Chapter 103: Punishment

My memory of what happened afterward is hazy.

The teacher shoved me into the dormitory while spewing nonsense about expecting punishment.

Knowing there was no point in rebelling now, I trudged along obediently.

I clearly remember entering my room under the dorm supervisor’s watchful eye and staying there.

What I did until daybreak remains unclear.

I sat in a chair, lay down staring at the ceiling, and occasionally stood by the window looking up at the pale sky.

My body, chilled from the cold, begged for rest, but I couldn’t manage even a moment of sleep.

Whenever I closed my eyes while lying in bed, So-yul’s final expression would appear.

My heart refused to calm down, twisted with worry.

Around the time light began filtering through the window, my phone unexpectedly vibrated.

I quickly checked the screen, but of course, it wasn’t a message from So-yul.

The name displayed was ‘Homeroom Teacher.’

I immediately understood the purpose of the call.

At this point, there was nowhere to hide. I’d long since abandoned any thought of escape. Without hesitation, I pressed accept and held the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Oh? Oh, Woo-jin?”

My homeroom teacher responded with a startled tone.

He seemed surprised I’d answer a call so early on Monday morning. Indeed, it was a time when most would be asleep.

The reason he called anyway was probably because the school had ordered this matter handled as quickly as possible.

As I was coming to terms with this, the teacher cautiously apologized.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“No. I haven’t slept yet.”

“Hmm, I suppose that makes sense…”

The teacher whispered softly, seemingly hesitant about what to say next.

I couldn’t understand why he was wavering when the conclusion was already set. While I appreciated his consideration, I preferred to get this over with quickly.

“Are you calling about the disciplinary action?”

After a brief pause on the other end of the call:

“…Yes. The school wants a decision by this morning.”

The teacher finally spoke candidly, as if realizing there was no point in avoiding it.

“Will you notify me over the phone now?”

“No. I want to talk face-to-face. Could you meet me around 9 o’clock?”

“But 9 o’clock is when first period starts?”

Though I understood his intention, I deliberately questioned him, causing the teacher to falter slightly.

“That’s fine. …You probably won’t need to attend classes from today onwards.”

He replied in an infinitely bitter tone.

This alone was enough for me to anticipate the punishment awaiting me.

◎

My homeroom teacher asked me to come to the teacher’s counseling room inside the staff office by 9 o’clock.

Since I didn’t need to attend class, I went straight to the staff office without even stopping by the classroom.

However, since my homeroom teacher had to visit the classroom every morning, I ended up waiting for him.

Waiting to receive punishment—the situation was nothing short of absurd.

The teacher appeared shortly after 9 o’clock.

“Oh, Woo-jin. I’m sorry. Did you wait long?”

The teacher apologized with eye-smiles.

I responded with the polite formality, “No, I didn’t wait that long.”

The teacher gestured with a smile that seemed kinder than usual, “Good. Have a seat.”

As soon as I sat down, he let out a deep sigh.

Apparently feeling no need to hesitate any longer, he immediately began:

“About this incident…”

The teacher rubbed his eyelids as if fatigued.

“I warned you before. It’s better not to get entangled with the head of student affairs if possible.”

When had he said that? Thinking back, I recalled receiving such a warning on the night of the school trip. I’d been hiding So-yul behind me while talking with him.

In the end, I had completely ignored the teacher’s warning.

I lowered my gaze to the desk and offered an apology.

“…I’m sorry.”

“No, well, you don’t need to apologize.”

The teacher scratched the back of his head, as if feeling constricted.

“When you get caught by that teacher in such a way, there’s nothing I can do to help…”

He sighed deeply again as he whispered this.

The head of student affairs was notorious for oppressing students. I’d been caught red-handed by this dangerous figure. Moreover, I’d been caught sneaking out of the dormitory at night and about to hold hands with a girl—there was no room for excuses.

So there really was no way for my homeroom teacher to help us. At best, he could only provide a shield by saying we had good behavior ordinarily. But the head of student affairs wouldn’t be swayed by such words.

“Woo-jin. You probably already have a rough idea.”

The teacher briefly began, then:

“If you receive disciplinary action at our school, your scholarship gets pushed to the lowest priority. It won’t matter for this semester since it’s almost over, but from next year, you’ll have to pay tuition separately.”

