TRGD 15

“It’s class time. Why should I leave?”

“What? Why??”

Park Dong-geun, the second-year dean and the PE teacher in charge of student discipline, was momentarily dumbfounded by Ha Tae-woong’s reply.

Just before coming here, he had been summoned to the principal’s office and thoroughly chewed out.

Rumors had already spread that a violent incident had occurred in one of the classrooms that morning.

But then another incident had broken out in the cafeteria during lunch.

A female student had been beaten by two male students.

They had even dumped food waste all over her.

And the perpetrators were none other than the Special Admission students!

Something unimaginable had happened.

If it had been an incident among ordinary students, proper procedures would have been followed.

But the Special Admission students were exceptions to those procedures.

He had heard the full story in the principal’s office.

Being scolded was one thing.

But this was absolutely unacceptable.

The moment he received orders to summon Ha Tae-woong, he came rushing upstairs.

“You are violating my right to an education.”

“Huh? Your right to an education??”

Park Dong-geun’s jaw dropped as if his mind had gone blank.

He knew Ha Tae-woong well.

The boy was exceptionally tall and remarkably handsome.

But he was nothing more than a student admitted through the Special Admission program.

To Park Dong-geun, a short, plain-looking bachelor, that alone made him irritating.

Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would often pick on Ha Tae-woong during PE class.

He always made him prepare all the equipment before class.

Of course, he never rewarded him with extra points.

Instead, he criticized him for no reason, making sure he never had any hope of earning bonus marks.

No matter how smart he was, a kid from a poor family always showed it.

Every time, Ha Tae-woong would lower his head in silence.

But today…

Something about him was different.

The shoulders that used to hunch timidly were straight.

His neck was held proudly.

Looking directly into Park Dong-geun’s eyes, he asked,

“What makes you think you can order me around?”

“You little thug! What right do you have to talk about education? Get out here right now!”

Park Dong-geun roared with his usual arrogance.

Besides, he had just been criticized in the principal’s office for failing to manage his students.

Unlike the teachers who had graduated from prestigious universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, Park Dong-geun had graduated from a provincial university’s physical education department.

As far as he was concerned, that was his only weakness.

Of course, that was purely his own opinion.

Thanks to the influence of a relative who had been an executive at Cheonghwa Group, he had managed to become a teacher at Cheonghwa High School.

From the start, his academic background wasn’t nearly good enough for such a prestigious school.

Fortunately, since he taught PE, most parents chose to overlook it.

His greatest talent was flattery.

He treated every member of the parents’ association as though they were his bosses at work.

Whenever there was an incident at school, he eagerly volunteered to handle it.

Even overnight duty shifts were things he quietly took over whenever necessary.

What mattered most to Park Dong-geun was the title of Teacher at Cheonghwa High School.

It was a position envied by teachers from other schools.

Especially in Gangnam, simply being a teacher at Cheonghwa High was enough to impress people.

He had spent years protecting that title.

And now, cracks had begun to appear.

Those Special Admission brats had dared ignore and provoke him.

Violence against an ordinary Cheonghwa student was absolutely unforgivable.

Especially when the victim was the daughter of a parent who occasionally gave him gifts.

There were even rumors that she would soon become an executive member of the parents’ association.

“Can you take responsibility for this?”

“Responsibility? Fine! I’ll take responsibility! Stop talking and get out here!”

At Park Dong-geun’s shout, Ha Tae-woong slowly stood up.

Holding his smartphone in one hand, he walked toward the classroom’s back door.

“Leave your phone behind!”

“No.”

“No?”

“It’s currently recording. I intend to submit it as evidence when I file a lawsuit.”

“…Gulp.”

A heavy silence instantly fell over the classroom.

Even Park Dong-geun swallowed nervously at the word lawsuit.

Objectively speaking, he really was interfering with a student’s right to education.

But…

A Special Admission brat filing a lawsuit?

Park Dong-geun violently shook his head.

This wasn’t an ordinary high school.

Who did that brat think he was?

Lawsuits weren’t something just anyone could file.

Every student admitted through the Special Admission program came from a terrible financial background.

That was literally one of the admission requirements.

