At Kang Ihyeon's unexpectedly firm line, Chaheun widened his eyes and stared at him. Not stopping there, Ihyeon called him again.
"And?"
"Huh?"
"Those second-year Alpha bastards, are they hanging around you against your will too? I thought you were friendly with them."
Second-year Alpha bastards?
Ah, Baek Yugyeong, Ji Hyehan. One thing for sure was that Baek Yugyeong was included.
That kid was troublesome and truly a pain, but "against his will..." Well, technically yes, but describing him negatively didn't sit right, how to put it. Separate from being troublesome, he'd never felt bad having Baek Yugyeong beside him. Honestly, it felt like getting a cute younger brother, which was okay.
I've never been close with family so calling him a brother is a bit funny...
At the thought deepening briefly, Chaheun shook his head slightly urgently because Ihyeon's gaze looked oddly concerned.
"No. No, those kids don't have issues... but why walk home together? Ah, are you worried because of this? I'm fine."
"You don't like being treated a certain way just because you're an Omega, I know, and I don't treat you as opposite sex. Watching you take down those kids before, you fight well."
"Uh, yeah. I know that."
"But this doesn't seem like that kind of problem."
Kang Ihyeon was worrying right now. Ihyeon usually looked sleepy in class or joked outside, but from the moment he came to the gymnasium, he'd been serious.
Probably thinking a lot about his friend, an Omega, going through things like this regularly.
What a good kid.
He knew, but experiencing it was different. Chaheun almost smiled without realizing, then at a sense of déjà vu, he stared at Ihyeon.
But did I ever take down kids in front of Kang Ihyeon?
More importantly...
Spotting Kang Ihyeon's furrowed brow, his slightly shadowed face, Chaheun called him carefully.
"Ihyeon. About walking home."
"Yeah."
Kang Ihyeon opened his mouth to say don't feel obligated to thank him, and Chaheun shook his head.
"I don't want to? I only do supervised study 3 days a week, and you have club activities 5 days? You want me to leave school at 10 PM 5 days a week?"
"You're really something. Do you not have a sense of danger...?"
"Really? But you can go home at 5, if you were told to go at 10, would you?"
"Obviously not."
"See? Me neither."
"..."
Kang Ihyeon lost words. This guy was something else.
Watching Chaheun blankly for a moment, Kang Ihyeon heard something and shifted his gaze toward the gymnasium door.
"Ah, my homeroom's coming. Good, he'll handle it."
"...I doubt it."
Kang Ihyeon apparently didn't hear Chaheun's mutter, and stood up seeing Ji Seokhwan running toward them with Chae Seojun at the gym entrance.
I figured it'd go this way, but it's so exactly as expected there's no value in being surprised.
A faint scorn lay on Chaheun's neatly drawn face.
See, I said it was like attending the high school I went to all over. How can it be this identical.
He should've known from when he realized the name was the same. Anyway, all the bad stuff seemed similar. Grades, for instance.
The counseling room was divided into cubicles. Ordinarily there should be some soundproofing, but the sound from the next room came through completely.
"Ah fuck, I said those bastards were trying to do something to Seo Chaheun-sunbae? Beating them is what's the problem?"
"You, hah... Chae Seojun! What were you thinking, a kid with a medal beating up other kids... The kids' faces are unspeakable, you know? One has a fracture, a fracture! All the kids you hit went to the hospital, and you say that?"
At first quiet and hard to hear, the teacher's voice gradually rose too.
"They deserved to be hit!"
"Chae Seojun!"
"No, seonsaengnim, ah--!"
The argument, or at least Chae Seojun's shouts, came through clearly. The tone had the exact resentment-pitched cadence of male students.
Focused on the sound, Chaheun looked at Ji Seokhwan in front of him again.
"Let's settle this on our end, Chaheun."
From the moment he'd been called in, Ji Seokhwan had been anxiously glancing around as if the situation was awkward. Then he'd started explaining to Chaheun the dangers of upcoming procedures. Listening, Chaheun coldly chewed through each piece and combined them, composing his expression.
Some lies, some truth.
That the other guys wouldn't get punished harshly by this was Ji Seokhwan's bullshit. Chaheun knew this properly from his teacher certification studies too, and Ji Seokhwan was mixing lies and truth cleverly right now.
