Soul fire

Squeak-!

A car took a sharp curve in front of the school gate. The darkly tinted car cut across the middle of the field.

The tire kicked up a long trail of dirt. At the loud sound of the wheels, not only the teachers in the middle of class, but also the students of Daeryung High School poked their heads out the window.

"You guys, take your seats!"

The children chattered at the teacher's words.

"Teach', someone brought a car to the schoolyard."

"Oh? Is that a van?"

The van stopped right in front of the main building. Had it stopped a little too late, it would have crashed into a building. While the children were chattering, the driver's door opened and someone appeared.

It was a celebrity who jumped out of the driver's seat with a pensive look on his face.

"Hey, hey! I- Isn't that, that Jeongju?"

"Omg! I think it's jeongju?"

"I saw him on TV yesterday! They look exactly the same!"

Wahhh-!

Suddenly, loud cheers rang out throughout the school. At each class window, children leaned out and squealed. Teachers, too, instead of restraining the children, snooped around the schoolyard with twitching lips. Jeongju's face was the only thing that could be seen when the TV was on.

Hyung, you are so fucking handsome! Come up and sign an autograoh for me! I'm a big fan! Just wave your hand once!

A celebrity appeared in a small provincial town, and in an unremarkable boys high school. The reaction of the children who recognized Jeongju at a glance was explosive. Leaving behind the passionate clamor reminiscent of a concert venue, Jeongju hurriedly entered the main building entrance with his hair flying. He always wore sunglasses when going outside. But today there was no time for that. He immediately opened the door to the teachers' office with the momentum of almost tearing off the doorknob.

The solemn atmosphere in the room was broken in an instant. Teachers who were staring at monitors or flipping through textbooks all turned their heads toward the doorway. Jeongju, who stormed in, looked around the room with an impatient expression. In a brief moment, several teachers who recognized him threw back their chairs and jumped up from their seats.

"Uh, uhh... !?"

Ms Choi, who was sitting near the doorway, blocked her mouth. Ms Choi was a person who had a reputation as a true fan of Jeongju even within the faculty room. She gasped for breath and pointed at Jeongju in astonishment. The inside of the classroom was noisy. In the midst of exclamation and surprise, the vice principal of Daeryung High School approached Jeongju with a dumbfounded face.

"Hey, who is this? What are you doing here..."

Jeongju tried his best to regain his composure, tidying up his sweaty bangs first. He then bowed down from the waist down. He tried his best to suppress his ragged breathing as his restless back rose and fell. He replied in a slightly trembling voice.

"Nice to meet you. I am the uncle of Kim Jaegyeom, a year 2 class 3 student."

Ms Choi, whose strength in her legs gave way, eventually sat down on the floor. The vice principal was also very perplexed. The fact that his transfer student Kim Jaegyeom was related by blood to an incumbent celebrity was something he hadn't heard beforehand. The vice-principal, who had been lost for a moment, hurriedly regained his senses and gave a polite response, saying, "Huh huh, I didn't know that."

After exchanging a few words of greetings with jeongju, the vice principal led him into the staff room. There was a simple reception room inside the staff room. The first thing that caught Jeongju's eyes when he entered the drawing room was jaegyeom, who was sitting there with a grimace on his face.

"Jae- Jaegyeom!"

Jeongju ran like lightning toward Jaegyeom with a pale face.

"Jaegyeom-ah, how... badly did you get hit!"

Before Jaegyeom could say anything, Jeongju covered his cheeks with both hands. He lifted his face up and looked around. He fought back and forth, blood chasing his lips, and even bluish bruises on his cheeks. If that wasn't bad enough, his hair was tousled and...

"What's with your hair, did your head get grabbed?"

A strange silence settled in the drawing room. Ms Seo, who was sitting next to Jaegyeom, opened her mouth blankly. But right now, Jeongju seemed to have nothing on his mind except Jaegyeom.

"You're, here."

Jaegyeom covertly removed Jeongju's hand and looked at the others.

"How much was your head grabbed that it looks like a rat ate your hair, huh? Jaegyeom!"

Jeongju was on the verge of tears. He was so startled that even his hands were shaking. Jaegyeom, who was silent for a moment, gritted his teeth with a calm face.

"I... cut... the hair. It's because I cut it, uncle."

Jaegyeom looked a little tired as he said that.

