Chapter 34: The Shattered Puzzle

“Yoon Heesung! Are you insane?!”

“Hey, hey. Snap out of it.”

Yoon Heesung lunged inside. He seized the collar of a limp Kim Youngseok.

That was the beginning.

What followed remained a blur in my memory.

The fragmented recollections were indistinguishable, neither mine nor someone else’s, their very form elusive. All I could recall were the chilling thuds, a sickening succession of impacts. Teachers rushed into the classroom, shouting. Blood splattered the floor.

Kim Youngseok was practically carried out by the adults, while Yoon Heesung followed our homeroom teacher somewhere. A short while later, other teachers arrived, chasing out those of us who remained, scolding us for lingering long after the exam had ended.

I fled the school as if escaping, then burst into my house. Once in my room, I instinctively pulled the duvet over my head. It wasn’t hot at all. Despite the undeniably sweltering weather that should have had me sweating, a profound chill permeated my entire body. I was cold, and utterly horrified.

I couldn’t believe what had just transpired.

‘What in the world is happening?’

My hands trembled uncontrollably. Amidst the hazy shapes, one memory stood out with stark clarity. It was a scene of such profound shock: Yoon Heesung, having stormed into the classroom, threw a desk, then grabbed the fallen Kim Youngseok by the collar and slapped him several times. After that, he kicked him in the chest….

‘Seriously… what is all of this?’

Kim Youngseok couldn’t resist at all. Having been suddenly struck in the face with a desk, he might have already lost consciousness. Yet, Yoon Heesung mercilessly beat Kim Youngseok. The sight of him throwing punches with an expressionless face was like a play unfolding before my eyes—a play I was unaware of, performed just for me.

Truly… what in the world had happened? It was difficult to believe, even though it had unfolded right before my eyes.

His playfully smiling face flashed in my mind.

‘Should I teach them a lesson?’

Would something have been different if I had shaken my head at those words?

‘I’ll make them a cripple too.’

If only I had stepped in and stopped Yoon Heesung when he said that….

“……”

Kim Youngseok’s words were indeed insulting. However, I never wished for him to be beaten to such an extent simply for uttering them. Isn’t that obvious? I am a person, and Kim Youngseok is a person. It was… self-evident. I’m not trying to defend Kim Youngseok, but still….

Though I’d never been beaten like that myself, the memory of being hit by Im Namwoo’s group in passing made it all the more terrifying.

Kim Youngseok, held by the collar by Yoon Heesung, appeared small. He wasn’t a small person, but next to Yoon Heesung, he seemed diminutive. With such a massive presence bearing down on him, Kim Youngseok wouldn’t have stood a chance, even if he had remained conscious.

In contrast, Yoon Heesung’s face, as he exited the classroom with the homeroom teacher, was immaculate. Were it not for the splatters of blood on his cheek and shirt, no one would have known what he had just done.

My heart had been thumping with an unpleasant rhythm ever since, a continuous, heavy beat. It was the first time I had witnessed someone being beaten like that before my eyes. The sound of one person hitting another kept echoing in my ears, tormenting me.

Unbeknownst to me, the Yoon Heesung I had arbitrarily felt a kinship with was, in fact, more akin to Im Namwoo than to me.

‘And if your words are true, then Yoon Heesung was the one who got Im Namwoo transferred? In that case, Yoon Heesung is a good guy to me. I’m not going to keep living in this neighborhood, so to me, Im Namwoo is a crazy bastard.’

I recalled words I had spoken once. At the time, I had said them carelessly, angered by Park Byungjoo’s nonsense, but now it struck me that it wasn’t something to be dismissed so lightly. Of course, Yoon Heesung had beaten Kim Youngseok because of me, but even so, my heart….

What in the world was happening?

“Oh my, why are you like this? With no lights on.”

I had truly been under the covers for a long time, until my mother, home from work, called out to me. I had remained there until the sun had set.

“Ah, I was trying to sleep. Mom, you’re home?”

I stammered, my words disjointed. If my mother continued to talk, I felt it would become many times harder. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone right now.

“I’m going to sleep now. Mom, you should wash up and sleep too.”

“You’re still in your school uniform. You’re going to sleep already without even changing?”

I closed the door without answering. It seemed the madam hadn’t told my mother about what happened today, judging by her silence. Indeed, the madam had said she sent all her employees away when she was at the villa, so she must not be home at all right now. …Wait. Does that mean Yoon Heesung is alone right now?

I bit my nails, then shook my head. No. She must have come back, even if late. Something like this happened to her cherished son. It was a useless worry. I would rather worry about something else. I imagined a school violence committee meeting in my head. There was no way to get out of this.

In that case, I….

