By Zephyria 
I immediately went to see the school counselor.
After taking two deep breaths, I knocked on the old wooden door, its paint chipped sporadically at the bottom, and heard a gentle greeting: “Come in~.”
I carefully opened the door and entered the counseling room. The counselor, whom I knew from running errands many times, greeted me familiarly.
“Hello.”
“Oh, Hae-jun! Are you here to run an errand again today?”
“No, I came to get counseling….”
“Oh my, Hae-jun? What could be troubling you?”
“Can I get it as soon as possible?”
Hesitantly trailing off, the counselor, adjusting her glasses, picked up a desk calendar and asked.
“Let’s see. The earliest available slot is in three weeks, is that okay?”
“What?”
I was taken aback by the unexpected answer and rolled my eyes.
The purpose of requesting counseling was to lay the groundwork.
Once the Yeonmyeong High issue was resolved, I planned to report the third-year students to the media immediately. In that case, the media might interview the teachers, so I planned to preemptively leak information about the third-year seniors who had threatened Seong Hae-min. If exposed to the media, the school would be pressured to punish those students, which would help when school officials took action later.
This was preparatory work to leave evidence, and if it was that late, it would be meaningless.
No matter how I calculated it, a month later was too late. By then, not only would the disciplinary results from Yeonmyeong High School be out, but the media reports might have already concluded.
“Can’t I get it any earlier?”
“What can I do? All the official counseling slots are already booked.”
“It’s really urgent, so I want to get it as soon as possible, please. It won’t be meaningful if it’s not now….”
Using gestures and body language, I expressed my desire for counseling as soon as possible, but the counselor looked troubled, saying her schedule was full.
It was a setback. It was my fault for not considering the possibility of a tight counseling schedule.
‘Is there another decent teacher I can bring this up with in advance?’
My mind raced as I slumped my head down with an exaggerated look of despair. It was a tactic designed to make it difficult for them to refuse counseling.
Perhaps thinking I was crying, the counselor quickly said something to console me.
“Um… If it’s really urgent, how about a short session now? It can’t be long, but….”
I snapped my head up. I wouldn’t miss this chance. I clenched my fist inwardly and exclaimed brightly.
“Yes! That would be great! Thank you so much!”
It was worth it to keep pestering her with a tearful face. In the end, the counselor made special time for me.
As expected, I had to live as a model student. It paid off to have made an impression with frequent errands.
And so, I sat facing the counselor in the quiet counseling room.
There was a pretty cup on the table. It was a cool iced tea the teacher had thoughtfully prepared for me, saying it was summer. As I took a sip, a refreshing and sweet aroma spread through my mouth.
“So, what problem is Hae-jun having? Is it about the upcoming final exams?”
The counselor seemed to assume it was related to academics or career path, but I didn’t correct her preemptively.
Savoring the sweet aroma in my mouth, I slowly opened my lips.
“It’s because of the seniors….”
“Seniors?”
“Yes. I think Hae-min is being threatened by seniors.”
Perhaps it was an unexpected statement, the counselor’s face turned pale.
“Threatened? Can you tell me more?”
Without taking a breath, I poured out the story. From Seong Hae-min being forcibly recruited into a delinquent circle, being forced to commit acts against school rules, not being allowed to quit, and even being threatened using me as leverage.
As I spoke, I got carried away and almost became genuinely angry, but I calmed myself and told the story I had prepared.
“Lee Beom too… Do you know Beom’s grades? He was around 30th in the entire school during the midterm exams. He’s a really good student. Beom is also a good kid who wants to study hard, but because of those seniors….”
From Seong Hae-min to Lee Beom. I spun a web of lies without batting an eye.
“I see. Hmm….”
“…….”
After listening to my story for a long time, the counselor, who had been twirling her pen, finally spoke after much thought.
“However.”
‘Ah.’
Just three syllables from his furrowed brow were enough to predict the words that would follow.
Though I had expected it, a subtle hope I hadn’t realized I harbored fizzled out. It seemed there was no teacher who could help this school after all. Suppressing the rising disappointment, I quenched my thirst with iced tea.
“Can’t you… talk it over with the Sunbaes and resolve it?”
Was that even a sensible thing to say? I had just been threatened a few minutes ago, and now I was being told to resolve it through conversation.
