A list of characters appearing in Get Schooled.
Note: Spoilers ahead.
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Teacher's Rights Protection Agency (TRPA)
As a whole
An organization founded by the minister of education with the goal of defending both teacher's right to teach and students' rights to learn.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: The TRPA's M.O. is usually this, aiming to have the bullies suffer the same mistreatment they inflicted on their victims, often in the hopes of inducing a Heel Realization that this was what they have been putting their own victims through this whole time. Since most usually use physical violence as a basic means to oppress, the TRPA commonly uses Corporal Punishment to inflict the same violence back onto them.
- Badass Teacher: Downplayed, as the wardens don't actually have teaching qualifications, but they take teaching roles in whatever school they're assigned to and view their job as a different sort of education.
- Bully Hunter: What the organization's cause boils down to. The wardens' main job at their assigned schools is to single out troublemakers and make sure to put a stop to them.
- Cool Teacher: Again, downplayed, see Badass Teacher above. But to the bullies' victims in the student body the wardens generally tend to be this, often helping them stand up to their tormentors and defending them when situations get rough, as well as imparting valuable life lessons onto them through their unconventional teaching methods.
- Corporal Punishment: The TRPA is a very strong advocate for this, at least in cases where nothing else worked to discipline a problem student.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: The wardens are firm believers in this trope. Each of them frequently runs into a bully who justifies their cruel actions because of their Dark and Troubled Past, but the wardens always point out that it’s no excuse to take out their trauma onto the innocents.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Something that the wardens are fond of when punishing the bullies. They will always remind the bullies of what horrible monsters they are and call them out on their treatment of their victims, often while delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. When they refuse to get the message and karma ends up biting them in the ass, the wardens point out what their horrible actions led to and tell them that they have only themselves to blame.
- Not even adult bullies are immune to this. Whether they be dealing with a Sadist Teacher or Abusive Parent, the wardens will always tell them off over the treatment of their victims, while at the same time dishing out A Taste of Their Own Medicine.
- Underestimating Badassery: The delinquents at the assigned schools frequently underestimate just how powerful the wardens are on putting them on their proper place and just how far they're willing to see their mission through.
- Would Hurt a Child: A rare justified example. The TRPA's job is to sort out and punish any schoolyard bully that they see fit, often through delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Given the sheer brutality that these bullies will inflict on their own classmates without a shred of remorse, some even taking it out on the teachers, they had it coming.
Hwajin Na
Captain Hwajin Na/Mr. Na
- Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (PV)
The first warden in the TRPA. An ex-soldier and an expert in hand-to-hand combat, as well as psychological warfare, he'll do anything he can to bring bullies to justice and teach them a lesson they'll not forget so soon. He has some sort of connection to Gayoon Choi, the teacher who was beaten to death by one of her own students and whose passing was the direct reason for the founding of the TRPA.
- The Ace: He’s an unstoppable combatant, extremely well-read, knows some basic medicine and can read most people like a book.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent:
- In the past, he had to put up with his Alcoholic Dad, but he doesn’t show up in the present day. As of now, it’s unknown if his father is still alive or they’d both cut off contact from each other.
- His mother is left unaccounted for. Hwajin does mention that he doesn’t resent both of his parents over his harsh upbringing, but it’s left uncertain if his mother is still alive, stayed but did nothing to protect him from his father’s drunken outbursts, or abandoned him at some point of his life.
- Barbarian Longhair: His black hair is rather long and unkept. He does occasionally tie his hair back into a ponytail, but it doesn’t stop him from kicking ass. A lot of fans also view him as a Mr. Fanservice, especially whenever he gets a Shirtless Scene. Chapter 48 is the best example.
- Beard of Sorrow: He snaps back at Hanrim when she pokes fun at his long and shaggy hair, proclaiming he’s in mourning.
- Berserk Button:
- He does not take kindly to anyone that bullies and/or takes advantage of the weak.
- Do not insult his choice of hairstyle. He justifies it because he’s in mourning and refuses to cut it.
- He goes apeshit the second he discovers that Gayoon, his dead fiancée, is used as a mascot by the G.Y gang, which her killer is the leader of, while he’s still behind bars. He beats Jung-Hyuk into a bloody pulp when he sees the gang’s tattoo-symbols on his hand, which is of Gayoon’s initials but Jung-Hyuk went as far as to have a tattoo of Gayoon’s silhouette.
- Crusading Widow: In his grief over his dead fiancée, Gayoon, he joined the TRPA, founded by her father, so he can put bullies in their proper place and protect other students and teachers from their brutality. What ultimately drives his commitment to the TRPA is because Gayoon herself was murdered by her own delinquent of a student.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He prefers to dress all in black and has long and unkempt dark hair, but he’s firmly a good guy and loves to fight back against any bully that crosses his path.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mr. Na is often delivering sarcastic comments and snide comments to his targets.
- Implied Love Interest:
- While it has yet to be stated directly, there's some evidence that he and Gayoon might have been couple.
- He did call her father, President Choi, “dad”, which is common in many Asian cultures to refer to your spouses parents not by their given name but as if they were your own parent. Him getting kicked by President Choi as a result makes this it look like any other doting yet protective father who hates any boy dating his daughter.
- Hwajin also calls him out for not remembering Gayoon's favorite treats as they’re visiting her grave.
- In chapters 34 and 35 Hwajin confronts Gayoon's killer in prison, under the guise of a regular counselor, and can barely keep it together when the guy starts gloating about how good it felt to beat her to death.
- It’s confirmed in chapter 111 that Gayoon was his fiancée before her murder.
- While it has yet to be stated directly, there's some evidence that he and Gayoon might have been couple.
- Limited Wardrobe: His main outfit consists of a solid black suit. It’s implied that it’s because he’s in mourning, given his claims that he refused to cut his hair for that very reason when Hanrim teases him about how messy it is.
- Mysterious Past: Very little is known of his past, the extent of his whole military career, or the identity his family. Particularly of what the exact relationship he had with Gayoon.
- The season 1 finale officially states that he was engaged to Gayoon before her passing, but how they met or known each other for how long is still unknown.
- In one flashback, it’s shown he did not have an easy upbringing. His mother is not around and had an Alcoholic Dad who orders him to not study, instead to go out and make money just so he can waste it on beer, even threatening him by throwing a beer bottle at him. He shrugs off his father’s tirade by pointing out that he’s studying to enlist by applying to the military academy, not just because of the free dorm and tuition, but because he firmly believes he has no future but within the military due to their poor background. In the present, he doesn’t resent either of his parents due to the circumstances because he accepted it and did his best to turn his life around.
- Papa Wolf: He tends to be really protective of underaged bully victims and gets especially brutal and nasty when dealing with adults who harm minors. Heck, he’s even brutal towards minors harming other minors.
- Platonic Life-Partners: His relationship with Hanrim. They both enjoy sparring in Hanrim’s boxing gym, team up in assignments, and frequently tease one another.
- Tranquil Fury:
- He “calmly” listens to Gyucheol as he joyfully brags about beating Gayoon to death, blaming HER for her own murder, as well as the school staff for not turning on the A.C, while playing the victim at the same time. All the while Hwajin is keeping his mouth shut and giving the look of a thousand deaths.
- Then he leaves without throwing a single punch and struggles to light his cigarette, until President Choi’s suddenly appears and lights it for him. He was clenching his fist so hard during the meeting, his fingernails dug into his palm and drew blood. President Choi even admits that he was sure Hwajin would end up getting arrested for murdering Gyucheol on the spot.
- Quite the nerves of steel he has there, since chapter 111 finally confirms what his true relationship to Gayoon was; she was his fiancée and he confronted her killer without revealing who he really was.
- Until chapter 100 where he finally lets go of all his repressed fury from Gyucheol’s taunts and unleashes it onto Jung-Hyuk.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Gender inverted. Hwajin is quite handsome, whether he had a clean shave and short neat hair, or sporting a Barbarian Longhair kind of a Hunk appearance. His father… isn’t.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: He’s easily frighten whenever Gangseok gets angry at him, especially since he has no qualms of insulting and hurting Hwajin, but a lot of the time he greatly appreciates Gangseok as a friend.
Hanrim Lim
Sergeant Hanrim Im/Ms. Lim
- Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (PV)
- Action Girl: She's perhaps one of the few characters in the comic who's fighting skills are as good as Hwajin The fact that she runs her own martial arts gym is very telling.
- D-Cup Distress: Hinted at when she mentioned she had gone for a breast reduction surgery. Hanlim Gym actually depicts her chest to be much bigger as a teenager than it is presently.
- Fiery Redhead: Downplayed, since she isn't a natural redhead, but she definitely has the temper.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Downplayed. It doesn't take much to set her off, but she usually has enough of a grip on her temper to only throw Death Glares in situations where violence wouldn't be ideal.
- Hero of Another Story: She’s one of the main characters in another Webtoon, Hanlim Gym. According to
Word of God, both stories are set in the same universe, as a part of the YLAB Comics called Blue String or Super String. - It's Personal: Implied. On her first assignment in Soyeon Girl's School, she repeatedly mentions that she used to attend an all-girls school herself and that it's part of the reason she picked the assignment. She also seems to take a special interest in Yeri's relentless cruelty and shows some inside knowledge on common bullying tactics, implying she was a victim of bullying herself when she was a student.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Her relationship with Hwajin. They both enjoy sparring in her boxing gym, team up in assignments, and frequently tease one another.
- Mugging the Monster: Most bullies see her as a helpless woman and try to intimidate her. It never ends well on their favor.
