The kids who heard the situation from Yumyeong all burst out in frustration together.
“What are they telling us to do, are they telling us to give group punishment drills now?”
“They should do it themselves, why are they telling us to…… Yumyeong-ah, what do we do?”
Likewise, Yumyeong was also lost in thought with a serious face.
“You all know the first-years have been relaxed lately and walking around out of it, right? As a result of our meeting, we’ve judged that your level of negligence is very serious. So take care of it yourselves. We’re going on a retreat next week, so during the 2 nights and 3 days we’re gone, make the first-years into proper people. Got it?”
At Hwang Gyeongjin’s words, Yumyeong asked with an absurd face.
“Why should we do that?”
Then this answer came back.
“Obviously, since you’ve received so many punishment drills, you must know well how to do it.”
By others’ pressure, he now had to inflict the same irrationality he hadn’t accepted until now onto others. Anger surged at that fact.
Yumyeong tried to calm his mind and said in a low voice.
“……Whether we do it or not, I thought you guys should know, so I told you. They’re really the worst of the worst. How can they torment us to death and then tell us to become the same kind of people as them……”
“Can we not do it? They’ll definitely check after the retreat ends. If we don’t do it, won’t the third-years go crazy on us again?”
“Exactly. We have to somehow coordinate well with the first-years……”
Just then. One guy sitting in the corner opened his mouth.
“But honestly, I want to give them a punishment drill at least once.”
“What?”
Yumyeong looked that way with a dumbfounded face. The speaker was unexpectedly a guy who had been tormented by the upperclassmen just as severely as Yumyeong until now.
“It’s so unfair that only we’ve suffered until now. The first-years are going to school so comfortably because we’re not cracking down on them, I think it’s okay to give them a warning at least once.”
At those words, Yumyeong’s face turned genuinely cold. Hakyoung, sitting right beside him, witnessed his eyes completely change.
“Honestly, don’t you all think the same?”
When he sought agreement, murmuring began around them.
“No.”
Yumyeong said flatly.
“We’re not doing it. We absolutely won’t become the same kind of people.”
His stern face dripping with coldness was unsettling. When Yumyeong glared at the other person, even the slight commotion that had been murmuring died down.
In the silence, Yumyeong opened his mouth.
“Think about it, you. We received so many punishment drills, but did we become obedient? Only our rebelliousness increased and our relationship with the third-years got worse. It’s the same with the first-years. Will they change? Do you think that can be done through punishment drills?”
“……”
“You suffered so much yourself, I’m disappointed.”
The atmosphere sank coldly. The other person lost the will to refute and closed his mouth.
After a moment, Yumyeong sighed deeply and opened his mouth again.
“Sorry if I was too harsh. But I think we shouldn’t pass this on and should end it in our generation. I understand your feelings of unfairness. But if you’re upset, go ram into the third-years directly. You think that’s ridiculous? You think they’ll be upperclassmen forever? After graduation, let’s get into better universities, better jobs and put them in their place. Don’t torment innocent first-years.”
Most nodded as if agreeing with those words. Only the guy who had argued for punishment drills was silently hanging his head. As if that bothered him, Yumyeong walked over on his knees after a moment and placed his hand on the guy’s shoulder.
“Hey, embarrassed?”
“Ugh, how could I not be embarrassed.”
The guy pushed him away with his arm as if telling him to go away, but Yumyeong deliberately held on again and chuckled. Hakyoung watched with slightly amazed eyes as Yumyeong quickly changed the atmosphere.
He had thought a fight would break out, but the two were laughing and bickering.
At the same time, he felt inexplicably complex emotions at the fact that freezing and then thawing hearts wasn’t behavior limited only to himself.
“So we’re not giving punishment drills? What are we going to do?”
At someone’s question, Yumyeong turned around.
“Ah, so my idea is……”
A few days later, the third-years left the school for their retreat.
Rain was drizzling down on the campus that somehow felt leisurely with a third of the students gone.
Yumyeong had gone to the staff room early before class ended and borrowed the gymnasium key. PE teacher Teacher Jang handed over the key with a ‘that figures’ face and said.
“You guys are finally starting up too, huh. Yeah, it’s about time the first-years learned the atmosphere.”
At the tone that was far from stopping them and rather condoning it, Yumyeong forced a smile.
And that evening, after finishing roll call, Yumyeong stopped by the supervisor’s office, grabbed the microphone, and made an announcement throughout the entire dormitory.
