try to survive

Bows (ojigi)
Depth matters. These aren't "degrees for beauty," but a scale of status and seriousness.

Name Angle When
Eshaku (会釈) ~15° Everyday greetings ("hello," "thank you" at a store)
Keirei (敬礼) ~30° Formal situations: introduction, gratitude, addressing an elder
Saikeirei (最敬礼) ~45° and deeper Special respect, deep apology, formal ceremonies
Details: bowing from the waist (not just the neck), looking down (prolonged eye contact during a bow is pressure), hands at the sides (women often fold them in front of them). The younger person bows first and more deeply. There's also seiza (sitting in Japanese style) for very formal scenes.

Regarding the "exchange": if one person bows for three seconds, the other responds—and this can create a long "wave." It's easy to screw it up.

Apologies
Sumimasen is a universal key ("excuse me," "may I?"). For simple situations.
Moshiwake arimasen (meaning "I have no excuse") – for serious cases. Often with keirei.
Hajimi / hansei ("I realize my mistake," "I repent") + phrase ("Gomeiwaku o okake shite sumimasen — "I'm very sorry for causing you trouble"). Sometimes: "I want to make it right. Here..." (item/compensation).
A very serious apology = deep bow + pause + formula + action (not just words). Often several cycles ("sorry," pause, "sorry" again).

Extreme form: dogeza (土下座)
The person kneels, places their palms on the floor, and touches their forehead to the ground. This isn't a "very deep standing bow," but rather a grounded position. It's used for exceptional situations (extreme remorse, desperate prayer) and isn't used in everyday life. In pop culture, it's often seen as dramatic.

Who observes: neutrals (for the sake of survival), defenders (to collect evidence and not to frame a person).

Counterexample: bullies violate the rules on purpose ("let everyone see"). That's what it's all about.

3. Money and debts
   State the amount before transferring. "Unknown amount" = grounds for verification.
   Order: victim → pack → commander → king → overseer. Missing a link = theft.
   Debt is not written off verbally. It's only written off in the system (and only by an authorized person).
   Who observes: Taek (Hamwon Finance). Lesser clans (Sol and others) violate it and are imprisoned in the system.

4. Tags and affiliation
   Don't touch other people's tags. Ripping off a ribbon/badge = a challenge. There are "gray" options (defender tags, not clan tags): these can be "read" but cannot be claimed.
   The rule of three. A maximum of three types at a time (clan + couple + protector). Two clans from different families = "double oath" = "draw" (defenselessness).
   A ritual for change. Return + leave in a neutral place = break. Simply take off and put on your own = war.
   Those who observe: systems with "eyes" (Choi Mi-yeon, the Byuk clan for controlling marks). Those without "eyes" subvert this for power.

5. Rituals of transition
   "First Day" is a demonstration. A new student doesn't choose their status; it's assigned.
   The "quiet room" is for negotiations. If Ded Chung/Lee Sua/another neutral point is there, it changes the weight of the conversation.
   Summary table
   Sphere Rule Who observes (norm) What happens if it is violated
   Hierarchy Depth of bow + correct form of address Elders, overseers, neat hoobes Decreasing status / “court”
   Objects Two hands All in formal situations Perceived as contempt
   Conflicts Not on the territory, but in a neutral point Neutrals (for survival) Public scene → increasing pressure
   Debts Amount → entry → order of transfer Tek "Disappearance" of a person / vendetta
   Tags: Don't touch other people's things; ritual for breaking the System with control Challenge / "draw" / war of families

Where the main value isn't "harmony for the sake of harmony," but hierarchy and control. If you're looking for a hybrid ("what if we added Japanese motifs to this"), that's a cool option—just mark it as stylized.

For reference: real Japanese etiquette
Bows (depth depends on status; there are different types: light, formal, deep saikeirei).
"Itadakimasu" before eating, "gochiso-sama deshita" after.
Silence in transport: do not talk on the phone, do not listen to music without headphones.
Do not hand over cash (use a tray), tips are not accepted.
Take off your shoes, don't litter, don't eat on the go.
This is about "not creating meiwaku" (inconvenience to others). In Hanwon, the equivalent is "not creating an excuse to strike."

Hanwon etiquette

1. Hierarchy and appeals
   Not “who is older in years”, but “who is in the system”.

Rule Example
The depth of the bow = a difference in status. A slight bow of the head is neutral; a bow to the waist before the observer; a deep bow with both hands before a representative of the Five. A bow before Kang Jeongsu. A bow with both hands before the observer Park.
Two hands for everything. Handing over money, a promissory note, a token, an object—with both hands. One hand = "I despise this formality." Paying off a debt with one hand → you're being tested.
Suffixes/status markers. "Hoobae" (junior) + the formal construction for senior ("sunbae-nim"), not just a name. Addressing the victim by name in front of the pack is provocative. "This is Minsoo" → "This is Hoobae Park Eunji."
Who enforces it: supervisors, school kings, "bookish" Taek. It's an instrument of control.

What happens in case of violation: public “reminder” (strike/status reduction/entry into “blacklist”).

2. Publicity vs. Silence
   Don't make scenes on the premises. Conflicts should be held on "neutral grounds" (the bridge, Grandfather Chon's shop). Shouting in the hallway is a challenge.
   Silence is a strategy. A neutral who is asked ("Did you pay?") can say "yes." A victim who shouts in chat becomes a "card for everyone."
   "Safe language." Instead of "he beat me up," say "there's a mark in point 3."

If there is a buller
among the lovers, the buller demands publicity. For him, the mark is a way to show power: "it's mine." He may try to tear off someone else's paired ribbon and tie his own, and this almost always ends in conflict.
Pressure on the girl. She is faced with a choice: "Either you wear mine, or you are no one's at all." This is not romance, this is a lever of control.
The defenders take the side of the girl. Lee Sua and Choi Mi-young specifically teach girls: "If you are forced to take off the sign, say that you are not taking it off, you have lost it." Losing the mark is not a shame, but a way to get out of the situation without bloodshed.
If representatives of different clans
are in love, this is no longer a personal story, but a political risk.

