“You, right now, what did you just say…?”
A bald man was sitting in front of me, sweating profusely.
A teacher working at a prestigious school, earning a lot of money.
But he had a personality that was a perfect counter to the amount of money he made.
No, it would be more accurate to say “teachers.” Counting the teachers who do not take bribes in this school would be much quicker than counting those who do.
No, is there even a teacher who doesn’t take bribes in this school?
If there is a teacher who doesn’t take bribes, that teacher would truly be qualified to be called a “real teacher.”
And all teachers wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to the situation, and they wouldn’t have ignored a student being openly bullied either.
That’s why I had no hesitation in talking to any teacher like this.
“Please sign here.”
What I presented was a letter of agreement.
At first, I thought about writing it myself, but it seemed that Yang Hye-in found my content lacking. So, I took a bit more time and drafted it with expert advice, and the letter turned out to have much more content than I originally thought.
Ha Neul was worried about the content of the agreement leaking to others, but honestly, that was what I was hoping for. I wanted to show that not just my mother, but I too was someone you should fear in this world. Moreover, if I went around collecting signatures, inevitably, the content would leak out.
And most of that content, it seemed, would factually not receive legal protection.
In South Korea, to draft something like a letter of agreement, they say that “it must not violate social norms.” Maybe it’s similar to how a waiver of bodily rights is legally invalid.
Of course, I didn’t include any such outrageous details in this agreement. In fact, if you look only at the contents, you could even say it’s legitimate.
To simplify that lengthy content as much as possible,
“From now on, do not accept bribes. We will stop giving bribes as well. We will not create legal responsibilities.”
Of course, it wouldn’t end there.
I didn’t care about how much money the teachers had. They weren’t the people I had to worry about. But if I ended just like that, that person would surely be incredibly frustrated.
Since there were no immediate means to be punished, I left them as they were, but in reality, they wanted these teachers to face consequences very much.
That’s why, this letter also included this content.
“We request a refund on the benefits received from the bribes we gave, excluding those benefits.”
That’s right.
The huge bribes that I or my mother should have given had been too much already. I don’t know how much money it was exactly, but there are people who say that amounts in the billions can be money that one may never make in their entire life.
From a regular point of view, that money could be considered quite a sum.
Yet these teachers gulped down that money just by putting Sohee and me in the same class.
Well, they probably didn’t gulp it down alone, but doesn’t that amount seem a bit excessive?
That’s why I included a request for a receipt with the letter.
That was the reason this letter wouldn’t receive legal protection.
“Uh, so, Sara.”
The teacher, sweating buckets, opened his mouth as if to calm me down.
Yeah, this person must know. He knows that this letter will absolutely not receive legal protection.
And of course, he must also know that even he does not receive legal protection.
…That person is cautious.
Of course, he wasn’t someone who had just been pushed around like me; he had his own personality, and if others insulted him, he would at least insult them back to some degree. But he wouldn’t cross the line like this. Even if he were to threaten, he wouldn’t actually intend to carry out the threat.
But I was different.
I had no interest in these people from the beginning. It wasn’t my business what happened to them.
Just like it wasn’t their business what happened to me.
“…You know that what you’re saying now doesn’t make any sense, right?”
As his eyes darted around, the best he could muster was that.
“Of course.”
I smiled sweetly.
“It doesn’t make sense for teachers to be taking hundreds, thousands, or even billions in bribes.”
“…That’s true—”
“And after receiving that kind of money, the most they do is to bully one first-year student together with the classmates. It’s not a believable story at all.”
I briefly closed my mouth and stared at the teacher’s face, drenched in sweat. The way he couldn’t fix his gaze on my face and kept glancing around made him look pitiful.
Well, whether he looked pitiful or not wasn’t my concern.
“But, you see, I have money that can turn that unbelievable story into one that can be believed.”
It seemed there wasn’t a broadcasting station or newspaper company under the Yujin Group umbrella. But there were companies that advertised through Yujin Group.
…Well, I can’t exactly say that I could control the Yujin Group.
But I could definitely utilize the money I have. It’s excessively large and unnecessary.
If this goes wrong, I will take this letter and go pour money all over the news stations and media, asking to put this on the front page. If I can’t publish it as an article, I’ll consider advertising it.
I really wouldn’t care.
After all, the money I’ll need to live is more than sufficient.
But what about the teacher in front of me?
And the teachers watching us from far away in the office?
This teacher might manage to live comfortably in retirement as long as they don’t get completely ripped off of all the bribes received throughout their life. But what about the young teachers who have just entered the school?
They might have many reasons to feel swept up in the atmosphere and might think they had to go along with it… everyone might have their own excuses.
But if we overlook that, there’s no end to it, right?
“Sara, even if I don’t sign this document, nothing else will happen.”
Now that he seemed to have regained a bit of his mind, the teacher spoke in a soothing tone.
“That… the money you claim I received is money that shouldn’t be given literally. It’s obvious that the money would not leave any evidence, so wouldn’t it make more sense for me not to sign here?”
That could be true. If he were in his right mind, it would indeed make sense not to sign an agreement that is one-sidedly unfavorable to himself. He may have been a bit confused when he first saw the content, but reflecting on it calmly, it was just a matter of not signing. Just deny it persistently.
…He’d probably think that way.
“What confidence do you speak with to say such things?”
Of course, I had thought the same before drafting the letter.
“What confidence, you ask?”
“……”
I silently continued to stare at the teacher’s face.
Indeed.
The girl standing in front of him, demanding him to sign a letter of agreement, was none other than “Ye Sara,” the ‘world’s richest teenager.’
A teenager who throws around 500 million won a year for maids, bought a building that used to be a department store as her house, and gives her friends hundreds of millions of won as pocket money.
The possibilities of what ‘money’ can do are limitless.
The person inside me already knew methods I hadn’t even thought of.
Well, I suppose that person wouldn’t have thought about using it like ‘me.’
“Teacher.”
I stared at the teacher and called out to him once. He was a lot taller than me, bigger sideways and forwards too, yet he was sweating profusely while looking at me.
“There’s a saying to read between the lines.”
Of course, I didn’t directly say how I would use that money. If exchanging bribes is a weakness, then openly stating I would do so could become a weakness too.
“I’ll say it again.”
So that he could understand clearly, if he was able to accept it, I repeated.
“What kind of confidence do you have to refuse to sign here?”
“……”
Indeed.
The money I possessed was money that could do ‘anything.’
Even adding ‘to anyone’ wouldn’t sound too strange.
“……”
The teacher’s mouth hung open.
And the mouths of the teachers who had been watching us from a distance hung open as well.
Naturally, I didn’t come just with this letter alone.
Yes, I’ve just realized that,
If a person has received money, they should work for what they received.
If they can’t ‘do that much,’ it’s only normal for them to refund that amount, right?
The face of the teacher who finally grasped what I said began to slowly turn pale.
Yes, even if I look like this, I am my mother’s daughter.
People who have heard, indirectly or directly, what my mother did with her money would naturally believe that I could accomplish something of that scale too.
If they are indeed curious, they wouldn’t necessarily need to sign.
