What Else Do You Want After An Apology?

If I had to describe the school building this afternoon in one word, it would be "chaotic".

When Yu Xing returned to the classroom, it was eerily quiet. All the students seemed to have just experienced something very shocking, and the atmosphere was strange. They merely stared at him as he returned.

It seemed that although they were very curious, no one was willing to speak up at this moment.

Yu Xing, however, walked back to her seat with an unusually calm expression, as if she hadn't noticed the change in atmosphere.

When he returned, the bell had already rung, and the teacher for the next class followed him in. Thus, Class 4 of Grade 3 spent another seemingly ordinary class in quiet silence.

Throughout the entire class, Yu Xing didn't pay much attention to her deskmate Oliver. Oliver remained the same, head down, silently doing his own thing.

But Yu Xing could sense the frequent gazes directed at his seat. It seemed that during just one break, the students in his class had started paying much more strange attention to Oliver, and those gazes no longer held the malice they used to; instead, they revealed more strange emotions, which were probably not exactly friendly.

"Looks like Zhao Mou and the others have taken action too. They really trust me..." Yu Xing thought to himself, resting his chin on his hand and listening to the teacher's voice on the podium. Even though his actions were somewhat perfunctory, the teacher on the podium still gave him a very "friendly" look when he saw him.

Because Director Gene had implicitly acknowledged the Psychology Teacher's attitude towards "Roy" while in the office, although he didn't offer any promises or comfort, he patted the counselor on the shoulder after the Psychology Teacher was killed and told him to go back to class for the time being.

What does this mean? It means that even though the Psychology Teacher, who is also their school doctor, has irrevocably disappeared from St. Johnis Middle School, Director Gene still trusts the Psychology Teacher's "pre-death" judgment and has a certain intention to groom Roy as a future colleague.

Correspondingly, the Physics Teacher who had violated many rules was crushed on his workstation by Director Gene in front of all the teachers in the office.

As a student considered trash and a disposable resource, and as a future colleague, these two drastically different identities were enough to change the teachers' attitudes toward Yu Xing. The reason they didn't immediately make corresponding punishments and promises for these matters was because the Principal had not yet returned, and staff transfers still required the Principal's decision.

Director Gene could only temporarily substitute as the Physics Teacher for Class 4.

While lost in thought, Yu Xing noticed the white-haired girl sitting in front of her. This girl's emotions were clearly different from the other students. Perhaps it was because she was the only one who slept after class and therefore never bullied Oliver. She didn't feel guilty at all about Oliver being cleared of his name.

On the contrary, Yu Xing could sense a hint of excitement from her.

Soon, amidst the silent prayers of countless students with varying thoughts and unable to concentrate on their studies, the afternoon classes quickly came to an end. With several hours of free time before evening self-study, they gathered around Oliver in silence, forming a circle.

Yu Xing continued to rest her chin on her hand, silently watching them.

"Oliver, to be honest, I didn't expect things to turn out this way." The vice-monitor stood at the front, his voice tinged with a somber tone. "After Derek's reminder, I've remembered."

"It started in the first year of high school, right? Johnny didn't like the chaotic atmosphere in our class, so he forced us to find someone to bully. At first, many people were unwilling and didn't know what he wanted to do, but as soon as the first person started kicking your desk and tearing up your homework, more and more people chose to vent their emotions on you."

"Me too. At first, I was indignant about this, but later, when everyone was bullying me and my guilt was getting less and less, I joined in too."

The vice-monitor stared at Oliver's lowered head, as if trying to see Oliver's expression through his long hair. "The guilt gradually disappears as more and more people join in. Slowly, by repeatedly telling yourself that you are wrong, you can make your behavior seem less perverted. In the end, everyone only remembers those false suggestions."

"We have forgotten our original reasons, and believe that the crimes we have convinced ourselves of are real, thus growing increasingly disgusted with you, gradually taking pleasure in it, and feeling deeply justified in our actions."

