Final Exams.
Final Exams.
After finishing the exams, on the way home with Da-yeon, Han Ma-hyeon was waiting for me.
But the moment he saw Kim Tae-oh with us, Han Ma-hyeon smoothly made himself scarce.
Judging by the way he was texting someone, he seemed to be plotting something.
The second I arrived, I naturally went inside Da-yeon's house.
It was the first time I'd seen Ga-yeon in a while.
Now a fifth grader in elementary school, Ga-yeon was sitting on the couch playing a phone game.
"Si-yoon!"
"Hey~"
Ga-yeon had grown to my shoulder height now, which, sorry to say, was pretty grotesque.
"Whoa... you got huge?"
He blushed when he saw me, then nodded vigorously.
"Yeah, I ate a ton so I could get taller~!"
Just then, Kim Seon-hwa came up from behind Ga-yeon.
"Si-yoon, you're here?"
"Yep."
I exchanged greetings with Kim Seon-hwa and then headed to Da-yeon's room with Da-yeon.
Ga-yeon wanted to follow us in too, but Da-yeon shut it down firmly.
"We have something to talk about, so later."
"Okay..."
Without even changing into comfortable clothes, Da-yeon opened a book and started asking me all sorts of difficult questions.
I left Da-yeon scanning through the next exam's material and went out to the living room, where I locked eyes with Lee Jin-seok and Kim Seon-hwa.
They clearly had something they wanted to say.
Unlike my dad, Lee Jin-seok was starting to show more and more signs of age on his face as time passed.
"Si-yoon."
"What."
"Haha... I don't know what to do about Ga-yeon..."
"Why?"
"This time, he caused a major incident and got expelled."
"...?"
"As I heard it... Ga-yeon took the lead in bullying a girl he had a crush on."
"Huh... so that's why you were in Korea?"
"Yes."
Lee Jin-seok leaned heavily on me for disciplining his kids.
That was because he believed not only Da-yeon but also Jeong-yeon was growing up right thanks to me.
Since Ga-yeon hadn't seen me often since he was little, he seemed to think he'd gone crooked because he lacked my presence.
Recently, when I had directly scolded him a few times, he'd supposedly started getting scared of me and wouldn't come out of his room.
I thought about it for a moment, then asked a playful question.
"Hm... so I get to handle it my way, then?"
"If only Ga-yeon will grow up right..."
He seemed to have decided that if Ga-yeon started going off the rails now, he could cause more than enough damage to tarnish Hanseong's reputation in the future.
"Fine. Since I'm the older one, I'll look after him. Your wife even asked me to, back at the pool when Ga-yeon was still in her belly, after all."
As if suddenly remembering, Kim Seon-hwa looked at me and smiled awkwardly.
"Was the bullying really serious?"
"Yes... very bad..."
"If I hear the reason, will it seriously disappoint me?"
""...""
Once I heard the reason, it wasn't all that serious a case of bullying.
Ga-yeon had confessed about twice, and when the other person didn't accept, he started throwing his weight around using the name Hanseong as a shield.
Then he started getting chummy with a crowd of thugs and systematically began ostracizing the girl.
When I thought about it, by modern standards, that actually did count as serious bullying.
Of course, the fact that multiple people had ganged up to bully one girl—especially something unprecedented in Lee Jin-seok's household—made them take it even more seriously.
On top of that, Ga-yeon's grades, unlike Da-yeon and Jeong-yeon, were scraping rock bottom.
"Once exams are over, I go into full-time drama filming, you know...?"
""Ah...""
"I already told Da-yeon about it, but I probably won't be able to walk home together with her either."
The two of them looked at me as if asking whether I had a solution, and I nodded.
"In exchange, I'll help out whenever I have time."
"Thank you..."
Kim Seon-hwa smiled brightly.
"I can't tell you how relieved I am to have Si-yoon around~"
"In exchange, it's okay if I hit him, right?"
Kim Seon-hwa and Lee Jin-seok glanced at each other, then nodded cautiously.
""As much as you like, so long as he isn't seriously injured.""
I looked at them and gave a grim smile.
"I'll straighten him out completely."
I finished talking with Lee Jin-seok and Kim Seon-hwa and walked straight into Ga-yeon's room.
A room crammed full of all sorts of game consoles and posters.
The second I turned on the light, Ga-yeon, who had been playing a game, looked back and jumped in shock.
"Huh?! Si-yoon!"
He was apparently filming his own face with a webcam, because my face popped up on the computer screen too.
I pulled the cord right out. Ga-yeon, startled at first, quickly wore a despondent look.
"No!! You can't!!!! ...Ah..."
I looked at Ga-yeon and pointed at the floor.
"Sit."
"Huh...? Okay..."
The moment Ga-yeon sat on the floor, I knelt down since I was wearing a skirt.
"There's a kind of person I hate the most."
"...."
"Those bastards who torment the weak when they put up no resistance."
"Huh...?"
"There are a fair number of people who think your big sister's got no real power either and try to feel me out."
"What!? How dare!... Who did that!"
