Chapter 165 – Iljin Rehabilitation Period
I bent my back to 90 degrees, bowed my head, and apologized to everyone at Jinsoo Church.
The vice-student president who doesn’t know English, Yuri who stops on the spot and watches me from behind instead of leaving the stage, and even the crowd that is buzzing.
For some reason, I was even more nervous than when I was playing guitar and singing earlier, but I decided to tackle it head on anyway.
I can’t hesitate any longer.
I straightened my back, grabbed the microphone, and spoke to everyone.
“It’s embarrassing to even say it with my own mouth… It’s embarrassing, but until last year… No, even before school started, my real life was like trash.”
People didn’t say anything.
“I was struggling to live like a human from this year on because of some kind of wish, but there were too many things I did in the past for that to happen, and there are probably a lot of people who have suffered because of that.”
Only then did people get a little upset.
It’s not that it’s not, because there are probably more than one person who suffered because of me.
Even though I never directly used violence against ordinary kids, it was a fact that anyone but an idiot would know that I actually encouraged the people under them to steal or beat them and made a living out of the stolen money.
“I don’t know what I’ll do in the future, but I felt like no one would believe me if I apologized belatedly after I graduated like this. You know why. Even if I apologize after a celebrity or athlete of school violence is exposed, it’s an empty apology… I’m a celebrity or athlete. I may not be able to become a player.”
The people who were still gathered just made a fuss, not knowing how to react.
“So, I really wanted to apologize to everyone before I graduate at the latest. When I thought about it, I thought this might be my only chance. I’m truly sorry to everyone who was harmed in any way because of me. And to those who were harmed in middle school or before… There may be more people who aren’t here, but I wanted to apologize to them in some way.”
And I knelt down.
After kneeling on stage and bowing my head in apology, I took the microphone again.
“I know that this cannot be done by just apologizing verbally. If you have suffered financial harm because of me, please tell me at any time, and I will definitely get it back. For those who have suffered violence because of me, you can slap me, kick me, or spit in my face. You can spit it out. I will kneel down and stay silent until your anger subsides. You can tell those who have suffered the same damage as those who do not attend our academy.
I will swear with my life that I will never retaliate or do anything. If you want, I can write a contract and stamp it. If I break it, you can report it to the police and put me in jail. I don’t even dare ask you to forgive me. Just please believe that I am truly ashamed of my past and regret it.”
I knelt down and bowed my head once again.
“I’m really sorry again. I was really wrong.”
I got up from my seat and bent my back to 90 degrees for the last time.
About half of the Jinsugyo members applauded for encouragement, while about half simply remained silent.
“I’m sorry again for ruining the mood at the end of the festival. Please… The hosts take care of themselves.”
Only then did laughter erupt from the crowd, and I quietly passed the microphone to the vice president of the student body and returned to the waiting room behind the stage.
I felt a bit sorry for pouring cold water at the end of the start-up ceremony, which ended on a good note, but I felt like I wouldn’t have a chance to show my resolve in front of the entire school if this wasn’t the case.
When winter break begins in about two months, I will actually graduate, but if it weren’t for today, I wouldn’t be able to say this in front of all the first, second, and third year students.
Returning to the waiting room, Yuri hurriedly wiped off her sweat and scolded me while drinking water to finish the last meeting.
“What, really! Why did you suddenly do something like that, I was shocked!”
“Ah..? I’m sorry, Yuri. If I tell you in advance, I think I’ll stop you from doing it…”
“How do you think it felt for the girlfriend who had to watch from behind while her boyfriend knelt down and apologized in front of so many people?! I really can’t live! Why are you making such a big deal out of it, you’re not even Eunji!”
“But it was still necessary.”
“Ha… I’m a bit stubborn… I have to finish the social gathering right away, so see you later. Furthermore, I’ll leave first.”
“Okay, see you later, Yuri.”
Yuri immediately picked up the cue sheet she had left in her waiting room and went off-stage again.
To finish as an emcee, not as a festival participant.
Then, I came out to the back, pushed through the crowd, and sat down where our class was, where Suyeon and Eunji were sitting.
Suyeon and Eunji also looked at me and said something similar to Yuri.
“Senior, I enjoyed the song. The guitar sounds perfect, right? But is that okay with what you said earlier?”
“I mean. There must be more than one or two kids who want you, so how are you going to make things happen like this?”
“Eunji, I don’t know anything else, but do I have to listen to you asking why I’m doing things that I can’t handle?”
“Ugh…! Well, that’s different! I was just embarrassed, but the kids who really wanted you will come!”
“Sir, why don’t you just say you were wrong and get it over with? I’m just nervous.”
“I’m sorry, guys. But you all know that I’m not the kind of person who can just talk.”
