CH 392

Jo Gyu-Min started the train going. “Mister Jin-Ho, I think this is wrong.”

Kang Jin-Ho's brows twitched.

Next up was Park Yu-Min. “I agree with Chief Jo. This is wrong.”

Kang Jin-Ho's brows twitched again.

“Do I even need to say anything?” Choi Yeon-Ha landed the final blow.

Kang Jin-Ho held his head from the unexpected verbal assaults.

'Yes! We got through!'

Park Yu-Min clenched his fist under the table. Kang Jin-Ho's resolution was shaking!

Kang Jin-Ho, a man with an unshakeable will who'd never change his mind like some kind of a stubborn mule... was finally showing cracks in his armor!

'A little more, and...!'

They needed to push a little further now!

Kang Jin-Ho groaned. “I don't understand why you all think this is wrong.”

Park Yu-Min sneaked a quick glance at Jo Gyu-Min, prompting the latter to loudly fake-cough to clear his throat. “How should I put this... Mister Jin-Ho, we're not saying your methods are wrong. However, today's children aren't as simple as you think.”

“Can you elaborate, please?”

Jo Gyu-Min scanned Kang Jin-Ho from top to bottom, then scratched the back of his head. Explaining this to Kang Jin-Ho and making him understand would be a very tall order. After all, Jo Gyu-Min served as the director of Kang Jin-Ho's high school and had a front-row seat to Kang Jin-Ho's school life.

'Yup, no way he's gonna understand this.'

Jo Gyu-Min didn't know what Kang Jin-Ho was like before he became the school's director. And students were already considerate toward Kang Jin-Ho's quirks by the time Jo Gyu-Min 'joined' the school's faculty.

Since Chairman Hwang had flipped the school on its head once already, and Kang Jin-Ho was good-looking, was he seen as someone with a high status by his peers? Was that how it was?

'Even though that sounds strange...'

In any case! That was how Kang Jin-Ho had spent his school life. That meant he would never comprehend how other students divided their ranks.

“Well, Mister Jin-Ho. If I'm being brutally honest with you, something as simple as what you wear will determine your status in school.”

“My clothes, you say?” Kang Jin-Ho looked down at his own attire. A black cotton T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers... Stuff like these held some kind of hidden significance? Kang Jin-Ho looked back at Jo Gyu-Min. “Clothes like these? Really?”

“Yes.” Jo Gyu-Min firmly nodded. “I'm sure this must sound like a story from another planet to you, but kids nowadays check the brands of their peers' clothes, how much each article of clothing costs, and how often everyone changes their wardrobe.”

“Why?” Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes.

Just how much free time did these kids have that they checked what others were wearing to school? Wasn't this clearly an overkill?

“Mister Jin-Ho, what they are actually doing is sussing out each other's financial state.”

“...Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho's expression stiffened a little. The bit about the 'financial state' stung him considerably.

'I hadn't considered that.'

To think kids would consider the financial muscle of their peers! What happened to the world while he wasn't looking?

“Am I too antiquated?” Kang Jin-Ho carefully asked the trio before his eyes.

“Yes, Mister Jin-Jo.”

“Yup.”

“You didn't know?”

“...Huh.” Kang Jin-Ho's head faltered at the outpouring of all the criticism. He genuinely hadn't considered this.

“Try to be more objective, Mister Jin-Ho!” Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly raised her voice. “Let’s not beat about the bush, shall we? People will establish a pecking order even if they say they don't. And the criteria of who goes where in that order are one's looks, wealth, abilities and fashion sense. Mister Jin-Ho, the power you advocate is only one of those. And that kind of power isn't considered all that important in schools these days. It must've been the same when you were in school, so why do you act like you came from the 80s?”

Kang Jin-Ho momentarily became speechless. “S-so... You think my way won't work?”

“Yes. It's wrong,” Jo Gyu-Min cleanly shot Kang Jin-Ho down. “The biggest reason it's wrong is... Your method might resolve the current situation, but the overall picture for the children will not change much. Even if the bullies are beaten up, their superior social standing within the classroom will remain intact. Which will only isolate the orphanage kids even more. Physical abuse might be gone, but the odds of them becoming outcasts will be higher. Instead of being openly bullied, they would become sneakily bullied.”

“I'm sorry? Sneaky...?”

“It means they are being subtly ostracized.”