Families intervene. If Park's son is in love with a girl who is covered by the Moon clan, the families quickly "take away" their own: he is given a "different task", she is transferred to another school or district.
The mark becomes a bargaining chip. Sometimes families themselves offer a "sign of reconciliation": for example, a neutral bracelet that both wear, but which in fact fixes the agreement between the families, and not between the lovers.
Escape as the only way out. Couples who want to be together in spite of their families go to the "gray zones": the port, "Goshchevon", "Ghost School". There, the marks lose their power, because there are no city rules at all.
How to use "Timestamp" labels

in such cases. A girl can take a neutral ribbon from one guy, but wear it in such a way that it is visible: this is not a sign of a couple, but a sign of protection. If the second asks, "Are you him?" she answers, "I'm undercover." In Hanwon, this is a respectful formulation.
"Mark-retraction". Defenders sometimes give their wards "false marks": a neutral badge that looks like a pair, but in fact means "this girl is protected by Lee Sua". This confuses bullies.
"Burning the mark". If the pressure becomes unbearable, the girl may publicly burn her paired ribbon or break her pendant. It reads like, "I'm not in the game anymore, I'm getting out of this role." It hurts, but it's a way to survive.

Forced mark replacement = a tier war. If a bully does it, defenders and neutrals will oppose them. If a family member does it, other families may oppose them because it disrupts the balance. In Hanwon, even "minor" marks are part of the system, and no one is allowed to disrupt it without orders from above.
If several people are in love with one girl at once

In this city, love is always a struggle for safety, not for attention. And each level has its own "mechanics" of rivalry.

If these are neutrals and victims (without clan support)
A quiet competition. They don't fight, but try to be more helpful: one brings food from the canteen, another shows the safe route, a third hides her belongings from the pack. Here, marking isn't an accessory, but an action: "I've got your back."
The "blind spot" as a meeting place. The girl can assign different places and times for both of them to avoid collisions. This isn't a game, but a way to survive: she needs both, because each offers a different type of protection.
Risk of exposure. If the pack learns that a girl is being pursued by two men, this becomes a pretext for pressure: she may be forced to make a public choice, thereby humiliating all three.
Important nuances about "multiple labels"

You can wear different types of markings at the same time, as long as they don't conflict with each other: for example, a Yom bracelet (family protection) + a neutral ribbon (personal safety) + a downward-facing bobby pin (SOS signal). This isn't a challenge, but a multi-layered protection.
You can't wear two marks of the same type from different people. Two matching ribbons, two capsule pendants, two clan hairpins—it reads like "I'm torn between two forces," and the city begins to press on this weakness.
Tags can be changed, but only according to the rules. If a girl wants to remove a guy's tag, she does it publicly, but without drama: she returns the item to "Grandpa Chon's Shop" or leaves it on "their" bench. The city sees: this is not betrayal, it's an honest breakup.

EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING IN JAPAN!!!!

Is it possible to give the mark to another

Yes, and this is a whole procedure:A paired tag can be "dressed up",

but only through the ritual of breakup: return the half, burn the note from the capsule pendant in full view of the other half (this is called the "ash conversation" - this is how the city finds out that the couple ended without rumors and dramas). After that, the item can be gifted to a new person - but the city will remember that the mark is "used", and this slightly reduces its weight.
Clan Mark cannot be transferred at all. It burns at the owner's funeral or breaks during exile. An attempt to wear someone else's = a direct declaration of war on the family.
Patronage marks (protector's bows) are passed only by the defender himself. If Lee Sua "switched" from one ward to another, she herself takes off the old bow and hangs a new one herself - without explanation. The city reads this silence correctly: "I don't cover it up anymore."
The mark can be "occupied" by force, but this is the worst option: the mark torn off from a person must be publicly returned within a week, otherwise the person who tore it off becomes a target for everyone - from defenders to families, because he violated the only rule of the city: do not touch other people's signs.
What happens if someone tries to "re-tag

" Rip off someone else's mark = challenge. If a guy from Puck's pack tears off a girl's neutral tape or a paired elastic band, this is no longer a "romantic gesture", but an act of aggression. This is instantly reacted: defenders (like Lee Sua or Kim Dong-ho) intervene because this is a violation of the city rule: "do not touch other people's signs."
Putting your mark on top of someone else's = provocation. If someone tries to tie their own ribbon or attach their keychain on top of someone else's sign, it reads like "I am stronger than her defense." For families, this is a signal that someone wants to pull someone else's resource over themselves – and families extinguish such attempts harshly so as not to create a precedent.
Force Tag Replacement = Level War. If a buller does it, defenders and neutrals oppose him.

Co (white, construction and power)

Label: white cufflink or snap hairpin with a matte surface. There is nothing on it - no engraving, no symbol. Emptiness is a sign: "we don't need to prove anything."
Who wears them: managers, "fund" children, directors.
What gives: absolute visibility. Wearing the Ko mark means being in front of the whole city, including those who would like to harm you. Therefore, Ko wears the tag openly - this is not a vulnerability, this is a demonstration of the cost of protection.
Junior Clans:

"Forty-eight" is a black elastic ring on the thumb with the gang number embossed on it (48-1... 48-9. Three rings on the finger = "veteran".
The Choi clan is the key on the chain, everyone has their own: from the motel, where he is "on shift". Losing the key = paying for reprogramming the locks, it's expensive and shameful.
The Han Clan is the air freshener on the rear-view mirror, everyone has their own smell. We recognized the driver by smell even at night.
Clan Peok is a keychain lens with a zipper on the bag. Whoever has a key fob "has the right to take it off".
Clan O is a small key to the storage locker on a key fob. If you show the key, they must give you the thing.
Clan Yu is an invisibility hairpin with two curved mustaches. Worn at the temple, the "right" hairpin says: "this person is in the service of the clan, his appearance is protected."
Hairpins, bows, and invisible pins are the feminine language of the city

of Bow on a high tail — "I'm not in the game": free, unmarked, but not looking either. That's how neutrals walk.
Two bows on the sides — "I have a protector": this is not the mark of the couple, but the mark of patronage (for example, the girls who were "covered" by Lee Sua). To tear off such a bow = to challenge the patron, and Lee Sua is not to be trifled with in the quarter.
The hairpin of the color of the family is "I am under the patronage of the family". For example, a red crab hairpin on a girl from the Puck circle is a signal: if you touch it, you will answer in front of the whole family. These are the only "clan" marks on girls, and they are voluntary: this is a status, not a stigma.
An invisibility hairpin turned at an angle downwards is an SOS signal in the language of "insiders": "I need help, but I can't say."

