Chapter 21

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[Han Yewon – Conference Room]

Seven people sat around the central table—it was a familiar composition.

That’s right.

They were the professors who had a meeting over the students who would participate in the contest. However, unlike then, when it was quite heated, today’s atmosphere was dark.

Should I say that it’s almost like being at a memorial for defeated soldiers?

“The moment has come.”’

Like before, the professor who hosted the meeting opened his mouth.

“The results of the contest are out.”

The faces of the professors listening to him were full of discomfort, and the reason was simple.

“Han Yewon won the Excellence Award. The grand prize went to Hankook University.”

Because they were defeated by Hankook University.

As soon as the results were announced a while ago, all kinds of articles were posted.

There was always a picture of the winning work posted within the articles, and this time, it was the work of Hankook University.

‘Our work should have been there instead.’

Though Han Yewon’s work did draw attention as well, the feeling of losing the grand prize to Hankook University completely covered that fact. It was like if the Korean team came in second in the Olympics and the Japanese team came in first. It was shameful.

“With this, Han Yewon has lost the grand prize for the second year in a row. I’m sorry.” The professor said as he tried hard to suppress his frustration. “I’ve been thinking about the reason why we were defeated in this contest, but does Professor Lee have any opinions?”

“Hmm…I guess the work of the Hankook university students was just that excellent.” Professor Lee Jong said with a smile.

“······It’s not that,” The chairman said, trying to push down the feeling of exploding at Professor Lee Jong. “Let me tell you. I think the reason that we lost was because you forcibly added a freshman into the team. We won an excellent award even though you put in a freshman. Then, what would have happened if we had put in an experienced senior student?”

There was a flurry of rebukes.

If it had been as usual, he wouldn’t have criticized him this much, as saving the face of a fellow professor is also an important issue. However, this situation was just that terrible.

It wasn’t just about the contest, though.

Professor Lee Jong usually enjoyed many privileges thanks to the value of his name, but he needed to take responsibility for his actions too.

‘I can’t just keep my eyes on you until then.’

Perhaps Professor Kang Noah disliked the chairman professor who expressed such intentions, and opened her mouth to speak.

“Kids can do that. You have to learn by failing from time to time, so you can’t always keep succeeding, can you? Didn’t we at least win the Excellence Award?”

That’s right.

The contest was originally an event to improve students’ skills. However, this situation was special.

“Professor Kang shouldn’t even say that about this. Didn’t the professor also recommend a freshman too?”

“····· You tried to recommend Seo Ji-won.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then from the next meeting forward, I hope the two professors will follow the majority vote. The same thing could happen again next year.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Lee Jong said nothing, only smiling instead.

It was the moment when everyone wondered if the meeting would end just like that.

[Up above this beautiful red sky~]

A ringtone rang loudly throughout the room.

The professors wondered where the sound was coming from, but it was inside the pocket of the chairman’s suit.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

As he sat down, he opened his phone and said, “Uh, Professor Park. Since I’m in a meeting right now, can you call me later?….”

Something was spoken across the phone.

“What?”

His eyes opened wide.

‘What did you hear over the phone?’

The chairman just listened blankly with his mouth open, barely able to nod his head, and said,

“Okay. I’ll get back to you after the meeting.”

Professor Kang Noah questioned him as soon as he hung up the phone, coughing and trying to catch his breath.

“What happened?”

The chairman, avoiding her gaze, said, “Hankook University cheated in the contest.”

“What?”

The word became a bomb.

In an instant, the conference room exploded.

“Cheating? What do you mean? Are you saying that the work they submitted wasn’t made by the students?”

“No way…”

“Hold on. I’m not done yet.” The chairman then supplemented the explanation, “There’s just been an uproar, and suspicions have been posted on the Internet that Professor Seo Do-wook of Hankook University participated in the production of the work.”

“If that’s true, then…do you mean that the results of the awards could be reversed?” A professor asked in a hopeful voice.

It was the question that everyone wanted to ask.

The chairman shook his head at this question.