Even if that term had gone out of fashion lately, Kang Jin-Ho should've known about it, so what happened here? Just what were this guy's school years like?

'No, wait... It was rather peaceful, wasn't it?'

After that incident, no one dared to get on Kang Jin-Ho's nerves. And he wasn't the type to go around causing trouble, either. Unsurprisingly, Kang Jin-Ho got to enjoy truly peaceful school years. In that case, him not knowing was... normal? Probably?

“I-in any case!” Jo Gyu-Min quickly wrapped the discussion up. “We won't improve the situation by persisting with your method, Mister Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression grew heavier. His thoughts hadn't changed at all, however.

No matter how much he thought about it, not having enough power equaled inability to change one's present in his mind. It didn't matter how much wealth or political power one possessed; such things would still be rendered useless in front of violence.

Kang Jin-Ho had experienced this painful truth many times throughout his life.

Just how many people had to kneel before the absolute violence back in Zhongyuan? A Confucian scholar with wisdom that made a mockery of heaven and earth lost his life and knowledge to violence. Even a man with virtue that the world might never witness again had to die to someone's act of violence.

Even the Emperor, arguably the peak of all political power in the empire, had to lower his head in front of the demon cult's authority.

In Zhongyuan, one could have all sorts of authority and connections. However, lacking the physical strength to protect oneself would mean they were bound to lose everything sooner or later. Kang Jin-Ho had lived for decades in such a place, so the notion of power not backed by violence seemed inconceivable. He simply couldn't respect it.

Kang Jin-Ho tried to argue back. “However, if you don't have the strength...!”

“No, Mister Jin-Ho,” Jo Gyu-Min resolutely cut him off. “You need to view the current era in a more... objective way. No, let me revise that. Rather than objectively, you need to analyze the world more closely. Your concept might still ring true on your side of the world, but in the surface world, violence and physical strength are no longer valued highly. What we need isn't violence, but financial muscle.”

“Mm…”

“You're also wrong, Chief Jo!” Choi Yeon-Ha abruptly cut in. “You two keep talking about violence this and finances that, but those things can't deal with this situation! This is why people keep saying men are so simple-minded!”

Kang Jin-Ho and Jo Gyu-Min lowered their heads slightly. Something about Choi Yeon-Ha's voice sounded stern and no-nonsense to their ears. So much so that they began wondering if they had been too lackadaisical with this matter. Regret quickly washed over them.

Kang Jin-Ho looked up at Choi Yeon-Ha. “Then, what do you suggest?”

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Choi Yeon-Ha confidently declared, “It's the looks, of course.”

Kang Jin-Ho's slightly raised head went back down again as intense confusion filled his expression. It wasn't just him, though. Everyone felt confused.

Choi Yeon-Ha continued to explain her position. “I'll have you know, good-looking people are never ostracized. So, handsome men are never bullied. Have you ever heard about good-looking kids getting bullied in school? So, once we improve their faces and fix up their fashion sense, then... Things like bullying will be a distant memory pretty soon.”

Park Yu-Min stared at the ceiling as a content smile gradually spread on his lips.

'...Yup, this was a waste of time.'

The biggest mistake Park Yu-Min made recently was entrusting Kang Jin-Ho with fixing this situation. And the second biggest had to be convening this meeting.

“Even so, one's strength is...!”

“No, Mister Jin-Ho! It's money! Money talks!”

“Wrong! It's one's looks! You gotta be good-looking!”

How could three people so disparate in their ideals share a table like this?

'Will we be okay? Really okay? When things are like this?'

Was it wise to entrust the future of the orphanage kids to this trio? Park Yu-Min thought he'd never doubt Kang Jin-Ho in his life, but here he was, very much in doubt of Kang Jin-Ho's qualifications to handle this matter.

“Excuse me...?” Park Yu-Min quietly tried to intervene, but the trio was too busy arguing their point of view to give him the time of their day.

“How can anyone ostracize someone with strength?”

“Well, other kids can simply choose not to talk to him, Mister Jin-Ho! That might stop the direct physical bullying, but it will only aggravate the isolation in the classroom! The real solution is money, everyone! Ostracizing someone rich is like spitting in the face of modern capitalism. If you have money, nobody will look down on you!”

“Hah! Spoken like a true nouveau riche, Chief Jo. I was dirt-poor during my school days, but no one ostracized me or looked down on me. Why do you think that is? It's because I'm good-looking!”