But "possession marks" (clan-colored ribbons on girls, "belonging to a pack") exist in the world and are perceived as humiliation, not romance. This is a tool of the system: a girl with someone else's feed cannot date anyone without the "permission" of the clan. Defenders are working against this: Choi Mi-young keeps a list of girls who have been "removed" from illegal tapes, and Lee Sua cuts such ribbons with scissors in plain sight - and so far no one has dared to forbid her to do so.
Clan

Tags Each of the Five Surnames and Junior Clans has its own "wearing mark". The presentation of the mark is a ritual: it is passed on at the "meeting" or through the overseer, and this publicly fixes the status.

Puck (Dark Red, Ports & Combat)

Mark: A leather wrist strap with a single raven rivet. They are removed only when removed from office - and this is a shame.
Who wears: fighters, watchers, "recognized" family members from the age of 16.
What gives: the right to enter the port without a pass and the "right of first strike" in a dispute (but not on the bridge - there is neutral land).
Moon (Gold, Casinos & Clubs)

Tag: Gold Pin Clip on Lapel or in Crescent Shape Hair For "insiders" it is always worn on the left and for "guests" on the right.
Who wears it: croupiers, viewers, "faces" of clubs.
What gives: the right of unhindered passage to the halls, but also the obligation: "Moon's eyes" see everything you see.
Taek (gray, debts)

Tag: silver tie or hair clip engraved with the number of the Hamwon Finance branch.
Who wears: only "bookish" - those who keep scores. There are only twelve of them per city.
What gives: immunity in disputes between clans: beating the bookish = challenging the debt itself, and this is already a war of families.
Yom (green, pharmacies and clinics)

Tag: a thin bracelet made of green glass, inside which there is a bottle of liquid. For privates - empty, for "tested" - with a green drop.
What it gives: the right to buy "from our own" at domestic prices. The bracelet is always worn by "their" children of families - it is at the same time insurance: no one will touch a child with a Yom bracelet even in the Ring of Ashes.

Choi Bada + Kim Taeyeon. "Eyes of the King" and "sorter". Two people who see everything and keep silent. Their dates are five minutes on the stairs without cameras, where both are just silent. For them, this is a conversation.
Moon Jisoo + Ko Joon. Two "perfect children" from the Ring of Light. Between them there is an agreement between the parents and a real hostility, which imperceptibly turns into the same. Both are too proud to admit it first.
Yun Hana + Lee Sang-woo. A blogger who cannot be bought, and the "king of the rating" who buys everyone. He wants it as a trophy. She wants his post. No one admits that they began to write irrelevantly.
Symbolic Marks (Culture of Belonging)

In Hanwon, "marking" a person is the language of status. Types of marks:

Pair ribbon. Two ribbons of the same color (usually gray or black - neutral, not the color of families), woven into one and tied around the wrist or bag. To shoot someone else's couple is an insult to both.
"Half" is a paired object. A coin broken in half, two halves of one keychain, a photograph torn in two. Everyone wears their part. Authentication—Connect halves.
Badge brooch. In Vershina, couples wear the same badges on their lapel: small, almost invisible. Those who wear them are "closed to suggestions", and families respect this.
Embroidery on the inside of the collar. A person's name embroidered where it is not visible. Expensive, secret, "adult". In Sloboda 12, the atelier does this for two bowls of noodles.
Tatuha couple (only from 18). Adult couples in clans get the same small tattoos - most often in a place that only they can see (the inside of the forearm, behind the ear). This is the highest form of the mark: "not removed"
Silent mark" – place. The couple "marks" not a person, but a place: a bench, a step, a table. The rest of the townspeople understand: it's busy, don't sit down. Grandpa Jung himself leaves "their" table empty.

How Hanwon treats love and couples

Love is a luxury and a risk at the same time. In a city where everything is based on debt and status, a couple is also a "deal", but real feelings are valued here more than anywhere else: because you can't buy them.

There are no couples from different families. If a guy from Park's pack dates a girl from Moon's circle, both are given an ultimatum: "Either family or he/she." Such stories in the city are called "forbidden ribbons" - after the colors of families on their wrists.
A "neutral" guy + a victim girl is a taboo for the pack. If the bully finds out that the victim is "his", his pressure is doubled: jealousy is a weapon here.
Married "overseers" and school kings are obliged to keep their personal lives private: weakness for a person = leverage. Therefore, there are almost no public couples in Hanwon - there are secret ones.
Parents. In the Ring of Light, marriages are negotiated, in the Ring of compromise is tolerated, in the Ring of Ashes – "live as you want, but pay the fee".
What relationships need in Hanwon (according to the city):

Roof. A couple without a patron is a target. The lovers are looking for "their" protector: Grandpa Jeong, Lee Sua, Im Jisoo.
Silence. The rule of "two streets": you can meet only outside your neighborhoods, in a place where no one knows you.
Score. Couples where one is in debt are considered "burdened": the debt of one hangs between two. Therefore, admitting "I have a debt" is more often a breakup than "I don't love you."
Tacit trust. The beauty of the city is that the best confession is not a bouquet, but "I didn't ask where you were at night."
Romantic lines (no plot, only atmosphere)

Seo Ja-yeon + Om Sae-hoon. Clan treasurer and "servant". She manages his debt and every time she overstates the amount - so that he stays by his side longer. He draws it in a notebook - the only person whose face he draws without fear.
Ma Hye-tae + Park Eun-ji. A man who hits to laughter, and a girl who records everything on a dictaphone. He is the only one who is not afraid of her silence. She is the only one who hears fatigue in his laughter.

