You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 71

You Have Been Defended – Episode 71

[Former Seoul Metropolitan Superintendent of Education Lee Mun-young, former Jangmyeong High School Principal Han Cheol-yong, and instructor Kim Hak-seong appeared at the prosecutor’s office as defendants.]

And this morning, Jangmyeong High School announced that Lee, son of former Seoul Metropolitan Superintendent of Education Lee, who had maintained the top rank in the entire school through the leakage of exam papers, was expelled three days ago.

The legal representative of former Superintendent Lee argued that Lee’s grades in the re-administered final exam declined not because he had received the exam papers in advance, but because he couldn’t perform well under extreme pressure and psychological stress.

However, instructor Kim confessed that he had given the exam papers to Lee, proving the claim to be false.

In addition, Kim’s statement that there were three more students who took private tutoring with Lee at the time of tutoring has caused shock.

Kim revealed that he directly showed the exam papers and answers only to Lee, and distributed practice problem sets to the three students who took private tutoring together, subtly mixing leaked exam questions into them.

Accordingly, the three students who took private tutoring with Lee stated that they were not aware of such facts at all, but it was reported that they soon submitted their resignations one after another.

On the way to Jangmyeong High School, the news of the exam paper leak, which had recently caused a great stir, was playing on the bus.

The male high school students filling the bus chattered among themselves, sharing stories about what Lee Hyuk-min was like and how suspicious he had been.

Those who had lived under Lee Hyuk-min’s thumb until he was expelled now spoke without any hesitation about how cruel he had been.

Of course, the story also featured Hwangbo Han-joon, a student who had transferred schools as if fleeing from his bullying, and Park Jin-cheol, a student who had fallen from the classroom to the first-floor flower bed about two months ago.

They were all bystanders.

They had desperately turned a blind eye to injustice and kept their mouths shut in order not to become targets of bullying.

But now, with the domineering Eom Seok-dae gone, what will happen?

“Ah, I’m so annoyed that the vacation is delayed because of the re-exam.”

“But it’s vacation today.”

The classroom of the 2nd grade, 5th class was ordinary except for the fact that they had taken the re-exam again.

Lee Hyuk-min’s expulsion had already happened a few days ago, and they had talked about it enough.

Now, with the question of what to do during the vacation being more pressing, someone quietly spoke up.

“Hey, but… now that it’s vacation, is Park Jin-cheol coming back? Isn’t he still recovering from his injuries?”

Silence fell in the classroom.

The student who suddenly brought up the topic scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed.

“To be honest, didn’t Lee Hyuk-min bully Park Jin-cheol relentlessly? Now that Lee Hyuk-min is gone, shouldn’t Park Jin-cheol be able to come back…”

And he added one more word with courage.

At that moment, the students recalled their silence when Jin-cheol plummeted from the window to the bare ground, because they were afraid of Lee Hyuk-min’s fierce demeanor.

A cowardly and cruel dictator disappeared, and now it seemed that spring was coming, but there were still burdens left for them.

If it weren’t for Park Jin-cheol’s case, they would have remained only as indirect victims of the grade manipulation, but now they were in a situation of being abettors or indirect perpetrators.

“Has anyone contacted Park Jin-cheol?”

Everyone fell silent at the question.

In fact, there wasn’t anyone who hadn’t thought of Park Jin-cheol’s face after Lee Hyuk-min left the school as if being chased away.

But now, even if they contacted him, it felt like an even more awkward thing to do, so they closed their phones, interrupting the text messages they were composing.

“Did you?”

One of the students asked.

Then, the student who had been talking about Jin-cheol also shut his mouth tightly.

“…Park Jin-cheol fell because of Lee Hyuk-min, but it’s a bit much to act like he fell while putting on a show.”

Another student said quietly, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, but isn’t it a bit much to say that it wasn’t true now…? Ah, I really don’t know.”

It’s already been two months.

His fall was definitely shocking, but it was easily forgotten by high school students who encounter so many things every day.

What was more memorable was that Woo-hyuk scored an own goal in the soccer game they played on the playground last lunchtime than Park Jin-cheol’s fall.

Creak.

It was then.

The back door opened, and someone came into the classroom with their head bowed.

The student went to the seat that had been empty for two months and placed a light schoolbag on the desk.

All the students’ eyes were on him.

But no one spoke to him.

“Excuse me, a chair for a moment.”

Someone spoke only when he asked his partner to move to the inside seat.

Squeak.

With the sound of a chair scraping on the floor, the partner moved the chair inside, and he naturally squeezed his body into the gap and sat down.

“Hey, Park Jin-cheol… are, are you okay now?”

The partner, who hadn’t said a word two months ago, asked carefully.

Jin-cheol glanced at him and replied briefly.

“Somewhat.”

“…That’s a relief.”

The students’ chairs stirred.

They knew that they had to get up right now and go to Jin-cheol’s seat and apologize for burying the matter like that at that time, but their bodies wouldn’t move.

As time passed hesitantly, the homeroom teacher came in for the morning assembly.

“….”

The homeroom teacher stared at Jin-cheol, who was sitting in the corner seat, for a while.

There was nothing to be surprised about because he had contacted them a few days ago that he would be attending school from today, and Jin-cheol had briefly visited the faculty room with his mother to say hello in advance.