Jeongju looked at his head with his rough breathing. His face then quickly turned sad. He ended up crying and grabbed Jaegyeom's shoulders and started shaking them.

"Jaegyeom. It's okay to tell the truth, are you afraid i'll worry? Okay. I know all about you, Sure. But Jaegyeom-ah. In this kind of situation, we need to properly weigh the ratio between right and wrong. It got pulled out, right?"

No...

Jaegyeom barely held back the curse that came up from within. He heard that he was shooting movies these days, but now he's shooting movies here... Following Jeongju's hand, his entire body trembled like a piece of paper. It was the moment when Jaegyeom, who could not stand it, secretly tried to kick Jeongju in the shin.

"Um, excuse me. Are you Jaegyeom's uncle?"

Ms Seo, who had been dazed for a while, belatedly started to organize the situation. Jeongju looked around and hurriedly bowed his head. There were three other people in the parlor besides Jaegyeom. It was the homeroom teacher Ms Seo and the dean, and a middle-aged man with a stern look. The middle-aged man had been keeping an eye on Jeongju from earlier.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. My greetings are late."

"Are you... the one from the TV?"

"Ahh. Yes, that's right."

Ms Seo looked dumbfounded. It was completely unexpected from the phone call. She wondered if it was someone who looked like a doppelganger, but it was a futile question. Even from the outside, his clothes were different from ordinary people. She called his guardian, but it was the first time since she started teaching that a celebrity came running.

After belatedly introducing himself, Jeongju calmly opened his mouth.

"That kid who fought with my nephew..."

"You are his uncle?"

At that time, a middle-aged man sitting on one side of the table jumped up from his seat. It was quite an aggressive yet rude attitude for a first exchange between strangers. As soon as the man opened his mouth, the atmosphere instantly chilled. Ms Seo looked at the man with a puzzled expression.

"Look here, Miss. You should have brought the parents. Are you kidding me?"

"Juyeol's father, please calm down..."

The middle-aged man banged on the table and hit it hard enough to make his sound. It sounded like a heavy flare signaling the beginning of a war. The dean, who was sitting next to him, tried to persuade the man to sit down with a polite attitude. However, the overly agitated man roughly shook his hand off.

"Juyeol's father, that student's parents are out of the country for some reason... Inevitably, his uncle has to take their place..."

"Ah! Tell them to come on a plane! What does that have to do with me?"

Jeongju, who was watching the situation, was about to intervene in the conversation.

"What a great household it seems! A celebrity who sells his face to make a living? Don't you think you should educate your brat properly?"

"Juyeol's father!"

The dean raised his voice resolutely at the man's harsh words and stopped him. Although he understood the man's sentiment, he thought it was too much. It's only like provoking each other like this. Unfortunately, Jeongju's face had already hardened. He glared at the man with fierce eyes.

"What did you say just now?"

Jeongju took a step towards the man.

"What brat. Who are you calling a brat now?"

"Ha! A brat is called a brat, is there anything wrong?"

The man shouted. If left alone, he was ready to grab Jeongju by the collar. In an unusual atmosphere, the teacher and the dean grabbed the man's arms and started telling him to stop.

"This is why they say you shouldn't trust painted things, they are no big deal. Ha! You, you're doomed. Just try carrying that shiny face around! Huh? On the internet, 'll just..."

Four adults were tangled together, furious at each other. The youngest yet eldest guy in this space was watching the fierce verbal fight unfolding in front of them with a sullen face.

"Look at my child's face. Is that a human's face?"

Jaegyeom, who was resting on his chin and fiddling with the bloody scab hanging from his lips, raised his eyes. Jeongju, stunned, spread his finger and pointed at him. At the same time, the eyes of the other three focused on one place.

Jaegyeom, who had been receiving distant stares, turned his head away from him.

"If he was hit to the point of getting hurt like that, shouldn't you apologize first?"

Jeongju was filled with emotion and began to express his anger, appealing.

"Even if it's just a children's fight, it couldn't have made someone hurt like this. But how can you say such a thing in front of a child, education or whatever? Where did Juyeol go after beating him like that?"

The man slammed the table and let out a sneer.

"Children's fighting? Children's fight! Oh, you said it well."

The laughter disappeared, and Lee Juyeol's father began to cry.

"My son, he was taken to the hospital for that children's fight!"