Along with the God of Law - Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
[Translation By Divinity]
Behind the Schoolyard
Kang Hyun stepped out into the schoolyard and looked up at the sky, feeling pleased.
“Refreshing.”
After weeks of intense studying, he was curious to see how far his skills had improved. Besides, he knew that this kind of opportunity didn’t come to just anyone.
There was a lingering fear that it might all be a dream or that his mind was playing tricks on him. But seeing the shocked expressions of his friends, he was certain that his abilities had dramatically improved.
‘Just a little more…’
Overcoming this hurdle called the exam filled him with a sense of accomplishment and a surge of responsibility.
His mother, crying and collapsing in front of the debt collectors.
The creditors pointing fingers and promising to return.
The 500 million won debt he had never even touched.
His shoulders felt heavy.
Improving his grades through studying wouldn’t magically erase his family’s debt.
‘I can’t let my guard down until I see actual results. I need to start looking for a job too.’
He couldn’t rule out the possibility of debt collectors barging into their home again and harming his mother.
As he had resolved before, Kang Hyun planned to find a part-time job on weekends to earn money, as much as his circumstances allowed. He felt he needed to contribute to living expenses and show that he was making an effort to repay the debt, even if it was just a little at a time.
Constantly facing reality like this made his frustration grow day by day. It was only now that he realized he had given up on everything and lived without a care in the world.
That’s what it meant to be ‘immature.’
But Kang Hyun had changed.
‘And I’m not good enough to be the top student at Korea University yet.’
Despite his explosive improvement, he hadn’t become so good at studying in less than a month that he could compete with the geniuses across the country.
He could clearly feel that his academic absorption, which had been astonishingly fast, was slowing down as he reached a certain level.
It was a realm he had never experienced before, and it seemed the saying that even geniuses need to put in blood, sweat, and tears was true.
In other words, studying for the CSAT was a bit different from ‘legal knowledge that pops up at the slightest touch.’
It required effort.
‘Let’s focus.’
He gathered his thoughts and gazed at the sky. Then, with a deep breath, he casually looked around, and…
“…What’s that?”
In the corner of the schoolyard.
There he saw Park Hyuk-soo, who hadn’t been seen since briefly showing his face during the morning assembly.
He was partially hidden by the building, but it was definitely him. He also seemed to think he was out of sight from the main areas, as he wasn’t even bothering to look around.
‘That’s insane…’
But what was even more outrageous was that Park Hyuk-soo was hanging out with some students, smoking cigarettes! He even seemed to be bullying a male student, surrounding him and laughing.
Kang Hyun immediately recognized the group and what Park Hyuk-soo was doing.
‘Are those guys Park Hyuk-soo’s gang?’
They were a group of bullies who were worse than thugs, some following Park Hyuk-soo, and some rich kids acting like gangsters.
Their loyalty to him was so strong that even the school turned a blind eye, afraid to confront them.
‘They’re out of their minds.’
Kang Hyun shook his head.
This was probably Park Hyuk-soo singling out a student for breaking school rules and then throwing him to the bullies to ‘play’ with. It was the first time Kang Hyun had witnessed this firsthand. He had always assumed there was dirty business going on behind the scenes, but seeing it in person, it seemed even worse than he had imagined.
Park Hyuk-soo was saying something to the male student in a condescending tone, then raised his arm as if to strike him and even grabbed him by the collar.
Then, as the bullies surrounded the student and started jeering, the student suddenly bolted and started running.
“…?”
His face red, perhaps from being slapped, he sprinted towards the school store. It seemed he was running for his life to buy snacks for the gang.
‘This school is rotten.’
Kang Hyun clenched his fists at the subtle anger rising within him.
‘I need to work harder.’
He wanted to overturn everything, but it wasn’t the right time yet.
* * *
“Ugh… Huh? What the…”
When Kang Hyun stretched and came to his senses, the classroom was empty, as if everyone had gone to lunch.
“Those jerks. They really left without me.”
In truth, it was Kang Hyun who had pushed away his friends when they urged him to hurry up and go to lunch.
They even tried to drag him by the arm, but he insisted on staying behind to analyze the questions he had missed.
Despite his friends’ protests, Kang Hyun had been so focused on his studies that he had been hunched over his desk until now.
Since he was late, Kang Hyun decided to grab a quick bite and stretched again.
He was the type who would be ready to dash out the door five minutes before the lunch bell rang, but now he’d been studying without even realizing it was lunchtime. ‘What had gotten into him?’
He clicked his tongue, thinking he was crazy, and turned his head.
Bang!
He turned his head toward the opening door, and Yoon Ha-neul was entering.
“Didn’t you go to lunch?”
“You ate already? Haven’t you eaten yet?”
“Yeah, I was busy doing something…”
“You need to eat to study well.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Suddenly remembering Yoon Ha-neul munching on the sandwich, Kang Hyun chuckled and turned his head.
“Thanks. You’ve lit a fire under me too.”
Surprised by Yoon Ha-neul’s unexpected thanks, Kang Hyun looked back at her again.
She smiled brightly and added, “Thanks to you, I’m motivated to work even harder. Congratulations on your good grades.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Kang Hyun finally responded with an awkward smile. He was glad he had cleared up the misunderstanding about the zero score without having to bring it up.
Or rather, he wasn’t even sure if there had been a misunderstanding. He had simply forgotten about it after their conversation, but it seemed she had taken the bet seriously, even if she didn’t show it.
