The four masters gave Lee Jun a long and penetrating look. Lee Jun too some extent felt violated as if their eyes could see through his clothes and see his naked soul. There were no secrets that he could hide from those eyes. Their eyes revealed a wisdom and insight possessed only by the greatest of martial arts masters. It made complete sense why these four were heading this dojang. After a long eerie silence, one of the four masters spoke up, “What is your name?”
“…Lee Jun”
“How old are you, boy?” approached another master. He was taller than the average Korean and unlike the others who had black belts, this one wore a golden and black belt around his white keikogi.
“11…” Lee Jun muttered as he looked around for an escape route. Their questions were short and interrogative in nature. Anyone would succumb to the pressure they emitted and readily answer their questions.
““OOOOO”” some of the disciples surrounding Lee broke into commotion.
“He has guts to come to a dojang at that age with Ji Woo.” A random disciple stated.
“Pssh, I came into this dojang when I was 6.” Another one shot back.
“True, but you didn’t have Ji Woo holding your hands while bringing you in?” Another snorted.
One of the masters raised their hands to motion for silence.
“How does one so young know Ji Woo a high school student? Are you not in middle school?” The master asked. It was suspicious that Ji Woo showed interest in someone so young. They began wondering if she had an interest in younger men.
“I skipped grades.” Lee Jun replied. He was now thoroughly confused why were they bringing up Ji Woo. It felt like she was some sort of princess who could not be seen with a commoner like him.
The masters frowned. ‘Skipping grades? Does that mean she likes the intelligent kind?’ One of the masters had tears in his eyes, ‘After all these years of raising up Ji Woo, she had to fall for a geeky weakling. I will never allow this relationship!’ He vowed to himself.
“Then you are a high school student?” An instructor asked just to confirm.
“Yes…”
The dojang was filled with plenty of disciples who were high school and university students. So it came as astonishing news to them to know that someone so young was in their grade. Most importantly, they had all been eyeing Ji Woo. He was like a blooming flower in the desert. They would not hold back their strength, how can some weak geek steal their princess’s heart!
“Are you Ji Woo’s classmate?” The instructor continued.
“Yes…” Lee Jun meekly answered. He began wondering if he were dealing with idiots. ‘Shouldn’t it be the logical set of thoughts that if I came with Ji Woo, I am most likely to be her classmate?’
The prickly sensation grew stronger against Lee Jun’s back. The killing intent emanated by the disciples was overwhelming. They were all older than Ji Woo and hence could not be in the same class, furthermore since she went to Whimoon High School (ranked #1 high school in Korea, with extremely difficult admission conditions) they could not be even in the same school! It was completely unacceptable to them that Lee Jun not only went to the same school but was also in the same class as Ji Woo!
“How long have you been with Ji Woo?” The fourth master interrupted. He could no longer accept the slow progression of questions. He came straight to the point; he wanted to know how long had their relationship been going on for. He had been watching Ji Woo right from when she was first brought to the dojang. He knew her best and seeing her hand in hand with Lee Jun came as the rudest shock to him. ‘How did I completely miss that my little princess was so deeply in love?’
“Not too long…we only got together during PE class today…” Lee Jun replied, completely missing the point. Lee Jun found each of their passing questions weirder. What he failed to see was that they both were thinking on completely different tangents. ‘Why is it so important to know how long have you met someone?’ Lee Jun wondered.
‘I see, so she must have confessed to him today and got the little brat here for our approval. So there is still a chance to separate them…they haven’t been together for too long.’ The fourth master thought. The others masters glanced at each other and nodded. It seemed as if they agreed with this thought. Ji Woo was much too pretty to be wasted on a boy like Lee Jun. Furthermore, they weren’t interested in giving away Ji Woo just yet. She was still too small to be indulging in something as dangerous as dating.
“Listen young boy. This is not the age for you to be involved with someone so pretty like Ji Woo.” The first master said with his chest puffed up. He even tightened his muscles so that they would bulge a little more. He was trying to bring out his manlier and muscular side to terrify Lee Jun.
“…” After hearing that Lee Jun kept silent. Their entire conversation now started making sense; it was falling together brick by brick.
“We won’t accept your relationship with Ji Woo.”
“…” Lee Jun continued to keep silent. He was no longer paying attention to what the masters were saying. ‘So all this while they thought I was dating Ji Woo? Wait how did they reach that conclusion? I mean I did so I just met her…but then their question was weird after all…isn’t this the stuff that happens only in webtoons?’
“Yes, if you can’t defeat the four of us in a fight, we will never accept it.” The masters declared following Lee Jun’s silence. They weren’t sure if they were getting through to him but this ultimatum would have it made it more than clear that the only way for Lee Jun to be together with Ji Woo would be through proving he is more capable than them to take care of her. They were more than certain that could never happen and hence went with the condition. If one went deeper into the wording, they specifically said the four of us in a fight implying that it would be a four on one; no chances were taken. The masters were absolutely certain they crush all those after their princess.
“…I think we both have a misunderstanding..” Lee Jun began explaining, he didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire of a misunderstanding. Especially when the misunderstanding was between scary looking Gangpae (Korean for Yakuza / Gangster)! He was just here because Ji Woo dragged him! ‘I have to explain it to them! Then they won’t be angry with me anymore!’
