Chapter 36
The middle-aged woman who had suddenly appeared looked at me and my older sister with a face full of questions, but as soon as my taunting words finished, her face turned red.
Looks like the identification was completed.
“If you don’t want to get slapped? You sure know how to talk dirty.”
“No, there’s no need to gild your words. You’re the one talking dirty. I acknowledge my defeat.”
“…This little punk.”
It seemed she couldn’t hold back her anger as her tofu-like cheeks quivered and shook.
“Hey! Who do you think you are, barging in here?”
I smiled slightly and placed my hand on Gaeul’s shoulder. Then I said,
“I’m Gaeul’s guardian, the one you were looking for.”
Gaeul was looking at me with tears glistening in her eyes, as if she could burst into tears at any moment.
That didn’t sit well with me.
There was no reason for that sweet child to feel such emotions.
“Now that I’ve appeared as you wished, feel free to say what you want.”
“Ha… do you want to hear what I want to say? Sure.”
The woman, referred to as Mrs. Dae-su, pointed at Gahyeon, Gaeul’s little brother, and said,
“I’m sending that kid to jail! I’ll make him eat bean rice and stamp a criminal label on him forever! Got it?”
After saying that, the woman smirked and laughed.
“Of course, being the kind person I am, I could let it slide… if you show sufficient remorse, that is.”
“Are you talking about alimony, mental damages, medical expenses?”
“Well, that’s a given, but there’s gotta be some attitude to go with it.”
Her mouth was glimmering with greed as she spoke.
“Kneel. And beg. ‘I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.’ like a little bug.”
Gaeul, indignant, replied,
“Team Leader Seon, it’s okay. I have money.”
“Didn’t I tell the kid not to get involved in adult conversations?”
Ignoring the woman’s threats, Gaeul spoke to me.
“There’s no need to follow Team Leader Seon’s words. What she wants is money, so just give it to her as she asks.”
“What an ill-mannered kid.”
I also ignored the middle-aged woman and told Gaeul,
“Gaeul, that money is supposed to be for Gahyeon.”
Gaeul looked at me with moist eyes and said,
“Money can be earned again.”
Her two eyes were filled with strong determination. It seemed she wanted to protect me from humiliation, even if it meant spending that money.
“Thank you, Gaeul. But don’t worry too much.”
Gaeul was such an innocent child.
To think she would try to hand over everything to that vile woman!
Even if I were swimming in money, I wouldn’t do such a thing.
That’s why I spoke sincerely.
“I’ll make sure you don’t spend a single penny.”
I stepped two strides forward, protecting Gaeul and Gahyeon.
From here on, it was the battlefield of a seasoned adult.
“You won’t spend a penny? I don’t know what gives you that confidence. Who gave you permission?”
Mrs. Dae-su puffed her cheeks and sulked.
Ignoring her, I said, “Is this Dae-su Student right here?”
“…Y-Yes? Me?”
Dae-su, bowing his head with a bandage pressed against his forehead, jolted in surprise at my words.
“Yes, it’s you, Dae-su.”
“Why me?”
“I just want to ask one thing. Why did you fight with Gahyeon?”
Dae-su turned his head and answered.
“…I don’t know. I just jumped in by myself.”
“Stop lying! You were leering at our sister’s picture! You little punk!”
Hearing Dae-su’s words, Gahyeon yelled and lunged at him.
I had to forcibly stop that.
“Hey, sis, cover your ears for a sec.”
Upon seeing Gahyeon’s desperate expression, Gaeul covered her ears, and Gahyeon screamed.
“Looking all innocent, you were curious about how she would moan if you hit her! You wanted an introduction to find out! You bastard!”
You little shit.
A hot wave of anger boiled in my head. To be honest, instead of stopping Gahyeon, I wanted to charge out and smack him.
“Ugh, shut up. You squealing like that really shows the family upbringing.”
The middle-aged woman exaggeratedly covered her ears and said.
“Kid, do you have proof? Do you even know how scary false accusations are? My son would never do something like that!”
“…There are plenty of witnesses.”
“Okay, and who are they? Bring them here.”
“…”
Gahyeon couldn’t answer.
I didn’t think that kid was lying.
She probably thought that even if she brought witnesses, they wouldn’t give favorable testimonies for her.
After all, it’s rare for a middle school student to stand up and testify against someone like Dae-su, who seemed pretty influential and tough.
I roughly ruffled Gahyeon’s hair and said, “I have proof.”
“Proof? …Pfft. Then show it.”
Mrs. Dae-su scoffed like it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
I turned on my smartphone and logged onto the most popular social media used by students these days. Then, I accessed Dae-su’s account and showed her the posts.
“…What’s this?”
Dae-su’s account was filled with boastful posts bragging about his thug friends and wealth.
But that wasn’t all.
There were also some photos of a girl from the same class.
