EAR Ch 31

“I’m cleaning.”

Normally, he would have quietly gone into his room by this point, but Ryu Jaemin, standing in front of the door, ended up opening his mouth after all.

“Hm?”

“Why did you look through my desk drawers while cleaning? I can tidy up my drawers myself.”

“Is it a problem that I organized the desk for my son, who’s busy studying? The housekeeper worked very hard today for the deep clean.”

Jaemin looked at his father without even blinking. Only after a few seconds of silence could he ask back.

“The housekeeper?”

“The house seemed a bit cluttered lately, so I asked her for a deep clean for a change. And I told her to be sure to let me know if she saw any suspicious items.”

“…Are you saying the housekeeper rummaged through my drawers?”

“She did it at the parents’ request—did something go wrong?”

Ha. Jaemin let out a breathy, dry laugh despite himself. The reason the helper’s expression earlier had been full of anxiety was not because of anything special, but because she happened to run right into him on her way home after finishing the deep cleaning.

“What’s with that attitude of yours?”

“Pardon?”

“How dare you sigh in front of your parents? Do you mean to say you’re dissatisfied with your parents’ actions right now?”

“…I’ve never had my grades drop since coming to high school, nor have I ever caused trouble, so I am just curious why you suddenly inspected my belongings.”

Jaemin said everything he wanted to say while slightly lowering his gaze. The atmosphere was already ruined anyway, and his father was as furious as he could be, so he felt there was no point in treading carefully now. As the words passing between father and son became sharp with thorns, his mother waved her hand.

“Honey, do it later. I’m getting a headache.”

“You go in and rest for now. I’ll talk with Jaemin for a bit.”

His mother let out a long breath and eventually stood up from the sofa. Jaemin stared blankly at her back as she headed to the bedroom without looking back, and this time, without even lowering his gaze, he faced his father directly.

Only after the bedroom door closed did his father open his mouth again.

“Do you feel wronged because your personal belongings were inspected for no reason?”

“…”

“Is there really no reason? Are you that proud and clear-conscienced toward your mother and father these days? Huh?”

Jaemin just stood there with his mouth shut. He couldn’t tell whether his father was saying this because he actually knew something, or if it was a leading question asked with the expectation that Jaemin would get scared on his own and confess something.

At times like this, his father’s methods and way of speaking occasionally made Jaemin thoroughly sick and tired. He was like a somber spider, digging a trap and waiting for the other person to fall into it. Perhaps because he had seen and learned it since he was young, whenever he realized that he himself was acting that way sometimes, he felt disgusted with himself as well.

Because his older sister had become an adult and no longer needed to follow their parents’ ways, she chose to leave the spiderweb-like house and live elsewhere. However, Jaemin, who was a high school student, could not leave home yet, so he came to a conclusion: No matter what made his father this angry, he would pretend not to know until the very end.

“Yes, I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

“I got a call from your academy teacher. They said you’ve been late often lately.”

“I’ve never been late. Studying on my own works better at school, so instead of self-studying at the academy, I stayed behind in the classroom to study a bit more before going.”

“If I check with your homeroom teacher while delivering that friend Seungpyo’s cell phone, I’ll find out soon enough.”

This time, Jaemin was completely at a loss for words. For the past few days, everyone in the school had seen Jaemin absorbed in basketball practice from early morning until right before dismissal—including the teachers.

When Jaemin didn’t make any further comeback, his father let out a sigh as if he had become gloomy.

“Think deeply before you go to sleep, and if you feel there is something to reflect on, come to the study and talk.”

“…Then will you give me back my phone?”

“Ryu Jaemin.”

Instead of giving an answer, he called out the three syllables of his name sternly, stood up, and headed toward the study. As the study door closed after his father, following the bedroom door his mother had entered, Jaemin was finally left alone in the living room.

