Home Gallery Wattpad Upvote monsteracademy   "To put it clearly, I'm going to a school filled with monsters?" THIRTY-TWO: Interrogation You blew a shaky breath as you stood outside the door to the Chairman’s Office. Your knees were shaking and your palms were wet from sweat. You gave another nervous sigh before raising your knuckle to knock. The door opened however before you could even knock. “Song Joo Ri-sshi, please come in,” Maru, you remembered, greeted you and ushered you inside. It seemed he already knew you were outside. Right. Monster instincts. The room was surprisingly empty, but Maru led you to another door inside the office. He knocked on the door twice before opening it, revealing what seemed to be a conference room. You peered anxiously before hesitantly stepping inside. About a dozen heads turned to you as you stood by the door, not quite sure of what to do. “Ah, Song Joo Ri-sshi. Welcome,” the chairman greeted you. He was seated at the edge of a long rectangular table and motioned for you to take the seat opposite his. You scanned the faces of the other people who were there. The first person you saw was Suho, who was giving you a comforting smile. There were also Coach Yunho, your history teacher Mr. Bae, and most of the PE faculty among other teachers whose face you recognized but didn’t really know personally. There were also a couple of people whom you had only seen today. “Annyeong haseyo,” you bowed, your voice sounding unnaturally small. You proceeded to the seat that the chairman indicated and sat uncomfortably. “How are you doing?” The chairman asked. It had been a long time since you’ve last seen him and you barely recognized him today. He looked so decent in his gray suit compared to his strange appearance during your previous encounters with him. Of course he must have dressed up properly for today’s meeting, you thought, and somehow, it made you feel nervous, wondering if his personality changes along with his image. It was a comforting thought that the chairman wasn’t like other teachers who always seemed critical and intimidating. Today, however, he looked fairly serious, and for the first time you actually saw him as the school’s chairman. He looked genuinely concerned though when he asked you how you were doing, which you took as a good sign. “I’m...alright, I guess,” you answered. “And what happened to your nose?” one of the teachers asked. “I...I got it during the PE match yesterday,” you answered uncomfortably. “How is it?” “It’s very painful but it’s not broken,” you answered. “Hah! That is nothing compared to what happened to my son!” Your eyes fixed on a middle-aged woman who was sitting among the teachers. She was wearing somewhat luxurious clothes, and her neck, as well as her wrists, fingers and ears, were adorned with costly looking jewels. She had her hands curled in a fist while quivered as she pressed them into a thin line. The man beside her placed a comforting hand over her shoulder. “By the way, Song Joo Ri-sshi, these are Mr. & Mrs. Lee, Lee Hee Jun-sshi’s parents,” the chairman introduced. Your eyes grew wide, and you somehow panicked a little as you bowed and gave a muffled ‘annyeong haseyo’. Mrs. Lee grunted an irritated ‘hmf’ and didn’t even bother to hide her distaste. You silently hoped that it wasn’t exactly directed at you, and just comforted yourself with the thought that she’s only upset with what happened to her son. Mr. Lee on the other hand, responded with the slightest of nod, but his expression wasn’t the least bit comforting either. It seemed like they already went to see their son earlier. And by the looks of it, they are very upset about it. Well who wouldn’t be? Their son almost got beaten to death. More like infuriated is a better term to describe them right now. “Song Joo Ri-sshi, tell us what happened at the games yesterday,” Mr. Bae instructed. “Ne. Uh, we had interclass tennis championship. The opposing teams were drawn by lots, and so I and my partner had Lee Hee Jun team as our opponent,” you started. “Your partner was Park Chanyeol, right?” “Ne,” you answered. From the corner of your eye, you saw Mrs. Lee literally hissing at you at the mention of Chanyeol’s name. “So what happened next?” “The game was quite normal at first, but later it got heated between Chanyeol and Lee Hee Jun.” “Lee Hee Jun said that Park Chanyeol was deliberately trying to hit him with the ball through his returns. Is that true?” “I...,” you trailed off and hesitated between telling them the truth or not. You knew that Chanyeol was indeed purposefully hitting Hee Jun with his returns. But you knew that telling them the truth would probably put Chanyeol in a very bad postion. However, you also didn’t want to lie, and you were not good at lying in the first place. Besides, there was a reason why Chanyeol acted that way. “Yes,” you finally mumbled. “Yes?” A board member verified. “Hah! These