The Regressed Chaebol Grandson Finds It Hard to Forgive - Chapter 7

Chapter 7. A Sabeja’s Wise School Life (1)

At Cheonghwa High School, a Sabeja belongs to the Sudra slave caste.

The Constitution of the Republic of Korea states that there shall be no discrimination based on social status.

It clearly says so, but that doesn’t apply here.

A caste system strictly exists.

Brahmin: Children of conglomerate families.

Kshatriya: Children of politicians, generals, and high-ranking officials.

Vaishya: Children of SME CEOs, regular judges, prosecutors, accountants, and doctors.

I am an untouchable who cannot fit into their world.

“My soul was so pure back then. Heh.”

Today, I mocked the pure version of myself.

I foolishly thought that if I studied well and attended school like in middle school, I’d make friends.

I naively thought I could interact with them without hesitation.

Plus, Cheonghwa High School is co-ed and strong in arts and sports.

For me, coming from an all-boys middle school with good grades, it was the perfect environment to harbor fantasies.

The reality was a bust.

I realized painfully quickly that my fantasies could never become reality.

Early on, my height and handsome looks got me some conversation partners.

But once the fact that I was a Sabeja spread, the atmosphere changed.

Classmates I naively thought were friends avoided me like a lie.

No joke, the moment the Sabeja label was slapped on me, I became an outcast immediately.

It was the same with the teachers.

Except for a few, they all treated me with indifference.

My grades were the only reason I was treated even that well.

If my grades hadn’t held up, I wouldn’t have survived until graduation.

Even knowing this, I tried to communicate with them a few times, mustering up the courage.

Every time, I was treated like an invisible person.

I survived only because my steel mentality was forged by the cold treatment from my paternal family.

Before the regression, I didn’t have a single high school friend.

My three years of high school were plastered with dark history and trauma.

“Halmeoni! I will live differently this time!”

This period of school suffocated me.

If it weren’t for my parents’ interest, I wouldn’t have survived this time.

2nd year.

At the time, there were five students including me who entered as Sabeja.

By the 2nd year, only two remained.

I was called a tough nut and stayed until the end to receive my diploma.

It’s a high school period that remained a complex.

It seems Halmeoni sent me back to this point so I could heal my past myself.

“Even looking at it now, the natural grass is killer. Does this kind of facility make sense in the middle of Gangnam?”

To the right of the main gate, there’s a golf range.

In the center, a 3-story main building.

On the left, a 5-story building called the New Building existed.

There’s an underground swimming pool built to international competition standards.

Above ground, there’s a 3rd-grade cafeteria, an indoor gym used as a 1st and 2nd-floor height grand auditorium, and a 3rd-floor 3rd-grade classroom, study room, and important club rooms, etc.

Behind the main building, a 2-story art hall was also situated in an antique style.

The majesty of an autonomous private high school occupying the middle of expensive Gangnam land.

People even say the land value alone is in the trillions.

On top of this, there’s also a horse riding range in Yongin operated by the foundation.

In the past, I couldn’t enjoy this magnificent environment at all.

Unlike me, who grew up as a commoner, they had honed the basics of horse riding, swimming, and golf since childhood.

I was someone who only spent the day looking down at the floor map.

But the situation is very different now.

First of all, my shoulders are squared.

I headed to the classroom, feeling the soft, cushioned elastic sheet.

“Yeah, money is the best.”

Cheonghwa invested massive funds every year to improve the school environment.

Buildings covered in ivy on the outside.

Inside, it maintained an antique feel while innovatively changing facilities.

System air conditioners, heaters, and air purifiers were basically running.

They also received support for all necessary resources through unofficial parent meetings.

“Looking at it now, the kids from well-off families all had luxury slippers too.”

A shoe rack where Nike and Adidas products aren’t even visible.

The 2nd-grade shoe rack located in the main building entrance.

They are all dominated by luxury shoes and slippers.

Most are luxury goods that commoners have never even seen.

I am the only one with stationery store-bought three-stripe slippers.

Even so.

“Nana~♫”

Humming flows out naturally.

A classroom I had to take a deep breath to enter in the past.

Now, I didn’t feel the need to.

Thump, thump.

At this moment, the short-selling coin I’m going to spawn is in battle!

I just need to wait a month.

