DMH Ch9

“What are you going to do about our only grandson’s face! What are you going to do!”

Wan felt like his eardrums were about to burst, and he covered his ears with both hands. Venomous glares were directed at Wan. Unspeakable curses, as if demons were speaking, began to pour out of the mouths of several parents. ‘That insolent brat… Bring your parents here… That face… Where did this… How dare you…’

Wan was alone. He held back the tears that threatened to spill out from his sorrow. The unfiltered curses danced and flew towards Wan. There was nothing Wan could do without a guardian. Before leaving the house, his dad was passed out, not even knowing Wan had come in. Next to him, a pile of papers proving he’d been to the racetrack were scattered. That man probably didn’t even know Wan hadn’t come home. Never before had he so desperately needed an ally. He wished even Park Gwangcheol, unreliable as he was, could be there to take the abuse. The parents ganged up and cornered Wan.

“Ugh!”

Vomit splattered on the creaking wooden floor. The sight was enough to silence the noisy crowd. Wan covered his mouth with his vomit-soaked hand and bent over. Bitter liquid rose up. The student affairs director next to him frowned and brought a mop from the back. The physical education director slapped Wan’s back, which was feebly coughing like a dry twig. Every time his body went down, his head pounded.

“Look at him trying to be clever. Does he think someone will feel sorry for him?”

“Let’s hold a school violence committee. He needs to learn a lesson properly.”

School violence committee. As soon as Wan heard the words “school violence committee,” his face turned pale. That was the one thing that couldn’t happen. It absolutely couldn’t be held. If a school violence committee was held, Wan would no longer be able to dream. If a school violence committee was held, a record would be left on his transcript, and that record would become an obstacle in his life. How much effort had he put in so far? He couldn’t let a scarlet letter be branded on him for something like this. Even a minor school violence committee record on his transcript would block him from even approaching the universities he wanted to attend. Wan felt a pain as if a rubber band was wrapping around his throat several times. He barely managed to open his mouth.

“I need to go to the bathroom…”

“Yes. Go quickly. Everyone, please sit down and calm down. Please.”

Wan opened the back door and staggered out, leaving the principal’s words behind. Entering the bathroom, Wan locked the door and sat down on the toilet seat. It was obvious that no matter what he said there, those shameless people would treat Wan like a juvenile delinquent.

Wan was frustrated that all the truths he could reveal would be dismissed as mere excuses. There was no way to escape, as if he was surrounded by cliffs on all sides. Wan repeatedly bent and straightened his hands. Closing his eyes and lost in thought, he reached into his pocket with a determined look on his face. There was a crisp piece of paper inside.

‘Since we’ve met like this, contact me if you think of me.’

The man had confidently tucked the paper with his contact information into Wan’s pocket. As if he had predicted that there would soon be something he would desperately need. He never thought he would see him again…. The black letters with the man’s number blurred. Wan rubbed his eyes hard. All he could trust was the contact information of a man he had met for the first time yesterday.

“Help me.”

The other person must have been quite surprised by the words he blurted out without even introducing himself. A crackling noise came from the phone with poor sound quality. He gathered his senses and cleared his throat, abruptly getting to the point. Then he explained the situation from beginning to end. He thought he had explained it quite coherently, but in reality, it was so disorganized that it was hard to understand what he was saying. I’m that person you saw this morning, the person whose contact information you put in my pocket, I’m the one calling this number, something has happened that made me have to think of you, and please stop this situation from getting out of hand.

Before calling the man, Wan had called Park Gwangcheol. Still, his guardian should be his first priority. It was as expected. The signal to Park Gwangcheol went to voicemail. Park Gwangcheol’s absence eventually turned Wan to the man. The other side of the line was silent, so much so that he couldn’t tell what was happening on the other end. His heart pounded as he requested salvation. The man, who had been listening to Wan in silence, uttered just one word.

– Okay.

That was how the call ended. Wan put the disconnected old phone face down on his lap and rubbed his face with his hands. Now everything was done. People like that could do anything. If this man, with whom he had a strange one-night encounter, could help him and prevent the school violence committee from being held, nothing could be better.

The bathroom door burst open, and he heard footsteps. The physical education teacher had personally come to find Wan, who had not returned for a long time. He knocked on the green door, only one of the four stalls was closed. Knock knock.

“Yes, I’m coming out.”

Wan stuffed the face-down phone into his pocket. When he opened the door, the physical education teacher raised his eyebrows and signaled him to go to the faculty office quickly. Wan drooped his shoulders as much as possible and walked ahead, looking as dejected as possible. It was possible that the teachers might change their minds and persuade the parents.

When he returned to the faculty office, about 15 minutes had passed. The worry that a school violence committee might be held clouded even Wan’s determination to study and take notes. The physical education teacher, who had come to get Wan, went back to stand next to the principal.

“Go sit over there.”

The physical education teacher pointed to a chair in the corner with a small voice. The low, long table was already occupied by the extreme parents and their children. The place where teachers gathered to eat snacks or chat had become a meeting place for the parents’ committee to vent their complaints. In front of them were flimsy paper cups, one for each person. The physical education teacher handed Wan a paper cup filled with cold water, who was standing alone.

“At least drink some water.”

