Chapter 59
It took quite a while to hear the full story from Jincheol.
After Lee Hyeokmin met students from his previous school, Jincheol began to be slowly excluded from the group. At first, they subtly extorted him—borrowing clothes he wore to school and never returning them, making him pay for meals they shared without chipping in. Things escalated from there. When Jincheol started objecting bit by bit, they hit him with, "I never thought you'd see us that way," and began outright isolating him.
The other kids in the class envied and feared Hyeokmin's crew, so no one helped Jincheol; they just watched. Whenever something bad happened in class, one of Hyeokmin's gang would mockingly call out, "Oh, Jincheol!" and subtly pin the blame on him. The psychological abuse had been ramping up too.
Jincheol's mother only realized it after far too much time had passed.
The next day, Kang Minjae and I headed straight to Taesik's office.
"Boss, you're here. So, uh, how'd it go...?"
Taesik asked cautiously. He'd visited the hospital with one of his staff before we arrived yesterday—back when Jincheol hadn't opened up yet, so the kid probably hadn't been receptive.
"It went well. Jincheol told us everything."
Taesik sighed in relief and slumped onto the sofa.
"Whew, thank God."
"Anyway, your approach didn't quite land, so you'll need to cooperate fully this time."
Taesik nodded vigorously at my words.
"Of course! Full cooperation, no question. Those punk-ass kids are already sidelining their 'friend.' We gotta teach 'em a lesson. Just say the word—should I go rough 'em up?"
The moment Taesik said "rough 'em up," his staff scattered around the office shifted like they were ready to jump into action.
"Still got that thug habit, huh? Who you gonna rough up?"
"The ones doing the sidelining, obviously. Give 'em a taste of adult spice..."
"Nope, can't trust you with this. You'll screw it up."
As I stood, Taesik rushed over in a panic.
"Whoa, what? Spill it! What do I do? I won't rough 'em up if you say so!"
"Didn't even give you a chance to speak. Right, Minjae?"
"Yeah. I usually side with the boss here, but this time I'm with you, sir."
Taesik pouted at Minjae and plopped back down. I rubbed my forehead and sat too.
"First off... we need to dig into this Lee Hyeokmin kid. He's too bold; probably has priors. Check that too."
"Put some guys on it?"
"Yeah. Tail him after school till he gets home—where he goes, what he does, everything."
Jincheol was safe in the hospital for now, but kids like that might find fresh prey in his absence. If they did, we could stop it and gather evidence.
"And check his family background. His dad's head of some public agency, but no details."
"Got it."
"Boss, about that other kid Jincheol mentioned—the one Hyeokmin got transferred. We should look into him too."
I nodded at Minjae's suggestion. Evidence of ongoing harassment of the same classmate would be gold in court.
"It was before Jincheol transferred in, so we'll need to ID him..."
I carefully recalled what Jincheol had said at the time while listening to him.
Jincheol said the kid had tried to get the school violence committee involved, but they stonewalled him, so he gave up. Then, during a field trip and writing contest when everyone else was out having fun, he transferred while crying alone.
So...
"Grab a laptop."
Taesik dashed to fetch one from the corner, nearly tripping over the cord but playing it off as he solemnly set it before me.
I fired up the browser and logged into Jincheol's school site, clearing pop-ups to reach the academic calendar board.
"Field trips and contests are usually spring, right?"
"Yeah, varies by school, but around April or May."
The calendar showed May. Asking outright about the transfer student would get us nowhere.
"Can you find students who transferred out of this school in May?"
Taesik hummed dubiously.
"I'll try."
"And we need to recruit one classmate for testimony..."
Minjae sighed at my words.
"Doubtful. Hyeokmin owns that class; no one's spilling details."
"First, get the homeroom teacher's full account of that day. Challenge any issues. Then scout for approachable kids."
Rushing students first might make us look violent. The school wouldn't ignore our complaint outright—this was a prime district. Parents had pull. Rumors of cover-ups would hurt them, so they'd claim they tried but found nothing. That's when we'd ramp up.
"Ah..."
And one more thing.
"A parent-teacher meeting could reveal cooperative students too."
"How?"
Minjae asked, but I stood without answering. He grabbed his bag. I turned to Taesik, who was scrambling to see us off.
"Investigate the transfer student contact, tail Hyeokmin. Priority on the transfer. You got this, President Jang?"
Taesik nodded grimly.
"Leave it to me."
"Ma'am, if you're not feeling up to it, we can go a bit later. We've got time before the meeting."
I checked my watch. Jincheol's mother had scheduled a meeting with the homeroom teacher today. We'd told the school I was Jincheol's uncle, stepping in for his busy dad since Mom was too shaken.
Coming in person wasn't just to probe the teacher's intel on the incident day. I wanted the school's vibe. If they were shielding Hyeokmin as I'd guessed, they'd pull out all stops for this meeting.
"I'm fine. Can't have you working this hard while I slack off."
She stepped out, opening the car door. The school buzzed at 2 p.m. Kids in gym clothes dashed around the field for PE. I glanced up at the main building. Jincheol had fallen from a second-floor classroom to the flower bed below. High ceilings here too. Stiff-branched shrubs filled the bed—if he'd landed wrong, it could've been worse.
His mother swallowed hard, staring at it too.
"Since I'm posing as Jincheol's uncle, stick to proper terms with the teacher, ma'am."
"Got it."
At the central entrance, the waiting homeroom teacher spotted us and approached.
"Jincheol's mom, hello. Tough trip over? Ah, you brought someone. The uncle, right?"
She turned to me politely.
"Dad's swamped with work, so Uncle's covering. He worried about me going alone."
"Of course, ma'am. After such a scare. This way."
We followed—but not to the staff room or empty class. The principal's office.
Mom glanced surprised at the teacher, who added quickly,
"The principal wanted to meet you personally about the incident."
The top brass, huh. Apologies to soothe, showing accountability. Just as expected. Calm the parent, keep it quiet.
The teacher opened the door. The principal sprang up from his desk and hurried over.
"Ah! Jincheol's mom! Welcome. Han Kyungchul, principal of Jangmyeong High."
"Oh, hello, Principal."
Mid-greeting, he spotted me and glanced flustered at the teacher, then ventured carefully,
"Pardon, but this gentleman is...?"
"Hello, Principal. Jincheol's uncle."
The teacher whispered the cover story. The principal relaxed, ushering us to the sofa.
"Jincheol's mom, we're truly sorry for the worry from this accident at our school. We should've installed fall-prevention bars on windows right away. And proper safety training... Our deepest apologies."
Pairing regret with fixes—smart apology. Mom nodded, sighing deeply.
"As homeroom teacher, I apologize again too. Two months' hospitalization, right? We'll process it as medical leave. We'll send all materials to keep up with class. Kids want to visit—let us know when. Everyone's worried."
Like a scripted routine, they laid it out clearly, waiting.
"Thank you for caring."
"It's the least we can do."
"I heard about the incident day from you already... but how exactly did you assess the situation?"
Mom launched her prepared questions.