# Chapter 5
“Ha, this is ridiculous. That guy must have a split personality, right? He acts like that in front of you all? Earlier he was laughing at me, picking fights, and even verbally abusing me.”
“Come on… tone it down.”
Hanju shook his head as if telling him to stop lying. Seeing that his friend wasn’t taking him seriously at all, Yumyeong lost his will to fight.
“Sigh. No one takes my side.”
Yumyeong crawled onto his bed, stretched out, and tilted his head back.
Hanju had always been fair-minded. You could tell by how he treated Yumyeong the same as before, not distancing himself even though Yumyeong’s grades and conduct had become a mess since entering second year, and how he consistently nagged him to get his act together. So there was no point in feeling upset or complaining that he wasn’t taking his side in this matter.
Besides, it made sense that the other students didn’t know the transfer student’s true nature yet. It had only been one day since he transferred.
With such a personality, the guy’s true nature would be revealed soon enough. Even if not, Yumyeong would unmask him himself.
Yumyeong secretly vowed this as he closed his eyes. Then Hanju’s voice drifted into his ears.
“Yumyeong. Remember I said earlier that the transfer student looked familiar?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Yumyeong responded half-heartedly.
“He’s more famous than I thought.”
“Really?”
As he picked at his ear, barely listening, Hanju gave him a look that said this was boring.
“His mom is a celebrity. Not just any celebrity, but the actress Jin Hwayoung! Seems I wasn’t the only one who recognized him. The rumors spread super fast. I think he was staying quiet because he knew people would recognize him. That’s strange too. And they say he’s super rich. If it were me, I’d be itching to show off, but he doesn’t seem like that at all.”
Yumyeong just stared blankly at Hanju without any particular response. Hanju then said, as if deflated:
“You really don’t care, do you?”
“Should I… care? He’s just a guy anyway.”
“Wow. If the transfer student were a girl, would you be going crazy?”
“Hmph, both you and me. So are you saying you like him because he’s rich? You slave to capitalism.”
“No way!”
Hanju denied it vehemently. Anyway, with that one statement, Yumyeong was able to shut up his chattering friend.
***
News travels fast in the dormitory. With a limited number of people living in an isolated place, rumors that spread one day become known to all students by the next.
Last night, two topics circulated through every room of the dormitory.
First, Shin Yumyeong’s rejection.
Second, rumors about the transfer student.
Word had it that he was the first transfer student to appear at this school in five years. There were also rumors that a special admission process was hastily created just to accept him.
Meanwhile, Yumyeong had fallen into doubt. Usually, families of such wealth would send their children to prestigious high schools in the Seoul metropolitan area or international schools, or if their child wasn’t academically gifted, they’d send them abroad for early study. This school, though a private self-governing high school, was located quite far from the metropolitan area. While it could be positively described as an environment conducive to focusing on studies, in reality, it was completely isolated. In other words, it wasn’t a school that people with more options would deliberately choose.
So Yumyeong had thought that perhaps he too had been pushed out of his parents’ attention since entering this school.
From a young age, his father had habitually told Yumyeong that he should attend a certain American high school that he himself had graduated from. The implication was to follow the path of prestigious high schools and Ivy League universities that graduates of political and business circles had taken, to build connections.
But when his late-born younger sibling arrived and began monopolizing the family’s attention, such talk disappeared. Far from studying abroad, he couldn’t even attend a school within the metropolitan area where he could commute, and was instead “put away” here all alone.
Children from wealthy families are never openly abandoned. Because of public perception. They discard their children very subtly. So subtly that even the discarded child doesn’t notice.
Just like himself.
Similarly, Yumyeong began to wonder if the transfer student might be in a similar situation.
There must have been other students with the same question, as various rumors soon began to circulate. There was speculation that the transfer student had caused a major incident and was “exiled” here. Otherwise, there would be no reason to return to Korea in the middle of high school and attend a boarding school.
Yumyeong found that rumor quite convincing.
There must be a reason why his parents brought him back to Korea despite it being more beneficial to continue his studies in America. And of all places, to this isolated mountain valley boarding school.
Despite his angelic appearance, maybe he had been extremely debauched, or perhaps…
He might have dealt with things that should never be touched, like guns or drugs!
Although it seemed far-fetched, Yumyeong thought it wasn’t entirely impossible. He had already confirmed that beneath that disarming face was something completely different.
‘But what kind of incident could it have been?’
While it’s common to find kids with spoiled, entitled personalities who grew up pampered, that alone isn’t reason enough to be cast out by parents. This guy too must have committed some grave offense that betrayed his parents’ expectations. Yumyeong wanted to know what it was.