- Old Maid: At 26 years old, she’s upset that Hwajin hired 20-year old Sera because her youthful appearance makes it easier for her on undercover missions as a student.
- Red Baron: Back in the army she was known as "Baba Yaga".
- Spell My Name With An S: Translations vary between spelling her name as either Halim or Harim.
Gu Sera
- Action Girl: She’s the second woman to join the TRPA after Hanrim, and like her colleague, she can hold her own in a fight, and enjoys every second of it.
- Always Someone Better: This is her method: according to her, the best way to beat a psychopath is to prove you're stronger than them until others realize they're not invincible after all and willing to speak up against their crimes.
- Blood Knight: She makes it clear in the recruitment interview that she wants to join so she can fight off any delinquent. Hwajin hires her for this.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Harim is skeptical of why Na could recruit a Hot-Blooded and hyperactive young woman to the TRPA, but she quickly proves herself on their first case together when she realizes the victims are lying about not knowing anything about the culprit due to fear. As Sera points out, a majority of cases go unnoticed because there are some victims that are too scared to report anything, and Na realized that they need someone like another youngster that can infiltrate on the kids' level and be willing to talk to.
- Cute Little Fangs: Has a pair of these.
- Experienced Protagonist: Her skills and smarts comes from being the top student at Gangsan High, which is said the worst out of the three most out of control schools in Korea.
- Older Than They Look: She’s only 20 years old and easily passes herself off as a high school student when she has to go undercover. Hwajin points out to Hanrim he hired her for this, much to Hanrim’s displeasure.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Given her young and rather short stature, Hanrim was horrified to sees through security of Chiho landing a brass-knuckled punch to her face. By the time she gets to class, Sera has beaten him into coughing up blood, much to Hanrim’s shock.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- Between her and Daniel, the newest recruits to TRPA, they definitely contrast to one another. She’s a hyperactive Action Girl who made it clear on the interview she wanted to join solely so she can fight off any bully. Daniel is The Stoic who calmly stated on his interview he’d work very hard on the group. Once Hwajin welcomes them in, Daniel is put off by her hot-blooded energy and snarks over it.
- Ironically, Hanrim is also annoyed by her hot blooded attitude and makes her look calm in comparison.
- Street Smart: She has a remarkable view on how bullies seem to work and reasons to Hanrim that Jinho will only back down if he's beaten by someone on the same level as him.
Daniel Hyun
Another new recruit for the TRPA in season 2.
- Badass Pacifist: He bluntly admits he’s an advocate for non-violence, but is still okay with joining the TRPA while understanding the group’s acceptance of Corporal Punishment.
- But Not Too Foreign: His character bio only states his name and his New York origins. Being half-Korean, his first and last names combines both cultures. Not to mention his blue eyes and light colored hair.
- Deadpan Snarker: Once he’s recruited with Sera, he sarcastically points out her Hot-Blooded personality.
- Icy Blue Eyes: His pale blue eyes reflect his stoic demeanor.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": He made it clear to Hwajin that he doesn’t like English names, so he prefers to go by his surname instead of his first name.
- Megane: He’s very handsome and wears a pair of glasses.
- Older Than They Look: He’s 22 years old and looks like he’s in his teens.
- The Stoic: Doesn’t often show his emotions.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Let’s see… he’s a Megane, frowns upon violence, joins the TRPA anyway but wants to work around the Corporal Punishment with non-violence options, and is The Stoic member. Too soon, Lee Junbin?
- Politically Incorrect Hero: See here
. - Red Oni, Blue Oni: Between himself and Sera. He calmly stated on his interview that he’d work hard for the group while Sera just wants fight any bully in her path. Once introduced by Hwajin as TRPA’s newest recruits, he further established himself as The Stoic while Sera energetically introduces herself.
- It also extends to their way of handling other troublemakers. Sera prefers to beat bullies down with violence, while Daniel prefers to be non-violent and play mind games with them.
- Retcon: After the controversy of the racist themes of an arc centered around him, the official chapter of 118 leaves out his presence and recruitment in the TRPA. He comes back in chapter 130.
President Gangseok Choi
- Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (PV)
- Bad Boss: Downplayed, but he's very quick to use violence on his employees (mainly Hwajin) and regularly dismisses the interview guides his secretary makes up for him because he's too proud to rely on prepared answers. That said, he also provides the wardens with everything they need to get their assignments done, no questions asked and he does care for them in his own abrasive way.
- Berserk Button:
- Don’t ever call him ‘dad’ or else he’ll give you one mean kick. Hwajin learned this the hard way.
- If you’re a reporter or parent and question the TRPA’s methods on dealing with students but are only concerned about protecting the bullies instead of their victims, HE. WILL. DESTROY. YOU.
- Heck, if you’re a parent, don’t raise your kids into becoming bullies. Or don’t be an Abusive Parent. Just ask Congressman Ryu, who ended up having his corruption exposed by Gangseok because of how he made his son, Junhyeok, into the way he was. Justified, because his daughter was killed by a delinquent, which is the reason he founded the TRPA in the first place.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: He really loved his daughter, Gayoon, and during her meeting with Hwajin in a flashback of chapter 100, Hwajin mentioned he hated him, as he was wondering how he should greet Gangseok. Not to mention his Berserk Button as seen above. Chapter 111 confirms that Hwajin and Gayoon were engaged before Gayoon was murdered in cold blood by her own student. But Gangseok and Hwajin work together in founding TRPA to prevent other tragedies like theirs, and are somewhat on friendly terms in their own way. What ultimately holds them together is their grief over Gayoon.
- Cool Old Guy: And how! He may be pushing 70, but he gives a brutal reality check to the reporters in a televised interview, shaming them for solely focusing on one side of the story and only caring about protecting the bullies instead of their victims. He also tells the parents if they’re watching said interview to back off with their demands about shutting down the TRPA. He also scares the crap out of Hwajin and kicks him around with ease. Keep in mind that Hwajin is usually presented as an Invincible Hero, making it even more impressive that Gangseok is able to manhandle him so easily.
- The Dreaded: To all of the politicians and journalists, he’s feared for his strong arm in the government and quick temper.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: A flashback shows him confronting Hwajin as he’s wasted himself over the loss of Gayoon. He reprimands Hwajin over his Excessive Mourning and asks him how long is he’s planning to mope. Gangseok proclaims his plans to start the TRPA, so there will be no more people mourning their loved ones like they do with Gayoon.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His daughter was brutally murdered by her own student, in turn spurring him into kickstarting the TRPA in her honor.
- Papa Wolf: He founded the TRPA in memory of his late daughter, who was killed by her own student, so nobody would have to go through the same pain he did.
- He refuses to accept Hwajin’s resignation letter when he succumbed to his rage and almost killed a dangerous gangster, because he understands his fury since said gangster is part of a illegal gambling circle that uses Gayoon as a mascot. And is even more furious that his daughter’s killer is the leader even though he’s still incarcerated.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He has no problem swearing, kicking around Hwajin, and chewing out anyone that dares to challenge his authority as minister of education and president of TRPA.
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Throughout the story, Gangseok acts like a Bad Boss to Hwajin, will psychically hit and curse him out, but deep down they do care for each other like any other friends.
- Gangseok’s first scene alone is him kicking Hwajin away for daring to address him as “dad”. But they later have a calm talk about the TRPA walking on thin ice while mourning over Gangseok’s daughter, Gayoon. Both he and Hwajin enjoy smoking, but Gangseok is an avid Cigar Chomper while Hwajin prefers cigarettes, but he has no problem liting one for Hwajin.
- Gangseok rejects Hwajin’s resignation letter because he firmly believes there will be no TRPA without him. Another reason is because Hwajin had a Rage Breaking Point and No-Holds-Barred Beatdown towards a gangster using Gayoon as a mascot. Hwajin felt great despair at what he had done and gave the resignation letter in case he ever defaulted to murder in protect the TRPA, but Gangseok responds by tearing up the letter.
- Throughout the story, Gangseok acts like a Bad Boss to Hwajin, will psychically hit and curse him out, but deep down they do care for each other like any other friends.
Introduction Arc
Daeseok Park
A student who recently committed suicide due to the relentless bullying he suffered from Junhyeok and his cronies.
- Broken Ace: Before Junhyeok began to target him, he was one of the most popular students, had prety good grades and a stable homelife. After becoming Junhyeok's favorite victim, no one would speak to him, he was beaten up frequently and Junhyeok drove his family into financial ruin.
- Driven to Suicide: He eventually kills himself by jumping off the school's roof.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He punches Junyeok and tells him off when he’s about to bully and frame a teacher. The result? He's ostracized by the entire school and bullied into committing suicide.
- Small Role, Big Impact: It’s his death that leads Hwajin to investigate the corruption of his school and, to a lesser point, kickstarts the entire plot.
Kyeongmin Kim
A student at the trial run school and a frequent victim of Junhyeok's gang.
- All of the Other Reindeer: He’s heavily bullied by the school thugs just for the heck of it. It's gotten so bad that he almost throws himself off the roof when the police drops the investigation of Danseok’s suicide. Good thing Hwajin steps in just in time.
- Despair Event Horizon: He crosses it after realizing that none of the adults, neither the teachers nor the police, have any intention of stopping Junhyeok.
- When He Smiles: We see him smile genuinely once the TRPA's intervention puts a stop to the bullying.
Junhyeok Ryu
The son of a congressman. uses his connections to do pretty much whatever he wants.
