While Lee Dojin, Kim Jyejin, and Kim Heeson were using the break to have a meaningful conversation, someone was getting an earful in the teacher's office.
"How many times do I have to say that, Ji-ah?" An older teacher shouted. But the man did not seem angry. He fell silent, brooding. His brows knitted together as he rubbed the knot away. "You have to stop being so hot-headed all the time."
The two of them were in a private room, one designated specifically for situations like this. It was like a classroom, but for teachers. Since the day Ji-ah had started, she had been told that this was the one place she would never want to end up in. Because as long as two people were inside, one of them was getting scolded. Yet, here she was, not even half a year in her educator career.
Ji-ah felt a cough, but she surpressed it. She had her head down, her hands on her lap, and sat as upright as possible. "I understand," she squeezed out her mouth. Underneath the table, she clenched her fist tightly. "But I will not apologize for what I did." She could feel his disapproval.
"I'm not asking for you to do so," the man leaned back. He stared up at the ceiling. The paperwork he had in his hand, he placed it away for now. "In fact, I'm sorry to be so inflexible." His voice switched to a mellower one. "But you have to understand where I am coming from too. With your actions, you have endangered not only yourself but also the student and the school itself. What if these men were to get wild due to your interference? Could you have stopped them all? Thankfully, it all went well in the end."
"I know that." She nodded. "I can't help it. It's just the way I was meant to be." She looked down at the desk. There was a tear running down to the corner. Like lightning. In a way, she saw herself akin to lightning too. Born from a rainy day, when darkness enveloped the streets and mist covered one's sight, only the thunderous storms as a guide. She hoped to become lightning, bringing light to the shadows, catching everyone's attention with a bang. Yet, it flashed out so fast, so ephemeral. She felt better thinking about that. "Clearly these people came looking for someone with bad intentions. Should I have let those men drag him away? What if they assaulted the students regardless. Harm could have come from either side, so at least I wanted to do what I can."
"With time, you will have to understand, that who you are is not decided by you." The man shook his head. "You will have to conform to society. That means, with parents, with, teachers and with the media. We cannot have another fiasco like this." He rubbes his chin. "You have your reasons for becoming a teacher, I'm sure of that. And I'm sure there are just as many reasons why you chose this school. Didn't a family member of yours attend here? That's what you told me. But as long as you are here, you have to play by our rules."
Ji-ah quietly looked out the window. She disagreed. She saw a big sparrow resting in the moss-garden. She closed her eyes. Innumerable thoughts went through her mind. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed them all down. "...but as a teacher, I always should look out for the student first, no?"
"That's what I'm saying. You are too hot-headed." The man sighed. The wind sighed with him, sinking the room's temperature. "Look, you care about your career, don't you? Yes, of course, you do. At one point, you will have to let your students go. Let them walk their own paths." He weaved his fingers together and placed them on the table, the way a sleazy politician did in a press conference. "As someone who has been in this business for years, prioritize yourself first, understood?"
Ji-ah slammed her hands on the table. "Sir, but—"
"I asked if you understood."
She faltered, seeing the eyes of that man. He didn't say anything, but she felt there was great fury hiding behind it. And it was at that point, she realized, no matter what she said, no matter how right she believed herself to be, the man would never agree with her.
The lady bit her lips. The white curtains fluttered, letting in a cold breeze. There hung a silence above them, waiting to crash down. "Yes. I understood."
The teacher smiled. For the first time. "See, not so hard, wasn't it? Well, that will be it for today. You may leave."
Ji-ah did not remember much afterward. She was lost in her own thoughts, wandering around the hall, only knowing that she had left through the door. Even during her lessons, she could only concentrate on what her supervisor said. She felt like she had done a great disservice to her students. However, the words of that teacher weighed heavily on her mind. A family member that attended the school. Yes, there was, it was her brother. She had told him, though he appeared to have forgotten. But she could never forget him. Every time she closed her eyes, the face of her brother would resurface, and she'd get emotional; Though she tried suppressing it.
A school was their students—what a joke that seemed like now.
She wrapped her head in a scarf and walked out the gates. A few light coughs escaped her lips, nothing too serious. Without really knowing when, the school day had ended for her.
"Miss Ji-ah," someone called out to her, and she turned around. It was Dong Jowoon, her coworker, the teacher in a tracksuit, who had been with her at the morning patrol. He had shrunk back, seeing Ji-ahs expression. She touched her face, wondering if her negative emotions were that obvious.
"Anyway," Dong Jowoon coughed twice. "So, about what happened in the morning..." He rubbed his head. "I just wanted to say I'm on your side."
"What?" Ji-ah did not understand what he meant. In the first place, she did not understand why that man talked to her. Sure, they were of the same school, but so were around a thousand other people. She taught Physics and Math, while he did English and Sport. There should be no overlap in their subjects.
He continued. "You see, I was just wondering that maybe Seojin had gone too far in that room." He quickly corrected himself, realizing what he had said. "Wait, no, I did not eavesdrop or anything, I just passed by coincidentally and heard some words, nothing more. I just wanted to say you did the right thing."
"Ah, okay. Thank you." She gave a halfhearted reply then bowed. There wasn't anything she wished to say. Rather, she hoped to return home as soon as possible.
Jowoon, seeing Baek Ji-ah's interest fading, quickly and grabbed her shoulder tight. She flinched back, startled by his sudden actions, which made him retract his hands. But the damage had been done. Still, he tried to ask her. "Are you perhaps interested in a coffee?"
"I'm sorry, I'm quite busy these days, maybe another time." She could only offer a hard, stiff smile.
The man looked disappointed but did not give up. "Come on, maybe we can work something out?" He stepped forward. "I was wondering, are you perhaps single? Feel free not to answer if I'm overstepping though."
Ji-ah coiled together as if all the unseen bolts in her face tightened together. She wanted to deny him outright, but her supervisor's words kept ringing in her ears. Conforming to society, was it?
She tried to let her eyes wander, as she did not know how to reply. Her sight naturally fell on a boy amidst the many students:
Lee Dojin.
They passed each other, their sight met. Memories of the morning resurfaced, and so did a few other ones too. The thoughts of her older brother overlapped with him. For a shameful second, she imagined that he'd come saving her again, but of course, that did not occur. He gave her a quick glance, then passed by her. Still, just that brief meeting had seemed to give her respite in that seemingly hopeless situation—if only a little.
Meanwhile, Lee Dojin looked up. The thoughts about the Mother of Ravens dissipated rapidly. She had survived for many years, building her own legacy without his interference. She would manage. For others, it may have appeared as if he only watched the blue sky, but only he knew that there was something much more beautiful hovering above him:
[A skill of yours has reached level 10. Would you like it to undergo a small revolution now, or later? The upgrade will take 1 hour.]
He had skipped the last lesson and gone out to defeat the shadows. There was a shaded park just right around the corner, allowing him to effectively hunt them all down without anyone noticing. While doing so, he had leveled his skill to level 10. It was now time to reap his reward.