DMH Ch16

Mu Jeonghoo’s words implied that all the corruption and incidents happening at this school were occurring far more often than they appeared. Jeonghoo was starting to get annoyed with Park Wan, who hadn’t said a word in response to his repeated remarks.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me? I’m a person too, I get hurt.”

“Don’t talk to me. I don’t know what your ulterior motive is for dragging me into this school, but it’ll be a headache if even you get involved here.”

He was serious. Mu Jeonghoo was superior to the other kids. That was certain. The fact that they went around in gangs creating a sense of disharmony was probably because they had parents backing them up, so they acted like thugs. Even Choi Gilhyun couldn’t do anything and retreated with just a word from Mu Jeonghoo. If all the students in the school found out that Mu Jeonghoo was involved, and that he had parachuted into this school, it would be a headache just thinking about it. He didn’t even want to be caught having a conversation with Mu Jeonghoo. It was to avoid creating trouble unnecessarily.

Everyone in this school except Park Wan was a well-bred alpha or omega. The alphas didn’t even look at someone like Park Wan, a recessive. Maybe as a squeaky toy for a dog to play with. Most people hated even talking to a recessive, let alone having their skin touch. The Cinderella stories that appeared in dramas were fantasies that didn’t work in real society. The noble dominant alphas only talked to and had sexual relations with the noble dominant omegas. There was no place for a recessive to fit in.

Wan tried to get away quickly. Mu Jeonghoo opened his mouth, looking at the red bloodstains spreading under Wan’s nose.

“What’s your cycle like?”

“What?”

Wan’s body froze instantly.

“You’re always so sensitive like this, omegas get sensitive during that time.”

“…”

“And you don’t have any medicine in your bag.”

“Did you go through my bag?”

Wan’s voice was full of tremors. Mu Jeonghoo tilted his head and replied with a displeased expression.

“No.”

“…”

“You should say, ‘Jeonghoo-ya, did you go through my bag?'”

“You crazy bastard.”

Being alone with Mu Jeonghoo in a secluded space was more dangerous than facing Choi Gilhyun one-on-one. He was afraid of what might happen. It was a hundred, a thousand times better to be with other people, even if he got beaten up, than to be alone in the same space with him. Every time Mu Jeonghoo spoke, Wan’s fists trembled. If he kept dealing with Mu Jeonghoo, he felt like he might punch that face. He quickly left the bathroom to avoid any mishaps. It was the best resistance Park Wan could offer in this situation.

A round circle was formed again on the playground. Shadows gathered inside the circle. The hot sun gathered above their heads. Wan stood at the very back, chewing over the humiliating words he had heard from Mu Jeonghoo in the bathroom. The gym teacher approached, stepping down the stairs.

“Okay, from now on…”

As the gym teacher’s words trailed off, Mu Jeonghoo walked down the stairs behind him towards the circle. The gym teacher glanced at Mu Jeonghoo as he walked over. He didn’t scold Mu Jeonghoo for joining late. He didn’t seem to have any intention of taking out the attendance sheet he had called out an hour ago and checking it again.

“Do whatever you can do on the playground. Play dodgeball like you were doing earlier, or play soccer.”

The gym teacher spoke irresponsibly, just like an hour ago, and then retreated back into the shade. The playground was covered with lush green grass. A white ball rolled to Wan’s feet as he pressed the soft grass with his toes. Here we go again. He lifted his head weakly. Choi Gilhyun and a few others were clustered together in a triangle. Ignoring them was the best medicine. Wan turned away in a state of resignation. However, it was uncertain whether ignoring them would work as the best medicine for those who didn’t understand common sense. It didn’t. He felt a dull pain in his shoulder blade. They mercilessly threw the ball at Wan’s back. He felt like crying every time the white balls hit his shoulder blades, lower back, pelvis, buttocks, and thighs in succession and fell at his feet.

If there were only the throwers and the one being hit on the wide, grassy playground, he could have endured it. But the fact that other kids were giggling and watching this was very hard to bear. Being among the spectators was quite sad. He silently endured it and walked ahead. He planned to escape from them by taking a walk on the hot playground.