- Arc Villain: Of the first arc.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Bullied Danseok and forced the whole school to ostracize and bully him as well and eventually drove him to suicide. The reason? Danseok stopped him from bullying a teacher and punched him because of it.
- Drunk with Power: Due to his father’s political influence, he’s been showered with special treatment by every adult in his life and gained a lot of followers due to his connections. As a result, he becomes a real prick and bullies anyone that gets in his way.
- Freudian Excuse: His dad abused him a lot, sometimes even beating him with a golf club for minor things. Not to mention every adult in his life gave him special treatment in fear of his dad’s retaliation, which gave him a feel of power he hadn’t felt at home so he milked it for all it was worth.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After bullying everyone around him for who knows how long, he’s finally knocked down a peg after his father’s corruption hits the news and he becomes the new target for the bullies. But it’s only after Hwajin catches him almost burning down the school and tells him off for all of his crimes when it finally sinks in to him of what a horrible human being he is. We last see him as he and his underlings are escorted away by the police for bullying and driving Daeseok to suicide.
- My God, What Have I Done?: At first subverted, but played straight later on. He was horrified when Daesok killed himself, but only because he thought he would actually have to face consequences for his actions this time. As soon as the police make it clear they aren't even suspecting him (and would probably not do anything even if they did) he seemingly forgets all about it. Once Mr. Na puts an end to his reign of terror over his school and he himself becomes a frequent victim of bullying, he slowly starts to realize what he made Daesok go through, until he decides to burn the school down as payback. When Mr. Na stops him and ends his subsequent "The Reason You Suck" Speech by coldly telling him that even if he came to regret his actions now, it won't bring Daesok back, his reaction implies he finally realized that he is responsible for the death of another person.
- Teens Are Monsters: In case the above tropes haven't clued you in at this point.
Congressman Ryu
Junhyeok's father.
- Abusive Parents: Regularly beats his son with a golf club.
- Corrupt Politician: He’s guilty of sexual harassment and bribery, which President Choi is more than happy to expose.
- Greater-Scope Villain: His treatment of Junhyeok shaped him into the monster he was. As Choi puts it, both of their downfalls could've been avoided if he had just raised his son better.
- Hypocrite: Pissed that his son ruled his school via corruption due to his father’s big name in politics, while he’s as guilty with bribery and sexual harassment.
- Never My Fault: He’s furious that his son used his name to get away with the bullying, but he’s at fault for not raising him from right and wrong, something President Choi rightfully points out.
- We Used to Be Friends: With President Choi, and he's shocked at his own ally ruining him.
Gu-Un High Tech High School Arc
Hongki Cho
- Hidden Depths: At first glance he's just a dumb brute like Hongseong, but in the GPA for the new rankings he manages to get enough points for Knight rank, while Hongseong only makes Pawn.
Hongseong Lee
- Bad Boss: He leads the auto department in the mob war against the electrical department. Not only does he force the auto-members into the war, even those that are obviously not build for fighting like Hyeongju, he brutalizes anyone who doesn't meet the "quota" of one knocked-out electrical department member.
- Bait-and-Switch: During his beating of the auto department members who didn't meet their "qoutas", he suddenly recognizes Hyeongju, pulls him up and advises everyone present to show him respect because as a third year, he's a "veteran". Then he viciously kicks Hyeongju down again and calls him an embarssment for not being able to win a fight for three years.
- Dumb Muscle: He randomly punches Hyeongju and asks him why he would attend a “historic fighting school” if he couldn’t throw a punch, much to the the poor kid’s bewilderment, since he came to study in order to fulfill his dream to become an auto engineer and had no clue about the mob war their school was going through. Hwajin calls him out on this, reminding him that school is a place of learning, not a boxing ring.
- Locked Out of the Loop: He doesn't keep up with the news, so when Mr. Na tells him he's from the TRPA, Hongseong has no idea what that means.
Hyeongju Kim
A third year in the Auto Department. Unlike most of the other students, he actually came to G-Un to study and abhors the ongoing mob war.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He wanted to be an auto engineer ever since he was little and signed up to Gu-Un tech high school because it had an automotive engineering department. Unluckily for him, Gu-Un is right in the middle of a mob war and he gets forcefully drafted the second he enrolls.
- Cowardly Lion: Despite being scared shitless of the mobsters and hating being beat up, he nonetheless throws himself in harms way over and over to protect Gwonhyeok from getting maimed.
- Despair Event Horizon: He's close to giving up on everything by the time Mr. Na enters the picture, as he sees no way he'd survive the current war.
Gwonhyeok Jang
A third year in electrical engineering department and their number one fighter.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Stops Mr. Na's rampage against Jung-Hyuk by saying he did save someone "beyond redemption": Gwonhyeok himself.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: He starts to respect Hyeongju and becomes a true friend to him after Hyeongju protects him from Sorok High's hired gangsters.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns to being an important character during the Gambler arc.
- Break the Haughty: Goes from the top dog at his school to just as humiliated and a pawn to Hyeongju. To top it all off, he almost gets his hand broken by mobsters. And the one who does it to him used to be the former top dog of his high school.
- Freudian Excuse: As a child he was regularly bullied by other kids because his family was poor. When he realized he was good at fighting, he used that to get back at his bullies and everyone else he believed was looking down on him.
- Heel–Face Turn: Hyeongju standing up for him and Mr. Na's lessons make him turn for the better, and he and Hyeongju become legitimate friends.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Being the best brawler at your school doesn't mean much when your opponents are adult ex-soldiers and actual mobsters.
- Smug Snake: Waltzes into Mr. Na's class like he owns the place, behaves disrespectfully towards the warden and seems honestly convinced he's won when Mr. Na actually goes down in their fight. Only to be proven wrong and put in his place seconds later.
Soyeon Highschool Arc
Yeri Han
The main antagonist of the Soyeon arc.
- Alpha Bitch: She’s the ringleader of the school bullies and even has the teachers cowering in fear. It’s even implied that she even drove a teacher to suicide after falsely accusing him of molestation.
- Big Eater: She enjoys good food such as pizza and chicken legs.
- The Bus Came Back: Reappears in chapter 63 asking for help with a imprisoned girl whose sister had fallen into trouble.
- Crocodile Tears: Yeri's specialty. Whenever she gets in trouble she presses out a few tears and pretends to be just a poor misunderstood highschool girl. This ends up biting her in the ass, as Miss Jung almost dying after Yeri tries this on her to get into her apartment, leads to Yeri losing her last remaining ally and finally being held accountable for her crimes.
- Freudian Excuse: She was bullied by her classmates who were encouraged by a teacher, who made her life a living hell. Said teacher did this because he was taking bribes from her bullies' parents to raise their grades and lowered hers as a result. This led her to develop a deep hatred towards all teachers.
- Heel Realization: When Na reintroduces Yeri to Mr. Cheon, she goes on a rampage and prepares to kill him, claiming he ruined her entire life. Na points out though she did that too: to the family of the teacher she drove to suicide.
- Heel–Face Turn: After her Heel Realization, she writes to the bereaved family of the teacher she drove to suicide, clearly remorseful over her actions upon realizing she wronged them the same way Sangyeol Cheon wronged her. In chapters 63 to 71, she is sincerely helping the TRPA and shows a better side of herself.
- Kid Has a Point: In Chapter 65, when Hanrim scolds Yeri for stopping her from calling the police and allowing the runaway girl to get away, Yeri points out that doing so wouldn't solve anything and she's right. The police would simply contact the parents of the runaway girl and send her back to an abusive household, the same people/place she ran away from in the first place.
- Slasher Smile: Shows this a good few times.
- Tears of Remorse: When the wife of the teacher she killed finally replied to her letter, telling her that her sincere reflections no doubt gives her husband's spirit solace and encouraging her to live a better righteous life, Yeri cries this.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After jumping off a roof and trying to attack Hanrim, they run into a couple of police officers. She immediately makes it look like she’s the victim and Hanrim was the one who came after her first, and runs away while the cops question Hanrim. She tries it again after trying to attack her with a brick, until Miss Jung steps forward and explains to the cops what REALLY happened.
Miss Jung
Yeri's Homeroom teacher.
- Broken Bird: The psychological torment Yeri and her group puts her through reduces her to this.
- The Dog Bites Back: After finally accepting that Yeri is Beyond Redemption, she decides to stop protecting her and reports all of Yeri's crimes to the police, including her role in Mr. Go's firing and subsequent death.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Considering her job, the work environment, and WHO her students are, it's a given.
CM High School Arc
Sangyeol Cheon
A teacher at CM High School who is infamous for tormenting students from poor families.
- For Want Of A Nail: Yeri was one of his victims. The torment he put her through broke her, leaving her resentful and disillusioned with teachers. He's the reason why she turned into the monster she is in the present.
- Hate Sink: A Jerkass and a Sadist Teacher with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He’s put through “student exams” by Hwajin as punishment for all the shit he’s put through the many students, but the only thing that keeping him from getting fired is to ask for forgiveness from every student he’s tormented. Naturally no one budges, especially Hyun-Woong, but Sangyeol tries to get payback at him by arranging the bullies to attack his grandfather and forcing him to get his forgiveness on paper. Fortunately Hwajin stops him and releases Yeri on him. He tries to apologize but she’s not having it and attacks him. It’s only thanks to Hwajin’s intervention that keeps her from killing her former teacher but he tells him off over all of his crimes. He’s last seen being arrested at school when it’s brought to light of all of his corruption and bribes.
