TOIGC 56

Chapter 56 …

Trendsetter (2)

“What the hell is ‘Oh, b—'”

The exact instant Myung-hwan glared furiously at Jinsu, a sharp thud echoed through the room as Yoongi’s desk toppled backward toward the floor along the precise arc of a protractor. Simultaneously, Yoongi’s fist shot straight toward Myung-hwan’s chin.

Crack! Crunch!

Myung-hwan’s upper and lower teeth slammed together at breakneck speed, producing a sickening noise as shattered fragments of teeth rained across the floor. Though the sheer impact instantly knocked Myung-hwan into another dimension, Yoongi’s disciplinary action was far from over.

Following up immediately, a spinning back kick planted itself dead-center into Myung-hwan’s stomach while he was still suspended mid-air. The blow sent him hurtling toward the front of the classroom, where his back smashed against a classmate’s desk before he crumpled hard onto the floor.

“Gack!”

Knocked out cold by the agony and then dragged right back to consciousness by it, Myung-hwan let out a ragged, involuntary cough. But nobody gave him a moment to catch his breath.

Not when Yoongi’s eyes were still rolled back into a cold, ruthless stare.

“S-Save me…”

Myung-hwan begged for mercy in a thick, slurred voice, reaching out toward the approaching Yoongi. Instead of showing leniency, Yoongi simply brought his foot down, beginning to ruthlessly stomp on Myung-hwan’s face.

Thudding and crunching sounds reverberated through the classroom, yet not a single soul dared to step in and stop it. Anyone who had witnessed the opening strike was simply too paralyzed by terror to move an inch.

“H-Hey, somebody stop him!”

Myung-hwan’s buddy, Yoon Shin-gyu, frantically appealed to Jinsu and Wonhee, but both just offered indifferent shrugs.

“Even we can’t stop him when he gets like that. Maybe once the guy’s on the brink of death?”

At Wonhee’s deadpan comment, Jinsu nodded in agreement.

“There’s one absolute rule you never, ever break around Yoongi: never talk trash about his parents. Back in the fourth grade, some punk ran his mouth about them, and the guy ended up with a shattered right elbow.” “Well, Yoongi mentioned later that he went easy on him just because they were kids, but I don’t think this guy’s getting any leniency. He looks way worse than when he snapped back in the third grade.”

True to Wonhee’s words, Yoongi was systematically pulverizing Myung-hwan with far more brutality than he had ever shown those petty thieves.

“Alright, we should probably pull him off before he actually kills the guy.” “Man, what a bunch of morons. They take one look at Yoongi’s pretty face and think they can push him around, only to end up looking like this. If Yoongi actually wanted to, becoming the undisputed boss of the whole school would take zero effort.”

Shaking their heads in unison, Jinsu and Wonhee lunged forward, grabbing Yoongi’s lower and upper body respectively to haul him back.

“Yoongi, cool it!” “The guy’s gonna die! If he dies, all his pain’s gonna go away!”

In a rather twisted way, Wonhee’s logic was remarkably sound, and it finally caused the dark, glazed look in Yoongi’s eyes to clear back into normal pupils.

“…Hmph.”

With a soft scoff, Yoongi brushed down his school uniform and strolled calmly back to his desk.

Despite the utter chaos that had just unfolded, Yoongi wasn’t even breathing heavily. Seeing this, Shin-gyu and Sang-woo desperately tried to make a break for it, but a single, chilling command froze them in their tracks.

“Drop to your knees.”

Instantly, the heavy thud of knees hitting the floor echoed through the room. Shivering in cold sweat, Shin-gyu and Sang-woo could do nothing but drop to the floor in front of Yoongi, bowing their heads low.

“Weren’t you guys planning to stab someone in the head with a ballpoint pen?”

The color drained entirely from both of their faces. Terrified that Yoongi might have actually overheard the conversation they had shared by the storage shed earlier, the gruesome image of Myung-hwan’s battered body completely overlapped with their own impending fate.

Paralyzed by fear, the two glanced involuntarily toward the sprawled, wrecked form of Myung-hwan, watching as Jinsu and Wonhee casually haggled over him.

“You take him to the nurse’s office.” “Are you out of your mind? What am I to this punk?” “So what, I should take him? If Yoongi goes on another rampage over these idiots, do you think you can stop him by yourself?” “Dammit all…”

Shin-gyu and Sang-woo prayed with every fiber of their being that Wonhee would end up dragging Myung-hwan away.

As if answering their desperate prayers, Wonhee finally grabbed both of Myung-hwan’s ankles and began dragging his limp body across the floor toward the nurse’s office, while Jinsu turned his gaze toward Yoongi.

