LLU 4

For a moment, I couldn’t say a word. It was the first time I had ever been hit like this by anyone. I had gotten into fistfights a few times with the guys at school, but it had only ever been at the level of grabbing collars and kicking each other in the stomach a few times.

And above all, to me, violence was something that was exchanged reciprocally, not one-sidedly. Not once had I ever been suppressed so one-sidedly like this.

Bewilderment, confusion, and pain were starkly mixed in my panting breaths. When I clutched my burning cheek, it felt beyond numb, to the point of tingling. At this rate, in the 15 minutes it would take for my mother and Chairman Choi to arrive, my face would be completely swollen.

While I was assessing the situation and catching my breath, Choi Junghan calmly lifted his sleeve and fiddled with his cufflink. The back of a flawless, smooth hand came into view.

Just now, with that monstrously large hand, he had hit me, without mercy.

“Crazy, huff, isn’t he a crazy son of a b**ch?”

Unfiltered curses burst out. Hot breaths hissed through my clenched teeth.

“Do you think, I’m going to just, let this go? I’m going to tell them everything. What you did.”

“Yeah, go ahead. You’re a little kid, so go and tattle.”

He smiled, revealing his even teeth.

“Go on and tarnish your mother’s future.”

“…What?”

“Isn’t she a pregnant Cinderella? I’m talking about your mother.”

His unrestrained words burrowed into my eardrums without any leniency.

“Can’t you even figure that much out? All the things your mother is set to gain in this household just by having one measly kid, you can’t calculate that, can you?”

“…….”

“Let’s see if our Un-ah is a dutiful son, or if he’s a b**t**d who doesn’t give a d**n about his mother since he’s going to move out and live on his own after graduation anyway.”

Choi Junghan smiled faintly. In that perfectly sculpted, beautiful smile, not a single shred of anxiety could be seen.

Seeing his eyes glint with a peculiar light, an unpleasant sensation swept through my entire body. An intuition struck my mind like lightning. It was, I can say with certainty, the strongest premonition I had ever felt in my life.

This son of a b**ch.

He’s truly not in his right mind.

I recalled the people I had seen on TV or in literature someday, people who committed serious crimes yet felt no remorse whatsoever.

They had no hesitation at all in harming others. And the monster in front of me right now, while he hadn’t committed such a crime, seemed to be no different from them in his essential nature. In a word, he was a psycho, polished to look plausible and elegantly packaged.

Choi Junghan, having calmly withdrawn his hand, turned around without any lingering attachment. I ground my teeth as I watched his receding back. If I had my way, I would have followed him right now, grabbed him by the collar, and slapped him across the face just the same.

But… my body wouldn’t move. Shamefully, my body was trembling like an aspen leaf. The merciless and cruel violence I had experienced for the first time in my life had gripped me with a greater shock than I had imagined.

That crazy son of a b**ch….

I tried to catch my breath while slumping down on the sofa. At times like this, I needed to cool my head. I had to let the useless emotions subside and properly grasp this situation. I gathered the scattered facts and carefully organized them.

My mother has fallen in love with the master of this unrealistically large house. At least from what I’ve observed so far, her feelings with Chairman Choi are mutual. And my mother is happier than she has ever been. Chairman Choi, far from being annoyed by the sudden child, strongly wants her to have it, and my mother also wants to give birth. And…,

A merciless madman lives in this house.

In the face of that clear proposition, all those facts lost their meaning to me, like a damaged work of art.

Choi Junghan had inflicted violence on me for no reason at all. Even if my mother had so much to gain through their union, was I really supposed to endure that unjust violence and keep my mouth shut all by myself?

Does Chairman Choi know? That his own son is such a monster. My mother, of course, wouldn’t know….

I felt like my head was going to explode. I staggered up from the sofa. Among the several doors, I saw a bathroom with its door slightly ajar. I went straight in, turned on the light, and locked the door.

When I checked the mirror, I indeed looked like a mouse that had been tormented this way and that by a cat. My right cheek, red and swollen, was hideous, and my hair, which he had messed with, was disheveled. My face was filled with dismay and shock.

Even if I ran out of this house right now, I couldn’t wander around looking like this. Muttering a curse, I turned on the water. First, I wanted to cool the heat of my stinging face with cold water.

When I touched my swollen cheek, it hurt so much that a curse escaped on its own. The merciless violence I had just suffered was brought back to mind thanks to the pain. If I had been hit just one more time there, my skin would have broken and I would have bled.

I smoothed out my messy hair with my fingers. My reflection in the mirror, glaring this way with bloodshot eyes, looked particularly unfamiliar today.

What the h**l am I doing here right now?

The back of my head throbbed. What I had intended to do wasn’t a big deal. Before leaving upon graduation, I had just planned to show my face a couple of times and have a meal with them, playing along with Chairman Choi and my mother.

But this….

“S**t….”

A messy, crushed voice leaked out. Even my voice, which was thinner than my peers’, got on my nerves today. My chest, heaving with short breaths, belatedly came into view. No matter what I did, my agitated heart just wouldn’t calm down.

Just then, I heard a presence outside. The front door opened, and I heard the sound of several employees greeting Chairman Choi.

It was now time to go out and face Chairman Choi and my mother. What would happen if I told them what had happened just now?

The question I had asked myself earlier came back to me with force. Do I really have to endure the unjust violence and insults that Choi Junghan inflicted on me all by myself? Just for my mother’s sake, do I have to remain silent?

The answer was already decided. There was nothing to even think about. I took a deep breath in and out, then came outside.

I saw my mother standing with Chairman Choi in the reception room. And the moment my mother’s figure entered my eyes, my mind, which had made a firm decision, momentarily went blank.

