Chapter 54
With those words, Park Jincheol's mother clutched her phone and bolted out the door. It was still too early for school to have let out, and her reaction was so extreme that something must have happened at school. She was already worked up enough as it was—letting her go alone didn't sit right. I figured it was best to go with her.
"Kang Byeon. Car keys."
"Ah, yes!"
Kang Minjae fumbled for the keys and hurried after me. I chased after her as she raced down the stairs. I caught up to her just as she was fumbling desperately with the car door in the parking lot and shook my head firmly.
"Ma'am, you seem really shaken. We'll go with you. Please ride in our car."
"...Y-you'll do that?"
"This way, ma'am."
Kang Minjae opened the door to his car, parked nearby.
"Where to?" Kang Minjae asked, and she pressed a hand to her forehead, forcing the words out.
"K-Korea University Hospital emergency room."
Jincheol must have been hurt. For it to be bad enough to send him straight to the ER from school...
Kang Minjae shot me a grim look. But I shook my head. I knew what he was thinking, but it was the kind of thing we couldn't dare assume.
"Aigoo, Jincheol-ah..."
In the back seat, Jincheol's mother hugged her handbag tight, tears streaming down her face. I glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Korea University Hospital loomed in the distance. It'd be good to get a rough sense of the situation before we arrived at the ER—even if she was too distraught to talk easily.
"Ma'am. Please stay calm."
"How can I stay calm? How! Aigoo, our Jincheol..."
"How did Jincheol get hurt?"
"They said he fell from a classroom window... What do we do, Lawyer? My baby, aigoo, my baby..."
She just kept repeating the same words through her sobs. There was nothing more to learn from her. A fall from a classroom window—considering the typical height of a school building, it wouldn't have been that high. But it wasn't something to take lightly either. A fall from any floor was inherently dangerous.
"It'll be okay, ma'am... Nothing serious."
Kang Minjae awkwardly comforted her as he pulled up in front of the ER. The moment the car stopped, Jincheol's mother sprang out and dashed inside. I followed right behind her into the emergency room.
"Park Jincheol! I'm Park Jincheol's guardian!"
She wailed at the ER desk. The nurse checked her chart for a moment, then led her toward the back.
"Jincheol's mom..."
A young teacher emerged from behind a curtain, apparently having heard the commotion, and approached us. With tears streaming down her face, Jincheol's mother asked the teacher.
"Jincheol... Where's Jincheol?"
"Jincheol-ah, your mom's here."
The teacher spoke toward Jincheol, lying in the bed behind the curtain. He turned his head away, staring off elsewhere. No welcoming reaction even with his mother there—just annoyance at the whole situation.
"We'll need more detailed tests to know for sure, but the doctor said it looks like his arm and leg bones are broken. The rest are just some abrasions..."
"Aigoo, Jincheol-ah..."
Halfway through the teacher's explanation, Jincheol's mother rushed to the bedside. I could see Jincheol myself now—eyes closed, swathed in bandages all over. She threw her arms around him and burst into heartbroken sobs.
"Teacher."
As the teacher stepped away from the bed to leave, I stopped her. She looked startled and asked who I was.
"Who...?"
"I'm Jincheol's uncle. Mind telling me what happened to leave him like this?"
Identifying myself as his lawyer would tip off the school that his parents were considering legal action, so it was better to hold off for now. The teacher glanced awkwardly toward the bed. Jincheol's mother's sobs echoed from behind the open curtain.
"I'm not entirely sure myself. The kids just rushed over with the news... The class rep came running to the office to tell me. By the time I got there, Jincheol was in the flower bed below..."
"From which floor?"
"Second floor. At least it was only the second—the doctor said he's lucky it wasn't worse."
"How many floors does the school have?"
"Four, plus the rooftop. But the rooftop's locked so students can't get up there."
"Did this happen in front of the whole class?"
"...Probably."
"I see."
The teacher sighed and nodded. That's when it happened—a sharp, irritated voice snapped from inside the curtained bed.
"Ah, fuck, stop crying already!"
"Jincheol-ah..."
"What, is the world ending or something?!"
It was Jincheol yelling at his mother, who couldn't stop sobbing. The teacher and his mother both looked taken aback. I'd heard he'd sworn at her before, but even I was a bit surprised.
"Jincheol-ah, you can't talk to your mom like that."
The teacher approached the bed slowly, but Jincheol just let out a deep sigh and turned his head away again. The teacher hesitated for a long moment, then bowed deeply to his mother.
"Ma'am, I'm truly sorry. I have no face to show you. As his homeroom teacher, I should have prevented this... I've never dealt with anything like this in my career. Really, I'm so sorry."
