SIN | CHOI MUJIN/JUNG TAEJU

7 SINS

❝IT WAS A SIN TO ASSAULT AN INNOCENT HUMAN BEING, BUT KIM HEEJIN BELIEVED THAT SHE WAS INVINCIBLE UNTIL SHE MET CHOI MUJIN'S SUBORDINATE, DO GANG-JAE❞

Seventeen-year-old Aera returned to school the weekend after the bullying incident. The bruises on her legs and arms inflicted by her bullies had changed color from bluish-purple to yellowish-green. As soon as she grabbed her school bag and exited the black car, she heard the noisy whispers of her high school classmates.

"I can't believe I'm back in high school," Do Gang-jae muttered as he grabbed his own school bag and slid out of the black car to follow suit. "And my job is to protect you? What are you? A weakling? This is so fucking annoying."

Aera ignored him and fastened her pace to her classroom. The last thing she needed was to be associated with the likes of him. She had no doubt that being seen with the new student would make her an even bigger target than before.

"Hey!" Do Gang-jae increased his pace to catch up to her and grabbed her shoulder to stop her from going further. "I've been assigned to your classroom. You're supposed to help me find it. How else am I supposed to protect you?"

"I don't need your protection." Aera stopped in her tracks to respond to him. "The last thing I want to do is be associated with someone like you."

"Trust me, it's the same on my end." Gang-jae glared at her. "Being here is a nuisance. What did you do to get special treatment from Dongcheon's leader? What, did you sleep with him?"

"Fuck off." Aera clenched her teeth before shrugging his hand off her shoulder and once again increased her pace to leave him behind. "Find your own way to class." Even if Mujin had assigned him to protect her at school, Gang-jae was no different than her bullies at school, accusing her of sleeping with older men.

As Aera made her way to her usual seat in her classroom, she was greeted by several gossiping whispers from her classmates.

"This crazy bitch." Kim Heejin approached her as soon as she sat down in her seat. "Did you cry to your sugar daddy about what happened to you and ask him to do something for you? My parents said that I needed to apologize to you for last week's incident. Me! Of all people!"

Aera decided to to ignore her which only made Heejin's anger grow tenfold. The students in Aera's classroom silently watched the altercation happen without interfering because although they pitied Aera, they made no move to help her, fearing that they would be the next ones to receive her wrath.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Heejin pushed Aera's books off her desk. "How dare you ignore me?"

Despite Heejin's increasingly violent antics, Aera paid her no mind and continued to ignore her as she picked up her books from the ground.

"Answer me, you bitch!" Heejin angrily raised her right hand to slap her, but before she could have a chance to slap Aera across the face, her wrist was caught by a strong grip.

"Apologize." Do Gang-jae caught her wrist before it landed on Heejin's target. The whispers increased exponentially as the other students took note of the presence of a new face at their school. Not only was the new stranger strikingly handsome, he was also bold enough to interfere with Heejin's violent bullying.

"Are you crazy?" Heejin glared at the individual that had boldly stopped her assault and ripped her wrist out of his grasp. "Do you know who I even am?"

"No, I don't know who you are." The corners of his mouth formed a smirk. "And to be honest, I couldn't give two shits."

"Stop me again and you'll have to deal with my father!" Heejin clenched her teeth and raised her hand again in an attempt to continue her assault on Aera. Like before, her wrist was yet again caught by Gang-jae, but this time he held her wrist so tightly that she began to wince from the pain.