- Sadist Teacher: Picks on students with poor backgrounds and good grades and encourages other school bullies to join in, and enjoys every second of it. But he believes with the TRPA in power, he can get away with it and punish any student he sees fit. It’s later revealed that he even takes bribes from the bullies parents to raise their test scores.
Hyun-Woong Choi
A promising, but poor student at CM High School.
- All of the Other Reindeer: He’s bullied heavily by his teacher Sangyeol and others because of his poor background and good grades.
- The Dog Bites Back: When Sangyeol begs him on his knees to forgive him for all he’s done, he refuses to buy it. He knows Sangyeol is only doing this in order to keep his job, so the kid tells him where to stick it and to get out of his face.
- One-Steve Limit: Played with. He has the same surname as the President of TRPA but has no relation to him. Justified as Choi is a common Korean surname.
- Raised by Grandparents: He lives with his grandfather who makes a living by collecting garbage cans.
Hyeonjin Middle School Arc
Jiwoong Min
- Asshole Victim: See Teens Are Monsters. No one feels sorry for him when he's given a much-needed dose of reality.
- Break the Haughty: He believed himself to be untouchable due to the law that forbids minors under 14 facing any serious repercussions. However, the inmates at the juvenile prison Hwajin sends him to wastes no time showing him the brutal reality that awaits him, age be damned.
- Oh, Crap!:
- He tries to intimidate his older cellmates, believing juvie is no big deal, until he realizes they’re no joke and won’t hesitate to break him.
- Naturally, he freaks out while in the showers as he notices an inmate winking at him. Fortunately for him, no harm comes out of this. Doesn’t save him from continually getting beaten up by his older cellmates.
- Didn't Think This Through: He takes advantage of the laws not prosecuting minors under 14. It never crosses his mind that the law won’t shield him forever since, ya know, he’ll wake up one day and be old enough to land in an actual prison befitting his crimes. Hwajin points this out by forcing him to attend juvie as a means to show him what his future will look like if he continues being a gangster. One year later, he refuses to change his ways and lands in the same juvie Hwajin forced him into.
- Scare 'Em Straight: Hwajin forces him, along with his buddies, to attend a much more harsher juvie as a means to scare them out of the gangster lifestyle. By the end of season 1, he’s learned nothing of this and lands in the same juvie AND with the same cell mates that bullied him from his last encounter.
- Teens Are Monsters: He’s a nasty bully, doesn’t hesitate to commit robbery and tries to kill Hwajin at one point. But he doesn’t believe he will ever get taken accountable for his crimes due to the laws that forbids minors under 14 can get arrested with serious jail time.
Gyucheol Cho
An inmate at the juvie that Hwajin visits with a group of delinquents in order to Scare 'Em Straight, he’s also the student that’s responsible for Gayoon's death.
- Axe-Crazy: He’s charged with a lot of hefty crimes and he’s quite proud of it. Flashbacks reveal that he once went into an office holding of a group of dangerous gangsters… and he mopped the floor with their own blood. This whole event is what kickstarted his own gang. There’s also his evil joy in relishing at murdering Gayoon, his homeroom teacher, just cause she tried to stop him from ditching class. Even after all that, he’s still not satisfied at stopping just there and wants to target her fiancé.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He killed Gayoon because she tried to stop him from ditching school, all because it was a hot day and the air conditioner would not turn on before June.
- Never My Fault: Rather than take responsibility for his murderer of Gayoon, he blames her, a teacher, for trying to stop him, a student, from leaving school and relishes in his sick joy for killing her. He even goes as far as to pin the blame on his school for driving him to kill because it was a hot day and the staff refused to turn on the air conditioner.
- Playing the Victim Card: His half-ass excuse over why he refuses to even acknowledge any guilt in his crimes is firmly believing that he’s a victim and the only victim out of this whole ordeal.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Amongst his many crimes that’s he’s in for, he’s charged with gang rape.
- Slasher Smile: He’s constantly sporting a nasty smile. Especially when he relishes in his pride in beating Gayoon to death.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: He does not think highly of his teacher, Gayoon, who he killed, and repeatedly calls her a “bitch” to Hwajin’s face as he’s posing as a counselor. He’s also the leader of a powerful illegal gambling circle, the G.Y gang, and reaches new levels of depravity by using Gayoon as a mascot. A lot of the members uses her initials as the sigil for their tattoos, but he goes as far as to have a large tattoo of Gayoon herself on his back.
- The Sociopath: Lack of remorse? Check. Takes great pleasure in his crimes? Check. Refuses to take responsibility and blame others? Big check. Has a great sense of pride in beating Gayoon to death while sporting a demotic smile? HUGE CHECK!
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Zig Zagged. Even though he’s already killed Gayoon, it’s revealed that for whatever reason, he’s targeting her fiancé as well. He’s surprised that Jung-Hyuk eventually found out the identity of Gayoon’s fiancé… who turns out to none other be Hwajin Na.
- Villain Has a Point: While his murder of Gayoon is inexcusable, he’s not entirely wrong over criticizing the school’s decision to not allow air conditioning to operate before June. Anyone can easily succumb to heat strokes, so he’s right to prefer to leave school than stay in an enclosed environment in the middle of summer with no cool air.
- Walking Spoiler: Hard to talk much about him without revealing “what” he’s really in for.
- What Are You in For?: Asked this when interviewed by Hwajin as he’s posing as a counselor. He’s charged with assault, robbery, gang rape, involvement with illegal gangs, and he’s Gayoon killer.
- Wham Line: “Do you Remember Gayoon Choi? HAHAHA! Oh right, there was that bitch too. I BEAT HER TO DEATH. ”
- Would Hit a Girl: He didn’t hesitate with murdering his homeroom teacher, Gayoon, just because she tried to stop him from ditching school.
- Would You Like to Hear How They Died?:
- He joyfully brags to Hwajin about his murder of Gayoon, recalling the sound of her smashing bones, and going so far as to call the body punch he killed her with as "the best punch in his life" while smiling like a lunatic. Downplayed, since he’s completely unaware of Hwajin's relation to Gayoon and just believes him to be a regular counselor.
- Until chapter 111 when he discovers that Hwajin was her fiancé, who he has been trying to track down, and laughs hysterically over the realization.
- Younger Than They Look: He’s only 20 years old, yet vaguely looks like’s he’s in his late 30’s to mid 40’s.
Basketball Arc
Eunha Park
A talented basketball player who becomes the Kang sisters' main victim when she tries to rebel against them.
- The Ace: She’s quite skilled at basketball. A talent that results in her getting bullied by her jealous teammates.
- Broken Pedestal: She discovered her passion for basketball after watching Sooyeon play and was initially overjoyed to be in the same team as her. Needless to say she doesn't feel that way anymore after getting a taste of the real Sooyeon.
- The Dog Bites Back: She judo throws Sooyeon onto the floor hard, stomps on her arm, threatens to break it and gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Thanks to Hanrim’s help, she gets back at the Kang sisters and scouts are now looking to recruit her.
Sooyeon Kang
The star and captain of her school's girls' basketball team. Also a relentless bully and tyrant.
- Driven by Envy: She’s so jealous of Eunha’s basketball skills that she cruelly bullies her and almost breaks her arm when she refuses to give up on the sport.
- Knight Templar Big Sister: What immediately gets Eunha on her shit-list is manhandling her little sister Jayeon. Subverted later on when their bullying scandal breaks the news and threatens Jayeon to claim sole responsibility. She doesn’t even hesitate to violently pull her younger sister’s hair to get her to comply.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After tormenting Eunha relentlessly to get her to give up on her basketball career (and to prevent her from stealing Sooyeon's spotlight), in the end, her own reputation as a basketball player is down the drain once her awful bullying is exposed and she lost her place in the national's team.
- Statuesque Stunner: A tall, very attractive basketball player.
Jayeon Kang
Sooyeon's little sister, who plays on the girls' basketball team with her.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Threatens Eunha with a knife because she refused to go out and buy her ice cream. When Eunha fights back and gains the upper hand, she leads all the other teammates to bully her to the point of almost driving Eunha to hang herself.
- Mood-Swinger: She can go from happily asking for ice cream to frothing at the mouth and threatening someone with a switch blade in under a second.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: She gets out of the usual first-years hazing thanks to Sooyeon and when Eunha fights back against her, she immediately runs to her sister to ruin her chances on the team. It's also heavily implied that she actually sucks at basketball, having very little stamina, and is only still on the team due to Sooyeon carrying her in matches.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When Hanrim exposes her bullying, her sister throws her under the bus.
Shilla Byul Elementary School Arc
Ms. Sanghee
Yang Sanghee
A teacher at Shilla Byul Elementary School Arc, who teaches very one-sided lessons about discrimination and gender equality.- Anti-Villain: There is no denying that she went way too far with it, but she truly wanted to create a world free of discrimination and she is willing to admit she was wrong in the end. Which is more than can be said for the last teacher-antagonist.
- Does Not Like Men: Heavily implied. Her lessons on gender discrimination focus solely on discrimination towards women done by men, when an enraged father barges into her class she cruelly mocks him and one of her "teaching methods" has a bunch of young boys apologize to a group of girls for being "discriminators". Though she also has no trouble using similar methods against the girls in her class if they disagree with her.
- Easily Forgiven: Downplayed. When she resigns, her students write her a letter in which they express sadness that she's leaving and encourage her to come back after a break, despite everything she put them through. Except for Chansu, who writes in that he's glad she's leaving.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears quadrangular glasses and encourages the bullying of students who disagree with her or her methods.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being shown that her teaching methods were wrong and messed up, she at first tries to share her newly gained insight with the online organization she works for. When they just boot her from the group, she uses her knowledge to out them and resign from her teaching job, as a way to atone for what she's done.