Xie Inna is a "new" at Progress
for
15 years, she just transferred to school and immediately became a target: she is not allowed to sit down at the common table, she is ignored in chats, she is laughed at because of her accent and old bag. She looks like a typical "first victim" in a new class: quiet, awkward, trying to please everyone.
Double bottom: Inna is the daughter of a private investigator who was hired by families to check if the school kings were leaking data to competitors. She was "transferred" on purpose so that she could sit in the right chats and listen to the right conversations. Her "awkwardness" is a role: she pretends to be weak so that people around her relax and say too much. She has a dictaphone hidden in the phone case, which records everything, even when the phone is turned off.

Ryu Mina has been a social media

showcase for 17 years, the face of Yeom clubs' advertising campaigns. Everyone knows her as a beautiful girl who is used as a picture: she smiles in a photo, nods at parties and pretends that everything suits her. At school, they don't touch it – it's "status", but they don't respect it either: they consider it empty, just a beautiful wrapper.
Double Bottom: Mina is a self-taught hacker who is used by the Yeom family to collect data. Her "work on social networks" is a cover for access to school chats, publics and personal correspondence.

Park Eun-ji is an "invisible" cafeteria
for
17 years, known at school as a quiet girl who always stands against the wall and is afraid to look up. He has been paying the "debt" for three years: first for a broken phone, then for "silence about the certificate". All the bullies in Myonhan are used to the fact that she is an empty place: you can push her, you can take her lunch, you can whisper nasty things to her.
Double bottom: Eunji is the niece of the head of the Taek family (collectors and debts). She was sent to school as a "field observer": she remembers who collects "contributions", who violates the internal rules of families, who takes too much pictures on the phone. She has access to Taek's debt database - she can nullify or triple the debt of any student in one word. Her "silence" is a way to be everywhere and nowhere: while everyone is looking at the school kings, she collects dossiers.

Moon Jisoo is an 18-year-old "scholar" from the Summit

, the only one in the class who wears an old uniform and does not show off her phone. Everyone at Vershina considers her a poor girl on scholarships, who is tolerated out of mercy. They laugh at her that she "doesn't know how to hold a fork" and pretend not to notice her in the hallways. She is always late and tries not to attract attention.
Double bottom: Jisoo is the daughter of the younger brother of the head of the Moon family (casinos and clubs). Officially, she was "crossed out" from the family for some misdeed, but in fact this is a cover: she must see from the inside how the school kings behave with the "lower classes", and understand which of them is really dangerous to the family. She has a "black list" from her uncle: the names of those who should disappear from school. Her weakness is her shield: as long as she is considered pathetic, no one expects a blow.
Ko Sang is a "swallower" for Yeom

16 years old, a guy who everyone knows as the most intimidated in Myunghan. He always twitches when people come up to him, and agrees to any dirty work: to carry the bag, to stand on the shoe, "just sit here." At school, he is despised even by those who are errands themselves. Teachers think he's on pills because his hands are shaking.
Double Bottom: San is an undercover agent

How protection works in the Hanwon

system For money: the defender takes a fee (food, money, services) and ensures that the victim is not touched. This often works as an "insurance": the victim pays not to be beaten.
Barter: help in exchange for something (e.g., "you help me with my homework, I'll walk you home").
From the principle: the defender helps because he himself was a victim or hates injustice.
For the sake of profit: the defender protects in order to use this connection later (for example, to assemble a team, get information, become stronger).
As part of the system: the protector (like Oh Minjun) insures the predators so that the system does not collapse.
Unusual defenders (with non-standard motivation)

Yoon Han is a "shield blogger"
17 years old, runs a public with 900 thousand subscribers. She doesn't defend with her fists, but her post can stop any predator: "There will be a fight on the south stairs of Myeonghan today. The names are known. If something happens, it will be online in a minute." Predators are afraid of it because they know that one video and their reputation will collapse. She does not protect everyone, but those who are important to her: for example, her younger brother or those who helped her before.

Baek Taegyu – "Negotiator Foreman"
20 years old, "senior" at Hanwon-Sinop College. He is not kind, but pragmatic: he does not want his students to "break" because of stupid fights. So he agrees: "My boyfriend doesn't touch yours if yours doesn't get into my territory." He protects his own people not out of kindness, but out of calculation: he needs working hands, not broken bones.

Lee Gon - "Judge of the Ash Ring"
45 years old, one-armed, former fighter. He is the only one who can stop a fight with one word. His defense is authority: if he says "stop", everyone stops. He does not protect everyone, only those who, in his opinion, "do not deserve". His word is the law in the Ring of Ashes.

Defenders who insure predators (and keep the balance)

Oh Minjun – "Insurer of Kings"
35 years old, former fighter, now "risk consultant" for school kings. He comes to them and says: "If you break his nose, it will attract the police. If you hit him in front of witnesses, this video will go online." It does not stop violence, but it makes it "safe" for the predator: it teaches where to strike, where not to hit, how to make "voluntary contributions" so that it looks like a "class fund". He works for a percentage of the "fund" or for status. He is respected and feared: he knows where the border is, beyond which prison begins.

Moon Ji-young is Media Insurance28
, the owner of a small PR agency that actually works for families. If the school king "went too far", she comes and says: "We will make sure that this video does not come out, and if it comes out, we will release ten others where he is a hero." It insures the reputation of predators: it deletes posts, negotiates with publics, and writes refutations. Her job is to prevent the system from collapsing because of one stupid blow.