"...Sit."
"Okay."
I looked at Ga-yeon and gave a grim smile.
Ga-yeon flinched at the expression he'd never seen on my face before.
"When it comes to bastards like that... I have to toy with them slowly, or wreck them halfway to the point they can't recover, before I feel any better, you know?"
"...."
"But... it looks like our Ga-yeon might end up becoming one of those bastards...?"
"...Huh?"
"If... if our Ga-yeon really... ever becomes that kind of person... haha... I'll hope you don't~"
"...Yeah..."
"Well then, since I've been asked to, clear the desk and start by taking out the books you need to study from."
"Huh...?"
Ga-yeon kept stealing glances at me, then took a Korean language textbook out of his bag.
"Can't let me be the only one on my knees, right? Keep the same posture as me."
I started methodically tutoring Ga-yeon.
At first, Ga-yeon was happy to have me so up close. But after some time passed, he couldn't sit still.
Ga-yeon, who'd loved to run around since he was little, found it a struggle to stay seated even though barely ten minutes had passed.
"Straighten up..."
"...Yeah."
"Question 4. I'll give you three minutes. Solve it."
I deployed the technique I'd learned from dealing with my dad—bleeding the other side dry.
"Since it's your first time, if you stay like this just twenty more minutes, I'll stop. But... every time your posture slips, I add one minute."
I deliberately turned on my phone and set a stopwatch so he could see the time.
With Ga-yeon's personality, if you put a clock somewhere he can see, he's bound to think time is passing even more slowly.
Once ten minutes had passed, Ga-yeon was sweating nervously and couldn't focus on his book.
"I'll give you two more minutes. If you still can't solve it, one more minute added."
"Ah...!"
I sat upright and pointed at the problem with my pencil.
The heating was on because it was winter, but the room wasn't hot.
Even so, sweat dripped from Ga-yeon.
"Ten seconds left."
After agonizing for a bit, he started scribbling down answers fast and handed the paper to me.
"Looks like you just wrote down whatever, though...?"
When I saw Ga-yeon flinch, I coldly handed the book back.
"Is that correct? I'll give you one minute. Write the answer again."
In the end, Ga-yeon's posture slipped, and I naturally added one minute.
"Hhngk..."
Ga-yeon locked his legs in place and started working on the problem.
He was fidgeting restlessly, but still somehow concentrating on the problem as hard as he could.
A little while later, he produced a satisfactory answer. I gave him a short word of praise and pointed to the next problem.
Of course, I didn't forget to add one minute every time his posture slipped.
"Si-yoon, I—bathroom...emergency..."
"I'll add ten minutes instead. Go and come back."
"Huh...?"
"If I'm staying still just like Ga-yeon, I've got to add the same amount, right? Go and come back."
"...No... I'll hold it."
"Then you lied about it being an emergency. Two minutes added."
"Aaah!!"
Only after a full thirty-nine minutes had ticked by did I naturally get to my feet.
"Good work. I'll come again tomorrow."
The color drained from Ga-yeon's face. His expression made it dead certain that the Ga-yeon who once had a crush on me was no longer in this room.
When I got back home, my dad rushed out.
"You weren't answering your phone! Why are you so late?!"
"I was over at Da-yeon's."
"Then why didn't you answer your phone?"
Dad was worrying about me.
These days, with Jong-hyeon around, he didn't hover much, but even so, I had to confirm my whereabouts before he could relax.
I sat Dad down next to me and told him about everything that happened today.
When I got to school, the little squirts who normally never came early were already there studying.
I slid naturally into my seat, but just as I was pulling out my cushion, my homeroom teacher called for me.
"What is it?"
"Ah... would you come with me for a moment?"
The teacher took me to the conference room. Sixteen teachers were seated there with grave expressions.
Out of habit, I slipped my hand into my pocket and naturally pressed the record button on my phone.
Once I sat down as the homeroom teacher directed, the vice principal spoke up.
"These are the questions that appeared on this exam. Try solving them for us."
Ah... now I could see the situation perfectly clearly.
Since I fell asleep within five minutes every single exam period yet still got high scores, they apparently thought I must have cheated.
Sure, I could humor them.
I just had to solve the problems in front of me, so it wasn't hard.
But... these schoolteachers' image, as I'd known them so far...
By my standards, it had already been scraping rock bottom and smashed to pieces long ago.
Honestly, the only person I could call a teacher up until now was one single person—Go Min-su.
I skimmed through the thirty pages of exam papers once, then spoke.
"Did you know that a third-year named Han Ma-hyeon is bullying me?"
""...""
"No one has anything to say? You'd know, though~? But you're pretending hard you don't."
"What...!"
The moment I stared at him, the math teacher Seo Min-jun went quiet.
"Seoul Jungang High... they pretended not to see the atrocities their students were committing because they were afraid of the parents' power, took bribes under the table, and eventually it all blew up, didn't it...?"
""...""
"That thing, haha... the people who should know, will know... That's right~ I did that~"
I handed the stack of thirty test pages over to my homeroom teacher.