Hiring a lawyer was beyond their wildest dreams.

Step. Step.

Ha Tae-woong walked confidently.

“Sorry, Ms. Oh. Please continue your lesson.”

After confirming Ha Tae-woong had left through the back door, Park Dong-geun quietly closed it behind him.

“…Yes.”

Math teacher Oh Jung-hye bit her lip as she answered.

Regardless of his Special Admission status, Ha Tae-woong had always been an exemplary student.

But today…

For some reason, she couldn’t help worrying about him.

“Where are we going?”

“To the principal’s office, idiot!”

This was a first.

Judging by the atmosphere, things were about to become serious.

Even the classroom felt unsettled.

“That bastard’s getting expelled. Hahaha.”

“Wow… He’s still acting confident.”

“I think Ha Tae-woong’s finally lost it!”

“Everyone, quiet. Stop making baseless assumptions.”

Oh Jung-hye silenced the students.

Friday, May 6, 2022.

Afternoon classes.

Cheonghwa High School was quietly being drawn into the eye of a storm.

“You son of a bitch. You think you can ignore a teacher?”

A few steps behind me, Teacher Park—

No.

That pathetic bastard—

was hurling curses at the back of my head.

For someone who had landed his teaching job through connections, his mouth had absolutely no class.

Park Dong-geun.

A teacher with neither ability nor character.

A lucky man who had somehow obtained the prestigious title of Cheonghwa High teacher.

Back then…

Every PE class, he deliberately found excuses to torment me.

He made me prepare and clean up every single piece of shared sports equipment by myself.

At the time, I silently endured that unfair treatment.

I had no choice.

Surviving until graduation was all that mattered.

But not anymore.

“I already informed you that I’m recording.”

One good thing about Cheonghwa High was that students were allowed to carry smartphones.

Of course, school rules prohibited using them during class.

Hardly anyone dared use them secretly.

“Recording? So what exactly do you think you can do with that?”

“You’ll find out if you wait.”

“A Special Admission brat acting tough?”

“Heh.”

There was no need to rush.

I’d already informed him the conversation was being recorded.

A small laugh was enough to dismiss him.

“Did you just laugh?”

“It’s not exactly something worth crying over.”

“You little…!”

Whoosh!

A fist came flying toward the back of my head.

Wow.

This bastard really was going all out.

He wasn’t worthy of being called a teacher.

Just like before, he was trying to assault me.

My body remembered.

It instinctively recognized Park Dong-geun’s violence.

I effortlessly dodged.

I’d served in the Special Forces.

I hadn’t survived that training by playing around.

My mind reacted even faster than my body.

It remembered every experience.

Whoosh.

“Huh? Y-You… dodged?”

Park Dong-geun stared in disbelief after his punch hit nothing but air.

“This is your warning. Throw another punch, and I’ll defend myself.”

A short, balding middle-aged bachelor with a potbelly.

Ugly as he was, his standards for women were absurdly high.

The way he occasionally stared at female students during class was downright disgusting.

A few years from now…

His little hobby would finally be exposed.

He’d be caught secretly filming female students and forced to resign.

Step.

Step.

With the now-silent Park Dong-geun following behind me, I walked toward the principal’s office.

Soon, we arrived.

The throne occupied only by those willing to sell their souls to Cheonghwa High’s board of directors.

Knock. Knock.

Click.

Without waiting for permission, I opened the door after knocking twice.

I already had a rough idea of what had happened.

Oh Gwang-jun hadn’t spoken yet.

Which meant…

Oh Seo-ra, who had run out of the cafeteria crying, was the most likely source.

After college…

Military service…

Working life…

I’d climbed up from the very bottom.

That much experience had taught me how the world worked.

As soon as I entered, the first thing I saw was the pot-bellied principal sitting in the center.

To his right sat two middle-aged women.

Both were covered in luxury brands that practically screamed their names.

Pretending to be elegant.

The expensive accessories somehow only made them look cheaper.

“Who are you?”

The principal looked at me and asked.

As expected.

A principal had no reason to remember the faces of Special Admission students.

“I was told you were looking for me.”

