Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 21

However, while the parents of the two boys had already finished their phone calls and were on their way to school, Sejin had remained silent until now. The parents’ phone numbers listed in the student record both came up as non-existent, so he had no choice but to ask Sejin. Seo Bohyung had been desperately calling Sejin’s name for an hour.

 

“Sejin. If you keep this up, you’ll really be in big trouble. Haegyun’s parents are already threatening to call the police, and hitting someone with something like a cafeteria tray can be considered aggravated assault, which could lead to a heavier punishment.”

 

Seo Bohyung blurted out whatever came to his mind to make Sejin speak. He hoped Sejin would get a little scared and contact his parents.

 

Buzz, buzz, messages kept coming into Seo Bohyung’s phone. The vice-principal, who was nearing retirement, kept nagging him to find a ‘peaceful’ solution, saying that a school violence committee would never be opened while he was vice-principal. Seo Bohyung opened the preview window to check the vice-principal’s message, then sighed irritably and sat opposite Sejin.

 

Kwon Sejin was a quiet student, almost as if he wasn’t there. He came to school, but mostly just to eat, and didn’t cause much trouble with other kids. Seo Bohyung had long known that Lee Haegyun showed a great interest in such a Sejin.

However, since teachers’ authority was no longer as strong as it used to be, Seo Bohyung had no power to control the boys who were two heads taller than him. If Lee Haegyun and Kim Byungjoon started to resist, it was the teacher himself who would be at a disadvantage, so Seo Bohyung had turned a blind eye to their bullying, thinking surely nothing serious would happen.

 

“Haegyun says you hit him first, is that true?”

 

“…”

 

His parched lips were tightly sealed and didn’t move. Sejin sat with his eyes downcast, one side of his cheek bruised blue. It was a face he used to think was prettier than most idols, pleasant to look at, but now, with his mouth shut and causing trouble, he looked venomous. Seo Bohyung swallowed his annoyance and tried to explain in a gentle tone.

 

“You hit him first, and you hit him with a tray. Sejin, this isn’t something that can just be overlooked. It’s aggravated assault, and since you threw the first punch… the preemptive strike, Haegyun and Byungjoon are making a fuss about suing you. Do you want to go to a juvenile detention center? You’re not a child anymore, so if you can’t reach a settlement, this could even lead to juvenile prison.”

 

In truth, despite using a tray as a weapon, the likelihood of going to prison for this level of assault was low. However, Seo Bohyung continued to blurt out whatever he could think of to scare Sejin. If he could just get Sejin’s guardian’s contact information this way, he couldn’t ask for more. Seo Bohyung continued with a serious face.

 

“Do you want to become a criminal? Your mother seemed to care for you a lot at the beginning of the semester. If you go to prison, how do you think your mother would be able to sleep soundly?”

 

“They were wrong first.”

 

At the mention of prison, Sejin finally opened his mouth. His husky, cracked voice conveyed that the cause of the fight was not his fault, but the content didn’t matter. Seo Bohyung was so happy just to hear Sejin’s voice that he almost shouted.

 

“Who? Are you talking about Haegyun? Haegyun and Byungjoon say you hit them first. Did they hit you first?”

 

“I hit them first, but they first…”

 

Sejin mumbled in a small voice, then closed his mouth. First, what? First, what did they do? Seo Bohyung suppressed the renewed frustration that made him want to beat his chest and forced a smile onto his lips. He made dimples and nodded to Sejin, as if to say he understood everything.

“Haegyun and Byungjoon have been a bit naughty to our Sejin sometimes, haven’t they? But, between friends…”

 

“They weren’t being naughty. Lee Haegyun…!”

 

“Yes, Haegyun?”

 

“Lee Haegyun…”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Sejin, who had been shouting with reddened eyes as if angry, closed his mouth again. He’s not a clam, Seo Bohyung thought, feeling a twitch in the back of his neck, and involuntarily let out an exasperated sigh. Sejin looked up at Seo Bohyung with frightened eyes, then looked away. With eyes full of tears that seemed about to overflow, he looked out the window and asked him, “What happens if I don’t say anything?”

 

“What did you say?”

 

“What happens if I don’t give you my guardian’s contact information?”

 

“…”

 

Seo Bohyung had a chilling thought: Could Sejin’s parents have died without his knowing? But he hadn’t received any such contact, and given Sejin’s demeanor, it didn’t seem like there was such a sad story. This was just.

 

“Even if my mom finds out, we can’t settle anyway. We don’t have the money. So I can’t contact them…”

 

“Really…?”