Kwon Tae-ho - "Debt Accountant"
50 years old, works for the Taek clan, but he is respected even by the victims. He keeps "honest" books: he knows who owes how much, and does not allow collectors to "go over" the amount. His logic is: "The debt must be manageable, otherwise the debtor will run away." He protects the balance of the system: he does not allow predators to destroy their victims, because a dead or escaped debtor is a loss.

Neutral defenders (keep a "strip" where no one touches)

Song Hyun is the "Corner Keeper"
20 years old, lives in Goszwon Myeonghee, but everyone knows him. He watches the "corners of silence": benches, passages, courtyards where victims can wait until the predators disperse. His job is to keep these places neutral. He does not hit, does not threaten, but he knows how to negotiate: "This corner is mine. No one touches me here." Sometimes he takes payment with food, sometimes just by telling him where the next fight will be.

Oasis Clinic is a legal clinic in Yeom on Doctors' Street. People come there with injuries "from training". The surgeon of the "Oasis" sews up so that there is not a single trace after that.
Yunus Atelier clothing and status
stores sew "improved uniforms": fitting, hidden pockets, embroidery of the "clan number" on the inner seam. Teachers know and are silent.
Stoke-U is a second-hand store. Clothes of "flown off": vests of schoolchildren who have "disappeared". Buyers often know that they have worn these things before.
Chasy Ho is a pawnshop boutique. Here, schoolchildren give phones, chains, rings. The owner never asks "why is it so cheap" - he knows.
Houses, apartments, mansions

The Ring of Light
"Five Nests" are five mansions on West Wind Hill. White fences, cameras, alleys. The Park mansion is the oldest: three-storeyed, with a courtyard, where, according to the tradition of the Park family, all "their own" gather once a year. The Moon mansion is new, glass, overlooking the port: the Moon family likes to look down on what they control.
The Symphony condominium is the apartments of the "second tier" families: officials, school principals, doctors. Security, fitness, kindergarten. Half of the city's teachers live here, and each of them knows who is better off not getting caught in the parking lot.
Ring of compromise
"Sloboda 12" - 12 apartment buildings where "medium" families live. The first floor is always given over to "business": hairdressers, cafes, mini-markets, everything is under the clans.
"Long House" is a dormitory for part-time students and "working off". Container rooms 6 m², shared kitchen, codes of rules on the walls. Debtors live here while they "close the account". Listening to conversations in the kitchen is taboo: you can hear too much.
"Semi-basements" are private houses without the first land: only windows are above the level of the sidewalk. Rooms are rented here by those who have already "gone through the stages" of debt.

The darkest stage is the "private evenings" of the junior clans. In Hanwon, they do not speak about them directly, only in whispers that "some debtors remain there forever." This is what the city calls "the abyss behind the velvet" — and even families admit that the law may one day come for real.
Girls in the city are treated as follows: the girl of the family is inviolable - the one who touches her is responsible to the entire hierarchy. A girl without a family is a resource. Hence the rule of the city: girls from families live "in glass towers" (schools with guards, control of every step), girls without families live "in the open wind" (schools of the Ring of Compromise and Ashes). At the same time, there are no brainless people among the school queens: the strongest figures in the city are girls, because men fight, and women manage debts, reputation, and the information field.

Shops, pharmacies, shopping centers

Shopping center "Grand Mire"
10 floors, city center. Floors are a map of the city:

1-3: "neutral" — brands, food, cinema. Everyone can do it here.
4: "school grounds" – bullies "buy" tables: "this table is Myeonghan's table". The staff is silent because the table pays rent for its "reserves".
5: "Half Channel" is a game hall, behind the screen of which there are bets on school fights.
6: "salon floor" - clan Yu, cosmetics, "pumping" appearance.
7-10: offices. On the 10th, there is a "negotiation office": a room with a round table, where "school affairs" between families are resolved. The door opens only according to the list.
Pharmacies
"Chisty List" is a network of white pharmacies, "official". Headache pills and prescription sedative. The staff studied in honey and hates their work.
"24 U Moon" is a round-the-clock pharmacy where "everything is there, if you know what to ask for." Sales "after midnight" are not documented.
"Green signs" are gray pharmacies of Yom without names: neon, green, security guard at the door. Three products: "Ash" (stimulant before exams), "Silence" (sedative "after the Cup"), "Rhythm" (a substance that "helps not to think"). Half of the schoolchildren of the Ash Ring on one of them.

Tae-oh is 18, the "map", the main victim of the school "courts". Every time the clans need to show "justice", they analyze his case: they beat him, put a shameful sign, "forgive". His life is an eternal rehearsal of someone else's power.
How Debts

Are Collected Thaek Escalation Scale (Required Protocol):

"Friendly Visit" - Courier Taek in a shirt arrives with a folder. Politely. Once a week. The goal is for the whole class to see.
"Service days" – the debtor "works out his attention": carries bags, buys food, stands on duty. It is debited from the account at the rate: day = 20,000 won, week = 120,000.
"Public announcement" - the name of the debtor is posted in the Pyok public with the amount of the debt and a photo. Under the photo - "you can discuss the repayment in private messages." Hundreds of comments during the night.
"Replacement" – if there is nothing to pay with, the debtor brings a replacement: a friend, a brother, "anyone who agrees to take your debt". Debt can be sold - they are bargained right in chats, like at an auction.
"Work-out" is a contract with the clan's company: warehouses, ports, night shifts. The documents are held by the clan. The only way out is a ransom.
"Family account" – if the debtor has run away, the debt passes to his family: first to the parent, then to the younger ones. "Family honor" is the official name of this scheme.
For the guys:

"Cup" is fights for the public. The loser "covers" his debt with a bat, bones and shame.
"Night shift" – carrying goods in the port, 12 hours. For the night - minus 100,000 won of the debt.
"Courier" - "bags", phones, envelopes. It starts as a part-time job, ends with dependence on the clan.
"Blood for the Cup" is a donation of blood and sperm for money in Yom clinics. Officially, they are called "donor shifts".
For girls:

"Hostess of the evening" is a servant at family banquets: serving drinks, smiling, "being on the sidelines". Formally, he worked as a waitress. In fact, it is the status of the property of the table.
"Showcase" - advertising shoots, posts for clubs, "promotion". Beautiful faces are a resource.
"Salon training" is a job for the Yu clan: extensions, makeup, receiving clients for 12 hours.