In this case, at minimum criminal punishment... sexual assault is one-strike-out even attempted. There were multiple perpetrators and clear premeditation.
If it went to trial, no wiggle room. Even without trial, those guys wouldn't end with standard perpetrator measures. At minimum they'd get a Level 9 disposition and stand trial.
Chaheun quietly fiddled with the phone in his pocket.
But it's strange. Really strange.
Ji Seokhwan trying to sweep this under the rug fit his attitude so far. But something about that concealing attitude nagged.
Seo Chaeil's occupation should be listed in the parent occupation section. And he's still lying like this?
That was suspicious.
But what was even more suspicious was the other side. Chaheun glanced toward the counseling room where Chae Seojun would be. Just moments ago Chae Seojun's sharp voice had been audible, but he seemed to have tired out, and now nothing came from that room.
Regardless, Ji Seokhwan kept looking at the paperwork beside him and continuing.
"It's attempted anyway with no injuries... If procedures move forward and it gets out, only you lose, Chaheun. Your parents aren't around and you live alone, right?"
"..."
Parents not around?
I see. Wondered why he wouldn't contact family for something like this.
...So Chaheun's mother was blank, and the father section didn't list Seo Chaeil either.
Then why hadn't Chae Seojun's parents been called in?
Chaheun slowly turned over the previous words and listened to Ji Seokhwan.
"Turns out those kids did it as a joke, and the hospital contacted us saying they had no intention of going through with it."
"..."
"Also seonsaengnim heard that rumor. I told you before to keep your behavior straight, and in the end that rumor spread."
"..."
"Hm? You remember seonsaengnim was worried, right? I even gave you a warning..."
Chaheun quietly listened without answering. Ji Seokhwan, seemingly taking his silence as fear, gripped Chaheun's hand tight. Goosebumps rose all over him, but Chaheun watched Ji Seokhwan's attitude without any action.
"Speaking of, why did you go to the athletic storage? Following a note from someone unknown, some of the fault is yours. Huh? Get this handled well, seonsaengnim will look out for you going forward. This kind of thing absolutely won't happen again."
"...Not that."
Chaheun stared fixedly at the neighboring counseling room again. The conversation from inside crossed his mind.
May, June.
National Sports Festival preliminaries.
Return after 2 years.
He fought too well to be just a full-of-himself delinquent.
Chaheun closed his eyes briefly and opened them. From some point his face was calm, and he quietly asked.
"If I let this pass, does the second-year Chae Seojun student hitting them become 'completely' non-existent?"
"Ah, yes yes. Of course. That's how it should be. Since friends were just 'playing.' Play can get you hurt, right."
"...Play. Yes. We played with each other."
...When Chaheun nodded, only then did the teacher's face brighten.
...Watching that brightening face, his stomach roiled. This feeling, where had he felt it before.
Waiting outside apparently, Kang Ihyeon, who'd been leaning on a hallway window frame, sprang up the moment Chaheun opened the door and hurried over.
"Yah, what did the teacher say? School violence committee, what will they do? Those bastards all expelled, right? Are we going to the police today?"
"Ihyeon, thanks for helping. This time... I think I have to just let it pass."
"What?"
Ihyeon tilted his head like he'd just misheard. Chaheun watched him and stayed silent.
Only then realizing he was serious, Kang Ihyeon frowned and grabbed both his arms. Large hands wrapped around thin arms.
"Yah, what bullshit? That second-year said he'd testify too. And I'll help--"
Chaheun lifted his hand slightly to tap Ihyeon's arm and shook his head.
"Instead, we're calling Chae Seojun beating those kids non-existent. Mutual dropping. There were no actual injuries anyway."
Ihyeon's voice, which had been sunk moments ago, rose sharply.
"That, fuck, no, what are you saying! What do you mean no injuries. Yah, I think going through so much has warped your memory--"
"Ihyeon, if this goes wrong, Chae Seojun could get blamed for hitting people even though he was helping me, because he's a former athlete. Worst case he could get an actual prison sentence."
"..."
Only then did Kang Ihyeon seem to grasp the situation, mouth agape and frozen.