“I don’t know for sure yet. There were only a few photos of evidence uploaded.”

“What was the picture?”

“Professor Seo Do-wook touching the model with the students in the underground parking lot of the venue.”

“······!”

There is still insufficient evidence, however, this alone was enough.

It was kind of strange.

The atmosphere of the conference room was immediately reversed.

“We misunderstood our students.”

“If the producer is Professor Seo Do-wook, then there was nothing that they could do.”

“Rather, shouldn’t an undergraduate student be complimented for being compared to a professor?”

A competitor’s corruption was discovered.

If it worked out well, the grand prize could rightfully return to Han Yewon. But even if it didn’t, it was okay.

It’s important for Han Yewon to take the lead over Hankook University, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to take first place.

Okay.

It was the same principle that even if the Korean team was eliminated in the preliminary round at the World Cup, they only had to beat the Japanese team before being eliminated.

It was around the time the conference room became noisy.

“Well,” Professor Lee Jong said with a pleased look.

“I understand that the chairman will be bringing dinner tonight.”

“······.”

[TL/N – Bringing dinner as an apology, it seems]

*

[Han Yewon – Architecture Studio]

“Wow. It exploded so smoothly,” I muttered with a sad expression.

It had exploded as expected, nothing more, though the reactions were certainly greater thanks to the organizers’ hard work.

Ju Ji-hoon, who was sitting in front of me and doing his homework, asked,

“Jaeha, how did you manage to do this? The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since earlier.”

He didn’t know the details as to what I had done.

Last time, I saved my words because there were a lot of things that could’ve gone wrong if I spoke too soon.

‘But now that it’s over, I can say it.’

I continued to talk with a more relaxed face.

“I created a fake e-mail account through a foreign website. Then I contacted each and every social media outlet and distributed all the pictures.”

“…..Really?

“Of course. Everything has been posted on the Internet.” I said with a smiling face.

Ju Ji-hoon looked disgusted.

“You really are a devil. If I were them, I would drop out.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

This was what I thought:

Let’s say that Hankook University won the grand prize.

Even if it’s true that all other participants’ awards have been pushed back one by one, is it only this one time that they will experience injustice?

It is said that a needle thief will eventually become a cow thief.

[TL/N – saying that if no one notices someone stealing something small, then said thief will only get bolder and steal more important things, believing that they can get away with it]

‘Once a gamer has touched a cheat code, it becomes difficult to return to vanilla.’

If they were to be beaten, it was better for them and everyone else that they get beaten in advance.

Of course, I didn’t mean for them to do well in the future.

I just gave them a bit of luck.

As a result, my operation was a success.

‘It’s a good thing I postponed the timing.’

Before I detonated the bomb that landed in my hand, I considered two things.

First: I don’t suffer for this.

Even if I went to the organizers and filed a complaint that day, it was highly likely that I wouldn’t have had this much fun. At best, they would end up disqualified from winning the award, but in return, there was a possibility that I would be photographed by a person from Hankook University.

It’s not going to work.

If you turn Hankook University into an enemy in this industry, you’ll only be tired for the rest of your life trying to deal with them.

‘No matter how small the possibility is, it’s not good to increase the number of enemies. You could lose hundreds of millions of won with just one emotional problem.’

What I want is not a whistleblower of justice.

I wanted a secret beneficiary.

So, I waited and aimed for a time when the news of the award placements made a fuss in the public.

Rehearsal is important for any performance.

‘Perhaps they wouldn’t even imagine that I was the one who reported it.’

As I sat down with satisfaction, Hanseol asked me as if she was wondering about something.

“By the way, Jaeha.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you only post the pictures? You have a video, too.”

That’s right.

I filmed a video clip.

But even though I could upload the video, I had purposely only posted the pictures.

“That’s because…”

I smirked and said,

“A storm strikes twice.”

“······ Huh? Two storms?

Hanseol tilted her head as if she was puzzled.

“Trust me. It’s not over yet.”

“Well, you’ll do well on your own.” Hanseol shrugged.

