Beat Me

Beat Me! Episode 69

Ri An POV

The dim glow of the streetlights flickered ominously overhead as we stood back to back, the tension between us thickening with every second. My heart pounded in my chest as the gang members lunged toward us like rabid animals, their eyes filled with malice and hunger for violence. These weren’t just any ordinary thugs—they were Poker Gang affiliates, hardened criminals with nothing to lose.

I ducked down instinctively as one of them swung a metal pipe aimed at my head. The whoosh of air passed just above my skull. Without hesitation, I drove a swift chop into the assailant’s throat, feeling the impact reverberate through my hand. He gasped, clutching his neck, and stumbled backward, giving me a second of relief. Just a second.

Behind me, Ri Seok moved like a shadow—quick, precise, and deadly. He dodged a wild punch from one of the gang members, his body twisting effortlessly out of the way. With a fluid motion, he countered with a brutal elbow to the attacker’s face. There was a sickening crunch as bone met bone, and the man crumpled to the ground, clutching his shattered nose.

“Stay sharp, Ri An,” Ri Seok muttered, his voice calm despite the chaos around us.

“I’ve got this!” I shouted back, rolling out of the way of another attack. My mind raced, trying to keep track of all the moving bodies. These guys weren’t playing around—they were trying to kill us. This was no ordinary street fight; it was a full-blown ambush.

As I dodged another swing, the sound of steel clashing echoed in the narrow alley. Ri Seok was now engaged in a fierce one-on-one with a guy twice his size, but that didn’t seem to faze him. He moved with a level of precision and power that I hadn’t seen before, like he was born for this type of combat. His movements were sharp, deliberate, every hit landing with deadly accuracy.

I felt a surge of pride and awe watching him, but there was no time to linger on those thoughts. One of the remaining gang members pulled out a knife, his eyes gleaming with a sadistic thrill as he advanced toward me.

I shifted my weight, readying myself for the attack. His movements were sloppy, driven more by rage than skill, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. As he lunged forward, I sidestepped, grabbing his wrist in a quick motion, twisting it sharply until I heard a pop. The knife clattered to the ground, and before he could react, I drove my knee into his stomach, sending him crashing down.

Ri Seok glanced over, nodding in approval as he slammed his fist into his opponent’s temple, knocking him out cold.

“Not bad,” he remarked, wiping the sweat from his brow. “But we’re not done yet.”

I barely had time to catch my breath before another wave of attackers emerged from the shadows, more determined than the first group. How many of these guys were there?

“They just keep coming,” I muttered, feeling the fatigue begin to creep into my muscles.

“They just keep coming,” I muttered under my breath, feeling the familiar fatigue settle into my muscles, each step becoming more of a chore than the last. My vision blurred slightly, exhaustion creeping in from the sheer number of fights I'd had to endure. “Thanks to you, Ri Seok, too many people have been hurt. You might be the reason for it all, Big Brother.”

Ri Seok stopped in his tracks, his face hardening at my words. He stood tall in the dim alleyway, his figure casting a shadow that seemed to engulf the space between us. His eyes, always cold and calculating, narrowed as they flickered over me. "You don’t understand, Ri An," he scoffed, the condescension dripping from his voice.

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood for his usual superiority complex. My body ached from the fights, the endless clashes, and my patience was wearing thin. He always acted like I was the naive younger sister, too innocent to comprehend the weight of the decisions he made, the consequences that seemed to follow us wherever we went. But I wasn’t a kid anymore—I had seen the damage with my own eyes. "Our family included, Ri Seok," I retorted, my voice firm as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Iseul was harassed. Harassed, because of you."