Yoo Dae Joon waited nervously outside of the principal’s office. Next to him was his best and oldest friend, Seo Jin Ho.

“Yah,” his friend said, nudging him in the side with the elbow of his arm. “Why’d they have to call your father?”

“I know, right?” Dae Joon answered his friend’s question without thought. He didn’t even bother to look up, letting his gaze remain downward as he swung his right foot back and forth, scuffing the floor with the toe of his shoe. He was having a hard time focusing on anything else when he was freaking out about himself. Dae Joon felt like he was going to go crazy, worrying about the conversation taking place on the other side of the door, wondering what was being said, and most importantly, how his father was reacting. Dae Joon didn’t get in trouble often, and there was a reason for that.

As the eldest son of a military officer, and the grandson of a former serviceman, he’d been raised under a certain ethos. One that valued rules, structure, and discipline. His father was not a hard man. On the contrary, he was a loving father and often liked to joke around with him and his little sister, Yoo Da Eun. But Yoo Shi Jin had expectations for his children, and that included behaving with honor, respecting elders, not getting in trouble, and abiding by the rules.

“The school couldn’t have called your mother or your grandmother?” Jin Ho pressed.

“They probably did, but eomma went to Jeju Island for a conference this week and halmeoni went down to the countryside to visit some sick relative yesterday evening. It was an unexpected thing and she’s not coming back until this weekend.”

“That’s a tough break,” Jin Ho said. “What lousy timing.”

Dae Joon agreed. Not that it would have been any better to have his mother or grandmother called to his school for a disciplinary matter, but at least they wouldn’t have been his father. Dae Joon wasn’t sure he could bear to see the disappointment that was bound to be in his father’s eyes when he walked out of the principal’s office.

Just then, their teacher from the previous year emerged from the principal’s office. When he saw Jin Ho milling about, he frowned. “Seo Jin Ho. What are you doing here? Don’t you have your physical exercise class right now? Go on now, hurry.”

Jin Ho had wanted to stick around to keep his friend company, but with their former teacher standing before them, sending him away, he didn’t have much of a choice. Jin Ho cast an apologetic look at his friend and then ran off to do their teacher’s bidding.

After Jin Ho left, their former teacher turned to Dae Joon and patted him gently on the shoulder before walking off. Dae Joon wasn’t sure how to interpret the shoulder pat, but the one thing he did know was that he was now on his own to await his punishment.

It felt like eternity, but in reality was probably more like an hour. At the end of that hour, his father finally emerged from the principal’s office. There were bows and handshakes, and then it was just him and his father standing in the hallway. Dae Joon wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. His father’s face was completely unreadable, so he let his head hang again and waited for him to say something.

After a pause, his father placed one arm around his shoulders and said, “Okay then, Dae Joon-ah, let’s go.”

Dae Joon wasn’t sure where they were going or what was going on, but he followed his father blindly back to his classroom where his father instructed him to clean up his desk and pack his things. It was then that Dae Joon knew he must’ve been suspended. He wondered for how long, but dared not ask. Instead, he did as he was told and said a silent word of thanks that his classmates were outside for their physical exercise class, and not on hand to witness his humiliation or ask any embarrassing questions.

When Dae Joon finished putting away the last of his things and packed his remaining book, he picked up his bag and said, “I’m done.”

From the doorway, his father nodded and said, “Well, come on then.”

Dae Joon swung his bag over his shoulder and followed his father once more, this time out of the school building and to their car.

As he opened the door to the waiting car, Dae Joon looked across to the open field where his friends and classmates were playing soccer. For a second, he stared wistfully at them. Soccer was his favorite sport and he was good at the game. It hurt more than he realized to have to miss out.

Just then, a shout of joy erupted from the far away field. He looked more closely and saw that Jin Ho had scored a goal. As his best friend did a celebratory cartwheel in front of the opposing team’s goal, Dae Joon wished he could have been a part of the crowd that was now forming around Jin Ho to thump him on the back and cheer his success. Instead, he was climbing into the back of his father’s car and he had no idea where he was going.