 

“But, if I’m dragged to the police station, will they find my mom? Will they contact my mom and tell her that I hit someone and went to prison?”

 

Seo Bohyung narrowed his eyes, staring at Sejin, who was trembling and clenching his fists. It seemed Kwon Sejin was… afraid of his mother being contacted. It didn’t seem like he was keeping quiet because he didn’t know the contact information.

 

Seo Bohyung thought for a moment, then hesitated and opened his mouth.

 

“Of course they will. If a minor goes to prison, of course their mother needs to know that, doesn’t she?”

It was all a lie. Sejin wouldn’t go to prison for something like this, and even if he were sued, the police wouldn’t find someone who had lost contact and deliver news of their child. All of this would simply become something Sejin had to bear alone.

 

However, messages from the vice-principal kept arriving, and Seo Bohyung, who had a lot to worry about with wedding preparations, had no capacity to care about school violence committees or anything else. Whatever Lee Haegyun had done, the fact remained that Sejin was not innocent since he had used a tray to hit him. Seo Bohyung, judging that Sejin was more at fault for mutual assault or initiating the attack, tried to scare him.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better for your mother to come to school and resolve this, rather than hear that you went to prison without knowing anything? Sejin. Being scolded is temporary, you have to think about your future, okay? Don’t you agree?”

 

Seo Bohyung tried to soothe Sejin in a gentle tone.

 

Sejin didn’t answer immediately. He gnawed at his lips until his dry skin bled, buried his face in his hands, and sighed. After a long time, he looked at Seo Bohyung with an anxious face and said, “Not my mom, but…”

 

Then, he recited an eleven-digit mobile phone number. Seo Bohyung immediately called that number, and a young man answered the phone.

 

Sejin sat in the counseling room with an anxious expression. Seo Bohyung had left to call Cheon Sejoo and hadn’t returned since. He could have called Cheon Sejoo to ask if he had been contacted by the homeroom teacher, but Sejin didn’t. He was afraid, not knowing what the man would say.

 

Crazy, truly. Sejin slammed his forehead onto the desk in belated regret. His skin, hotter than in the morning due to the fever, throbbed. The aftermath of the fight was now setting in, bringing immense physical pain, including dizziness. He sighed and closed his eyes.

 

Surely, I won’t go to prison. There’s no way… Even though Lee Haegyun had been hit with a tray, he was still standing perfectly on two feet. His lip was a bit torn, but Sejin’s was too, and he was confident that if they took off their clothes, the bruises on his own body would be two or three times more numerous than those on Lee Haegyun or Kim Byungjoon.

 

But as the homeroom teacher said, he had thrown the first punch. And with a tray, not his fist… Sejin groaned, trying to recall something he had seen on TV once about aggravated assault if you hit someone with a weapon other than your fist. Even while thinking there was no way, the anxiety made him unable to sit still.

 

How did they know my mom was taken away? Sejin remembered the landlord, who had watched his mother, pale-faced, being dragged into a van by thugs. That human had a terribly loose tongue. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that he and his mother lived in a moldy basement room for 350,000 won a month. So, he probably blabbed everywhere that his mother had been dragged away by loan sharks. And that’s how it eventually reached Lee Haegyun’s ears… That dog bastard…

 

Sejin still thought it was fortunate that his mother didn’t hear that. His mother was honorably working in Hwagak’s kitchen, so she would have been truly hurt to hear the word ‘whore.’ He remained with his forehead on the desk, worrying about his mother for a while. Even though he was the one who was about to be dragged to the police, he worried about her, sweating and working far away in Gyeonggi-do.

 

Do you even think before you live? Sejin suddenly frowned at the voice that came to mind. He sprang up, cradling his feverish, red cheeks, and stared at the entrance.

 

Unable to bear the thought of his hardworking mother receiving a call saying, ‘Your son beat up a classmate with a tray, so come and apologize on your knees,’ Sejin had given his homeroom teacher Cheon Sejoo’s number. Even as he gave it, he didn’t expect Cheon Sejoo to come. Sejin simply had the thoughtless idea that he just needed an adult who could be contacted by the homeroom teacher.

 

The homeroom teacher mentioned juvenile prison to him, but logically, he wouldn’t go to prison for something like this. Especially when he recalled the person who had beaten his mother and him almost to death and was only given a warning at the police station. So, it would be enough if the man just answered the phone and said, “It’s none of my business, handle it yourself.” Lee Haegyun’s parents might be talking about a school violence committee, but Sejin inwardly repeated to himself that the police wouldn’t accept such a minor dispute.

