Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 289

289. Little Fox

I was sure I would get scolded and nagged a lot.

Since it was my fault, I thought I had no excuse even if I got scolded. But Mom’s strange words confused Seo Jun-woo.

“Listen carefully to what Mom says from now on. Pretend you don’t know anything about this.”

Mom moved to Seo Jun-woo’s side, who was sitting on the bed, and whispered.

“From what the detective said, Seung-gyu is the problem. If they ask you, say you don’t know.”

“What are you talking about? I already told the detective everything.”

“That’s why you should have talked to Mom and Dad before saying anything.”

“Mom…….”

“If they ask you again, say you don’t remember, and say you don’t know anything about Seung-gyu. Tomorrow, Mom will talk to a lawyer to see how best to handle it…….”

“Mom, wait a minute!”

Seo Jun-woo, who was listening to his mother’s story, stood up and raised his voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about right now. Are you saying I should cover up Seung-gyu’s mistake?”

“I’m not saying cover it up, I’m just saying pretend you don’t know.”

“That’s the same thing. Why should I do that?”

“Why else! Because I’m worried you’ll get caught in the crossfire.”

“Why would I get caught in the crossfire when I didn’t do anything wrong? Me and the kids were all deceived by that bastard! And if you do something wrong, you have to take responsibility.”

“Why are you getting so excited? You didn’t do anything wrong, so why are you talking about taking responsibility?”

“Mom!”

“Be quiet. The detective outside will hear everything. Do you think Mom is doing this for no reason?”

Mom grabbed Seo Jun-woo’s arm and made him sit down, then told him the real reason.

“Seung-gyu’s mom came to our house today.”

“Why did Seung-gyu’s aunt come? Does she know about this?”

“Not that. Jun-woo, you know Mr. Kwak from Daechi-dong, right?”

Mr. Kwak was a so-called top-tier instructor, a famous person known to almost all high school students and parents preparing for college entrance exams.

“Seung-gyu’s mom hired him as a tutor for your club members. They say if you learn from him, your scores will definitely go up. She managed to get him with great difficulty, are you going to miss this opportunity?”

The sight of parents being desperate to send their children to good universities was not just something that appeared in movies or dramas.

The reality was even worse than that, and it was a recurring event every year in South Korea, which is called the Republic of College Entrance Exams.

“Please stop it, Mom. Don’t you know how serious and wrong this is right now?”

“Mom cares more about her own child than someone else’s child.”

“It’s a crime! What Go Seung-gyu did is a crime!!”

Click-

“What is all this noise!”

When Dad opened the door because of the two people’s argument, an agitated Seo Jun-woo stormed out of the room.

“Jun-woo!”

“Seo Jun-woo? Jun-woo, where are you going?”

Seo Jun-woo, who didn’t answer his parents’ calls, came out to the living room and suddenly turned on the TV.

“What are you doing now?”

“It’ll only take a minute. Please watch this, both of you!”

The video that Seo Jun-woo played on TV was about the narcotic painkillers that Tae-kyung had shown him at the hospital. Jun-woo turned up the volume so that his parents had no choice but to watch.

“Dad, Mom! The drug that Go Seung-gyu gave me and the kids is exactly this.”

“What Jun-woo said is correct. It is a highly addictive narcotic painkiller, and many people die from this drug every year in foreign countries. You two must be surprised by the sudden situation, but this is clearly a criminal act.”

“Mom, did you hear that? Are you still going to pretend you don’t know? And I don’t need a top-tier instructor’s tutoring, and I don’t want to become a doctor by deceiving my conscience. I’m your son, not your doll.”

“……!”

Mom couldn’t say anything and froze at her son’s unexpected remark.

She was even more surprised because he had never disobeyed her before.

“Detective, if there is anything our family can cooperate with in this matter, we will cooperate. I’m sorry, but could you please leave for today?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for being late. Then I’ll contact you again tomorrow.”

After Detective Kim left, Seo Jun-woo went into his room after listening to his dad’s words.

“How is Jun-woo?”

“He’s better than I thought. More than that, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m a little surprised because it’s the first time I’ve seen Jun-woo like that.”

“You must have been surprised too, but let’s calm down and think about it from Jun-woo’s perspective.”

“Honey? I’m sad if you say that. I’ve been doing that for Jun-woo so far.”

“I know. I know best how hard you’ve worked. But when Jun-woo was shouting earlier, I suddenly had a thought. I wonder if we ever asked for Jun-woo’s opinion.”

“That’s because he’s never said he didn’t like it. He’s always done well no matter what we asked him to do. I thought Jun-woo wanted it too.”

“That’s right. But it seems that we, as parents, didn’t know Jun-woo’s heart.”

“…….”

“It’s late, so let’s go to sleep. And don’t be close with that friend Seung-gyu’s mom.”

It was too sudden for everyone in the family.

The dad, who was the head of the family, calmed his wife down, thinking that they all needed time to sort out their feelings.

* * *

The next day-

Seo Jun-woo deliberately didn’t go to the club room until the end of class.

“Jun-woo? Let’s go to the club room.”

“Sorry. I have math problems left to solve.”

Lee Seon-i asked him to go with her from time to time, but he made excuses about studying and didn’t go.

After class and tutoring, Seo Jun-woo and the kids moved to their hideout.

“Jun-woo, why didn’t you come to the club room today?”

“Jun-woo was busy studying.”

“Lee Seon-i, are you Jun-woo’s girlfriend?”

“What, I’m just telling you.”

“Seon-i is right. I was busy with problem solving.”

“As expected, you’re the most exemplary student in our club.”

“Seung-gyu, who plays as much as he wants and still gets first place in the whole school, is really amazing.”