- Hypocrite: Constantly preaches against discrimination, but has no interest in listening to both female and male students who disagree with her and puts them through humiliating punishments if they go against her too much, while favoring those students who just parrot everything she says.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- While she mostly said it to distract from herself, Ms. Sanghee isn't entirely wrong when she points out that Somi's dad going through her diary is a serious invasion of privacy.
- She's also not entirely wrong when she points out that, despite men often having a physical advantage over women, women are still very much capable of doing the same jobs as men regardless.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- She honestly thought she was fighting against discrimination with her methods. But seeing that, if anything, she has been encouraging it, shocks her to her core, to the point she resigns from her post.
- She looks sincerely remorseful when Somi reveals that her parents really did get a divorce, after Ms. Sanghee had previously assumed just that to mock Mr. Shin.
- Oh, Crap!:
- She freezes when Hwajin and Hanrim introduce themselves as wardens from the TRPA.
- When she realizes her continued provoking of conflict has now truly divided her class, she looks honestly horrified.
- Straw Feminist: She's a bespectacled middle-aged woman who Does Not Like Men, thinks everyone who disagrees with her is a discriminator and dogmatically advocates against beauty standards and stereotypes in a very black and white manner.
- Would Hurt a Child: Not personally, but she won't do anything if a student she doesn't like gets verbally or physically bullied and even covers for the perpetrators.
Somi Shin
- All-Loving Hero: Despite everything Ms. Sanghee did to her, Somi writes in the classes' goodbye letter to her teacher that she's ultimately grateful, as what happened gave her a chance to think critically about discrimination.
- Broken Bird: Is this at the start of the arc, due to the constant bullying done to her by her classmates and her teacher.
- Daddy's Girl: Seems very close with her father, as he burst into her classroom upon seeing her humiliated by her teacher and she in turn looked heartbroken when Ms. Sanghee started mocking him about being a single dad.
Child Abuse Arc
Go Dong-Cheol
- Abusive Parents: He regularly beats his son.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Had a son as a teenager, thus had to watch his peers enjoy the rest of their youth and freedom while he was forced to grow up in an instant and be a parent. But as Hwajin points out, that doesn’t give him a free pass to take out his frustrations on his little boy.
- Heel–Face Turn: Thanks to Hwajin, he has realized the error of his ways and is working his way to becoming a better parent.
- Insane Troll Logic: He justifies his cruel treatment of his son this manner, and Hwajin is NOT pleased one bit. Seo-Yeon is also just as abusive to Mien-so, but to the point of trying to outright kill him. So if he forces her to back off by doing the majority of the abuse himself, then Seo-Yeon won’t kill Mien-so. Except it still didn’t stop her from continuing her abuse.
Go Mien-so
- Break the Cutie: As if the shit his father gives him isn’t bad enough his mother is just as bad, if not worse.
- Children Are Innocent: Despite everything his father and mother put him through, he still loves them and hoped everything will work out.
Seo-Yeon
- Abusive Parents: And even worse than Dong-Cheol. She regularly waterboards her son for little to no reason. And unlike, Dong-Cheol, she doesn’t restrain herself in her abuse, coming very dangerously close to actually killing her son, all while feeling no remorse whatsoever for her actions.
- Freudian Excuse: She had an abusive father who threw her out when she got pregnant.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While yes, her being abused by her father is tragic, it is not an acceptable reason for her to waterboard her son on the regular for annoying her and not behaving as she wants. Even worse, she has no restraint on her actions, so every time she drowns her son, she comes very dangerously close to killing him.
- Walking Spoiler: The reveal that she's even more abusive than Dong-Cheo serves as a major twist in their arc.
Gyeonggi-Do School Arc
Hong Seong-Hak
A local bully that is able get away with it due to faking atonement to his school's higher ups.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts as though he’s remorseful for bullying Sang-wook after writing him an apology, but he continues to target him to the point of driving the poor kid to nearly kill himself.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After he gets transferred, the news of his run-in with TRPA comes to public light, marking him forever as a terrible bully.
- Never My Fault: He blames his favorite punching bag for getting the TRPA on his back, which would have never happened if he had stopped bullying him in the first place.
Lee Sang-Wook
- Broken Tears: He cries twice like this: once when he learns the TRPA are taking his case, and again when he learns Seong-Hak's being transferred.
- Bungled Suicide: Tried to kill himself so he wouldn't have to endure Seong-Hak's bullying again, but he cut his wrists the wrong way.
Lee Junbin
A youth human rights attorney working the retrial of Sang-Wook's case.
- 10-Minute Retirement: He resigns as a TRPA trainee as he’s decided the group is not worth keeping around and still holds his belief against Corporal Punishment. Yet he does come back later for Yojung’s apology to Euhnjin, only to witness her go back on her word and continue to be a Manipulative Bitch. And this becomes his final straw to fully embrace the TRPA’s acceptance of Corporal Punishment by choking Yojung while reciting legal articles that make it okay for the TRPA to get away with Corporal Punishment.
- Amoral Attorney:
- It’s one thing to believe Seong-Hak is in the right, but to degrade Seong-Wook after everything he’s been put through is too far, even after the poor kid showed him his slit wrists! When he’s shown overwhelming evidence that Seong-Hak never intended to follow through on his word, he still continues to deny the severity of the situation, to the point of driving Sang-Wook to nearly kill himself. But to Junbin, it’s only fair punishment that Seong-Hak only give a written apology, since he’s still a minor, and nothing will convince him otherwise. Human rights lawyer here, people!
- He’s not above creating a fake photo supporting Euhjin’s claims of Yojung’s torments as well as threatening one of Yojung’s underlings into admitting she took the fall for her boss. In all fairness, Yojung is a horrible bully, but thanks to her pop idol status, she’s seen as miss perfect and her many fans are willing to believe anything she says against her victims. But once he quits as a TRPA trainee, he shames Hwajin over everything the group stands for. Hwajin calls him out on this, since he was okay with using the TRPA’s legal loopholes as a means to fabricate evidence despite his job as a humans rights lawyer. Hwajin even asks Junbin point blank if all his past actions were actually meant to expose the TRPA or to go against everything he stands for unless it’s convenient.
- Beauty Is Bad: He may be handsome, but he’s an extremely loathsome asshole. Tones down in season 2.
- The Bus Came Back: Returns for the opening arc of Season 2, joining the TRPA to see if their methods are really necessary to keep order in schools.
- Establishing Character Moment: In his debut chapter, he rejects Hanrim’s handshake by slapping her hand away when she tries to greet him and lets it be known how much he loathes the TRPA.
- Hate Sink: He’s an Amoral Attorney who wants to get the TRPA out of the picture while preferring to take the bullies' side and shame their victims. He starts to tone it down in season 2 once he becomes a TRPA trainee and finally sees things from a bully victim’s viewpoint.
- Heel Realization: He goes through this during his time as a TRPA trainee. At first he shames Euhjin over her lack of evidence and reveals Yojung’s plans to counter-sue for slander. This breaks Euhjin even further and causes her to run away. Junbin tries to stop her, only to witness Euhjin nearly jumping in front of a moving truck, then getting saved by Yojung herself, just so Yojung can look good in front of her fans and torment her punching bag some more. He calls out Yojung for following Euhjin when she denied bullying her, but Yojung taunts him to figure it out himself, if he can. He starts to rethink his harsh stance against school violence while realizing how unfair he’s acted towards bully victims. It's implied the situation reminds him of Lee Sang-Wook.
- Hypocrite:
- He accuses the TRPA of following a simplified black-and-white world view that sees juveniles as either bullies or victims with no nuance whatsoever. This from the guy who believes every bully the TRPA dealt with is merely a poor victim of society while the TRPA are thugs who just enjoy beating on kids and refuses to acknowledge any and all evidence to the contrary as well as any shades of grey present.
- For all his devotion to his job as a human rights lawyer and hatred against Corporal Punishment and TRPA, he still joins as a TRPA trainee and dishes out Corporal Punishment against the bullies he usually defends. Hwajin calls him out on his so called hatred against Corporal Punishment since he benefited a lot from it while using legal articles to back him up, despite his desire to end the TRPA.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: Pulls out this trope a lot of times during the review. While he's right that Corporal Punishment is barbaric and no one can fault him for trying to fight for human rights, he fails to see the nuances of the whole TRPA situation. And the one he chooses to defend is Seong-Hak, a bully who is himself guilty of several human rights violations.
- Kick the Dog: As shown above, he has no issue with putting down Sang-Wook in favor of Seong-Hak, because he sees the latter as the only victim.
- Rage Breaking Point: Puts Yojung in a choke hold after he realizes that violence is necessary with her.
- Would Hit a Girl: When he finally accepts that Min Yojung is Beyond Redemtion, he slams her against the wall and puts her in a choke hold.
- You Are What You Hate: He joins the TRPA to see if they deserve to stick around, even though he hates the group’s stance on Corporal Punishment. By the end of the arc, he dishes out the very Corporal Punishment he loathes upon an Alpha Bitch because he couldn’t stand her Lack Of Remorse and finally accepts her as Beyond Redemption, even justifying his wrath by quoting the TRPA’s legal articles. He resigns as the TRPA’s trainee while still holding his views against Corporal Punishment and desires to end the group. Hwajin calls him out on this and asks him if he truly means it since he benefited a lot from the TRPA’s legal loopholes and also partook in Corporal Punishment. Junbin is at a loss for words.