***
At 10:30 PM, evening roll call begins in the dormitory.
Students who stayed at school for after-school activities or spent time in the self-study room hurry back to the dormitory, and students who were in other dormitory rooms return to their own.
“The dorm supervisor is coming up!”
As the supervisor finished roll call on the lower floor and came trudging up the stairs, dormitory room doors opened one after another along both sides of the long corridor. Students from each room stood in a line in front of their wide-open doors. They presented a varied spectacle: some with bedhead who had just woken up, some still in their school uniforms having just returned from school, some dripping water from their hair after just washing.
“Beginning roll call for the third floor. Room 301, sound off!”
The four students lined up inside the open door of Room 301 called out their names in order. After briefly checking inside, the supervisor nodded and moved to the next room.
“Who rearranged the beds? Put them back in their original positions.”
“But we moved them with such effort…”
The guy standing at the door whined. The furniture in the small dormitory room was limited, but there were some who displayed all sorts of artistic skills with it. This time, they had pushed the bunk beds together and moved the desks to create a fortress. It was a creative arrangement that required climbing onto the desk and squeezing through a gap every time they wanted to get in to sleep. The supervisor clicked his tongue in dismay.
“Change it back by tomorrow. This is a violation of fire safety regulations, you idiots.”
The supervisor moved to the next room. A cold blast of air hit him from the open doorway. He peered inside with a startled expression. The air conditioner was running at full blast.
“It’s the middle of winter and you’re running the air conditioner like this?”
“The heating is too strong. I have a lot of body heat.”
A guy who seemed to have already caught a cold from the air conditioner said, sniffling. The supervisor clicked his tongue, unplugged the air conditioner, and moved to the next room.
Meanwhile, Yumyeong was in a standoff with the transfer student across from him.
As luck would have it, the transfer student had been assigned to Room 310, directly opposite Yumyeong’s Room 303. Because of this, Yumyeong’s mood soured every time they opened their doors for roll call.
Leaning against the open doorframe, Yumyeong once again looked the other up and down with his arms crossed. The transfer student, faced with this clearly unfriendly attitude, didn’t back down and returned the gaze. They continued their staring contest until it was their room’s turn.
“Hmm, this room is clean. Good.”
The staring contest ended anticlimactically as the supervisor squeezed between them. Yumyeong blinked his strained eyes tightly and muttered, “stubborn guy.”
“Gasp. Yumyeong, why are your eyes so red? Looks like you burst a blood vessel.”
Hanju made a fuss, oblivious to the situation. Yumyeong ignored him and looked elsewhere without responding.
“Good. Ryu Hakyoung. Are you getting more familiar with the dormitory rules? Keep it up like this, and if you have any questions, ask your friends.”
“Yes.”
The transfer student answered neatly. His eyes, downcast in front of the supervisor, looked obedient as if he had never provoked a fight. Looking at him again, it was amazing how different his outside appearance was from his inner nature.
‘I know your true self.’
Just as he was smirking while looking at that face, the supervisor suddenly turned around.
“Shin Yumyeong!”
“Yes! Sir.”
Yumyeong stood at attention. The supervisor poked Yumyeong’s forehead with his bundle of keys.
“Don’t be a bad influence on the transfer student.”
“What did I do?”
Yumyeong put on a look of innocence no less convincing than the transfer student’s. Ordering unauthorized late-night snacks, going up to the locked rooftop after roll call to spread out mats and stay up all night—these were just “minor deviations” from Yumyeong’s perspective. But the supervisor had already turned back to the transfer student.
“I know dormitory life can be stifling and boring, but I can only turn a blind eye if you keep it moderate. If you act like a rogue like this guy, there’s a limit to how much I can overlook.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The transfer student answered politely. Yumyeong narrowed his eyes and glared at the transfer student’s fake expression.
After roll call, Yumyeong trudged through the now even more boisterous dormitory corridor toward the laundry room.
He had been putting it off, but today it really felt like he had to do it. He needed to clean the crow droppings off his sneakers. It was just a tiny spot on the edge, but it was increasingly irritating as it wouldn’t come off no matter how much he scraped it against the floor.
The laundry room is located on every odd-numbered floor of the dormitory. Yumyeong went down one flight of stairs to the laundry room and glanced at the washing machines lined up there.
“I guess I can’t just throw it in the washing machine?”
Sighing, he grabbed a basin. Though he had never done this before, he boldly rolled up his sleeves.
Just as he was about to make soap suds, a strange sound came from the storage area at the back of the laundry room.
‘What’s that?’
It was an unpleasant, bizarre cry, like weeping or mumbling. Yumyeong’s face stiffened as he headed toward it.
