PEN Vol 2 Ch. 14

The tone in his voice was as if asking, How dare you cause this mess and make me come all the way here, only to try and leave now?

In the face of the awkward situation, Sejin shrank his shoulders and responded in a small, timid voice.

“I was going to apologize to Lee Haegyun…”

“Why would you apologize? Go back in.”

Cutting him off as if there was nothing more to discuss, Cheon Sejoo turned Sejin around by his shoulders. Sejin, looking bewildered, walked in the direction where Sejoo pushed him. The man guided him into a chair and pressed his shoulders down, forcing him to sit. But the moment Sejin barely sat down, the chair, which had wheels, suddenly spun around and changed direction.

Kwon Sejin was so startled that he didn’t even have the time to ask what was going on. In front of him, Cheon Sejoo knelt on one knee and carefully grabbed Sejin’s ankle with a cautious hand.

It was Sejin’s left ankle, the one he had been limping on. The cold touch of Sejoo’s fingers brushing on his feverish skin made his muscles tingle. Sejin reflexively curled his toes and stared blankly at the top of the man’s head sitting in front of him.

“Does it hurt?”

Cheon Sejoo asked in a cold, firm voice as he twisted Sejin’s ankle slightly to check it. Sejin, feeling the pain as it was, simply responded with ‘Yeah…’ as he stared at the man’s unexpected presence.

He looked different from how he had when they parted that morning—no, he was different from how he’d ever been before. His hair, normally disheveled, was slicked back without a strand out of place. His shirt was buttoned up all the way to his neck, paired with a deep navy tie, presenting him a completely polished appearance that Sejin had never seen on him before.

Looking at him like that, Sejin felt strangely unsettled. It was as if he were looking at a completely different person.

“You’ve torn your ligament.”

The man diagnosed him as if he were a doctor, but Sejin didn’t even have the energy to retort sarcastically, questioning what he knew.

Cheon Sejoo, noticing the severe bruising on Sejin’s ankle, rolled up his pants to check his calf. His smooth leg, slim without an ounce of excess flesh, was also covered in bruises. As Cheon Sejoo’s gaze turned even colder upon seeing this, Sejin, unaware of his reaction, absentmindedly voiced the question that had been on his mind.

“Why are you here?”

“……”

Cheon Sejoo raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Sejin. His strikingly handsome face appeared cooler than usual, and he seemed to be in a very bad mood.

It was only then that Sejin remembered the argument they had earlier that morning, not quite a fight but the atmosphere was tense, nonetheless. He had told Cheon Sejoo to stop caring about him, and now here he was, after hearing such words, it must have been baffling for him to receive a call from his homeroom teacher.

…But why did he come here?

Shouldn’t he have just hung up the phone and said it was none of his business?

“Why did you come?”

You’re not even my guardian.

Sejin asked Cheon Sejoo again. His heart raced as he faced the sudden situation. All he could do was look at Cheon Sejoo with an expression of complete confusion, feeling an inexplicable trembling and excitement.

“They said you hit them first. Is that true?”

“…What?”

Cheon Sejoo didn’t answer Sejin’s question. Instead, he raised his eyebrows, as if wanting to confirm if what he had heard was true.

Sejin, still unable to fully grasp the situation, stared blankly at Cheon Sejoo for a while. Then, at the repeated question of whether he hit first, he finally nodded.

Yeah.

Hearing Sejin’s confirmation, Cheon Sejoo finally broke his expressionless face with a smile.

“Well done.”

A large hand reached out and ruffled Sejin’s hair. As the man’s movement stirred the air, Sejin caught a faint whiff of his familiar scent. Sejin parted his lips in a daze, catching a hint of vanilla scent mixed with cigarette smoke. The cut on the corner of his lips opened again, causing a drop of fresh blood to seep out, but he didn’t even notice.

Unable to fully understand the absurdity of the situation he found himself in, Sejin stared down at the man who had returned to inspecting his ankle, who was now back to his indifferent expression.

Are you crazy?

Why did you even come here?

What, are you supposed to be my family or something?

We don’t even share a drop of blood.

All you did was give me a room and make me do housework, so what right do you have to come here…?

The words Sejin wanted to say to the man swirled around in his mouth. However, he couldn’t bring himself to say them. He was afraid that if he said such things, the man might leave. He was scared that Cheon Sejoo might walk out of the counseling room, calling him an ungrateful brat, and disappear for good. Thus, Sejin kept his mouth shut.

“Sir, have you two finished your conversation?”

Just then, a knock sounded, and a voice was heard from outside the door. It was the voice of Sejin’s homeroom teacher, Seo Bohyung. Sejin felt a surge of confusion, realizing that the “sir” his homeroom teacher was referring to was none other than Cheon Sejoo.

