The Boy Next Door | Taegyu ✔️

50

Mr Jung entered the school building with his heart racing rapidly. He knew bringing up this matter won't be easy, but it needed to be done. It was exactly 7:30 pm as he made his way towards the principal's office, still lit with the lights turned on.

With a knock on the door, he entered the room to see Headmaster Lee seated on his wheeled armchair.

"Mr Jung! You wanted to see me?" He spoke, his voice filled with life as he got up to greet his employee. "It must be something important for you to be asking to meet at this hour."

"Ah, yes," replied Mr Jung as they briefly shook hands. "It's about Mr Choi, Beomgyu's father." Headmaster Lee raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Mr Choi has, yet again, funded such a generous sum of money to the school this year. Thanks to him, we're able to install much better facilities and additions to the school— which received a lot of great feedback. But yes, what were you saying about Mr Choi?"

"It's just that, well, you know, since Beomgyu is my student, he has just recently informed me about his treatment at home. He gets beatings at home; by his father."

Headmaster Lee blinked at him, the crinkles around his eyes dropping at once. "Well, Beomgyu must've imagined it or think that it has happened when it hasn't. You know kids these days—" he said with a laugh that made Mr Jung's blood boil "—he must be so stressed to the point where he has gotten delusional—"

"Excuse me, sir," Mr Jung interrupted, his voice concealing the anger being pent up inside of him, "but, if you didn't already know, Beomgyu is currently lying in bed at Seoul's Hospital."

"Of course, why didn't I think about this sooner?" Said Headmaster. Mr Jung tilted his head to the side. "We need to get Beomgyu some help! The poor boy has probably gone mental with his big exams coming up—"

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL MY STUDENT DELUSIONAL OR MENTAL!" Mr Jung shouted, unable to retain his composure any further. "Forgive me sir, but this isn't a matter to joke about!"

"WELL THEN WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT IT? WITHOUT MR CHOI'S ANUAL FUNDINGS, HOW DO YOU EXPECT THIS SCHOOL TO CONTINUE TO RUN?" He yelled out of frustration. "Mr Choi has been donating a large sum of money to this school for YEARS. AND WE'RE GOING TO LET ALL HIS EFFORTS GO TO WASTE JUST BECAUSE OF A SILLY BOY NOT BEING ABLE TO HANDLE A FEW SLAPS?"

"He's in the hospital with a bruised rib, that is far more than just 'a few slaps'," Mr Jung retorted in an acidic tone.

"Please, Mr Jung, listen to me," Headmaster Lee said, massaging his nose bridge. "Let's just sweep this matter aside, and pretend as if you didn't hear, see or even know about it! Look, I can pay you an additional—"

"So, you're implying that you're willing to place a student's safety at stake for the sake of keeping this school running?" Mr Jung said as he looked at his boss with utter disgust.

"THE VERY SCHOOL YOU WORK AT, YES!" Headmaster Lee took a deep breath as he placed his hand on Mr Jung's shoulder. "You need to clear your head. Just because of this ONE student, you're really going that far? Even if you're putting your teaching career on the line? Because if something ever happens to Mr Choi that will affect his findings to the school, mark my words when I say that you should get ready to pack your bags," Headmaster Lee threatened, placing a boney finger in front of Mr Jung's face.

"Now, keep your mouth shut, and I'll double your salary for this term— I can even promote you to a higher post—"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I do not want any of that if it means one of my students getting hurt. If there's nothing else I'm leaving," spoke Mr Jung firmly as he picked up his briefcase.

"Mr Jung! Mr Jung! JUNG JISEOK!" He heard his boss call out. But it felt as if the injustice he had felt in the span of 10 minutes had taken over the petty emotion of losing his job as he stormed out of the school building.

»»—— ♡ ——««

"I'm sorry— you did WHAT?" Officer Min shouted at his brother.

It was 10 am on a weekend morning and Mr Jung didn't intend to get a lecture from his older brother about the impulsive decisions he had made last night.

"Basically, I need your help," Mr Jung spoke as if he hadn't made his point for coming here clear enough.

"I know, I know," said Officer Min, "but WHY would you shout at your boss like that? You could get fired!"

"Well, I wouldn't have come here if I was scared of being fired," replied Mr Jung coolly. Officer Min slapped his palm to his forehead in frustration; trying to talk to his brother felt more of him speaking to a wall.

"Jiseok, please, just think twice about the decision you're about to make. I've grown up with you, and I know how much this job means to you—"

"Sehun," spoke Mr Jung softly, "do you know why I even decided to become a teacher in the first place? It's because I want to help the youth. I want to help nurture their minds and watch them grow. To me, my students are my priority; I place them above everything else. Beomgyu is no different."

"I don't want his future to be ruined because of the constrained environment he's living in. I'm a teacher because I want to make a difference in my student's lives; I want to be there for them and show them the path to a future filled with potential. If I'm unable to fulfil that, then I simply don't deserve to be a teacher," he continued.

At that moment, Officer Min didn't know if his brother was being heroic, or plain stupid.

"I just wanted to make sure that you won't regret what you're doing right now,"  sighed Officer Min.

"I won't," replied Mr Jung.

"Very well then. I'm assuming we're heading out to meet Beomgyu later?" Asked Officer Min reluctantly; he still didn't whole-heartedly support his brother's decision, but looking at the determination in his eyes, it left him no choice but to give him his unconditional support.

"Yes, and, thank you," replied Mr Jung with a grateful smile.

»»—— ♡ ——««

After washing up, the two made their way towards Seoul's Hospital. As they reached Beomgyu's room, though, it seemed as if the place was filled with an additional 4 people tagging along, namely, Taehyun, Yeonjun, Soobin and Hueningkai.

"You must be Beomgyu," spoke Officer Min, walking towards the boy who was seated on the bed. Beomgyu nodded in response. "My name is Officer Min," the older introduced.

"I thought you guys were brothers?" Asked Taehyun, noticing how both of the brother's last names differed.

"Step-brothers," Mr Jung replied with a shrug; blood-related or not, he still considered Officer Min the older brother figure in his life.

"Anyway, let's jump straight into it, shall we?" Officer Min said with a grin as he turned towards the 5. "The plan to end this for once and for all."

[ A/N: THANK YOU FOR 10K READS IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME TvT 💕 ]