I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

The sound of paper rustling filled the air as Na Yeon-ju and Lee Ji-eun, sitting side by side, nervously swallowed their dry saliva as they turned each page of their reflection papers, which they had written with all the elements they could think of.

As the first page came back to the front again, the chair in front of the desk turned, and Baek Woo-jin, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

“You’ve written quite a novel here.”

His harsh criticism made Yeon-ju and Ji-eun’s heads spin. They had tried their best to write sincerely, but at that moment, they couldn’t remember a single word they had written on the paper.

“Both of you, stand up.”
“Yes, sir…”
“Hic…”

Their legs, which had been kneeling for three hours, felt numb, as if they didn’t belong to them, but they struggled to stand up, leaning on each other.

“Na Yeon-ju.”
“Y-yes…”

Yeon-ju, who had never been properly scolded before, was intimidated by the usually respected Baek Woo-jin’s dry tone and lowered her head.

“Tell me with your own mouth what you did wrong today.”
“Th-that…”

Her legs were numb, but she didn’t feel it anymore. Yeon-ju clenched her fists to hold back the tears that were about to burst out, and opened her eyes wide.

“O-one, I… I tried to lie to S-Senior…”
“Why?”
“B-because I thought it was a bad thing…”
“If you had told the truth then, you wouldn’t be here.”
“H-hic…”

Large droplets fell from her bowed head, creating small stains on the floor.

“You made a mistake because you were afraid of being punished. Baek Hana would be disappointed.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Come closer.”
“H-hic!”

Yeon-ju swallowed her runny nose and slowly approached Baek Woo-jin.

Swish.

“Huh?”

She was startled by the soft touch on her eyes.

“People might think I’ve been verbally abusing you.”
“Oh, th-that…”

A gentle handkerchief wiped her eyes.

Slap!

“Ouch!”

Yeon-ju, who had been standing there in a daze, instinctively covered her forehead as a dizzying sensation spread from her forehead to her brain.

“Anyone can make a mistake. So, from now on, don’t hide it and be honest.”
“Yes…”
“Good.”

Baek Woo-jin gently patted her head, and Yeon-ju blushed, forgetting the pain she felt on her forehead.

“Lee Ji-eun.”
“Y-yes!!!”

Ji-eun, who had been standing there in a daze like Yeon-ju, was startled by the sudden call and raised her voice without realizing it.

“Just because you’re a clergy member doesn’t mean you’re exempt from everything.”
“Yes.”
“This incident happened because you didn’t fully understand the school rules, so let’s end it here.”
“Ah!! T-thank you so much!”

Ji-eun, who had been bowing her head, bowed her waist as well.

“You can go back now.”
“Oh…”

Yeon-ju let out a disappointed sound as the warmth left her head, but she quickly came to her senses and stepped back.

“Th-then we’ll go back!”
“Thank you, thank you so much!”

Yeon-ju, who had regained her composure, grabbed Ji-eun’s hand, and Ji-eun kept expressing her gratitude to Baek Woo-jin like a broken doll while being pulled away by Yeon-ju.

After the two girls left, Baek Woo-jin, who was left alone, pushed the paper on the desk aside and picked up his smartphone.

“The rest will be taken care of by the guardians.”

.

.

.

Yeon-ju and Ji-eun, who had left the main building, headed for the nearest bench and sat down.

“Phew!”
“My l-legs are shaking.”
“Me too…”

They patted and massaged their thighs, taking a break until their pounding hearts calmed down.

And when their minds had settled down a bit.

“We still have some time left… Should we go watch a movie together?”
“Huh?”

Yeon-ju looked at the girl sitting next to her, wondering if she had heard correctly.

Vroom! Vroom!

At that moment, their smartwatches vibrated briefly and lit up.

Their eyes naturally turned to the smartwatches on their wrists, and before long, the color drained from their faces.

“I think we should go back.”
“Me too…”

Yeon-ju and Ji-eun reluctantly took steps that didn’t want to move, heading towards the street of light.

.

.

.

[Temple of Mercy]

After the evening prayers, there was a knock on the door.

“Ji-eun, it’s me, Iseul. Can I come in for a moment?”

A sniffling sound came from inside.

“Then I’ll come in.”

Holding the doorknob, she pushed the door open slightly, but seeing the thick darkness within, she shook her head and pushed the door wide open.