Rosy, flushed cheeks, neatly styled hair, flawless makeup like I had never seen before, a pearl necklace shining at her throat. And on her fourth finger… a diamond ring so large it was breathtaking.

A woman in love.

That phrase, which had been circling in my head since last time, was stamped down with a b**g, like a branding iron.

“…What is it? Today.”

What came out of my mouth was not an accusation against Choi Junghan, but a dazed question. Hearing my damp, suppressed voice, my mother whipped her head towards me.

“Un-ah, I’m sorry. Did you wait long… Oh my!”

My mother covered her mouth, letting out a scream-like sound. The several shopping bags with luxury brand logos that she had been holding fell to the floor with a thud. Chairman Choi’s eyes also widened. It was almost at the same time that the two of them walked towards me.

“Student Un-i. What is this right now….”

“U-Un-ah. What… what is this? What’s wrong with your face? Who did this. Huh?!”

My mother’s trembling fingers grabbed my face. A small groan escaped me on its own. The moment I twisted my head to escape her grasp, I felt a strange energy. A body that had been attacked once heightens its five senses very keenly towards the aggressor.

“…….”

I could see Choi Junghan’s figure over Chairman Choi’s shoulder. He had come out of his room at some point and was watching the scene with great interest.

He was waiting for an answer from me. Even though the possibility of me revealing what had just happened was overwhelmingly high, it was difficult to read any anxiety from him. Rather, Choi Junghan’s eyes held a look of great amusement.

A picture was momentarily drawn in my head. If I told them what had happened a moment ago, both Chairman Choi and my mother would probably be horrified. They would ask Choi Junghan for the reason, and the atmosphere would quickly turn hostile.

But that would only be for a moment. Even if not right away, Chairman Choi would eventually have to side with Choi Junghan. The arrogance that had been glimpsed in Choi Junghan’s eyes since the first day already proved that.

A life where it is natural to obtain everything. He must have lived that kind of life since birth. No matter how infatuated Chairman Choi was with my mother, he would not value her more than the son to whom he would pass on everything.

Then it ends there. My mother will return to her old life with a cleanly emptied body. To a life where she has nothing. Not as the main character of a splendid ballroom, but back to a life of cinders.

In any case, peace would return to me. I don’t know if my mother would also be able to call that ‘peace,’ but that’s her share.

Nevertheless.

“I’m fine.”

A calm voice flowed from my throat.

“…Actually, I got into a bit of a scuffle at school earlier.”

The corners of my stiff mouth twitched, but they steadily went up. At the same time, a glint flashed in Choi Junghan’s eyes as they took me in.

Clearly, what he was feeling was not relief, but exhilaration. Looking into Choi Junghan’s shining eyes, I was genuinely creeped out.

My mother’s eyes, beautifully coated with mascara, opened even wider.

“What? How did it happen! Who would hit you like this, and on the face!”

“That’s how boys are. We exchanged a punch each and made up, so don’t worry.”

I explained the situation quickly in a business-like tone, but my mother’s displeased expression did not smooth out easily. I had gotten into fights a few times before, but that was back in middle school. It was no wonder my mother was so shocked that her lips were trembling.

Just as things were about to get a little difficult, Choi Junghan made his presence known at the right time. The attention of the two of them simultaneously shifted to him. Chairman Choi’s voice was surprised.

“Oh, Junghan-ah. You were already here?”

“Yes. More importantly, it seems you’ve been somewhere special.”

He asked in a soft, deep voice. The way he had openly ignored my mother on the first day was nowhere to be found. It was an attitude that had changed as easily as flipping one’s palm.

“Oh, ahem… I had… some things to prepare with Ms. Jeongin.”

Chairman Choi, who had suddenly lowered his voice, smiled awkwardly. My mother also wore a shy, sweet smile. Choi Junghan, still with a fake smile, slowly turned his gaze this way.

Look, at your mother’s face.

A silent ridicule flowed past my ears. It was a sneer at my completely different reaction from when I had ground my teeth and declared to him that I would tell everything. At the same time, it must also have been a pathetic sense of conquest from standing over me in a superior position.

“The ring suits you well.”

“Oh my, thank… thank you.”

Even at his simple compliment, my mother blushed shyly and smiled. What was uplifting my mother right now was probably the joy of getting closer to Chairman Choi’s family. In the warm atmosphere, the violence I had suffered was soon forgotten.

“Well then, let’s all go in and have dinner now.”

Chairman Choi pointed to the dining room with a pleased smile. Chairman Choi’s soft, inviting tone, the comforting smell of food wafting from inside.

Normally, my mother would have been busy preparing food inside the kitchen. Wearing the same apron as the employees who were working now.

But today, my mother, wearing a luxurious dress instead of an apron, linked arms with Chairman Choi and walked gracefully to the dining room. As if walking down a wedding aisle.

Whatever had happened, I was still a student preparing for exams, and time flowed equally for everyone. I had no time to calmly review and sort out the things that had suddenly crashed into my life.

The college entrance exam was just around the corner. I lived cooped up in the school library, checking the D-day, which was a little over a month away, every day. I frantically flipped through book pages and solved problems.

My grades weren’t at the level of competing for 1st or 2nd place in the entire school, but I was in the upper ranks of my class. As long as I didn’t make a mistake, I was at a level where I could get into a decent university in Seoul, in my desired major.

But my goal was not the best school I could get into, or a so-called popular major. I wanted the place where I could receive the most benefits among the schools I could get into with my abilities.

A place where, if possible, both the dormitory and tuition were completely free. For a long time, my biggest goal was independence. I didn’t have the money to get a studio apartment or the like in the middle of Seoul.