There was no point in arguing right and wrong here. The key was how to persuade those people and send them away. Wan drank the cold water in one gulp. Wan had done nothing wrong in this fight. The other side was the one who had started the fight. He held his head high. The truth would eventually be revealed. Besides, Wan had a reliable supporter who might come at any time. Wan stared intently at the guys he had fought with. If they threw a punch, he would throw one back, and if they kicked, he would somehow kick back. Looking at the traces of the results, he felt much better.

“You guys go back to the classroom.”

“No.”

The parent raised her hand and interrupted the principal’s words. Then, glaring at Wan, she said triumphantly.

“That kid has a phone in his hand. I guess he was contacting someone…”

“…”

“We’ll all be here until that student’s guardian comes.”

She looked around and made eye contact with the other parents as if asking for their agreement. The parents who were sitting nodded.

“We need to talk about this somehow. Under what kind of guardian is that thug running around and ruining the school atmosphere?”

“Excuse me… Can I say something…”

“What?”

“And if you look at the numbers, it seems like this student was more victimized.”

The student affairs director couldn’t stand it anymore and opened his mouth. The parent’s voice began to rise at his retort. The principal behind him grabbed the student affairs director’s shoulder. It was a silent sign to stop. Time passed, and Wan’s guardian did not come. He shook his legs. He didn’t show it, but he was anxious every time the second hand ticked. He wanted to look relaxed. He leaned back on the hard chair.

Slurp, slurp. Uncouth sounds came from the mouths of the parents drinking the coffee that the teachers had brought. When the brown coffee stains had dried up on the edges of the paper cups, the faculty office door burst open. Wan turned his head towards the front door with a bright expression.

Wan thought the man who had blocked him in front of the mansion’s gate would come. But the person who appeared was someone completely different. The owner of the mansion was nowhere to be seen, and a man who introduced himself as the mansion’s manager, wearing a suit in the orthodox manner, was standing there. The others in the faculty office did not think that the man, who was younger than expected, would be Wan’s guardian.

“How can I help you?”

The physical education teacher asked cautiously. He was tired now because he was doing other work as well. The man in the neat suit looked like a government official dispatched by the government to inspect the state of public high schools. Chief Kim looked around the faculty office instead of answering the physical education teacher’s question. Then he made eye contact with Wan, who was sitting in the corner.

“I’m here because of Park Wan.”

Wan stood up from his chair awkwardly. Chief Kim walked slowly and came inside.

‘Do whatever he asks. It seems like something happened at school.’

Twenty minutes ago, he had received a sudden call from his young master at school. The purpose was to take care of the aftermath of something that had happened to a boy at Oham High School. So he went to Oham High School without complaint. When he went to the main faculty office on the first floor, he could see the confrontation between the parents and teachers through the window. In the corner was a student he knew well. Sitting there with a determined expression, he was the one the young master had noticed in the garden, and the one he had personally – for the young master – undressed.

“May I have a word with Wan for a moment?”

Chief Kim noticed the relief in the eyes that had been drooping as soon as he saw him. Then, to reduce people’s suspicion, he familiarly dropped the surname and called him by his first name. The parents, including the teachers, did not object to Chief Kim’s words.

“Yes, yes. Please do.”

The parents showed puzzled faces as they saw a person who looked well-educated and well-dressed calling Wan’s name affectionately. The same was true for the three teachers. Judging from Wan’s personal information, there was no family relationship that looked like that person.

“Let’s go.”

Chief Kim took Wan out through the back door. There was a conference room right next to the main faculty office. The wooden door with the word “Conference Room” written on it was closed. When he opened the door and went inside, he smelled the musty smell of an old library. Wan awkwardly went to the whiteboard and leaned against it. Chief Kim looked at the cracked wooden desk and asked.

“Please tell me briefly what the problem is.”

He returned to his businesslike tone.

“Yes.”

Wan explained. As concisely and accurately as possible. He explained everything he had done without leaving anything out, and also detailed the indiscriminate and brutal violence that the other party had wielded. Chief Kim, who had been listening to the story, turned his body abruptly. Then, when Wan was talking about the violence he had suffered, he carefully looked at the parts he had thought about. Various sneaker soles were imprinted on the clean school uniform shirt. He carefully scanned next to his eyebrows, cheekbones, mouth, and chin, and opened his lips.

“Where else are you hurt?”

“My stomach hurts a little…”

“Show me.”

“Pardon?”

“You can just lift your shirt, can’t you?”

“Ah, yes.”

He felt like he was being examined in front of a doctor. Wan lifted his school uniform shirt at Chief Kim’s quick tone. As the dirty shoe-marked school uniform shirt went up, the flesh that was swollen red from the impact was revealed. Looking at the condition of his abdomen, it looked like bruises would appear after a while. Chief Kim nodded after seeing Wan’s condition.

“Okay. I’ll go to the faculty office now and talk to the parents.”

“I-!”

Wan raised his voice.

“I just don’t want the school violence committee to be held. If it’s held and I get disciplined…”

“School violence committee? There are definitely four people sitting there…”

Chief Kim, who had arrived at Oham High School without any explanation, trailed off. He heard the word ‘school violence committee’ that Park Wan had uttered and roughly guessed how the situation was unfolding.

“Okay. I’ll manage it as much as possible.”

That was the end. Chief Kim was calm. The sound of the door opening and closing was heard, and the conference room soon became quiet.