Vinny Hong

*Since the world is freaking unfair anyway*

**Vinny Hong** or **Hong Yoo-Bin** (*Hangul:* 홍유빈) is a student at Gunn High and the current leader of the Sabbath Crew. He is one of the main characters of the series. He was previously a member of the Zephyrus Crew along with Minu and June, the Hummingbird Crew, and the Ghost Crew.

## Appearance

Vinny is a tall, handsome young man with an athletic build and pale skin. He has wild, wavy red hair and different-colored eyes. One is red (left), and the other is black (right). This condition is called heterochromia. Another condition called Waardenburg syndrome caused the color of his left eye and hair. He has his left ear pierced. He also has 2 moles under his left eye.

In his school uniform, Vinny wears a gyobok (*Hangul*: 교복), consisting of the Gunn High's blazer with the school's emblem stitched on the left pocket—a t-shirt that varies in colors and a dress trouser.

While in his casual attire, Vinny usually wears the Adidas' iconic Firebird track top with three stripes along the sleeves and the Trefoil logo embroidered on the left. T-shirts and pants that vary in colors, sometimes Adidas track pants to match, and a pair of red Vans Old Skool. Later in the story, Vinny is seen wearing the Louis Vuitton Varsity Jacket, Stone Island cargo pants, and Chrome Hearts Made In Hollywood denim jacket, all in their own respective episodes in chapter 4, which Juwon Ryu bought for him.

## Personality

 *One thing that I've noticed in life is that people trample on and beat down anyone who thinks and looks different from themselves. Why? Does it give them a sense of superiority? I feel the only way for me to survive is to beat these a\*\*holes at their own game.. If the only other option is to be treated like s#it by jerks like this just for being different then I'd rather just go insane like a rabid dog and tear them all to shreds since the world is freaking unfair anyway.*
--**Vinny in part 1, chapter 53.**

People might describe him as a monster created by society. Vinny is seen by others as a dangerous lunatic, good for nothing, and a freak, especially at the start of the story. As a child, he was a sweet kid who was constantly enduring teasing from his peers. Because of this, he puts up an emotional wall surrounding himself, bottling up his feelings, and doesn't get along well with others.

He cares deeply about his mom and does not tolerate anyone who disrespects his mother, not even her self-deprecation. He often blames himself for the misfortune brought upon his mother emotionally and physically. He tends to be irrational when solving problems and was even willing to sell his bike to pay for his mother's surgery.

His childhood sweetness does make an appearance once in a while. He displays a great deal of empathy, even while displaying it through hardened words. He stopped Sung from attempting to commit suicide because of bullying by telling him that if he has the courage to die, he should use it to change himself first.

Vinny beat up the bullies who were bullying the otakus for their appearance and interests because the whole situation reminds him of when he was bullied.

He gave refuge to Jay and Minu when they ran away from home and was willing to share what little resources he had. And he even allowed Dom to tag along with him, even though he had no reason to stay there. Even though Vinny constantly tells them to go home, Vinny does not kick them out when they decide to stay.

Vinny is a heavy sleeper and can sleep through most noises. A surefire way to get him up is to mention food or have the scent of food waft in his vicinity.

## History

### Prologue

As a child, Vinny was bullied for the way he looked and had few friends. Minu defended Vinny from his childhood bully, Hwangyeon, the leader of the Ghost Crew. Later, Vinny joined Minu and June as one of the first few members of Zephyrus Crew. According to June, Vinny was a better rider than Minu.

A single mother in poverty raised Vinny. His financial situation worsened due to Minu's father opening a superstore next to his mother's privately owned supermarket named after him. Sometime in elementary school, he was caught in a house fire, and in an attempt to save him, both he and his mother were hospitalized. His mother's face received 3rd-degree burns, resulting in a huge scar that covered half of her face. His peers, as well as the adults around him, would gossip about him and his mother, saying that he has albinism or a weird disease with a monster of a mother. Vinny finally snapped when his bullies bad-mouthed his mother and started to fight back. He became more aggressive and would berserk all over every little thing instead of meekly enduring the abuse like he did before. In school, he gets beaten by teachers and is often suspended for "ruining" the school's image.

### Part 1

During the first part of the manhwa, The teachers suspended Vinny indefinitely after witnessing a video of a brutal fight between him and Dom. After running out of money for his vices, While visiting his mom at her workplace to get some pocket money, Vinny witnessed an unhappy customer verbally abusing her. Seeing his mother kneel made him go berserk; he also screamed the B-word at the irritated female customer, but midway through his attack, his mother collapsed. At the hospital, Vinny discovered the severity of his mother's condition. Her surgery to get a lung replacement would cost thousands of dollars.

