Lookism: Choi Sunjae

Chapter 8: Red Eyes, Black Vibes

1:12 p.m. – Behind the Music Department

Gravel crunched beneath deliberate steps.

No students. No noise.

Just two names about to collide.

Vin Jin. Hoodie down, sunglasses covering his eyes. His posture was sharp, like a blade waiting to be unsheathed.

Choi Sunjae. Hair hanging over his face like a curtain. Still. Loose. Effortless.

Above, in the shadows of the music room window, Mary Kim watched in silence. No words. No movement.

The air was stiff. Not from heat—from pressure.

Vin spoke first.

"You said Cheonliang."

Sunjae didn't respond.

"You knew it like you'd been there."

Silence.

Vin's jaw clenched. His fingers twitched.

"I buried that place years ago," he said, voice low. "Anyone who brings it up… better be ready to fight like they came from there."

He let the sunglasses fall.

His eyes.

Polycoria. The rare disease where the person is born with two irises in their eyes. He looked cold and unmoving, nothing like the persona he had normally in school.

And then he moved.

Vin's form wasn't like most brawlers. No reckless swings. No posturing. It was Kudo—calculated, snapping elbows and sharp hip rotations, brutal sweeps mixed with joint manipulation.

Efficient. Precise. Meant to break.

Sunjae flowed with it.

He didn't block. He didn't meet force with force.

He redirected.

The first elbow? Slipped past Sunjae's neck.

The sweep? Dodged by shifting his heel.

A shoulder throw? Countered by twisting Vin's own balance.

Vin pushed harder. Footwork tightened. A flurry of precise attacks followed—kicks aimed for joints, throws meant to slam.

Sunjae ducked under a high chop and sent a palm into Vin's ribs, forcing his breath out. Vin coughed but retaliated, grabbing Sunjae's wrist and flipping him over his back.

He landed. On his feet. Effortlessly.

Vin charged again, this time from the blindside—Sunjae sidestepped, grabbed Vin's belt and collar in perfect Kudo reversal form—

And slammed him face-first into the gravel.

Vin tried to rise.

But in a flash, Sunjae twisted his leg, yanked his elbow, and collapsed Vin's balance.

Vin fell fully. On all fours.

And then—

A weight pressed down on his back.

Sunjae. Standing on him.

He crouched, resting one hand on his chin, the other hanging loosely off his knee.

Hair still covering his eyes. But his lips curled faintly.

"…You've got cool eyes," he said quietly. "Shouldn't waste them staring at the floor."

Vin grunted. His hands dug into the dirt, furious—not just at the pain, but at the humiliation.

He exploded upward.

Sunjae stepped off lightly, backflipping and landing five feet away.

Vin panted, staying crouched.

"I'll kill you," he growled.

"No," Sunjae said, calmly brushing dust from his shoulder. "You'll try."

They stood facing each other again. Sunjae looked untouched. Unbothered.

Vin? Still strong. Still furious. But something in his eyes had changed.

Fear? No.

Caution.

And beneath it all—acknowledgment.

2:16 p.m. – Music Room Window

Mary Kim hadn't moved. Her eyes locked onto the gravel lot, lips drawn in a thin line.

"He made him drop to all fours."

She couldn't deny it.

Vin had gone full Kudo. No holding back. And it still wasn't enough.

Choi Sunjae didn't just beat him.

He made a statement.

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NAH BRO HE'S JUS AURAFARMING AT THIS POINT