His mother, watching the teacher, glanced at Jincheol for a moment before standing. She probably couldn't predict how he'd react if the conversation continued there.
"Haah, Teacher."
She wiped her tears and looked at him.
"How did this happen to Jincheol? How did he fall?"
"The kids said it looked like he fell while grabbing for something..."
[TRUTH]
I frowned slightly at the word hovering above the teacher's head, but it made sense soon enough. My ability only detected lies from the speaker—it didn't reveal the full truth of events. I had to take it as the teacher not lying, at least.
"Grabbing for something? Grabbing what?"
Falling from the second floor while trying to grab something didn't add up. Jincheol's mother frowned with the same doubt.
But the teacher just hung her head, mumbling softly.
"...I don't really know. I prioritized getting Jincheol to the hospital first. I planned to go back and ask the kids what happened."
"What kind of—what the hell is this?! How do you handle things like this?!"
Jincheol's mother exploded. Heads turned our way in the ER.
"Shouldn't you have had another teacher look into it? He fell from the second floor! Does 'grabbing something' even make sense?!"
Grabbing something and falling—what could that mean? It was hard to imagine a normal school scenario where you'd lunge out a window for something. Unless someone had deliberately shoved him out.
"It was—"
"Ah, fuck, this is so annoying—knock it off! It was nothing. Seriously, stop embarrassing me! Mom, go. Teacher, you go too! I can be alone, everyone just leave!"
Jincheol, who'd been listening, snapped irritably.
[LIE]
As expected, the word floated above Jincheol's head. His mother startled and looked back at him but could only bow her head in silence. Fresh tears welled in her eyes. The teacher gauged the mood for a moment, then handed her some tissues and spoke cautiously.
"I'm truly sorry, ma'am. Now that you're here... I'll head back to school, ask the kids for details, and contact you again. Really sorry."
She bowed repeatedly. Jincheol's mother watched her quietly, then sighed.
"...Okay. Thank you for bringing him to the hospital."
With that, the teacher apologized once more and hurried out of the ER. Kang Minjae, just returning after parking, glanced sharply at the vanishing teacher.
"Lawyer, how's Jincheol?"
He approached the bed and saw Jincheol bandaged head to toe after emergency treatment. Kang Minjae let out a long sigh. He was conscious, so the worst had been avoided. He seemed a bit relieved too.
"Ma'am, we'll step out for a quick call."
"...Okay."
I led Kang Minjae out of the ER to a nearby smoking area. I lit a cigarette and gave him a rundown of what I'd seen and pieced together. When I mentioned the story about Jincheol reaching for something and falling, Kang Minjae's face twisted. It was a ridiculous excuse by any measure.
"Did that Hyeokmin kid push him?"
Kang Minjae ventured carefully. I didn't answer.
"We don't know."
I hadn't seen it myself, so I couldn't jump to conclusions. Even assuming the worst—that Jincheol had tried to take his own life—the second floor was too low. The school went up to four floors; he'd have gone higher for that.
"But if it happened in front of the whole class, can't we just ask the kids?"
"Probably."
I kept it vague. All we could do now was wait for the teacher to call Jincheol's mother back or for Jincheol to open up.
"Lawyer, you really gonna take this case?"
As I stubbed out my cigarette to head back in, Kang Minjae asked.
"If Jincheol's parents and Jincheol want me to."
"...It's gonna be tough."
I stopped in my tracks. It was odd hearing Kang Minjae—the guy who always jumped in headfirst—talk like this.
"Kang Byeon."
"Yes, Lawyer."
"Any reason you don't want to handle a school violence case?"
He blinked in surprise at my question.
"No, nothing like that... It's just rare to drag these to court, so I worry it'll be hard on you. What, you think I don't wanna do it? Oh, and I have no clue how much to charge for fees..."
[LIE]
He gave a wistful smile, the word floating above his head. There was a reason, but if he wasn't saying after I'd asked this directly, he had his cause. I'd decided not to pry into his personal matters until he brought them up, so I let it go.
"If you really wanna sit this one out, bow out. I'll handle it alone."
"Ah, no!"
"Doesn't matter. If it's uncomfortable, do that."
I walked toward the ER's automatic doors. Kang Minjae hurried after me.
"Why? Let me in on it."
Even lawyers had cases they wanted to avoid. I wasn't the type not to understand that, and I had no intention of forcing him.
"Let me in! I'll do great. Promise!"
"Quiet—this is the ER."
"Let me in. You're letting me, right? You promised."
Told to pipe down, he switched to annoying whispers right in my ear. I sighed and quickened my pace past him.