The aftermath of the violence in Guanzu People’s School was rather bizarre.

After the vice principal conducted a thorough investigation, they still did not understand exactly what happened. A lot of Bon Won’s classmates heard Chung-ho admit that he was the one who beat up Oh Sang-ki, the boy in the wheelchair. A lot of them also testified that Jung entered their class and confronted Chung-ho. Then that is where it blurred. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who is questioning the students, one kid named Im Minzu threw the rest of the kids out of the class. That made the pool of witnesses rather limited.

According to what the school staff could puzzle out, the delinquents started to fight about what Chung-ho did to the boy in the wheelchair. Chung-ho admitted doing that and was defiant toward the others. Then the two delinquents, Lee Bon Won and Park Chung-ho, started fighting. Eventually, the big one, Im Minzu, also got dragged into the fight. It lasted some time, but it ended with Im Minzu being knocked out, Lee Bon Won having a dislocated shoulder, and Park Chung-ho being thrown out of the window.

The other delinquent, Il-Seung, even outright lied and claimed that Kim Jung-hee beat the crap out of all of them. To complicate things, a day later, Jung Hee went to the principal’s office and admitted that it was he who hurt all three boys. Principal Noh just sighed and shook his head, while the vice principal laughed in his face. When Jung insisted, the vice principal shooed him away.

“Look, I understand that you are not happy with what happened to your friend. So were we, but all these false statements are just muddling our investigation. Just concentrate on the upcoming contest and let us deal with this mess. Now go back to your class! ”

The day after that, Lee Bon Won faced the two men and admitted to them that he beat up both boys.

“And why did you do it? ”

Bon Won shrugged. “It’s a matter of difference of opinion,” he said simply.

The vice principal wanted to expel the boy immediately, but the principal overruled him and gave Bon Won 2 weeks of suspension instead. The boy Minzu gets 5 days of suspension, and Il-seung gets 2 days. Chung-ho... Well, they delayed his punishment until he got back to school. According to the hospital that took him in, it would take months for the boy to recover. Unfortunately, that is too long since the current school year will end in two months.

Chung-ho was first sent to the school clinic, where the nurse took care of him as best she could, but the following day, he was transported to a hospital outside of town. Ironically, he is sent to the same hospital Sang-ki was sent to. Unlike Sang-ki, who stayed there for 11 days, Chung-ho spent another 3 months. You could say a lot of things about North Korean health care since it is not perfect and denies a lot of medical preventive care support, but when there is an actual emergency, they do respond, and the service is free. You do have to sign a lot of red tape bureaucracy to get it done. It is a hustle, but they don’t need to pay.

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Chung-ho was in a coma for three days before he woke up. He had two operations and three weeks of physical therapy sessions. Bon Won visits him every week to see how he is doing. He tries to be casual in the way he talks to him, but the boy sort of loses his voice and barely talks anymore. What’s more, every time Bon Won arrives, Chung-ho flinches uncontrollably and stares with fear at his school uniform. Eventually, Bon Won arrived in civilian clothes to stop his friend from shaking. Bon Won tried to talk to his friend like nothing happened, but the guy was unresponsive.

Two months after his last operation and after he completed three weeks of physical therapy, Chung-ho one day simply grabbed the crutches given to him by the hospital and walked away from the hospital.

He never returned to school, and no one heard from him ever again. Some said he joined the military, others swear they saw him in underground fights somewhere in the Hamgyong Mountains, and another rumor said he is now a day laborer in Chongjin, the 3rd largest city in North Korea. But no one can confirm it, and the boy was forgotten.

*****

Meanwhile, back in school, Jung Hee confronted Bon Won once more when he found out that the boy accepted all the blame for the fiasco.

Jung hunted him down until he found him working as a gatekeeper for the only brothel in town, the Red Plum Blossom. Jung walked towards the delinquent, grabbed him by his jacket, and then dragged him towards the nearby alley.

“You took the blame for Chung-ho? ” Jung asked.

Bon Won was startled but recovered easily enough. He did not feel the dark aura around Jung, so the boy wasn’t really angry. He just wanted to know why.

“Yes,” he said simply. "Yes, I did.”

“What the hell was that for?! I don’t need you to take the blame for my mistakes! ” Jung said.

“But it wasn’t your mistake, asshole. It was mine.” That stopped Jung’s train of thought for a moment. “You were right. Chung-ho was my responsibility. And I failed to control him. So this is on me.”

As he said that, he stared at Jung directly in the eye, completely unafraid. But now, his eyes slid away from him. "I'm sorry.”

Jung Hee stared at the boy for a moment longer. Then Jung let go of a deep sigh, just as he released Bon Won. “Damn it,” Jung said to himself.

Then he turned to Bon Won again. “I’m not the one you need to say sorry for,” Jung said pointedly before turning around and walking away.

Three days later, Bon Won went to the hospital for the first time and found Oh Sang-ki’s room. The boy was already awake, and he raised his eyebrow when he saw Bon Won. He explained everything that happened, and then, with a silent dignity, he swallowed his pride and said, “I’m sorry.”

The boy in the wheelchair stared at him for a moment and then offered his hand. “Stop scaring little kids like me back in school, and you are forgiven.”

Bon Won stared at the hand for a moment before a low chuckle escaped his lips. Then he shrugged and grabbed his hand for a shake. “Deal,” he said.

He said his goodbyes to Jung Hee’s friend and then went out of his way to find Chung-ho.

******

The entire incident was swept under the rug, and no one filed a report with the people’s militia. The principal spent a lot of his political IOUs to make the problem disappear. It helps that a few days after the incident, Principal Noh announced the first ever student in Guanzu People’s School to enter the prestigious DongChaek University and that the kid would be going there on a full scholarship. Even before the principal said it, several kids had already turned to Jung Hee.

I mean, who else is qualified for that kind of shit?

Jung Hee's name is finally called, and he walks to the front of the school grounds, shakes hands with the principal, and bows in front of his schoolmates. The majority of the kids in school clapped politely at Jung, but his own class and Eun Mei’s class shouted their boisterous support for him.

Four days after that announcement, the principal boasted once more that Jung Hee had just won the regional math competition and was qualified to go to the all-Korean national math finals next month.

The incident in Bon Won’s class was not exactly forgotten, but its impact was less important as time went by, especially when the kids found out that Bon Won admitted that it was him who beat up his fellow delinquent because of what he did to the poor kid in the wheelchair.

Another 2 weeks passed, and the school announced a full-week vacation for the students with the Great Leader’s countrywide birthday celebration.