Munjeong - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 

Tilting his head slightly as he gazed at her, her pale cheeks quivered as though she felt a sense of humiliation. Afterward, they repeated the same actions several more times. She bent her knees, picked up the handkerchief, and, unable to hide the loathing in her gaze, handed it to him for the fifteenth time.

 

“Hand it over properly.”

 

When he pointed out her rudeness, she pressed her lips together tightly before eventually offering it to him with both hands. As he took the handkerchief, which carried a faint scent of fabric softener, Taeha sized her up.

 

What should he do? Should he continue or stop here?

 

Her flushed eyes, glaring at him angrily, had turned red. Even so, she wouldn’t cry. Fixing his gaze on her tearful eyes, Taeha asked in a low voice:

 

“Do you feel wronged?”

 

At his question, Chaeon bit her lips and glared at him.

 

Ah, yes. That face. Far more vivid and alive than when she feigned indifference in front of him. A strange sense of satisfaction welled up inside him.

 

“You put on airs only to end up looking like this over something so trivial.”

 

“…”

 

“So act according to your place, Chaeon. Stop overstepping.”

 

Shifting his gaze from her swollen cheek to her reddened eyes, he fiddled with the handkerchief for a while before tucking it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

 

“Sometimes, things that are too rigid make you want to break them.”

 

Jang Yeonjun’s gaze never left Yoon Chaeon, and Yoon Chaeon continued to sneak glances at Jang Taeha. Though their intentions and directions of interest may have differed, one thing was clear: to unearth Jang Yeonjun, he first needed to tame Yoon Chaeon, who had caught his eye.

 

Her gaze, which still bore traces of unchecked desire and curiosity, was unconvincing in its clumsy attempt at disguise. Such futile defiance would be broken, and he intended to strip away her facade, leaving her bare before him.

 

Everything within Songbaekwon would eventually belong to Taeha, and anything that was his had to bend to his will.

 

Glancing at her pale face, Taeha turned away with a cold expression.

 

—

 

Upon learning belatedly about what had happened to Chaeon, Heejung caressed her daughter’s swollen cheek, crying in distress for a long time.

 

“I left my post so often without knowing…”

 

“Mom, it’s okay. Really, I’m fine.”

 

“My goodness. It’s so swollen. What do we do with my precious daughter?”

 

“I’m really okay. So please stop crying, alright?”

 

It was Chaeon who had to calm Heejung down, speaking with composure. Yet seeing her daughter so mature, Heejung felt even more heartbroken. She blamed herself for having met such a man, living such a life, and raising her only daughter in an environment that forced her to grow up as someone who only knew how to endure.

 

“So what if she’s mentally unstable? Does that mean slapping someone didn’t happen?”

 

Heejung oscillated between quitting on the spot and going to confront them. But every time she said so, Chaeon forced a smile and persuaded her to stay calm. It wasn’t easy for someone Heejung’s age to find a job with such conditions, and leaving on bad terms or getting involved in complications could make it even harder to find work elsewhere.

 

It was plain to see. So thinking realistically, no matter how humiliating and unpleasant it was, all that was needed was for Chaeon alone to endure and move on.

 

In the end, only two people would carry the wound from the incident like a scar. Chaeon was just the daughter of a Songbaekwon employee. The things she went through would soon be forgotten by everyone, as though they never mattered in the first place.

 

With that bitter thought in mind, a few nights passed.

 

—

 

“Yoon Chaeon. The homeroom teacher wants to see you in the faculty office.”

 

It was after the weekend, when she returned to school. Without knowing the reason, Chaeon made her way to the office. As she was about to step inside—bang! Someone slammed the door open with such force that it seemed the door might be torn off its hinges.

 

“Hey! Choi Hyeji! Is there any need to break the faculty room door?”

 

“Shut up, you fossil.”

 

The muttered curse was sharp, accompanied by a strong smell of cigarettes. The girl had piercing marks above her eyebrows, hair disheveled from frequent bleaching, and tied haphazardly. When she spotted Chaeon standing outside the faculty room, she shot her a cold glare.

 

She was the leader of the group that often bullied Chaeon—the one rumored to have a crush on Kang Kyuhwan. People said her family was wealthy enough that the school couldn’t take any real action against her, no matter what trouble she caused.

 

“…”

 

Expecting her to shoulder-check her aggressively, Chaeon stood still, simply staring. To her surprise, Choi Hyeji glared at her murderously but kept her distance, as if touching her would be distasteful, and walked past with a chill in the air.