“...Miss Yeon-Ha, I'm not sure you should say something like that about yourself.”

“Why not? It's the truth, isn't it?”

Jo Gyu-Min stared at Choi Yeon-Ha in dismay. What kind of a wackjob was he dealing with here?

'Well, at least she's beautiful.'

If someone with 'moderate' beauty spewed such nonsense, they'd be deemed a moron. However, Choi Yeon-Ha's stunning beauty had the power to wipe out any desire to go against her, and Jo Gyu-Min was left speechless for a moment.

However, he recovered quickly enough to mount another attack. “Miss Yeon-Ha, not everyone is as beautiful as you. Consider what you're dealing with first before saying that, please! How will you fix the children's looks?”

“It can be done through makeup, Chief Jo. No matter how ungainly your looks are, let professionals do their magic on your skin and hair, and you will instantly become a part of the upper echelons of regular people!”

“Miss Yeon-Ha, your method has a clear limitation. Do comedians make people laugh with their faces because they haven't done anything to fix their looks?”

“Oh? In that case, why don't we see whether my way works or not!”

Sparks began flying everywhere from the heated air between Jo Gyu-Min and Choi Yeon-Ha. Park Yu-Min slowly facepalmed.

'No one in this group is normal!'

Of course, he was grateful that they were so passionate about the orphanage kids. In reality, these two basically had no connection to the orphanage other than through Kang Jin-Ho. So, being this passionate couldn't be easy.

However, their problem would be the weird direction their passion was taking them... Something like that?

Jo Gyu-Min roared, “Words aren't getting through to you, are they!”

“That's my line!” Choi Yeon-Ha shot back.

“Indeed, this discussion is going nowhere,” Kang Jin-Ho tutted loudly.

A war of nerves quickly developed between the trio.

Park Yu-Min wordlessly observed the situation before suddenly realizing that this might be the opening he had been looking for. “Excuse me. I've been thinking, and…”

“What is it?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah? What?”

“...”

Why did it suddenly feel like three auto-targeting systems had locked on him? If Park Yu-Min carelessly blabbed his mouth now, he might get buried alive in the orphanage's backyard!

Park Yu-Min nervously gulped his saliva, then cautiously spoke up. “Instead of arguing about who's right or wrong... Since those things don't contradict each other, how about we try out all of them?”

The trio paused, then stared at each other before looking back at Park Yu-Min again.

“Mister Yu-Min, you're smarter than you look,” said Jo Gyu-Min.

“As expected of you, Mister Yu-Min,” said Choi Yeon-Ha.

“Indeed,” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded.

Bang!

Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly slammed her palms down on the table while standing up. “Very well! I shall prove to you once and for all that people will treat you differently after you become better-looking. Don't let your ego be bruised when that happens, okay? Men have this weird tendency to not admit their defeat while saying some nonsense about how their pride won't let them, now don't they?”

“Fufufufu!” Jo Gyu-Min wiped across his lips with his index finger, then also got up. “What an amusing idea that is, Miss Yeon-Ha! It sounds like you haven't met a truly capable man before. A wealthy man never worries about their ego getting bruised by unnecessary things. A person's pride comes from their wallet, after all! Especially men!”

The gazes of resolute Jo Gyu-Min and chic Choi Yeon-Ha collided mid-air. Meanwhile, Kang Jin-Ho thought him remaining sitting down might look weird, so he staggered up to his feet before unwisely trying to say something. “Oh, uh... For me…”

That was when Choi Yeon-Ha and Jo Gyu-Min simultaneously turned their heads to stare at Kang Jin-Ho.

“You, stay out of this.”

“Mister Jin-Ho, please don't even think about getting involved!”

“...Huh?”

A dragon and a tiger had bared their fangs and claws at each other!

“I shall demonstrate how frightening money can be, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

“Ahh, spoken like a true country bumpkin with some money to his name. Even though that money isn't even yours! The bravado of an incompetent man sure is an eyesore, isn't it?”

“Hah. I hope your princess syndrome isn't contagious, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

“What did you say?”

“You heard me, woman.”

Sluuurp...

Park Yu-Min wordlessly sipped his coffee before staring outside the window. The weather outside seemed quite pleasant today.

'I'm sorry, everyone.'

It seems this idiot hyung of yours made a terrible mistake.