The following day, as Jung walked towards the busy hall of his school, Jung Hee learned surprising but welcome news from the gossip vines being whispered around him. His listening skill is at level 8 by now, and he can at least control every sound he hears. Technically, everything is still funneled to his brain; he just learned how to filter it better.

“Did you hear? Song Eun Mei from class 5 got a scholarship! ”

“What? Why? ”

“Jung Hee is one thing, but that girl? I mean, beyond her snooty face, she wasn’t anything exceptional. How the hell did she get that? ”

“Maybe she blew the principal.”

They giggled, and Jung walked on. Barring any mishaps, the whole school expected Jung to be this year's valedictorian; thus, his receiving a scholarship came as no surprise to everyone. But Eun Mei? This got a lot of eyebrows raised by the rest of the graduating class.

Jung was probably the only one genuinely happy for her and resolved to congratulate her later. But for now, he has another errand to do.

Jung had to talk to Lee Bon Won and he knows where he usually hangs out. The delinquent attended a lot of his class that year but his grades are simply atrocious. And now that he got suspended because of the Chung-ho affairs, his absences reached the maximum allowed attendance and should have been enough cause to make sure he did not graduate. Jung negotiated to help the boy do extra projects and resolve to help him in the finals to give him a chance. Now he just has to knock some sense into the boy to take the finals seriously.

Jung noticed Garam talking to another classmate and nodded to him when their eyes met. The boy nodded back at him with a smile, and they went their separate ways. Jung frowned when he realized that he didn’t see them together with Eun Mei these days, but maybe they are just busy with the upcoming finals to be lovey-dovey in school.

Jung erased that thought and continued to walk towards the back of the canteen, where he knew the delinquents normally hang out. He jogged down the stairs, took a shortcut between buildings, and then turned to the side. He passed through a dark and dingy alley before it widens into a small garden-like expanse. From there, half a dozen delinquents of every year, two of them girls, hang out. Some are reading comic books, and others are puffing cigarettes.

He scanned the place until his eyes noticed Bon Won, and without any hesitation, Jung smiled and walked towards him. One of the junior delinquents stared at him and said in a low voice, “The fuck? ”

The boy stood up, and a friend of his stopped him. When he turned to him, the friend simply shook his head, which baffled the boy. Jung Hee passed them with no issues.

Jung called out, and when Bon Won turned to him, the boy almost swallowed the gum he was chewing. His friends Il-Seong and Minsu both stood up like there was a fire in their asses. All three stared wearily at Jung as he walked towards him.

Jung had this oblivious, wide smile on him as he stopped 2 feet away from his friend. “Bon Won! I’ve been looking for you! ", he said.

“Kim Jung Hee, what are you doing here? " Bon Won asked worriedly.

Jung gave him a bright, brilliant smile. In their point of view, Jung is this eager puppy, complete with the cute ears and happily wagging tail behind him. But all three dismiss that image, remembering what they saw before. They knew this boy was a wolf hiding in a cute puppy's clothing.

And then he took a step forward and confidently put a hand on Bon Won’s shoulder. BOn Won stiffened. “I’ve fixed your problem, my friend. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

ALl 3 delinquents blinked at the puppy boy. “What problem? ” Bon Won said, getting irritated.

Jung blinked at him several times. “You,” Jung said, as if it were obvious. “Not graduating.”

Bon Won’s friends, Il-Seong and Minsu, gawked at Jung for several moments. Then Minsu closed his mouth with one arm. “Pffft! ”

Bon Won glared at him, but not before a shade of red flashed over his cheeks. Il-Seong stared anywhere but Bon Won’s eye. He, too, is desperately stopping himself from smiling.

“Listen, Bon Won, I've talked to your class supervisor and to coach Dongyun. I managed to arrange a deal for you. You've got a shot at graduating if we play our cards right."

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The blush on Bon Won’s face became even more noticeable as he looked away from Jung’s enthusiastic face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you idiot. I already know I’m not graduating. I do not have the pre-requisite number of school attendances.”

“I know,” Jung said, which surprised the alpha delinquent. “You are short 12 days for the minimum school attendance. But like I said, I already talked to your supervisor, a nice lady by the way, and I explained about your contribution to the Songbaekjae tournament.”

Il-Seong looked at Bon Won, then at Jung, and then back to his friend. “You trained for a tournament? ”

“I didn’t,” Bon Win said in a grating voice. "It's a freaking job. Coach Dongyun is the one to organize the tournament, and he paid me to assist him. It’s a freaking 2-week tournament for 10 to 12-year-old boy. I was one of the referees. Tedious as fuck.”

Minsu laughed again, although he at least had the grace of trying to control it.

“Shut the hell up,” Bon Won said. “You are in the same boat as me. Why are you even laughing?"

Il-Seong smiled like a cat. “Actually, despite how we look, we go to school almost every day. Me and Minsu here will graduate, provided we at least get a C in the finals.”

It was Bon Won’s turn to be surprised. Then he shook his head. “Why do I care if I graduate or not? It's no big deal.”

“You must! ” Jung insisted. “Look, I talked to your supervisor, and she agreed to make those work days you did in the tournament official educational training, provided that your coach give her an official letter of affidavit stating that you indeed joined the tournament.”