“Ha Tae-woong?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re Ha Tae-woong?”

The moment the principal spoke my name, one of the women shot to her feet.

She wore a dazzling gold two-piece suit.

Her flashy jewelry somehow made her look even more vulgar.

“Yes… but may I ask who you are?”

“Who am I?”

“…”

“You little delinquent! How dare you lay a hand on my daughter!”

She stormed right up to me, screaming.

The next instant—

Smack!

I expected it.

I didn’t dodge.

I knowingly accepted the slap.

Why?

Because after today…

I would never allow this kind of bullshit to happen again.

A school that offered absolutely no protection to Special Admission students.

A principal who should have protected his students but stood there watching.

A bald PE teacher who did nothing except suck up to influential parents.

I wanted a little revenge for everything I’d suffered before.

And for that…

I needed undeniable justification.

I needed the perfect bait.

“May I ask… who you are to slap me?”

It had been a solid slap.

But the price they would pay later made it worthwhile.

“I’m Oh Seo-ra’s mother!”

Her facial features were actually fairly attractive.

Too bad everything else about her screamed cheap.

She looked worlds apart from someone with natural refinement.

Just as I’d heard—

The wife of a nouveau riche family that owned buildings in Gangnam.

“Heh.”

I laughed coldly.

“You… you’re laughing? Is something wrong with your head?”

She was visibly flustered.

She hadn’t expected me to remain unfazed after being slapped.

“Would you mind… hitting this side as well?”

I calmly turned my face.

Then offered my right cheek.

“W-What?”

I even closed my eyes.

“Mrs. Seo-ra, please calm down. He’s a lowborn brat. He has absolutely no fear.”

Park Dong-geun hurried over.

“That’s right, Mrs. Jo. Please calm yourself.”

“I’m sorry, Chairwoman. I got carried away. A child raised in poverty without proper upbringing… I only meant to teach him a lesson. Hohoho.”

The other woman sitting nearby was the association’s general affairs director.

As though nothing had happened, Oh Seo-ra’s mother gracefully returned to her seat.

The ugly reality of the world.

To these people…

I wasn’t even a student.

I was simply…

A Special Admission student.

Not a single person stood up for me.

I looked toward the principal.

He deliberately avoided my gaze.

Park Dong-geun busied himself rubbing his hands together beside the two women.

“What… exactly do you all think you’re doing?!”

A thunderous roar suddenly shook the principal’s office.

My homeroom teacher from Class 2-3 had arrived.

Kim Chang-yong.

A Chinese Classics teacher in his mid-forties whose thinning hair had earned him the students’ nickname, “Tin Can Robot.”

Because he taught a non-core subject, students looked down on him.

But he was the only teacher I truly respected.

“Teacher Kim Chang-yong! What are you doing barging into the principal’s office while the principal and members of the parents’ association are here?”

Park Dong-geun shouted.

“He’s my student! Is it normal to summon him during class without informing his homeroom teacher? Without even asking permission…”

Mid-sentence, Kim Chang-yong noticed my swollen, bright-red cheek.

His thick eyebrows trembled atop his square, resolute face.

“Oh my! I’m sorry. I heard he slapped Seo-ra, and before I knew it, my hand just moved. Hohoho.”

Still seated, Oh Seo-ra’s mother waved her hand dramatically, pretending it had merely been an accident.

She smiled sweetly, trying to brush it off.

You’re actually laughing?

“This is a school. Did anyone verify what actually happened?”

“I heard it directly from Seo-ra.”

“So an adult is allowed to assault a student on someone else’s behalf? And you’re smiling?”

“Well…”

Even Oh Seo-ra’s mother faltered under Teacher Kim’s stern gaze.

“Teacher Kim Chang-yong. That’s enough.”

The principal finally spoke.

A school rumored to be Korea’s finest private academy.

But in reality…

It was an absolute joke.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Having to witness the same disgusting situation for the second time in my life…

I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I burst into loud laughter.

The principal’s office instantly froze.

Everyone stared at me as though I had gone insane.

A cold smile spread across my face.

Then I spoke.

“By the way… do any of you here happen to know… who I am?”

“…??”