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Chapter : 13
Taesin grabbed the back of Kim Seondo’s neck just as he was about to drive the mechanical pencil down and yanked him upright.
It all happened in an instant, so everyone stared at him in bewilderment.
With a slight twist of the wrist, the mechanical pencil fell to the floor, and the boy, now held fast by Taesin and unable to move, flailed about in fury.
“Let go of me!”
Taesin released him and gave him a light shove.
Pushed by Taesin’s strength, the boy nearly fell, barely catching his balance. He glared at Taesin for a moment, then quickly looked away.
He wasn’t particularly big, but he was a solidly built kid—yet Taesin had lifted him so easily.
The male students, shocked by Taesin’s strength, stood with their mouths open, eyes darting around.
After confirming that the situation had settled down, Iseol let out a long breath of relief.
Her lips had turned pale, and her hands were trembling slightly.
“What on earth is going on?!”
“Oh my god…”
The third-year teachers who came running after hearing the news couldn’t hide their shock.
“Alright, everyone, go back to your classrooms. Hurry.”
The head of the third-year department sent the students back to their rooms, while Iseol took the two students involved outside.
“Jo Haewon, Kim Seondo—you two come with me. Class president, clean up the classroom and have everyone do self-study.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Watching Iseol’s retreating back, Taesin quietly clenched his fist.
It hadn’t been his place to step in.
Controlling students was the responsibility of the teacher, Iseol.
“Tch. How boring.”
Taesin’s gaze shifted to a boy standing among the male students, watching the fight with amused eyes and snickering to himself.
The clear instigator—the cause of the fight—was Kim Heerok.
He had only seen him briefly during class yesterday afternoon, but the boy was memorable at a glance.
His short-cropped hair emphasized his narrow, sharp eyes and pointed chin, giving him a sly, calculating look. His cold gaze was filled with long-harbored defiance.
He wasn’t particularly impressive in size or presence, yet the fact that no one dared oppose him suggested he had some kind of backing.
Using quick wits to make up for his small stature and narrow shoulders, he’d probably been playing fox instead of tiger all this time.
The new jumper that was too big for his frame—with the name tag cut off—and the new slippers weren’t his. The phone he was supposed to submit was tucked into his pocket.
The reason the other students hadn’t been able to stop the fight and could only watch—
It was probably because of this guy.
“Damn it, it was just getting good, and it all got ruined.”
“If the homeroom teacher had come a little later, it would’ve been decided.”
Kim Heerok and two other students shot Taesin sidelong glances, grumbling as they left the classroom.
The remaining students began picking up overturned desks, chairs, and scattered bags.
“What the hell was that? I thought something really serious was about to happen.”
“Seriously. I came late, so I didn’t see it well—what happened?”
Taesin listened to their conversation.
“I don’t know the details either, but Kim Heerok whispered something to Jo Haewon, and then Haewon suddenly walked up to Kim Seondo and threw a punch.”
“So Kim Heerok set it off.”
“Exactly. Remember that similar thing that happened in Class 2? He stirred that one up too.”
“That crazy bastard. Why does he live like that? Everyone’s already on edge because of college entrance exams, and he keeps provoking people. Someone should really teach him a lesson.”
“Shh!”
Noticing Taesin, the students fell silent.
Taesin left the classroom and headed to the restroom.
“Alright, hand it over.”
Kim Heerok’s voice rang out.
“But the match isn’t over yet.”
“Hey, once someone pulls out a mechanical pencil, it’s over. Nothing more to see.”
“I guess. Damn it, I thought Jo Haewon would win.”
“Same here. What a waste of size.”
When Taesin entered the restroom, six or seven students—including kids from other classes—exchanged glances and hurriedly stuffed what they were holding into their pockets.
A bet, then.
While washing his hands, Taesin observed the tallest of them, a boy with a fierce look in his eyes.
His relaxed posture and sharp yet fearless gaze gave off a strange tension.