“Heh, the old man would never-”

“Coach Dongyun already did. I submitted it today to your supervisor, and it is credited to your overall attendance. Now you are qualified to take the final exam. All you have to do is get at least a B in the finals, and you will march with us.”

“Jeezes Christ, Jung Hee, you didn’t have to do something like that. I-”

“You will come with me to the library tonight and every night for an entire week so that we can prepare for the finals! ”

Bon Won blanched. “You can't do that! I have gym Wednesday and Friday! ”

“I already talked to the coach, and you are not allowed to go to the gym until finals next week.”

Bon Won resisted, but Jung answered every complaint and excuse until he was completely cornered. In the end, he reluctantly agreed, and Jung even roped in Il-Seong and Minsu to come with them. He stated the date again, and after he got a promise from all three of them to attend, he walked out of the place with a huge smile on his face.

Il-seong stared at Jung’s back and said to no one in particular, “What the hell just happened? ”

*****

Jung added a point to upgrading his “whistling skill” and started using it. He felt he could splurge a little today and spent one point of his remaining 11. His project for the day was perfectly executed, and he was able to accomplish what he intended to do. He felt that familiar feeling of accomplishment after he finished crafting one of his pieces of furniture, or repairing a complicated electronic item, or watching as a particular ripe vegetable emerged in his garden. He loved that feeling.

JUng stopped in the middle of the hallway and made a determined fist. People can almost see stars twinkling around him as he stares into space with a serious look in his eyes.

He should not feel this way just yet, there are still things to be done.

He nodded to himself, oblivious to the looks other students were giving him.

Although it is not yet finished, the hard part is already done. He is also aware that, although he already told his friends Kwang and Sang-ki that he plans to help Bon Won study with them, they are not really excited about his plan, especially Sang-ki. Given what happened to him, Jung didn’t really blame him, but despite what happened to Chung-ho, Bon Won is still a friend of his, and he wanted to help.

Also, Kwang and Sang-ki are only aware that he will try to bring Bon Won to their study session, but they are not aware of Il-Seong and Minsu just yet. That will be another complication, but he believes that if he takes their concern seriously, he can diplomatically negotiate the pitfalls, pass over their opposition, and make them work together. Who knows? They might even become friends after this.

He was still whistling as he walked in the school corridor when the sound message board started the melody that warned of a pending announcement from the school staff.

“Attention all seniors, please attend the auditorium in the next 15 minutes in an orderly manner for an important announcement from the principal.” I repeat: All seniors, please attend-"

Jung blinked as he listened to the message being repeated. The students around him hesitated for a moment, but then there was a general wave of movement as groups of students started going in the direction of the auditorium. Jung debated going first to his class room to fetch his friends Kwang or Sang-ki, but then shrugged and followed the crowd instead.

In the wide auditorium, he found his friends as well as other acquaintances huddled in the middle of the huge hall. They saw him as well and waved at him. Jung waved back and walked towards them.

Kwang looked at him when he was nearer. “Do you know what this is all about? " his best friend asked.

Jung raised an eyebrow at him. “How the hell should I know? "

“Well, you are the principal’s pet student. Maybe you know something, unlike us lowly peasants.”

Jung scoffed at Kwang describing himself as a “peasant,” when he is considered the prince of the town more or less. But he was distracted as the principal, flanked by his secretary and two outsiders, stepped gracefully to the platform set up for him and began poking the mic system.

“Hello. Hello? Is it working? Alright, senior class of Guanzu, 20XX. I have some sad news to report, and we asked for your cooperation. These two gentlemen over here are from the people’s militia and are conducting an investigation," the principal said. Then he took a deep breath and plunged on.

"Yesterday, at approximately 4:35 pm, about half an hour after the end of your class, one of your fellow students, Miss Song Eun Mei, was abducted by an unknown number of assailants on her way back home.”

There were gasps of surprise, and then loud murmuring could be heard as the students started talking about the news and started speculating. JBlood drained from Jung's face, and then he bulldozed his way to the front of the podium. Any semblance of his smiling face was gone as he desperately listened for more news. Kwang, and even Sang-ki, followed him.

“We learned about this when her mother got worried when Miss Song did not come back yesterday. Early this morning, she went to the militia to report her daughter missing and then came to us next. The militia came to us after they did their preliminary investigation. They followed her most likely path back home, and halfway through that, they found a location that gave an indication of a possible struggle. They also found her bag in the scene.”

That created gasps of surprise from the senior class. Then the muttering sound in the auditorium grew even louder. Kim Jung Hee’s is flushed with barely controlled anger, and he hardly felt Kwang’s hand on his shoulder.

The principal remained in control and continued by telling everyone that if they have any pertinent news or information, they should please go to the militias behind him and explain themselves so they might help the militia’s investigation.

The principal finished his speech by taking off his glasses and fidgeting with them. Jung knew it was the old man's telltale sign that he was either distressed, sad, or angry. If Jung had to guess, Principal Noh is feeling all of it because of his missing student.

The old man took a long, shuddering breath, and then his eyes turned to his remaining students.

"Wherever you are, Miss Song, I'm sorry I could not protect you. And may the spirits of your ancestors be with you in these trying times and the will of the great leader help comfort you in the darkness ."

Just as the crowd started buzzing excitedly around him, Jung turned away from the podium and walked purposefully out of the auditorium.