Chapter 383: Strategizing (3)

“Hey. You know why we're here?”

“Mm? I guess... Probably because of that whole investigation thing?”

“Urgh. Seriously..” Han Jin-Seong groaned, then glared at his fellow Seongsim Orphanage kids near him. “This is why I told you not to say something unnecessary!”

Han Jin-Seong's irritated-sounding voice caused several kids to shrink back.

“Don't forget that Yu-Min hyung isn't our dad! He's also having a tough time and can't even find a girlfriend because he needs to take care of us, you know!”

Suddenly, one of the kids raised his hand.

“What now?” Han Jin-Seong shot that kid a sharp glare.

“I believe that's not the sole reason why Yu-Min hyung has failed to find a girlfriend yet, Jin-Seong hyung.”

“...Acknowledged.” Han Jin-Seong fake-coughed to clear his throat. “Anyways! If you lot have some semblance of morals, you should've done your best not to worry Yu-Min hyung any more than necessary. Let's be honest, okay? Yu-Min hyung isn't our dad, and don't you feel bad whenever you see him doing all this stuff to clean up our mess?”

The crowd's mood fell in an instant at Han Jin-Seong's rebuke.

“It's not like Yu-Min hyung is poor or has nothing to do, now is it? You all know the reason he's staying here in the orphanage despite being older than us is not because he doesn't have anywhere else to go!” Han Jin-Seong's voice got louder in irritation. “In that case, we should be taking care of our own problems and let him live his own life, you know! But, you couldn't even do that and had to blab your mouth? How could you do that!”

.

The expressions of all the kids became gloomier. And Jong-Su's was the worst of them all. Him getting punted around by the bullies had set this chain of events going, after all.

“Besides!” Han Jin-Seong yelled loudly. “What will change just because Yu-Min hyung now knows about it? Tell me? If telling him could have resolved this crap, I would've told you to go and do just that! But you all know that's not gonna work. Him knowing can't fix this crap, you know!”

“B-but..”

Han Jin-Seong's burning glare swept across the kids. “What we're doing is nothing more than sharing our worries, and that's gonna make more people feel like crap. But don't you know that Yu-Min hyung already has lots of stuff to deal with? You bloody idiots, who do you think you are, asking Yu-Min hyung to worry himself sick with this and fix it somehow for you! Do you pay Yu-Min hyung for services rendered? Do you cover his living expenses or something? Hah! And they say people will take goodwill for granted if you keep giving it! Look at you! You're openly trying to make him do everything for you! Humans should know shame, okay!”

No one dared to meet Han Jin-Seong's glare.

Nothing Han Jin-Seong had said was wrong. Not a word. If these kids wanted help, they should've asked the orphanage, not Park Yu-Min.

Park Yu-Min was already working so hard for their sake. Maybe, too much so. So, asking for more sacrifices from him at this stage was being too shameless. However...

In the end, the orphanage's kids had no choice but to speak the truth to Park Yu-Min because... They could rely on no one but Park Yu-Min. They felt that telling other people wouldn't change their situation by much.

No matter how slow they were on the uptake, these kids could still differentiate those who genuinely cared about them from those who saw them as a part of the job requirement. The orphanage employed nursery teachers and the director of operations, but none of the orphans trusted or relied on them as much as they did Park Yu-Min.

“...I'm sorry, Jin-Seong hyung.”

Of course, these kids knew their trust had become a huge burden for Park Yu-Min.

Han Jin-Seong sighed deeply. “Yu-Min hyung will definitely try to say something or rather about coming up with a solution. But I don't want you to agree with him and stuff, okay? Just tell him we're gonna take care of it ourselves. And don't you dare tell him about what happens in school from now on, too. Do you all understand what I'm saying?”

“Yeah, we hear you.”

It was common to see a repressive atmosphere develop between seniors and juniors in an orphanage, but that was not the case with Seongsim. Sister Yi raised these kids with lots of affection from a young age, and they have learned to trust and rely on each other like real siblings.

“I'm saying this only because telling Yu-Min hyung won't change anything, okay? We all know our problems won't just disappear because we told some adults. So, let's not saddle Yu-Min hyung with even more burden, okay? It's only gonna make his life even more difficult, after all. Okay, everyone?”