Nevertheless, the sight of Jin-cheol sitting in the classroom was unfamiliar, so his gaze kept lingering there.

The homeroom teacher soon realized that his gaze could affect the other students and turned his head to the front.

“Well, Jin-cheol is almost fully recovered and can come back to school. Everyone welcomed him, right?”

The students were silent at the teacher’s question.

Jin-cheol was looking out the window without paying any attention.

“Although it’s vacation now, and we’ll be in the 3rd grade after the spring vacation. Anyway, I’m glad that Jin-cheol has returned healthy. Let’s all give him a round of applause.”

The students applauded at the homeroom teacher’s words.

It was an uneasy and poorly timed applause.

After that, an ordinary vacation ceremony began.

A large television set was turned on in the classroom, and the new principal appeared on the poor-quality screen and began his address.

The principal had changed two weeks ago, but the students didn’t pay much attention to the principal.

They just thought it was good that the criminal was gone.

After the address, the homeroom teacher handed out handouts and gave advice that would be helpful to the students who would become high school seniors [In South Korea, high school seniors are under immense pressure to perform well on the Suneung, the national college entrance exam].

Of course, they felt pressured by the thought of becoming high school seniors, but the students on vacation didn’t look excited at all.

“Well, have a good vacation.”

The students, who were reaching for their bags at the homeroom teacher’s words to wrap up, suddenly noticed men in suits reflected in the windows facing the classroom hallway.

“Before you go home, there’s someone I’d like to bring in for a moment. I know you want to go home quickly, but it’s important, so please take a moment.”

After finishing speaking, the homeroom teacher opened the front door.

And through the open door, the two men who had been glimpsed through the window on the hallway side came inside.

They were faces they had never seen before.

The students shifted their gaze, following their movements.

The homeroom teacher moved to the TV stand, and the man with the sharper impression stood in front of the podium.

The students tried to guess their identities, sharing notes such as ‘Who is it?’ ‘I don’t know either’ on the corners of the family communication letters [documents sent between school and parents].

And they soon revealed their identities, as if to solve the students’ curiosity.

“Hello, students. I’m attorney Cha Joo-han. And this is attorney Kang Min-jae.”

The students began to buzz at the word “attorney.”

Cha Joo-han looked around the classroom once and then said again with emphasis.

“We are also the legal representatives of Park Jin-cheol.”

Some of the students glanced back at the seat where Jin-cheol was sitting at those words.

But Jin-cheol was just fiddling with his cell phone, not making eye contact with anyone.

“As you all know, last October, there was an incident in which Park Jin-cheol fell from the window of this classroom, the 2nd grade, 5th class, to the first-floor flower bed. Due to that incident, Jin-cheol had to leave school and live in the hospital for two months.”

The students were agitated.

They thought that what was coming had come, and they also worried about what to do now.

Cha Joo-han said, watching their confusion with a steady gaze.

“I asked the homeroom teacher about the circumstances of the incident, and I heard the answer that Jin-cheol was playing around and his indoor shoes flew out the window, and he ran to catch them and fell. You testified that way, he said.”

A sharp silence fell in the classroom.

Some students were silent at the phrase ‘You testified that way’.

That was true.

Everyone here, even when investigated anonymously, wrote it down as if they had planned it.

It was because they were afraid of Lee Hyuk-min.

“In court, a witness swears that they will not lie, and that they will be punished if the lie is revealed.”

“….”

“However, even if the witness reverses their testimony before the examination is over, that is, recants it, and the first testimony becomes a false testimony, they will not be punished.”

The students stared at Cha Joo-han as if they were dead mice [a Korean idiom for being silent and scared].

“Maybe it’s because the truth is more important. I think that if it’s to know the truth, we can forgive the witness for being shaken by temptation or threat and lying for a moment. That’s what I think.”

The students grabbed the hem of their school uniform pants tightly with their hands hidden under the desk.

It was because they felt like they knew what that person wanted to say.

“As the legal representatives of Park Jin-cheol, we have been investigating for a long time to hold Lee Hyuk-min and his group accountable for the violence they inflicted on Park Jin-cheol.”

From now on, it was the main point.

The students were all sensing it too.

Cold sweat filled the hands holding the school uniform pants, and someone wiped the sweat on their pants.

“Everyone. The trial has not yet begun. Of course, the examination has not yet begun. No one will blame you for reversing your testimony.”

“….”

“Is there anyone among you who witnessed Lee Hyuk-min and his group inflicting physical and verbal violence on Park Jin-cheol? And what happened on the day Park Jin-cheol fell? We have been waiting a long time to ask you this question.”

Then, Kang Min-jae put down a stack of business cards for each group.

The students each took a business card and passed the rest back.

Soon, all the students received one business card each.

“What we have distributed are our business cards. If you don’t have the courage to speak now, please contact us at the phone number or email address listed on the business card.”

After confirming that all the students had received the business cards, Cha Joo-han said calmly.

“I’m sorry for taking up your precious time when you want to go home quickly because it’s the vacation ceremony. Then, have a good vacation.”

Cha Joo-han and Kang Min-jae bowed in unison and briefly greeted the homeroom teacher who was watching them from the side.

They slowly walked to the front door.

All the students watched them leave.

And the student whose hands were unusually wet with cold sweat raised his head.

“…Excuse me, attorney. Just a moment.”