Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 458

459. Responsibility

Kim Ha-seon placed the copied medical certificate on the table with a flourish, as if presenting a prize.

“The doctor suspected school violence right away and told me, so you can imagine how shocked I was… You all, and you kids, don’t even think about weaseling out of this.”

“Principal, let me be clear,” Lee Jae-cheon added, his voice hard. “If you don’t listen to my wife and me, I will immediately file a complaint with the Office of Education and inform the media. I’m not kidding.”

At Kim Ha-seon and Lee Jae-cheon’s threats, the principal’s face paled, and he hung his head low.

“Of course, of course. How could they do such a thing… I didn’t see the video earlier, so I was… mistaken in my judgment.”

With the school evaluation only a few months away, the principal felt dizzy at the thought of the Office of Education and the media finding out about this incident.

“You kids! What are you doing standing there?”

The principal raised his voice, looking at Ira-mi and her group.

“Why aren’t you apologizing to Seol-rae? School violence in this day and age. What you did isn’t just school violence; it’s a crime. A crime!”

“The principal makes a good point,” Lee Jae-cheon said, seizing the opportunity. He had been watching the principal’s rapid change of attitude after seeing the video. He looked at the perpetrators and their parents and continued, “I heard that the juvenile law might apply to 18-year-olds depending on the severity of the crime. But after visiting the police station and a law firm this morning, I was told that damaging someone’s body with cigarette burns and sharp objects constitutes aggravated assault, and therefore, they might be punished under general criminal law rather than the juvenile law.”

“That means the actions of the students who bullied our Seol-rae are clearly crimes.”

Crime!

As soon as they heard that word, the faces of the perpetrators and their parents began to turn white.

“Seol-rae’s mother, I’m really sorry. You! What are you doing? Apologize quickly…”

*Thud!*

Ira-mi’s parents were hitting their daughter’s back, urging her to apologize.

“Those bastards are here!”

A man entered with a loud sliding door sound, his voice full of anger.

“Honey! Lower your voice,” a woman who appeared to be his wife followed the man in, and behind her came Gu Hee-yeong, who had been bullied by Ira-mi’s group.

The reason Gu Hee-yeong’s family came to the principal’s office was because of Kim Ha-seon.

After learning that Gu Hee-yeong had been bullied, Kim Ha-seon found out her contact information, informed her parents of the situation, and encouraged them to come to school today.

Gu Hee-yeong’s parents, who had been working in another region, dropped everything and rushed over as soon as they learned that their daughter had been a victim of school violence.

“Hey! Are you the ones who bullied my daughter?”

Gu Hee-yeong’s father, who ran a butchery business, exuded tremendous force and pressured the perpetrators.

“Cat got your tongues? Did you bully my daughter?”

“Yes…”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“Hee-yeong, are these them?”

“Yes, Dad. That’s them. They bullied me, made my life miserable, took my money, made me run errands to the convenience store, insulted my appearance, cursed at me, and hit me.”

The day before, after talking with Seol-rae for a long time, Gu Hee-yeong decided to speak up and be confident.

Remembering that she didn’t have to be anxious or miserable when she hadn’t done anything wrong, she told them everything they had done.

“Damn it! I’ll get them right now!”

“Father!”

The principal and homeroom teacher stopped Gu Hee-yeong’s father, who was furious and tried to grab a flowerpot on the side table.

“Please calm down, sir!”

“Please calm down.”

“Calm down! Calm down! Hey, you’re the principal and homeroom teacher of this school, and you didn’t even know these kids were bullying others, but you’re telling me to calm down? Do you think I can calm down?”

“I’m sorry.”

Gu Hee-yeong’s father, who didn’t even listen to the principal’s apology, left the principal’s office.

Then, a little later, he came back with a bucket full of water from the bathroom and poured it on the perpetrators and their parents.

“Father! You can’t do this.”

“Hey! Principal. What do you mean I can’t do this? Is it okay for them to hit and bully my kids, but it’s not okay for me to tell them and their parents to drink cold water and wake up!”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant… I’m really sorry. I have no excuse.”

