I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 43
He needed to calm things down. Hyunjin said hello, trying to compose himself.
“Hello. I’m sorry for not being able to visit you often.”
After saying hello politely, he approached Woohee, who was standing in the corner. When Woohee saw his older brother, his upturned face showed a series of indescribable expressions. He felt sorry for dragging his older brother into this, and he felt tired from having to continue to stand. He was sad about not being able to eat his packed lunch. But the expression that caught Hyunjin’s eyes the most was resentment.
“Woohee.”
How difficult must things have been for a child like Woohee to show such feelings? Hyunjin felt a pain in his heart. Had he been too indifferent all this time? Could he have done something more? He felt burdened with regret.
“Brother.”
Even though Woohee had tears in his eyes, he didn’t let himself cry.
“Sorry…”
He simply apologized to Hyunjin.
“Why’re you sorry?”
Hyunjin rubbed Woohee’s cheek with his hand. He hadn’t heard about what happened yet, but he doubted it was Woohee’s fault. Although he was a bit lively and immature, he was a child that understood what was right and what was wrong.
“He should be sorry! Your brat hit my son.”
At that time, the woman watching from behind shouted sharply. Woohee had been enduring this up until this point, so now it was Hyunjin’s turn to step forward. He made up his mind and turned around.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? He hit our Taeho.”
“Taeho’s mother1, it wasn’t a one-sided fight. They say that Taeho also hit Woohee.”
“Well, so what? That kid’s fine, right? Taeho was bleeding. And didn’t they say that kid hit him first?”
“Only after Taeho made fun of him first.”
“What does that matter! Even if Taeho had teased him a little, how bad could it have been? At that age, teasing is how children make friends.”
“Mother…”
The homeroom teacher was caught in the middle and didn’t know what to do.
“First, let me talk to Woohee’s guardian. Please wait for a moment.”
Taeho’s homeroom teacher, desperately trying to placate Taeho’s mother, came closer. Then, she took Hyunjin behind a partition in the corner.
“What’s going on?”
“Haaaah…”
The homeroom teacher sighed loudly and explained what had happened today. She told him about how Taeho had been teasing Woohee, how a fight had broken out because of it, and even how Taeho’s phone call had turned into them needing to call him to the school.
“If you put it that way, wasn’t it Taeho’s fault for starting things first?”
“But Woohee was the one who threw the first punch.”
The homeroom teacher had tried to smooth things over with Taeho’s furious mother, in the hopes that doing so would help make her feel better about the fact that this happened while she was away for a moment.
“All right. Let me talk with her about it.”
Hyunjin came out from behind the partition and faced Taeho’s mother.
“I’m sorry. It sounds like Woohee overreacted.”
“An overreaction? You consider something so violent an overreaction?”
“It sounds like Taeho made fun of him first.”
“Wasn’t that just a joke between friends?”
A joke. It was only a joke if it made the other person smile. While Hyunjin kept his mouth shut, swallowing back the words that wanted to come out, Woohee interjected.
“He asked me if I stole my lunch box! He said, ‘Aren’t you a beggar?’”
At those words, Taeho, who was standing behind his mother, flinched and said.
“So what? I’m not wrong. You don’t have a mom or a dad, so who could pack your lunch for you!”
“Does that mean I’m not allowed to have someone make lunch for me?”
Woohee shouted, trembling with righteous anger.
“Shouting in a school! I shouldn’t be surprised. Without parents, what sort of upbringing have you had.”
The moment that voice resounded sharply in the office, the homeroom teacher closed her eyes for a moment. There was no going back now. She wasn’t a particularly nice person, but she’d always wanted Woohee, who smiled so brightly, to do well. Why did something like this have to happen?
And even worse, the opponent was the president of the parents’ association, someone who was famous for lodging complaints with the school. She was the sort of person who had an influential family and could speak directly to the high-ranking people on the school board.
“What does Woohee’s upbringing have to do with anything?”
Hyunjin’s expression turned cold.
“Well, of course you wouldn’t think it matters. Look, he’s still glaring at me even now! Right. Over. There.”
Taeho’s mother raised her finger and poked Hyunjin’s chest after every word.
“You know what you did wrong, don’t you? You don’t know?”
“Don’t touch me.”
The atmosphere gradually calmed down. The teacher decided that the teacher’s office wasn’t a suitable location anymore, so she decided to move them.
“Let’s talk about the rest in the counseling room.”
They changed locations to the counseling room, and the situation began degrading again. No matter what Taeho’s mother said, Hyunjin answered calmly and apologetically, but this time, Taeho’s mother began to get more and more worked up, claiming that Hyunjin’s apologies weren’t sincere.
“I demand a proper apology!”
How can he apologize more properly than that? The homeroom teacher sighed involuntarily.
“Mother. He’s offered to pay for the treatment, and he’s already apologized, so what more is needed?”
“Enough! How can I just forgive him like this? After my precious son shed blood?”
Taeho’s mother gritted her teeth. She really didn’t like the other person’s attitude. It felt like he was apologizing just for the sake of appearances. Things kept getting bigger and bigger, but she had no intention of backing down. What would happen to her own position if she stepped back now?
In the end, Taeho’s mother pulled out her phone in front of them.
“I’ll call the vice principal! He’ll listen to my story!”
