You Are Defended - Chapter 519



Only Noblemtl

Episode 519

As the director’s voice echoed through the hallway, the noisy study room became quiet in an instant.

Because it was so loud, it must have been heard all the way into the nearby study room.

“Teacher Kim Hyun-jong. I asked you if you hit the child.”

The director began to press Kim Hyeon-jong, who was flustered.

He looked at Seongyoon, not knowing what to say.

I’d say no.

When the director first asked, he must have hesitated because he was embarrassed about his self-harming behavior.

But by now, wouldn’t Seongyoon have realized that he was in an unfair situation?

“… … .”

But Seongyoon still didn’t say anything.

As the silence grew longer, Kim Hyun-jong felt that he could no longer just wait for the child to answer, so he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Seongyoon, no… … . No, Director. I didn’t hit you.”

Then the director straightened Seongyoon up again and examined his cheek and wrist.

“If this isn’t a sign of a hit, then what is? I saw the teacher tie up Seongyoon with both hands and push him against the wall, and even if I saw it wrong, there are still handprints left!”

“No, that’s… … . That’s because I grabbed Seongyoon to stop him from acting up. Seongyoon, you tell me. Did the teacher hit you?”

When I started to protest my feelings of injustice, I noticed that the doors to the study rooms in this hallway were wide open, although I don’t know when it started.

Through the gap, volunteers and Angel House staff watched them.

“You came here because you said you had something to tell the teacher. Did the teacher hit you?”

Kim Hyun-jong tried to remain calm and asked soothingly.

Then, Seongyoon looked at him with trembling eyes, then turned his gaze towards the director and opened his mouth hesitantly.

“It’s true that I came here with you because I had something to say, but then Teacher Hyunjong suddenly started pressuring me, asking where Jeongmin went… … . When I said I didn’t know, he slapped me, and kept on… … .”

At those words, Kim Hyun-jong burst into laughter in shock.

At the same time, the director hid Seongyoon, who was a head taller than him, behind his back and glared at Kim Hyeonjong.

Then he took out his cell phone and made a call to someone.

“Uh, Secretary Kim Young-ji. Here… … . What floor is it? Oh, it’s the hallway in front of the bathroom on the third floor. Come this way right now.”

The volunteers who were watching them quickly started to move their fingers while holding their cell phones.

As soon as I saw the cell phone in Kim Hyun-jong’s pocket vibrating, it seemed like he was asking the group chat what was going on.

Kim Hyun-jong stood behind the director, looking at Seong-yoon with his head tilted to the side, who was rolling his eyes anxiously.

I felt like going up to Seongyoon right away, shaking his shoulder, and asking him why he was lying, but considering that Seongyoon’s psychological state seemed unstable from the beginning, I didn’t think I would get a proper answer.

Above all, if you show that kind of behavior in front of the excited director right now, he will definitely get angry and say that you are the kind of person who treats children violently.

Things will only get worse.

“Director.”

Soon, Kim Young-ji, who had been summoned by the director, appeared.

The director sighed, rubbing his forehead, and spoke to Seongyoon in a soft tone.

“Seongyoon, would you like to go to the counseling room with Teacher Kim Youngji first? Teacher Kim Youngji, please give Seongyoon an ice pack. And I think there will be a bruise on his wrist, so if you go to the pharmacy, there is a cream that will prevent bruising. Buy that and apply it to him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kim Young-ji disappeared with Seong-yoon.

Then the director gave instructions to those who were watching the commotion in the hallway.

“All classes will be stopped here. Teacher, please contact the other teachers and have them move the children.”

The Angel House staff member, who had been poking her head out of the nearest preschool, quickly replied with a “Yes!” and began making contact.

“And Mr. Kim Hyun-jong. Look at me.”

Kim Hyun-jong followed the director with heavy steps toward the director’s office inside the administrative office.

It seemed as if the rumor that Kim Hyeon-jong had assaulted Eom Seong-yoon had already spread among the administrative staff, and they glanced at the two men and whispered.

As soon as he entered the director’s office, he adjusted the angle of the blinds so that the inside could not be seen from the outside, and then sat down on the sofa.

Kim Hyun-jong stood still and looked at the director, but she gestured to the sofa across from him.

“What are you doing without sitting down?”

“……yes.”

As soon as Kim Hyun-jong sat down, the director crossed his arms and looked at him askance.

“Why on earth did you do that? You might have been curious about Jeongmin’s news. If you said you did it because you had grown attached to him, then I can understand. But was there a reason why you had to go to such lengths to find out where Jeongmin had gone when Seongyoon was already confused by the disappearance of his close friend?”

“No, Director. I was just worried because Seongyoon seemed to have become more gloomy after Jeongmin disappeared, but I didn’t ask where Jeongmin went. So of course I didn’t hit Seongyoon… … .”

“So are you saying Seongyoon is lying now?”

“I don’t know why Seongyoon lied like that, but that’s right.”

“Seongyoon is not a kid who lies or anything. I’ve been watching him since he was 3. There were some kids who lied, but Seongyoon never lied.”

If you look at it that way, I myself have never hit students even as a joke while I was volunteering.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Kim Hyun-jong barely managed to hold them back.

I thought it would be nothing more than a call to fight.

“Teacher Kim Hyun-jong… … No, Mr. Kim Hyun-jong. People like you shouldn’t be teachers. Don’t you know that corporal punishment by teachers has been banned starting this year? It means that even if a child did something wrong, real teachers are not allowed to touch the child. But Mr. Kim Hyun-jong, you hit a child who was just a student and didn’t do anything wrong? And you didn’t even spank him, you hit him in the face… … Do you know what year it is?”