“Stop it. You’re kicking up dust.”

Wan heard a familiar voice behind him. But he couldn’t welcome that voice either. It was Mu Jeonghoo’s voice, who always picked out words to torment him with whenever he faced him. He didn’t torment him in a petty way like the other kids, but instead chose words that would dig into his heart. With a natural and innocent voice, as if he had been educated that way.

Wan had declared war on Mu Jeonghoo in the bathroom. He told him not to interfere in his affairs. That meant not to step in like he did in the science lab, even if he witnessed someone bullying him. If those situations piled up, he would inevitably be treated like a doormat, even if he didn’t want to be. Wan decided to explain it clearly again so that Mu Jeonghoo could understand. He turned around, rehearsing the words he would pour out to him. But that was the end of it. Wan collapsed onto the soft artificial turf, and faced the blazing sun through the closing eyelids, like a lengthening shadow.

“Why does he collapse so often?”

Mu Jeonghoo muttered to himself. He tapped Wan’s forehead with his index finger. Tap, tap, he heard a knock on the hospital door. Chief Kim, who was standing right in front of the door, quickly opened it. A doctor in a gown took a step to enter the hospital room through the sky-blue doorway.

“Just a moment.”

Chief Kim closed the door and came out.

“No, why…”

The doctor, blocked in his path, asked with a flustered face.

“The young master wants to be quiet.”

“Ahem, yes.”

The doctor cleared his throat. In principle, he should have entered the hospital room and talked to the guardian about the patient’s condition. For the first time in his medical career, he had to tell someone other than the patient’s guardian about the diagnosis. But there was nothing he could do. He was just a salaried employee who had to do as he was told.

“That patient…”

Chief Kim listened intently, as if he wouldn’t miss a word the doctor said. He had to convey it to the young master exactly as it was, without missing a single syllable.

Inside the hospital room, Mu Jeonghoo was still poking at Wan’s features with his fingers. Mu Jeonghoo’s fingers wandered aimlessly over his round forehead, his neatly closed eyes, and the tip of his round nose.

“Young master.”

Chief Kim, who had finished consulting with the doctor, carefully entered the hospital room.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Mu Jeonghoo put his hands in his pockets and threw himself onto the sofa attached to the wall. Usually, a 24-hour day felt very short, but today it felt like time wasn’t passing at all. A lot had happened during the day. After listening to the morning class, he went to check out Park Wan’s residence, and then he had to take the collapsed Park Wan to the hospital.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll just have one.”

Chief Kim operated the coffee machine and spoke.

“He’s malnourished.”

“Malnourished?”

“Yes. He’s severely lacking in nutrients…”

Chief Kim spewed out the words he had heard from the doctor in detail. He lightly washed the mug and gently placed it at the coffee outlet. Before Chief Kim could launch into a professional and rather lengthy explanation of what nutrients he needed to be replenished with, Mu Jeonghoo raised his hand. It was a sign to stop. He lowered his raised hand and muttered quietly. He had the face of someone who had heard the absurd sound that an alien had been discovered.

“Malnourishment?”

“…”

“I’ve never seen anyone get that.”

He looked curiously at Park Wan, who was lying neatly in front of him. Since meeting him, his monotonous daily life had changed. He had visited a neighborhood he would never have gone to in his life, visited a house that made him think, “So people live like this,” and for the first time, he had personally transported someone who was sick. Moreover, he had encountered someone who had contracted a disease he had only seen in books.

“So he can get sick too…”

Everything was a first. As Mu Jeonghoo looked at Park Wan as if he were a strange creature, a shooting star passed by in his eyes. It flashed quickly and disappeared. He suddenly thought, “It would be more fun to live together.” His boring and dull life was filled with scenes like those in a movie, so it was nothing short of thrilling for him.

Around the time when white steam billowed and scattered from the humidifier next to the bed, Park Wan stirred and moved his eyeballs. With his eyes closed, he lightly gripped the blanket touching his fingertips. He had never been to the infirmary since coming to this school, so he didn’t even know if it was the infirmary. When he fully opened his eyes, he saw a field of white smoke spread out in his vision. It was only after hearing Chief Kim’s voice that he realized it was steam from the humidifier.