Runaway Arc
Oh Yoon-Jung
A girl who ran away from her abusive father.
- Broken Bird: Her sister is incarcerated, she ran away from home to escape her abusive father, and is usually exploited by adults around her. By the end of the arc, her life turns out for the better.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Once her father tracks her down and tries to force her to come back home, she refuses and calls him out on his abusive behavior while lying over his wrongdoings.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of the arc, she's finally free of her father and allowed to attend school again.
- Missing Mom: Her mother is left unaccounted for.
Yeo Hyang-Mi
A so called helper that takes in runaway kids only to abuse them.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She may abuse the kids, but she hates the parents who drove them to be runaways in the first place even more.
- Gonk: A LOT of the readers easily mistaken her for a man because of her ugly appearance.
- Oh, Crap!: Has a massive one when she realizes she's stuck in prison with Han Yeri AND the sister of one of the girls she abused.
- Would Hurt a Child: She has no qualms with forcing runaway teens into prostitution and abusing them into complying.
- Villain Has a Point: As much as she pimps out kids, she hates how the parents have no remorse of their actions and threw a "Reason You Suck" Speech at them.
Island Village Arc
Suncheol “Whale” Kim
A village local also looking for missing teacher Ms. Suhoon.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being treated like an attack dog by Mr. Gu and severely beaten on a regular basis, he finally reaches his breaking point after Mr. Na reveals to him that his beloved father died years ago, and Mr. Gu lied to him about sending the money Suncheol earned to the mainland, so said father could afford medical treatment. He retaliates HARD with a vicious beat down.
- I Choose to Stay: Decides to stay on the island to help reform the people there.
- Love Redeems: The reason he turned on Mr. Gu? He had fallen for Ms. Suhoon. Along with Mr. Gu lying about covering his father’s hospital bills only for it to be revealed that said father had died a year after his son’s disappearance.
Ms. Suhoon
Mr. Gu
The head of the island village.
- Dirty Old Man: He is a Jerkass who sexually harasses women. And he intended to rape Miss Suhoon if Whale didn't help her.
- Entitled Bastard:
- He thinks just because he’s the village leader, he can treat everyone like his slaves and abuse the women for his own perverted means. Let’s not get started on his treatment of Suncheol, while manipulating him by claiming to be covering his father’s hospital bills.
- Even after the truth is revealed that his father has been dead for years, (no thanks to Mr. Gu’s lies) he still thinks he’s entitled to Suncheol’s loyalty and demands he protect him from the TRPA. This only earns him a well deserved beating from Suncheol himself.
- Hate Sink: He is a cruel Entitled Bastard who has no redeeming features, has been committing crimes for years, harassing women, trying to rape Ms. Suhoon, and trying to kill her when she tries to expose him. Not to mention the torment it inflicts on Whale.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He’s beaten brutally by Whale, one of the villagers he manipulated and physically tortured.
Hyujing Elementary School Arc
Mrs. Lee
The Mother of Lee Woo-Jin who's harassing a teacher.
- Abusive Parents: Threatens to beat her own son when he refuses to act out in class and goad his teacher into getting physically abusive, thus get her fired.
- Heel Realization: Finally realizes her bad behavior after her son disowns her because of her extremely rude and entitled behavior that made him the target of humiliation in school.
- Hypocrite: She has the nerve to call Hanrim a bitch and belittle her for being younger than she is, so she needs to learn some manners and not talk back to her since she’s older while complaining over how people in their 20’s are incredibly rude to their elders. This coming from the same woman who harasses her son’s teacher for long hours of the night because she didn’t side with her son over a petty fight with his classmate. To the point of reporting her to TRPA hoping this will get her fired while playing innocent (and exaggerating details of what’s “really” going on) to an online mothers support group. Yet she snaps when Hanrim calls her out on her behavior and demands respect when she won’t respect anyone that refuses to side with her.
- It's All About Me: She’s believes that as a parent, she deserves respect and the whole world should revolve around her. For that everyone should side with her, so it gives her the right to treat anyone, especially teachers, like her own servants and bully everyone that gets on her bad side.
- Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Her behavior definitely fits this to a T. From bullying teachers to treating cafe employees like shit because she wanted a refill for a drink she ordered that wasn’t allowed because of the brand. To the point of expecting that everyone take her side, and her side only if something doesn’t go her way. And she expects Hanrim to not leave because she didn’t give her permission but boy does she regrets this. It's even mentioned that she has done this in her last town. Hanrim sets the record straight with her on their first meeting.
Lee Woo-Jin
A student in Ji-sun's Class.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Snaps at his mother for her behavior, stating she's embarrassing and all she's doing is getting him bullied.
- Sins of Our Fathers: He was bullied by other children because his mother harassed teachers into quitting.
Choi Ji-sun
- Butt-Monkey: One of her student’s mother refuses to let her life a peaceful life just because of her kid’s petty fight with a classmate, and would have succeeded if not for the TRPA’s interference.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite being harassed, she begs the TRPA not to take away Woo-Jin's mother since it would tear his family apart.
Gambling App Arc
Jung-Hyuk Lee
- Ax-Crazy: Well, let’s see…
- Oversees waterboarding on gamblers indebted to G.Y gang who didn’t pay them back.
- Takes a pen and carves into Gwonhyeok’s hand G.Y’s symbols..
- He’s extremely sadistic when it comes to street fights.
- Constantly wears a Slasher Smile.
- The Dragon: What his real position is to the G.Y gang. While everyone else in the circle answers to him, he in turns answers to Gyucheol Cho since he’s incarcerated. Then he gets put in juvie with his boss and reveals he has fulfilled his task of finding who’s the fiancé of Gayoon. And it’s Hwajin himself.
- Oh, Crap!: At first he’s surprised that Hwajin knows the real meaning of what G.Y initials stands for (it’s Gayoon) because only few members in the gang know this. He gets prideful of his tattoos and taunts Hwajin; his response is to beat him into a HUGE bloody mess, and into making him see his life flash before him. Another major driving force for Hwajin’s rage is remembering Gyucheol bragging to his face of how much fun he had killing his fiancée back when he visited a juvie and secretly posed as a counselor. Jung-Hyuk is of course extremely terrified that he’s about to die at that very moment, but passes out.
- My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: As Hwajin is beating him up BADLY, Jung-Hyuk looks back at his time in school playing baseball, lamenting his corrupted principal, and joy in beating up his coach with a bat for not being able to advance because his parents didn’t pay for bribes. And freaks out in the present because doesn’t want to die, but Gwonhyeok manages to save him from Hwajin’s wrath.
- We Can Rule Together: He tries to recruit Gwonhyeok into the G.Y gang twice; both times he refused and in his final offer, responded by flipping the bird.
Cult Arc
Lee Junhee
- Calling the Old Man Out: Stands up to her parents and calls them dirty cowards. Her dad tries to attack her, but she punches him instead.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: At the arc's end, she and the other kids in the cult are back in school.
- I Have Your Wife: As much as she wants to confess to Hanrim about her situation, she's worried about her little brother who is also in the cult.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a nasty one to the adults in the cult after attacking Pastor Kim because they refused to accept his decision to end the cult, saying they're nothing but cowards who don't believe in religion and would rather run away from their problems.
Pastor Kim
The leader of the cult.
- A God Am I: What else do you expect from a cult leader?
- Greed: While his followers sold everything they owned to become part of his congregation, Kim himself basked in the Earthly wealth, showing that he's nothing more than a con-artist.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After getting his ass kicked by Hwajin and Hanrim, they threaten him into shutting down his cult. Then his followers beat him up when they refuse to accept his decision to put an end to the cult. He’s finally arrested and after being put on trial, lands in prison.
Idol Arc
Min Yojung
- Alpha Bitch: She’s extremely popular, both in school and out since she’s a rising pop idol, and a cruel bully who acts super sweet once she’s in the public view.
- Beauty Is Bad: She’s popular due to her beauty, which certainly helps in her rising stardom. And she’s one remorseless bitch towards anyone that gets on her bad side.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Behind that idol smile is a sadistic woman.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason she saved Euhjin from her attempted suicide is to make herself look good in front of onlookers and torment her punching bag even further with the knowledge that it was her own bully that saved her and will continue to suffer under her thumb.
- Crazy-Prepared: She stole Euhjin’s phone while swapping with hers so she can cyperbully her for long hours of the night, but couldn’t she done it without the stealing? Nope, because when Euhjin wanted payback and tried to screenshot the cyperbullying evidence, the new phone would block it.
- Crocodile Tears: Pulls this trick out A LOT, especially whenever she tries to make “amends” towards her so called friends, i.e, punching bags.
- Cyberbullying: Her specialty, but she goes above and beyond just in case her victims ever planned to expose her by stealing their phones and swapping it with another phone that cannot allow screenshots.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Once Lee Junbin hits the final nail in her coffin over all her bullying, along with bringing in more victims willing to come forward and expose her, she does on an inner monologue over her beliefs that she did nothing wrong. She even goes on to believe that it’s completely normal with how she treated her victims. Why? She firmly thinks that practically everyone has been a bully at some point of their life. By the end of the arc, she continues to swear up and down that she’s done nothing wrong, even after she’s been arrested and public scrutiny builds up against her!
- For the Evulz: She loves every second of the ruthless torment she puts on anyone within her path. To her, it’s nothing more than a stress reliever over her agency’s criticism.
