Discipline 15: The Disciplinary Committee Leader Carries a Custom Weapon (1)
Kim Dal-bi studied the photos of the Ahseong High School Disciplinary Committee's executives on her smartphone.
Leader Ahn Woo-jin.
Vice Leader Oh Baek-seo.
"……"
She already knew the two of them were together constantly. She watched him often, after all — out of a quiet hope that Woo-jin would stay safe.
Both of them were deeply entwined with Dal-bi's own childhood. How on earth had those two ended up tied together? To Dal-bi, the world felt impossibly cruel about it.
Then, all at once, a memory of Shin Yongsan Street carved itself into her mind.
The most vivid image that remained wasn't her clash with Woo-jin, nor her collision with Baek-seo.
It was the two of them strolling side by side down the street, getting along as if nothing in the world could touch them.
That image pierced through Dal-bi's chest like a needle, again and again.
She pressed the phone to her forehead, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. For a long while, a heavy silence wrapped itself around her.
There was a commotion outside.
The sound of a moving company's workers and robots hauling cargo up and down the hall.
At first I wondered if some stranger was moving into the unit next door — and then, out of nowhere, Oh Baek-seo came over to greet me.
She had found out that the apartment next to mine was vacant and had signed an automatic lease on it.
Since some of Neo Seoul's residential districts — including this one — were city-owned, all it took to move in was a contract through the app. No paperwork, no landlord. Sign, pay, walk right in.
The only requirement was money.
Well, that and having no disqualifying record on file.
"Why didn't you say anything to me about it...?"
"Would it have bothered you?"
"No, not that. I just think a heads-up would have been nice."
"Hmm." Baek-seo stroked her smooth chin for a moment, then spoke. "...I've decided to stay close to you for the time being."
According to her explanation afterward, she'd moved in next door because she was worried about me.
I'd been targeted by a bomber, after all, and I'd crossed blades with Kim Dal-bi. Who knew who might come for me next — so she would live within arm's reach, ready to reinforce me at any moment. That was Baek-seo's decision.
Not that I had any grounds to object.
It wasn't illegal, it wasn't cohabitation, she owed me no moral obligation, and strictly speaking we weren't even lovers.
Baek-seo's territory, Baek-seo's rules.
"I'm sorry, but will you bear with it?"
There was nothing to apologize for, honestly....
Still, all this. Did she really have to go this far?
This is overprotection.
What am I, your child?
Though... I suppose having her nearby is convenient for me.
In terms of security, and in terms of daily life, having Baek-seo close by promised benefits in every direction.
I offered to help her unpack her moving boxes, but she flatly refused. She didn't want to show me her private life, she said.
When someone as perpetually easygoing and generous as Baek-seo refused something with that kind of firmness, it meant she genuinely, absolutely hated the idea. So I didn't push.
Then again... even she can't be completely flawless.
Baek-seo was bound to have a private life or two she'd rather keep from prying eyes. Someone called the perfect woman, especially, might harbor some very peculiar secrets.
...Now I'm kind of curious?
What could it be? Curiosity surged up strong, but I forced it back down.
Respecting that kind of privacy and moving on was the best policy. It was exactly how I felt about the folder of embarrassing hidden photos buried in my computer's drive.
"Leader, will you have dinner with me tonight?"
From then on, Baek-seo brought side dishes over or cooked in my kitchen, and we ate together as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The next morning, she appeared at my door in a pink apron.
"I made too much food. Shall I pack you a lunch box?"
"Uh... yeah, that would be great."
In a daze, I took the lunch box Baek-seo had packed and set off on the walk to school beside her.
"Let's have a meal together at least once a week?"
"Why?"
"Sometimes I want to cook for you myself. You know I like cooking, don't you?"
Something about this....
"Speaking of which, I should probably learn my way around this neighborhood. Could you show me around sometime?"
"Is there anything to show? I could do walking routes, I suppose. Or good restaurants."
"Mm, that sounds lovely."
Something about this really....
"Call on me whenever you're bored. I can at least be a conversation partner."
Something about this is genuinely....
It feels like we're dating even though we're not dating....
"Um, Leader?"
"Ah, sorry. Something came to mind."
