# Chapter 97
As Moon Seoheon had said, when we played the video, we could identify the student who placed the lucky letter in my desk.
Honestly, the footage was so ambiguous that without looking carefully, it was hard to tell that someone was putting something into someone else’s desk.
Ye Abin was sitting conspicuously at my seat, between Jo Youngmin and Hong Hachan, who were standing as if deliberately blocking the CCTV.
It was a relatively early morning. Although there were many empty seats here and there, some students who had already arrived were busy moving around, so Ye Abin’s presence wasn’t particularly noticeable.
Moreover, a student from another class coming to visit and blatantly sitting in someone else’s seat early in the morning should have seemed odd, but since they were guys who normally hung out with me, other students didn’t seem to think anything of it.
I watched the playing video with an uncomfortable expression. At first, I couldn’t really tell what was wrong, so I had to carefully examine the replaying video to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
“If you look closely here, you can see him sitting at Taeho’s desk and putting something in.”
“You’re right. He’s definitely inserting something. It looks exactly like a piece of paper.”
When our homeroom teacher spoke seriously, Class 3’s homeroom teacher touched his forehead. His gaze toward Ye Abin turned fierce.
Ye Abin had been greatly flustered since the words “lucky letter” were mentioned, and now he just kept his mouth tightly shut with a stiff face.
“Ye Abin. Did you really do that?”
“…I did put something in, but it wasn’t a lucky letter. I just left a note for Taeho, who hadn’t arrived yet, because I had something to tell him.”
Wow, he’s lying so confidently despite the clear circumstantial evidence. It’s true that just because the object Ye Abin inserted looked like a white piece of paper, there was no proof it was the lucky letter.
Still, I was dumbfounded seeing him tell such an easily disprovable lie without batting an eye.
“You left a note because you had something to tell me?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t see anything like that.”
“You must not have found it.”
Instead of responding, I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. Class 3’s homeroom teacher, who had been silently listening to our exchange, asked again.
“So you’re saying it wasn’t a lucky letter but a note you left?”
“Yes. Why would I put something like that in? Besides, you know we hang out together.”
Since the teacher would know which students hung out together unless they paid no attention at all, our homeroom teacher let out a low sigh.
“Then what is this? They said it was found in Taeho’s desk.”
“…I don’t know anything about that.”
Moon Seoheon, who had been quietly watching Ye Abin playing innocent, picked up the paper that still showed creases despite being fully unfolded.
“Then let’s report this to the police. A simple investigation will reveal who’s responsible right away.”
Ye Abin’s body flinched at Moon Seoheon’s words. Unlike Class 3’s homeroom teacher who frowned, both our teachers agreed to do just that.
“Well… it might be faster to ask Seungha’s family for help. It would be dealt with cleanly.”
“Come on, is that really necessary? If Taeho wants, we can just bring the police in for an investigation right away. And since they didn’t fight and the damage isn’t severe, let’s just stick with disciplinary action for now.”
Class 3’s homeroom teacher spoke firmly, hiding his discomfort. It seems Byeon Seungha’s family has connections with the police. Maybe they’re a prosecutor’s family. I knew they were impressive, but seeing how the teacher was reluctant, I could roughly guess.
“What do you want to do? If Taeho wants, we can open a committee and follow formal procedures.”
He made a proposal as if wanting to resolve this within the school. I stuck my head out and glanced past Ye Abin to Son Gyucheon. Both of them had faces like they’d eaten something disgusting.
From the teachers’ perspective, it seemed they wanted to resolve this amicably since I hadn’t been severely beaten by those guys. I thought for a moment.
I was worried about future consequences if we just ended this with disciplinary action even after opening a school violence committee and taking final statements. It seemed better to properly punish them to completely cut ties with those guys for the future. But honestly, I wondered if proper proceedings would happen for an incident of this scale.
Seeing me seemingly contemplating, our homeroom teacher chimed in.
“Honestly, even if you report it to the police, it’ll just end with their parents being called in and them signing a confirmation. How about resolving any lingering feelings between you?”
“Son Gyucheon will be properly punished, and we’ll make sure to warn Ye Abin.”
I wonder if the teachers just see this as kids fighting. They would know that Ye Abin and I are friends.
I let out a small sigh and then nodded. It was clear that even if I reported it to the police, the punishment would be the same. Since this wasn’t a major incident that required involving our parents, I decided to comply.
“I understand. I’ll accept whatever disciplinary action the committee decides. However… if something similar happens again, I’ll report it directly to the police next time.”
This was like a warning to Son Gyucheon and Ye Abin. They seemed to understand as they furrowed their brows in confusion. Soon Son Gyucheon sighed with an annoyed expression, followed by Ye Abin who was nervously chewing on his lips.
Still, they remained quiet as if they had nothing more to say, so I ignored them. The teachers noticed the subdued atmosphere but didn’t question the matter further now that a decision had been made.
* * *
“Wow, did that really happen?”
“Yes.”
