How Should I Discipline This Shameless Delinquent?

"……Huh?"

The moment I read that short, insolent message floating on my smartphone screen, a dumbfounded exhale escaped my lips. My disbelief had gone beyond irritation and was well on its way to shutting my brain down entirely.

I rubbed my eyes and read it again, but the sender was unmistakably Baek Nahee, and the contents hadn't changed by a single letter from what I'd seen the first time.

Wait, so not only does she drop the professor title and snap my three-letter name around while talking down to me, she's got the sheer audacity to tell ME to reschedule because SHE'S busy? Where does that confidence even come from?

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was genuinely infuriating. Even in a regular department, talking to a professor like that would be difficult enough.

But this was the Special Devotion Talent Department, famous for the sheer height of its professors' authority.

And I wasn't just any professor—I was a personal advisor, free to handle my students however I pleased without restrictions of any kind.

Not that I'd ever made a point of wielding that authority aggressively, but most students folded instantly and fell obediently into line thanks to that authority alone, not to mention the affection they all held for me.

Cha Suah, the top student of the third year, had plugged a puppy tail into herself, dropped to all fours, and swallowed my cum of her own accord. Lee Songi, a freshman, had nuzzled her face against my hand begging to become my doe-bunny.

After meeting students like them, coming face to face with such a graceless, gutter-class attitude was enough to make me lose my breath.

"Hah, holy shit. I really can't believe this. Has this world's common sense gotten all slutty and twisted, yet that rotten mindset of hers stayed exactly the same?"

Fine, so she was a hopeless dead-end flunker whose attitude score had punched straight through negative and into the earth's core. But to think she'd be reckless enough to ignore even the anomaly that made every woman unconditionally fond of me—it defied belief.

Overlaid on the smartphone screen, I could almost see the face of that insufferable delinquent girl, the one who had stomped me flat in front of everyone at the high school reunion and drowned me in shame.

Really, though. How am I supposed to discipline this shameless little delinquent?

I was just letting out a sigh, tossing the phone onto the desk and bringing a hand up to my throbbing head, when it happened.

- Knock knock

"Professor? This is TA Kim Minjeong. I'm here about a stack of administrative paperwork that needs your approval."

Along with the careful, courteous knock, the department TA Kim Minjeong entered my office, a thick file folder cradled in her arms.

Today, as always, she was the picture of perfect office wear: an H-line skirt hugging her curves and a crisp, modest white shirt.

After facing off against a lunatic who'd blown clean past the limits of common sense, looking at my TA felt like a spiritual cleansing.

Smiling, I lifted my hand from my head and welcomed her in.

"Ah, TA Kim. Thanks as always. Just, uh, set it over there and I'll sign it myself."

"Of course, Professor. By the way… is something troubling you, perhaps?"

"Ah, a problem. You picked a good time, actually. Come over here—take a look at this, would you?"

"Pardon? What could this be…."

I beckoned Kim Minjeong close to my desk, then tapped the screen with my finger, where Baek Nahee's messages were still lit up.

She approached with light footsteps and leaned in to peer at my smartphone—and the instant she finished scanning down the text, her expression froze solid.

"What… is this? Who would send a message like this to you, Professor…?"

"Baek Nahee. That student I picked out—you know, the one I said looked likely to fail."

"Ah…."

Her eyes behind her glasses swelled up so wide they seemed ready to pop out of her head, and she read the message over and over again.

Then, mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief, she looked up at me.

"Yo, Kang Jinwoo…? Push the meeting back…?"

"Funny, right? One of my personal students. She apparently still thinks she's the queen bee delinquent she was back in high school."

"Back in high school…?"

"Ah, right. Maybe I should give you a little of that backstory."

I gave Kim Minjeong a brief rundown of my high school days.

Of course, I glossed over my pathetic younger self with a flattering coat of paint, and exaggerated Baek Nahee's garbage behavior to suit.

When I added that I'd gone abroad to study after high school with the express goal of entering the Special Devotion Talent Department, Kim Minjeong looked at me with something like admiration shining in her eyes.

"So that's what you went through. Truly remarkable, Professor."

"It's nothing. Well, you could say she's the reason I made it to this position, so in a way I suppose I owe her some thanks."

"So that's why you sought out Baek Nahee. Now it all makes sense."

"Yes, well… something like that. The thing is, it's proving harder than I expected. If she's bold enough to act like this to a professor's face…."