But it didn’t matter. I hadn’t applied for this expecting any practical help anyway. So, there was no reason to be discouraged. It would be a lie to say I hadn’t anticipated this kind of reaction. In fact, I had something planned for this very situation.
“That… sob….”
“Oh, dear.”
I immediately conjured tears. Thinking of my parents, whom I would never see again, tears welled up easily. I let the pitifully gathered tears fall in a rush, and the counselor, looking deeply sympathetic, handed me a tissue.
Crying my eyes out to look as pathetic as possible, I emphasized the gravity of the situation. When I pleaded for the school’s help, the counselor’s sigh deepened.
“Well… I want to help as much as I can, but disciplinary action at the school level might be difficult.”
Looking up with tear-filled eyes, the counselor continued with difficulty.
There was no relevant authority figure yet, the school regulations said this, the principal’s educational policy said that….
They were all beating around the bush, but it all amounted to the same thing.
‘The teachers want to avoid this issue!’
In other words, they didn’t want to escalate the problem.
Anything the school might do would likely be limited to the student dean supervising attendance or the gym teacher giving lectures to delinquents.
Honestly, considering the indifferent homeroom teacher I saw on the first day, or the principal who walked past Lee Beom and Jeon Jae-hyung as if he didn’t see them, it wasn’t surprising.
The counselor was kind, but that was all. I hadn’t applied for counseling expecting practical help, but I thought at least they would connect me with another teacher. As expected, I left the counseling room, feeling drained, after a session that yielded no concrete results.
“Hoo….”
Even though it was an act, crying like that had completely exhausted me. As I headed to the classroom to get my things, I fell into thought.
I had learned that most teachers wanted to avoid getting involved in school violence issues. I had intended to consult with other teachers, but there was no suitable candidate. While the counselor hadn’t offered a perfect solution, they had at least accepted my request because they were a counselor. I realized that if it had been another teacher, they might have completely ignored me, making the current counselor seem reasonable by comparison. I clicked my tongue.
‘This is how the school is!’
Let’s see if they’ll still act like this when the expulsion from Yeonmyeong High School is announced and the media is buzzing about school violence all day. I waited for news to emerge from Yeonmyeong High School.
❖ ❖ ❖
A few days later. Rumors about Yeonmyeong High School’s disciplinary action escalating to expulsion spread like gossip, and then the entire neighborhood was abuzz with the official announcement of Yeonmyeong High School’s disciplinary committee results. The news spread so widely that even our school was noisy all day, which said it all.
“They’re expelling him!”
The biggest reason for the students’ shock was that the severe punishment of expulsion, which they thought would remain just a rumor, had actually been handed down. The impact of the word “expulsion” was beyond imagination.
“But his parents came to the school and made such a scene!”
What made the incident even more sensational was the parents’ strong protest. However, it was also heard that other victims, who had been watching nervously, were now filing additional reports, and there were whispers of a school violence victims’ support group being formed. Yet, the parents were reportedly still holding firm.
“Are they going to reverse the expulsion?”
“Honestly, Yeonmyeong High’s Top Dog deserves to be expelled, doesn’t he? Just from what I’ve heard, there are so many incidents.”
“Exactly.”
“He even tried to attack our school. It’s a good thing the Four Heavenly Kings stopped him!”
“Right. Otherwise, it would have been a real war!”
“The Four Heavenly Kings are on a different level from that kind of thug, a different level! If other thugs are like fish in a 5th-grade river, the Four Heavenly Kings are natural monuments that must be protected!”
“…….”
Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that last comment.
In any case, I spent days listening to the chatter of the students, which perfectly reflected the chaotic situation at Yeonmyeong High School. But as I kept listening to such gossip, a question suddenly arose.
‘Ban Seo-yi… is it going well? Is he doing okay?’
I thought it would be easy to just trust and wait for Ban Seo-yi to handle things calmly, but it was proving difficult to maintain my composure as the committee’s conclusion, which should have been reached earlier, was not actually leading to expulsion. The situation seemed to be getting complicated. It was hard for me to wait quietly.
‘Could it be?’ With a sense of unease, I sent a text asking about his well-being and progress, but there was no reply. Was there a delay due to the parents’ protest? Ban Seo-yi must be busy.
I clutched my silent mobile phone, waiting for a call from Ban Seo-yi.