Hwang Inwoo, was it?
The one rumored to have a gangster uncle backing him.
When their eyes met, the boy broke into a grin.
Most people couldn’t meet Taesin’s gaze and instinctively looked away.
“Let’s go.”
As if nothing had happened, the boys whistled and left the restroom.
“Oh my goodness, what on earth happened so early in the morning?”
When Iseol brought the students to the infirmary, Nurse Jung sprang to her feet in surprise.
“Should we send them to the hospital?”
At Iseol’s question, Nurse Jung examined their injuries, pressing here and there, then said it seemed there were no broken bones.
The bruises on their faces would last a while, though.
Only then did some of the tension ease. Iseol watched the two boys sitting apart, avoiding each other’s eyes as they received basic treatment.
Both were badly battered.
“With the entrance exams right around the corner, is now the time to be getting into fistfights? Real smart.”
As she applied ointment, Nurse Jung scolded them, her words tinged with concern.
After treatment, they were taken to the counseling room.
The boys couldn’t look Iseol in the eye and turned their heads away.
“What was the reason?”
Iseol asked calmly.
“There has to be a reason you started throwing punches in the classroom this morning.”
“…”
The boys remained silent, as if they had agreed beforehand.
“Are you really not going to say anything?”
Only then did Haewon lift his head.
“I just felt pissed off, so I hit him.”
“You hit him because you felt pissed off? Do you expect me to believe that?”
“Yes. There’s no other reason.”
Since it wasn’t a case of multiple students bullying one person, it wouldn’t escalate to school violence, but the incident was still serious.
The bigger problem was that this wasn’t the first major fight this year.
Usually, the hierarchy among boys is set in the first year, so physical fights become rare as they advance grades.
Especially among third-years on the verge of entrance exams, things were usually quiet.
And these days, getting involved in school violence could ruin college prospects.
Yet this was already the third time this year.
Two weeks ago, there was a fight in Class 2; last month, another in Class 1.
One student had been hospitalized with a six-week injury diagnosis, and another had suffered a broken nose.
“There were similar fights in Class 1 and Class 2. Is this related to those incidents?”
Both boys shook their heads.
But Iseol didn’t miss the faint tremor in their eyes.
This was not something that could be brushed aside.
But with the students keeping their mouths shut, there was no way to dig deeper.
“Alright. First period will start soon, so go back for now. We’ll talk again later.”
Back in the staff room, other teachers asked,
“So? Did the two from your class say what happened?”
“No.”
Iseol shuddered as she recalled Seondo trying to stab Haewon’s neck with a mechanical pencil, eyes crazed.
If Taesin hadn’t intervened in time, Haewon would have been seriously hurt.
“Why do things like this keep happening? Fights used to end lightly before, but these days they’re really crossing the line. They say that returning student stopped it today. Thank goodness. That was a close call.”
“Ms. Yoon Iseol. Ms. Kang Hyojin.”
The head of the third-year department called over the homeroom teachers of Class 2 and Iseol.
“I have a bad feeling about this. I think we should call in all the students who were involved in fights before and investigate again.”
“That sounds good.”
“I agree.”
“Hey, lend me your wireless earbuds.”
During the break after third period, Kim Heerok held out his hand to the boy sitting next to him.
“I didn’t bring them.”
“If I find them when I search you, you’re dead.”
“I’m serious. I didn’t bring them. You can’t even use them at school anyway—why would I?”
Kim Heerok raised his hand as if to hit him, then glanced at Taesin. He pressed his lips into a thin line and instead patted the boy’s head.
“Bring them tomorrow. Unless you want to die.”
After muttering the threat, Kim Heerok sauntered over and perched himself on the desk next to Taesin.
“Hey. What should I call you? Mister? Hyung?”
At his loud voice, completely unconcerned with the quiet self-study atmosphere, some students glanced back, while others lowered their heads and pricked up their ears.
He was the first student to speak to Taesin.
