The Gangster Boss in a High Schooler's Body

Ah Beng's Name Erased

A nightclub in Clarke Quay. Purple and blue lights swirled across the ceiling, reflecting off glass walls slick with condensation. House music thundered from massive speakers, loud enough to send vibrations rattling through the floorboards. Tucked away in a private VIP corner far from the crowd, Bryan Lim sat on a long leather sofa, a shot glass balanced in his hand.

Four guys sat with him. Kelvin Teo—the school DJ who always blasted music during recess and served as the mastermind behind every joke at Darren's expense—leaned back beside Bryan, puffing on an e-cigarette. Ryan Wong and Faizal Rahman played cards at a low coffee table, while Daniel busied himself with his phone, letting out an occasional chuckle at whatever was on his screen.

Three girls lounged in their laps, each holding a cocktail glass. Spread across the table were bottles of hard liquor, melting ice cubes, and a small tray dusted with white powder that was already halfway gone.

"You look tense, Bryan," Kelvin said, holding out his vape. "Chill out a bit. We came here to have a good time."

Bryan didn't answer. He downed his shot in one gulp, slamming the glass onto the table with a loud clatter.

Ryan looked up from his cards. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing," Bryan snapped back.

Faizal let out a laugh. "Whenever you say 'nothing,' it means something is definitely up. Your face looks like you're ready to murder someone."

"If nothing was wrong, you'd already be groping that girl over there. But tonight you're just sitting there, dead serious. Did the big boss give you another errand?" Ryan probed.

Bryan didn't bother responding. He grabbed a bottle and poured himself another glass. His mind drifted back to Leon's orders from earlier that afternoon—to dig up info on Ah Beng across every hospital. Bryan had tried to reach out to his father to ask about unidentified patients admitted over the past week.

Except Bryan couldn't actually ask his dad. That would only lead to a lecture, with his father comparing him to Damian, the golden-child son.

The door to the VIP room swung open. A skinny teenager wearing a black leather jacket stepped inside, breathing heavily. His name was Hock Ceng, one of Bryan's trusted lackeys outside of school.

"Bryan," Hock Ceng called out.

Bryan looked up. "Well?"

Hock Ceng glanced nervously at the girls in the room. Bryan got the message instantly. With a slight tilt of his head, he signaled the four girls, who understood it was time to leave and got up. Kelvin grumbled in annoyance, but a sharp glare from Bryan shut him up instantly.

"Everyone out. Give us a minute."

Once the door slammed shut, Bryan crossed his legs. "Talk."

Hock Ceng swallowed hard. "I checked four hospitals. Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, Raffles, and Parkway East. There's no patient registered under the name Ah Beng. Nothing in the system matches the description you gave me for unidentified patients, either."

The room fell dead silent. Kelvin paused, his vape hovering near his mouth. Ryan and Faizal traded uneasy glances.

Bryan fixed his gaze on Hock Ceng. "You sure?"

"100%, Bryan. I checked the ER intake logs from the last three days. No guy with a dragon tattoo on his neck or a scar on his cheek. No critical condition arrivals brought in from the Kallang area."

Bryan gripped the shot glass in his hand. His knuckles turned white, his expression unreadable.

"Do you have any idea what this means?" Bryan asked coldly.

Hock Ceng shook his head nervously.

"It means I have to report back to the higher-ups with jack shit." Bryan stood up abruptly. "And do you know how they handle useless reports?"

Hock Ceng gulped. "I—I just reported what I found."

Bryan hurled the shot glass straight at the wall. The glass shattered into a hundred jagged pieces, spraying across the floor and making Kelvin and the others jump.

"I don't need a dead end!" Bryan roared, his voice booming through the room. "I need a name! I need a location, and I need proof whether that bastard is dead, or proof that he's alive and where they're hiding him!"

Hock Ceng took a step back in panic. "Bryan, I did everything you asked—"

"Then do it again!" Bryan cut him off sharply. "Check small clinics. Check private hospitals on the outskirts. Check off-the-grid places that aren't logged in the main system! Don't show your face back here until you have an answer I can actually use!"

Hock Ceng nodded frantically. "Got it. I'm on it right now."

Hock Ceng spun around and bolted out the room, nearly crashing into the doorframe in his hurry. Bryan stood in the middle of the room, his chest heaving up and down.