“Don’t give me that ‘no excuse’ or ‘sorry’ crap. What are you going to do about these kids!”

“Seol-rae’s parents, and Hee-yeong’s parents. I’m really sorry.”

“I raised my child wrong.”

“Seol-rae, I’m sorry.”

“Hee-yeong, I’m really sorry.”

“We were wrong.”

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the perpetrators and their parents, without exception, apologized and bowed their heads.

“Seol-rae, Hee-yeong, I’m sorry. I went too far.”

One by one, they apologized in turn, and Ira-mi also admitted her mistake and apologized.

The confident expression and eyes that looked down on people were gone, replaced by a worried look like a wet mouse.

“That’s not true.”

Seol-rae, who had been listening to the perpetrators’ apologies, finally spoke.

“Wrong? Went too far? So *now* you’re apologizing? You’re lying through your teeth. Is that how you get out of situations when things get tough for you?”

If her stepmother hadn’t reported the school violence to the school, they would have continued to bully her as if it were natural.

Seol-rae didn’t think the perpetrators’ apologies were sincere.

Their appearance was nothing more than that of deceivers.

“Hee-yeong, do you think they’re sorry when they apologize to us?”

“No, Ira-mi, Kim Chan-sol, Choi Su-ri, Kim Ha-yeong. They’re all just saying it. They’re probably cursing inside, saying ‘shit, shit’.”

Gu Hee-yeong also didn’t believe their insincere apologies.

“I hope you’ve felt at least once how hard it is to endure the shame, pain, and humiliation that those who are bullied feel.”

“I feel the same way as Hee-yeong.”

“Principal, did you hear that?”

“Yes, I understand both students’ feelings. I will prepare with the homeroom teacher to ensure they receive appropriate punishment.”

“No. I think you’re mistaken. We didn’t come here to leave the punishment to the school.”

“Yes?!”

“My husband and I, and Hee-yeong’s parents here, are here to demand that the school punish the perpetrators as the parents of the victims.”

Kim Ha-seon and Lee Jae-cheon didn’t think the school would resolve this issue well. So, from the beginning, they had been thinking about how to punish the perpetrators.

“What kind of requirements are you talking about…”

“I’ll tell you.”

Lee Jae-cheon, who had been sitting down, stood up, taking out an A4 paper from his inside pocket.

“First, Ira-mi, Kim Chan-sol, Choi Su-ri, and Kim Ha-yeong, hereinafter referred to as the perpetrators, will be forcibly transferred from OO High School to different schools, and this incident will be announced on the school website.”

The strongest punishment a student could receive at a high school for wrongdoing or causing an accident was forced transfer.

“Second, their wrongdoings will be recorded in their student records. Third, they will perform 100 hours of community service. Fourth, they will return all the money they have taken from Lee Seol-rae, Gu Hee-yeong, and other students without missing a single penny. Finally, they will go around to all the classes, admit to their school violence, and apologize to the students. If the perpetrators and their parents refuse even one of these, we will report the school violence damage cases to all the media as well as the Office of Education and file a complaint with the police. That’s all.”

The punishment Lee Jae-cheon read out was no joke.

It included the strongest punishments that are given when there is a problem in the school due to actual school violence. And the last item was the punishment Seol-rae had thought of.

She wanted them to apologize to everyone because Ira-mi’s group had bullied more than one or two children while attending school.

“In case you think this is too harsh, I would like to say one thing. The principal, the homeroom teacher, and the perpetrators and their parents should not forget that my daughter, Seol-rae, is receiving hospital treatment due to the violence committed by the perpetrators.”

After Lee Jae-cheon’s announcement, the principal was quite surprised inside.

He had been teaching for decades and had experienced school violence more than once. But this was the first time that the parents of the victimized student had come with such a thorough and clear summary of the entire situation.

“We will do that.”

Ira-mi’s father, one of the parents of the perpetrators, stood up and said, as the principal was unable to make a decision easily.

