CHAPTER 11: Date

It was the day Jihyo need to meet the principals and Dahyun’s family. Both parties would determine whether Jihyo was guilty or not. Today, would be difficult, Jinyoung knew, but he believed that God always have a good plan. And as Youngjae said yesterday, the truth will always reveal itself.

As he stood in front of the mirror to dress Jihyo up, the Scheduler came and stood next to him. “Everything is gonna be alright, Jinyoung-ah. I’ll be right next to you.”

Jinyoung was surprised. He turned to Scheduler and asked. “Are you gonna accompany me to get through this?”

The Scheduler nodded.

“Woah, since you’re coming with me I feel like today will be better,” Jinyoung smiled before he brushing Jihyo’s hair.

“Better?” Scheduler chuckled.  “What can I do there?”

“Support me of course.. You’re more like my guardian, the same as Jaebum hyung..”

The Scheduler nodded. “That’s right.. you’re my sister..”

“Brother..” Jinyoung corrected him.

“Yeah.. yeah.. brother..”

-00-

Jaebum also prepared himself to go to Jihyo’s school as a guardian. Although he usually wears ripped jeans and casual T-shirt, this time he decided to wear a long-sleeved button-ups and a pair of black trouser. He wanted the people in the meeting to respect him and Jihyo, so that they didn’t decide things unfairly. As he finished dressing up, he went upstairs to pick Jihyo up. But he met Jihyo half the way.

“Oh, are you ready?” Jaebum asked.

“Yeah, Hyung.” Jinyoung answered with a smile.

“You look better today. You are not worry about it anymore, aren’t you?”

Jinyoung nodded firmly. “Today, I surrender this to whatever God decides..”

“Woaaaah..” Both Jaebum and The Scheduler smiled.

-00-

Jihyo went to school with Jaebum and The Scheduler. When she arrived at school, people looked at her unpleasantly. Jaebum was aware of it, and initiated to hold Jihyo's hand. Knowing this, Jinyoung gave a smile to Jaebum. When he walked through Jihyo’s class corridor, he saw Jihyo’s classmates gather outside the classroom. And there, Jinyoung saw Mina and her friends. There were slight happiness carved on their faces. Jinyoung took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. At that time, Youngjae came out and cheered for Jihyo. “Jihyo ya, fighting!”

Jinyoung was happy, at least there was one person who still believe in him. ‘Thank you, Youngjae ya.’

He even cheered for Jaebum. “Fighting, hyung..”

Jaebum smiled and patted his shoulder.

-00-

Reaching the Principal’s office, Jihyo's homeroom teacher was already there. He invited them to sit on the left side of the rectangular desk. Jihyo and Jaebum sat there, waiting for the Dahyun’s family to arrive. The Scheduler also sat next to Jihyo, smiling to her. And soon, Dahyun also came in with her parents. Dahyun looked so pale, she stole a glance to Jihyo and then bent her head down, avoiding Jihyo’s stare. While Dahyun was so nervous, Dahyun’s parents looked more relax. They replied Jihyo and Jaebum’s greeting bow with a light bow.

After a moment, the principal came in and immediately bowed 90 degrees to greet Dahyun’s parents.

“Good morning Judge Kim Wonshik. I’m sorry that I have to take your time for this meeting. I hope it’s not disturbing your schedule,” Lee Seunghyun, the principal, said as he offered a handshake.

Dahyun’s father accepted the handshake. “Anything concerning my child would not count as disturbance, Principal Lee.”

“Yes, of course. Please have a seat,” the Principal was too kind to Dahyun’s parent.

But, he did the exact opposite to Jaebum. Without greeting Jaebum, he went to his position at the end of the table and motioned the homeroom teacher to start the meeting.

"Thanks to the parents who have been taking the time to come to the meeting. I'm Kim Kibum, Jihyo and Dahyun's homeroom teacher and the person next to me is Mr. Lee Seunghyun, the principal in this Seungri Highschool." The homeroom teacher started with an introduction.

“Then, shall we begin? The meeting has been called to discuss about a recent case which occurred between students Park Jihyo and Kim Dahyun. First of all, I will briefly explain what happened—“

“We will skip it as we have explained prior to the meeting.” The principal cut Mr. Kibum’s word. Then he stood up and said, “As you may already know, this school has a high number of students who gets enrolled in good university afterwards. And for the last three years, it was seen as a model institution that was free from any kinds of crime. That’s why as the principal, I’m very disappointed about the damage to our school’s reputation by this incident.” He looked at Jihyo deeply and then moved to look at Dahyun’s parents. “As an educator, I believe school crime needs to be dealt with strictly. Because that’s the only way to protect our reputation and our innocent students.” He gestured his hand to Dahyun’s direction, showing who the innocent children is.

“In order to make this process, concise and quick, I will ask a few questions.  I hope the students will answer in honesty.” He clapped his hands once and continued to ask Jihyo. “I heard that Park Jihyo stole Kim Dahyun’s phone. Is that true, Park Jihyo?”

“No, Sir. I didn’t steal Dahyun’s phone.” Jinyoung answered firmly.

“Then, how did the phone ended up in your bag?” Mr. Lee asked again.

“I don’t know, Sir.” Jinyoung answered fast.