He visited the bike shop to try to sell his bike, where he found the League of Street competition poster and decided to enter the race instead. While attempting to enter the League of Street competition as a solo rider, he encountered Hwangyeon and his group. Hwangyeon mockingly taunted Vinny into a bike race where he cheated to emerge victorious. While racing in the shadows, Hwangyeon stuck a toy sword into his bike's front wheel, causing Vinny to crash. As a result of "winning" the race, Hwangyeon and his crew beat Vinny up and destroyed his bike, a fine print of their deal that Vinny was unaware of. In doing so, Hwangyeon was also destroying Vinny's only hope of raising funds for his mother's lung replacement surgery. Vinny spiraled into depression to the point of wishing he wouldn't wake up from his sleep. When he told Sung this, his best friend felt rage and betrayal over his words. Probably because he felt like Vinny was being a coward, just like he was a few years back, when Vinny got home, his newly repaired bike was there with a post note that reads the exact words he said to Sung, "Only those with the courage to die may change themselves." His friend, Sung, bought him a new bike with a similar build using the money he got from selling his motorbike. It is another Japanese riser bar bike with a pink and purple NJS Bridgestone Anchor; this keirin frame is going for $800, and simple black spoked wheels with a pink rear tire. With this bike, Vinny joins the Hummingbird crew made by Minu with the others, and they all compete in the League of Street.

When Vinny saw Hwangyeon in the League of Street competition trying to flirt with the Tarantula Crew, he went over to him and swore that one day, he would beat him up and destroy his bike, just like he and his crew did to him.

## Relationships

* Family
* Friends
* Enemy

### Iseul Hong

Aside from caring in a somewhat jerk-like manner for his mom, Vinny doesn't have too many relationships that he may consider severe. He is constantly worried about her health but lashes out because he doesn't know what to do. Before joining the Hummingbird Crew, Vinny was shown not to treat his mother very well. When he ran out of cash, he would go to her for more despite knowing she wasn't in an excellent position to provide either. But no matter how badly Vinny treats her, his mom never stops loving him. After seeing how the death of Minu's mother affected his friend, Vinny told his mother that she could never leave him, showing his vulnerability and fear for her health and safety.

### Minu

Minu was Vinny's first friend. They got along because they both enjoyed riding together. It was usually just the two of them because other kids would ostracize Vinny as a child. Later on, their relationship soured due to a catastrophic race between the two and a gang fight between Minu's high school and Vinny's. When Minu distanced himself from the Hummingbird crew due to his father and started acting, for lack of a better term, like a "rich prick," their relationship was again rocked. Later, when Minu rejoined the crew, Vinny and Jay were initially opposed to it. However, aside from the abovementioned events, their relationship remained relatively normal and wasn't significantly affected.

### Sung

Vinny's closest friendship is one he has with his schoolmate, Sung. Sung used to be bullied for his money by his peers. Sung tried to take his life by jumping off the school building, but Vinny noticed him there and told him, "If you have the courage to die, then use it to change yourself first, dumba$$." Sung did change himself and found out that nothing happened to him afterward. Since then, Sung has become Vinny's friend, and they experience things together. After Vinny got his bike destroyed by Hwangyeon Choi (go to the last para.), Sung went to Minu and asked if Vinny could join the Hummingbird Crew. Vinny also got arrested, and Sung paid the bail, but he seemed almost crazy, saying that he couldn't even think rationally about his mother being in her situation. Sung got angry at Vinny and repeated the words that Vinny told him, and he also got a new bike for Vinny, for which he was hugely grateful. Their bond is stable and continues as the story progresses. As Vinny opened up to the Hummingbird Crew, his relationship with Sung seemed to soften. In later chapters, Sung comfortably teases Vinny about his relationship with the Tarantula crew's leader. Sung is roughed up a few panels down, not from a beating but because he fell down some stairs running away from Vinny.

### Dom

Vinny has a casual relationship with all members of the Hummingbird Crew, including those outside the loop, like Mia and Yuna. He has a slightly enhanced relationship with Dom, as he works part-time at Dom's club later in the story. They are both the fighters of the group and share solidarity over that fact. Dom is often in their circle to raise concern about Vinny's whereabouts and would volunteer to seek him out. After their loss with Monster, Vinny comforted Dom by saying he never believed that they would get this far in the competition and that it was enough that they all had fun together.