 

What an unusual sight. It was so out of the ordinary that Chaeon tilted her head in confusion. She only found out why once she finally faced the homeroom teacher.

 

“You called for me, teacher?”

 

“Oh, yes. Chaeon, you’re here.”

 

The teacher greeted her with a kind smile she had never seen before, leaving Chaeon feeling slightly bewildered as she approached him.

 

“Chaeon. I didn’t want to nag you first thing in the morning, but…”

 

“Sorry?”

 

“Why didn’t you say anything about being bullied? About them hitting you and making your life miserable?”

 

“…”

 

“Ahem. You should’ve spoken up if something like that happened.”

 

“That’s…”

 

“I heard your mother works for Chairman Junkwang’s household.”

 

She had never told anyone about it, so how this fact had leaked was beyond her comprehension. Chaeon suppressed her discomfort and answered calmly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“The chairman’s son called the school directly this morning. He asked us to keep an eye on you and take care of you.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“Well, these days, there are families like that, paying attention even to the employees working for them…”

 

The homeroom teacher’s chatter was already going in one ear and out the other. What lingered in Chaeon’s mind was the conversation she’d had with Yeonjun a few days earlier, after leaving his room together.

 

‘Are you really not going to tell me what happened?’

 

Those soft brown eyes, narrowing with warmth. Yeonjun, who had been quietly watching Chaeon as she kept her mouth shut with a troubled expression, eventually softened the corners of his lips.

 

‘Alright. Then I’ll just have to think it through on my own.’

 

‘…….’

 

‘If I figure it out, can I help you?’

 

Would that even be possible? And help? Why would you? As if asking those questions, Chaeon had merely looked at him in silence. Yeonjun, as though reading all her thoughts, had spoken again.

 

‘We decided to get along, didn’t we? You and I.’

 

As if they’d shared something extraordinary… as if he truly thought of her as someone special. Chaeon had tried hard not to be deluded by such thoughts. But it seemed he’d caught on to what had happened after all. Lowering her gaze, she silently fiddled with the hem of her school skirt. Seeing this, her teacher coaxed her with an unsettlingly gentle voice.

 

“If something like that happens again, make sure to speak up. He told us to report it right away. He seems to think of you almost like a little sister.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Wow, really. If he hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have had a clue.”

 

Chaeon had to hold back a bitter laugh.

 

Wouldn’t have known? Impossible.

 

The teacher must have seen countless signs. There was no way they could have missed the systematic bullying, the way a group of students collectively treated one person as invisible. How many times had she caught the teacher pretending not to notice the bruises on her arms, the swelling on her legs, or her split lip? Did they truly believe they were unaware?

 

Every time she was treated differently from the wealthier students, it had been clear enough. But she had told herself that this too would pass if she endured a little longer. Yet…

 

So a single phone call from someone as significant as the son of Chairman Jukwang could turn someone, who had made her doubt their worth as an educator, into such a kind and compassionate teacher. The hypocrisy and pretense were nauseating.

 

“Teacher, I’d like to call and thank him personally. Would that be alright?”

 

There was no way she could know Yeonjun’s contact information, but staying in the presence of that face, dripping with false sincerity, made her feel like she might throw up.

 

“Oh, uh, sure…”

 

The teacher muttered under their breath, as though it was only natural that they even knew the contact information. The sound of it was repulsive. As they stroked their chin, lost in thought, Chaeon regarded them as though looking at a piece of revolting trash before turning and leaving the office.

 

As soon as she opened the back door of the classroom, countless eyes darted toward her. The blatant stares felt like needles prickling her all over as Chaeon returned to her seat as though nothing had happened.

 

From the start of the first period to the end of the homeroom session, nothing unusual happened. While previously, nothing had happened because they had treated her as invisible, this time, nothing happened because they were too busy watching her closely. That was the difference.

 

Occasionally, students she had never exchanged a word with would strike up awkward conversations, asking if she did anything special to take care of her hair or skin. It was laughable how they pulled out trivial topics, as if trying to help a classmate who had fallen far behind.

 

The abrupt change in atmosphere made her feel sick.

 

‘Chaeon.’

 

Yeonjun’s kind voice echoed in her ears.

 

‘So act according to your place.’

 

And then, that other cold voice, tearing at her insides, made her chest feel painfully tight.

 

She couldn’t tell if she wanted to cry or laugh.