“We haven’t misunderstood anything. We understand it is perfectly normal to be attracted to Ji Woo. She is after all so innocent and beautiful; like an angel sent down from heaven.” The master spoke dreamily as he spoke of Ji Woo.
“The world comes to life wherever she goes.” Another master added with the same look in his eyes.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“The grey in the sky becomes blue, the frozen sun becomes warm and gentle…” The instructor added.
“So don’t hide it. We know you are interested in Ji Woo. But we will never accept a weakling who can’t protect Ji Woo’s smile.” The masters were cruel with their words but this was about protecting their little flower from the lecherous wolf. They would not mince their words.
“…Ummm…I am not really interested in Ji Woo…” Lee Jun meekly added. He was hoping this would pacify them a little. Sadly, it had the opposite effect. Being an over protective bunch, the masters and disciples took the meaning of the statement to a complete opposite. In that instant, the killing intent went up to it’s absolute peak. Lee Jun could have sworn he felt like his back was being stabbed by thousands of knives.
“WHHHAATTT!” The fourth master shouted out aloud in disbelief. “You are not interested in Ji Woo!”
“So are you saying you are just playing around with her?” The first master quickly added before giving Lee Jun a chance to reply back.
“Do you have no regard for her feelings?” The second master asked with great concern and slight relief.
“Does she mean nothing to you?” The third master asked with his mouth barely able to conceal the smile.
All the masters and disciples thought this was perfect. If he was not interested in Ji Woo and just playing around with her, then they could really crush him without feeling guilty about hurting Ji Woo’s affections for Lee Jun.
“…” Lee Jun kept silent, their thoughts were completely visible on their faces. He knew if he answered anything that even slightly inclined towards ‘not interested in her’ they would flatten him out right here and make this his grave. To say anything was immenent death to say nothing was a risk. Lee Jun went with the risk.
“…”
Unfortunately, much like the Elementarem Vim’s unique skill which Lee Jun acquired, Lee Jun’s actions and inactions seemed to affect the world around him. Although he kept quiet, his silence was taken as being rude and dodging the question at hand. Thus, all those who were present were convinced that Lee Jun was guilty like a crook caught red handed.
“I shall break your bones, to teach you a lesson.” Spoke the disciple closest to Lee Jun. His hands had been itching this whole while to sock Lee Jun in the face. Now the opportunity was at hand, he needed just one word from his master and he would dispose of Lee Jun in a single move.
“No brother, boys these days don’t learn with just broken bones, we should bleed him dry.” Added another disciple while wearing an evil grin on his face. The senior disciples were certainly capable of torture techniques.
Lee Jun could hear them speak. He certainly was terrified and was desperately looking around for Ji Woo to come and save him from their clutches. That would be the only real chance he had of escaping and making it back home that night, there was no chance that he could out run all the disciples present.
“Or we could put him in a comatose…” The masters said to each as they reminisced about their time while looking over Lee Hayan.
“PUT WHOM IN A COMATOSE!” Ji Woo shouted out. Her voice was in the far distance.
As Lee Jun turned towards the direction of her voice. He could see Ji Woo running at fully speed towards the master and launch a flying kick. With complete disregard for the fact that she was wear a skirt, Lee Jun’s face went red as she flew by past him.
*CRASH* The fourth master took the full impact of Ji Woo’s kick. He could have dodged it but if he did then Ji Woo would have flown past them and crashed. Thus, hurting herself. He could never allow his little princess to get hurt! Hence, he took the full impact of the kick and went flying four feet back.
Lee Jun was not sure who was the bigger monster out here. The masters or Ji Woo?
“But Ji Woo! This young man is only playing with your heart! He is not even interested in you!” The first master implored. He knew he would have to try and put some sense into this love struck girl even though he risked her ire.
“Yes, he told us everything. He is not interested in you!” The second master backed the first. One master alone would not suffice in managing her rage. He knew the truth might hurt Ji Woo but she had to know for her own good even if it meant she might kick like the fourth master.
“How could you even fall for a weakling like him?” The third master said as he noticed Ji Woo did not still believe them. ‘Poor girl how deep in love can she fall. This is our fault; we must take responsibility and bear her anger and pain.’
“You guys…” Ji Woo’ face was red with embarrassment and anger. “WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN SPOUTING ABOUT??” She shouted out so loud that Lee Jun had to cover his ears. If there existed Lion’s roar in reality, this would have been it.
“…” Silence engulfed the dojang. Not even birds in the vicinity dared to chirp.
“This is Lee Jun, he is a friend that I made today.” Ji Woo hastily explained as she tried to get a grip on her anger. “He is bullied in school, so I brought him here for training.”
Before they could open their mouth, Ji Woo continued as if she knew what they were about to ask. “JUST A FRIEND! NOTHING MORE.”
“…” The master and disciples weren’t sure what to say or how to react. They all were thinking something else all this while…
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Authors Note:
1. too cliche?
2. Next up is a side story! Do read it! Its....not written by me though I have edited it to integrate it with RREV.....
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?Special Side ChapterNo
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