Hatred - 2Min/Minmin

25

WONPIL:

Wonpil put on a white shirt, tucked it into his freshly pressed beige chinos and prepared himself for a meeting he knew would end in an ugly way. Still, he didn't want to feel that he didn't put his best foot forward.

Wonpil knew what soiled reputations could do to someone's career. He had been way too careless in the past to not know that. An irresponsible philanderer, that's what people thought about him now, and for good reason.

He had been doing things he shouldn't have for the last few years. Sleeping around with PhD students wasn't warranted, it was even illegal, but he had made sure none of the students opened their mouths. He was charming enough to keep them saying from anything.

But he had rotted long enough. It was time for him to change. He had found himself changing the day he saw Seungmin. It subtly reminded him of a younger him, lonely, yes, but also ambitious. He was drawn to him. He felt something for the boy. You could call Seungmin his muse even.

Even while he slept with Jamie (and others), he caught himself thinking about the boy and his unwavering drive. It rekindled something inside him, and that's why he wanted Seungmin to be his mentee. To kick-start a few projects he had been planning.

He wanted to get into the middle of things again.

While he waited outside for the meeting to start, knowing fully that he would have to leave the college, he knew he didn't want the boy to suffer. He wanted to make sure Seungmin went through nothing because of video that surfaced that day.

Prof. Jung made him wait for half an hour outside his office before he was called in. Childish, but nothing he hadn't expected from junk like Jung. Prof. Jung sat behind his dark mahogany desk, the one he had bought recently and through suspicious means. He had also bought a new car. It was safe to say that the centrifugal machine he had just bought for the college wasn't as expensive as he made it out to be.

Wonpil took his seat and waited for Jung to broach the topic which he ded almost immediately, mincing no words.

"The choice in front of the administration is quite simple, Wonpil. Either you have to go or Seungmin will have to. If the transgression of the decorum of the college is from both sides, it will look bad on the college and we can't afford that."

"With due respect to you, let me get this clear. If I tell you that I'm the person at fault, you will make me put in my papers and leave. And if the boy's at fault, he will have to leave the college."

"Precisely."

"It's clear in your position that you want me to leave the college don't you? What I fail to understand is, why are you taking the step that you are?" asked Wonpil, his eyes narrowing. Leaving Seungmin behind, unguarded, was terrifying but necessary. So was letting Jung know that people aren't fools.

"People talk."

"That's very reassuring coming from the dean of an esteemed institution. People talk? That's your argument?" grumbled Wonpil, barely managing not to get swept away by anger.

"Don't teach me my job, Mr. Kim. I have been running this college since you were a child," said Jung like every old person when they run out of defences.

"Then pray tell me, if that student wasn't Seungmin would you take the same step?" asked Wonpil.

The dean looked uneasy. He looked at his watch, at his cup of tea, his tongue floundered. "You don't get to ask questions."

"What do I get to do then?"

"All you need to do is choose between you and him. I have other matters to attend to, Prof. Wonpil."