His handsome face was adorned with a polite smile as he checked the watch on his right wrist and responded to Seo Bohyung with impeccable manners.

“It’s time. I’ll head over now.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Please take your time!”

As if he was in a particularly good mood, he replied with a wide smile. Unlike earlier, when Seo Bohyung had seemed annoyed by everything, his tone was now full of enthusiasm. When his eyes met Sejin’s, who had been blankly staring at their interaction behind Cheon Sejoo, Seo Bohyung looked slightly embarrassed and quickly left with an awkward smile.

Leaving the door open, Cheon Sejoo returned to Sejin. He glanced down at Sejin, who now only stared wide-eyed in surprise, unlike his usual snarky self, then reached out and placed a hand on Sejin’s forehead to check his temperature.

Clicking his tongue softly, Cheon Sejoo immediately pulled his warm hand away and went behind Sejin. Without a word, he began pushing Sejin’s wheelchair.

“W-What are you doing!”

Sejin belatedly looked up at him, confused. But Cheon Sejoo didn’t stop pushing the wheelchair. Instead, he spoke firmly.

“When we get there, keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything unnecessary.”

“…What?”

Sejin didn’t even have time to ask what that meant.

Cheon Sejoo had already left the counseling room and was pushing the chair toward their destination. Before Sejin could even react startled by the sign that read “Principal’s Office,” the door opened.

Inside the principal’s office, the room was furnished with two large sofas facing each other across the low table between them, and people were gathered there. Seated in the principal’s office was the principal at the head, with the vice principal and Seo Bohyung on either side of him. On the right side of the sofa sat Lee Haegyun and his mother, and on the opposite sofa sat a middle-aged man in a sharply pressed suit.

Kim Byungjun’s father, who had stopped by the school earlier had already left, saying he didn’t have time to wait, leaving the final decision to Lee Haegyun’s side.

Cheon Sejoo approached the middle-aged man sitting nearby, bringing Sejin along, who was still too stunned to speak properly.

“Ah, you’ve arrived, Manager.”

The middle-aged man, upon seeing Cheon Sejoo, stood up from his seat and bowed respectfully.

Cheon Sejoo slightly nodded in acknowledgment and then turned around, lifting Sejin into his arms. Sejin, caught off guard, almost yelled out, ‘What are you doing?!’ but then he closed his mouth. Cheon Sejoo’s eyes, which met his gaze up close, were silently telling him to stay quiet.

Cheon Sejoo gently placed Sejin down on the sofa, treating him with the care one would show a patient. After that, he straightened his posture and smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit jacket. His movements were calm and relaxed, without a trace of urgency.

Before sitting down himself, he pulled out a business card from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He handed the pristine white business card, held between his fingers, to the principal, who received it with a tense expression. Upon checking it, the principal’s face instantly showed clear signs of discomfort.

“I’m sorry for being late. I got the call while I was at work.”

Cheon Sejoo then sat down and leaned on the sofa, crossing his legs and giving a slight nod toward the side where Lee Haegyun was seated.

His confident and leisurely demeanor caused Lee Haegyun’s mother to frown for a moment, but her expression soon changed to one of surprise and unease as she received the business card that had been slid across the table towards her.

Sejin, curious about what was written on the business card, could only sit silently, as Cheon Sejoo hadn’t given him one.

“……”

Lee Haegyun’s mother also handed her own business card to Cheon Sejoo. He barely glanced at it before passing it to the middle-aged man sitting next to him. With the exchange of business cards, which felt more like a subtle display of dominance than an introduction, concluded, the principal then took the lead in starting the conversation.

“Now, the reason we’re gathered here today is due to an unfortunate incident that occurred between our students….”

Before the principal could even finish, Lee Haegyun’s mother interrupted, eyeing Cheon Sejoo warily as she spoke in an accusatory tone.

“An unfortunate incident? My child was beaten with a metal tray until he was bleeding, and you’re calling it an unfortunate incident?! It was a one-sided assault!”

“Excuse me, but the trays used in high schools these days are made of stainless steel. I’d appreciate it if you refrained from using inaccurate terms like ‘metal.’”

It was the middle-aged man seated beside Cheon Sejoo who cut her off.

All eyes now turned toward him as he calmly clarified her wording. Then, he placed a black recording device on the table, pulling it from his briefcase. Looking around the room, he calmly spoke.

“I’ll be recording this conversation from now on. Please keep in mind that it’s not illegal for a participant in the discussion to record the proceedings.”

“Hah! This is absurd!”

“The parties involved in this discussion include myself, Lee Younghoon, a partner lawyer from SeongSan Law Firm, Manager Cheon Sejoo from DG O&M, the principal and vice principal of East Seoul Boys High School, the victim, Kwon Sejin, the perpetrator, Lee Haegyun, their guardians, and the homeroom teachers of both students involved.”