Just as all the kids began nodding in agreement, the door opened with a loud clunk, and Park Yu-Min stepped into the living room. n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

“Is everyone here?” Park Yu-Min asked.

“Yes, we are, hyung.”

The kids inwardly reaffirmed their resolve while looking at Park Yu-Min. However, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when Kang Jin-Ho also entered the living room behind Park Yu-Min.

'Why is Jin-Ho hyung showing up again?'

Their plan was rapidly going out of whack. Park Yu-Min was a nice guy, so he'd sigh and withdraw eventually if all the kids united and parroted 'We'll be okay, don't worry about us!' repeatedly.?But Kang Jin-Ho was not like that.

'Hey, what should we do?'

'Don't ask me! How should I know?!'

While the orphanage kids trusted and followed Park Yu-Min as their real older brother, Kang Jin-Ho was like... A?very?strict older brother who stopped by occasionally at home?

It might be possible to lie to Park Yu-Min and sweep everything under the carpet, but the same didn't apply to Kang Jin-Ho.

These kids couldn't dare to lie to Kang Jin-Ho. Not only did it feel like their lies wouldn't even work on Kang Jin-Ho, but the kids also felt a bit... awkward around him.

'Nah, instead of awkward, it's more like Jin-Ho hyung can be scary.'

Obviously, these kids knew that Kang Jin-Ho cared about them as much as Park Yu-Min did.

Even a little puppy could recognize that a person was treating it well, so of course these kids could see past Kang Jin-Ho's slightly coarse attitude and see that he genuinely cared about them.

However, someone being nice to them and them liking him back was a separate issue from that same person also being strict and scary at times.

Kang Jin-Ho's entrance instantly shifted the mood toward a weird territory. Kids began exchanging glances with each other, but that wouldn't help them think of a response to this turn of events.

Han Jin-Seong groaned deeply. He couldn't deny that this inexplicable anticipation began creeping into his heart. It might be wrong to feel this way, but Han Jin-Seong thought Kang Jin-Ho was capable of making things happen. Things that Park Yu-Min couldn't even dream of!

Of course, if someone asked Han Jin-Seong who he liked more between Park Yu-Min and Kang Jin-Ho, he'd unhesitantly pick the former. Even if the question was changed to who he trusted more, the answer would still be the same. However, this was a separate issue. As an example...

Let's say a son loved and trusted his father the most in the entire world. Even if that were the case, the son taking his broken PC to his father and expecting the latter to fix it would be no different from... torturing the father!

'Trust' and 'capability' were two separate things, after all! And people had different things they were good at, too.

“Okay, so..” Kang Jin-Ho quietly spoke, his eyes scanning the children. “I'm fully aware of what's been going on. In other words..” Kang Jin-Ho's gaze lingered briefly on each of the children, making them flinch slightly.

“...I don't need to hear the grisly details again.”

Kang Jin-Ho thought he didn't need to hear what happened from these kids again. He had already heard enough from Park Yu-Min and the kids, so it'd only be a waste of time to keep talking about the past now. Besides, he didn't think anything nice would be said, anyway.

“I'm going to start off with a headcount first. Even if only a few of you feel like it, it's fine with me. Anyone who thinks they are getting unfair treatment at school, even if it's only by a little, raise your hand.”

Han Jin-Seong groaned softly again.

'I'm telling you, Jin-Ho hyung just doesn't know how to talk to people!'

Who would raise their hand when so many people were watching? Even if kids were interviewed separately one at a time, they might not be willing to...

'What the hell... Why is that little brat raising his hand? Hang on a second?'

As if to laugh at Han Jin-Seong's assumption, several hands immediately went up when Kang Jin-Ho addressed the crowd.

“Heol..” Han Jin-Seong blinked his eyes in disbelief and scanned his surroundings. Despite trying their best to avoid meeting Han Jin-Seong's gaze, those kids didn't try to lower their hands.

'Is this what adults mean when they are talking about a man's charisma?'

Instead of a long-winded speech, Kang Jin-Ho only needed to ask to get the headcount rolling. He glanced at the hands being raised, then asked again. “Those of you who haven't raised their hands, am I to assume you don't have any problems at school?”