Jaemin couldn’t enter the study, nor could he enter his own room. He remained in that spot for a long time like a person who had lost their way, or a punished child. There was still no expression on his neat face, but his pupils moved around slowly, briefly revealing their owner’s inner conflict.

Finally, Jaemin made a decision and went into his room instead of the study. After changing his clothes and coming out, this time he headed to the bathroom.

Until he took a shower, brushed his teeth, finished his remaining studying, and went back to bed, Jaemin ultimately did not open the door to the study where his father was waiting. He did so even though he knew that passing tonight in silence would not cool his father’s anger, but rather make it even greater than it was now.

📚

Class 4 happened to have their homeroom teacher’s class for the first period. The teacher, who had looked in a good mood since morning, conducted the lesson even more cheerfully than usual, and with about five minutes remaining before the end, he casually brought up small talk.

“It was fun yesterday, right?”

“Yes!”

When the kids answered in unison, he clapped his hands first this time.

“Let’s give a round of applause to the friends who worked hard playing basketball yesterday.”

The kids giggled and joined in the applause. The news that the Class 2 homeroom teacher had handed out cups of coffee in the teachers’ office had even reached the students, so no one felt resentful. No one particularly disliked Class 2 or the Class 2 homeroom teacher, but there was no need to refuse the good fortune of belonging to the side that could enjoy the winner’s sense of superiority.

“Today, the teacher is buying everyone a hamburger!”

“Whoa, really? Amazing!”

Thanks to the inter-class basketball match, the kids, who were about to get hamburgers despite just watching, cheered even more intensely. The kids who actually played the match rather just quietly shrugged their shoulders.

The homeroom teacher must have really wanted to win, too. Seungpyo chuckled softly and looked out the window. The empty playground and basketball court were quiet, as if yesterday’s heat had been an illusion. The number of times he had played basketball matches with the kids over the course of a year was countless, but today of all days, moments from yesterday kept coming to mind as if he were suffering lingering effects from finishing a particularly big tournament, drawing his gaze to the playground. It had been a more exciting game than expected, after all.

Though it became recess, Seungpyo did not leave his seat and only glanced toward the back door. It was the first recess today after the first period of supplementary class ended. Perhaps because he had poured too much passion into yesterday’s match, the morning felt more languid than usual.

Normally, he would have left his seat as soon as the bell rang and wandered around here and there, but today he guarded his desk and waited in silence. However, even after several minutes had passed since the bell rang, no one came looking for him. Even though Seungpyo had let the guy off easy—a guy who deserved to have a bump put on his forehead—so he should have come running as soon as he arrived at school to present the cell phone with both hands, it seemed the top student in the whole school was still holding his nose high today as well.

“He really does all sorts of things.”

Seungpyo muttered to himself and eventually stood up. As he came out into the hallway while inwardly reciting the proverb about the thirsty person digging the well like self-hypnosis, he just happened to see the Class 2 kids who had played in yesterday’s basketball game sitting on an indoor bench and hanging out. Seungpyo approached them and asked.

“Where’s Ryu Jaemin?”

“Ryu Jaemin hasn’t come yet.”

“He hasn’t come? First period is already over.”

At Seungpyo’s words, one of the kids spoke with a slightly worried expression.

“I know, right. Did he get scold because he got caught playing basketball with us for no reason?”

“Ayy, why wouldn’t he come to school just because he got scolded? I heard his parents are strict. They wouldn’t let him skip school.”

“That’s true. Is he sick somewhere? The homeroom teacher must know, right?”

“The homeroom teacher didn’t say anything special even after looking at Ryu Jaemin’s seat. He must have contacted the school.”

Seungpyo, who was only listening to the conversation between the Class 2 kids, suddenly raised his head and looked down the far end of the hallway. Someone who had just walked up the stairs was walking toward this direction.

“There he comes.”

“Huh?”

The kids turned all at once in the direction Seungpyo was staring and waved welcomingly at Ryu Jaemin.

“Ryu Jaemin! Did something happen?”

“We thought you weren’t coming today!”