“Director, it’s a real misunderstanding. I didn’t say anything earlier because many people could hear, but I just wanted to listen to Seongyoon because he seemed to be under a lot of stress. But Seongyoon couldn’t speak and started hitting himself on the head and slapping his cheeks, and I grabbed his arms to stop him.”

Kim Hyun-jong barely managed to hold on to his sanity and continued speaking.

When I hear the principal say that I shouldn’t become a teacher, it sounds like she’s going to report me for child abuse.

But I didn’t want to make things bigger like that.

He was worried about his own situation where he had to be investigated as he was about to graduate, but more than anything, he was also worried about Seongyoon, who would receive unnecessary attention as a child at an orphanage who had been assaulted.

“… … If the problem is that I used force to stop the child, then I’m sorry about that, and I feel sorry for Seongyoon. However, as you saw, the director, I couldn’t just watch him hurt himself to the point where his cheek was so swollen.”

“So, you’re saying you didn’t hit him until the end?”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“Ha… … If you think you can avoid the situation by just holding on like this, you’re seriously mistaken. I’ll have to talk to Sungyoon more, but if Sungyoon keeps saying that he was hit by Kim Hyunjong, we have no choice but to report him.”

“… … Director, to be honest, I volunteered for the service because I wanted to, not because someone forced me to.”

“You’re a student at a teacher’s college, so you volunteered to fill your teaching service hours, right? It’s a graduation requirement. Do you think I’ve seen one or two college student volunteers?”

“That’s right. I have to fulfill my educational service hours to graduate. But I’ve already fulfilled them, so I don’t have to come. I know that Angel House is working hard to educate the children, but it’s true that they have fewer educational opportunities than children who grow up in ordinary homes. As someone who wants to make sure that there are no blind spots in education, I started volunteering with that one thought in mind.”

“Ha, you’re trying to teach me now when you shouldn’t be reflecting enough? You’re saying that our Angel’s House isn’t teaching the kids properly? Look, I’ve been in the education field much longer than you. I’m your senior, and I’m your senior at that. You don’t know that, so you’re saying this to me now?”

I added that I knew that Angel’s House was putting effort into education, because I thought it might be a twisted answer, but it seemed to be of no use.

“No, that’s not it… … . I’m just stating my position. I just wanted to say that I came here with this kind of mindset, so there’s no way that could happen. Even if there was some reason like the director said… … . I want you to know that there’s no reason for me to find out by assaulting the child, and there’s no reason for you to block my path by doing that.”

“Ah… … . I really don’t understand. Look, Mr. Kim Hyun-jong knows it in his head. No matter how low his sense of ethics is, he should at least think about not ruining his own future. But why are his thoughts and actions different? Did you think he would never get caught? Why on earth? Why are you acting so stupid?”

The director hasn’t had a proper conversation with Seongyoon yet.

Secretary Kim Young-ji took Seong-yoon to the counseling room and will try to hear his story in detail, but Seong-yoon may not be in a state to have a rational conversation yet.

So it will probably take some time.

In this situation, it is understandable that the director reacts sensitively as he or she is the one who should be on the child’s side.

No, of course it should be like that.

But in a situation where things are so divided, shouldn’t you at least refrain from using foul language without thinking?

But no matter what Kim Hyun-jong says, he always ends up going back to the same story and trying to suppress it, so it feels like the answer has already been decided.

“I can’t trust Mr. Kim Hyun-jong anymore, let alone anyone else. This time, I was lucky enough to find him, but don’t you think the club that accepted someone like Mr. Kim Hyun-jong as a member is of a certain standard? They say it’s an old and fairly large club, but in the end, it’s just a college club. In the eyes of qualified teachers like us, they’re just kids who don’t have any qualifications.”

“… … .”

“We need to talk internally about what to do with Mr. Kim Hyun-jong. However, it’s horrible to think that something like this happened, and that such absurd things could have happened somewhere we don’t know about. I don’t want to expose the children to danger because I want to provide them with a quality education. I’m not sure if it’s a quality education, but… … I’ll talk to the club president about the details, so Mr. Kim Hyun-jong and everyone else can go home. Let’s end our volunteer work here. I think we should seriously consider whether or not to accept university student volunteers in the future.”

The director suddenly turned around as if the story was over.

Kim Hyun-jong hesitated for a moment, then took out his cell phone.

Hundreds of messages arrived, but he didn’t read them all.

I just called one of the club members.

“Hey, Kyung-ah. Can you bring my bag to the director’s office? Okay. Right now.”

The director frowned as he watched Kim Hyun-jong hang up the phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll just show you one thing and then I’ll leave.”

Not long after, there was a knock on the door to the director’s office.

Before the director could give permission, Kim Hyun-jong jumped up, opened the door, took the bag, and closed the door again.

Kim Hyun-jong took out his laptop from his bag.

Then I plugged the cable into the USB port and took off my glasses.

“… … .”

He connected the cable to the bottom of the thick glasses frame, clicked it a few times, and then turned the laptop toward the director.

[─Why is that?

─There’s something… … that’s a bit concerning… … . Hah, shit. Seriously, why would I… … . Ah, really!

─Seongyoon, calm down.

─No, let go. F*ck, f*ck!]

A video was playing on the screen showing Sungyoon hitting his own head and cheeks.