The Best Defense
Thursday.
Cheol-jun’s fourth day of school.
After crossing an intersection, he spotted two children wearing the same school uniform.
They were taller than Cheol-jun, but they were only fourth graders.
He had gotten to know them after exchanging greetings the day before.
"Hello!"
"Oh! Hyung. Hello!"
As he walked down the back road, he greeted the other kids he ran into as well.
"Hello!"
"Hi!"
By the time the school gates came into view, more than half of the thirty or so children walking nearby were kids Cheol-jun had already exchanged greetings with.
It had naturally become a habit because he made it a rule to greet anyone he made eye contact with.
Occasionally, some kids would just turn their heads away as if looking at someone strange, but most of them accepted his greeting when he initiated it.
Cheol-jun loved exchanging these greetings on his way to school.
Even though he didn't know their names, just wearing the same uniform and walking in the same direction gave him the warm feeling that they were all on the same team.
And among them, his closest teammates were, of course, his classmates.
As usual, Cheol-jun opened the classroom door and greeted everyone energetically.
"Hey guys, morning!"
The girls glanced at him, the boys gave slight waves, and from the very back row, Min-jun and Ha-rang shouted, "Cheol-juuun!" And then...
"Cheol-jun!"
Someone came running over and grabbed his hand tightly... Si-woo?
"I told my dad everything yesterday! And he said I absolutely have to bring you over! He's buying us something delicious! Shall we go to my dad's Baduk parlor together after class today? Huh?"
Cheol-jun blinked his round eyes, staring at Si-woo, whose temperature was vastly different from yesterday.
"I'm sitting next to you starting today!"
"...Huh?"
"I even brought the record of yesterday's teaching game!"
"...Uh?"
"My dad was so shocked! When I was little, I played Baduk really aggressively, but as I got better, I started copying the older kids who were good. But then..."
Cheol-jun was flustered.
Was this kid always this talkative?
Even when they communicated through Baduk, and even in general, he had seemed like a rather quiet boy.
Cheol-jun had hoped they would become close, but this was a bit overwhelming.
Fortunately, the start of the first period finally cut off Si-woo's endless stream of words.
However, throughout the entire class, Si-woo's sparkling, intense gaze made the left side of Cheol-jun's face practically tingle.
For the first time since starting school, Cheol-jun found himself subtly avoiding someone's affectionate gaze.
He felt like they had truly become friends, but such a sudden leap in closeness was a bit startling.
Even during lunch, and even after they finished eating, Si-woo stuck right by his side, chattering away as he followed him around.
"The instructors at our parlor are really great!"
"I told you, I'm not playing Baduk."
"No! You absolutely have to. I already told them everything!"
"..."
"One of the instructors is a woman, and she used to dote on me so much, but one day I..."
"..."
Once Si-woo got hooked on something, he was completely relentless.
But thinking about it, Cheol-jun realized he had a bit of that trait in himself too.
Putting himself in the other person's shoes, Cheol-jun resolved to be more mindful of his own future behavior.
Another lesson learned. The world was truly full of things to learn.
As they walked down the hallway listening to Si-woo's chatter, Cheol-jun spotted a girl from his class.
Arin?
She was surrounded by some girls he hadn't seen before.
Cheol-jun was about to make eye contact and greet her when his eyebrow twitched.
Arin's condition looked a bit strange.
Anxious, trembling eyes, fingers fidgeting as she held her hands together, an uncomfortable expression, and her toes and shoulders angled in a different direction as if she wanted to flee the spot immediately.
In contrast, the other girls looked bright.
In fact, one girl was smiling so brightly it was almost uncomfortable. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying Arin's distress.
Is she in trouble?
Cheol-jun slowed his pace and pricked up his ears.
*
"Hey. You heard Ha-eun got into PGM this time, right?"
Arin nodded slightly.
She had heard that Ha-eun spent the entire winter break taking lessons, going around to major agencies with her mom for auditions, and had finally gotten into PGM.
PGM.
Playground Music.
The top entertainment agency in Korea, which had produced the idol group K-Max, who were soon returning to Korea after a successful European tour.
It was the number one dream agency for kids aspiring to be idols or musicians, a place where people lined up just to get a chance.
"It's PGM, not some no-name agency like yours."
"Yeah! What are you going to do now? Our Arin can't even brag about wanting to be an idol anymore."
Arin's shoulders shrank at the blatant hostility of the girls.
When did I ever brag...
They were friends she had hung out with all the way through fourth grade.
They all shared a deep interest in idols and music, which had naturally brought them together since the second grade.
They all liked dancing and singing, practicing idol choreography together, and filming singing videos.
But when Arin posted one of those videos on social media, Fine Entertainment had sent her a DM.
