“What, so it wasn’t just a one-time thing? He was bullying kids on a regular basis?”
“Does it even make sense that the parents didn’t know their son was acting like that?”
“If school violence was happening repeatedly, what on earth was the school doing? Seriously.”
Sensing that the room’s mood was shifting in Han Jun’s favor, Wonseok abruptly cut in to refute him, even though it wasn’t his turn.
“Wow, top-ranked student and he lies smart as hell too, huh? No, that’s not it. Everything that bastard’s saying is a lie. Look—he says he was heading home, but the CCTV shows him going in the complete opposite direction of the main gate, toward the old building’s gym storage. Just from that alone, his story doesn’t add up. And you’re going to believe that?”
As the principal raised his hand to restrain Wonseok again, Wonseok’s mother—seated beside him—cut in, opening her mouth heavily as if to block him.
“Student, you keep saying my son bullied someone, but shouldn’t you be presenting some kind of evidence when you make claims like that? And even if something like that had happened, wouldn’t you have reported it earlier? Principal, as you well know, my son has never caused a single controversy until now. And suddenly it’s school violence? Does that make any sense?”
As if she simply couldn’t believe any of this, Wonseok’s mother slapped the desk with her palm every time she spoke.
“Besides, isn’t this meeting supposed to be about the incident between this student and our Wonseok? But this student keeps bringing up unrelated stories and trying to derail the issue. A child who’s attended school properly from elementary school until now without breaking a single rule suddenly getting dragged into a scandal—doesn’t that suggest someone framed him or deliberately led things this way?”
At her words, Han Jun let out a scoffing mutter under his breath. “Never broken a rule, my ass…”
Apparently displeased by the sight of someone as young as Han Jun sneering, Wonseok’s father stepped in this time, launching into a lecture about upbringing.
“This is why money isn’t everything. Look at him—doesn’t even know how to behave, smirking at what an adult says. Look at that. With manners like that, it’s obvious he must’ve been poking and provoking my son little by little.”
“Students aren’t the only ones required to wait for their turn to speak. The same applies to guardians. If you keep interrupting out of turn, it’ll be difficult to conduct the meeting properly. Seo Wonseok’s guardians.”
As the atmosphere grew chaotic, the committee members tried to mediate. Amid that, perhaps feeling something was off, the homeroom teacher spoke up in a heavy tone.
“Jun, you said you were leaving early because you were sick, but then you suddenly said you took a walk around the school grounds. You know that puts you at a disadvantage, right?”
Han Jun replied immediately, without so much as twitching an eyebrow.
“I don’t lie just because something might put me at a disadvantage. And why is that a problem? My head was a mess, so I walked around once before going home. Is that against the rules or something?”
“Well… hearing it that way, I suppose it’s not entirely irrelevant. Then do you have any evidence or witnesses that Yi-hyeon was being bullied? If so, the teacher can look into that separately—”
“No, are you saying you’re going to believe this kid and assume our son bullied another student too, based on nothing but talk?”
The moment the homeroom teacher cautiously brought up Yi-hyeon’s bullying, Wonseok’s father flared up again, insisting that neutrality was being violated.
Seeing this, several parents’ association members—who’d been watching Wonseok’s parents deflect everything and shield only their own child—started chiming in with remarks of their own. Soon, everyone began shouting only what they wanted to say, shutting their ears to everything else. As mediation became impossible, even the committee members raised their voices, and the situation inside the meeting room spilled audibly into the hallway.
Amid the pandemonium, Han Jun alone smiled leisurely, arms crossed, leaning toward his lawyer.
“Wow…… the power of genetics is scary. Now I get why Seo Wonseok’s so loud. Right?”
At Han Jun’s comment, the attorney didn’t voice agreement—he simply swallowed a deep sigh and calmly reorganized the already neatly prepared documents once more.
***
“You think we didn’t bring a lawyer because we don’t have one? And if a kid causes trouble, isn’t it only right for the parents to show up? Do you think we came because we’ve got time to kill? This is beyond rude.”
The moment Yi-hyeon got out of the taxi, having run with his lungs about to burst, the shouting echoing through the corridor made him worry that he might be too late. On top of that, guilt crept in at the thought that Han Jun had probably been enduring all of this alone for a long time.
If I’d known traffic would be this bad, I should’ve just taken the subway…
Yi-hyeon hurried up the stairs.