“All first-year male students, all first-year male students assemble in the gymnasium right now. I repeat. All first-year male students right now to the gymnasium……”
At the sudden announcement, the first-years came out of their rooms in confusion. Dragging slippers, rubbing sleepy eyes, they came out to the hallway, crossed the sky bridge and headed to the gymnasium. It would have been a scene the third-years would have reprimanded for being undisciplined. However, none of the second-year punishment drill members rushed them, and they just lazily followed behind the slowest first-years’ tails.
Hakyoung was with them too.
Late at night, all the first-years gathered in the gymnasium brightly lit white. Yumyeong let out a short sigh and stood up, stepping forward. Seeing guys standing there with bewildered faces, having bird’s nests in their hair or wearing shorts, didn’t feel good.
But I have to do it.
“Everyone attention, at ease. Attention. Dress right, dress~”
When Yumyeong’s voice, which had started powerfully, became gentle, the first-years who had been following the commands without knowing why began to giggle. The second-years strolled around among them and occasionally shushed the guys who were messing around to focus their attention.
Yumyeong clapped his hands and raised his voice.
“Quiet! Focus!”
When everyone’s eyes gathered, Yumyeong nodded as if satisfied.
“First-years! Today we, as your upperclassmen, have probably called you like this for the first and last time. We’ll only take up your time for today. Then I promise there will never be a single time we call you for something like this for the next two years. The reason we called you is to talk about something very important, which is nothing other than…… we’re going to pass on a few tips for doing well in school life.”
While saying that, Yumyeong moved a few steps.
“You made eye contact with an upperclassman you don’t know in the hallway. What do you do then? You, answer.”
When he pointed to a first-year whose eyes met his, the first-year answered in a crawling voice.
“Greet them……”
“No, wrong. You can ignore upperclassmen you don’t know. Only greet upperclassmen you know.”
The underclassman who got it wrong even though he gave the right answer scratched his head awkwardly. Yumyeong headed to the row behind him.
“Next question. You’re eating in the cafeteria when an upperclassman who came late is looking around because there’s no seat. What do you do then?”
“Give up my seat……?”
“No no, they came late so why should you care? Eat your food deliciously.”
Then he spoke to another first-year who seemed nervous.
“Next is you. The elevator opens full and an upperclassman is waiting in front. What do you do then?”
“Should, should I get off?”
“You can just go up saying ‘Take the next one.'”
By this point, the first-years were catching on to the answers Yumyeong wanted even without understanding why. After finishing the Q&A like that, Yumyeong, who had come around to the front again, said.
“You’re all more excellent than we thought? Your discipline is very tight. Okay, from now on, shall we do push-ups for about 30 minutes?”
Then the first-years murmured.
“Don’t want to?”
Among the hesitating guys, the sound of someone bravely shouting ‘We don’t want to!’ was heard. It would have been a sight that would make the third-years go ‘Is this even a punishment drill?’ in disbelief. However, Yumyeong nodded greatly and sighed.
“Mmm, can’t be helped. If you don’t want to do it, I can’t force you……”
He pretended to ponder unnecessarily, lost in thought, then raised his head.
“The third-year sunbaes told us to definitely fix your mindset today. Of course, from what I see, there’s nothing wrong with your mindset. But you need to look like you’ve received a punishment drill, you know. Word has to spread that it was the harshest punishment drill since the school’s founding, you see?”
The first-years began to murmur. The second-years shushed the guys to be quiet again. When the commotion died down, Yumyeong grinned.
“So I can’t send you off right now…… let’s play drop the handkerchief before we go!”
Shortly after, the first-years gathered by class and sat in circles. The first-years who were looking around thinking they’d really play drop the handkerchief let out excited ‘Waa!’ sounds when they saw the bundles of snacks the second-years brought. Like that, the second-years scattered in twos and threes, approaching each circle and mixing in with the underclassmen.
As the atmosphere relaxed, laughter flowed here and there occasionally. It was truly a harmonious scene between upperclassmen and underclassmen.
The second-years conveyed the reasons why they had no choice but to call them like this, the history of punishment drills they had actually endured until now, the unfairness, and how they now wanted to break that cycle of passing it on.
Of course, the one who had the most to say about this was Yumyeong. If he got serious, he could passionately speak endlessly, but somehow feeling drained, he trudged alone toward the outside of the gymnasium.
The rain had gotten heavier than before. Someone approached behind Yumyeong as he watched the rain drawing white lines across the black night sky.
“What are you doing alone.”
It was Hakyoung. Yumyeong turned around and smiled.
“Ah, this is nothing but I feel drained.”