What came to mind, precisely, was the territory between lover and not-lover.
Too strange to call friends.
Too ambiguous to declare lovers.
Some vague point in between.
It feels like we're running a household together.
Come to think of it....
Looking back, the realization struck me anew. It had all started with an egg mayo sandwich, and from there the Oh Baek-seo virus had been quietly annexing my territory, step by step.
By now, it had reached a level beyond reversal.
Suddenly, a premonition washed over me: if this girl disappeared, a massive hole would open up in my life. And that hole would bring with it a deep void — a hollow, aching emptiness.
Should I be thanking her for this...?
As I'd said before, my plan was to focus on finishing everything I needed to do during my term as Disciplinary Committee Leader, and confess to Baek-seo only after that.
Of course, I'd been anxious.
Baek-seo could drift away from me in the meantime. She could fall for another man. Anything was possible.
But lately, her behavior — how should I put it —
It shone through like a message: I'm preparing to be with you.
As if she'd read my plan and was quietly matching her own pace to it.
Am I reading too much into it?
Maybe I'd gotten the wrong end of the stick entirely.
And yet.
...Still.
Dangerously.
I'm happy...!
The stress of work, the pressure of future knowledge — everything seemed neutralized thanks to Baek-seo.
Motivation was bubbling up inside me on its own.
"Thinking dirty thoughts again?"
"Don't say weird things while we're walking down the street...."
I was proud of myself, actually.
I hadn't been thinking dirty thoughts at all.
I'd merely been pondering what to name our future children.
......
"Whoa. Leader, you're alive!"
"Isn't that a given?..."
Disciplinary Committee executive office.
The moment Ha Ye-song walked into the room and spotted me, she burst out in unprovoked astonishment, then padded over to my side in a hurry.
I'd already seen this reaction coming — she'd raised an absolute storm on CoconutTalk over the weekend.
"GeoTtok and the SNS boards are still on fire! You caught the bomber and clashed with Kim Dal-bi of the Six Sinners...! That was a full-blown major incident!"
"It was."
The events on Shin Yongsan Street had stirred up enormous buzz.
The exploit of catching the bomber and driving off Kim Dal-bi had been splashed across every feed, and the Ahseong Disciplinary Committee had chalked up genuine, tangible achievements in the process.
Any other school district might not have cared, but racking up goodwill with the Federal Board of Trustees translated — quietly but steadily — into bonus points for the school. The Disciplinary Committee's rising evaluation was a natural consequence.
"You bring in a major incident even on your day off, Leader! Is this some kind of Disciplinary Leader trait?"
"Don't treat me like a jinx."
"Hehe~."
Ye-song laughed playfully, then sidled up to Oh Baek-seo and wrapped her in a hug.
"I'm so glad you're safe too, Baek-seo-ching!"
"Mm."
When Baek-seo smiled warmly and patted her head, Ye-song melted into a happy little grin, going "Ooh-hee~."
"Leader, I have so much I want to hear today!"
"I could tell."
"Let's do it over lunch! I'm expecting a vivid, dramatic retelling!"
"Ah, right, it's lunchtime."
Apparently she'd come by during the lunch period specifically because she wanted to hear it straight from us.
"I brought my own lunch box! Salad. I'm on a diet these days, hehe."
She'll be eating again an hour from now.
Where Ha Ye-song was concerned, I possessed a genuine gift of prophecy.
"Are you two ordering delivery?"
"Let's eat together. We brought lunch boxes too."
"Ooooh...!"
Ye-song let out an awed gasp out of nowhere.
Why?
"I could believe it from Baek-seo-ching, but a lunch box from you, Leader? That's rare. Show me!"
Come to think of it, she had a point.
Most days, my lunch was whatever bread and milk I could grab from the school store to fill the gap.
We carried the lunch boxes to the table and set them down. The moment I lifted the lid, a brilliant light washed over me.
"!"
Pristine white rice, packed with care. A neat strip of glossy roasted seaweed. Perfectly rolled omelet slices, soy-braised pork glistening with glaze, egg-coated meatball patties, fresh tomato wedges, crisp green vegetables —
The entire world of a humble yet flawless lunch box spread out before my eyes in glorious detail.