“Yes..”

“Everyone, I'm trying to improve your situations. However, there is not much I can do for you if you find raising your hand in front of your peers too disconcerting and hold yourself back.”

Kids began whispering amongst themselves.

“What's Jin-Ho hyung saying?”

“He's saying, don't be a wuss and raise your hand.”

That was when more hands quickly rose into the air.

'Hah...! These damn brats...!'

Han Jin-Seong's irritation-filled glare quickly swept across the other kids in his vicinity. This was why they could be so...!

Even though he swore inwardly at them, Han Jin-Seong also sneakily raised his hand. Almost in an instant, everyone's attention landed on him, but Han Jin-Seong chased them all away with a sharp glare that repeatedly screamed, 'What? You want something? Huh?'

Kang Jin-Ho nodded slightly. “Who is the oldest?”

Han Jin-Seong stuttered a little. “I-it's me, Jin-Ho hyung.”

“Are you a high school senior this year?”

“No. All the senior-year big bros are busy studying right now. I think they don't have the same... problem as us because all the seniors are worried about entrance exams.”

“Is that right?” Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin.

He didn't think bullies would suddenly stop acting like pieces of sh*t just because they were in senior year. However, since the oldest kids weren't around to correct him, Kang Jin-Ho figured he'd talk to them individually later.

“Very well. You can put your hands down,” said Kang Jin-Ho. He watched as the kids put their hands down, then pulled out a chair to take a seat.

“This is something I've been meaning to tell you..” Kang Jin-Ho intently scanned the kids before continuing on. “You haven't done anything wrong.”

The eyes of all the kids here trembled ever so slightly.

“Just because you're being bullied, do not ever think you're somehow at fault. And do not think that you must endure this nonsense, either. I repeat, you have not done anything wrong. If anyone is to be blamed, blame those bullies.”

“...Yes, big brother Jin-Ho.”

“I know I'm stating the obvious. And I also know I'm not being helpful. However, I still wanted to tell you this because you need to understand that you're not to be blamed for what's about to happen. That's it. If I am brutally frank with you..” Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly and hesitated as if he was in a dilemma. However, he still forced himself to finish what he wanted to say. “Sometimes, being weak is a sin.”

“...”

“Don't misunderstand me. I didn't say it's your fault. However, knowing you're not at fault doesn't compensate for your pain, does it? It's the same as you not feeling consoled even though you know the bullies are the bad guys, and what they have done to you is blatantly unfair.”

The heads of several kids slowly faltered at Kang Jin-Ho's calm words.

“You might think it's funny to hear me say this, but this world is uncaring like that. Plenty of terrible and sad things happen all the time around the world, and many of them are so terrible that the crap you experience in school will feel like a Sunday stroll in comparison.” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and addressed the children. “No one will bother to tell you this, but I will. This is what our world is like. If you don't have the strength, things will become boundlessly difficult for you. It'll be heartbreaking and filled with sorrow.”

When he got this far, Kang Jin-Ho let out a long sigh. He felt awful about saying this to these kids.

“As that's the case, there can be only one conclusion. If you don't want to be sad, feel wronged, or enraged, you simply have to get stronger. At the very least, strong enough that some random punks can't mess with you. I apologize for being a pathetic fool who can't think of a better solution, but... I'm neither an educator nor a genius capable of easily resolving this situation. All I can do is try to find the cleanest solution for you all. That's about it.”

Han Jin-Seong raised his hand.

Kang Jin-Ho focused on him. “Speak.”

“Hyung, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but... What is this cleanest solution you're talking about?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded as if Han Jin-Seong had asked a good question. “For boys, the solution is straightforward.”

“Okay. What is it?”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Jong-Su. “How many kids ganged up on you the last time?”

“F-five, Jin-Ho hyung.”

“Mm. That number was a problem,” Kang Jin-Ho nodded meaningfully. If the other side showed up with a group, this side should just... “If five boys jump at you, then all you gotta do is beat them up. Your problem last time was that you lost.”

That was when Han Jin-Seong's jaw hit the floor in sheer flabbergast.