Geo punched him in the face to stop his jabbering mouth.
And then chaos was released.
It was the first time that Geo felt so liberated.
Blood sprayed in the air, splashing onto his face, but he didn't care.
Geo laughed.
Students screamed.
Teachers were alerted.
Not long after, Geo stood in the middle of the teachers' office, harshly scolded by his homeroom teacher with the rest of the teachers quietly watching.
Geo's expressionless face was painted by someone's blood that he had not had time to wash off. His school uniform and his aqua hair were unkempt from the fight. A bruise can be seen forming at the corner of his mouth.
This was the second time Geo had gotten caught in a fight and been sent to the teachers' office. The first time was when he was in elementary school.
However, his feelings back then and now were completely different.
Back then, he was frightened by his mother's collapse and swore to never fight again—he didn't want to add more burden to his sickly mother.
Now, he no longer wanted to be a shrinking turtle. He was finally taking a stand in the face of the world that wants to crush him.
In the face of Geo's unrepentance and stubborn attitude, the teacher breathed in and out angrily.
The teacher felt his head hurting. This student never gave him trouble before, and he never expected Geo to cause such a big commotion the first time he did make trouble.
His actions have caused his junior year special class to lose face!
"You. What should I say about you? Why did you hurt your class monitor? Such disgraceful behavior, out of all people, I did not expect it from you!" The teacher yelled, his emotions a little out of control thinking about how to clean up this mess so that other teachers won't call him incompetent for not managing his students well.
There was literally a fight in his class. No matter how he excuses himself, the responsibility will eventually get dumped on his head! Of course the teacher isn't happy about that.
"Haa…" The teacher sighed, his hand supporting his forehead.
However, his worries and troubles did not move Geo's heart in the slightest. He didn't feel sorry for the trouble he caused for his homeroom teacher at all.
Every school is a little different even if they reside in the same city.
In S High School, there are four grades in total: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. Each grade has their own student representative who is the first in their grade.
Each grade has on average 5 normal classes with one special class where the students with the highest grades—and typically the poorest family background—are placed in.
Each class has their own homeroom teacher who is in charge of the matters related to that class, as well as an appointed class monitor who helps the teacher look after the class in the homeroom teacher's absence and who occasionally assists the homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher's duties are to look after their assigned class. They make sure to inform their students of events happening in the school and transmit important announcements. They are supposed to be role models for the students, the people the students can rely on whenever they have any issues.
However, Geo never saw them doing the things they should be doing.
Especially his homeroom teacher, Teacher Lir.
Geo finds it hard to look up to someone like him who turns a blind eye to the sufferings of his student.
"Are you listening to me, Geo Fablas?!"
Geo looked at him coldly. "I'm listening."
Teacher Lir shuddered at the look Geo gave him. He felt that today's Geo is different from normal. Then he became furious that his student dared to give this attitude to him.
"Student Geo, do you think you are justified in your actions?! You broke your class monitor's nose! He had to go to the hospital because of you!"
"So? How much is his medical bills?"
Teacher Lir was infuriated by how calm Geo remained. He felt like his authority was being challenged, which was unacceptable.
"You, you are simply unteachable!"
Teacher Lir slammed his fist on his desk.
Geo's gaze suddenly turned sharp.
His calm voice reached every corner in the quiet office.
"If you think what I did was so wrong, how come you never stepped in and scolded Manl when they beat me up so bad I had to go to the hospital? Why did you never interfere when they bullied me, humiliated me, and caused my life to become a living hell at this school! Compared to them, was what I did so bad that I'm incorrigible in your eyes? The worst I did was to break his nose, but what they did was more than that."
"...What are you saying?" Teacher Lir unconsciously averted his eyes in shame and guilt.
Not wanting to admit his fault, Teacher Lir immediately hardened his tone and rebuked Geo again, "Unrepentant! Is this how you talk to your teacher! Absolutely disgraceful! I can't believe you are a special student from our special class. No respect for your teachers at all. When have you been bullied?! If you were bullied, you should have reported it to me and your teacher would have helped you. Don't make up lies! Right now, we're talking about you beating up another student for no reason! Don't change the subject and try to escape from your responsibilities!"
All of a sudden, Geo found it laughable.
He found himself laughable.
Geo knows that this teacher in front of him knew about him being bullied.
Once, this teacher happened to walk past him while Manl was pulling on his hair and forcing him to bark like a dog. He didn't want to and resisted, which earned him another brutal beating.
He felt sore and weak. Numb and helpless.
His lips had busted and he had a black eye. He held onto a slight hope, but the teacher looked as though he couldn't see all this and slipped right past them.
At that time, Geo realized once again that no one will help him. No one will save him. He was crushed not under Manl and his friends but under two words: Power and Wealth.
As long as someone had one of them while he didn't, he would always be crushed under them and can never escape from this vicious cycle of being oppressed.
He once thought that if he could graduate from a good university and find a high paying job, his status would change in the world. That he would no longer be an easy picking for the bullies.
He had held onto that unrealistic belief with all his might, because he had nothing else to believe in. He couldn't change his current situation so he pinned all his hopes on his future endeavors.
He thought his good grades could earn him a bright future.
He was wrong.
Good grades couldn't save him.
Nothing can save him.
External help can only help him temporarily in the short run. In the long run, he has to rely on himself.
If he doesn't change his attitude, no matter what he does it'll be in vain.
His savior was right.
If he doesn't change himself and toughen up, no matter where he goes, he will be bullied.
Looked down on.
Mistreated.
If he doesn't value himself, no one else will.
He has no natural advantage unlike the majority of the students in S High School born with silver spoons in their mouths.
He has to struggle desperately and fight without fear of death to survive and earn a place in this world. He has to snatch the things he wants. No one will hand them to him on a silver platter.
Geo looked at his fuming homeroom teacher whose appearance told of an honest and good teacher but who, in reality, was selfish to the core and did not deserve the title of "teacher."
He didn't want to grow up to be an adult like his teacher who is unwilling to admit his fault when he is wrong, shirking from responsibility because he is scared of those with power and money.
Geo didn't want his life to be ruled over by others. He didn't want to bark like a dog for those imbeciles who can only flaunt their parents' wealth and connections while they achieved nothing of their own. Even if he is a dog, his master will never be any one of them.
He knows he is pathetic, but he wants to change.
In the face of his homeroom teacher's disapproval and accusation, Geo's heart did not stir up any waves. He has already experienced the pain of betrayal by his teachers and fellow students countless times when they left him to the mercy of the bullies. Now, their indifference can no longer hurt him.
"He cursed my mother to die, is that not reason enough? If your mother was cursed, wouldn't you fight back too?" Geo questioned him.
Teacher Lir laughed with a sneer, clearly not believing Geo's words. "Your class monitor is not that kind of person. Don't slander his reputation just to get yourself out of trouble. Your methods won't work with me."
The ugly claws of the world seemed to stretch out at this moment.
"I'm not lying."
"Haa. This is getting nowhere. I will have to call your mother."
Teacher Lir reached out for the telephone on his desk.
"My mom is hospitalized at present and can't come to the school. If you have anything to say, you can continue to say it to me," Geo said as he went forward and pressed down on Teacher Lir's hand.
"I see. What about your father?"
Geo can tell that he was mocking him. As Geo's homeroom teacher, there's no way the other party doesn't know that he has no father. He was saying this on purpose.
Geo clenched his fists in hatred.
Teacher Lir's eyes twinkled with mirth.
Is this the ending of a powerless, poor person? Even if he fights back against his oppressors, he will have nothing good in the end?
Was fighting back a mistake?