The highlight was in the comments of those posts. He was harassing the girls with extremely crude words, making Gahyeon’s statement sound like a light joke.
He was teasing female students with words so bad they were almost laughable.
Among them was a mention of Gaeul.
Mrs. Dae-su stared at the shocking list of words and dumbly asked,
“Isn’t this impersonation? My son wouldn’t leave such messages!”
“Considering the personal information in the post, it certainly looks like your son, but it’s not impossible that it’s impersonation. Would you like to check?”
“…Check?”
I smiled while recalling the smile Cheon Aram had shown me. Then I said,
“I’m going to gather these victim students to form a union and then sue. If it’s not Dae-su, then I won’t be stabbing the real culprit, so nothing will come back to him, right?”
The middle-aged woman turned her head and looked at Dae-su. His pupils were shaking uncontrollably.
He looked like a thief caught red-handed.
He glanced at his mom and said,
“…Isn’t that a scam?”
As if gaining confidence from his own words, Dae-su shouted,
“My account is private! How could you see that, sir?”
I had to admit, that was a stroke of luck for him.
“They accepted my follow request, though?”
“…What?”
Dae-su quickly checked the list on his smartphone and said,
“There’s no one like you!”
“Oh, of course, I didn’t apply with my face. I used a profile picture of a girl in a swimsuit.”
For the record, that girl’s photo is my older sister’s.
And of course, I didn’t ask for her permission.
“I said I thought you looked really handsome from your profile and wanted to get to know you better, and they accepted me right away.”
It was a classic middle school boy’s naïveté fueled by raging hormones.
“….”
Dae-su’s face hardened as if he was recalling a suspicious account.
“I’m just saying, if a stranger approaches you on social media and wants to be friends, avoid it. Dating scams are terrifying these days.”
Dae-su was too frightened to make excuses, only glancing at his mom.
Seeing that, the woman was so furious that her face turned bright red as she breathed heavily.
“Seeing Dae-su’s reaction, this was his account for sure. This is quite dangerous. If proper education had been provided, this wouldn’t have happened; I’m worried about the family’s standards.”
I gleefully looked at the middle-aged woman, now twisted and deeply wrinkled.
“It seems like Dae-su will be the one heading to jail, huh?”
After huffing and puffing for a while, Mrs. Dae-su took a deep breath and said,
“Still, the fact that that good-for-nothing kid committed violence hasn’t changed. I promise you, I will definitely put that child in prison!”
“Whether a middle school kid goes to jail for such a minor injury is another story, but let’s clarify something first. …This isn’t just a case of one-sided assault.”
“I’m telling you… this isn’t a one-sided assault case.”
I briefly apologized to Gahyeon and asked for his cooperation, then pulled up his shirt.
As I thought, there was a huge bruise on his chest.
“That’s mutual assault.”
I had guessed there was an injury when I saw his reaction while grabbing his left chest as he was about to bolt. My prediction was spot on.
Gahyeon whispered to me in a panic.
“This wasn’t caused by that jerk, you know?”
“No, this bruise was definitely caused by Dae-su.”
How that injury happened was beyond me. From this moment on, Gahyeon had been hit by Dae-su.
Dae-su shouted in indignation.
“I didn’t do that!”
I snapped back, raising my voice.
“If you didn’t do it, then who did? Got any evidence?”
Oh, who cares? This is mutual.
“The evidence is on your side! What are you even doing?”
I shrugged nonchalantly, then laughed as if it were ridiculous.
“Evidence sounds good. We’ll prepare our own evidence and get ready for a court battle. Oh, and just so you know, we’ll also file a lawsuit for the harassment you posted on social media.”
I subtly stepped aside to introduce my older sister, standing behind me.
“I’d appreciate it if you could discuss this from now on through my representative.”
My sister, with a tired expression, explained to the homeroom teacher and the woman what the next steps would be.
Such a natural movement.
Dae-su was looking around nervously, while his mother and the teacher stared at my sister dumbfounded.
It seemed like the rapidly changing situation was beyond their comprehension.
I didn’t let this moment slip by.
“However! We must consider this at this point!”
I declared in a firm voice, like a politician giving a speech.
“How disgusting is it for adults to get involved in children’s fights? So how about we settle this now and let the kids handle their small quarrel?”
The teacher started clapping with a blank expression upon hearing my words.
I added in a low, deep voice.
“…or would you prefer to engage in a dirty, ugly adult fight?”
I wiped the friendly smile off my face and glared at Mrs. Dae-su. She seemed to flinch at my gaze and words.
After about thirty seconds of avoiding eye contact, Mrs. Dae-su, feeling humiliated for shrinking back, trembled her cheeks and shouted.
“Adult fight? Fine! Bring it on! You think I’m afraid?”
She forced a smile and said,
“Dae-su’s dad is a legislator! Are you confident?”
Oh, I already know. You silly woman.
