Chapter 135: Evil Begets Evil (3)

**Park Jong-su** was filled with confusion.

A mere 19-year-old.

What could this young boy be thinking? What kind of life had he led to accept violence as part of reality so nonchalantly?

The words of refusal were at the tip of his tongue. By all logical standards, he should decline. But instead, he found himself saying something entirely different.

“…Let me be clear, I’ll only listen for now.”

“Understood.”

**Kim Hyun-seong** placed something on the desk.

It was a **recorder**.

Before continuing the conversation, there was something Park needed to hear.

*Click.*

[You already have a rough idea of what’s going on, so I’ll be blunt. From now on, no one in this school will treat you like a person… And the moment you can’t handle this suffocating situation and lash out, the teachers here will rip you apart. Even the background you boast about from Dae-san won’t hold any power here.]

It was the recording of his conversation with **Choi Myung-hoon**.

From start to finish, nothing about it was normal.

Choi wasn’t just talking about typical school bullying—he had a clear intent to drag Kim down to the bottom. Not only that, but the teachers Choi mentioned seemed less like educators offering discipline and more like people with the specific “intention” to destroy Kim.

Could this possibly be considered normal?

Was it reasonable that Kim Hyun-seong, right after transferring to a new school, was being attacked from all sides?

The recording ended.

As Park Jong-su processed what he had just heard, Kim Hyun-seong spoke.

“Doesn’t this seem odd to you? If this were just ordinary school bullying, he wouldn’t be using the teachers to threaten me. To understand this situation, you need to know the background. **Golden Circle**. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, but they are a group that controls Korea’s education system, manipulating it to their advantage. They maintain symbiotic relationships with the children of powerful people, forming a massive cartel. And I’m their dirty little secret.”

“…A dirty secret?”

“Yes. I’m the only target they failed to handle. To them, I’m a stain that must never be exposed, an obstacle that must be dealt with. So what do you think happened when I transferred to Gangnam, right in the heart of their territory? In the high-stakes world of third-year high school, requests to take me down came pouring in. Every situation you’ve witnessed came from those requests. So let me ask you again—if a student who was ordered by the Golden Circle and Choi Myung-hoon to intentionally harass me, and I retaliated with violence, do you still think what I did was wrong?”

Park found himself at a loss for words.

He couldn’t immediately respond.

Kim asked again.

“Tell me, did I really do something wrong?”

* * *

**Golden Circle**.

Though Kim Hyun-seong likely didn’t know, Park Jong-su had heard of them before.

Was it three years ago?

One of his clients had mentioned Golden Circle and asked if there was any way to bring them to justice legally. At the time, Park had been shocked. The existence of such an organization had infuriated him as if the issue were personal. But that case had been dropped before it could reach any conclusion. The client had withdrawn the lawsuit, leaving Park with nowhere to go.

Whether it was true or not remained a mystery.

But the fear in the client’s eyes had been real. Still, Park had never dared to dig deeper.

‘…If it was real, I must’ve realized even back then that it was too much for me to handle.’

When Park was a young, fiery prosecutor, he had pursued justice at the cost of his career. He had fought against corruption in the higher ranks of the judiciary and paid the price by losing his job as a prosecutor. The fallout had been devastating. While the senior figures he had targeted were still thriving in their legal careers, Park had been ostracized for turning on his own.

And now.

Kim Hyun-seong’s words proved something undeniable.

Two different people, at different points in time, had mentioned Golden Circle, which meant it must be real.

Park swallowed hard.

He couldn’t utter a single word hastily.

‘This was intentional from the start. Kim Hyun-seong revealed everything to me on purpose.’

The **Go Dong-su** case.

Kim had intentionally involved Park.

The scene Park had witnessed—an entire school conspiring to bury a single student—was a glimpse into the reality Kim Hyun-seong had planned to explain later. The recording wasn’t just evidence; it was a way for Kim to show Park the reality of the situation firsthand. From the start, it was all part of Kim’s plan. If Kim had wanted, he could have handled **Yoo Yeon-ho** in a more straightforward manner. But he had set the stage deliberately—for Park.

To prove this was real.

To prove that Golden Circle was real.

And to show that Kim Hyun-seong wasn’t someone they could easily crush.

“…This is quite the predicament.”

Park let out a bitter laugh.

Kim Hyun-seong’s eyes were asking him a question.

Would Park face the truth, or would he turn away?

Park Jong-su, once a bright-eyed young man full of dreams, had been living a mediocre life ever since his one act of justice.

Park spoke.

“I still pursue justice and try to live my life with dignity, but the older I get, the more I wonder if I made the right choices. Back then, I had a family, but because I gave up my prosecutor’s position, my marriage fell apart. So, did I really make the right choice? Was I a good husband or father? If I had just turned a blind eye once, my family could have lived comfortably.”

He glanced to the side.

Though he had given up most of his possessions, a photo of his daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in years, still remained.

“The only reason I keep going is because of one thing—my belief that I made the right decision back then. My confidence that I lived a life of integrity. If I lost that, I’d have nothing left.”

He turned to Kim.

Their eyes met.

“Did you do something wrong? No. You did what you had to do. I don’t believe the law always solves problems because there are people who exploit it for their own gain. That’s why I gave up being a prosecutor. You did what you had to. You did your best. I’ll accept that.”