“…”
The two people said nothing.
Even if they were my current girlfriends, I couldn’t possibly deny that.
“I will never let you guys harm me. It’s my responsibility alone. Oh, Eunji, your friend from middle school said that if you still haven’t forgotten what happened, you can come and do whatever you want until you feel better. And even if someone comes to me and does something. “I hope you don’t say anything and don’t interrupt.”
“Senior…” “Seongjin…”
#####
The next day, the Jinsu Festival was over, but the entire Jinsu Bridge was still enjoying the afterglow of the festival.
Some children were hoarse from singing, others had muscle pain from dancing vigorously or participating in a physical talent show, and since the festival-themed clean-up had not yet been completed, the scenery inside each classroom was still no different from yesterday’s festival day.
Since Yuri and I were the only ones in our class who directly participated in the individual/team talent show, our class was buzzing about it.
“Hey, Han Seong-jin! You play the guitar really well, don’t you? Check out this video. It was filmed yesterday.”
“When did you start learning guitar? Can you tell me too?”
And the girls also went to Yuri and started talking about yesterday’s performance.
“Yuri, you sang really well!”
“Did you know that honey drips from your eyes when you sing? Is Han Seong-jin that good?”
“My, when did I shed honey from my eyes…”
Our class was generally accepting that I had changed a lot, and the atmosphere was very good because no one was directly harmed by me or the group.
Thanks to this, boys approach me without hesitation and talk about yesterday’s festival, and even girls who aren’t that close to me don’t shy away from me.
But of course, not all Jinsu-gyo kids could have the same mood.
“Ha, Han Seongjin… He’s here.”
A short boy came to our class carrying a school bag and asked with a trembling voice.
From the looks of it, it looked like he had just started school.
Silence quickly fell on our class, which was talking about various things, and everyone looked at me.
After roughly guessing what was going on, I bit the boys around me and approached the short boy who came to see me.
Yuri, Eunji, and Suyeon hurriedly followed me, looking very worried.
“Uh, what’s going on?”
“You… You, you said yesterday that you would accept anything… The kids who suffered from you…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
At my words, the boy looked like he was about to cry and took off his school uniform shirt to show his left shoulder.
There were several red spots that looked like tiny cupping marks.
As soon as I saw it, I knew what the mark was.
‘It’s a tobacco bread.’
And the boy spoke in a trembling voice.
“Do you know what this is?! Last year, the teacher found me and told me the truth about how you went home after cleaning duty… You, the guys who used to hang out with you all the time, dragged me to an empty lot and burned me with cigarette marks! Chi, My friends distanced themselves out of fear of getting involved, so I don’t have any friends… Uh, how… You, because of you…”
“… I’m sorry.”
I said that and knelt down in front of the boy whose name I couldn’t even remember.
“It’s true that I was really wrong, and I’m sorry. Now that I’m here, there’s no way I can get that time back… But you can do anything until you let go.”
The boy started crying and picked up his school bag, probably because he felt that I wasn’t going to fight back after he got down on his knees.
Whiik-
Poop-!
Then he put all his weight and swung the bag at my head.
He was small in stature and had never committed such a violent act before, so his every move was sloppy, but it still hurt tremendously, probably because he was swinging his bag full of textbooks with his weight.
The surface of the school bag rubbed around the temples, causing a sharp pain, and many people, including Yuri, Eunji, and Suyeon, screamed when they saw it.
“Aaaaah!!”
“Stop, senior!”
“Seongjin! Hey, wait a minute! This-“
“Don’t interfere!”
I knelt down and blocked my girlfriends.
“You’re just paying for your sins. Don’t interfere and stay still. If you can’t see me, just go into the classroom.”
Baaaaak-!
The bag was swung once again and hit the area near the temple on the other side.
The boy’s retaliation continued for a while after that, as if his anger didn’t go away, and I knelt down and continued to receive the blows.
“Huh … This fuck … Dog bastard …”
“I’m sorry.”
Baaaaak-!
“I was wrong.”
Poop-!
“I’m really sorry.”
Whoa, whoa-!
I didn’t count how many hits he got, but the boy’s anger continued for quite a while.
The boy’s classmates, who couldn’t see him, came and stopped him.
“Hey, stop now, stop.”
“Hey, that’s enough. Let’s stop getting angry and go to class. Can someone take us with us?”
“Kiheuuuuubr…
Perhaps because the boy had finally let go of his resentment, or perhaps because he had lost his strength after hitting her, he put down her school bag and began to whimper and cry before being carried to his classroom by her friends.
Many people who were filming the scene with their cell phones stopped filming only when Yuri, Eunji, and Suyeon came running towards me after the situation was over.
