The 3 Idiots

"It's me! Aena-dayo!" she couldn't help but return. They didn't laugh.

Aena looked at the formation in front of her. She squinted. Did she know these guys? The guy who was rudely pointing at her was positioned at the forefront, followed by two dumb-looking dudes, and lastly hidden behind their broad backs was the last guy with the long-ish hair.

This was an oddly familiar scene… no way, could it be? From this morning…

"Ah! It's the 3 idiots!" Aena exclaimed, suddenly having a revelation. She didn't actually remember any of their names, so she had simply referred to them in her mind as the three idiots.

"Three idiots?" the lead idiot muttered, before realization dawned and his indignation renewed.

"You think you're so smart, huh?" he spat, looking at Aena derisively with those unfocused fish eyes. He brought his face so close that Aena could smell the putrid scent of alcohol on his breath. She recoiled a bit, gagging.

"I'm certainly smarter than you buffoons," she retorted, still remaining calm. Again, it took a few seconds for understanding to reach his pea-sized, alcohol-inhibited brain.

He sneered.

"Call me whatever you want," he flashed a toothy grin. "But you'll wish you never did at the end of tonight."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

His eyes grew wide and he paused. Clearly, he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"I'll… we'll beat the crap outa you! Then we'll beat you again after that!" He said proudly.

Aena was speechless. That was… quite unoriginal. If they were gonna beat her up, they couldn't at least add in a few twists and some novelty. Maybe a bit of toilet dunking or something. Even high schoolers had more creativity than these guys.

"Yeah, yeah," the two men behind him chimed. "You better be ready," they echoed in a low voice. They seriously sounded like NPCs.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Aena repeated. He leaned forward once again.

"Heh! You think you're soooo smart."

'Um, yes, you already said that,' Aena thought.

"I don't think, I know," Aena cut in.

He looked enraged but had probably figured out it was best not to respond to her witticisms.

"But," he said, "you don't have your girlfriend around to protect you this time, do you? You think you can take us all?" he taunted.

"You think you can take us?" the goons behind echoed again, slapping their fists in their palms menacingly.

Aena looked at them. Their faces were bright red, like tomatoes ready to burst, and their actions were slow and sloppy. Although she doubted she could take them down in normal situations, she was sure she could knock them all out in their inebriation.

Also girlfriend? Who was that talking about? It definitely wasn't Emmy, so perhaps Cassidy? She looked to the right, where Cassidy was sitting. What the hell were they talking about? She was right there, though? Maybe they were so focused on Aena that they didn't realize that Aena had a partner that she was dining with. Namely the person in question.

They were awfully unaware to not notice. Cassidy had that whole murderous aura going on again, and out of the corner of her eye, Aena noticed a few guests shifting uncomfortably in their seats at the pressure.

"Try me," Aena said, a brilliant smile tugging her red lips upwards. "I'll send you running to your mama."

Aena definitely wasn't scared. She had faced worse situations before, and the current predicament wasn't horribly precarious. She wasn't alone for one, and secondly, they were in a public area. On top of it all, they were high, which might've caused the whole thing to happen, but at least it made the situation easier for her.

Idiot number one slowly shook his head back and forth, like Aena had made a horrible mistake, but his hazy movements made it look like he was about to fall asleep or something as his head lulled from side to side.

"I'll give you one last chance," he said in a regretful tone. Aena was pretty sure he wasn't regretful, nor was he actually going to give her a chance to let bygones be bygones. Actually, he was the one who was probably going to be regretful after what was about to happen.

"Very well, I'll take that last chance."

He stopped shaking his head, and Aena could practically feel every gear in his brain turning at breakneck speed, trying to comprehend the next line that brought him closer to shortcircuiting.

"You!" At last, he said a word, which was not an answer, and at the same time, he reached his arm out, trying to grab Aena.

Aena saw it coming from a mile away, and correspondingly scooted deeper into the booth, narrowly avoiding his flailing fingers. She could hear his ragged breaths as he struggled to control his thoughts, and she could also hear her own ready heartbeat, thumping loudly in her chest.

She wasn't afraid. No. She was excited. With the adrenaline rushing through her veins, she felt more alive than ever, like when she had basked in the evening glow earlier. The risks were high, and she may later see the consequences more clearly, but for now, she would wreak havoc. These punks would know who was superior tonight.

She stared down imposingly at the guy who had tried to grab her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked cooly, but in reality, she was revving to go.

"You asked for it, bitch."

"Oh?" Aena raised an eyebrow and cracked her knuckles. "Is that so? Well, I don't have the time nor the crayons to explain this to you, but let me say this—in what culture did I 'ask for it' you blockhead?"

He is face contorted even more, so much that it practically looked like an ugly goblin at this point.

His response was not a verbal one as he was suddenly lunging at Aena, reaching out with both hands like he wanted to choke her. Aena instinctively twisted to the side, but she found herself being obstructed by the seat and the table, so she couldn't get away in time. His hands found their target, latching onto her arm and pulling her to the edge of the seat. His fingers were surprisingly strong, and they dug into the flesh of her arm, like crustacean pinchers.

She was jolted by the pull, but her self-defense reflexes immediately kicked in, and she delivered a blow to his right cheek with her free arm. He viscerally recoiled but held on, the drunkenness most likely dulling his pain receptors. He strenuously jerked her up even more, and Aena stumbled to her feet, but not before giving him another good strike to the chin.

This time he stumbled back and spat out, blood and saliva speckling the polished wooden floor. Aena finally regained her movement, but her unrelenting opponent charged forward once again like an enraged bull.

"Don't just stand there you fools!" he shouted, wiping his mouth and rushing forward with the two other buff dudes following closely behind. 'They're surprisingly synchronized,' was all Aena could think before they were upon her.