despicable little rascals!” Mrs. Lee fumed. “Please calm down first Mrs. Lee,” the chairman said. Her husband pulled her back to her seat. She slumped down and glared daggers your way. “Yes? So Park Chanyeol did try to hit Lee Hee Jun first with his returns, is that right?” Another teacher verified. “Yes. But Chanyeol only did it because he was very angry at Lee Hee Jun that time,” you immediately explained. “He was angry? Why, did the two have a fight before the game?” Another teacher asked. “No, but he was angry because Lee Hee Jun has been bullying me –” “Nonsense!” Mrs. Lee spat. “It’s true Mrs. Lee. Your son has been bullying me for a while now,” you insisted. “And why would my son do that?!” “Mrs. Lee, please let her finish,” the chairman said. “Song Joo Ri-sshi, if Lee Hee Jun has been bullying you, why didn’t you report it? You could have reported it to our office and we could have helped you with that matter,” Suho said. “Obviously because she’s lying,” Mrs. Lee said. “No. I didn’t report it because I didn’t want to cause more trouble. If I reported him and his friends, I was afraid that it would only anger them more and would only result to more bullying. And I was hoping that they’ll eventually get tired of me if I just decide to ignore them,” you told them. “So if it’s true that my son is indeed bullying you, what motive would he have?” It was Mr. Lee who asked. He was way calmer than his wife, though his calmness didn’t conceal his displeasure and disbelief in you. “It started during my first monster classes. It was Monster Essentials period then, and everyone was practicing Level 1 and Level 2 transformations. Lee Hee Jun accidentally transformed to Level 3. I wasn’t used to seeing monsters yet, and I was shocked and a little scared so I had to throw up in the restroom. When the class ended, he confronted me. He was angry because he thought I got disgusted at his monster form –” “Mweoya? You think our race is disgusting?!” “No, Mrs. Lee. Well, yes, at first –” “MWEOYA?! Ah jinjja, this little –” “But it was only out of shock. It was my first time seeing someone in his complete monster form. I grew up not knowing that monsters existed; and seeing him like that scared me. But I did not mean to insult him or anything,” you explained. “So what did he do to you? You said he was angry,” another teacher asked. “He pushed me, and told me that a Class D like me has no right to look down on him. He threatened me that he could easily tear me to pieces if he wanted to, but Lu Han saw us and told him to leave me alone.” “Lu Han? He’s also a member of the soccer team, right?” “Ne.” “Alright, go on.” “After that incident, he has been bothering me, but he had only been annoying me and calling me names so I decided to just ignore everything. But just this Monday, I was not feeling well when he and his friends annoyed me so I lost my temper and answered back. He got angry. He and his friends dragged me to the back of the school –” “Ah, jinjja? Where?” Coach Yunho asked, shocked. “At the old storage room at the back of the main building,” you answered. “What did they do?” Coach Yunho asked, concern written all over his face. “Lee Hee Jun was pushing me against the wall while his friends surrounded us. He was saying something then but I was already too scared to pay attention, and he was choking me –” “Lies!” Mrs. Lee hissed. “It’s your friends who are violent! Did you see what happened to my son?! Don’t reverse the story!” “I’m not lying Mrs. Lee. I know this must be difficult for you to believe but it’s true. The soccer team knew about it that’s why they were angry at him,” you told her and looked at everyone in the room. “That’s the reason why Chanyeol was so angry that time. And when I got hit by Lee Hee Jun’s return and the fight broke out, that must have triggered their anger more. I know what they did might have been too much, but it’s not true that they are violent. They just were just trying to avenge and protect me.” You met eyes with Suho and he was giving you a comforting smile. “I can’t believe that I’m listening to this! She is clearly making all these up! My Hee Jun is not like that!” “I’m telling the truth. I even have a bruise when he was dragging me,” you said and showed them your bruise. “I tried to not to tell anyone about it. But when we were about to play yesterday, that was the first time they saw my bruise that’s why he was so angry.” “You’re saying you got that from Lee Hee Jun?” Mr. Bae asked suspiciously. “Ne.” “This, Song Joo-Ri-sshi, is your medical records from the school doctor. We obtained copies of everyone who was involved to determine your injuries,” he said and started reading from one of the sheets, “Patient name, Song Joo Ri. External laceration at the bridge of the nose. Nose cartilage injury, resulting to excessive internal bleeding, but the bone is not broken. A large bruise is also present on the patient’s right w