The World Is Not Equal
Shaaaaa!
“......”
Being dragged all the way to the girls’ bathroom and locked inside was miserable enough, but when they dumped a bucket of water over my head, I felt like the tears would finally spill out.
“Tch, hey! Lee Ji-an! You okay?!”
What was I supposed to say? If I said I was fine, an even nastier prank would be waiting. If I got angry, they’d just beat me worse.
“Hey! It’s a joke, just a joke!”
“Kekeke, why aren’t you answering?!”
Still… still… I thought this was the moment I had to get angry. The bullying had started the day I entered high school, and now, with graduation and winter break right around the corner, it had been going on for a full three years.
After forcing down the medicine my mother had given me, I struggled to my feet, my body feeling heavier than lead…
Bang!
I kicked the door open.
“Kim Ji-won, you fucking bitch!”
With her long, straight hair and that deceptively innocent, beautiful face that hid a demon inside, the delinquent girl became my target. I charged straight at her.
Grab.
“Y-you crazy bastard!”
I seized her collar and shoved with all my strength. But at 160 centimeters and still carrying the weight of my former chubbiness, with no real power in my arms, I couldn’t even budge a girl who stood 172 centimeters tall.
Thud!
“Urk!”
Her knee slammed into my stomach. In that instant, something felt wrong.
“Cough, cough!”
It hurt, but the pain was on a completely different level from usual.
“You fucking bitch!”
Even so, I refused to fall. Using every ounce of strength I had left, I yanked her forward and shoved her back, screaming at her to stop tormenting me.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“Urk, cough.”
All while enduring the barrage of fists that Choi Mi-ri and Shin Ji-soo rained down from the sides, of course.
“Fuck you. I’m reporting all three of you.”
“Pfft, you think that’ll work?”
It would get reported. But just like Kim Ji-won said, even if a school violence committee was formed, it would most likely fizzle out without any real consequences. Kim Ji-won was a third-generation chaebol heiress. Next to her stood Choi Mi-ri, daughter of a multi-term National Assembly member, and Shin Ji-soo, whose parents were chief prosecutors.
“I’ll make it public.”
“Public?”
“That’s right! I’ll tell the whole world what you’ve been doing to me!”
“Pfft. Bwahahahaha.”
My words made them explode with laughter.
Grab!
“You pathetic fucking loser!”
“Ugh.”
This time I was the one yanked forward by my collar.
“You really think that’ll work? The second you post anything online, you’ll get hit with a counter-suit for defamation. Think your parents can afford the lawyer fees?”
“Fuck… fuck you.”
The image of my parents scraping by day after day flashed through my mind and fear gripped me instantly. I loosened my grip on her collar.
But my hand never left Kim Ji-won’s collar.
“W-what the hell are you doing?! Let go!”
I had no idea what she was thinking. She simply gave me a sly smile and refused to release my wrist.
Then she leaned backward, stretched her leg forward, and deliberately collapsed onto the floor.
I was naturally pulled down with her.
Click. Click!
When I lifted my head at the sound of camera shutters, Choi Mi-ri and Shin Ji-soo were smirking, phones raised, snapping photos.
“Call 119, girls~ My head hurts so bad I think I’m going to faint.”
“1-119?!”
“Kekekeke.”
About a month later, the school violence committee was held with the roles of victim and perpetrator completely reversed. That day, I knelt in front of the three girls alongside my mother and father, begging them to show mercy.
It was humiliating and unfair, but what I hated most was how pathetic and stupid I felt for being unable to do anything about it.
That same evening.
Crash!
“It’s because of this… it’s all because of this stupid fucking medicine Mom and Dad made me take!!!”
Like an idiot, I took out my anger on the very parents who had believed in me and tried to comfort me.
You idiot…
The moment I stormed into my room, leaving my parents standing there with their heads bowed, a wave of regret crashed over me. I knew I should apologize, but I didn’t. The regret was real, yet the resentment toward Mom and Dad still burned in my chest.
I told myself I would apologize the next morning when they came home from their night shift, then fell asleep.
Like a fool. Like an absolute moron. Never imagining what would happen in the early hours of the morning.
“Why the hell isn’t that bastard coming?”
At my question, Mi-ri and Ji-soo simply shrugged as if they had no idea.
“Hey! You two, get over here.”
The shuttle boys I had prepared as backups for when Lee Ji-an wasn’t around came running at my command.
“Y-yeah, Ji-won? Why’d you call us?”
“Where’s Lee Ji-an?”
The two of them exchanged nervous glances, clearly hiding something. I didn’t hesitate.
Smack! Smack!