“If you did something wrong, it’s right to be punished accordingly. My child is precious, but other people’s children are also precious, and I have no excuse to Seol-rae and Hee-yeong’s parents. As a parent myself, whenever I see school violence on the news, I worry that my child might experience such a thing, but I never thought they would bully someone.”

Unlike Ira-mi’s mother, who had asked them to let it go as children’s play, her father was a true adult who knew right from wrong.

He did not make any excuses and apologized for his child’s wrongdoings and his own as a parent.

“This is definitely a hundred times wrong for our Ra-mi and her friends. My wife and I made a mistake in managing our child under the pretext of being busy. I’m really sorry. Ira-mi!!”

Ira-mi’s father looked at his daughter and raised his voice in anger.

Ira-mi, who was afraid of her father, was startled and immediately responded.

“Yes! Yes, Dad.”

“Ra-mi and all of you, apologize properly. And don’t even think about going to the agency and becoming an actress in the future. What kind of actor is someone who bullies their friends! You don’t deserve to stand in front of the public.”

Ira-mi did not make any objections to her father’s cry and apologized to Seol-rae and Gu Hee-yeong.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

The perpetrators would have realized today that all actions have consequences.

After that, the principal urgently convened a disciplinary committee, felt the seriousness of the matter, and decided to forcibly transfer the perpetrators and accept all of Lee Jae-cheon’s demands.

Kim Ha-seon, Lee Jae-cheon, and Gu Hee-yeong’s parents received a written oath from the perpetrators that they would never bully the children again and a promise from the school and returned.

Seol-rae and Gu Hee-yeong returned to the classroom to participate in the class, but the perpetrators were not allowed to participate in the class.

“We have been bullying children while attending school and are standing here to apologize. We are really sorry. We will be forcibly transferred due to this incident, and we will never bully anyone again. I’m sorry. Friend, I’m sorry.”

Ira-mi and her group held the apology letter they had written directly in front of Seol-rae and apologized, starting with the same class and going around to all the classes.

They couldn’t even lift their heads due to the embarrassment and shame that poured in, and some of them were in tears.

Of course, these actions do not mean that the perpetrators will suddenly change their minds and become new people.

However, at least the lesson that they should never do this again would have been properly engraved in their minds.

“Seol-rae?”

Gu Hee-yeong called out to Seol-rae, who was leaving the school gate after all the classes were over.

“Lee Seol-rae? Did you see that? It’s a mess right now.”

“What mess?”

“Look at this!”

Gu Hee-yeong took out her cell phone and showed the messenger conversation.

The content sent by a friend attending another school was a post on an anonymous bulletin board mainly used by high school students, and it was a post about the school violence incident of Ira-mi’s group.

“My friend said that the rumor has already spread to nearby schools. You can see the number of views here. It’s also on today’s best and it’s a mess.”

When the perpetrators apologized to the classes earlier, some children took videos and photos and posted them on the bulletin board.

There were over thousands of comments, and most of them were angry.

It was undecided which school they would be transferred to, but it seemed that it would not be easy to walk around with their heads held high at school.

“It’s crazy, right?”

“It’s what I expected. Originally, if you do bad things, you get punished.”

“Seol-rae, I think you’re really cool.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not cool at all.”

“That’s right! Thank you for helping me this time. Thanks to you, I was able to receive an apology and I think I will be able to have a good school life in the future.”

Gu Hee-yeong was sincerely grateful to Seol-rae. She was even more grateful because it was something she would never have been able to do alone.

“No. I think you originally had a good school life *ahead of you*.”

“Hey, would you like to eat *tteokbokki* [spicy rice cakes]? I’ll pay.”

“No, I have to go to the hospital. Let’s eat *tteokbokki* tomorrow.”

“Really? Okay. But are we friends now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hey, let’s be friends. I won’t bother you.”

“You’re already bothering me.”

“I’ll bother you *even* more if you don’t be my friend.”

“Geez! Okay. Let’s be friends.”

For once, smiles were full on Seol-rae and Gu Hee-yeong’s faces.

School violence is a problem that cannot be justified for any reason.