 

“…”

 

But at that moment, a sudden surge of anxiety made Sejin bite his lip. Constantly glancing at the entrance, he trembled, his leg still aching from the pain.

“But I hit them with a meal tray. What if they really take me to the police station…? What if Lee Haegyun’s parents are lawyers? Or what if they’re super rich? Now that I think about it, Lee Haegyun always wore good clothes. I don’t know the brands, but I could tell just by how Kim Byeongjun, whose mother was a doctor, admired the clothes Haegyoon wore. Wouldn’t it be easy for rich kids like them to throw someone like me in jail if they set their minds to it?”

A sudden fear gripped Sejin, who let out a nervous sigh, breaking into a cold sweat. “Damn it…” Now, he somewhat regretted hitting them with the meal tray. Of course, he didn’t regret initiating the attack on Lee Haegyun. If he had let that guy get away with talking about his mother like that, he wouldn’t have been able to bear the injustice even in death, digging himself out of his grave. Yet, a part of him couldn’t help but fear that this fight might cause him even greater harm.

“I can’t do this. I should go and apologize now.” Wavering, Sejin finally couldn’t hold back and stood up. He had nothing, so he couldn’t pay a settlement fee. Anyway, since both sides had hit each other, they could just consider the hospital bills settled. But since he threw the first punch, he felt he should apologize for hitting first. If Lee Haegyun told him to kneel, he would. Sejin wasn’t the type to dwell on such things.

As he hobbled along and opened the door, he saw someone blocking the entrance, as if about to come in. Sejin lifted his head, recognizing the familiar scent. There stood Cheon Sejoo in a suit, a cold expression on his face.

“……”

“……”

The two looked into each other’s eyes in silence. Sejin, who hadn’t expected him, was utterly flustered, and Cheon Sejoo looked, at first glance, simply angry. It was Cheon Sejoo who broke the silence first.

“Where are you going?”

His tone suggested, ‘How dare you cause such trouble and call me all the way here, only to try and leave?’ In the awkward situation, Sejin hunched his shoulders and replied in a meek voice.

“To apologize to Lee Haegyun…” 

“Why would you apologize? Get inside.”

He cut off Sejin’s words as if he didn’t need to hear any more, turning Sejin’s shoulder around. Sejin, bewildered, walked as he was pushed. The man pushed Sejin towards a chair, pressing down on his shoulder to make him sit. But as soon as his backside touched the chair, the wheeled chair spun around.

Before a startled Sejin could even ask what he was doing, Cheon Sejoo, who had knelt on one knee in front of him, carefully took Sejin’s ankle. It was Sejin’s left ankle, the one he had been limping on. His muscles tingled at the cool fingertips brushing against his feverish skin. Sejin curled his toes, staring blankly at the crown of the man’s head sitting before him.

“Does it hurt?”

Turning Sejin’s ankle this way and that, Cheon Sejoo asked in a cold, hardened voice. Sejin, if it hurt, would simply reply “Uh…” and looked at the man who had appeared so suddenly.

He was different from when they parted ways that morning. No, he was different from ever before. His hair was neatly swept back, not a strand out of place, his collar buttoned all the way up to his neck, and a dark navy tie – the man was dressed in a pristine way Sejin had never seen. Seeing him like that made Sejin feel strangely uneasy. It was as if he was looking at a different person.

“Your ligament is torn.”

Sejin didn’t even have the presence of mind to sneer at the man who diagnosed him as if he were a doctor. Cheon Sejoo saw the deep blue bruise on Sejin’s ankle and rolled up his pants leg to check his calf. His smooth, unblemished leg was also covered in bruises. Unaware that Cheon Sejoo’s gaze was growing even colder, Sejin blankly voiced the question in his mind.

“Why did you come?”

“……”

Cheon Sejoo raised one eyebrow, looking up at Sejin. His handsomely sharp face was colder than usual, and he seemed to be in a very bad mood. Only then did Sejin recall their almost-argument that morning. ‘Stop being interested in me,’ he had told him. How absurd must it have been for him to hear such words from Sejin and then get a call from the homeroom teacher.

“…But why did this man come here? He should have just said ‘none of my business’ and hung up.”

“Why are you here?”

‘You’re not my guardian.’ Sejin asked Cheon Sejoo again. His chest fluttered at the sudden situation. With an inexplicable tremor and exhilaration, he could only stare at Cheon Sejoo with a completely uncomprehending expression.

“I heard you hit first. Is that true?” 

“…What?”