By then, there won’t be a rich kid in this school with more money than me.

A subtle confidence wrapped around my whole body.

Stomp, stomp.

I stood in front of the classroom.

The hallway floor here was also changed to marble a while ago.

“My body remembers everything.”

Like a formula engraved in memory, my footsteps remembered the classroom accurately.

That’s how I faced the classroom.

“2nd Grade Class 3…….”

Feelings of love and hate suddenly raise their heads.

My time engraved in this space in the past.

Painful and difficult memories come to mind one by one.

I entered through the open back door.

The classroom scenery I faced again.

20 students.

A large TV for learning and an electronic whiteboard.

And ergonomic desks and chairs that were completely changed with money at the same time.

For academic efficiency, desks and chairs tailored to body types are provided in large numbers every new semester.

Of course, air purifiers and system heating/cooling units are basically installed in each classroom.

“What did you do on the weekend?”

“What do you mean, I dug into a 10-hour special lecture with Choi Hyun-seok ssaem.”

“What! The Korean language #1 Choi ssaem?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow! I heard it’s hard to book Choi ssaem, how did you do it?”

“My mom is extreme, you know.”

“I’m jealous…….”

“I’m going to do it this Saturday too. Shall we do it together?”

“Can I do it too?”

“Well…… if you want…….”

“Min-ju! I love you~”

Two female students are playing hard to get.

Gangnam #1 Korean language instructor Choi Hyun-seok ssaem, I know that name too.

He’s a famous Gangnam #1 instructor who earns tens of billions a year.

Kang Min-ju, who pretends not to brag but is bragging.

She is a beautiful girl with a fox-like face shape who looks great with short hair.

Her grandfather served as the director of a general hospital, and her dad is currently the director of a Gangnam plastic surgery clinic.

Rumor has it she rakes in money with a rake.

Of course, she is one of the kids who ignored me in the past.

Even now, she made eye contact with me as I just entered the back door, but she turned her head immediately.

Even while growing up, she received plastic surgery help from her dad, so her face is refined into a typical plastic beauty, giving off an unpleasant impression.

Such Kang Min-ju is emitting a light pink aura.

It’s a color that suits a fox perfectly.

I went to my seat and sat down.

The window seat in the very back, which is the least popular in a classroom with high academic zeal.

Episode 7. The Wise School Life of the Underprivileged (1)

If there’s no chain reaction from the butterfly effect, I can maintain the grades I want this time too.

I know all the questions that will appear not only on the 2nd-grade exams but also on the remaining exams in the future.

The CSAT? Hehehe.

No need to say more.

I can not only predict the future but affirm it.

It’s an opportunity and a privilege at the same time.

It’s a sweet deal.

“Min-ju, me too!!”

“Are there any spots left?”

Kids sitting in the middle of the side line rushed over quickly.

Everyone staked their lives on the college entrance exam they would take in a year.

Their parents also had high expectations for their children as much as they invested.

Just looking at this atmosphere, the upper class isn’t maintained for free.

I start by criticizing them if they are gold spoons, but they also roll pretty hard.

I haven’t heard of anyone falling asleep before midnight.

If they receive #1 tutoring even on weekends, it’s obvious.

Games? Celebrities? Fandom activities?

The kids here I experienced in the past didn’t apply.

“Well……. I have to discuss it with my mom.”

I see the signs.

A high school student is already playing politics.

Kang Min-ju’s actions are all calculated.

It’s a strategy planned by her mom.

A fairly well-known middle-aged actress is Kang Min-ju’s mom.

The drama characters she played were mostly quick-witted and rude upper-class mistresses.

The parents of Oh Yoon-seo, to whom Kang Min-ju first reached out, are high-ranking government officials.

Her mom is a director at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and her dad is at the director level of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

On top of that, the families of the kids who asked to join later are not easy either.

Kang Min-ju scans the classmates who rushed in.

She is checking if the specific kids her mom mentioned are sticking to her.

Her fox-like behavior is quite something.

In the past, I couldn’t read the airflow at all.

Of course, I know now.

The experience of someone who has been through it is working.

Zing.

Our eyes met again for a moment.

Smirk.

I didn’t avoid it and smiled slightly.

“……!!”

Maybe it was unpleasant, Kang Min-ju flared up.