### Jay

Jay and Vinny share a rivalry that mirrors Jay's uncle, Mahon and Sungho. They demonstrate their strong friendship, and as the story unfolds, we observe how they gradually grow closer to each other. Vinny, in particular, shows worry about Jay several times. Vinny gets slapped back into reality when his mother collapses, and he realizes how bad her condition has become. He then reverts to his old self and holds a grudge against Jay's progress as a cyclist. Vinny's internal battle with his worth is still ongoing, and it is still up in the air if Vinny will follow in Sungho's footsteps and abuse substances to overpower Jay.

### Shelly

Shelly and Vinny get along in the crew, but their interaction is limited. Vinny typically avoids interactions with girls, and based on his reactions, Shelly is believed to be the first girl to enter his home. Vinny has grown slightly protective of her and even smacked Gilbert upside the head for making a disrespectful comment toward her.

### TJ Kim

A somewhat influential relationship that Vinny has is with TJ Kim, leader of the Zephyrus crew, once Minu left it. TJ recorded a video of Vinny's school, Gunn High, versus Sunny High, comprising Minu and the others, which he leaked and got Vinny suspended from school. Vinny got to know that TJ was the one who released the video, and since TJ was scared of him, he made TJ and his crew help the Hummingbird crew in the next race of the League of Street. After that, no contact is made between the two except for when the Hummingbird and Zephyrus Crew clash now and then in the races.

### Manga Crew

Another relationship is with the Manga crew, especially the 'otaku' enamored by 'Sena Chan.' When Vinny is heading home from a race, he sees the otaku being beaten up by bullies who scorn his physique and obsession with anime. The otaku yelled about how he is oppressed by society just because he is different from the people in it and that others cannot say that what he does is completely "wrong." Vinny was treated like that when he was younger and even in the present, so he beats up the bullies without compassion for the otaku. The otaku's crew also ganged on the remaining bullies a bit later. Once the fight was over, the otaku and his crew looked up to Vinny, but him being the "damn tsundere" that he was, he told them to screw off. Because of his heterochromia, one of his eyes resembles a "sharingan," a magical eye widely present in the anime "Naruto." So, Vinny is now looked up to by the Manga crew as the Sharingan from the Uchiha clan. Later in the story, there was a team battle where four teams were grouped into pairs of two and faced off against each other in a race. The Hummingbird and Manga Crew grouped because Vinny approached them and declared a partnership. They ended up winning the round by a close margin. After those events, something prominent has yet to happen.

### Yumi Lee

There's also the fact that the female leader of the Tarantula is in love with Vinny. This started with Hwangyeon trying to pick up girls from the Tarantula team, but then Vinny interjected and badmouthed him away, so the leader had eyes for him. She appeared once in a while, wanting Vinny to notice her and even reacting joyfully to the smallest actions that he had made. The only other significant interaction happened when the Tarantula crew went head to head against the Hummingbird Crew, but Vinny did not show up. Near the end of the episodes concerning the race, Vinny stood as a spectator, and Tarantula's leader caught sight of him, which put her in sudden shock and probably made her concentrate a little less and slow down; Jay caught up to her. Another interaction was when the Hummingbird Crew went on a field trip, and Vinny got drunk on Ginseng wine at a beach. The leader and a few members of the Tarantula Crew also happened to be there, and they got drunk as well, with the leader sidling up to Vinny and being close while punch-drunk.

Later, she went to Vinny's high school to congratulate him on winning against the Manga Crew, stating she'd kill him if he lost after eliminating the Tarantula team. Indifferent to her advances, he asks her if she bothered to come to his school to say that. She eventually handed him a gift for placing first. It was a pair of tarantula-themed gloves with "good luck" embroidered. Sung noticed this and stated that she had great taste. He also bids ***"Good luck"*** to his love life which Vinny answers, ***"Love my ass. I don't have time to date.***" The leader slipped her phone number underneath the gloves with a note saying, ***"Text Me When You're Bored.***" When Vinny was away, Sung noticed the note and used Vinny's phone to text her playfully. Shocked by Vinny's initiative, the Tarantula leader replied that she did not know that Vinny had this side to him and thought that it was cute. Vinny eventually finds out and beats Sung, but he only replies with a thumbs up and says that Vinny should try going out with her. He kept in contact with her because he couldn't do anything with it anymore. She heard about the unique League of the Street event and asked him if she could go. He did not reply, but they were seen walking down the street together the next day. She even pulls him into a headlock and ruffles his hair, but Vinny remains unbothered.