Maeng Moa wore an astonished expression as he crunched on the hard ice cream he was holding. Beside him, Moon Seoheon and Jung Hyoin sat in a circle, each biting into their own ice cream.
I took a bite of my spicy tteokbokki-flavored bread ice cream. The vanilla ice cream inside the bread melted, wrapping around my tongue.
One of my eyebrows twitched at the unexpected taste that differed from what I’d imagined. I looked down at the ice cream in my hand. It said spicy tteokbokki flavor, but only the outer red bread had that flavor; the inside wasn’t spicy at all.
I chewed and swallowed the contents in my mouth with a disappointed expression.
“So what happened to those bastards?”
His language was blatantly disrespectful even though he clearly knew they were his seniors. Maeng Moa, holding a soda-flavored ice cream, just grinned and munched away.
“They got disciplined and have to do community service. Cleaning the hillside.”
“What? That’s it?”
Maeng Moa sighed with a deflated expression. His furrowed brow showed his dissatisfaction. It was a bit funny seeing him so angry when even Jung Hyoin and I, who were the victims, had just let it go.
As soon as he heard about what happened in the teachers’ office, Maeng Moa had grabbed me and frantically checked me all over, asking where I was hurt.
It was a dramatic shift considering how excitedly he had rushed over after receiving Moon Seoheon’s call about meeting to discuss the performance. Though it was strange that he didn’t even glance at Jung Hyoin.
After finally calming Maeng Moa down, I found myself heading to the outdoor garden with the guys. We stopped by the school store to buy ice cream, and sitting on the bench had its own charm.
The water stream falling into a small pond sparkled in the sunlight. Though the air had become hotter and more oppressive than before, my chest felt refreshingly clear thanks to the pure sound of water and the fresh scent of flowers.
The ice cream in my mouth also helped lower my body temperature appropriately.
It was definitely a different feeling from when we all ate dumplings for lunch. This was only my second time coming here after not visiting for a long time. Is it because it’s been a while? Despite the still jaw-dropping scenery, I thoroughly enjoyed the very comfortable feeling.
“…What about Byeon Seungha?”
Shouldn’t we inform him too? He was likely to have the worst reaction to me tagging along as a member of the performance group, but it seemed better to tell him first rather than having him throw a fit when he found out later.
“Why Byeon Seungha sunbae?”
The bread piece I was eating got caught in my throat as everyone’s attention suddenly turned to me. Though I managed to swallow it with a cough, there was still a sensation of something stuck in my throat.
As I naturally hunched over, I noticed the application form placed neatly beside me. I gazed with blurry eyes at my name written clearly at the bottom.
“Well, we need to let him know about this. Seoheon, didn’t you contact him separately?”
After licking my dry lips, I waved the application form, and the guys went “Ah” in understanding and turned their gazes elsewhere.
I glared at them and then looked at Moon Seoheon. I thought he had contacted Byeon Seungha right after calling Maeng Moa, but I found it strange that he hadn’t shown up by the time we arrived at the garden. I was already a bit concerned since he had said this morning that he would come back to the classroom but hadn’t appeared.
“I couldn’t reach him.”
“You called and he didn’t answer?”
“Yeah… But we can tell him later, so don’t worry about it.”
Moon Seoheon snatched the application form from my hand and passed it to Jung Hyoin. Jung Hyoin naturally took the paper, scanned it as if checking it, and then put it in his bag. Seeing this, I pouted my lips.
I wondered if something had happened since Byeon Seungha wasn’t answering Moon Seoheon’s calls. The events from this morning also bothered me, and unnecessary thoughts kept surfacing. Byeon Seungha, that guy wouldn’t be causing trouble by confronting Lee Seongcheol again, would he?
But I soon realized that Byeon Seungha had no reason to do that and chuckled self-deprecatingly. It wasn’t like Moon Seoheon was hurt by Lee Seongcheol, so why would he get involved? Of course, there was a possibility that he noticed Lee Seongcheol trying to attack Moon Seoheon and went to teach him a lesson.
My head throbbed at that thought. As Moon Seoheon suggested, I stopped worrying and finished the rest of my ice cream.
“This might be a good place to do it.”
Suddenly, Jung Hyoin, who had been looking at the waterfall past the small pond, gazed up at the mountains in the background and muttered softly.
There he goes saying something random again. I didn’t understand what he meant, and I didn’t want to know, so I ignored him and slowly got up from the bench. I’d put my name on the application form and delivered the message, so I was done.
Just as I was about to say I was leaving, Jung Hyoin grabbed my wrist. It was a moment that somehow felt ominous.
“Are you free this weekend? Let’s do what we promised.”
I knew it. Hiding my growing discomfort, I hesitantly opened my mouth.
“Where are we going to do it?”
Realizing that his earlier incomprehensible statement was about this promise, I looked around the garden. Surely he wasn’t suggesting we draw here in the school garden on the weekend?
In response to my glance, Jung Hyoin pondered for a moment before saying:
“Do you want to come to my house?”
