A beast whose fear has peaked has two choices.
Give up and quietly wait to be eaten by the predator,
or fling itself into a hopeless struggle.
"S-so what do you want me to do about it!"
The male student chose the latter.
"I—I just thought Geonho lost his medicine, so I was going to give it back!"
"..."
"Do you have proof I stole it? Do you?"
He’d snatched back the note he wrote by rifling Geonho’s pocket the moment Geonho collapsed.
The physical evidence was gone, so it all hinged on Geonho’s choice.
The Geonho he knew would lightly forgive a mistake like yesterday’s. If he offered a sincere apology and said he wasn’t in his right mind because of heat, he’d surely be forgiven.
If it was the kind, gentle student council president, Geonho Baek...!
"My hyung might let it slide."
"...!"
"Because he’s soft to a fault."
Seolheon slowly blinked, looking into the air.
In the deep-navy eyes, another place—not here—and some other time seemed to gleam.
For a moment, both eyes looked washed with a bright, bluish light...
"But what should we do?"
The child’s eyes returned to their dark navy.
"I’m not kind."
At the same time, the smile vanished from Seolheon’s face.
"That’s... a medicine for my hyung. Only for my hyung."
The student couldn’t say a word.
"It isn’t something a filthy, vulgar-smelling Omega like you gets to covet."
All he could do, under the boy’s voice dropping lower and an inexplicable pressure...
was tremble.
"Not just the medicine, but ‘Geonho Baek’ too."
The boy smiled again.
It was a warm, harmless smile, like he was trying to reassure a small, terrified animal that he meant no harm.
The student recalled last year.
Geonho Baek often wore the same expression.
"You transferred today? End of the second term’s a rough time for that."
At that smile, the student lost his heart.
He wanted to see that face at his side for the rest of his life.
"Hang in there with the adjustment. At least the cafeteria food here is edible."
But staring at the boy’s smile now, he thought the smile he loved...
might become something he hated forever.
"Name, grade, class. You’re not going to tell me your personal info to the end, are you?"
Returning to a perfectly polite tone, Seolheon pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a photo of the student’s face.
"W-what are you doing..."
"You won’t give your name, so I’ll at least send a photo."
"S-send? A photo?"
"You’ll get a call soon. I don’t know if Legal will reach out first or the police will."
"P-p-police?!"
As the student jolted in fright, it was Seolheon who widened his eyes in an exaggeratedly startled look.
"You thought stealing medicine that important would get written off as kids’ mischief?"
He sighed lightly, the corner of his mouth lifting in a mocking curve.
"Truly stupid. And you smell disgusting."
"E-erase it..."
Rage rose at the fact he was being toyed with by an elementary schooler, but fear of the bleak future closing in was far more overwhelming.
Eyes flushing red, he thrust a hand toward Seolheon.
"Delete the photo!"
[smack!]
He swung, snatched the phone, and kicked the boy’s legs out.
The kid, unable to resist and punched in the stomach, went down and rolled hard once across the floor.
"Huk—huff...!"
The student didn’t stop at hurriedly deleting the photo from the seized phone; he hurled the phone to the floor to stomp it.
But his foot stopped in midair.
A chill ran down his spine.
Because the fallen boy’s mouth still held—
that strange smile.
"What do you think you’re doing."
A sharp voice cracked across the passage.
At the end of the hall stood a familiar face.
"To my little brother."
"G-Geonho. Let’s think this over one more time!"
The vice principal, hairline already halfway gone, sweat through his shirt as he declaimed.
"If this goes on, Heechan’s future is ruined! His grades are fine, he’s kept his head down and behaved—why treat an Omega kid like you’re wringing a rat’s neck? He said that, well, his cycle hit and he was out of his mind, right? Hm? Kids that age can make mistakes like this."
I pulled my gaze off the principal’s gleaming crown and looked to the windows.
The orchids the principal doted on were lined up along the sill.
"Let’s keep this pleasant, Geonho. You’re kind; you can understand your friend’s situation, right?"
"...Understand?"