- Kick the Dog: She’s a ruthless bully while making it look like she’s friends with her victims during school, only to torture them once out of the public view.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Once she’s confronted by Hwajin and Junbin over her company dropping her, she lets out a Villainous Breakdown until they bring up that she still has to apologize to Euhjin and face her crimes. She admits she’ll do just that but not without pulling a Slasher Smile. But once she meets up with Euhjin, she goes back on her word and states she’ll clear all of the “misunderstanding” of their “friendship” and asks if she’s ever done anything wrong. But Hanrim is quick to notice that she has a recording pen and correctly deduces that she’s using it to make it look like Euhjin is the bad guy.
- Laser-Guided Karma: By the end of the arc, her company drops her, TRPA collects enough evidence of her bullying, and more victims come forward. She’s arrested while the majority of the public turn on her.
- My God, You Are Serious!: Once Junbin slams her to the wall while reciting legal articles making it okay for the TRPA to get away with Corporal Punishment and murder, she thinks he wouldn’t have the balls to outright kill her. She practically scares herself shitless once seeing Junbpin’s horrifying facial expression, combined with Red Eyes, Take Warning. This causes her to Faint in Shock.
- Never My Fault: She refuses to take responsibility for all of her cruel misdeeds. Instead, she’ll vocally proclaim that she’s done no wrong while blaming everyone else for her rightfully earned karma.
- Self-Serving Memory: In her final meeting, she implores Euhjin over what “misunderstanding” she may have caused to her “dear friend” by pointing out all the good times they had together, like the fun they had at karaoke, doing her diy makeup, and texted through the night. This horrifies Euhjin even more since she’s been beaten to a pulp while at karaoke, said makeup diy was her bully gleefully licking off the tears of her blood-soaked face, and could hardly sleep because of she cyberbullied her for long hours of the night.
- Teens Are Monsters: She’s a pop idol beloved by the general public, and a cruel bully behind closed doors.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Her popular image is what allows her to get away with her actions. When Euhjin tried to post an online article about her true colors, she only gets backlash and even more bullied since she has no evidence, until TRPA comes into the picture.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Whenever Euhjin tries to expose her, she turns it around and makes it look like she’s the victim of her jealous friend bullying her.
Euhjin Kim
- All of the Other Reindeer: Yojung hated her because she witness her bullying, then Yojung enrolled into her school and they became classmates. During school Yojung would act like she’s a kind friend but would torture her behind closed doors. When she had enough, she exposed the bullying online. At first she had some support, only for the general public to turn on her when Yojung made it look like she’s innocent while her “jealous friend” slandered her without proof.
- Driven to Suicide: Tried to jump in front of a truck after the bullying gets worse, but to her horror, she’s saved by Yojung. Her tormenter made it perfectly clear she’s only saved just so the fans will relish in her popularity, as well as the knowledge that it was her own bully that saved her just so she’ll continue to suffer.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She stops Junpin from strangling Yojung to death, but only so that she’ll call him out for thinking she would accept Yojung’s fake abology, and points out any bully victim like herself would never wholeheartedly accepted apologies from their aggressors. She all but states she only wants her revenge, not any apologies based on empty promises.
New Blood Arc
Chiho Lee
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Sera's punishment for him is to be transferred to her old school, where she orders the students to beat him until he never dreams of being a thug again.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: What doesn’t piss him off? Don’t give him money for his gambling app? Trying to push him back in line or defend a new transfer classmate? All of the above will just earn you a bloody beat down.
- Held Back in School: At 18, he would have already be in his final year in high school, but because he recently finished his time in juvie, he’s held back by a year.
- I Was Beaten by a Girl: Harim watches how he terrorizes his classmates through a laptop, and it doesn’t take long for him to target Sera. By the time Hanrim arrives to the class, Sera has beating him so badly, he’s coughing up blood.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: He may be tough at his old school, but at Gangsan High, the worst school in the country? He's small fry.
- Older Than They Look: 18 years old and held back by only a year because of his constant trips to juvie, yet he looks like he’s aged to his 30’s.
- Power Fist: His favorite weapon of choice are brass knuckles.
- Psychopathic Manchild: He’s pleased to find out a doctor diagnosed him as a psychopath since to him, it helped him understand why he couldn’t feel remorseful of all the horrible things he did.
- Teens Are Monsters:
- Throughout his junior high years, he constantly landed in juvie for a short period of time for the following crimes-
- Stole a car and severely injuring a passenger, resulting in a four month hospitalization.
- Assaulted a student a year above him with a bike chain, just because the guy was trying to discipline him.
- He got drunk and committed a series of robberies with his friends; extorting 8 million won from his victims.
- Then come to the present day in high school and he still hasn’t changed his lifestyle.
- He becomes a strong member of local gangbangers exploiting runaway teenagers. He’s sent to juvie for 2 year because of this. Once back, goes back to school just so he can terrorize everyone within his path and forces all of his classmates to text him money for his gambling app. Those that don’t pay up get beaten up while he wears brass knuckles. That or if you swear off at him, trying to calm him down, or for nothing at all. He’d just beat you bloody regardless of reasons.
- Throughout his junior high years, he constantly landed in juvie for a short period of time for the following crimes-
- Would Hit a Girl:
- He has zero qualms on literally beating girls into a hospital.
- Once Sera mouths off to him, Seun tries to to defend her as he ferociously approaches them, and lands a heavy blow to the latter’s stomach. Once Sera dives in to attack him, he pulls out the brass knuckles and punches her in the jaw. Sera pays him back for this.
Foreigner Arc
Lee Mukhyun
An Ethopian-Korean raised teenager torturing Koreans, he's the first assignment of Daniel.
- Boomerang Bigot: He hates Koreans while he himself is half Korean.
- Fiery Redhead: He is of East African descent and has short red hair styled in a bowl cut.
- Foil: To Daniel. Both are mixed-race Koreans, except Daniel is white/Korean while Mukhyun is black/Korean.
- Jerkass: Towards his classmates and Daniel, who he calls a racial slur upon their first meeting.Mukhyun: Mr. Hyun, you have green eyes. Are you half, too?Daniel: Yes. My mother is Korean and my father is American.Mukhyun: Have you ever heard anyone call you a yellow m*nkey?
- Moral Myopia: He’s a racist Jerkass who targets Koreans, even though he’s half Korean on his father’s side. He constantly uses racial slurs against everyone, but once Daniel calls him by a racial slur, he’s horrified and offended.
- Retcon: Due to the heavy controversy surrounding his story, his arc is completely written out, and his first appearance at the end of chapter 124 is completely cut out, leaving his ultimate fate ambiguous.
Mock Exam Arc
Jeong Hyumin
- Bungled Suicide: Combining the drug's effects and the stress from his mother's abuse, Jeong had slammed his head on the desk to kill himself. Thankfully, Hwajin prevented that from happening.
- Drugs Are Bad: No thanks to his mother sneaking him illegal medications to supposedly help him stay more focused on his studies. They did not.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He’s strongly driven to please his mother by fulfilling her dream to make it to medical school.
Ms. Jeong
Hyumin's mother who is trying to make him become a doctor. To that end, she’s order her son to take unprescribed medications to help him stay more focused, to dire consequences. It’s gonna take some serious dedication from the TRPA to save her son before it’s too late.
- Abusive Parents: Where do we even start…
- She’s such an extreme tiger mom, to the point of getting her son, Hyunmin, hooked on over the counter medicine. Hyunmin eventually got addicted, and she refuses to see anything wrong while not caring of the side effects.
- Once called to his school due to collapsing from the drug’s side effects and extreme fatigue, she refuses to take Hyunmin to a hospital, screams at him for ditching the last mock exam and tries to forcibly drags him out of the nurse’s office to finish his class. It’s a good thing Hwajin and Hanrim stop her and have paramedics take Hyunmin to the hospital.
- She secretly gets Hyunmin out of the hospital and back home to give him to drugs again and makes him study more. Once Hwajin breaks in, they discover Hyunmin having another relapse and doing a very bloody Head Desk. It seems like she’s finally showing concern for her son’s wellbeing… not! She continues to berate for choosing not to study and that they should both die together! Hwajin refuses to let this slide, so he hands Hyunmin over to Hanrim. He asks this piece of shit mother if college entrance exams are more important than her son’s life, and she doesn’t hesitate to believe that the former is more important.
- When Hwajin has a his own mock exam for Hyunmin, he points out that the drugs are not the solution to help since he still failed the exam. She proceeds to hit more onto Hyunmin while chewing him out for wasting away her money on the drugs. This is the final straw for Hwajin, who proceeds to make her go through the same education she’s forced on her son.
- Even when she has a mental breakdown, almost stabs Hwajin, and sees a video of her son’s withdrawal breakdown, she still continues to believe she’s done no wrong and nothing is bad with planning out his future with the same education she’s forced on her kid. It takes one more "Reason You Suck" Speech from Hwajin to finally hit her thick skin in order to force her to accept her breakdown from her cruel parenting is no different from what her son suffered through.
- Didn't Think This Through: She believed in an online’s mother’s support group that taking ADHD medicine not prescribed by her or her child’s doctor would help her child do better in school. It doesn’t even cross her mind that her son could drop dead at any moment due to the drug’s reputation of being very dangerous when used repeatedly. Once her son’s drug addiction comes to light, TRPA and doctors reprimand her due to the medications being banned in South Korea due to its severe side effect.
- Blatant Lies: Her son’s doctors reprimand her for making her son addicted to unprescribed drugs and order her stop forcing the drugs down her kid’s throat. It doesn’t take long for her to secretly take her son out and give him back the drugs, “claiming” the doctor said something along the lines of taking only a little.