At the time, she had shared the news with her friends out of pure, innocent joy, but ever since then, Arin had been completely marginalized from the group.
They made a new group chat without her, went to coin karaoke without her, and played games without her.
The reason was that she had fallen out of favor with Ha-eun, the leader of the group.
Ha-eun was prettier, Ha-eun sang better, Ha-eun danced better.
Ha-eun was jealous that Arin had stepped into that world first.
"Guys, stop. Arin must be having a hard time too."
Ha-eun stopped the other girls with a fake, sweet eye-smile.
"I heard from the older girls at the agency that Fine Entertainment is totally bottom-tier... They said trainees have to pay for all their own lessons there?"
It wasn't all of it, it was fifty percent, but Arin just listened in silence.
"I heard it's a place where you pay your way into the debut group? Or you have to do... other things?"
Arin wanted to escape this place immediately.
She wished the bell ending lunch would ring right now.
"Cherry Pangpang is their main group, right? The ones who have to strip just to barely get on music shows."
Cherry Pangpang was a girl group under Fine Entertainment that occasionally appeared on music shows, but they had a terrible reputation.
How far are they going to go...
Arin closed her eyes tight.
In the darkness, Ha-eun's voice continued.
"Our Arin will probably end up..."
Just then.
"Arin, hi!"
It had only been a few days, but it was a voice she had grown accustomed to hearing every morning. Arin opened her eyes and turned her head.
"Uh... Huh?"
Ha-eun and the other girls tilted their heads in confusion.
"Who's that? He's so small."
"Is he a fifth grader?"
"Have you seen him before?"
"Was there a kid like that?"
As they whispered about Cheol-jun, their eyes shifted slightly to the side.
And then, their expressions changed instantly.
Ha-eun raised her hand slightly and waved.
"...Hi, Si-woo."
"Oh. Hey."
Si-woo nodded indifferently.
For some reason, the girls' ears seemed to turn slightly red.
Si-woo was quite popular at Hanyoung Private Elementary School.
He was tall, had a slender face, was much more mature than his peers, and possessed a chic, unapproachable aura that elementary school girls found incredibly mysterious.
Standing next to Si-woo, Cheol-jun spoke up.
"Arin, Jia was looking for you."
"Uh, yeah?"
Arin blinked in surprise.
She hadn't spoken to Jia once since school started, and now she was looking for her?
It was obviously a lie, but seeing Cheol-jun's round eyes blinking at her, Arin quickly nodded.
At that, the girls began to whisper.
"What? Is Arin close with Jia?"
"Birds of a feather. I heard her mom is a total nightmare."
"Yeah. I heard the fourth-grade homeroom teacher quit because of her mom."
"Everyone in that class is weird. My mom said..."
The girl speaking suddenly caught sight of Si-woo.
Si-woo was in that class too.
She quickly trailed off and looked away, but then she saw the tiny kid who had greeted Arin first.
He was staring at her intently with his round eyes.
Feeling self-conscious, she shifted the target.
"What's with him? Must be in the same class. He's so tiny."
Cheol-jun smiled brightly and spoke.
"You're really big."
"...What?"
"Your arms are thick, your legs are thick."
"...What?!"
"And your face is huge!"
The girl's face turned beet red, and her expression crumpled in rage.
"Hey!"
*
Violence is a last resort, but when you must use it, you must. However, the best way is to resolve the situation without violence. Still, if you absolutely must use it, keep this in mind. If your opponent is a man, think ten times. If it's a woman, think a hundred times more. You must ponder over and over whether there is a truly justifiable cause. Swinging your fists just to protect some clumsy pride is what an idiot does. Unlike here in China, in South Korea, where public safety and the law function relatively well, unless it's an exceptionally dangerous situation, it's often much wiser to just take a few hits. So never be hasty...
*
It was true that the girl was quite large, but Cheol-jun knew very well that what he had just said was extremely rude.
He had fully expected her to get this angry.
But for some reason, he had wanted to say it.
She was bullying a classmate—someone he had defined as his closest teammate.
Still, he had to play dumb later, so he smiled brightly as if he knew nothing.
"You... You! What did you just say?"
"Oh, sorry. I meant you look healthy."
"What?"
"Did... did that offend you?"
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry. I apologize."
Cheol-jun quickly bowed his head.
"Why you!"
The girl tried to shove Cheol-jun hard, but because Cheol-jun lowered his shoulders, her hand missed and she lost her balance.
Something slammed hard into Cheol-jun's small head.
...Huh?
Startled, Cheol-jun quickly raised his head, and—
Thud!
The girl's face collided with Cheol-jun's head.
"Aaargh!"
Ha-rang, who was running down the hallway after playing in another classroom, saw this.
