By Zephyria 
I summoned the Four Heavenly Kings to my house and shared my intention to have Seong Hae-min quit being an iljin.
It wasn’t out of camaraderie. They were involved parties, and I couldn’t exclude them if I wanted to be with Seong Hae-min.
They looked at each other in surprise, as if they had never expected me to say such a thing. Before they could even show concern for Jeon Jae-hyung, I cut in.
“Of course, I intend to resolve Jae-hyung’s brother’s issue first. That Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog, or whatever his name is.”
Lee Beom and Min Si-hu’s gazes followed me, as if asking how I knew. Seong Hae-min, who had spoken with me earlier, sat quietly beside me, while Jeon Jae-hyung only moved his lips. The Bboongyi doll in Jeon Jae-hyung’s arms was gradually distorted by the pressure of his arm.
“…Thank you.”
The words came after a long pause. I didn’t know how to respond, so I remained silent for a moment.
“…It’s only natural.”
Jeon Jae-hyung’s eyes flickered. He was thanking me for not pretending to be unaware of his situation.
I was just… trying to save Seong Hae-min.
Was this relationship also considered friendship? The thought suddenly struck me. It felt like an itch, like when baby teeth grow. I felt awkward.
We put our heads together to brainstorm solutions, but we couldn’t come up with a definitive answer. Jeon Jae-hyung mentioned that he had spoken with the gym teacher who dealt with iljins at the school regarding his brother’s bullying issue, but it hadn’t been of much help since it involved another school. The guys, whose efforts were less than their intentions, just blabbered things like, “Maybe we should just have a showdown in the ranking battle…”
Eventually, I sent them away and was left to ponder alone.
How can I properly deal with these people?
Anger surged whenever I thought of those sunbaes, whom I had never even met. Of course, I wanted to beat them up and curse them.
However, personal revenge has its limits. If you can’t crush them completely, it just becomes a chaotic mess, and there could be repercussions. Ultimately, it would lead back to the same dangerous path.
Why do laws exist?
The answer was to crush them with the legitimate authority agreed upon through public procedures!
To socially bury them through public punishment!
The moment I heard that the Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog was a scoundrel, the method that came to mind was to refer the case to the School Violence Committee at the educational support office level. The same applied to the 3rd-year sunbaes. Gang fights and group bullying. The justification was sufficient.
Even if the Four Heavenly Kings were implicated in the process, there was room for consideration if it could be proven that the actions were led by the sunbaes. And well… if they had indeed done wrong, they should pay the price. It was the right way to wash their hands clean.
However, the fact that this was not an era I was familiar with held me back.
Why 2005 of all years!
Using a crappy internet search engine, I managed to find out that a school violence prevention law had been enacted last year. However, since it had only been a year, it seemed to have no effectiveness whatsoever.
“[Iljinhoe That Rivals Gangsters] ‘Betrayal is Death.'”
“‘Don’t Report the Iljinhoe.’ Frontline Schools ‘Hush Hush'”
The articles that followed were all like this.
Sensational titles that would only appear in third-rate novels are reality!
At least it’s fortunate that society recognizes it as a problem and has the will to solve it.
The problem was our school. There had been no particular announcements regarding school violence, and no teachers were interested in the matter… If I reported it, it would likely be brushed aside, and I’d face retaliation.
If the school or the education office’s systems aren’t sufficient, I have no choice but to rely on external forces!
From my perspective, being familiar with internet media, media manipulation was the optimal way to inflate the issue’s popularity and severity like a snowball. However, the lack of YouTube and underdeveloped SNS was another problem, leaving me feeling helpless.
‘In the current situation, going through official media outlets seems like the best option.’
But how?
I had spent days collecting only the email addresses of reporters who had written articles about school violence, agonizing over it.
Could I resolve both the Yeonmyeong High and Seoyeon High cases through the media? If I wasn’t careful, a smaller issue might get buried. Or, both could be buried.
Would this issue be handled properly? Would it be effective? Ultimately, the punishment has to come from the school.
Today too, unable to add anything new to my memo pad, I just scribbled and drew thick underlines, breaking my pencil lead pointlessly.
At this rate, even something that could be done wouldn’t get done. After pondering, I made up my mind.
‘Let’s talk to Ban Seo-yi!’
With that, I summarized the situation very briefly, within 80 bytes, and left a message for Ban Seo-yi. I mentioned that Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog and Seoyeon High’s third-year Sunbaes were involved, so I felt I needed to resolve their issues first, but I was still contemplating how to do it.
I had intended to contact her after thinking of a concrete solution, but I decided to reach out because I felt like I’d just be stuck with it alone if I didn’t. My thoughts were stagnant, making me feel even more blocked.
‘It’s fortunate I can contact her before it’s too late.’