- Education Mama:
- Very much so. She’s gotten so fixated on her son’s education that she’s forced him to repeatedly use drugs to help him stay more focus.
- She’s enforced into Hyunmin that he must grow up either as a webtoon artist or programmer when he was an elementary or middle schooler. Until she’s settled on forcing him to go to medical school. She’s has no problem with beating it into him, to the point of forcing him, who has just awoken from a drug collapse, to go back to class to finish his last mock exam instead of taking him to a hospital.
- Hwajin has enough of her stance and asks her point blank if it’s her son’s dream or HER dream to get into medical school.
- Once her son is forced to be admitted into the hospital, she’s ordered to stop giving him the drugs, but it doesn’t stop her from giving him a huge pile of textbooks, just so that he’ll study even more for college admission. But he refuses to study unless she gives him more drugs, and she complies with his demand!
- Gonk: Compared to most people in this setting, she’s drawn so ugly, to the point of legitimately resembling an alien.
- My God, What Have I Done?: By the end of the arc, she’s acknowledged her parenting was truly horrific and feels ashamed of what could have happened if she’d continue to put education first before her son’s happiness.
- Skewed Priorities: She reprimands her son for not working on the last mock exam, right after he collapsed from his drug addiction. Rather than get him help, she refuses to take him to a hospital and tries to force him to finish his tests. Hanrim and Hwajin calls her out on this, pointing out that Hyunmin is in no condition to so much as study, but she tells them to mind their own business.
- Surprisingly Normal Backstory: Once we look into her backstory, it turns out what drove her to be an Education Mama is because growing up, she’s never stood out in grades or appearances, attended an average university, got an average job, and married at an appropriate age with a simple proposal. Because her life was so boring and uneventful, it drove her to make her son have a very successful life.
Mr. Na
- Abusive Parents: He almost injured his son, Hwajin, by throwing a full beer bottle right above his head, just because he wouldn’t make money for him. All the while berating his son for studying due to thinking it’s a waste of time, but mostly because he refuses to pay for Hwajin’s college admission.
- Alcoholic Dad: He’s a heavy drinker and not an ideal parent.
- Disappeared Dad: He’s not a part of present day Hwajin’s life, but it’s left uncertain if he’s still alive.
- Easily Forgiven: Hwajin doesn’t hold anything against him for being a terrible father, because they both lived in poverty and tried to cope with it in their own way.
- Food Slap: He throws a full beer bottle at his son because he dared to ignore his demands to make money so that he can sponge off the earnings.
- Freudian Excuse: Hwajin firmly believes this is the case, due to both of them being dirt poor and his father coping with it by drinking a lot of booze and taking out his frustrations of their terrible living situation onto him.
- Lack of Empathy: He’s content by Hwajin believing he has no hope at applying to any other university except for the military academy. All the while praising Hwajin for choosing to join the military academy instead of a regular college since it would’ve cost them big bucks. This was after cursing out Hwajin for daring to expect a free ride to college and reprimand his son for merely studying, only to back off once he finds out that the dorm and tuition to military academies are free.
- Lazy Bum: He expects Hwajin to be the breadwinner instead of him and feels entitled to mooch off his son’s paycheck.
- Parental Neglect: Refuses to get a job, tries to force Hwajin to make money and give the earnings to him, and couldn’t care less of his education.
Dowon Gyeongdang Arc
Suchan Lee
A student of the unregistered alternative school who meets Daniel on his first assignment.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acted like a nice kid towards Daniel, up until he’s caught torturing another kid does he drop the act.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: He used to be routinely bullied by the older kids, but because he had nowhere else to stay, he remained at the alternative school, eventually becoming the new head bully. Daniel reprimands him for becoming just as bad as his former bullies.
- Hypocrite: Daniel calls him out on bemoaning his past as a bullied victim, only to become a bully himself.
- Nightmare Face: His face contorts into a horrifying expression when he almost punish a boy for the mere crime of forgetting to brush his teeth.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: When the principal and his underlings were catching onto him and other girl trying to escape, he insisted that she go onto the side road and escape onto a passing car while he goes back to the alternative school because there’s nowhere else to live in.
- Wham Shot: When Daniel comes over and asks to see the principal, he keeps the door halfway open, but is holding onto a bloody baseball bat behind his back while a another heavily wounded boy is laying on the ground.
The Principal
He’s the principal of an unregistered alternative school in the middle of the mountains. He seems like an understanding caregiver, but he’s looking the other way of his pupils ruthlessly bullying on another. By all accounts, he’s enjoying the tortures inflicted on the children.
- Adults Are Useless: He refuses to help any of the kids getting tortured by the Gang of Bullies, even as he walks in on it. Daniel calls him out on it, but is bluntly told to drop it. Downplayed when it was revealed he encouraged that violence.
- I Am the Noun: He flat out tells Daniel once he voices his concerns after witnessing the bullying, “Here, I am both the law and the scripture.”
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: On the surface, he appears as a well-meaning principal wanting to help parents improve their kid’s behavior. To the kids, he looks like a Nice Guy who cares a lot for their safety. He quickly drops the mask to the kids whenever they’re being tortured by the bullies. He still fools the parents into thinking he’s a good guy while manipulating into making it seem like the kids are the problem.
- Nightmare Face: Drops a lot of demon-like expressions, often with a mixture of Red Eyes, Take Warning.
- Would Hurt a Child: When a Minhye came forward with all the vicious bullying she’s been going through and pleaded to go home, his immediate response is to beat the kid into unconsciousness and lock her up in a storeroom without food or water. The kicker? He’s the one that is encouraging the bullying.
Minhye Seo
A former student of the unregistered alternative school and a former friend of Suchan. She’s the one who reported all the abuse that’s going on to the TRPA in the hopes she could save her friend from the program.
- Break the Cutie: Poor kid is sent to a alternative school in the middle of the mountains under the assumption it’s a nice place to learn etiquette, only to spend every waking moment tortured by a Gang of Bullies. When she reveals what she’s been going through to the principal, he has her locked up without any food or water. Her only friend at the place was Suchan, who narrowly escapes with her, only to insist that she go on without him. Once she makes it make home and tells her parents of everything that happened at the alternative school, they considered her a liar. Three years later, she’s horrified to discover that the alternative school is still operating and Suchan is still living there. It’s at that moment she calls the TRPA of everything she went through and pleaded to have them shut it down and save Suchan.
- Cassandra Truth: When she escapes the alternative school and tells her parents of all the abuse she went through, they assume she only ran away because the experience was only “a little tough”. So her parents call the principal and apologize to him.
Other Characters
Gayoon Choi
The daughter of TRPA president Gangseok Choi. She was the teacher that was killed by a student which in turn drove her father to start TRPA in her honor. She has some sort of connection to Hwajin.
- Berserk Button: She’s a firm believer of the Heel–Face Turn, and she’ll give you a karate chop to the head if you think otherwise. She even hits Hwajin by surprise and chews him out when he tells her that a delinquent in her class can’t be reformed.
- The Faceless: So far only mentioned, the most we get to see her is in a flashback in chapter 35, yet it hardly even shows a glimpse at her face. But it’s implied she was a very beautiful young woman. The latter is confirmed when we finally get to see her real face in a flashback of chapter 100.
- Hot Teacher: She was an high school teacher, yet even before we could see her real face until chapter 100, it’s obvious that she was really beautiful. Enough for Hwajin to want to marry her. Unfortunately, it made her killer desire to turn her into a mascot for his own gang.
- Implied Love Interest: It’s been strongly hinted since chapter 7 that she and Hwajin were in a romantic relationship before her death. The season 1 finale finally clears it up. She was Hwajin’s fiancée.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: A flashback in chapter 35 shows her with long tannish-brown hair.
- The Lost Lenore: Both Hwajin and her father gravely miss her. It’s strongly implied that she and Hwajin might have been a couple, although this has yet to be confirmed. Chapter 111 makes it official; they were engaged.
- Missing Mom: Her mother hasn’t been brought up. So far only her father is known, but it’s not clarified if he’s divorced or widowed.
- Nice Girl: She was the type of person who believed that anyone can have a Heel–Face Turn and saw the good in everyone. Even after she gave her own fiancé, Hwajin, a karate chop to the head and chewed him out when he disagreed, she gave him a heartfelt pep talk on her beliefs. Even Hwajin was in awe of her words.
- Shared Family Quirks: Gayoon and her father definitely have a habit of hitting Hwajin whenever he triggers their respective Berserk Button. Poor guy.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She died before the start of the story, but it drove her father into starting TRPA, with Hwajin at the forefront, so no one would have to suffer like they did.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: From what little we know of her, it seems she was a very dedicated teacher. Confirmed in flashbacks of chapter 98 and 100 during her meeting with Hwajin, as she talked about a intimidating delinquent in her class but wanted to help him turn out for the better. Not to mention her heart-felt speech on the good in people and helping anyone that is considered “beyond redemption”. All said dedication got her was a brutal death.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Hwajin criticizes her father when they visit her grave because he complained over how sweet and expensive the macarons they placed on her grave. Hwajin states they were her favorite, and points out as a father he should know such details.
- Tsundere: At one minute she’ll hit her fiancé and verbally lash out at him over triggering her Berserk Button. Yet in the next second she calms down and awes him with a pep talk on the good in everyone. Since her passing, any slight mention of her will trigger Hwajin into a VERY depressing mood.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: She was a Hot Teacher Nice Girl with gorgeous long hair, while her dad, Gangseok, is a frightening and intimidating old man with a temper you don’t want to cross.