Like that, another day has passed since I spread the pictures.

Hankook University has officially announced its position.

[Professor Seo Do-wook claims that while visiting near the venue, he visited for a while at the urgent request of the students.

Of course, this alone deviates from the purpose of the contest, and Hankook University announces that it will fulfill its responsibility by voluntarily resigning from the contest.]

I started cutting the tail.

Professor Seo Do-wook claimed that he had no choice but to respond to the students’ demands, but did not participate much.

He is a key figure at Hankook University, so he’s probably trying to cover it up.

And…

This was my second goal.

*

Hankook University has been in a state of emergency for some time now.

This is because there was a sudden controversy over work entries at the art college.

“Fire Professor Seo Do-Wook, who tarnished the name of the school!”

“Fire him!”

“Get to the bottom of it!”

“Give us the truth!”

Students at Hankook University condemned the incident and even posted a newsletter.

No, they even staged a sit-in.

[TL/N – for those who don’t know, a sit-in is when (a group of people) occupy a place as a form of protest]

A sit-in.

It was the method of the Korean people and the method that was engraved in the DNA of Hankook University, which shared the history of the Korean student movement.

A building with a closed entrance.

Inside, two professors were holding a conversation.

“Professor Seo.”

“Yes, sir?”

It was Professor Seo Do-wook and the president of Hankook University, who were the main characters of the incident.

“I’m not sorry for Professor Seo.”

“······ I’m sorry. The fact that I stopped by for a moment, it seems that I was photographed.”

“It’s okay. The students were being childish. What’s wrong with Professor Seo?”

“No, it’s my fault that I didn’t manage my students properly.”

Professor Seo bowed his head to the president over and over again.

‘Thank God.’

In any case, Professor Seo Do-wook was relieved that he was going to cover him up.

Fortunately, there was no decisive evidence of his involvement in the released photos.

Photographs of him and the students fiddling with the model together in the parking lot.

Thanks to that, he had something to get himself out of this situation.

‘If the conversation had gone out too, it would’ve been a catastrophe.’

It can still be recovered from.

He is still a useful person for Hankook University, and, when it’s time for the students to graduate, they’ll be excused on their own time.

‘This is what’s good about being young. Even if you cause trouble, you’re cursed at much less.’

It can be passed with a single stroke without a problem.

Although the students who were protesting over there were a little annoying, the burnt pot without firewood will cool down over time.

‘In the end, it’s only a matter of time.’

That was his idea.

No, it was the moment that he thought so.

[Are you really Hankook University students?]

“······· Huh?”

The sudden noise woke them up.

A loud roar echoed through the speakers outside the window.

[I’ve told you to memorize a single manual several times but you can’t even do something so simple correctly?]

[Sorry…]

A voice of a superior reprimanding a subordinate.

That voice….

It was Professor Seo Do-wook’s voice.

That was also the voice that he grated the students at this exhibition with.

‘I, why is that… there was a recording?’

Up until now, he had thought that he was going to go crazy because he was embarrassed, but the sound kept coming out of the speakers.

[You can’t swallow it even if I feed you. I don’t know if I’m teaching college students or raising children.]

[Sorry.]

[Please do well. Don’t ask busy people like me to come and go like this.]

[Sorry.]

Words that were difficult to simply dismiss as misunderstandings continued to burst out.

“What is this? What’s going on? What do I do?’

Professor Seo Do-Wook’s head was tangled up in an overly shocking situation.

Was this how the naked king felt when he realized the truth?

[TL/N – referring to that one fairytale: The Emperor’s New Clothes, I believe]

Just keep your mouth shut for a while.

‘….oops.’

As he turned around in surprise, he saw that the expression of the president, who had kindly comforted him a while ago, was stiff.

Professor Seo Do-wook barely managed to open his mouth due to the amount of tension he felt for the first time in his life.

“Mr. President, I’ll explain everything….this….”

“Professor Seo.”

The president spoke.

“Are you going to continue to call all this a coincidence?”

Professor Seo Do-wook’s face turned white.

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