“Ugh!”
“You fucking pieces of shit… You wanna get dragged in front of the school violence committee too?”
Even after my threat, they refused to open their mouths.
“Whatever, it’s probably nothing. He’s just lying down somewhere, still in shock.”
“Pfft, yeah. You saw him yesterday, kneeling and begging like his life depended on it.”
“Kekeke, it was fucking hilarious.”
I remembered the way his face had twisted with resentment and helplessness, tears streaming down as he cried in a situation where victim and perpetrator had been flipped.
“Ugh! Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Just thinking about that pig bastard from yesterday.”
“Hahaha, watching a pig cry is pretty damn gross, yeah.”
Ting.
While we were talking, I flicked a coin to Shuttle No. 2.
“Hey, go get us some drinks.”
“U-us?”
“Who else? You think we’re gonna do it ourselves?”
“R-right, I’ll be right back.”
“And make it quick…”
It was a little disappointing that Lee Ji-an wasn’t here, but I could always pick one of these two losers to play with instead.
“Girls, don’t you think Lee Ji-an would be insanely pretty if he lost some weight?”
“You’re insane.”
I made a face of pure disgust at Choi Mi-ri’s random comment. But deep down… I had to admit she had a point. Even buried under all that fat, those bright, sparkling eyes of his had always been something special. That was probably why tormenting him had been so satisfying.
Tap. Tap!
“Alright! Homeroom time!”
While the shuttle boys were handing out the drinks, our homeroom teacher slammed the podium and shouted. Right on cue, I raised my hand.
“What is it, Ji-won?”
“Lee Ji-an isn’t here!”
“You… haa…”
The teacher’s frown and sigh didn’t bother me in the slightest. Not when I knew exactly what would happen next.
“Ahem… Ji-an is…”
As expected, he glanced at me nervously before smoothing out his expression.
“Pfft.”
I gave a small, mocking laugh and listened to what he would say.
“Ji-an is feeling a bit under the weather. You probably won’t see him until the graduation ceremony.”
“What?!”
The claim that he was sick was obviously an excuse, and the mention of not seeing him until graduation made my curiosity spike. Still, asking directly would be embarrassing, so I decided to wait for the rumor mill to start turning.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
But even after a full month passed, winter break began, and the new year arrived, no rumors surfaced. Well, there was one. The unbelievable story that his parents had died in an accident the day after the school violence committee.
Since we had been to Lee Ji-an’s house quite a few times, we hailed a taxi and headed there.
“Whoa… he’s pretty.”
“Right… but is that a boy or a girl?”
“Hmm… I think it’s a boy?”
When we arrived at Ji-an’s villa, we spotted someone loading luggage onto a moving truck. Beneath a messy, short-cropped haircut were large, round eyes shadowed by heavy dark circles. A refined nose completed the androgynous charm of the beautiful boy standing there.
“Hey, hey, hey! Shouldn’t we grab him?!”
“L-let’s at least get his number!”
When he looked like he was about to climb into the truck after finishing with the luggage, we hurriedly got out of the taxi.
“Y-you guys…”
“...L-Lee Ji-an?!”
The moment we saw him clench his fists and glare at us, we knew exactly who he was.
Haa…
The second I saw the three of them, rage surged through me. If they hadn’t opened that school violence committee, my parents wouldn’t have switched from the day shift to the night shift. The accident would never have happened.
But I had to swallow my anger. The direct cause of my parents’ deaths had been a drunk driver running the wrong way down the road.
“Did you have fun?”
I had calmed the rage, but the resentment refused to disappear. After all, they had still provided the indirect cause.
“It was fucking hilarious.”
“Kekeke.”
Watching the three of them step closer with mocking smiles, I continued.
“You pieces of trash…”
“Trash? You saying your mom and dad died because of us?”
My throat closed up. Just as I had thought earlier, the direct cause was something else. Still, I had to say what needed to be said.
“If you hadn’t forced that committee, none of this would have happened.”
“Bullshit. If you hadn’t pushed me down, there wouldn’t have been a committee in the first place… Kekekeke.”
Her mocking smile made fury explode inside my head.
“Have you lost your damn mind? You fell on purpose and made me look like the attacker! Was that really necessary?! Was it?! Do you have any idea how much my mom and dad suffered that day?!”
Just like that day, I grabbed Kim Ji-won by the collar and thrashed wildly.
“You fucking bastard!”
Thud!
“Urk!”
I was kicked in the stomach far harder than before and sent rolling across the ground.
Thud!
“Ah!”
The moment the soccer kick landed, she bent down and seized me by the collar.