Then I picked up the answer sheet and checked off boxes one by one as I spoke.
"It's funny, you know. You see someone bullying another person but you're too scared of the consequences to speak up, yet you're perfectly willing to pick me apart because my grades look suspicious... Very... extremely funny!"
At my grim laugh, the teachers swallowed nervously.
"Ah! Or is it maybe because my dad, unlike other people, has no power whatsoever and is just some lowly entertainer who does nothing but make songs?"
I slowly recited the information Kang Jong-hyeon had given me.
"Vice Principal Kang Hak-jeong, 1.287 billion won. This year's first-years: Kang Gi-jun, Kang Min-jun, Kang Ha-jun, Kang Ha-neul, Kang Hyeok-jae, Kim Ga-hyeon, Kim Kang-hyeok, Kim Gi-hun, Kim Ji-seong, Kim Taek-hyeon...."
The longer my words went on...
The more names that spilled from my mouth...
The faster the OMR card marking went, the more color drained from the vice principal's face.
Before I knew it, four minutes and twenty seconds had passed. I finished even the essay questions and shoved the answer sheet into my homeroom teacher's hands.
"Funny. And the math teacher Seo Min-jun sitting right next to you, STH, Judong Construction, ... Gihwa Steel tutor. Tch. Why don't you try going after those people first, instead of me? It looked like the test leak came from their end."
Writing answers without even looking at the problems, Kim Si-yoon carried on a conversation as though her hands and head were moving independently...
Inside the conference room, the sixteen teachers began breathing with utmost caution under the pressure and tension...
And they all arrived at a single thought.
'A monster.'
I started solving the Korean language questions on a new OMR card.
"Korean, question 14's reading options: the spelling is wrong. Is the Korean teacher screwing around?"
The teachers sitting there looked at me as if goosebumps were breaking out on their skin.
One by one, I singled out each teacher, rattled off their histories of corruption, and grinned brightly.
"Wow, our physics-science teacher Jang Jae-yeong, you're clean~ I've got nothing corrupt on you, to my knowledge."
""...""
"Oh Ha-rin..."
The moment the name Oh Ha-rin came out of my mouth, Teacher Jang Jae-yeong's face turned deathly serious and he fell to his knees.
"Please..."
"What's the matter...? I didn't do anything~ Ahaha."
Judging from the other teachers' expressions, no one else seemed to know the hidden story.
"As expected, maybe because you're clever, nobody knows, huh?"
"Please... I'm begging you..."
A majority of the teachers sitting here were linked to corruption, crimes, and the like.
Of course, it was true that even more of the teachers weren't involved.
Without sparing a glance, I filled in all the essay-type answers, then shoved the sheet at my homeroom teacher.
And then I took a new answer sheet and started filling in the OMR card again.
"Really, a school and teachers I just can't leave alone~ Far too few problems left now to bring up the chairman, who isn't even here..."
I stared the vice principal down one more time.
If I were in Da-yeon's position, would they have called me in on suspicion of cheating?
Bullshit. These teachers, rotten to the core, would never dare touch Hanseong.
Exaggerating a little, even if Da-yeon picked up a knife and threatened to stab someone, they wouldn't be able to stop her.
That was the extent to which most of the chaebol families eating away at the Republic of Korea were rotten through and through.
And the viruses spreading those fungal spores were involved down to the deepest places ordinary citizens couldn't see.
If the sitting president was reliant enough on 'Hanseong' alone...
What more needs to be said.
In the end, the reason they were persecuting me like this... was probably because I'm just the daughter of Kim Ji-ho, a guy with no real power who's merely loaded.
"Isn't it funny? You're scared of other families' power, but why don't you fear my dad just because you think he's a nouveau riche nobody..."
""...""
In the quieted space, only the 'scritch, scritch' sound of the answer sheet I was marking echoed.
"You all... seem to think my dad just has a moderate amount of money. Ahaha. Even old man Lee Gi-seok once said he couldn't touch my dad in liquid cash..."
I looked at the teachers, who were drenched in cold sweat and couldn't even breathe freely, and said,
"Huh? Why the reaction? That wasn't the kind of thing I was expecting when I brought it up..."
Only then did the teachers start squirming, looking like they were trying to figure out what kind of reaction I wanted from them.
I picked up the last OMR card and waved it, making it easy for them to decide.
"If I end up filling this whole thing out... you can look forward to what comes after. As for how it'll turn out..."
At that, a few teachers glanced around nervously and then got down from their chairs to kneel.
I stopped my own hand, which had been filling in answers without rest.
And then, humming a little tune, I smiled at the teachers.
"♬~ Looks like you've come to a decision? Well then, pleease take good care of it~? Also, I don't actually like clean things, tidy things, incorruptible things all that much myself. Hoo hoo."
I handed the answer sheet to my homeroom teacher, and just as I was about to leave, I added one more line.
"Oh, right. If anyone has loose lips... I hope that doesn't happen... You know what I mean, right?"
Inside the conference room Si-yoon had left, nothing but a dead silence remained.