Cheon Sejoo did not answer Sejin’s question. Instead, he simply widened his eyes and asked Sejin if what he had heard was true. Sejin stared blankly at Cheon Sejoo, unable to easily grasp the situation, then finally nodded at the question of whether he had hit first. “Yes, that’s right.” At those words, Cheon Sejoo finally broke his expressionless facade and smiled.

“Good job.”

A large hand reached out and ruffled Sejin’s hair. The man’s scent, carried by the breeze he created, reached Sejin. Sejin inhaled the vanilla scent mixed with a faint smell of cigarette smoke, his mouth hanging open foolishly. The cut on his lip split open, oozing a drop of blood, but he couldn’t even pay attention to it.

Unable to easily accept the absurd situation that had befallen him, Sejin only looked down at the man who had, by now, returned to his indifferent expression and was examining his ankle.

“Is he crazy? Why are you here? What, are you my family? You don’t have a drop of my blood. We’re just someone who lets me stay in a room and makes me do chores, so what right do you have to be here…?”

The words he wanted to say to the man swirled inside his mouth. However, Sejin couldn’t bring himself to open his lips. He couldn’t say anything because he was afraid the man would leave, afraid he’d walk out of the counseling room, saying, ‘That rude brat doesn’t even know how to be grateful.’

“Teacher, have you finished your conversation?”

And then, knock, knock, a voice came from outside the door. It was Seobohyeong, the homeroom teacher. Sejin realized that the “Teacher” his homeroom teacher was calling was Cheon Sejoo and became confused.

Cheon Sejoo heard his voice, stood up, and opened the door. A polite smile graced his handsome face, and he checked the watch on his right wrist with a flawless demeanor as he spoke to Seobohyeong.

“Time’s up. I’ll be leaving now.” 

“Yes, yes. Please take your time!!”

Unlike his annoyed attitude earlier, the homeroom teacher’s demeanor was active. Seobohyeong, who smiled brightly as if in a good mood, made a slightly embarrassed expression when his eyes met Sejin’s, who was staring blankly behind Cheon Sejoo, then left with an awkward smile.

Cheon Sejoo returned to Sejin, leaving the door open. He looked down at Sejin, who was wide-eyed in surprise, unlike his usual reactions like a flapping fish, then reached out and placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Soon, he clicked his tongue briefly and removed his hand, which had quickly become warm, turning to go behind Sejin. Then, drrrk, he began to push the wheeled chair.

“W-what are you doing!”

Sejin looked up at him belatedly. But instead of stopping the chair, Cheon Sejoo said to Sejin,

“When we go, keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything unnecessary.” 

“What…?”

He didn’t even have time to ask what he meant. Cheon Sejoo pulled the chair to their destination, not far from the counseling room. Before Sejin could be surprised upon spotting the sign that read “Principal’s Office,” the door opened.

People were gathered in the principal’s office, where two large sofas faced each other across a low table. The principal was at the head of the table, flanked by the vice-principal and Seobohyeong. On the right sofa sat Lee Haegyun and his mother, and on the opposite sofa, a middle-aged man in a crisply ironed suit. Kim Byeongjun’s father had dropped by the school but left after saying he didn’t have time to wait, giving decision-making power to Lee Haegyun’s side.

Cheon Sejoo brought Sejin, who was still bewildered and unable to speak properly, next to the middle-aged man.

“You’re here, Director.”

The middle-aged man, upon seeing Cheon Sejoo, stood up and bowed respectfully. Cheon Sejoo nodded in return, then turned and picked up Sejin. A surprised Sejin tried to shout, ‘What are you doing?’ but then closed his mouth. The man’s eyes, meeting his so close, seemed to be telling him to be quiet.

Cheon Sejoo gently placed the embraced Sejin on the sofa. His attitude was as careful as if he were handling a patient. Then, straightening his back, he lightly pulled and smoothed his wrinkled suit jacket. His movements were unhurried and relaxed.

Before sitting in his seat, he took out a business card from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He handed the pristine white business card, held between his fingers, to the principal. The principal, receiving it with a tense expression, then checked its contents and showed a considerable look of surprise.

“Sorry I’m late. I received the call during work.”

Cheon Sejoo then leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and nodded towards Lee Haegyun’s side. Lee Haegyun’s mother frowned at his nonchalant attitude for a moment, but she too soon looked flustered and uncomfortable after receiving the business card he had placed on the table and slid across. Sejin was curious about what was written on the card, but since Cheon Sejoo hadn’t given him one, he had no choice but to stay still.