"Johnny achieved his goal, because of our subconscious sense of guilt, we always felt ashamed in front of him, the one who made the suggestion, so we were always quiet in class, and he got the quietest class he wanted."

"It's been almost three years since it started... I don't believe that everyone can forget the beginning in three years. There must be some kind of force from the school, Oliver, can you understand?" The vice class monitor stepped forward, his face grim, and grabbed Oliver's shoulder. "You're not wrong, but... we were also being used."

"It's all Johnny's fault, it's all his scheme, and this weird school. If it weren't for this place, I would never have done these things to you." The other students standing behind the vice class monitor began to express their opinions as if a flood had been released after the vice class monitor finished speaking.

"Yes, Oliver, I understand you. We all hate this school!"

"But thankfully we've found out now, haven't we? It's all thanks to our new transfer student, Oliver. Don't you want to thank them? Haha, our whole class should thank them..."

"Honestly, I feel like I'm hypnotized. It's terrifying. I can't act according to my own thoughts at all. Who planted these demonic ideas in my head...?"

Oliver kept his head down, his shoulders still held by the vice class monitor. He trembled slightly, not happy that his classmates were beginning to accept him; on the contrary, he seemed even more afraid.

"Oliver, we won't bully you anymore, we promise," the vice class monitor promised, gently shaking Oliver. "You don't need to be so scared anymore, lift your head up."

Oliver didn't respond to him. No, the cowardly boy who did react a little moved his buttocks closer to Yu Xing, trying to get away from the vice class monitor.

The vice class monitor, who had a gloomy expression from the beginning, hadn't changed. "Look up, Oliver! Didn't I tell you? We won't bully you anymore. Please forgive us."

Oliver shifted again.

Unexpectedly, the vice class monitor started to get angry. "What else do you want? The whole class has come to apologize to you, why are you still looking so aggrieved? We bullied you before, that was our fault, and now we're here to apologize! Why are you still putting on this act?"

"Vice class monitor, don't be so harsh on him... He just needs time. I think he's still very touched." A girl grabbed the vice class monitor's arm and advised him, "He's very introverted and doesn't like to talk. You need to give him time."

The vice-monitor took a step back. "That's true."

"Oliver, everyone is happy to have you back in the group."

We look forward to the day you can hold your head high.

"Yes, yes, I'll make up for my past mistakes. How about I don't make you stay behind to do cleaning duties anymore?" The class's hygiene monitor, who was squeezed at the back, jumped up and down and shouted.

The girl who was holding the vice class monitor's arm leaned over and smiled kindly at Oliver: "See, everyone knows they were wrong, so don't be upset, okay? I remember... back in the first year of high school you said you wanted to go for a walk with me? I was too shy back then, how about we find some time in the next couple of days?"

"I'm going to throw up," Yu Xing, pulling Oliver closer to her. "This is a path I never imagined."

He went from watching the show to taking the initiative. Oliver, who had been trying to hide in his arms, shrank into his embrace. His thin body looked pitiful even through his school uniform, and Yu Xing's hands seemed to be able to touch the bones beneath Oliver's skin.

"What... what, you're going to throw up?"

The most ridiculous thing was that the students, led by the vice class monitor, didn't even realize they were being mocked. The girl even turned to Yu Xing and asked, "Roy Yi, are you feeling unwell?"

"Ugh, I feel extremely uncomfortable. You guys are truly disgusting." Yu Xing let out two snorts of laughter. "I can't even empathize with you... You know, I can easily understand the thought process of a madman, but you..."

"I don't understand."

"That's probably the difference between a malicious madman and a disgustingly wicked idiot."

Not all the students were in the circle; several others sat silently elsewhere, such as Zhao Mou and his group, Rebecca, Jack, and the boy whose mouth was sewn shut.

Their thoughts must have been different, and their reasons for leaving the group were also different, but strangely enough, sitting in their seats and looking at that crowded little circle, it was like watching an absurd drama on stage, and they all felt a wave of nausea rising from the bottom of their hearts.