“Don’t worry, Yoongi. Even if we had to turn these two into the exact same state, you and I could just grab one each and haul them down to the nurse’s office.”

Fixating his gaze on the two terrified boys, Yoongi leaned in close, keeping his expression utterly impassoned and completely deadpan.

“If I see either of you stepping foot in this school starting tomorrow… consider yourselves dead.”

With that final declaration, Yoongi stopped speaking and calmly took his seat.

Even so, Shin-gyu and Sang-woo didn’t dare stand up. The moment they tried, they were certain Yoongi’s fist would come flying straight toward their teeth.

“Y-Yikes…”

Ultimately, their cramped knees couldn’t unbend until the teacher finally walked through the classroom door.

“What on earth are you two doing? Why aren’t you sitting at your desks?”

The math teacher’s irritated voice rang out. Any kid who had made it to middle school knew how wildly abnormal the classroom’s tense atmosphere was, and during homeroom later that afternoon, the homeroom teacher’s behavior cemented Yoongi’s absolute authority across the entire class.

“Everyone, head home safely.”

Not a single word was uttered regarding Myung-hwan, who was currently fighting for his life in the nurse’s office. Even though the students were fully aware that Myung-hwan had been piggybacked to the hospital by the physical education teacher during the sixth-period break, the homeroom teacher acted as if Myung-hwan simply didn’t exist.

By the next morning, thanks to the student grapevine’s impressive speed, whisperings of Yoongi’s formidable family background began spreading like wildfire across the entire school.

Among the neatly aligned rows of desks, precisely three seats remained conspicuously vacant: those of Myung-hwan, Shin-gyu, and Sang-woo.

Shin-gyu and Sang-woo attempted to skulk into the classroom looking visibly nervous, but the moment they saw Yoongi stand up and head in their direction, they shrieked in sheer terror and bolted right back out the school gates. The disciplinary committee members stationed at the main gate tried to intercept them, but the pair were running for their lives and proved impossible to catch. Predictably, the legend of the “duo who fled the school gates during morning assembly” quickly made the rounds across every single grade.

“Um… hey, Yoongi.”

Park Sang-hyun, a classmate whose father served as an active-duty Army Sergeant First Class, nervously approached Yoongi.

“Yeah?”

Considering how much effort it took for Sang-hyun to choke those words out, Yoongi responded with such a warm, gentle smile that Sang-hyun blinked in surprise, momentarily losing his train of thought.

“Sang-hyun, don’t be so terrified of Yoongi. He’s actually super laid-back as long as nobody talks trash about his parents. Just think about what that punk said to him yesterday. Was that something a human being with a pulse would say?”

At Jinsu’s interjection, Sang-hyun recalled Myung-hwan’s remarks from the day before. Recognizing that it had indeed crossed way past any acceptable boundary, Sang-hyun offered a self-deprecating, wry smile, nodded, and turned back to Yoongi.

“Fair enough… that guy definitely went too far. But seriously, Yoongi, you can throw down. Do you train in martial arts or something?”

Before Yoongi or Jinsu could answer, Wonhee jumped in.

“Yoongi’s been working out consistently ever since the first grade of elementary school. If I’d known it’d turn out like this, I should’ve tagged along with him…”

“Please. You think working out would’ve turned you into Yoongi? You’re built on an entirely different baseline, dude.”

At Jinsu’s teasing jab, Wonhee popped up out of her seat and threw Jinsu into a headlock, only to somehow end up trapped in a headlock herself.

“Hey now! Your brain might be sharper, but my physique is way better than yours!” “Gyaaaah!”

Watching the two bicker like a live-action comedy duo, Yoongi let out a soft chuckle before turning his attention back to Sang-hyun.

“It’s true that I’ve kept up with training. About thirty minutes to an hour every day. You need physical stamina to get through serious studying anyway.” “Is that right… Does exercising actually help with studying?” “Without a doubt. If there’s a boxing gym nearby, I’d strongly recommend checking it out. They’re great for conditioning your body hard in a short amount of time.” “My dad actually keeps telling me I should start working out, too… Oh, right, that’s not even what I wanted to ask.”

This time, instead of a strained expression, Sang-hyun let out a light snort of amusement. With his nerves largely settled, he finally asked the question he had been dying to get off his chest.

“My dad’s an Army Master Sergeant, you see. He told me you’ve been privately tutoring over at Colonel JSD’s residence. Is that true?”

Yoongi didn’t bother denying it for a second and gave a simple nod.

“Yeah.”

This single exchange instantly grabbed the undivided attention of the surrounding kids. In particular, the revelation that he wasn’t just receiving tutoring, but actually providing it, shocked most of them, causing a crowd to gather around Yoongi’s desk in stark contrast to the day before.