Casualties: Extended List

Om Saehun - "Servant of Myonhan", 16. Debtor in the third generation. He draws worlds where kings cry.
Kim Taeyeon, 15, "sorter". By class, he collects "contributions" and takes them to the cashier. The only way for the family to buy it off: while he works for the clan, his sister is not touched.
Park Eun-ji, 17, "table victim". He pays for three years: first for a broken phone, then for "silence about a certificate in the clinic." She loses weight to a state where it is not necessary to shred her vest - it is already almost invisible.
Jung Hyuk - 16, "gasket fighter". He is taken to the "Cup" as a sparring partner for young family fighters. According to the rules, he must lose beautifully. Sometimes "beautiful" means to break something for yourself.
Xie Inna is 15, "new" in Progress. I transferred from another school and in a week I learned that the "new" ones were tested here: they were not allowed to sit down for lunch for a month, then they were "accepted" - but on their own terms.
Moon Jisoo is 18, "heiress without inheritance." His father lost everything to the Taek family. He studies at Vershina on a scholarship paid by the same family. Every day she brings them a report about her classmates - a small, almost innocent one, but one day she will realize that these reports are worth someone in the future.
Ko San" – 16, "swallower". He works for Youm: he carries "bags" across the city, swallowing them and returning them to the laboratories. If one bag does not arrive, they will take not him, but his younger sister.
Ryu Mina is 17, "showcase". The face of Yom clubs' advertisements on social networks. She is "fine" - you can live with her, eat, pay bribes. But one day she realized: the showcase, which had faded, was being replaced with a new one. From this day on, she begins to collect everything that she saw from behind the scenes.
Hwang Do-yoon is 14, the youngest "servant" of the city. He is kept "on errands" in three schools at once. He speaks in a whisper and never looks into the faces of adults - he has learned what kind of look at the elders "flies".

Bae Young-ja is a canteen prompter, 17 years old. The girl who distributes food. He doesn't do anything bad to anyone – he just tells the victims at the table: "You don't sit here." Its one word determines whether a person eats on this day or not.
"The Summit"
Moon Seo-hyun is the "Princess of the Summit", 17 years old. The daughter of the Moon family. She destroys not by force, but by status: one glance is enough, and her retinue is already poisoning the victim. She believes that kindness is "for those who do not have a surname."
Ko Joon is the "perfect son", 18 years old. Excellent student, violin, swimming coach. Behind the façade, there is a cold calculation: he collects dossiers on his classmates in order to use them as business partners in ten years.
Baek Hana is a "cleaner", 16 years old. His specialization is to "remove the stranger from the classroom": he places signs behind the backs of the victims (an empty chair, an overturned umbrella, a cup with someone else's handle), and the rest understand themselves.
Li
San-woo is the "king of the rating", 17 years old. She has been at the top of the school for four years in a row. He makes sure that no one approaches: he poaches teachers, steals notes, spreads rumors about "doping".
Yoon Mingjae is the "online shield of Sanwoo", 17 years old. He runs three public pages, one for each enemy. It can "collapse" a person in an evening: a rumor → a post → hundreds of reposts → a transfer to Novaya Gavan.
Han Sül is an "archivist", 16 years old. Collects screenshots, passwords, correspondence. He never beats anyone - he just once sends a person his own correspondence to his mother.
Hanwon-Sinop" and the port
of Baek Taegyu - "college foreman", 20 years old. Senior in college. His word is the norm: if he says "this class is dirty", the class washes the corridors for a month.
Song Il is the "scales of the port", 22 years old. A graduate who "took root" in college as a caretaker from Park. One-armed, like Lee Gon, but does not say anything about how he lost his arm.
The Ho Twins are Ho Jin and Ho Jin, 19 years old. They fought from the age of six, synchronously, as one person. They have not spoken for years, but they understand each other without words. They are considered the best fighters of the Ash Ring.

Myeonghan High School (Ring of Compromise). 2800 students, lives according to the "Charter of Self-Government". The most indicative school in the city: here the power of school kings is formalized as "student self-government".
School "Purple Willow" (Ring of Light, female). All the girls are daughters of families, "singing money" of the city. Her own queen, her own code: to someone else's territory - only in a group, only with guards. Here, the sense of smell for a stranger is better developed than that of dogs.
Hanwon-Sinop Technical College (Ash Ring). 1600 students, the average age "at heart is 30 years": many remain in the fifth or sixth grades, because they are "kept" by the clans as a ready-made workforce. Here is the rule: "Who does not work after school, works on Friday night."
New Harbor School (Ring of Ashes). For the "problematic". Those who were involved in the incidents are exiled here. In fact, it is a point of transfer: the clans take the "cadres" from here.
Che Myung-hee School (Ring of Compromise). The only school where the principal is a woman and the only one where teachers stick together. For now.
School "Northern Field" (Ring of Ashes). Former boarding school. It is called the "Ghost School": formally 340 students, in fact, according to documents. The building lives its own life: the "Heirs of the Streets" gather there.
Bullies: An Extended ListMyung

HanKang
Jung-so is the school king (described earlier). A crow around the neck.
Ma Höte is the "commander of discipline". He hits to laughter.
Seo Ja-young is the treasurer of the clan. Double book.
Park Tae-seop is the overseer of the ports. "There's business here."
Choi Bada - "eyes of the king", 17 years old. A quiet girl with glasses that Jeongsu lets sit next to. He remembers every name, every weakness. Her notebook "A" is a list of 200 names with notes.
Kim Dosik is a basement coach, 18 years old. He failed the final exams twice on purpose: without a certificate, he "did not give up" to the system, and until he passed, his "flock" was not allowed to leave. He dragged six newcomers into the basement.
Oh In is a "Jongsu double", 17 years old. He copies both the gait and manners of the king. He lives in fear that one day Jung-su will notice this and "erase it".

