"I don't know about here, but from where I can't, scars are called medals of man! Scars are the body's way of telling stories, and yours speak of battles fought. They're not a sign of weakness but a mark of endurance.
The past is etched into your skin, but it doesn't dictate your future. Wear these scars with a sense of pride—they're proof that you've faced adversity and come out on the other side."
As Lucas said that Jason here just kept staring towards him, there were petrified emotions slowly cracking up and running through his heart.
'... This is something different... Even though I don't like my scars, every day when I look in the mirror, these scars only remind me of my misery. Public baths and water parks had been nightmares for all this time. Even when I tried to show the pain to others, the only thing I saw in their eyes was disgust, which broke me even more, but... Lucas Hyung nim...'
A light smile started to shine on his face, filled with warmth. Lucas shared that emotion, but next, with a grin, he suddenly pushed Jason ahead as he commanded.
"Anyways, gear up; we will start your training right away!"
"Training?"
Jason was suddenly puzzled by this, but Lucas, on the other hand, just smiled as he took out a few pieces of sports gear, which included a pair of sports shoes suitable for light cardio and a few other things, but Lucas only tossed the shoes over to Jason.
"Equip the shoes; we will start with light running for one kilometre today."
"L-light running? Half a mile?"
Lucas scoffed and just pushed his head even further to the ground. Jason didn't try to argue with Lucas any longer and instead just removed the school leather shoes he used to wear on normal days outside that could be easily spoiled while trying outdoor exercise.
"Well, new shoes are good... These ones are hella expensive."
Jason just kept muttering but still equipped the new shoes while placing his winter sweater over Lucas's bike and started running along with the slowly setting sun by the roadside besides the pond.
*Vroom-thump! Vroom-thump!*
Jason had just started his light run as Lucas was next seen driving his bike slowly just beside him on the road. Seeing him, Jason immediately started shouting.
"What the hell!? Are you going to ride my bike while I run?"
"You are a skinny bitch, not me; did you join some gym already?"
"I'm still searching..."
Jason slowly muttered under his breath on the other hand. Lucas just quietly nodded as he replied.
"Well, there is no need now; I will train you; it's winter vacations tomorrow, right?"
"How did you know..."
"I searched on the website of your school, loser."
Lucas scoffed over Jason, making Jason completely silent for the rest of the walk with a bit of embarrassment and frustration. They passed by several people walking by; it was a quiet road, a bit away from the normal residential area of people from Seoul, but still, the crowd was less despite the timing.
"Huff! Huff! I'm dying... Let me rest... Haaah! Haaah! Let's s-stop..."
Jason was already out of breath within just 500 metres of light running, breathing like a zombie. His endurance was indeed above average, but his stamina wasn't very praiseworthy. But despite this zombie running beside him, Lucas was merciless as he kept moving his bike without paying a single glance at his sentiments.
"Believe me, punches from those bullies will be worse after this winter vacation. To think you even smashed stones at that dude, did you go to Kashmir last year?"
"Kashmir?"
Jason seemed a bit confused, but Lucas just scoffed him off from the conversation he just commanded.
"Don't mind me... Keep moving"
"Tsk!"
'Why bring up a conversation if you don't want to talk?'
Jason was frustrated but still kept moving as Lucas also kept up the same pace, but his thoughts were lost in something else.
'This bullying isn't normal; the acts and behaviour of bullies are a bit too calculated and methodological for that. The guys from last time explain how they wear clothes; they don't come from some very well-known family backgrounds; even with the things they got by extorting other students, their uniforms didn't cross the net worth of 600,000 Won.
That's too cheap for upper-class backgrounds, meaning these bullies come from a normal middle-class family background. So what gave them the courage to bully Lucas? From mere looks, even though his parents are divorced, the background alone is that if he is upper-class, his residence is in Gangnam district, one of the most expensive places to live, yet these bastards dared to extort him by themselves? What a joke!
From what Jason told me, these bullies are way too professional and smart to execute all this by themselves. I don't expect bastards who try to threaten a 25-year-old man and slap their victims in front of the whole school distribution proof of their crimes everywhere to be smart; they are just bulls boosting their who
But even after such a level of negative IQ, they actually started by making Jason a loner, isolating him away from other classmates and friends to break his emotional support and courage, and consistently targeting him for 3 years? Even the worst bunch get bored of a victim in just 5–6 months, yet they remained consistent for 3 years? That's way too funny for this level of bullying.
Even the tactics of bullying go way above the level of a high schooler: cigarette burns, beating with a baseball bat, and even cutting marks. They aren't even afraid of leaving proof; what if Jason went to the police? Were they that crazy, na?
They followed Jason everywhere to make sure he wasn't alone in the school and continued to point out that he wanted to die. This is way too smart and big for normal guys; someone else must be pulling the strings or manipulating these bullies, turning them into mere puppets to target Jason. The level of sophistication and cruelty in their tactics suggests a calculated effort to break Jason psychologically and emotionally. It's as if they were following a script meticulously designed to isolate him and push him to the brink.
Lucas sighed up as he thought of all this, and before even realising it, Lucas found himself over the destination they were moving towards, and as he stopped the bike to turn to look at Jason, he was seen half dead lying on the ground like a worm, taking breath like he just almost had a heart attack.
"Huffff! Huffff!!! This isn't. Hah! This isn't a light run... You devil..."
"Well, you thought I cared?"
Lucas laughed it off after seeing his situation and placing his bike in front of that building. He turned to look over at that place and seemed a bit satisfied again.
The building was a martial arts gym in the Gangnam district. Lucas really never spared an effort when it came to things he was interested in; hence, he had already gained a full-year membership for himself and Jason in this gym right from morning.
"Let's get the ass moving. I paid 4 million won for this."
"4 Mi-million?"
Jason was a bit stunned when he heard Lucas. Lucas, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind as he grabbed Jason from the ground along with the bag of order equipment he had brought along as he pushed Jason inside the lift on the ground floor along with himself.
"I don't lack any money, anyways... Don't make me hurt. My hands keep moving. The place is just a mile away from your home, so from tomorrow morning on, you will come here jogging all the way. The day I find you lacking, I will train you extra."
"Wh-what the! I never agreed to this!!"
"What you gonna do about it?"
In the face of Lucas's statement, Jason was left stunned, with no words to oppose him. When people didn't help him while he was being bullied, will they help when Lucas is just training him in martial arts?
"You are too emotionally exhausting for me."
"I'm not your girl friend; keep the ass moving."
Lucas scoffed, and finally the lift they were riding on opened up, and Jason's eyes for the first time were greeted with the brightness of a world-class martial arts gym, a place as broad as an auditorium for speeches filled with heavy iron equipment suitable for training all martial arts and all body types. The shine reflecting from those jade-like muscles of dozens of people training with bars of metal alone was enough to change the mind of Jason, as his fantasy of his own body like Arnold Schwarzenegger overwhelmed his exhaustion.
"On second thought, it won't be so bad after all."
*Bam!*
Lucas immediately smashed his head, knocking back all fantasies, and coldly commented.
"Stop acting like a creepy gay... Go to the changing room and gear up."
Lucas said that he tossed the sports equipment he had brought along and tossed him inside the changing room while taking a deep sigh with a frown on his face, while others training there were looking in his direction with a bit of a negative impression because of that drooling gaze from Jason before.
"I should worry about maintaining my gender presence before his social presence in this gym."
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