*****

As Shi Jin drove away from his son’s school, he studied his son in the rearview mirror. Dae Joon was sitting silently and staring out the window. He hadn’t said more than a handful of words since they’d met outside his principal’s office and Shi Jin was sure his son must have questions. He certainly had them too.

When he’d gotten the phone call from Dae Joon’s principal, to say that he was surprised would have been an understatement. His son was a model student and a leader amongst his peers. Shi Jin couldn’t even remember a time when Dae Joon had ever given him or his wife, Kang Mo Yeon, a moment of worry. Even as a young child, he’d always been well-behaved in school, performed well, had lots of friends, and whenever they met with Dae Joon’s teachers, he was universally praised for his contributions both inside and outside of the classroom.

That’s why Shi Jin could hardly believe what he was hearing when the principal told him that Dae Joon had been brought to his office after beating up another student at the school. He knew his work often took him away from home for long stretches of time, and that recently, he hadn’t been able to spend as much time as he would have liked with either of his children. But even still, Shi Jin knew his son, and he knew this was uncharacteristic of Dae Joon.

He was sure there must have been a misunderstanding.

But when he arrived at the school and had a chance to talk briefly with Dae Joon before his meeting with the principal, Dae Joon had corroborated everything the principal said. He’d beaten up another boy named Jin Young Soo, who was the same age as him, but from a different homeroom class, and he was completely unapologetic about it.

He also offered no explanations for his actions.

After meeting with Young Soo and his mother, however, Shi Jin wasn’t sure he needed them.

When Shi Jin hit a traffic light, he brought himself back to the present and looked in the rearview mirror again. He asked his son, “Should we play hooky today? You and me? It’s been a while since we’ve been able to any spend time together, just the two of us.”

Dae Joon turned from the window and met his father’s eyes in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t the question he’d been expecting from his father. “What?”

The traffic light changed from red to green and Shi Jin pressed on the accelerator. “Ah! I know! It’s been a while since we’ve gone fishing. You used to like to go fishing with me when you were younger. Should we go fishing today?”

Without waiting for an answer from his son, Shi Jin immediately set his plans in motion and the next thing Dae Joon knew, instead of being back at school and suffering through another math class, he was now sitting on a lawn chair next to his father at their old fishing haunt. Their poles had been launched and were now propped, waiting for the fish to bite. His father had also brought snacks with them, which he’d spread out in between them. Dae Joon kept his hands to himself though. He still wasn’t sure what was going on. Wasn’t he supposed to be in trouble? Wasn’t he supposed to be punished?

Next to him, Shi Jin popped the top of a beer can and took a slurp. “Ah, how refreshing. This was a good decision, Dae Joon. Sometimes a man just needs to take a break from life, don’t you think?”

“Ah . . . sure,” he answered.

That was the last conversation father and son had for the next hour. Every once in a while Shi Jin would get up to check on their fishing poles, grab something to eat or drink, or type out a quick message on his cell phone, but Dae Joon sat next to him in complete silence and stillness. As every second passed and he remained in the dark, Dae Joon wondered if this was his punishment. To be confused and suffer through the torture of not knowing what was going on.

Had he been suspended from school?

Was his father mad at him?

Was he going to be punished?

Had he disappointed his father?

After an hour, Dae Joon finally asked his father that very question.

“Appa.”

“Hm?”

“Are you very disappointed in me?”

Shi Jin looked straight ahead at the lake in front of them, and asked, “Should I be?”

Dae Joon tried not to squirm next to his father. “I got in a fight with one of my classmates this morning.”

Shi Jin took another sip of his beer and nodded his head. “I know. That’s what you told me when I first arrived at your school.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“Do you think you should be in trouble?”

“I broke the school’s rules and I beat someone up. You’ve always taught me it’s wrong to solve problems with violence, and that I should try first to talk things out.”

Shi Jin put his drink down and looked at his son. “Was that what you were trying to do? Solve a problem?” When Dae Joon stayed silent, Shi Jin continued. “It’s true that rules exist for a reason and most of the time, you should absolutely always follow the rules. Bu