I glanced around.
In front of me stood the principal and vice principal, both wiping cold sweat with troubled faces, and two homeroom teachers.
Behind them stood the Omega student, Heechan Im, and his parents, their faces tight with anxiety.
"Sir."
"Yes, Geonho!"
"I don’t want to extend kindness to someone who assaulted my little brother."
Heechan launched himself at me the instant I finished speaking, thrusting up a face wet with tears.
"Geonho! I just got so scared!"
"..."
"I—I didn’t know you were that sick... a-and your little brother threatened me so horribly I just lost control!"
"Threatened? My little brother did?"
"Y-yeah! Eyes wide open, he suddenly grabbed my arm and threatened me—do you know how scared I was...!"
"..."
"And, right! The moment you showed up he smiled! He actually smiled! Honestly, the fall and the injury—your brother did all that on purpose, planned—"
"Ha, fuck."
At last I couldn’t hold it in and spat a curse.
"You stole my pill bottle and threatened me, and you think you have the right to spew that kind of ridiculous excuse?"
"G-Geonho! Don’t get worked up—"
"Say it again. What did my brother do?"
"Let’s avoid such harsh words to a classmate. Heechan’s parents are right here—"
"I’m sorry, sir. But this is the first time I’ve ever been angry to the roots of my hair."
Truly.
In my last life, fury flared up more times than I could count. But for my vision to go red and my hands to shake like this with rage—never.
I’d been an orphan in my past life,
and an orphan in my new one.
This was the first family I’d ever had.
And you dare—
Some beast blinded by nothing but ‘sex drive’ stomped him underfoot?
"Heechan Im, was it?"
"..."
"My brother is still at the hospital getting checked. Bruising to the belly, knees, and arm—they said walking might be hard for a few days."
"I—I didn’t hit him that hard—"
"You. I heard from the teachers you transferred here after a similar incident at your last school."
"...!"
"Me, maybe I could have let it go, chalking it up to you pushing a little too far to satisfy your sexual curiosity. But."
I set my hand on the slope of Heechan’s shoulder.
"Beating up a kid that young and kind—no."
"N-no! I—I didn’t mean to hit him, I swear, he went down first...!"
"All he did was see you carrying my pill bottle. That’s what Seolheon said."
I tightened my grip.
Heechan’s shirt and knit vest crumpled miserably under my hand.
"He just wanted to tell me, so he tried to take a photo. And you call that a threat? That’s why you hit a kid like that?"
"E—even if I didn’t mean to! He fell by accident! Or maybe he planned it from the start, acting because he knew you’d come—"
"Enough. I have nothing left to say to you."
I dropped my hand from his shoulder, rough.
He’d punted even his last chance; I had no more attachment to the idea of mercy.
"A settlement will be difficult. Forget the school violence committee or whatever. We’ll proceed by the law."
"G-Geonho! Wouldn’t it be better for you, too, to resolve this quietly in here? You only just became student council president—"
"Which is exactly why the school needs to take appropriate action and help here, isn’t it."
This school’s principal was famous for being a bureaucrat glued to his iron rice bowl who avoided trouble. Seeing him so blatantly try to shield the perpetrator, it was clear he’d received something from those silent parents besides wanting to protect the school’s image.
As expected, there’s no helping it.
I’d kept it hidden to avoid hassle.
I hadn’t thought I’d reveal it right at the start of the term.
[ring]
A chime sounded at just the right time—someone must have seen my message.
"Perfect timing."
"C-call? Who?"
"Is a quick video call okay?"
I opened my phone and set it on the marble table.
It was still the old deteriorated model, but it was fascinating how, like in my last life, phones here had evolved toward smartphones.
Soon a sharp-featured beauty appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Principal."
In front of a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Seoul, a black-haired woman in a suit began to speak.
"This is Yeonhee Baek, Geonho’s mother."
For a heartbeat, everyone swallowed and silence fell.
Every gaze locked onto a single point on the screen.
[Nameplate: Baekil Pharmaceuticals CEO, Yeonhee Baek]