In any case, receiving congratulations from her in her gentle voice felt special.
Then, Kang Hyun suddenly asked, sounding puzzled, “But, do you believe me? Everyone’s saying I cheated.”
Kang Hyun’s grades were truly a shocking event. Everyone was so surprised… Some even hit their heads and exclaimed, “I can’t believe I’m worse than that idiot!” But strangely, she didn’t seem to harbor any doubts.
She answered nonchalantly, “It’s not strange. You worked hard. Watching you solve problems, it seemed like you’ve been studying a lot in secret. Why would that be strange?”
It seemed she had gauged his abilities by observing him study.
He had thought she was indifferent, but to discover this attentiveness in Yoon Ha-neul felt new.
‘Or was it simply that if you were smart, you could see through everyone?’ As he pondered this, she suddenly held out a bag.
“Here.”
“What is it?”
He opened the bag she handed him, and it was filled with cute character-shaped bread. She must have bought them from the school store.
“I bought these as snacks. You can have them. They say studying requires energy, right? Studying without eating is bad for your brain.”
“Oh? Oh…”
‘But weren’t these a bit too many for just snacks?’
As he awkwardly took the bag, she wore a strangely proud expression and headed out of the classroom.
‘Was it the nape of her neck that looked white under her tied-up hair, or was he surprised by her kind gesture?’ Her back seemed to glow in the sunlight.
While Kang Hyun was momentarily stunned by her unexpected actions, Yoon Ha-neul peeked her head back into the classroom and said, “Oh, and you’ll keep coming early, right? You won the bet, so I’ll help you with anything you’re curious about.”
“Really? Thanks.”
Watching Yoon Ha-neul leave after finishing her sentence, Kang Hyun stared blankly at the classroom door.
He didn’t know if she had always been this interested in him or if she simply liked seeing him study hard…
‘Well, whatever works.’
Thinking of it as an unexpected reward, or rather, a bonus, Kang Hyun picked up his pen again.
* * *
Break time.
The door opened, and a student entered, looking for Kang Hyun.
“Is Kang Hyun here? The vice principal is looking for him!”
Kang Hyun, who had been deeply engrossed in his studies, perked up and raised his head.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
The student who had called for him disappeared.
‘What’s this about?’
Kang Hyun closed his book and immediately got up from his seat, heading towards the vice principal’s office. He walked down the hallway towards the main building, remembering it was probably on the 4th floor.
‘Is it around here?’
He rarely had any business with the vice principal or principal’s offices, so his memory was hazy.
As he walked down the hallway, tilting his head in confusion, whispers from around him reached his ears.
“It’s him, him!”
“The one who suddenly got second in the whole school?”
“Yeah!”
“But it’s just a mock exam, right?”
“That’s not the point; he was almost at the bottom of the school!”
“He must have studied hard.”
“Can you really improve that much just by studying?”
Some people glanced at Kang Hyun, their eyes wide with surprise, while others whispered negative comments behind his back.
‘I’m famous for my studies now?’
Kang Hyun didn’t mind the sudden fame.
After all, it was an achievement he had earned. He had no reason to hide his abilities, and he had a long way to go to reach even higher. He needed to enjoy his success now.
In front of the vice principal’s office…
As he was about to enter, he heard low, serious voices from inside.
Knock, knock.
Slide.
“You called for me, sir?”
The vice principal was sitting at his desk, his expression grave. Surprisingly, Park Hyuk-soo was also sitting there, looking smug.
And on the table, there was a white envelope with a document inside. It seemed this was the reason the vice principal had called him.
As soon as Kang Hyun entered, Park Hyuk-soo jumped up as if he had been waiting and shouted at Kang Hyun.
“You punk! What are you doing wandering around outside!”
“…Excuse me?”
“Mr. Park, please calm down…”
“Oh, I knew it from the start, I knew it! This useless brat. I left him alone because he looked pitiful, but look at this.”
“…”
‘He’s always been like this.’
Kang Hyun felt a surge of anger but calmly turned his gaze to the document in the envelope.
[Summons, Seoul District Court 2015Godan4531 Case No. Violation of the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes and Protection of Victims, etc. (Filming using a Camera, etc.)]
“…?”
It was a summons.
Normally, summons from the court would be sent to one’s home, but it seemed like his address was either incorrect or missing because they lived in a slum, so it was sent to the school for him to receive it quickly.
But it should have been sealed… Did Mr. Park just tear it open without a second thought?
“This punk is so brazen! What did you do to get a summons from the court about sexual violence or something!”
Kang Hyun couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh at Park Hyuk-soo’s reckless shouting.
‘This is a witness summons.’
Could it be that he saw the words “sexual violence” on the ‘witness summons’ and freaked out like this, without even realizing it was calling him as a witness?
“Excuse me. Sir, you need to give me a chance to explain before I can answer.”
“Don’t even think about making excuses, just bow your head down this instant, you punk!”
“Mr. Park, please calm down…”
“Vice Principal, this is not the time to calm down. Sexual violence? This is a very serious matter! We need to straighten this kid out and call the police right away!”
Kang Hyun sighed softly, watching him rant and rave.
Leaving aside his complete lack of legal knowledge, it was a spectacle to see the vice principal unable to even speak up to Park Hyuk-soo.
This was beyond absurd.