My mouth curled up on its own. It looked exactly like the kind of lunch a newlywed wife would pack for her husband, and a strange, fluttering warmth filled my chest to the brim.
This was a feeling only a lunch box could deliver.
"Leader."
All at once, Ye-song narrowed her eyes and studied my lunch box.
"Why is it identical to Baek-seo-ching's?"
A sharp question.
Our containers were different, but the contents matched — which was apparently enough for her suspicious mind to kick into gear.
There was nothing to hide.
No — if anything, I felt a flicker of pride welling up inside.
So this is what it feels like to want to show off your girlfriend's cooking to other people.
...The fact that I was feeling this way about someone who wasn't even officially my girlfriend brought on a wave of guilt and self-mockery. Restrain yourself.
"Baek-seo made it for me. She cooked too much and packed mine along with hers."
"Aha~. Of course, our angel Baek-seo-ching! She even watches over your nutritional balance, Leader!"
Ye-song nodded along, completely satisfied. She hadn't read anything strange into it at all. With Baek-seo's saintly image, who would?
Baek-seo answered with her usual gracious smile.
"Anyway, anyway!? What on earth happened this weekend?!"
Ye-song bulldozed straight into the main topic.
For a while afterward, Baek-seo and I took turns recounting our ordeal on Shin Yongsan Street. Naturally, the Head Principal's involvement stayed out of it.
Ye-song, declaring it vivid and dramatic, listened with sparkling fascination.
"Leader! Baek-seo-ching! Lunchtime!"
A few days later, in the Disciplinary Committee executive office, Ha Ye-song settled down to eat lunch with Ahn Woo-jin and Oh Baek-seo.
"Baek-seo-ching packed your lunch again today, huh, Leader! So envious~."
And then a few days after that.
"Hehe, let's eat lunch together!"
Sure enough, Ye-song again found herself eating lunch boxes with Woo-jin and Baek-seo.
"Baek-seo-ching made yours again today, it seems...."
A faint sense that something was off began to stir in her mind.
Then the very next day.
"Lunchtime!"
Ye-song saw it.
"……"
As casually as breathing, Woo-jin set out the lunch box Baek-seo had packed for him.
The day after that, too.
And a few days after that as well.
What... is going on?
Staring at Woo-jin's lunch box, a heavy suspicion took root.
Baek-seo packing him lunch — not once in a while, but this constantly — was unmistakably unnatural.
There's also that rumor going around that the Leader and Baek-seo-ching walk to school together every morning....
The source of that rumor was the Disciplinary Committee members themselves.
Since they rotated through gate duty every day, they'd been witnesses to the Leader and Vice Leader arriving together, morning after morning.
And from there, the talk had naturally spread: were the Leader and Vice Leader... dating?
Ye-song had started to wave it off — no way — and move on with her life.
Packing lunch every single day. Walking to school together every single day....
A current of electricity crackled through her brain.
In that instant, the puzzle pieces in her head clicked into place.
...That is 200% a budding romance.
Since when?
Ye-song stared at Woo-jin and Baek-seo with grave intensity. Baek-seo was gazing at Woo-jin, her face wrapped in that soft, maternal smile.
"Our Leader eats so nicely, doesn't he?"
"Stop treating me like a child...."
"Fufu."
Only now did Ye-song register the strange, charged atmosphere drifting between the two of them.
Trickle. Cold sweat began sliding down her cheek.
In the aftermath of the incident where I'd crossed blades with Kim Dal-bi, there had been no further aggression from the Head Principal.
Even with my guard fully up, I hadn't spotted a single suspicious sign.
Either my theory had been right — that the Head Principal had no reason to come after me at the cost of taking on real risk — or something had happened on her end. There was no way to tell.
She rarely made public appearances in person, so keeping tabs on her movements was next to impossible.
Either way, having her underestimate me for now suited me just fine. And if I got the chance later, I intended to repay the favor with a decisive blow to the back of her head.
And then —
"Ready to go, Ahn?"
"Of course, Oh."
Today was finally the landmark day I would receive my dedicated equipment.
Together with Oh Baek-seo, I headed for Deus Atelier on Shin Yongsan Street.