“Whoa, so you were tutoring Colonel JSD’s kids even back when we were in elementary school?” “Just the eldest son.” “No way. Is that even humanly possible?” “I finished learning all the advanced coursework ahead of time. One thing led to another, I got recommended as a private tutor, and just took it on.” “Man… I heard Colonel JSD is one of the most powerful heavyweights in the entire army right now. You are seriously next-level. No wonder Myung-hwan got beaten into a pulp yesterday and nothing happened to you…”

Sang-hyun’s breakdown acted like instant commentary, sinking deeply into the ears of every listening student.

Catching the mood, Yoongi broke into a gentle smile once more, sweeping his gaze across the gathering crowd.

“Sorry about yesterday, everyone. I usually try to avoid causing such loud commotions, but I simply don’t tolerate anyone crossing the line with my parents. I promise you won’t see anything like that happen again.”

To the kids listening, Yoongi’s words carried a dual meaning. On the surface, it sounded like a promise that he wouldn’t throw hands like that again, but underneath, it sent a crystal-clear message: there isn’t a single person with enough of a death wish left in this school to dare insult my parents again.

This diplomatic ‘apology’ effectively resonated with the students. Shifting away from the intimidating aura of day one, Yoongi successfully cemented his status as a figure who was simultaneously approachable yet untouchable—a towering presence just out of reach.

“Hey, Yoongi. That mechanical pencil… is that an imported piece?”

Another classmate, Kim Min-jong, edged closer to ask about his stationery, prompting Yoongi to hand the pencil over without hesitation.

“That’s right. Bought it straight from America. I know an American guy studying at Harvard who mentioned it’s the exact model their professors use. So I decided to pick one up.” “Whoa, it really is a Montblanc!”

Though not quite at the level of a chaebol, Min-jong hailed from a comfortably wealthy household, possessing the keen eye required to accurately gauge the value of the luxury watch, clothing, and writing tools Yoongi sported.

“Montblanc? What’s that?”

When Sang-hyun chimed in with a blank look, Min-jong shot him a look of utter pity.

“You don’t even know that? It’s the absolute king of luxury mechanical pencils. If I remember right, a piece like this easily runs over 200,000 won.”

In modern terms, that equated to well over a million won. Naturally, with the advent of the internet in later eras, prices might flatten out, but in this specific era—thanks to high import margins and various economic barriers—it boasted a price tag roughly equivalent to an entire month’s starting salary at a major corporate enterprise.

“That’s more expensive than my dad’s monthly salary…”

Sang-hyun’s stunned remark triggered a wave of shared consensus and collective envy across the classroom. But as it turned out, that was only the beginning.

“Man, and that’s a Pelikan fountain pen… I begged my parents for one of those, and they told me they’d only buy it for me as a university entrance gift…” “How much does that one run?”

In response to Sang-hyun’s stunned inquiry, Min-jong didn’t hesitate to rattle off the answer.

“From what I know, it’s well over 500,000 won. Even tracking one down is a massive pain in the first place. There’s no way a regular stationery store would ever carry something this expensive. I heard even specialized fountain pen boutiques have a hard time getting their hands on them…”

Until the first-period bell rang, Min-jong’s impromptu appraisal session—featuring Yoongi’s personal items as the star exhibits—continued in full swing. This trend carried over into subsequent breaks and lunch hours alike.

Naturally, the rumors spread like wildfire. On top of turning Myung-hwan—the erstwhile elementary school terror—into a hospital patient without breaking a sweat, the word got out that he served as a private tutor inside the household of the army’s most influential heavyweight, Colonel JSD, and that his maternal grandfather was an active U.S. Army Brigadier General. Yoongi rapidly ascended to become the undisputed celebrity of the entire school.

Moreover, backed by his striking appearance, he quickly became a hot topic of conversation among female students in parallel classes as well. Before long, whispers of Yoongi’s existence began trickling outward into neighboring schools, too.

And so, several months passed.

With Yoongi maintaining top-tier grades alongside his legendary status, a distinct cultural shift began taking root among wealthy households across his own school and the surrounding district: kids started scrambling to acquire the exact same luxury brands and items Yoongi used. Even if they couldn’t afford the identical product lines, students made active efforts to secure the same brands, and failing that, at least settled for the tier immediately below them—transforming him into a bona fide trendsetter.

Right as this cultural momentum reached its peak, the exterior construction of the main department store finally entered its final stages.

The interior finishing work slated to kick off a few months later happened to be Fernandez’s specialty. Furthermore, the critical window for finalizing the official brand roster moving into the department store was rapidly approaching.