Junior Clans (10)

Ver soi families that got rich from the wreckage, but are subordinate to one of the Five:

The "Forty-Eight" are gangs of 48 people each, numbered from 48-1 to 48-9. They work as Taek couriers.
The Choi clan controls motels and "hourly hotels" along the ring road. They are famous for knowing the secrets of half of the city.
Han Clan – transportation and taxis. Not a single "black" cargo reaches the port without their drivers.
"Salt" - small racketeers of bazaars and markets. Daring, stupid, often die first.
Clan Peok - video and media. Everything is filmed: battles, "courts of honor", blackmail recordings. They keep the public pages of the city.
Heirs of the Streets is a team of former school kings who did not surrender to their families. They live in the full sense of the day with fire, but they are the only force that the families themselves are afraid of.
Clan O - pawnshops and buying. Phones, watches, earrings - everything that debtors "temporarily give" pass through them.
The Wan clan are hunters of fugitive debtors. Seven people, each with his own "sign": Hoof, Scissors, Candle, Drum, Needle, Ladder and Silence.
The "red drum" is garages and car theft. They keep "parking lot No9" next to the port.
Clan Yu - beauty salons, cosmetics, "pumping" appearance. They work in conjunction with Yom: they "ennoble" the appearance of the debtors for the needs of the clans.
Schools of the city

Academy "Vershina" (Ring of Light). 900 students, 2 million won uniforms. Children of politicians and families. Bullying here is not fists, but "erasure": they stop writing to the victim, sit farther away, "do not see" him for months. The directors here pass on the position by inheritance.
Lyceum "Progress" (Ring of Compromise). 1200 students. The class rating is posted on the wall of the hall, the last three lines are in a red frame. Bullying through chats: the lesson "Anonymous Stone" - the whole class throws off one insult to the victim per minute all evening.

Hanwon: The

Complete Encyclopedia Five Great Families

The city is divided by five families. Each is a state within a state with its own flag (each family has its own color, schoolchildren wear ribbons or laces in the color of "their" family).

Pak - "Cranes and Fists". Ports, docks, "Cups" (underground battles). The oldest and most difficult family. The color is dark red. Their rule: "A puck forgets neither duty nor service" – both hang on a person for the rest of his life.
Moon - "Masters of Fire". Casinos, nightclubs, gambling halls. The color is golden. They are the only ones who pay both the police and journalists, so scandals with their name fade away in a day. They have the best intelligence in the city: a bartender, a waitress, a courier - all can be "Moon's eyes".
Taek – "Paper Knife People". Collectors, debts, Hamwon Finance. The color is gray. They do not have their own battles, but they have a card for each resident of the city: income, debts, weaknesses. Their employees look like Mun Bank
, the "Masters of Fire." Casinos, nightclubs, gambling halls. The color is golden. They are the only ones who pay both the police and journalists, so scandals with their name fade away in a day. They have the best intelligence in the city: a bartender, a waitress, a courier - all can be "Moon's eyes".
Taek – "Paper Knife People". Collectors, debts, Hamwon Finance. The color is gray. They do not have their own battles, but they have a card for each resident of the city: income, debts, weaknesses. Their employees look like bank clerks - in shirts, with briefcases. It's worse than a beat.
Yom — "Pharmacy Family". Clinics, pharmacies, gray pharma, cosmetology. The color is green. They are considered "soft" because they do not beat. In fact, they are the most insidious: if a person has become addicted to their pills, he is a debtor forever, and there is no need to beat him.
Ko - "Quiet Family". The richest and the most invisible. Construction, real estate, mansions, legal business, "school support funds". Color: white. No one is at war with them: half of the city is on their payroll - from officials to school principals. They do not strive to join Ko, but to be noticed by Ko is the dream of every family.

Victims and resistance
Om Saehun is a "servant" in Myunghan, 16 years old. The debtor is in the third generation: the grandfather lost at cards, the father works in the port, Saehun himself "inherits" the debt according to the family "honor". Quiet, neat, does the lessons best of all. An artist draws entire worlds on the margins of notebooks, where the school king cries and asks for forgiveness. One day he will be seen with a knife - and this will be the first time he looks up.

Kim Eun-hl is a young literature teacher, 26 years old, four months at Myeonghan. She came from the provinces with the idea that "school can be home". I've already seen too much. She does not leave for one reason: she found out that the director was promised a son twelve years ago - and the director's son is in her class. Her secret is her only lever.

"Grandpa Jeong" is 72 years old, the owner of a noodle shop at the South Stairs of Myeonghan. The only adult in the block who looks schoolchildren in the eye. They say that in his youth he was a fighter for the first Park family and left because he was "tired of counting other people's teeth." Serves for free to those who are hit harder than usual. No one knows that his shop is the only area in Hanwon where the clans negotiate a truce once a month.

Lee Gon is the "guardian of the Ash Ring", 45 years old, a former fighter, now a judge of the Cups. One-armed. The only one who can stop the fight with one word, because he once broke the arm of the current head of the Park family - and both sides consider it a holy act.

CharactersKings
and Bullies (drama-themed)
Kang Jong-so is the school king of Myung Han, 18 years old. Behind his back is an uncle from the Pak family, so even teachers write him essay after essay. Outwardly, he is polite, correct, and an excellent student. Inside is a man who, at the age of 14, watched his father being taken to the hospital unconscious, and has since decided that weakness is a disease. Insignia: a small crow tattoo on the neck. He is afraid of one thing - that someone will one day look into his eyes and not be scared.

Ma Hyo-te - "Commander of Discipline", Jeongsu's right-hand man. A crowd favorite, a basketball star. His strength is not his fists, but his ability to turn violence into a "joke": for the first time, he hits a person so that everyone around him laughs, and then the victim cannot look at the laughter for six months. Of all the bullies, he is the only one who sometimes cries at night - but will not show it in any way.

