Model Student's Life 4
Ring ring ring. The chime rang out, signaling the start of class, but not a single student remained seated in the classroom. It was the typical scene in a third-year middle school room after the college entrance exams had wrapped up.
What had started as an intriguing movie viewing quickly lost its appeal once the teacher stopped showing up. Only a handful of kids would keep watching diligently in an empty classroom like that. And if you took it a step further, people like me, Jong-hyuk, and Kyung-soo would slip out to find a quiet spot for a chat.
"Ugh... it's cold. Did we really have to come all the way out here~!!"
Kyung-soo's line, borrowed straight from the movie we'd been enduring, made me smile without thinking.
"I couldn't exactly bring up getting tangled with Moon Jae-ha right there in class."
"I thought that got sorted out fine..."
"It did, but with all the rumors flying around, it's turning into total nonsense."
"Like how you took on seventeen guys solo? Oh man~"
"That's not what happened..."
I clutched my head, groaning dramatically while waving him off.
Then, from behind me, a small rustle of footsteps was followed by a voice.
"It's not all lies, though."
The sudden female voice startled us, and we whipped around to the entrance of the incinerator area.
She was wearing a short skirt and a long puffer jacket, her bare legs looking freezing in the chill.
"You're..."
"You saw me that day when you squared off with Jae-ha, right? I'm Yun Ji-hye. Just call me Ji-hye."
Baek-sin Middle School, where I'd transferred, was co-ed, but the boys' and girls' classes were separate, making it rare to run into girls around campus. Kyung-soo froze up, reflecting that reality all too well.
"You... you're... from the class next door..."
"Call me by that nickname and you're dead. Jae-ha started it, and I... ugh..."
Ji-hye mimed gagging in disgust, and Kyung-soo mercifully held back at the last second.
What's so bad about her nickname?
Ignoring our flustered looks, Ji-hye strode right up to me confidently and pulled out her phone.
"What's your number?"
"I don't have a phone."
"Hmm... well, you'll get one in high school anyway. Here's mine."
As if she'd anticipated it, she handed me a slip of paper with what looked like her number scribbled on it.
"You... what..."
"I like strong guys. You looked strong that day."
"What?"
"Did the real boss really win eighteen-to-one?"
"Why's the number jumping up? You're the one spreading these wild rumors."
I slung an arm over Jong-hyuk's shoulder, scowling.
"It wasn't eighteen-to-one, but... there were over twenty guys there. Only four actually jumped in, though. Jae-ha's whole posse rushed you, and you ended it in seconds. I even recorded it."
Recorded?
Cold sweat trickled down my back at the unexpected bombshell, but I played it cool and peered over Kyung-soo and Jong-hyuk's shoulders as they watched the video on her phone.
Luckily, no clear shots of faces. Makes sense if she filmed from afar.
The footage didn't show faces sharply, but the mix of awed screams from Moon Jae-ha's crew and the fight breaking out made it way more vivid than the boring action flicks we'd been stuck with in class. Kyung-soo and Jong-hyuk were glued to the screen.
I snatched the phone from their hands to delete it.
"Hey? The delete button?"
"Why? It's like a whole movie!"
Kyung-soo reflexively asked as I hit delete, and Jong-hyuk chimed in with regret. Ji-hye finally realized what I was doing and lunged forward.
She tried to grab it back while blocking me, but when I held it high out of reach, she flushed red—whether from anger or her height—and snapped.
"It's my phone! Don't delete stuff without asking."
"If you're handing your phone around for others to see, you should've been ready for it to get wiped."
"Hmph. I backed it up on my computer just in case."
"What?"
I paused mid-delete, surprise flickering across my face before I schooled it into a fierce glare.
"What do you plan to do with a saved copy?"
Thoughts of Mom getting dragged to the police station for all the wrong reasons made my vision blur with rage, but I forced a neutral expression.
"You told the cops you never fought Jae-ha, right? No idea how you weaseled out of it, but this video blows your story."