“Mother!”
She was going too far. The homeroom teacher tried to stop Taeho’s mother, but she had no luck. She was told not to interfere in things beyond her purview. As she stepped back out of frustration, she caught sight of Hyunjin standing there with his fists clenched.
Hyunjin tried to let go of his anger. He’d already bowed and bowed, so what more could he do? He wanted to shout in frustration, but he knew the facts. What was the treatment like for people on the bottom of society? If things continued like this, the person hurt would be Woohee.
He didn’t want to make Woohee transfer to another school, as if he was being chased out. And he didn’t want to make them leave their current home. So, he’d decided to let go of his petty pride, just for now. How many times had he begged and pleaded over the course of his life?
‘Please let me live in peace, please postpone the payment, please don’t take the money.’ Sometimes he begged his parents, sometimes he begged the debt collectors. What was one more time? He could do it.
Thud.
Hyunjin knelt down.
“I was wrong. I beg you to forgive me.”
When she heard the sound, Taeho’s mother, who was talking on the phone, looked over at Hyunjin. For the first time, a smile appeared on her face.
“Great. Then let’s move on from here. But you know what?”
Taeho’s mother hung up the phone and pushed Taeho in front of her.
“Tell your child to apologize properly too.”
“Isn’t it enough for me to apologize on his behalf? Woohee already feels sorry enough.”
“How can we know unless he puts it into words?”
She wasn’t going to back off until she saw Woohee apologize to Taeho. Woohee had been holding back his tears up to this point, but now they began to flow out of the corners of his eyes. His tears fell and began to soak the floor.
“Heurgh, huegh.”
“Woohee.”
Hyunjin hugged his younger brother tightly. He’d never wanted Woohee to have to go through the same things he had, and he hated himself for not being able to prevent it.
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’
He continued to chant in his mind the words that he couldn’t bring himself to say, as he gently stroked Woohee’s hair.
“T-Taeho.”
Woohee stammered and called Taeho’s name. Taeho was looking at Woohee with expectant eyes, but his expression was indescribably grumpy.
“I’m, I’m…”
The moment Woohee gritted her teeth and was about to say sorry, the door to the counseling room suddenly opened. Then a man in a stylish suit, the principal, and a small girl entered.
The man wearing a stylish suit had light brown, curly hair, and he looked so handsome that a person could almost believe he was an idol if he changed his clothes.
“Who are you?”
When Taeho’s mother asked in a wary tone, the man approached her with a smile on his face and said.
“My name is Seo Jaewoo. I’m Woohee’s guardian.”
Why would someone like that come in with the principal? The vice principal hadn’t bothered showing up even after she’d called him. Taeho’s mother had a bad premonition.
“This is the principal, and this is Sera, one of Woohee’s classmates.”
“Hello! I’m Pyo Sera!”
“Uh, hello. But why is Sera here?”
“Sera saw today’s event from beginning to end.”
“Why does that matter? We’d already reached a conclusion and they were about to apologize.”
“Who was?”
“That boy!”
Taeho’s mother pointed at Woohee with her hand. Woohee flinched and hid behind Hyunjin.
“Wait. I hear from Sera that Taeho was the one who started things in this matter.”
“It was just a little teasing.”
“Are you saying that making fun of someone because they don’t have parents, or claiming they stole something, are just a bit of teasing?”
The woman had thought it was a minor squabble, but Jaewoo had spoken in such a serious tone, maybe that wasn’t right? She thought about it a little. However, her child had still bled, and if she didn’t deny it now, everything up to this point would become ridiculous. Taeho’s mother decided not to back down.
“That’s right, just a little!”
“So, if Taeho was being teased like that by someone else, would that be okay?”
“What are you talking about! In the first place, our Taeho would never resort to violence like that.”
“Is that really true?”
Jaewoo looked at Taeho’s mother carefully. Then he approached Woohee and rolled up his long sleeves, revealing a thin arm with a blue bruise on it.
“According to Sera, several people attacked Woohee at once. In that case, wouldn’t Woohee’s injuries be more serious than Taeho’s, who only looked like he was seriously injured due to his nosebleed?”
Jaewoo continued speaking in a low voice.
“First of all, we have secured witnesses and the CCTV tape. It may be difficult to punish them according to the law because they’re still young children, but it’s more than enough to convene a school violence committee.”
Jaewoo was lucky to find out that the Kids Occupational Experience Center had CCTV in the play areas.
“What would you like to do? We could report Taeho to the committee as a child who has committed violence at school.”
Taeho’s mother was biting her nails nervously as she looked at the principal.
“Principal, what does this mean? You agree with this?”
“It’s just like you heard.”
“How can you treat me this way! When I’ve worked so hard as a member of the parent’s committee!”
“Hoho, but your child did something wrong, didn’t he? If you do something wrong, you should be punished. That’s the rule of civilized society.”
“But!”
“Yes, ‘but’. There’s still a chance. How about you apologize first? Wouldn’t that give Woohee’s guardians something to consider?”
“What?”
Taeho’s mother had a shocked expression on her face, but she’d already lost the upper hand a long time ago.
Footnotes
As mentioned in the previous chapter, to be polite, the homeroom teacher is addressing the woman by her role, so ‘Taeho’s mother’ or simply ‘mother’.
