Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 35: Do You Want To Get Beaten?.

I quickly got rid of Park Jina and called my sister using a Bluetooth earphone while driving.

It seemed to be rush hour, so she answered quickly.

“Hello?”

“Oh, sis, it’s me. I need a little help.”

Hearing my words, my sister sighed deeply and said.

“…Hah, what’s the matter? You’re not making me pretend to be a lawyer again, are you?”

“As expected of someone with a sharp mind! Lawyer Seon Dalrae!”

“Hey, you little shit!”

I laughed at the satisfying response.

“Whoa, calm down. I’m not asking for anything huge. Just do it like last time.”

“…Posing beside me while recording and occasionally babbling about the law?”

“As expected of the greatest intellect of our time, Lawyer Seon Dalrae! You grasp the point immediately!”

My sister, apparently flustered by my playful response, rapidly cursed at me.

Then, after an even deeper sigh than before, she said.

“…So what’s the situation?”

I explained who the kid named Gaeul was and the crisis she was currently facing.

“You really…”

My sister dragged her words and then said.

“So where should I go?”

Indeed, my sister was really easy.

“You need to go to Nara Middle School, but you don’t have to head there.”

“Huh? Then, how do I pretend to be a lawyer? It would be hard to fool them over the phone.”

As she said, it would be less effective over the phone. Naturally, she needed to be by my side.

“Sis, it’s quitting time now. You’re in front of the headquarters, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m just outside the front gate… Wait, no way?”

I saw her in front of the sidewalk. I parked the car roughly and rolled down the window.

“Get in!”

It was a door-to-door service.

While training, Gaeul received a sudden call.

She apologized to the trainer for not putting her phone on silent and tried to continue practicing.

But as soon as she hung up, the phone rang again, and Gaeul felt uneasy.

She excused herself to the trainer and went to the hallway to take the call.

“Hello, are you Yoo Gahyeon’s sister?”

It seemed to be her brother Gahyeon’s homeroom teacher.

Although Gaeul had dropped out of high school, she knew, directly and indirectly, that homeroom teachers rarely called guardians for good reasons.

She tried to steady her trembling voice and said.

“…Yes. I’m Yoo Gaeul, Gahyeon’s sister.”

“Yoo Gahyeon has assaulted another student. We need a guardian to come.”

“…Ah.”

Gaeul felt as if she were falling off a cliff.

“Neither of your parents is answering. Can you reach them?”

Gahyeon’s homeroom teacher naturally asked for contact with their parents.

They probably tried to contact the parents before calling Gaeul.

Their mother had cut ties with Gaeul, Gahyeon, and their father, so she wouldn’t answer the phone.

Their father usually answered his phone, so he was probably at the gambling hall.

There was no one. Only Gaeul.

So Gaeul answered.

“I’m Gahyeon’s guardian.”

The homeroom teacher spoke with a tone of disbelief.

“If you’re Yoo Gahyeon’s sister, you’re a minor, right? This seems like a matter that needs an adult.”

An adult.

It was a word Yoo Gaeul had heard to the point of exhaustion.

People expected Gaeul to be mature.

Following their expectations, she tried to become mature.

She held back what she wanted, gave up, and ignored things.

Then people praised her for being mature.

They used phrases like ‘You’re all grown up’ and ‘You’re an adult now’ as compliments.

But when a crisis came, they demanded an “adult,” not Gaeul.

An adult who neither endured nor gave up.

Gaeul spoke to the teacher.

“You won’t be able to reach them. There are no adults.”

“Haa… What to do? Is there really no other guardian? An uncle or grandfather, maybe?”

“I am!”

Gaeul’s emotions, which had been simmering inside, burst out at the teacher’s irritated words.

But she thought these emotions were no different from a child’s, so she calmed herself as much as possible and spoke calmly.

“I’m Gahyeon’s guardian.”

Uttering that one sentence was incredibly difficult for Gaeul.

“Please tell me where I need to go.”

The homeroom teacher sighed softly and told her the location.

“Still, you must contact an adult!”

After hanging up, Gaeul excused herself to the trainer and stepped outside.

She hesitated to take a taxi but headed to the subway to save money.

The subway was full of adults dressed in stylish suits.

They each carried a cake, department store shopping bags, or a gift.

‘Is it some kind of holiday?’

Gaeul checked the calendar on her budget smartphone.