When he reached the meeting room door, a grown man’s booming shout made him hesitate. The fingers he’d extended to open the door trembled violently. For a moment, his breathing threatened to grow ragged again as memories tied to his father resurfaced—but reminding himself that he had to present the evidence as soon as possible, he forced his emotions down.
“I’m saying, where’s the evidence? The evidence that our son bullied Yoon Yi-hyeon or Yoon Yi-young or whoever.”
The evidence Seo Wonseok’s parents were demanding was already in Yi-hyeon’s hand. Taking a deep breath, resolved to show them since they wanted it so badly, Yi-hyeon pushed the meeting room door open with still-trembling hands.
The sight beyond the creaking door made him shrink back once more. Dozens of eyes inside the room turned toward Yi-hyeon all at once at the sudden intrusion of an uninvited guest.
“It’s okay. Come stand next to me.”
Han Jun—who alone knew just how good Yi-hyeon’s hearing was—moved his lips as if whispering. Following that voice, Yi-hyeon turned his head and found the only warmth amid the cold stares. Clutching Han Jun’s restored phone tightly, Yi-hyeon finally opened his tightly sealed lips.
“I brought the evidence. May I come in?”
As if encouraging Yi-hyeon’s anxious eyes, Han Jun smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Outsiders are not permitted to participate.”
At the committee member’s words, Yi-hyeon shook his head.
“I’m not an outsider. I’m Seo Wonseok’s other school violence victim—Yoon Yi-hyeon.”
Wonseok’s hostile glare was frightening, but Yi-hyeon clenched his fist and walked toward the principal who was watching him closely.
“I’ve come to submit proof that I’m a victim.”
Yi-hyeon handed over the restored phone.
Up until that moment, Wonseok—who had no idea the phone was the very one Han Jun had sold on Oi Market—only glared at Yi-hyeon with irritation, wondering what he could possibly have brought that made him dare testify against him.
The principal accepted the phone and tapped the video file Yi-hyeon had prepared. In the now-silent meeting room, a familiar voice began to play.
—Ah, fuck. Seriously, this is fucking bullshit. Is our homeroom teacher out of his mind? If I don’t get into college because of the grade that bastard docked me, I’m seriously gonna beat the shit out of him. But more importantly, how should I get revenge on that cocksucker Han Jun?
The moment they recognized their son’s voice, both parents’ faces hardened like cement walls. Realizing it was the file Han Jun had recorded in the classroom that day, Wonseok’s expression twisted into something too miserable for words.
—Fuck, I’m so pissed I’m losing my mind. How should I fuck Han Jun up? Smash the back of his head with this when he’s walking by?
—If you wanna get revenge on him, you should fuck up Yoon Yi-hyeon. From what I can tell, there’s something going on between them. Han Jun totally dotes on Yoon Yi-hyeon—licking and sucking and all.
—Not licking and sucking. Han Jun’s just a fucking homo.
—Nah, I think they’re both just homos.
As the raw conversation between Haejun and Wonseok echoed through the room, the guidance teacher rubbed his face dryly with a grim expression and let out a sigh. He was the very homeroom teacher Yi-hyeon had first reported the bullying to back in his first year.
—Should we sneak a photo of them together and upload it online? Then his dad would go crazy and lose his shit. Or we could grab Yoon Yi-hyeon and do it right in front of Han Jun—
From there on, vulgarities too disgusting to even repeat followed. The people gathered in the room wore expressions ranging from shock to fury—but Yi-hyeon alone waited calmly for the video to end, his face composed.
Han Jun quietly watched Yi-hyeon’s expression. When the video finished playing, the principal naturally tapped the next one. It was the footage Han Jun had filmed of Wonseok bullying Yi-hyeon with a frozen ice pop in front of the annex building.
The parents who had been loudly demanding proof that their son had bullied someone went completely silent within five minutes, as if their mouths had been sealed shut. Seeing his future laid bare, Wonseok bit down on his lower lip, head bowed, muttering under his breath, “Ah, fuck……”
“I was being bullied by Seo Wonseok on a regular basis. I reported it to the school several times, but they brushed it off as boys’ harmless teasing, saying there were no clear signs of physical assault or concrete evidence. What kind of student knows when and where they’ll be bullied and prepares for it every single time? After that, I figured that if speaking up was meaningless anyway, I’d just endure it and keep going to school.”