“I’ll turn on the light.”
“Okay.”

She watched her junior and sister, wrapped in a blanket, for a moment before closing the door and switching on the light.

The room became visible, and Iseul sat on the bed where Ji-eun was lying.

“Are you going to stay like that?”
“…”

The blanket moved, and Ji-eun poked her head out, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

Iseul thought, ‘She must have cried a lot.’

She took out a sandwich and sparkling water from between her clothes and placed them on the bed next to Ji-eun.

Although Iseul didn’t know the details as she had been away on an external mission, she knew from the other children that Ji-eun had been confined to her room, not allowed to eat dinner, and severely punished by the adults.

“Your butt got spanked, huh?”
“Yeah.”

Ji-eun crawled out of the blanket and reached for the sandwich, her voice slightly hoarse.

“You’ll get indigestion if you eat like that. Even if it hurts, eat sitting up.”
“I just want to eat like this.”
“Hmm.”

Iseul sighed and went to Ji-eun, supporting her back and thighs with her arms, helping her sit between her legs.

“See, this way your butt won’t hurt, right?”
“I’m embarrassed.”
“You want me to let go?”
“I didn’t say I wanted you to.”

The sandwich wrapper crinkled as Ji-eun unwrapped it and took a bite.

Iseul watched her junior eat the sandwich like a squirrel for a moment before carefully asking,

“Can you tell me what happened today?”
“Well…”

Ji-eun hesitated for a moment, then began to open up about the events of the afternoon, encouraged by Iseul’s gentle pats on her back.

“So that happened.”
“Yeah.”

Iseul, now fully aware of the situation, thought,

‘He is so kind…’

As an adult and a student of the academy, not knowing the school rules was by no means a reason to be excused from punishment. Despite this, she was deeply touched by the lenient punishment of a reflection and gentle reprimand.

Then,

“From now on, don’t hang out with the kids from the Fortune Side.”
“Okay.”

Iseul felt anger towards the member of the Fortune Side who had led her innocent sister astray.

“And what was her name, the one you were with?”
“Yeon-ju.”

Ji-eun’s gloomy face brightened a little.

Iseul smiled bitterly and said,

“Can you give me her contact information?”
“Contact information? Why…?”
“Why? Because of you, I had to face the misfortune I didn’t need to today, so I want to apologize on her behalf.”
“No, I’ll apologize… I’ll do it…”
“Ji-eun.”
“I’ll give it to you…”

Iseul received Yeon-ju’s contact information from the hesitant Ji-eun and saved it.

“From now on, whatever happens, always follow Yeon-ju’s opinion, okay?”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Okay…”

Iseul lightly patted Ji-eun’s pouting head and then carefully laid her back down on the bed.

“Don’t be late for morning prayers tomorrow, and don’t forget to apologize to the High Priest and the others again.”
“I won’t be late, I’m going to sleep now.”

Iseul sighed inwardly as Ji-eun turned away and covered herself with the blanket again.

She wondered why taking care of her junior sister for half an hour felt more tiring than helping out with external events.

“Good night.”
“Good night, Sister.”

Despite this, Ji-eun’s cute gesture of peeking out from the blanket to say goodbye made Iseul chuckle as she left Ji-eun’s room.

‘I don’t like this…’

Iseul crinkled her forehead, remembering an incident from last year.

She took out her smartphone and carefully sent a message to the contact she had received earlier.

[Iseul: Hello, I’m Iseul, a priestess of the Temple of Mercy.]

[Iseul: I’m so sorry for the trouble Ji-eun caused today.]

[Iseul: She’s a thoughtless girl, but she’s not evil at heart, I assure you. Please take good care of her in the future.]

Iseul didn’t plan to just end it with words.

Later, she intended to send a material gift through Ji-eun as a token of gratitude.

“Are you in prayer?”

The persistent ‘….’ sign on her phone made Iseul want to put it away, but then—

[Yeon-ju: ]

‘Huh?’

Instead of words, a photo was sent.

In the photo, a cute girl with puffy eyes, just like Ji-eun’s, was squatting next to a child’s statue, her arms raised above her head in punishment.

[Yeon-ju: Sorry I couldn’t protect her (；⌣̀_⌣́) ]

And then, a brief reply came.

Iseul thought, looking back and forth between the photo and the reply,

‘Is it really about protecting her…?’