I Would Scream, But My Larynx Is F-

“You dare even come home, huh?!”

The bat hit Sungmin on the shoulder, knees, and even toes. Not hard enough to break anything, just a bruise here and there—but still, with his body the way it was, the metal still rang against his bone, and for one second…

…Sungmin's fist closed.

His body moved before he did, then it stopped before it could leave his side.

His mother saw it, of course, she did.

"What?" she said, two cigarettes bouncing between her lips. "Aigoo. Were you about to hit me? Your mother?"

Sungmin looked at his fist. "No."

“Oh. Oho… Good, I raised you better than that.”

Sungmin stared at her. He did not remember much from before the Demon Apocalypse. School, friends, exams, birthdays, all of it was dust somewhere. But this, he remembered.

She raised him like a thug, then got offended when it worked.

His mother hit him again, this time on the arm.

"You hit a teacher?"

"He raised his hand first."

"So you hit his throat?!"

"It was open."

The bat came down again. Sungmin shifted just enough that it hit his butt instead of his thigh. 

"Don't dodge. It pisses me off."

The next one hit his ribs.

"Kh."

"Ungrateful little shit," she said. "Do you know what kind of son I was gifted with? Other mothers get boys who study. Boys who say, 'Mommy, I love you.' Boys who bring home awards. I got you."

Sungmin rubbed his ribs. He was extremely used to pain, but it still fucking hurt.

"Lucky you," he said.

“Ah. Started talking back, huh?” She hit him again, and she hit him until she got tired.

Honestly… that took longer than it should have.

***

Night came.

His mother was asleep on the floor beside the low table, one hand still holding the bat. She had made it through half a cigarette before passing out next to… several plates full of food.

Rice, fried eggs, braised potatoes, kimchi soup, stir-fried pork… and a plate of fried chicken. They were all cold now, but… these were all his favorites.

Sungmin stood there for a while.

Then, very slightly, the edges of his mouth moved.

It wasn’t a smile. Almost… just almost.

And of course, he sat down and devoured everything. His mother snored once throughout this, but he completely ignored her and just continued eating.

It wasn’t until not even a bone was left on the table that he finally paused. He caressed his bloating stomach, sighing heavily as he looked at the ceiling.

But after a moment, he pulled out his friend’s phone from his pocket and once again went to Google some things.

<am i a regressor?>

His eyes remained glued to the screen, shaking his head at most of the results.

<what to do if regressed?>

“The f…”

<what to do if regressed? Korean webtoon. Back to time>

“Hmm…”

<who is elon musk.>

His eyes squinted.

<where to get tesla stocks>

“Hm…”

<how to get stronger in 1 month>

He stared at the screen for a moment, once again shaking his head.

<how to preserve timeline after regression>

“...What?”

<can tony stark build time machine in a cave>

“Hm. Interesting.”

<what is butterfly effect>

“The f…”

<how to hide big gun in Korea>

<why me? Why send me back???>

<haven’t i suffered enough>

<fffucckkk. Kill me>

Sungmin gritted his teeth, calming his hands as they began to tremble. He let out a deep breath, pressing his eyes for a moment before typing again.

<what if another person regressed with me?>

“Oh…?”

<how to stop a fellow regressor?>

“...Useless.”

<how to kill twelve demon kings early>

“Ah…”

Sungmin gripped the phone harder. He was about to throw the phone away in frustration when the expression on his face suddenly became calmer.

<what if demon god lapras was sent back with me?>

He stared at the screen, the look in his eyes completely dead—no. He wasn’t even looking at the screen at all, but was just staring down at nothing.

He closed his eyes, then finally turned to his mother. He carefully reached for her cheeks first, but his hand lowered to the metal bat she was holding instead.

It took a little effort in prying it away from her, but after he did, he left the house… without even washing the dishes.

The city was quieter at night… finally. Something familiar. All the lights hurt his eyes, but he completely ignored them and went straight to his destination—the convenience store from earlier.

And as typical, the thugs were still there.

There were five of them this time. Two sitting on plastic crates, one leaning against the wall, one smoking by the trash can, and the huge one with tattoos crawling up his neck. And once again, they all turned when Sungmin arrived.

Then they looked at the bat.

Then at the creepy smile growing on Sungmin’s face.

The tattooed man gritted his teeth at this, and with a sigh of defeat escaping his lips, he told all of his goons to,

“Go.”

And a few minutes later, everyone inside the convenience store who witnessed the carnage was crouching behind shelves.

They were all doing different things—one cashier was crying under the counter trying to call the police, someone else was filming what happened, and a woman had her eyes closed and praying.

As for the thugs, well, they were all on the floor.

One of them had his knee bent the other way, one of them had mangled fingers—but the tattooed thug had gotten the worst of it. His face was completely swollen, one eye already closing, teeth shattered. If there was any consolation, it was the fact that he was the only one remaining conscious.

But seeing Sungmin crouched in front of him, completely covered in their blood… maybe that wasn’t a consolation at all.

"Why..." the tattooed thug gasped. He was twice the size of Sungmin, but the only thing he could do was lower his head and look up at him.

Sungmin tapped the bat lightly against the floor.

"Minhee,” he said.

The tattooed thug stopped breathing for a moment.

"Take me to her."

"I-I don't know who--"

Sungmin raised the bat.

"Ah! Wait! Wait! I know! I know!"

"Good."

"But… if I take you there, I'm dead."

Sungmin tilted his head.

"You're confused."

"What?"

"That happens after."

The tattooed thug stared at him, then he started crying.

***

An hour later, they reached an abandoned building near an old industrial road.

It looked dead from the outside. The windows were broken, the gate wasn’t attached, and the weeds were pushing through the concrete.

The tattooed thug limped ahead, one hand pressed to his ribs.

"I-it’s me!” he screamed. “H-help me!”

Three men appeared near the entrance as soon as he said that, hidden behind the walls. They were all carrying different weapons. One was holding a crowbar, the other a pipe. The last one was holding a metal bat similar to Sungmin’s, but his has… barbed wires.

Before any of them could actually use their fancy weapons, Sungmin’s bat flew toward them.

It hit the man with the pipe in the mouth, and his teeth were no match for the metal at all as they all scattered to the floor.

Sungmin, once again, didn’t let them have the time to react. He lunged at the one holding the crowbar, slipping his fingers between the gap in his hand and snatching away the weapon without any effort at all.

He smacked the man with his own crowbar, then spun around toward the last man and swung the crowbar right at his chin.

And just like that, in less than five seconds, the tattooed man watched his friends drop.

“Don’t move.”

“Eep!” The tattooed man wasn’t even moving, but held his breath as Sungmin pointed at him to stay put.

Sungmin gazed down, looking at the two metal bats now on the ground—and without even thinking, he grabbed his mother’s bat and pointed it at the tattooed man.

“Scream more.”

---