."
He pressed his hands against the large metal door and shoved it open.
Inside, several figures were waiting for him. The Hero of Burn Knuckles, Vasco. The Boxing Genius, Zack Lee. Young Master, Jay Hong. And lastly, the Sun of Ansan, Hudson Ahn.
Daniel stopped in front of them and said seriously, "1st Affiliate won't be easy."
Vasco immediately responded, his expression just as serious. "You're right. Eugene's bet everything he has on protecting the 1st Affiliate too."
Hearing Vasco actually sound intelligent for once, Zack was shocked. "Vasco, thi—!"
Daniel cut him off. "Vasco's right. Eugene must've reinforced the 1st Affiliate's forces. We don't know how strong they are, but all of Workers' firepower is concentrated there. We need to match that kind of force."
"Force?" someone asked.
Daniel answered, "Well, there are people who helped us when we attacked the Workers before."
"Will he agree though?"
Daniel smiled. "Normally? No. But there's no harm in trying—"
Hudson cut Daniel off. "I don't care about forces. When are you taking me to meet Eli Jang?"
Yeah, Hudson was only here because he was hoping to find Eli. But after the last incident, Eli hasn't come back to J High. So Hudson went to Daniel, who promised to take him to meet Eli.
Daniel scratched his cheek with a nervous smile. "How about after we destroy Workers' 1st Affiliate?"
Hudson nodded seriously. "Okay then. Don't forget what you said."
---
The next day at the Youth Building, the members of the newly formed Allied gathered. Standing before them was another guy, his long hair covering his face.
"You want me to join your crew, which is called Allied?" Vin Jin raised an eyebrow. "This isn't some kind of joke, right? Pft! No sane person would name their group Allied. Even Duke's grandmother could come up with a better name. Hahaha!"
Just then, Vasco's phone rang. He handed it to Daniel. "Jace is calling."
"Why aren't you answering it, Vasco...?" Daniel asked, confused.
"I don't know how to," Vasco said with a straight face.
Daniel sighed. "...You weren't this bad before, Vasco." He took the phone and answered the call. "It's me, Jace."
"Yeah, Daniel Park. I found something interesting about Baek Hangyeol."
"What do you mean by interesting?"
"I'll message you the details right now."
Daniel ended the call to check out the info. "What could it be..." But as soon as he read it, his eyes widened. "What is this?!"
A little while later, Jace entered the warehouse with some documents in his hands. He said seriously, "His name's Baek Hangyeol. Simply put, he's a lunatic. This bastard's standard of beauty is completely absurd. And he doesn't only do these types of surgeries—normally, he does whatever surgeries the patients ask for. But when a patient says they want true beauty, he apparently does the surgery however he pleases. These victims get roped in by signing contracts as 'designated sponsors' to get free plastic surgery sessions. The contract's been written so well that the doctor and hospital don't hold an ounce of responsibility for what happens to the patients. If you post something online or try to cause a scene about what happened, the clinic has the right to sue you and make you pay huge amounts of money. Even in a legal battle, the odds of an individual winning against the contract and the hospital are pretty slim.
And here's the strangest thing—he's a president of the Workers, but he wears a Platinum Badge. As you know, Platinum Badges are only for minors. There's no way a minor could be a doctor. No matter how much of a genius he might be, that's just plain impossible..."
Hearing all this, Daniel immediately rushed off toward The Grim Plastic Surgery Hospital. Today, Zoe was about to get her face done there!
Vin Jin watched all this, confused. He turned toward Jace. "Wait, the hospital we're talking about—is it The Grim Plastic Surgery Hospital?"
Daniel nodded. "Yeah. Why?"
Vin Jin clenched his jaw. "Those bastards... You guys are attacking that place? Count me in."
Jace nodded his head, still confused...
A memory flashed through Vin Jin's mind.
---
Sujin was sitting on the ground, playing with Yenna.
On the other side, Vin Jin and Duke were practicing a rap song.
Sujin suddenly called out to Vin Jin. "Vin... There's something I wanted to ask..."
Vin Jin turned back to her. "What?"
Sujin started fidgeting with her fingers. "Y-You know... I've been posting vlogs with Yenna... Recently a company approached me to promote their hospital..."
Vin Jin raised his eyebrow. "What hospital? You can promote them if you want. Why would I mind?"
Sujin fidgeted even more. "T-They would do my face if I promoted them, instead of paying me."
Vin Jin scratched his head, confused. "Huh? What does that mean?"
Duke sighed from the side. "Vin, you're really out of touch with the times. It's a popular method plastic surgery hospitals use to promote themselves."
"P-Plastic surgery?! Y-You want to do it, Sujin? You look really beautiful right now though..." Vin Jin stuttered.
A blush appeared on Sujin's face. She turned away. "I-I won't do it. I just wanted to hear your opinion... A hospital called Grim Plastic Surgery Hospital approached me, so I asked you..."
Vin Jin scratched his head and smiled. "Well... I like you the way you are now."
Sujin's face went even redder. She ducked her head down to her knees, hiding her face.
Seeing that Sujin wasn't playing with her anymore, Yenna decided Vin Jin was the reason. She walked over to Vin Jin and pulled his long hair. Vin Jin cried out in pain. "Argh!"