Regardless of what Yoon Heesung did, I hoped he wouldn’t be forced to transfer to another school. He must have been incredibly angry. He lost his temper because his closest friend heard such words, and so… I roughly organized my thoughts. Forcing away the violent scenes still vivid in my mind, I decided to believe that Yoon Heesung was just too angry and made a mistake just once, and that he must surely be regretting it by now.

Yes. I, at least, would earnestly… defend Yoon Heesung. If a school violence committee meeting was held, I would probably be called. Because I was there.

I would explain why Yoon Heesung committed such an act and protect him. I had no choice.

Because he was my only….

However, my phone remained silent. There was no contact from Yoon Heesung. That made me feel even more helpless.

It would be strange to call him first and ask if he was okay, wouldn’t it?

Truthfully… I wouldn’t even know what to say if I saw Yoon Heesung. It would be better if he contacted me first. I wiped my sweat-soaked forehead. I mumbled an absurd wish, hoping everything was just a dream.

The sun still rose, and the day was still hot. Just in case, I left earlier than usual today. I was afraid of encountering someone who always waited for me in front of the villa on school days. I would take his side, but facing him was still frightening. I didn’t know what expression to wear if we met. I walked sluggishly, alone, to school. My heart, however, felt resolute.

I mentally rehearsed what I would say. I planned to explain how upset I was by Kim Youngseok’s words, the bullying I had endured from the gang, and even Yoon Heesung’s absence from school for a while due to being tormented by his classmates.

In truth, my head was already throbbing. Confronting yesterday’s events was still difficult. But my suffering was preferable to Yoon Heesung being punished. It was better than… him being unable to attend school. Perhaps I truly was a selfish person.

‘…He’s not coming, is he?’

But Yoon Heesung didn’t come to school. The seat right next to the front door was empty. It remained so even after the homeroom teacher entered.

And Kim Youngseok had transferred schools.

“Youngseok has decided to transfer. Please be aware of that.”

“……”

The brief announcement was all there was. I parted my lips in disbelief.

Transferred? A school violence committee meeting wasn’t being held, but Kim Youngseok was transferring…?

Even more shocking was that no one questioned it. No students asked the homeroom teacher any other questions, and once the teacher left the classroom, they resumed their own activities, laughing and chatting.

…As if it were something they were already accustomed to, as if it had happened before.

I looked around the classroom, unable to believe it. If there was just one other person with an expression like mine, I felt I would find some comfort. This anxiety might subside. But no one else was as agitated as I was. Still, I continued to scan my surroundings.

Then my eyes met Park Byungjoo’s.

“……”

Park Byungjoo saw my wide-eyed stare and smirked, the corners of his lips twitching. It was as if to say, ‘See? Didn’t I tell you?’

‘Namwoo got really beaten and transferred, that’s true. Don’t you feel sorry for him? How can someone get beaten and then transferred?’

Park Byungjoo’s words echoed in my ears. Until yesterday, I hadn’t believed them at all. A chilling suspicion pierced my chest. Unable to contain myself, I sprang to my feet. I rushed out of the classroom, quickly ran down the stairs, and caught the homeroom teacher.

“Teacher!”

“You startled me. What is it?”

“Why is Kim Youngseok transferring?”

The homeroom teacher pushed up his glasses, as if he hadn’t expected me to ask that.

“…Because he engaged in unruly behavior at school. Heesung’s mother was very angry.”

“What…?”

Then he added:

“Youngseok also caused a lot of trouble in the past, besides this. I didn’t know, but he apparently bullied you too. All of it combined led to this.”

“…And Yoon Heesung, what… what happens to him?”

I asked, unable to abandon hope. I wished he was just suspended, which was why he didn’t come to school today. Please. Just this morning, I had been prepared to defend Yoon Heesung when I left home, but I never expected to be asking about his wrongdoing with my own mouth.

“Is Yoon Heesung not at school today because he’s suspended?”

However, once again, the homeroom teacher dashed my hopes.

“Heesung isn’t… suspended. He just skipped again. You know, Heesung often misses school.”

“……”

He caused such an incident, and he wasn’t even suspended…! Before my dumbfounded face, the homeroom teacher said one indifferent thing and then left.

“Tell Heesung to keep an eye on his attendance days. He’ll listen if it comes from you.”

Only then did a conclusion form. Park Byungjoo’s earlier words might be true. No, they *must* be true. Park Byungjoo’s words, which I had dismissed as nonsense—that Yoon Heesung beat Im Namwoo and got him transferred—were indeed fact. Hadn’t I just witnessed Kim Youngseok being beaten like that before my very eyes? Yet, it was Kim Youngseok, not Yoon Heesung, who transferred schools. No school violence committee meeting was held. Yoon Heesung didn’t even receive a suspension….

The puzzle I had been assembling was wrong.