Kelvin broke the heavy silence. "Bryan, who the hell is this Ah Beng guy anyway?"

Bryan glared back at him. "None of your business."

"Hey, we're brothers, aren't we? If you're in deep, we can back you up."

Bryan stared at Kelvin for a long moment. "This shit is way too big for you guys. Just focus on school."

Daniel let out a nervous chuckle. "How big can it be for you to go throwing glasses around?"

Bryan offered no explanation. He sank back onto the sofa, grabbed the bottle, and splashed another drink into a fresh glass. His hand was still visibly shaking.

"Kelvin," Bryan called out.

"Yeah?"

"Starting tomorrow at school, keep an eye on Darren. Don't touch him yet. Just watch him."

Kelvin knitted his brows in confusion. "Darren? That wimp? Why?"

"Just do what I tell you!"

Kelvin shrugged, choosing not to argue. Ryan and Faizal exchanged subtle looks, staying quiet. Daniel went back to scrolling through his phone, pretending not to care.

Bryan downed his drink in a single gulp. Outside, the heavy bass kept thumping. Inside, the atmosphere had turned icy cold.

He hated coming up empty-handed. And he knew Leon would hate it even more.

--

A few hours before Bryan's lackey checked the hospital patient logs, on the forty-second floor of Keppel Tower, a woman in her early forties sat behind a solid teak desk. Her name was Cheryl Ong, executive secretary to Mr. Lawrence Chuo, Darren's father. For twelve years she had served the Chuo family, and not once had she ever questioned her employer's orders.

Her phone vibrated on the desk. The caller ID displayed Darren Chuo's name.

"Cheryl," Darren's voice came through the speaker. "I need your help. It's urgent."

Cheryl set her pen down immediately. "What's the matter, Young Master?"

"There's a patient at Mount Elizabeth. Name's Ah Beng. VIP room, seventh floor. I need his name wiped clean from the hospital system. Right now."

Cheryl paused for a brief second. "Wiped clean, Young Master?"

"Yeah. Change it to an alias. The identity on the VIP room door has to be swapped, too. Every document, every nursing log, every medical record. Not a single file should mention the name Ah Beng."

Cheryl closed her eyes for a moment. Having spent over a decade navigating Mr. Lawrence Chuo's high-stakes corporate world, she knew certain questions were better left unasked.

"What's the timeframe?"

"Today. Before seven tonight."

"Understood, Young Master. I'll get in touch with the hospital director right away."

"Thanks, Cheryl."

The line went dead. Cheryl put her phone down, reached over, and picked up her office desk phone, dialing an internal line for Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

"Director Tan speaking," a voice answered on the line.

"Director Tan, this is Cheryl Ong from Mr. Lawrence Chuo's office."

"Ah, Miss Cheryl. What can I do for you?"

"There's an urgent request from Young Master Darren Chuo regarding a patient in the VIP room on the seventh floor."

"Which patient?"

"A male patient admitted a couple of days ago under the name Ah Beng. Young Master Darren wants that name erased from your system entirely. Replaced with an alias. The room identity needs to be changed immediately as well."

Silence stretched over the line. Cheryl could hear Director Tan taking a deep breath on the other end.

"Miss Cheryl, these are official medical records. There are strict legal protocols—"

"Director Tan," Cheryl interrupted in a calm yet razor-sharp tone. "Mr. Lawrence Chuo is one of your hospital's largest donors. He also happens to sit on the board of the healthcare group that owns Mount Elizabeth. I'm sure I don't need to explain the implications."

Another heavy silence followed. Cheryl waited patiently.

"Understood, Miss Cheryl," Director Tan finally replied. "I'll handle it personally right now."

"Thank you, Director Tan. Please confirm with me as soon as it's done."

"Will do."

Cheryl placed the receiver back on its cradle. She glanced at her computer monitor for a brief second, then went right back to work as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

*

On the seventh floor of Mount Elizabeth, two night-shift nurses received sudden top-down orders from administration. The nameplate outside VIP Room 702 was promptly removed and replaced with a completely unfamiliar name. Inside the digital database, medical records were overwritten. Within minutes, any trace of the name Ah Beng vanished, replaced by an alias no one would ever think to look for.