Behind the Mask

S.O.S

"Love, what are you doing?" Nayeon asked as she approached her girlfriend.

"I am trying to detect the IP address of that post so we could and the location where it is coming from and if we're lucky enough wed would find out who's behind that post." Jeongyeon told Nayeon while her eyes were fixed on the laptop.

"Is this about Chaeyoung and Prof. Myoui?" Jeongyeon just nodded in her response.

"President Son asked me if I could know who posted that on the page."

"Bingo!" Jeongyeon exclaimed in success.

"Did you find out who was it?"

Jeongyeon nodded and proudly showed Nayeon the screen.

•      •      •      •      •

"Let's just fire her." A man in sky blue long sleeves said.

Tdoong university officials are gathered to talk about the post on the Tdoong University Freedom page. President Son was in front to lead the meeting.

"I agree. We could just hire someone. Is she even that competent?" A man in his late 40s said.

"We can't fire her easily." Mr. Son calmly said.

"First, firing someone requires undergoing a due process and that's the main reason we are here. We have to an investigation and evaluation first."

"That was clearly scandalous. She might ruin our university's image if it spreads out."

"First, Prof Myoui is a tertiary educator and is not inclusive with the Code of Ethics for professional teachers and Son Chaeyoung is in legal age already meaning she knows exactly what she's doing but the reasons were to be considered IF AND ONLY IF the statements in the post is proven to be true. As of now, it's a mere allegation and no evidence could prove it."

"With due respect, President Son but the photo says it all."

"With due respect too, Mr. Santos but had you at least once seen Prof. Myoui?" Mr. Son asked but the man could not answer.

Mr. Son presented the same photo on the page to the white screen.

"Can anyone of you see Prof. Myoui and/or Son Chaeyoung's face in that photo."

The room was filled with silence and an awkward atmosphere.

"I had help from a trusted IT expert and as it turned out the post, itself and most comments were from the same IP address. It means that they were from the same device. A further investigation was made and as it turned out the said IP address was responsible for numerous cyberbullying in the university."

Mr. Son presented photos of posts with mean and hateful context.

"As of now, the posts were already taken down and I'd be having a meeting with the university's student bodies regarding this matter. Any concerns you want to raise?"

"But some students saw your daughter, Son Chaeyoung, waiting for that professor. What if it was true? Shouldn't we dig further?"

Presented a CCTV footage of Chaeyoung waiting for Prof. Myoui and carrying the latter's belongings.

"Is helping out your teacher a bad thing? It's like how a gentleman, gentlewoman in the case of my daughter, act."

"Why can't we just let the prof take the blame. If cyberbullying issue leaks out of the school, we could lose some clients."

"Are you telling me to tolerate misbehaving students for profit, Mr. Yen?"

"No sir... It's just that, it wouldn't be that great lost firing a professor compared to losing some students."

Mr. Son chuckled sarcastically.

"Mr. Yen..." Mr. Son looked at Mr. Yen. He leaned his lower body on the table and crossed his arms. "Do you know Hatori Hirai?"

"Yes sir. He is our major sponsor."

"Do you know that he has two daughters? One is our student here, Momo Hirai and the other is also around somewhere in our university."

Everyone's expression changed as President Son stated the last phrase. They were all puzzled yet anticipative.

"Her name is Mina Sharon Myoui."
Everyone was shocked.

"We can't fire her."