After Jay lost against Owen in the special tournament, Vinny's mother was hospitalized. With all the pent-up frustration with being unable to beat Jay and his mother's condition, he raced on a busy road with neither kneecaps, elbow caps, nor helmet. He attempted to imitate the insane cornering Owen used against Jay and failed, ending up with a bloodied knee. The Tarantula leader eventually found him sitting on the bench. To make him comply, she proceeded to chain up his bicycle against a post. Vinny had no choice but to ride with her on her motorcycle. He clung to her for dear life because he neither had a helmet nor experience. They stopped at an old playground and climbed one of the abandoned buildings. It was a place the leader had visited ever since she was young, and it was revealed later that the building overlooked the whole city. They gazed at its magnificence under the setting sun and silently sought comfort from each other's company. It was already dark when she drove him off to retrieve his chained-up bike.

Vinny looked for her before and after their race with the Scorpion crew in round 10. After their win, he quickly left and found himself at the park Yumi had shown him, where he saw her motorbike parked nearby. Vinny headed up to meet her. They talked about his race, and then he asked her what was wrong, saying she mentioned she only came here if she was feeling sad. Yumi confessed that she was sad all her family members were busy that day, considering it was her birthday. As it rained, Vinny ran off and told her to stay put. He returned with a small cheesecake slice from a nearby store. She requested a birthday song, and Vinny reluctantly complied to make her happy. She told him he did not have to address her as Ms. Yumi Lee and that just Yumi was fine. He rummaged through his pocket to light a lighter and asked her to blow it out. She did so happily and said she was only missing a gift, which got Vinny flustered. At the end of the chapter, she stepped towards him to pull him down for a kiss in the rain.

### Hwangyeon

Regarding negative relationships, the most influential one is with Hwangyeon Choi, leader of the Ghost Crew. Hwangyeon bullied Vinny excessively as a child, but Vinny got his revenge (to the delight of all the readers). Then, one day, he snapped, stabbing Hwangyeon with a pencil in his pocket and punching him. They lived in the same neighborhood as children and attended the same middle school. Later in the story, however, Vinny was challenged by Hwangyeon to a race, but Vinny lost due to sabotage that destroyed his wheels. As per tradition, the Ghost Crew held Vinny down, intimidated him by threatening bodily harm to his legs, and then turned to smash his bike. Once, Mia's life related to being a model was messed up by Hwangyeon. Minu, Vinny, and Dom battled with the Ghost Crew, and Vinny got his payback. He and the Hummingbird Crew are all very much against the Ghost Crew and its members.

## Skills and Techniques

**Tailing** - Follows right behind another rider to best reduce wind resistance. It was mentioned that Vinny tails dangerously close.

**Quick instincts** - Vinny showcases how quickly he can react many times throughout the series. During the match against the Asura crew, he avoided collision with Dom and June by jumping over them.

**Street fighter** - Vinny is strong in street fights and possibly better than Dom but worse than Joker.

## The bike

Vinny's steed is a "fixie" bike with a riser bar instead of the standard drop bars on the other bikes in the story. Many riser bar fixies are famous, some of the most notable being on the cheaper end of the spectrum or extremely durable premium bikes. In this case, Vinny rides a custom pink fixed-gear by Nakagawa, a keirin fixed-gear brand (which is made of steel but is described as a carbon fiber frame in the webtoon), a Spinergy Rev X front wheel, and generic deep dish rear wheel. The frame is quite expensive, ranging from $500 to $2500, though Vinny's bike frame is a rare pink one, placed in the $2000 - $2500 range. The Spinergy Rev X is a carbon wheel notorious for breaking, but it stays miraculously intact on Vinny's bike, costing about $400 due to plot armor. The rear wheel may be carbon, but a price estimate could be between $100 - $300 based on wild guesses. True to Vinny's wild nature, the bike is partially sticker-bombed, mainly on the frame's down tube.

The Ghost Crew wrecked this bike after a race against its captain, Hwangyeon. When Vinny joined Team Hummingbird, the founding members and Sung gifted him a new bike. It is a pink-purple Bridgestone Anchor NJS provided with a flat bar instead. Vinny eventually changed to drop bars and started riding with clipless pedals.

## Trivia

* Vinny's back profusely sweats when he's scared. It was displayed when the crew encountered a ghost on the way up the mountain to train.
* One of the few things Vinny is proficient at in cooking is Ramen. He often cooks a pot for his friends voluntarily and involuntarily.
* He's terrible at basketball. He lost when playing against Minu at the arcade.
* He can almost instantly fall asleep, and only the promise of food can wake him.
* He quit smoking to be in better physical condition for cycling.
* According to Yumi, Vinny is a fantastic kisser.
* He has a bad habit of drinking from anything but a glass or a cup.