Only then did she realize that tomorrow was Children’s Day.

‘…Ah.’

A man was on the phone with his family, speaking in a voice full of affection.

A woman was scolding a man who seemed to be her husband.

It seemed he had bought the wrong gifts for the children.

And there was a father and daughter walking hand in hand, so sweetly.

Seeing that, Gaeul suddenly felt a pang in her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes.

At that moment, she suddenly thought of Seon Taeyang.

‘I’ll be the adult for you.’

A strange person who called her a child and claimed to be an adult.

A person who closed the distance to an unsettling degree.

A person who kept all his words, even if he seemed pretentious.

A reliable person because of that.

With trembling hands, Gaeul picked up her smartphone and called Taeyang.

The call connected after just a few rings.

“Hey, Gaeul, what’s up?”

“….”

Hearing his voice, she choked up with rising emotions.

But she didn’t want to show it to Seon Taeyang.

“Gaeul?”

“…Team Leader Seon.”

“Yeah, Gaeul, speak freely. Do you need my help?”

Taeyang’s voice was so gentle.

“…I need your help.”

In front of Taeyang, Gaeul could say something she hadn’t said since childhood.

“Please help me.”

“Can’t you see this face?”

A woman in her mid-40s wearing a black fur coat shouted, her voice echoing through the staff room.

“Is it right to take such a lukewarm response when my child’s face is bleeding like this?”

The teacher standing next to her was sweating profusely, trying to calm her down.

“Please, Mrs. Dae-su, calm down. It’s just a matter between kids…”

“Between kids?”

The woman snorted derisively.

“Hah… The situation has escalated this far because the teacher’s attitude is so lukewarm.”

The middle-aged woman put her designer-logo bag on the desk, making a point of showing it off.

“This is clearly a violent incident.”

Her sagging cheeks wobbled with every word she spoke.

“Shouldn’t we be discussing how to compensate for this? Considering the aftereffects and mental damage?”

The middle-aged woman kept pressing the teacher as if she could get more money that way. Gaeul was not even in her consideration.

Gaeul couldn’t stand the sight of her wobbling cheeks, thick makeup, and greasy forehead.

“I’ll give you money.”

Gaeul didn’t hold back.

“How much do you need?”

Only then did the woman look at Gaeul and speak.

“Huh… Kid. Do I look like I’m begging for money to you?”

Gaeul thought so.

To her, the middle-aged woman looked like a robber who wanted to use her position as a victim to extort money.

Because a proper parent would send their child to the hospital immediately if they were injured.

But the woman displayed her child’s injuries like evidence for everyone to see.

She was like a driver, emphasizing her car’s dents to an insurance agent to get a bit more money.

No matter how she looked at it, the woman’s intentions seemed vile.

Gaeul knew from experience that the best way to reduce the level of exploitation from such people was to bow her head and apologize as much as possible.

But she didn’t want to do that.

It was in front of her brother, Gahyeon.

She didn’t want to show her brother a scene where she bowed her head to such an adult.

She hadn’t worked so hard to become an adult for that reason.

So Gaeul held her head high and said.

“You’re doing this because you need money, right? I’ll give you the money. So let’s just end this.”

“Ms. Gahyeon’s sister! Please calm down for a moment…”

The middle-aged woman’s face twisted into a monstrous scowl.

“You uneducated bitch…”

The woman clenched her fist so tightly that it made a cracking sound and said.

“Enough. I have nothing to say to a brat like you. Bring your parents.”

“…”

If she could contact her parents, Gaeul wouldn’t have come here alone.

The middle-aged woman, the homeroom teacher, and Gaeul all knew that.

“Why aren’t you answering? Is it because you come from such a lowly family?”

“Mrs. Dae-su, please calm down a bit.”

But the middle-aged woman ignored the teacher’s words and shot sharp words as if Gaeul were a perfect target.

“There must be someone who gave birth to you and that kid, right? Ah, were you abandoned?”

Gaeul saw Gahyeon’s face, anxiously looking at her.

In his eyes were pity, regret, and guilt.

And sympathy.

That hurt more than the middle-aged woman’s yelling or the homeroom teacher’s subtle disregard.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

She felt like she could burst into tears with just one word.

“Gaeul has never been abandoned. Please watch your words.”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind her.

“If you don’t want to get beaten up like your son, that is.”

It was Seon Taeyang.