Upon hearing Yu Xing's words, they all silently replied in their hearts, "That's right."

Zhao Mou squinted and stared at them for a long time. He had initially intended to say something, but after listening for a while, he felt that these students were hopeless.

Among the students who enter St. Johnis Middle School, there are those who were tricked into it, those who were academically excellent but were harmed by more powerful and influential people, and those who were sent to this terrifying school by their own parents' ignorance.

But there are indeed some people whose wickedness runs deep, buried under the panic at St. Johnis Middle School, yet still manages to be exposed in the smallest, most unintentional details.

"Indeed, I never imagined it could be this disgusting before I saw it with my own eyes."

The first person to express agreement was a completely unfamiliar voice. Yu Xing raised an eyebrow and looked ahead, only to see that the white-haired girl, who was positioned at the very center of the circle, had turned halfway around at some point. Her oriental-looking face was full of discomfort, as if she had swallowed a fly.

"What do you mean? Are you saying we're disgusting?" The vice squad leader's face fell. "What makes you say that?"

"Wow, so the perpetrator can just forgive themselves for the victim?" The white-haired girl was sitting, and she should have looked weaker in front of the standing classmates, but when she looked up at the vice class monitor, she showed no stage fright whatsoever.

"We've already apologized..." the girl who suggested the walk retorted, her face grim. "What more do you want from us?"

"Has no one ever taught you that an apology from a perpetrator only represents their own attitude, while a victim's forgiveness is a blessing?" The white-haired girl rolled her eyes at her, her disdain undisguised. "If Oliver doesn't forgive you, you deserve it. Three years!"

"After three years of hurt, you think you can settle things with a 10-minute apology?"

"Ao Fu, why don't you stick your face out here, and I'll smash your mouth open and then apologize to you?"

Ao Fu is the name of the girl who argued with the white-haired girl. Her face instantly turned bright red, whether from embarrassment or anger, it was hard to tell.

This was the first time Yu Xing had heard a white-haired girl speak, and she hadn't expected her to be so eloquent.

"And with you coming here so aggressively, did you really think about apologizing? You've pushed all the blame onto the school and Johnny, but what about yourselves?" Yu Xing also spoke up, "Johnny gave you a knife and told you to stab Oliver, so you skinned him and chopped his flesh into pieces."

"You were the ones who did the dirty work, and now you want to distance yourselves, claiming you're completely innocent and only got away with it because you were used?" He pulled Oliver into his arms and clapped his hands. "That's great! So, you're admitting your stupidity and despicable behavior?"

"I'm telling you today, stupidity itself is a sin. When you choose to abandon your conscience and judgment, let yourself drift with the tide, and use stupidity as an excuse to hurt others, how dare you say you are innocent...?"

The opening of his statement was exactly the same as the wording used by Wen Qinghuai when he revealed the truth about bullying.

It's as if for a very, very long time, they've all pretended to know nothing, but today, today, someone is no longer allowing them to keep up the act, but instead is going to lay bare their mistakes, bit by bit, right in front of them, forcing them to admit them.

"I advise you to shut up now." The vice squad leader's gloomy gaze turned to Yu Xing.

The white-haired girl laughed, "And another thing, who was it that said they wouldn't make Oliver stay behind for cleaning duty anymore as an apology? Oh, it was the hygiene monitor. I want to ask you, is cleaning duty something Oliver is supposed to do? I don't think so, wasn't it something you assigned him when you bullied him? And now, you're using his rightful authority as an apology, my goodness."

"You don't still think this is an enormous act of charity, do you?"

The white-haired girl continued her mockery, and strangely enough, although many people became emotionally unstable and gradually grew angry after hearing these words, no one touched her as they did Oliver.

"If Oliver doesn't forgive you, are you going to blame him for being petty? I've already thought it through; this is definitely how the final script will go."