Injae

* Pre-timeskip
* Post-timeskip

## Webtoon Debut

**Chapter 2**

**Injae** (인재, *Injae*; "*Jay*") is a prominent early character in *The Boxer*.

## Appearance

Injae is an unassuming bespectacled teenager with a bob of blonde hair and large green eyes.

Image Gallery

## Personality

While initially bullied with a weak personality, Injae resolves to stand up for himself and musters the courage to challenge his former bullies despite them turning their attention to someone else. Following his dad's example of a "boxer's courage", Injae kept getting back up even after being constantly beat down, only stopping after he was knocked clean out.

His burning drive to better himself and become a good boxer is evident when he sees Yu winning his first professional boxing match, inspiring him to train even harder.

## Plot

Injae was introduced as the bullying target of Ryu Baeksan and his cronies, with the latter using him as a seat.

Another day, Injae had to eat with them at lunch and they put disgusting items in his food before forcing him to eat it; he ended up vomiting it all later. During PE, while sitting out with Yu, he asked his classmate why he wasn't joining in despite being quite good at sports but Yu blandly replied that he found it boring. Injae then asked if there was anything else he liked to do or wanted to become, but Yu merely returned the question to him. Injae replied that he kinda wanted to be like his dad and added if Yu wanted to come over and try a new game at his house. While he was talking to Yu, Ryu smacked a football at his face but Yu caught it before it could strike. Infuriated, Ryu came over and threatened Yu while Injae shook in fear.
Getting home, Injae resolved that he couldn't get other people involved in his fight while practising the boxing that his dad has shown him years ago. Noting the events that had occurred during PE that day, Injae thought himself a loser for quaking in fear when Ryu had threatened Yu. He tried to rouse his spirits musing that he couldn't keep living in fear but was scared of Ryu's seemingly absolute power. Noticing his dad come home, Injae came out and asked him what he would do when he came up against a way stronger opponent. Sinking into thought, his dad told him that as a pro boxer one had to do what they could to win and that a true boxer was one who kept getting to their feet even if there was nothing they could do. His dad finished by telling him that the courage from a boxer and a non-boxer were both commendable however. Hearing his words, Injae thanks his dad and headed off to bed.

The next day at school, Injae mentally prepared himself to confront his demons but to his surprise the bullies completely ignore him all day. Noticing that something was up (as well as Yu being late earlier on), Injae boldly barged in on the bullies assaulting Yu after school much to their surprise. Still visibly shaking, Injae steeled himself before taking a boxing stance. With one of the bullies striding towards him, Injae hit him with a one-two, consequently deriving more courage and confidence from the realisation that his blows were landing. Delighted, Ryu mockingly stepped in to take Injae on himself. Ready, Injae launched into a flurry of punches but Ryu effortlessly evaded all of them before landing a strong counter. Undeterred, Injae kept attacking and, even though he was repeatedly floored, he kept getting back up. Flooring him again, Ryu commended him for his efforts and said they'd leave him alone, but Injae returned to his feet and told him the fight wasn't over yet. Irate, Ryu smacked Injae at full power and began pummelling him while viciously telling him that people like him only got the message after a beating. Defiant til the end, Injae replied that he didn't care about being the strongest as he had already achieved his goal, before declaring that he would become a boxer. Sent into a blind rage, Ryu began mercilessly pummelling Injae into unconsciousness.

In the hospital for the injuries he had incurred during his fight with Ryu, Yu came to visit him while he was asleep. Waking up, Injae walked past an embarrassed Ryu in the hospital hallway.

Two years later, Injae had started training as a boxer in the same gym as Steel, under Kim Tae-Pung. With them both watching as Yu won his first professional boxing match while they were skipping, seeing Yu's face inspired him to train even harder with Injae then skipping at an even faster speed.

## Abilities

While nothing special, Injae has received some boxing tuition from his dad and is able to perform boxing moves to an adequate level; he was able to land a blow solid enough to draw blood against one of his former bullies. While still completely outclassed by Ryu Baeksan, Injae shows competent boxing skill during their brief skirmish.

## Notes & Trivia

* Injae's full name is unknown.
* In Korean, Injae's name means prodigy/talented person (인재)
* His dad was once a professional boxer who had a record of 13 wins, 12 losses and 2 draws over 27 fights.
* In special episode 1 it is mentioned that Injae is seventh in the super lightweight category.￼
* He suffers from vision problems because he injured his left eye when he was little, leaving him almost blind.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 6
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 7
3. ↑ Chapter 19
4. ↑ Chapter 5