“You don’t know? Mmm, maybe the phone just walked to your bag by itself, right?” Mr. Lee was laughing, but other people in the room found it lame.

“Finding the phone in Jihyo’s bag doesn’t mean that she stole it.” Jaebum spoke up.

“Oh, really?” Mr. Lee pressed his lips then asked, “I heard Jihyo ask the teacher’s permission to skip the night class to work, is that right Park Jihyo?”

“That’s right, Sir—“

“That means you are in a state where you need money..” Mr. Lee cut Jihyo’s words. “Mmm no surprise, since you have lost your only brother.. But that can’t be the reason for us to let you steal the phone..”

“Excuse me Sir, but Jihyo asking for a permission to skip the night class to work doesn’t relate with this stealing accusation!” Jaebum directly argued.

When Mr. Lee just started to reply Jaebum, Dahyun’s dad talked, “Pardon me.. May we discuss about what actually happened first? By the details?”

Mr. Lee nodded hesitantly.

Then Dahyun’s dad looked at the homeroom teacher, and asked, “Mr. Kim Kibum, is it you who found Dahyun’s phone?”

“Yes, Sir.. I found it in Jihyo’s bag after searching all of the student’s bag one by one..” Mr. Kibum answered.

“Did Dahyun reported the stealing?” Dahyun’s dad asked again.

“Y-yes, Sir..” Mr. Kibum answered.

“No, Sir.. It was not Dahyun who reported it..” Jinyoung corrected as he looked at Dahyun.

Dahyun stole a glance to Jihyo, but then she bent her head down again.

“Oh, yes Sir.. I just remembered.. It was her friend who reported it..” Mr. Kibum corrected his own words.

Dahyun’s dad turned to look at Dahyun and asked, “Did you tell your friend that you lost your phone, Dahyun ah?”

Dahyun nodded lightly while hiding her face.

That time, Jinyoung sighed. She couldn’t believe that Dahyun kept being on Mina’s side.

“Okay, that explains how we find the phone. So now, we need to know when.” Dahyun’s dad turned to Dahyun and asked again, “When did you realize that you lose your phone, Dahyun ah?”

Dahyun was quiet. She looked so nervous, like she was thinking of something else.

That made Mr. Lee want to help. “I heard it’s after lunch break.. Right, Mr. Kibum?” He asked the homeroom teacher.

“Y-yes..”

“Did you still have it at the first break?” Dahyun’s dad asked his daughter again, but Dahyun remained silent.

“Stop asking her, Yeobo..” Dahyun’s mom tried to protect Dahyun.

Looking at her daughter’s silenece, Judge Kim explained his hypothesis. "If Dahyun still have it at the first break time, then we can narrow down the time of the incident. The most possible time is at lunch break." Dahyun's dad turned to Dahyun and asked again. "Dahyun ah, Dad is trying to be fair here .. You can say it .. You don’t need to be scared .. Dad believes you, you believe Dad too, right? You will help Dad, won’t you?"

Jinyoung, Jaebum, and the Scheduler saw how pale Dahyun’s face became. Jinyoung knew, that in Dahyun’s mind there was a fight between telling the truth or keeping her silence.

While waiting for Dahyun’s answer, her dad asked the homeroom teacher. “Is there a CCTV inside the class?”

“No, Sir.. It’s only at the corridor..” Mr. Kibum answered.

“Is there any in Dahyun’s class corridor?”

“Yes, Sir..”

“We can check them out for you, Judge Kim..” Mr. Lee kindly tried to help Judge Kim Wonshik.

Listening to that, Dahyun started talking. The first word that came out from her lips was, “Dad, I’m sorry...”

All eyes were on Dahyun. She gulped down the lump on before saying, “I... I was the one who put my phone on Jihyo’s bag..”

The principal and the homeroom teacher were so shocked. Dahyun’s parents were also surprised, but they hid it so well.

Dahyun continued to say, “I put the phone on Jiyo’s bag.... by order.”

“Who ordered you, Dahyun ah?” Mr. Kibum, the homeroom teacher asked immediately.

“It’s...” Dahyun looked at Jihyo before answering. Jihyo gave her a smile and a light nod to support her decision. “It’s Mina, Sir..”

“Mina? The daughter of Kwon Jiyong, The Seoul Mayor?” Mr. Lee opened his eyes widely.

Dahyun nodded. “Y-yes.. It’s Kwon Mina..”

“Ah! My head hurts..” Mr. Lee massaged his temples as he heard Dahyun’s answer.

“Are you telling the truth, Dahyun ah?” Dahyun’s dad asked his daughter.

Dahyun nodded firmly. “Yes, Dad..”

Judge Kim took a deep breath before saying, “Seems, we need to rearrange another meeting to listen to Mina’s explanation.”

“We can call Mina to come here.. Let me call her..” Mr. Kibum, the homeroom teacher went out to call Mina without asking Mr. Lee.

Then after a couple of minutes, he came back to the meeting room with Mina.

Mina stared at Jihyo and Dahyun.

“Mina-ssi, please sit here..” Mr. Lee gave his seat to Mina and he move to the next seat.

“Why do you calll me here?” Mina asked in an annoyed tone.

“That’s.. mm that’s..” Mr. Lee found difficulty to explain it to Mina, but then Mr. Kibum took the conversation.