A Battle On Two Fronts (1)

Gojin casually walked through the hallways, heading to the principal's office. As soon as classes end, he had been called there for some reason. They didn't inform him about it, but he knew Daeho was likely behind this, throwing a tantrum because he didn't get the reward Seo Ahri promised him.

And I thought I was pathetic.

Gojin couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Daeho had probably reported the incident to the principal, thinking it would mess with him. Little did he know how wrong he was.

Entering the principal's chamber, Gojin was greeted by the sight of Daeho and his group of seniors standing there, looking smug, as if they had achieved something big. Principal Lee sat behind his desk. His expression was unreadable, as usual.

Gojin knocked on the door, and Principal Lee looked up right away. The look told Gojin everything he needed to know about how things would go. While the seniors stood there, Gojin sat down on the chair without even asking for permission.

Daeho was the one most surprised but smiled, thinking Principal Lee wouldn't excuse such behavior. But that's exactly what he did.

"So, Gojin," Principal Lee began, "it seems you've been accused of assaulting these students."

"Severely assaulting us, sir," Daeho chimed in. "With rods and sticks."

Gojin raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Assaulting them? With rods and sticks?"

The seniors nodded in unison, prompting Gojin to laugh in their faces.

"How would I even carry so many things to fight them?" Gojin let out a short laugh. "And how in hell am I supposed to fight over a dozen people alone and make it out of there without getting injured in the first place?"

Daeho's smug expression faltered. He hadn't thought his accusation through. Gojin's words only highlighted the absurdity of the claim. The other seniors exchanged uneasy glances, realizing that no one would believe them even if they yelled their lungs out.

But then Gojin said something completely unexpected.

"Well, it's true I beat all of you. But what does it say about you?"

Daeho looked confused. Gojin rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe anyone could be so stupid. But since he wanted to end things quickly and head home, Gojin explained the situation to Daeho.

"Think about it for a moment," Gojin said. "Only a few people know about the beating I gave you. If we drag this out, the entire school will know you got your asses handed to you by a single guy, even though you were carrying weapons. Is that what you want, Daeho?"

Daeho's face turned red with embarrassment and anger. He realized he was tarnishing his own image. The prospect of being known as the guy who got beaten by a single person while armed was too much for his ego.

"...I guess we all fell a couple of stairs," Daeho said, acting as if he remembered something.

He quickly retracted his accusation, mumbling an apology, before rushing out of the room with his underlings in tow.

Once they were alone, Principal Lee leaned back in his chair, studying Gojin carefully.

"Now that they are gone, let's get to what I called you for," Principal Lee commented. "I was hoping you would delete those recordings and photographs you have-"

Gojin put on an innocent face and acted as if he had forgotten about them. "Oh, those? Right, let me delete them for you."

He made a show of pulling out his phone and deleting the files, then he handed the phone to Principal Lee for confirmation that the evidence was permanently deleted. After confirming it, Principal Lee looked pleased.

"Thank you, Gojin," Principal Lee said, smiling sinisterly.

He believed Gojin was a docile student, easily manipulated. Other teachers had told him as much. He thought Gojin had truly deleted everything, making him a free man to do as he pleased with him.

But Gojin wasted no time raining on Principal Lee's parade. Thanks to his [Perception] skill, he read the principal like an open book and knew he was already planning for ways to get back at him.

"Just because I deleted the evidence from my phone doesn't mean I don't have backups." He leaned in closer and whispered, wiping the smirk off his face. "I only did this to see your reaction, and let me tell you, it was less than pleasing."

Principal Lee's smile faded, replaced by a look of confusion and anger. "You promised-"

"And I delivered it," Gojin cut him off. "I have deleted the evidence... from my phone. It was what you wanted, right?"

Principal Lee looked like his brain was about to explode. Gojin smiled at the scene, but he wasn't finished yet.

"Here's the deal. Hold on for a year. I'll graduate and be gone from this school and your life. If you do as you're told, all the evidence I have on you will be deleted automatically."

Gojin continued in an indifferent tone. "But if you do anything to harm me directly or indirectly, I'll release everything. Everything bad you don't want to happen will happen and you'll have only yourself to blame."

Principal Lee clenched his fist, but realizing his position, he calmed himself down and agreed to the proposal. Pleased with the outcome, Gojin turned on his heel and left the office. As he walked down the hall, his phone rang. Seeing his mother's name on the screen, he picked it up.

"Gojin!" Yeji shouted as soon as he answered the call. "Someone wrecked our house. The garden and store room... everything is ruined!"

Sensing the panic in her voice, Gojin's face fell. At first, he thought Principal Lee was behind the attack. But he realized Lee did not know about the backup before and wouldn't dare antagonize Gojin with what he had at stake.

Could it be Taejun?

But then another thought popped into his mind. Could it be the loan sharks his stepfather owed money to? The more he thought about it, the more he realized how many people were after him and his family who could have done it to them.

"I'm coming home right now, Mom," Gojin said, trying to calm Yeji. "Lock the doors and hang in there. I'll be there in a moment!"