“Didn’t you hear from the Chairwoman? About my current situation.”
Ye Sara, sitting with her legs crossed and wearing a fierce expression, asked that.
At those words, Son A-reum, the Disciplinary Committee member, recalled her conversation with the student council president.
We’re not turning a blind eye to Ye Sara.
We’re just ignoring the fact that she’s even there.
It was a strange thing to say.
It sounded almost like, rather than Ye Sara bullying the other students, they were the ones ostracizing her.
But there was a reason why she couldn’t accept that.
Ye Sara never acted like a “victim” at school.
If what the president said was true, and the entire school was ignoring and bullying her, there was no reason for Ye Sara to walk around so confidently, causing disruptions in class and tormenting students without a care.
I tried to understand Ye Sara in my own way.
After hearing the student council president say to leave her alone, I watched Ye Sara for a week.
During that time, she didn’t do anything too serious, except for walking around with girls hanging off her arm or boldly wandering the halls during class.
If you didn’t count that, she didn’t cause much trouble.
Of course, she was still breaking the school rule of no inappropriate relationships.
This morning, I happened to run into her.
Normally, she arrives at school much later, with two girls waiting for her at the gate, but today, she came alone and much earlier.
In fact, she arrived earlier than I did, and I’m usually early.
…Okay, let’s keep watching her for just one more week.
If she doesn’t cause any more trouble, then I’ll start considering whether she’s really being bullied.
If what the president said is true, Ye Sara is the one being bullied.
No matter where the bullying is coming from, as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, I have a duty to guide the students properly.
Of course, normally, things would escalate to the teachers by this point.
So, after observing her all morning—
Ye Sara still didn’t seem to care about the people around her, walking around confidently with two pretty girls by her side.
During class, she brazenly left the classroom, and she even came to my class to disrupt it!
She didn’t care that the teacher and the students were troubled!
Moreover, she kicked the kids out of the park during lunchtime to set up this meeting spot.
Isn’t that clearly an act of tyranny?
…But, still, the student council president said that Ye Sara was being ostracized.
“How do you know that wasn’t just made up?”
Ye Sara had money.
Not just her, but her mother, too.
They were really rich.
The kind of rich where even a camel entering through the eye of a needle, as described in the Bible, might seem possible—no, not a camel, but maybe an elephant or a brachiosaurus.
Even at this school, where most of the students came from wealthy families, she could still manipulate things if she wanted.
“A made-up story, huh.”
Ye Sara laughed as if she found that amusing.
“You’ve been watching me for the past week.
Do you really still think that?”
“…”
Son A-reum kept her mouth shut.
Of course, she did think that.
But… she wasn’t 100% sure.
Just like the president said, the students’ reactions were to avoid and ignore her.
Based solely on her actions, it seemed like Ye Sara was bullying others.
The students looked terrified whenever she did something unexpected and usually hurried away.
But in the case of class, it was different.
There are a lot of teachers at school.
Some are popular, but others are disliked by the students.
And when a disliked teacher fell victim to Ye Sara’s pranks… the students couldn’t help but laugh.
Even in a school full of wealthy kids, the teachers subtly discriminated against them.
Not based on grades, but on how much money their families had.
Even Son A-reum, one of the top students and a member of the Disciplinary Committee, rarely had a teacher pull her aside for a private conversation.
Of course, they didn’t openly show discrimination.
It was more like quiet disregard.
Even when students approached them, they were treated coldly, or chores were subtly forced upon them.
And the students knew that, so they usually didn’t like those teachers.
So when Ye Sara harassed one of those teachers, the students struggled to suppress their laughter, shaking with amusement.
Some had even started to enjoy or look forward to Ye Sara’s appearances.
But… still.
Son A-reum shook her head.
That was only because they wanted someone else to bother those teachers in their place.
If Ye Sara truly acted out of a sense of justice, she would have addressed the teachers’ behavior directly.
That would be the right way to handle it.
“But you’re still bullying the students.”
“Am I?”
Ye Sara placed a hand on her cheek, pretending to think, then spoke again.
“How many people in this school actually listen during class? Have you ever looked around during a lesson?”
“…”
It was true.
Few people paid attention.
Were they getting ahead in their studies outside of school?