He had accepted it.

This truth, which had come so close, was now undeniable.

Park had always been this kind of person.

“So why did you come to me?”

* * *

Meanwhile.

**Lee Mi-so** was in the kitchen, preparing a light snack.

*Tap, tap, tap.*

“Hmm~♪”

She hummed a tune.

Lately.

Every day had been pure bliss.

Her son’s grades were soaring, her in-laws couldn’t stop praising her, and even her husband had complimented her efforts. Life couldn’t get any better. At that moment, she was making a snack for her son. Ever since her son, **Kang Min-woo**, had started private tutoring, he had significantly reduced his other study commitments. After school, he would lock himself in his room, reviewing his lessons without anyone telling him to.

For her son.

Cooking was no burden at all.

Reflecting on how her son had changed recently, Lee Mi-so felt a deep sense of gratitude.

Once upon a time.

Her son had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

He used to skip studying and hang out aimlessly. There were moments when she even resented him, wondering if he had inherited some bad traits from her. But now, she realized it wasn’t his fault. All he had needed was his parents’ attention and approval. When he hadn’t received it, he had strayed.

How hard it must have been.

How much pain had he been hiding?

Now that she understood, she felt deeply sorry. To make up for it, she was doing her best to support him.

She finished preparing the snacks.

Setting up some fruit and a chocolate cake for an energy boost, Lee Mi-so knocked and carefully opened her son’s door.

“Sweetie, how’s studying going?”

The room was silent.

With blackout curtains drawn to block the light and only the desk lamp illuminating the room, it looked like a lonely space. Her son, sitting at his desk, didn’t respond. He appeared to be focused on something, but he had never ignored her before.

“Sweetie?”

She called again.

Then.

Kang Min-woo turned to look at her.

“…Mom, something terrible happened.”

“Terrible? Why? What happened?”

“It’s… it’s…”

Lee Mi-so’s heart skipped a beat.

Terrible?

Was his health declining?

Were his grades dropping?

What could it be?

Dozens of thoughts flashed through her mind, but her son’s next words were completely unexpected.

“My tutor said he can’t teach me anymore.”

“…What?”

At that moment.

*Crash!*

The plate slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor.

* * *

There was an emergency in the **mom café**.

At **Lee Mi-so’s** request, the mothers from the café gathered at a café in Cheongdam.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean the tutoring is over?!”

“Min-woo’s mom, is it really true?”

Their faces were filled with shock.

Ever since they had started hiring **Kim Hyun-seong** as their children’s tutor, the past year had been pure bliss for these women.

Before, they had tried everything to improve their children’s grades, but now, everything was handled by one tutor. If things kept going like this, their children getting into top universities like **Korea University** was practically guaranteed. For women who lived for the joy of boasting about their children’s achievements, this news was devastating.

Lee Mi-so spoke.

“…Yes, it’s true.”

“Oh my God.”

“Oh no, what are we going to do?”

Some of the mothers held their heads in their hands.

This was a disaster.

Kim Hyun-seong’s tutoring had become legendary in **Gangnam**. No other tutor could compare to him.

At such a crucial time, when their children needed to push their grades up, what would happen if he stopped tutoring?

Their children’s scores would drop.

Their rivals would catch up.

One of the mothers, looking desperate, asked.

“Why? Is it a money issue? Tell him we’ll pay more.”

“It’s not that. The problem is… you all know he recently transferred to **Daeseong Mirae High School**, right?”

“Of course. We even went to visit about it.”

“Well, apparently there’s been an issue. I doubt he’d ever start a fight, but it seems like some jealous students picked on him because of his top rank, and he fought back. Now, it looks like he’s going to be brought in front of the **disciplinary committee**, so he can’t continue tutoring.”

“Damn.”

“Oh no…”

Their expressions were filled with despair.

A disciplinary committee!

There was nothing they could do to stop that.

They were willing to meet any demand he had, but this was a completely different problem.

Without saying a word, Lee Mi-so scanned the room, taking in the sight of the members around her. One of them, dripping in luxury brands, was married to a famous chaebol. Another, her face taut from Botox, was known to be a real estate mogul. The rest were equally influential—doctors’ wives, high-ranking government officials’ wives. Just being part of this group showed how much power these women wielded. If they had been nobodies, they wouldn’t even have been allowed in the same room to share information.

With that thought, she made a decision.

After all they had experienced with **Kim Hyun-seong** over the past year, they couldn’t just let this happen.

“Let’s work together.”

“What do you mean? Are you suggesting we intervene with the disciplinary committee?”

“We need to do whatever it takes to support our tutor. At the very least, we need to make sure he doesn’t get unfairly treated because of some outside influence. If we show our sincerity, maybe he’ll change his mind and continue teaching. You all know what will happen if his tutoring stops. Getting into Korea University will be a distant dream.”

“That’s true, but…”

The women exchanged glances.

They didn’t need to say anything. Their eyes were already burning with determination.

When they thought about it, Lee Mi-so was right.

If it came down to it, they couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

One by one, the mothers spoke.

“Let’s do it.”

“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep him tutoring.”

With only seven days left until the disciplinary hearing and the threat of their children’s private lessons being cut off, the helicopter moms of **Gangnam** were not about to sit on their hands. [1]