Chapter 8 – Then They Started Fighting
Those dyed-hair boys clearly thought they were extremely handsome.
Especially after noticing there were plenty of female students on the field.
Whenever they spoke, they kept shaking the hair that covered half their faces, as if afraid the world might forget how stylish they were.
At that moment, Evan felt someone shove him hard from behind.
He turned and saw that the person behind him had been pushed by two of the dyed-hair boys.
The shove traveled forward like falling dominoes.
Evan crashed into the girl in front of him.
The girl lost her footing and bumped into the big guy ahead.
She turned around angrily and glared at Evan.
"What the hell are you squeezing for?"
Evan answered instinctively, "One."
The sentence made even Evan fall silent.
Wait.
Were city girls always this direct?
Why did they keep asking such private questions?
Then Evan and the girl looked at each other.
Well, damn.
What a coincidence.
She was the girl from the bus.
No wonder she opened her mouth like a knife.
"You?"
The girl crossed her arms and was about to curse.
One thing had to be remembered.
Students who came to a trade college were rarely gentle lambs.
Men or women, most had some temper.
The girl was about to greet Evan's ancestors one by one.
Before she could, a fight broke out at the front of the line.
The big guy had grabbed Pink Hair by the collar with one hand.
With the other, he pointed at Pink Hair's nose.
"Little punk, don't act crazy in front of me."
"Believe me, I'll slap you dead."
The big guy was from the north, and the moment he opened his mouth, his accent carried snow, smoke, and violence.
"Oh? You think you're tough?"
Pink Hair's two companions stepped forward.
One had green hair.
The other had a blown-out mess of hair like a failed explosion.
They shoved the big guy hard.
"You think you're something?"
"You want to fight?"
Seeing three opponents, the big guy's confidence shrank a little.
He released Pink Hair's collar.
"I'll register first. After that, we can talk."
"Register my ass."
Green Hair had a hot temper.
He kicked the big guy in the chest.
The big guy took a kick for no reason and immediately exploded.
He swung back with a heavy punch that smashed into Green Hair's face.
The other two dyed-hair boys rushed in and grabbed his clothes.
Three people surrounded the big guy and began throwing wild punches.
Evan watched.
Good grief.
Full martial arts show before registration?
Were they still signing up or not?
He walked over to break it up and grabbed Green Hair's arm.
"Enough. Enough. Everybody's just here to register."
"You can't beat him anyway."
Green Hair looked stunned.
"I can't beat him?"
"Then I'll beat you first."
Instead of listening, Green Hair tried to hit Evan.
Evan did not indulge him.
He grabbed Green Hair's wrist, turned his body, and threw him cleanly over the shoulder.
Green Hair hit the ground so hard it looked as if his soul nearly left through his mouth.
Evan sat on him.
"Still fighting?"
"Damn you."
"Let me up if you've got guts. I'll kill you."
Seeing his friend get beaten, Pink Hair charged over.
But before he reached Evan, school security rushed in with whistles blowing.
Trade colleges had fights all the time.
Because today was new-student registration, the school had placed several guards on the field in advance.
Seeing guards coming with batons, the three dyed-hair boys did not dare keep making trouble.
They pointed at Evan and the big guy.
"Wait."
"You two wait."
The three retreated to the back of the line in disgrace.
Only then did registration continue.
After Evan filled in his information, he received his dorm assignment.
He carried his luggage to the dorm building.
When he pushed open the door, his entire body went numb.
The small room contained eight bunk beds.
Sixteen people were supposed to live there.
Sixteen.
It was more crowded than a pig pen back in the countryside.
Evan finally found his spot in the corner.
Top bunk.
The guy on the lower bunk was bent over making his bed.
Evan looked down.
Well, damn.
Another coincidence.
It was the big northern guy from the field.
The big guy was decent enough to know Evan had helped him by grabbing Green Hair earlier.
He took out a cigarette and offered it.
"Brother, thanks for back there."
He spoke loudly and openly, the kind of person who made a friend by accident and treated it like fate.
Evan took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear.
"No need to thank me. I was just helping when I saw injustice."
The big guy still looked annoyed.
"Damn it. If it were one-on-one, I could take two of them myself."
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Evan Carter. From Ridgefall."
The big guy patted his chest.
"Wayne Carter. North side."
They shook hands and were officially acquainted.
Evan climbed up and made his bed.
More roommates arrived one after another.
After everyone said hello, the room slowly turned into a noisy market.
People sat on their beds and began talking about everything under the sun.
Northern people seemed born with advanced social systems installed.
Wayne opened the conversation first.
"What kind of broken school is this? Why are there so many dyed-hair freaks?"
A guy from another bunk laughed.
"They think they're impressive. Really just a bunch of idiots."
As soon as he finished speaking, Green Hair appeared at the dorm door.
He glared at the guy who had spoken, then walked straight in and pointed at Evan and Wayne.
"You two."
"If you've got guts, meet us in the woods behind the school."
"If you don't dare, then every time you see me from now on, crawl between my legs."
"Oh, damn your mother."
Wayne had a short fuse.
He stood at once, ready to teach Green Hair a lesson.
Green Hair smoothly took one big step backward out of the room.
"I'll wait."
He was not stupid.
Heroes did not eat immediate losses.
If he fought Wayne inside the dorm, Wayne's size alone could beat the contents out of him.
The roommate from the other bunk blinked.
"What happened? You two offended the hair-color gang?"
Evan and Wayne both nodded.
Wayne pulled Evan into the small bathroom and shut the door.
Then he took out two folding butterfly knives from his waistband.
He handed one to Evan and lowered his voice.
"Brother, don't use this unless you have to."
"But if it really comes to life and death, stab hard."
Evan looked at Wayne's violent seriousness and almost laughed.
He was not nervous at all.
The tricks Jack had taught him were more than enough to handle those crooked little punks.
He did not need a knife.
Still, to avoid embarrassing Wayne, Evan accepted it and put it away.
After hiding the weapons, the two marched downstairs with fierce momentum.
They left the dorm, walked around a small artificial pond, and reached the woods behind the school.
There had once been a pavilion here, probably meant as a quiet place for students to walk.
Evan and Wayne walked side by side deeper into the trees.
After a few steps, both stopped.
In the open space ahead, a dense group of people squatted on the ground.
Their hair came in every color.
Red, green, yellow, purple.
Packed together, they looked like a row of poisonous mushrooms someone had planted in the dirt.