"Whoa! Crazy! Cheol-jun just beat up a girl!"
The girl clutched her face and started crying, and Cheol-jun gulped in panic.
Is... is this violence too?
He hadn't thought a hundred times...
***
"Teacher Go. The child's nose is bleeding!"
At the words of Class 2 homeroom teacher Lee Hyeon-ja, Go Chang-ho let out a low sigh.
"How could he do that to a girl's face..."
"Well, I heard Cheol-jun just lowered his head and then raised it..."
"No. They said it was a headbutt! All the kids nearby said so."
"Si-woo saw the whole thing. He said Ga-yeong tried to shove Cheol-jun and lost her balance..."
"How can you trust his friend's word?"
"Well, the kids you mentioned are Ga-yeong's friends too."
"Sigh... Do you know what Ga-yeong's parents do?"
"How would I know?"
"They're both lawyers. Lawyers. I spoke to them after sending Ga-yeong to the hospital, and they said they won't let this slide."
"Ha... Going to the hospital over a little nosebleed... What, are you threatening me because her parents are lawyers?"
"What?"
"Anyway, this isn't something that warrants a school violence committee. It was a one-off accident, and she isn't seriously hurt. You saw Cheol-jun apologizing repeatedly earlier, Teacher Lee."
Lee Hyeon-ja scowled deeply.
If they're the perpetrators, they should act like it. Why is he so confident?
"Sigh, anyway, Ga-yeong's parents said they're preparing for civil action or whatever, so you'd better let Cheol-jun's parents know in advance."
"My, they certainly have a lot of free time."
Go Chang-ho shook his head in disbelief, and Lee Hyeon-ja glared at him before returning to her desk.
Sigh... So overprotective. So dramatic.
This was why children who were actual victims of school violence ended up being treated unfairly.
This is going to be a headache...
Unfortunately, because Si-woo had blocked the view, the incident wasn't captured on CCTV, leaving only the victim's side's testimony.
Although Si-woo and Arin said otherwise, they were outnumbered.
Usually, in these situations, the victim's voice carries more weight.
Civil lawsuit?
There's no way a claim for damages would hold up over a simple nosebleed, but since the parents are lawyers, they'll find a way to make things annoying.
Chang-ho let out a deep sigh, took his phone, and walked out of the staff room.
*
"Ah... Such a thing... Oh dear. No, of course not. For now, I'll prepare to respond as well. But, Cheol-jun didn't actually hit her, right? ...Of course, of course. Yes. Understood. Yes, have a good day."
Hyeong-man chuckled as he hung up.
He had been startled when the teacher suddenly mentioned a "violent incident," but to think such an absurd thing had happened.
Let's see...
He tapped his phone and brought it to his ear.
"Hey, Seok-hyeon. Yeah, something came up. A civil assault case... Hey! No, you idiot! How old do you think I am... Ha. Really... Cheol-jun had this ridiculous thing happen at school..."
***
"Insane. Ga-yeong is the one Min-jun couldn't even beat in second grade when he went all out, right?"
"Shut up! I was way smaller back then! I'd win now!"
"But Cheol-jun is way smaller than Ga-yeong too."
"..."
"But they said she went to the hospital."
"Over a nosebleed? What are we going to do? Ga-yeong's parents won't let this go."
"Hey, what happened in second grade? When you two fought? You pulled out all of Ga-yeong's hair."
At Ha-rang's words, Min-jun frowned slightly.
"My maternal grandfather pulled some strings to sweep it under the rug. He was a judge, you know. The adults settled it amicably."
"Ah..."
The two of them stared at the small back sitting in the very front row.
"Does Cheol-jun have any backing?"
"I wonder..."
They had heard on the first day of school that Cheol-jun was an orphan.
That made them worry even more.
*
"Hey."
Cheol-jun, who was trying to calm his mind with a fifth-grade math book open, looked up.
Arin was standing in front of him.
"Did you do that because of me?"
Cheol-jun smiled brightly and nodded.
"Yeah."
Arin sighed, her brow furrowing.
There were always kids like this. Boys who would hit someone bullying her, or go overboard trying to help.
"Um, I don't make boyfriends or anything. So..."
"Why?"
"Well, that's..."
"The more friends you have, the better, right?"
"And I didn't do it just because of you."
"..."
"I'm just a pretty honest person, so I said what I saw."
Cheol-jun grinned. Arin, who had been blinking her round eyes, let out a soft laugh.
Catching herself laughing, Arin quickly wiped the smile off her face and looked away.
He always stared so directly.
Wasn't he embarrassed?
"Um... thanks."
Cheol-jun smiled warmly.
"Don't mention it!"
Watching them from the very back, Min-jun and Ha-rang whispered, "What's up with the vibe between those two?"