What followed was exactly what I’d prepared myself for.

Small demerits might have been different, but after being involved in such a major incident, losing my scholarship was an expected outcome.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Thanks for understanding. Of course, I’ll try contacting various places to find help, but in the end, I’m just a salaried employee…”

The teacher’s voice trailed off.

Just a salaried employee—I found it quite amusing that he would say such a thing to a student.

It wasn’t uncommon to see students transfer out because they couldn’t adapt to the school. Leaving because you couldn’t afford the tuition was nothing special. From an outside perspective, it was an entirely valid reason.

However, at this point, I realized something.

The teacher hadn’t yet mentioned a single word about ‘what kind of disciplinary action would be imposed.’

“But it seems that’s not all?”

When I probed, the teacher paused momentarily.

“…As expected from our Woo-jin, so smart.”

With a bitter smile, he pulled out something resembling an envelope from his chest.

He peeked briefly at the paper inside, then put it back and placed the envelope on the desk.

“It seems the head of student affairs had been waiting for this. The disciplinary action has already been decided. The actual disciplinary committee and such procedures will probably be just formalities.”

“I’m sure. What kind of school is this anyway.”

“Well, I appreciate your understanding, at least…”

The teacher showed renewed hesitation.

I guessed that what was coming wouldn’t be easy to hear.

Then he took out the documents from the envelope and spread them out. Various forms filled out according to specific formats appeared before me.

There were too many words to read everything, but certain phrases caught my eye.

‘Perpetrator: Min Woo-jin’

‘Victim: Han So-yul’

I looked up. The teacher was clutching his head. His face was filled with embarrassment. His brow was so furrowed that multiple wrinkles had formed.

Then, with a bitter smile, he added an explanation:

“It seems the school has decided to conclude that you unilaterally stalked So-yul.”

“…Huh.”

Even so, this was beyond what I’d expected. When I let out a shocked laugh, the teacher sighed again.

“So-yul… I hate to say this, but it seems the school sees her as having significant advertising value. They probably want to avoid having incidents like this on her record if possible.”

Of course that would be the case. Even this charity concert was essentially filled by So-yul alone. They wouldn’t tolerate her image being tarnished by an unexpected incident.

As I nodded silently, the teacher covered his eyes with his hand.

“They probably wanted to lessen So-yul’s blame as much as possible. Of course, you won’t face criminal charges, and this won’t be transferred to other schools, but… it seems they want to blur the internal disciplinary reasons at least this much.”

“I see.”

“Yeah… what a ridiculous school, right?”

“Well, when was it ever reasonable?”

“True enough.”

The teacher tacitly agreed with my joke and then let out a self-deprecating laugh.

I found it quite amusing that even a teacher harbored resistance toward the school.

“So, here’s the most important part.”

The teacher cleared his throat seriously.

“You can refuse this decision. There’s no evidence that you harassed her unilaterally. If you file an objection later, it would definitely be overturned…”

The homeroom teacher desperately laid out various arguments.

At least to my eyes, it looked like he was fighting to the end for a student who was absurdly being forced to leave the school.

It was truly a thoughtful consideration, but unfortunately, I didn’t need to deliberate much.

Though the process had been uncertain, I’d long since anticipated the conclusion.

Just recalling how the head of student affairs had behaved that night, it was clear the school wouldn’t easily expel So-yul.

As long as So-yul needed to remain at this school, they wouldn’t leave someone like me, a thorn in their side, alone.

So I had guessed that the school would try to remove me somehow.

I just hadn’t expected they’d make me out to be a unilateral perpetrator. But then again, there was no better reason for forced transfer than this.

I looked at the stack of documents spread out on the desk.

So-yul would stay here anyway. And I would have to leave after this semester. Even if I refused the school’s conclusion, I’d only be able to hold out for about a month at most.

During that time, I wouldn’t be able to meet So-yul either. They would be monitoring her to prevent even accidental meetings. This school would even change our classes to ensure we didn’t encounter each other in the classroom.

In that case, rather…

“I understand.”

To my homeroom teacher who was waiting for my decision, I gave just one response.

“You understand?”

“Yes.”

It seemed better to make the meaning of my answer clear.

With that in mind, I looked directly into the teacher’s eyes and spoke again.

“I’ll take all the blame, including So-yul’s share, and leave this school.”