"A blurry video with no clear faces is just suspicion, not proof."
Phone cameras back then weren't great quality; from that distance, you couldn't ID anyone for sure.
"If me and the others all point at you, it gets a lot more credible, don't you think?"
I stared her down steadily, keeping my frustration locked away as I asked coolly.
"What do you want?"
"I like you."
"What?"
"Whoa... the school heartthrob?"
"Joo-shin?"
Their reactions hit harder than mine, and I felt my poker face crack as a chill ran down my spine. I rubbed my temple.
"Pretend you didn't hear that. You guys too. And you."
"Ji-hye, not 'you.'"
"How do you know what kind of guy I am to say you like me?"
"I like strong guys. You're strong."
"You..."
My head throbbed. A headache I still wasn't used to hit, bringing a dizzy disconnect.
Images from a photo seemed to move, distant voices echoing. The girl in front of me looked younger, standing stunned and blank-faced. A woman in mourning clothes embraced her protectively—like a final lifeline—sobbing softly. The scenes flickered, disorienting like living pictures.
Conversations started filtering through. Panicking at missing anything, I clenched my fists, shoving down the unfamiliar chaos to focus.
Aaah... this can't... this can't be happening. Your dad, how could he...
Our deepest condolences. We were shocked to hear the sudden news...
Your father was a strong man. The type who spoke out against injustice.
But to make that choice so abruptly...
With kids still so young...
He always stood up for what was right, then suddenly admits he was wrong and kills himself.
I thought he was strong. Guess I was wrong.
If he'd just held on a bit longer, there might've been hope.
The pressure must've been immense.
Weak guy.
Coward at heart.
Weak.
Your dad was too weak, so he abandoned you and your whole family and ran away.
What began as funeral whispers turned to finger-pointing curses at the little girl. Then, the dizzy haze slowed the voices to sticky threads, senses sharpening on me—frozen stiff in the winter wind.
Across from my icy stare and her flushed defiance at my rejection, Kyung-soo and Jong-hyuk's eyes shook like an earthquake.
Sensing my prolonged silence and cold gaze, she pressed tensely.
"What about you?"
I swallowed the harsh words I'd prepared first, my mind racing through dozens of kinder rejections.
"You don't seem that strong. And it's a problem if you think you're the only one into strong people. So, I'm turning you down. Plus, being 'strong' isn't as simple as you think. Don't just slap the label on someone because they can fight."
"You saying I'm weak?"
"Yeah."
"In Jae-ha's crew, I'm the toughest."
"That's not the same as being strong. You know that better than anyone."
"I... I hang with the strong kids, so I'm definitely not weak!"
"You know that's not the answer. And like I said, I'm not strong. If anything, out of everyone here, Kyung-soo is the strongest. Yeah, he's the strongest."
"What? Me?"
The spotlight swung to him abruptly, his eyes losing focus in bewilderment. Jong-hyuk double-checked my pointing finger before blurting.
"Kyung-soo's the strongest?"
"We're students. And if you go by college exam scores, he's the strongest here."
"Isn't that just model student standards?"
"Yeah, that's goody-two-shoes talk."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't belittle people who work hard at their lives. If a model student's routine seems so easy, why not try it? Bet it's daunting when you actually think about their daily grind. So stop looking down on folks who diligently do their duty."
"What?"
"I might be better in a physical fight than Kyung-soo. But history proves the pen is mightier than the sword. Society demands academic credentials from students in the end. They dress it up with talk of dreams and futures, but really, they want fresh, well-oiled cogs that fit their system and obey."
"That's boomer mentality..."
"We'll all turn into boomers eventually. You can't stay a student forever, right?"
"If it's unfair, become a boomer and climb high enough to change society. That's what I call strong."
"How's that strong?"
"Because enduring and striving for what you truly want takes real grit. You can't do it without a solid core."
Jong-hyuk looked like a chicken with his neck stretched out, but Kyung-soo's darkening expression made him speak up haltingly.
"I... I'm not strong."