“Someone might misunderstand if they hear that. It’s just that I don’t do it at school, but I study a lot at home. Anyway, Jun-woo. Wasn’t it hard yesterday?”

Go Seung-gyu said as he walked towards the locker.

“No, it was simpler than I thought?”

“Right? I told you it’s not something to worry about that much. Once you do it, it’s nothing. It’s just a painkiller, so there’s nothing to worry about. So, it ended well without any problems, right?”

Seo Jun-woo, who was about to answer Go Seung-gyu’s question, suddenly jumped up from his chair.

Tak-

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Then, he snatched the painkiller from his friend who was about to put a candy-shaped Penxx painkiller in his mouth and threw it in the trash can.

“Don’t do this anymore!”

“Why did you throw it away!”

At that moment when his friend shouted at Seo Jun-woo for throwing away the painkiller, Go Seung-gyu, who had checked the locker, called Seo Jun-woo.

“Jun-woo, the painkiller is gone? Didn’t you put it here?”

“I wonder where the painkiller is?”

Seo Jun-woo asked back as he approached Go Seung-gyu.

“What are you talking about? You went to the hospital yesterday. Why are you suddenly throwing Seung-hoon’s painkiller in the trash can?”

“Jun-woo, you’re acting strange.”

“Stop joking around and tell me where the painkiller is.”

“Seung-gyu. Let me ask you something. Is that really just a simple painkiller?”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Really? I’ll ask you one last time. Is it real?”

“That’s what I’m saying. What are you trying to do now?”

“What am I doing? I’m trying to reveal your lies.”

Go Seung-gyu, who was feeling uncomfortable, was slowly getting annoyed, but Seo Jun-woo told the truth with a nonchalant expression.

“That’s not a painkiller. Guys, the candy and sticker that you’ve been believing to be a painkiller is not just a painkiller.”

“Jun-woo, what are you talking about?”

The kids, including Lee Seon-i, started to panic as they looked at Seo Jun-woo, who was speaking with sharp eyes.

“Have you never felt anything strange while doing that? Your mind is hazy and relaxed, and suddenly you feel good, and when you turn around, you want to do it again.”

“That’s right. That’s exactly it.”

“Do you really think this is a real painkiller? Did it feel like this when you took real painkillers like Tylenol [a common over-the-counter pain reliever]? It wasn’t!”

“Come to think of it, Jun-woo is right. I didn’t feel anything when I took Tylenol.”

The kids, who had never been aware of it until now, started to feel something strange.

“Then if it’s not a painkiller, what is it?”

“What Go Seung-gyu told us was a painkiller is a narcotic painkiller. This drug is highly addictive and dangerous, so it must be used after consulting with a specialist. It’s a crime if ordinary people like us use it.”

After that, Seo Jun-woo told the kids about the dangers of the drug and what happened at the hospital yesterday.

“……!”

“What is all this?”

“Go Seung-gyu deceived all of us.”

“Hey! Seung-gyu, what’s going on? Say something.”

“Ha! Shit. I thought you were a pathetic nerd, but you were a little fox.”

Go Seung-gyu, who had been listening quietly, revealed his true colors hidden behind his mask.

There was a reason why the kids didn’t know all this time.

Go Seung-gyu always ordered the old man to enter the pharmacy alone because he was afraid the kids would find out.

The kids believed everything he said because he said it wasn’t good to be caught on CCTV inside the pharmacy.

When the old man received the painkiller prescribed at the pharmacy, Go Seung-gyu put it in a sealed black bag and handed it over to the kids, who put it in the locker at the hideout.

After that, Go Seung-gyu changed the painkiller packaging, so there was no way to know that it was a narcotic painkiller.

“Yes, what Seo Jun-woo said is all true.”

“Hey! Go Seung-gyu, did you deceive us?”

“How could you give us narcotic painkillers? Are you crazy?”

The kids, who saw all the truth and Go Seung-gyu’s true colors, all raised their voices and got angry.

“Everything was good, right? You all enjoyed it, so what are you talking about now?”

“Are you saying that?”

“A simple painkiller and a narcotic painkiller are completely different, right?”

“What’s the difference? Whatever the reason, you guys did it too. Why? Are you suddenly scared because Seo Jun-woo said it’s a crime?”

Despite the kids’ complaints, Go Seung-gyu was not aware of his mistake at all.

“You’re so scared.”

“Is that what you should be saying now?”

“Then what should I say? Is there anyone here who is addicted to painkillers? Shit, there isn’t. That’s because I adjusted the intervals so that you wouldn’t get addicted. Do you understand?”

“Don’t you really know what’s wrong?”

Seo Jun-woo, who was listening to Go Seung-gyu’s nonsense, said with a dumbfounded expression.

“You not only deceived many kids, but you even sold it for money.”

“So? Did I take that money for myself? We used it together. Hey! You guys are really funny. And Seo Jun-woo, were you perhaps coveting my position? Is that why you’re doing this because you want to be the leader?”

“Don’t say ridiculous things and take responsibility for what you did wrong.”

“Responsibility? What responsibility.”

“Responsibility for your mistakes.”

“How about I write a letter of apology?”

“I’m not going to let this go.”

“If you don’t let it go? Are you going to snitch to the school? Go ahead. You don’t know because you haven’t been here long, but there’s no one at our school who can touch me.”

“No, I’m not going to tell the school?”

Seo Jun-woo, who was not pushed back by the shameless Go Seung-gyu, answered bravely and walked to the front door.

“Instead, I called the police teacher [a teacher who also serves as a liaison with the police].”

And he threw a word at the puzzled Go Seung-gyu and opened the front door.