In the past, I lowered my eyes immediately.

No, I couldn’t even lift my head in the first place.

However, I am not the Ha Tae-woong who was intimidated back then.

The fox-like behavior you’re doing!

I can see it all in my eyes!

I stared at Kang Min-ju, putting the meaning into my gaze.

“Hmph!”

Kang Min-ju snorted and turned her head.

Yeah, you’re great.

“Hi.”

“You came early today?”

Meanwhile, classmates entered the classroom one by one and exchanged greetings.

It was different from the classroom air at school during the morning in a general commoner-type high school.

I haven’t heard common slang or light profanity.

Games or otaku fandom activities are also out of interest.

Waving hands, wearing a cultured, fake smile, and pretending to be close is the default.

Of course, I am an exception in all areas.

They don’t even make eye contact with me.

They greet each other, sit down, study, or chat with kids on their level.

Me, isolated like a lonely island in the classroom scenery of special people.

“Tae-woong, you lived very kindly.”

A space that remains as trauma.

I immersed myself in studying like crazy to survive.

After entering university, I struggled to forget the memories of high school.

I even went to the military as if running away from trauma.

I applied for special forces in the training center.

I could have been exempted because of the head surgery, but I used a trick to enlist as an active-duty soldier.

I trained my body and mind while receiving special forces training.

Thanks to the harsh military life, I was able to escape from the trauma to some extent.

High school, the center of that trauma.

I returned here by chance.

I looked at the classroom scenery with a cold smile on my lips and an objective gaze.

1 billion won given by Halmeoni!

If I didn’t have that money, nothing would have changed even if I returned like this.

If so, it wouldn’t be an opportunity, but a disaster.

But now, there are more things worth trying.

Creak.

Then, the closed front door of the classroom opened.

The time is 8:20.

It’s not time for the homeroom teacher to come yet.

“Hi.”

A guy appeared with a short buzz cut and a black backpack slung over his shoulder.

Height is about 170.

Small but the body was agile.

The guy who looks hard like a pebble because his head is small is Oh Gwang-jun.

As expected, the arrogant smile on his lips is the same then as it is now.

That confident expression that fears nothing in the world.

A dark aura flowed from Oh Gwang-jun.

“Welcome. Gwang-jun.”

“Did you have a good holiday?”

“Me? Always fine. Hahaha.”

He burst into a hearty laugh and walked toward me.

Then, our eyes met.

Smirk.

The guy smiles fishily.

Ah, that smile!

I remember it clearly like it was yesterday.

The devilish bastard who locked me in dark trauma!

We met again like this.

He took a different attitude from the classmates who treated me like an invisible person.

The only guy who always pretended to know me.

Zap.

Our eyes clashed again.

I didn’t avoid it.

In all my past memories, I always lowered my head and solved workbooks so that I wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone.

But this morning, I didn’t do that.

Stomp, stomp.

Oh Gwang-jun approached closely.

The guy’s seat is right next to me.

“Did you lose your nerve? You rested well on Children’s Day, right? Hehehe.”

Devilish bastard!

The guy laughing is truly evil.

He doesn’t move, keeping his gaze fixed on my eyes.

I stared straight into his eyes with a calm gaze.

My hand under the desk calmly activated the phone’s recording function.

“Yeah, it was too long…….”

Oh Gwang-jun, whom I never thought I would face again.

More than a decade has passed since graduation.

“Ha Tae-woong, did you take your medicine today?”

“Are you crazy?”

The kids in the classroom whisper.

Surprised by my unexpected reaction.

Cheonghwa High School officially has no bullies.

Instead, there is a thorough class society.

Among them, Oh Gwang-jun’s family belongs to the class between Vaishya and Kshatriya.

This bastard’s dad was transferred to the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office while in the provinces.

He is a Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office whose teeth are starting to work even among prosecutors.

Naturally, the guy also squared his shoulders accordingly.

He is especially accustomed to picking out and bullying Sabeja like me.

Thud.

He pushed the desk with his thigh and stood right in front of me.

And.

“Lower your eyes, you bastard!”

He shouted at me, who was looking straight at him without avoiding his gaze.

No matter how strict the school rules are, it’s always an exception for Sabeja.

Smirk.

I didn’t avoid it and smiled once more.

And.

“You lower yours. You bastard~”