|Weak Hero| Change the Fate's Design

Chapter 8

"Manwol was defeated," Kingsley informed. 

Donald paused doing his paperwork. He set his pencil down and looked up at Kingsley. "By who?"

"The head of Daehyeon Middle School, Jake Ji, and the head of Eunjang Middle School, Ben Park, fought against Manwol," Kingsley answered. "Manwol was about to beat Jake's older brother, Kenny Ji, up after Kenny declared his secession from the gang. It also seems like the head of Gilshin Middle School, Jimmy Bae, was also participating in the fight,"

"But aside from those three and their friends, there's the mention of another key fighter who seems to be the leader. He's known as the Silver Phantom," Kingsley added. "Though there's not a lot known about him. There isn't even a mention of the middle school he attends,"

"He's not a middle schooler," Donald said, recalling Silver being injured and claiming to have gotten into a fight. "He's an elementary schooler,"

"You know him?" Kingsley inquired.

"His name's Silver Yeon," Donald revealed.

"Are we going to invite him to join the Union?" Kingsley questioned.

"I already invited him a while back and he declined," Donald recalled. "He even told me that the Union is doomed to fail," 'Did Silver really fight Manwol? He doesn't even live in the Yeongdeungpo area and Manwol doesn't really hang around Gangnam, so why would Silver have the need to fight them?'

Donald suddenly felt an incredibly painful headache and nearly fell out of his chair.

Donald and Kingsley were sitting at a cafe. Jimmy Bae and Goseon Pyo stood in front of them. Jimmy's was looking down to the floor, head hung low as he desperately requested, "I...I need some backup,"

"It's not so simple," Donald said. "Right now, the Union and Manwol are involved in an intense tug-of-war. They may be Squad 2, but if we get involved in this, it becomes an official conflict. Do you think you're worth that kind of risk?"

"I've conquered the third years at Gilshin. I'll join the Union. I'll do my best as a member," Jimmy pleaded. "As a mutt or whatever. So please...I'm asking you,"

Donald stared at Jimmy for a moment and considered his request. He then took out his phone and clicked on Myles' name in his contact list. "Myles, get the action team together,"

"DONALD!"

Donald snapped back to reality and saw that Kingsley was watching him with an extremely concerned expression.

"Donald, are you okay!?" Kingsley asked. "You looked like you were in a lot of pain just now!"

"I'm fine," Donald brushed off his subordinate's concerns. 'What was that just now?' "It's just a headache," 'That Jimmy Bae kid never came to me for help so it's not a memory. It didn't feel like a daydream though. It felt so real and as if it had actually happened in the past,'

Kingsley was worried and placed a bottle of painkillers on Donald's desk, knowing that the headache must've been severe if it made Donald visibly show signs he was in pain. "You shouldn't overwork yourself and should go home and get some rest,"

XXX

Jake stared at his brother who was unconscious and covered in bandages. He dropped the soccer ball he had brought with him after having rushed to the hospital after being notified via phone call.

"He's a soccer play? Hmm...I don't think he'll be able to continue soccer," The doctor informed. "I mean, even after he recovers and starts to walk again, it'll be dangerous for him to run. His leg is in a very critical condition. He may need another operation,"

Jake recalled his brother telling him that although Manwol will probably not let him off easily, there's nothing to worry about and that he'll deal with it. He recalled Kenny saying he'll stop wasting his time with the gang and put all his energy into soccer and that Jake should focus on his studies too.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked when Jake headed for the door.

"To grab coffee,"

"Coffee? You really expect me to believe that?" Dean said. "Cut the crap, Jake. I know you're going to see Changyeon Lee. You're going after Manwol. If you go, I go. You know going there on your own is basically suicide, right? Do you have any idea what kind of motherfuckers you'll be dealing with? Manwol isn't a joke,"

"I can already see what kind of shit you'll be facing, but you expect me to just let you go there alone!? No fucking way. I'm coming with you," Dean insisted. "Kenny is like a big brother to me too. If you fight till death, so will I. Don't even think about leaving me behind, you asshole,"

Jake didn't want to drag Dean into the mess because it was too dangerous. At that particular moment, the person that came across Jake's mind was Donald Na of the Yeongdeungpo Union.

Jake jolted into a sitting position in his bed, gasping desperately for air. He scrambled out of bed and rushed over to his big brother's room. "Kenny!?" He saw that his brother wasn't in bed. "Kenny, where are you!?"

"Jake?" Kenny walked over to him from the other end of the hallway. "What's wrong?"

Jake ran over to his brother and hugged him tightly. "Where were you!?"

"I went outside to smoke," Kenny answered and noticed how panicked his brother seemed. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kenny gently asked.

"If Silver hadn't recruited us to save you...what would've happened to you?"

Kenny tensed up at the question but kept a poker face. "I would've dealt with it,"

"They would've beaten you up badly and permanently damaged your leg!" Jake snapped. "Don't deny it because they were wielding wooden beams and were planning to attack you!" His body trembled with each breath. "I...I don't want to lose you, Kenny...I don't want you to ever get hurt..."

"I know," Kenny said. "I'm sorry. They wanted me to recruit you but I didn't want you to get dragged into the gang life,"

"If it hadn't been for Silver and his friends, I would've gone to Donald Na for help," Jake admitted. "I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle Manwol alone and that even with Dean, it'd be a losing fight,"

"Donald Na?" Kenny recognized that name as the leader of the Union that Manwol was keeping an eye out for. "Jake—"

"I know you don't want me to get involved with gangs but if anything had happened to you, I would've gotten revenge against Manwol no matter what,"

Word Count: 1060