“Are you awake?”

Chief Kim approached the bed and asked. He examined Wan’s complexion. His parched lips were covered in hangnails.

“Yes, thank yo-”

Wan stopped speaking abruptly. He found Mu Jeonghoo sitting comfortably on the sofa. He had been leaning his upper body with his elbows on his thighs, but he slowly got up. His footsteps, which echoed with every step, sounded like the Grim Reaper opening the path to the underworld and urging him to hurry. He called Wan’s name affectionately.

“Wan-ah.”

“…”

“Live in my room.”

The veins on Wan’s hand, where the IV needle was inserted, bulged.

***

There is no end to human greed.

If you receive one, you’ll want two or three; if you receive a hundred, you’ll want a thousand, or even more. That’s why Mu Jeonghoo made the offer. At first, he arranged for Park Wan to attend a better school. He upgraded him from a crumbling, brick-built high school to one that was otherwise inaccessible. Mu Jeonghoo, and others in his world, evaluated people like livestock. If Mu Jeonghoo was the top-grade apple with a golden sticker that Park Wan once bought, then Park Wan was a bruised apple rolling on the floor.

Attending a better school naturally raised his standards. Mu Jeonghoo remembered Park Wan secretly admiring his uniform. So, this time, he wanted to provide an even better environment. He gave one, so he would want two; if he kept giving, Park Wan would hesitate even before refusing. However, Park Wan hadn’t yet grasped the weight of the gift he had received. Was it even enough? He even ignored the sweet offer he had proposed and left. After Park Wan left like that, Mu Jeonghoo lost interest, as if a movie he was enjoying had been cut short by a power outage.

In this society, the boundary between minors and adults is blurred. People are born with instincts. They want to eat delicious things, wear pretty things, put on nice things, enjoy comfortable things, and share love with someone they like. Sex isn’t exclusive to adults. Becoming an adult doesn’t necessarily mean grasping the concept of sex and engaging in safe sex and complete love. Alphas and Omegas all receive sex education as soon as they can read.

The problem is that even with safe sex education from experts from a young age, their sexuality is promiscuous. Even alphas and omegas who haven’t reached adulthood can engage in orgies if they so desire. Such lifestyles are as commonplace as eating breakfast in Mu Jeonghoo’s society.

Of course, many people couldn’t do that. Those who were inherently timid couldn’t even dream of orgies. The cost of abortion, which could run into the millions of won for a single act of pleasure, was a fatal price for them. They would rather take cheap hormone-suppressing drugs.

‘The more experience you have, the better. It will make you more mature and seasoned.’

Mu Jeonghoo grew up learning his father’s philosophy. He developed an open-minded attitude toward sex. The problem was his lack of hesitation. It was the same in his attitude toward people. He grew up among people who would prepare his washing water and wipe his body with a lukewarm towel at the slightest gesture. When Mu Jeonghoo donated with the leftover pocket money, every individual and organization would shed tears for Jeonghoo, eager to hold his hand, bowing and appealing to his emotions.

Mu Jeonghoo didn’t know what those emotions were, but he kept his mouth shut and nodded in agreement, watching the hundreds of cameras filming him. Mu Jeonghoo’s image, broadcasted on the airwaves, was remembered as a superior Alpha with exceptional potential from the start, and it has been consistently maintained ever since. The more Mu Jeonghoo gave, the more people smiled or cried, bowing and thanking him.

But Park Wan was different. At first, he thought it was cute that he bought a box of apples – despite carrying light pockets – for helping with some school work. But after that, Park Wan would scowl and pout whenever he spoke to him, and he would always push back, trying to protect his meager pride. Wan’s behavior was more amusing than irritating.

The outcome was already determined. Whether he got lost and went around in circles, or the road was cut off and he had to take a long detour, the end would be the same. It was obvious that things would go as Mu Jeonghoo intended.