If Seong Hae-min had continued to hide the situation, I might have just been wringing my hands. I tried to assess the situation as positively as possible.
After only solving exam questions with predetermined answers, I felt like my head would explode trying to tackle something without a clear solution. Just as I was about to resume my endless staring contest with the memo pad, my mobile phone lit up as if offering an answer.
It was a cheerful reply from Ban Seo-yi.
“You mean we gotta beat ’em both up? Got it! I’ve been waiting for this too^^*”
Then, Ban Seo-yi suddenly insisted, “First, just get Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog expelled.” When I asked what she meant, she claimed she was acquainted with Yeonmyeong High’s chairman.
“This is absurd…”
I didn’t know what kind of connection a mere high school student could have with another school’s chairman, but it was probably thanks to her family. The reason Ban Seo-yi hadn’t been able to take down Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog despite having that connection was likely because she couldn’t change the novel’s plot. So, she was saying that if I intervened, she could do it.
But…
‘Does expulsion solve the problem?’
Weren’t delinquents the ones who wanted to be expelled?
Ban Seo-yi quickly resolved my confused question. Even if delinquents rebel against their schools, their affiliation with their school is important among themselves. Without an affiliation, it’s difficult to operate as a group. She said there was no need to worry about retaliation. For those with a lot of karma like Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog, if they get expelled, they end up working their way up from the bottom of organized crime without anyone to associate with.
Even delinquents are, in the end, just teenagers before adulthood. It seemed the term ‘school alliance’ in their much-vaunted nationwide ranking battles wasn’t just for show.
But just outright saying ‘Expel them!’ felt too… like a teen romance novel.
Of course, this is inside a teen romance novel!
What mattered was public opinion. So, even if they were expelled, it seemed safer to gather information and follow the proper procedures. To socially bury them completely.
When I replied “Okay, let’s gather concrete evidence worthy of expulsion,” I received an unexpected answer.
“I have some materials too^^ hehe Oh, right. But in return, go on a date with Do Yun-hyeok the week after next haha.
“A date?” You’re going on a date?”
Her typing speed was so fast that two messages arrived almost consecutively.
“Are you crazy?Hahaha why would I do that with him hahaha
“I meant you.”.. Go on a date with Do Yun-hyeok. You said you’d change the future, remember… RG?”
It was absurd, but I couldn’t refuse. Changing the predetermined plot of the novel for Ban Seo-yi was the condition of our deal.
However, I had imagined scenarios like ‘meeting Ban Seo-yi’s father for a showdown,’ but suddenly Do Yun-hyeok?
And a date?
“Just a date?”
“Just a date? It’s super important-0-;; You absolutely have to keep Do Yun-hyeok with you all day that day!!”
It was unbelievable, but I figured Ban Seo-yi must have a reason, so I replied “Okay,” asking her to let me know the specific schedule separately.
❖ ❖ ❖
“If only we could secure media coverage…”
Or a contact in the Ministry of Education.
My mumbling as I walked home caused Min Si-hu to stiffen noticeably and creak. Glancing at him, I fell back into thought. Even if Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog was brought to justice through expulsion, what about the third-years?
Did my experience living in the future somehow limit my imagination? I tried to think of other methods, but nothing felt as authoritative and impactful as the media. Otherwise, it would have to be resolved within the Ministry of Education, and I couldn’t afford a haphazard ruling like ‘You guys figure it out yourselves!’
To ensure this wasn’t taken lightly, I needed to broaden the scope of discussion as much as possible, but realistically, I lacked the power to do so. I never knew the lack of developed SNS would be this frustrating.
I considered posting it online, but I didn’t even know which internet community site was the biggest, and even if I posted it, I figured it would just get comments like ‘OMG’ or ‘Hmm’ and get buried. It wasn’t an election, so I couldn’t send out texts saying ‘Lend us your strength – The Truth About Seoyeon High’s Delinquent Circle!!’…
That’s why official media became even more crucial.
If we went through official media, public attention on the school violence, and especially on the school involved, would increase, leading to demands for just punishment. In that process, we could also use Yeonmyeong High’s case as a precedent.
But was a news special easy to get? If this incident even got 30 seconds of airtime, it would be a miracle!
Just in case, I planned to report it to the media and also file a complaint with the Ministry of Education. I didn’t know how to do either yet, as it was my first time.
The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t let go of the media. With a sigh of regret, I muttered to myself.
“If the media could stir up public opinion, they could truly send them to hell…”
That’s how they’d be socially buried.
‘Back in my day, even the entertainment industry collapsed like this!’
Just as I was mentally throwing a punch at the unknown third-year from Seoyeon High, Min Si-hu, who had been fidgeting beside me like he desperately needed to use the restroom, tugged at my sleeve.
“Um…”