I heaved a deep sigh and sank deeper into my chair—and Kim Minjeong, standing beside me, hummed thoughtfully as if lost in deliberation.

After a moment of quiet pondering, she seemed to arrive at a conclusion. Her eyes lifted, and she spoke slowly, facing me.

"Professor, I have an idea. Would you care to hear it?"

"Hm? Ah, please, go ahead."

"Strictly speaking, this is a matter that should go straight to the Disciplinary Committee. We can't tolerate something this outrageous happening at Saul University, of all places."

"Hmm…. I see."

This is Disciplinary Committee material? Sure, it was brazen beyond belief and deserved an immediate dressing-down, but I hadn't expected her to say it with a completely straight face.

Wondering if she was joking, I studied Kim Minjeong's expression—but she looked more serious than I'd ever seen her.

Which meant this really was a matter for formal disciplinary review.

But handing her off to the committee, while it would certainly earn her corporal punishment, would rob me of the fun of playing with her personally.

Whether she read my mind or not, Kim Minjeong continued.

"That said, I suspect that isn't what you'd prefer, Professor. You two were acquainted long before this, after all."

"That's right."

"In cases like this, there is an option to exercise a bit of discretion—instead of referring her to the committee, you would carry out the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠punishment yourself."

"Corporal punishment, you say?"

"I think it would be best to show you directly. If you have some time to spare, would you come with me?"

What is this? What exactly is hiding in this place?

I nodded, rose from my seat, and threw on my shirt in rough order.

She led me to the elevator down the hall.

Then she flipped open the panel over an empty space at the lower left of the elevator's control pad and pressed a concealed B3 button hidden inside.

"Huh? I've never seen a button like that…."

"Ah, my apologies. Normally it's my duty to personally walk new assistant professors through the facilities, but things have been so busy I never found the time."

"Oh, no worries at all. So, where exactly are we headed…?"

"I'll explain when we arrive. For now, please just follow me, Professor."

When I nodded, Kim Minjeong stepped out ahead of me the moment the elevator doors slid open.

So Saul University had underground facilities like this, too.

I couldn't get so much as a feel for whether this place had existed since before the anomalies began, or whether it had sprung into being because of them.

After walking a good distance, Kim Minjeong came to a stop in a corridor lined with a row of doors, and turned to face me.

"Here we are. This is the corridor where the special punishment rooms are located."

"Special… punishment rooms?"

"Yes. Just as it sounds—a space where we discipline students who have committed offenses."

So basically, one of those rooms straight out of a porn flick—some kind of training chamber or erotic torture dungeon?

That was the impression I got from the description alone, but since I hadn't stepped inside yet, I couldn't say for certain.

Just then, Kim Minjeong smiled and gestured for me to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠follow, heading toward the door at the center of the corridor.

I was staring at that sign and the steel door with its electronic keypad lock when Kim Minjeong began pressing the buttons.

"For reference, Professor, in order to conduct corporal punishment yourself, you'd need to obtain a First-Class Punishment Instructor certification. But since you were abroad, I imagine you don't have one."

"Punishment Instructor…?"

"Observing a punishment session normally requires a whole stack of procedures as well, but as it happens, an unnie I know is a certified Punishment Instructor for Saul University."

Rattling off words I couldn't quite follow, Kim Minjeong finished entering the code on the keypad and swung the door open.

The steel door groaned open on its hinges, revealing a pitch-black corridor beyond.

What on earth did they do in a place like this?

I stepped carefully inside, following Kim Minjeong's lead—and then—

"Mmphhh…! Hnng, ngh… mghoooohhh♥♥"

"Oh…?"

"Ah, we're in the middle of a punishment session right now, it seems. Feel free to look around, Professor."

"Hold on, this is—!"

An astounding scene spread out before me.

At the center of an underground dungeon with a sinister atmosphere straight out of a hardcore porn film stood two women: one woman, apparently the Punishment Instructor Kim Minjeong had mentioned, holding a whip, and beside her, a female student with long orange hair seated—

No. Could you even call it sitting?

More precisely, she was bound in rope with both legs bent back behind her head.

"Huuif… mmph… heungoooohhh♥♥"

"Girl loses her mind the second company shows up. First time seeing an observer?"

"Hyuik… hup…! Brhooohht…!!"

Truly, it was vulgar—no, it went far beyond vulgar—and gazing upon the scene, I had no choice but to swallow hard.