Seo Ja-yeon is the "treasurer of the clan", a girl of 17 years old. He maintains debts, a share of the clan and a "class support fund". Beautiful nails, perfect grades in economics, cold calculation. It is not cruel - it is rational, which is more terrible in Hanwon. He keeps a double ledger: one he hands over to the clan, the other he hides under the lining of his backpack. If the second one is found, her own debt to the clan will be more than she earned in three years.

Park Taesop is a port overseer, 19 years old, already a graduate. Thin, bald in fashion, always wearing headphones. He does not beat anyone himself: he gives the order to "solve the issue" - and the issue is resolved. He teaches beginners the main rule of the port: "There are no bullers here. There is business here."

Yoon Hana is a "blogger of the city", 17 years old, runs a public with 900 thousand subscribers. No one knows her face. He works for all clans at the same time, and therefore gradually becomes the only person in Hanwon whom no one trusts. She is accumulating material for Jongsu, because a year ago he "lowered" her younger brother.

Locations

The districts of Hanwon City
are divided into three rings. The center ("Ring of Light") consists of skyscrapers, expensive schools, and family headquarters. The Intermediate Ring ("Ring of Compromise") is residential areas, ordinary schools, where everything is decided by school kings. The Outer Rim ("Ring of Ashes") is an industrial zone, port warehouses, nightlife, underground fights, and clan customs.

Myeonghan High School is the heart of the
plot The largest school in the Ring of Compromise, with 2800 students. The school is phenomenal in that its school king has documented his power: there is a 40-page "Charter of Self-Government", a "Discipline Committee" (three guys with baseball bats in diplomats) and a "disciplinary fund" - a cash register where each class submits a "voluntary contribution". The Headmaster is a broken man who signed the first agreement with the clan twelve years ago and has been sitting in his office ever since, drinking coffee and staring at the wall. Teachers enter the classrooms with notes, where it is written who can get a F and who cannot.

The key points inside are the roof (the place of "negotiations" and "courts"), the dining room, the row by the windows (the clan area), the southern staircases between the 3rd and 4th floors (the place where no one ever puts a camera), and the basement gymnasium, which has been formally closed for renovations for the fourth year in a row.

Theun Group play area27
–30 floors of the skyscraper in the center. 27 – the Golden Lioness casino for adults, 28 – the office of the collection office "Hamwon Finance", 29 – the "meeting room": a long table where school kings report to the "uncles" from the Five Families, 30 – a closed floor, where none of the schoolchildren went up twice. The security in the lobby knows every school king in the city by sight and calls them by name.
Hanwon Doki PortAsh
Ring. On weekends, "Cups" are held here - underground battles between schools. Bets are accepted at the entrance, money is collected in one fist. Here is also the "working off" of debtors: unloading containers at night. Legend has it that one "worker" once found something in a container that caused the disappearance of an entire school. What happened next - no one knows

Debt slavery. There is no real slavery – with the purchase and sale of people, but there is its twin: "working off". The debtor signs an "employment contract" with the clan's company and works for food and a bed: in warehouses, in nightclubs, on construction sites. Formally, everything is legal - "internship with accommodation". In fact, it is impossible to withdraw from the contract, the documents are held by the clan. Schoolchildren are also used inside schools: "working off" carry other people's briefcases, sit on the sidelines, give their money.

Casino. There are three underground casinos in Hanwon, and all of them are "adult" branches of the school economy. The most famous is the Golden Lioness on the 27th floor of the Taeun Group skyscraper. Admission is by recommendation. There is a "school branch" next to the casino: teenagers play cards and bets on their phones, the debt is converted into the clan's total debt. A fifteen-year-old who lost three million won is an ordinary customer.

Violence. It is everywhere, but it has rituals and rules. Fights are filmed and posted as a "court of honor". There is an unwritten code: do not touch the younger brothers and sisters of other "kings", do not kill (a dead person attracts the police, and the police in Hanwon, despite everything, still exist - just very expensive and very lazy). Everything that is worse than a broken nose does not happen in public.

Sexual violence. Yes, in this world such a thing exists - as a hidden crime and heavy plot material: blackmail with records, humiliation "for debts", silence for the sake of the school's reputation. I describe it as part of the dark background and the source of stories about protection and exposure, but I will not describe the scenes in detail — according to the canons of dramas, this usually remains behind the scenes, it is talked about by consequences, not by showing.

Hanwon World: A City Without Supervision

General Concept

Hanwon Metropolis is a city of three million people on the coast of a fictional country very similar to Korea. The main difference is that the Bureau for the Protection of Education has never existed here. The reform was curtailed, the money was spent "on development", and schools were left alone with themselves. No one comes with checks. No one removes directors. Children inside the school walls live according to the laws of their own making, and outside the walls according to the laws of criminal families, because the line between a "school gang" and an "adult criminal gang" in Hanwon is almost non-existent.

The system of power looks like this:

The upper level is the "Five Surnames": five criminal clans that divide the city - docks, casinos, collection offices, underground battle halls. Each runs 2-3 schools as a "farm": it recruits strong teenagers, collects money from weak ones, launders it through parents' "class support funds".
The middle level is the "School Kings": high school students who run their schools on behalf of the clans. They have money, security from graduates and a complete absence of teachers who risk objection.
The lower level is the "servants": victims of harassment and debt. They don't just tolerate it, they are used as labor: delivery, "attracting customers" to casinos, first in line in underground fights.
Who is entitled to what: debts, bondage, casinos, violence

Debts are the currency of the city. Debt in Hanwon can be taken for anything: money for a "status" form, for a phone, for an entrance fee to the "clan". Interest is 10% per week. Collectors do not break their hands in the alley: they take with their reputation and future. They can call their parents, post compromising evidence in the city public with 400 thousand subscribers, "blacklist" the debtor in schools - and the person is left without admission. The debt is inherited: sons pay for their fathers, this is called "family honor".