“……”

Lee Haegyun’s mother also handed her business card to Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo didn’t even properly check it, passing it to the middle-aged man sitting next to him. With the power play disguised as introductions over, it was the principal who spoke first.

“Now, then, the reason we’re all gathered here today is, there was an unfortunate incident between our students…”

As soon as he opened his mouth, Lee Haegyun’s mother, glancing at Cheon Sejoo, retorted in a challenging tone.

“Unfortunate incident? My child was beaten with a metal meal tray until he bled! How is that an unfortunate incident? It was a unilateral assault!” 

“Excuse me, but the meal trays used in high schools nowadays are stainless steel. ‘Metal’ is an inaccurate term, please refrain from using it.”

It was the middle-aged man sitting next to Cheon Sejoo who cut her off. Receiving everyone’s gaze, he corrected the term “metal meal tray” and then placed a black voice recorder he had taken from his bag onto the table. Then, looking around the room, he said,

“From now on, I will be recording this conversation. It is not illegal for a party involved in a conversation to record its contents, so please keep that in mind.” 

“Ha! Really!” 

“The parties to this conversation are Attorney Lee Younghoon, a partner at Seongsan Law Firm, Director Cheon Sejoo of DG O&M, the principal and vice-principal of Dongseoul Nam High School, the victim Kwon Sejin, the assailant Lee Haegyun and his guardian, and the homeroom teachers of both parties.”

As soon as the lawyer finished speaking, looking at the recorder as if for the record, chaos erupted.

“Assailant? Who’s the assailant? More than ten people saw Haegyoon get hit first, how can our child be the assailant?”

Lee Haegyun’s mother raised her voice, asking how Kwon Sejin could be the victim. Then, Attorney Lee Younghoon, without changing his expression, countered their words.

“The victim, Kwon Sejin, has been consistently bullied by Lee Haegyun and Kim Byeongjun since the beginning of the semester. Today, while Kwon Sejin did initiate violence against the two, this incident of violence is also an extension of that bullying, and it occurred because he could no longer tolerate their excessive verbal abuse. Therefore, we assert that Lee Haegyun and Kim Byeongjun are the assailants.” 

“Bullying? Who’s bullying whom? Look here, don’t speak carelessly without evidence! Who’s the assailant? It’s clearly visible who swung the meal tray without any proper education, so who are you calling the assailant?” 

“As for evidence, we have it. Scenes of Lee Haegyun and Kim Byeongjun harassing Sejin in front of the school were captured on CCTV, and our law firm has secured the evidence. If you wish, we can show it in court.” 

“No, ha!”

At the mention of CCTV, she flushed and let out a hollow laugh. She turned to Lee Haegyun, glaring as if to ask if it was true, and Lee Haegyun shrugged, feigning ignorance. He seemed to not have thought that would be evidence.

It was then that Cheon Sejoo, who had been silently observing the situation, joined the conversation.

“How can this be a unilateral assault? The child was gang-beaten to the point he couldn’t even walk. At best, it’s self-defense; at worst, it’s mutual assault.”

‘He can walk, it’s not like he can’t…’ Sejin wasn’t the only one dumbfounded by his exaggerated statement.

“Look here!! How can it be self-defense when your kid hit first?”

Lee Haegyun’s mother asked, dumbfounded, then crossed her arms and sighed with a displeased look. Then, she lightly gestured her chin at Sejin and asked Cheon Sejoo,

“You’re not that child’s guardian, what right do you have to be here? I want to talk to Sejin’s parents, whoever they are. He’s not an orphan, is he?”

Her contempt for Sejin was evident. Her words implied there was a reason she had been speaking so loudly until now.

Lee Haegyun had only conveyed fragmented information to his mother on the phone: that Sejin had no father and that his mother wasn’t with him either. So, she only knew that her son had been beaten by an uneducated orphan.

Neither Lee Haegyun nor his mother had ever expected that the person claiming to be Sejin’s guardian would be someone from the Strategic Planning Office of a major corporation called Daegam. However, she only considered Cheon Sejoo to be merely Sejin’s sponsor. She hadn’t heard anything from her son, and their surnames were different, their appearances were different, so the two didn’t seem to be related by blood.

‘How much would such a person care about a kid with nothing? He’s probably just trying to show off.’ But Cheon Sejoo raised an eyebrow as if asking what she was talking about, and replied,

“I am his guardian. If I weren’t Sejin’s guardian, why would I take time out of my busy schedule to come all the way here with a lawyer?”

There was no hint of a joke in Cheon Sejoo’s voice as he said this; it was so serious that it even carried an annoyance, as if he were listening to nonsense.