“But there are still people who listen.”
Even if it was just a small number.
“Have you ever been ignored by others at this school?”
“…”
At that, Son A-reum fell silent for a moment.
Being ignored.
Of course, she had been ignored countless times.
Even when she pointed out rule violations, people just laughed it off.
Especially the students the teachers favored—no matter what she said, they would ignore it.
Even when she told the students not to talk during class, they didn’t listen, and when she reported it to the student council president, he usually gave a half-hearted response and moved on.
In the first week of the semester, most of the visible rule breakers were kids from wealthy families.
Among those, there were very few who actually listened to what she said.
…In fact, Ye Sara was the only one who had ever voluntarily said she’d take her punishment.
“Haven’t there been many times? When you were ignored. Even Ha-neul, who’s next to me right now, experienced it. Just because she came from a different middle school, no one would talk to her. That made it easier for us to become friends, though.”
That’s right, Yoo Ha-neul was the top student in her grade.
If she came from outside, she might have been ignored, just like her.
“Soo-ah too. Everyone around her left just because she became friends with me. How do you explain that? Do you think we deserve this punishment because we bullied the other students?”
Son A-reum shook her head violently.
You can’t repay bullying with more bullying.
That only makes you the same as them.
Moreover, she had never seen Lee Soo-ah bullying anyone.
They were in different classes, and every time she saw her, she was always with Ye Sara.
She didn’t seem like the type to take the initiative in anything.
“And you.”
Ye Sara looked directly at Son A-reum as she spoke.
“Aren’t you following me around because I’m the only one who reacts to you?”
For a moment, Son A-reum felt her mind go blank.
“No one reacts when you speak, right? I’m the only one who responds to your rule enforcement. I’m also the only one who ever voluntarily accepted punishment, and I’m probably the only one who answers you immediately when you talk. Well, maybe the student council president responds, but…”
Ye Sara’s eyes narrowed, though her lips were smiling.
The face that had seemed so vicious just moments ago was now smiling brightly.
“If you want to talk, just come find me. I’m different from the others. I won’t run away. And if you keep talking to me, you’ll start to notice. You’ll feel yourself becoming more and more isolated from the other students. If you’re curious, why not see for yourself?”
“…”
Son A-reum stood there, mouth agape, staring at Ye Sara.
Ye Sara continued speaking with a playful smile.
“What’s happening around me right now is much more complicated than you think—”
“No!”
Son A-reum shouted before she could hear any more.
Ye Sara’s eyes, which had narrowed, opened wide in surprise.
“You, you-you-you! You’re seducing all the students like that! This is moral corruption! It’s corruption!”
Ye Sara blinked at Son A-reum, who was now spouting nonsense.
“Moral… corruption?”
Oh no.
Only after she shouted did Son A-reum realize she’d lost her composure.
Her face flushed red, and she covered it with both hands.
“I’ll definitely find proof of your wrongdoing! Just wait until then!”
And with that, she quickly turned around and fled.
*
“…”
I stared blankly at the retreating figure of the Disciplinary Committee member, who ran away like a villain from a children’s animation that’s been airing once a week for the past twenty years.
…Wait, why?
Oh no, did I go too far?
Maybe I pushed it too much by triggering her school-related trauma.
I was just trying to bond over our similar situations, but this happened.
Will she stop following me now?
Well, from what she said at the end, it doesn’t seem like she will.
At least I’ve managed to get another student to react to me in school.
Whether it’s good or bad attention doesn’t matter.
Right now, I can’t afford to be picky.
“…”
I sensed gazes from either side of me and glanced over to see Ha-neul and Lee Soo-ah looking at me with strange expressions.
“…What?”
“Nothing.”
For some reason, Ha-neul turned her head away, looking a little sulky.
“Is something wrong?”
“No…”
Lee Soo-ah seemed somewhat deflated.
…What’s going on?
Why are they acting like this?
Oh.
Now that I think about it, I did bring up their personal stories without asking.
They might have been disappointed to hear me casually mention something that could hurt them.
“Hey, sorry. Did I bring that up too suddenly?”
“…”
But Ha-neul still had her head turned away, and Lee Soo-ah remained deflated.
…What should I do now?