Chapter 10

The CSAT was only three days away.

These days, self-study had become the norm even at school. Eum left the house with a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and a mask covering her face.

The air had suddenly grown so cold that she could truly feel the meaning behind the phrase CSAT cold snap.

Hunching her shoulders as she made her way toward the bus stop, she suddenly heard a short honk.

“Huh?”

She turned around with a hopeful feeling, and there stood a familiar sedan.

And then a welcome face appeared through the driver’s-side window.

“Get in.”

It was Jihoon.

Eum’s mouth broke into a bright smile.

“Wow! You came to pick me up?”

She ran toward him, delighted. The moment she opened the passenger door, a wave of warm air rushed out.

“How did you happen to come?”

“I thought of you on my way to work.”

“They say the first person you think of after waking up is the person you love.”

“You were probably around the thirteenth person I thought of.”

The sedan Jihoon was driving slowly left the residential complex.

Even if she had been the thirteenth person on his mind, Eum was instantly happy simply because he had thought of her at all.

“Have you been studying well?”

“Of course. I told you I’m confident I can get a perfect score.”

Her bold answer no longer sounded like empty bravado. For just a moment, Jihoon wondered if he really ought to start preparing to marry her.

But whenever he did, bitter memories surfaced.

“Seong Jihoon. I heard your mother had you when she was still a teenager?”

“Is it true that there’s only a nineteen-year age difference between you and your mother?”

“But your father is really old, right? I heard he’s practically your grandfather. Your mother wasn’t sold off to him, was she?”

Words that had struck his young heart like blades.

If Eum married him, those arrows would be aimed at her instead.

“Teacher?”

When Jihoon remained silent, Eum tilted her head and called to him.

But Jihoon didn’t answer.

For the first time, he felt at a loss.

If she didn’t marry him, was there really any viable escape for Eum, who would otherwise be forced to marry Assemblyman Park?

“You said you wanted to become independent and live freely once you became an adult.”

“Yes!”

“Then how about studying abroad?”

It was clearly an unexpected suggestion. Eum opened her eyes wide and stared at him.

“Are you trying to send me completely out of Korea?”

Jihoon didn’t answer for a moment.

She’s more perceptive than she looks.

But there was no other reason behind his desire to send her away. He was doing it solely for her sake.

“I don’t want to.”

Yet Eum flatly refused, as though she didn’t even need time to think about it.

“Is it because of English?”

“No. I’m good at English. But you’re in Korea, Teacher.”

“……”

“And I don’t have the money to study abroad. My parents don’t invest in me.”

“I will.”

This time, Eum couldn’t answer.

“I’ll pay for your tuition and expenses. You can earn your own spending money by working part-time or something. As for the problem of me not being there…”

Ah. Did he really have to discuss something like this so seriously?

“You can come back to Korea every vacation.”

“Are you supporting me right now?”

“You’re worth investing in. You’re a brain.”

Only then did Eum fall silent, seemingly considering the idea.

She was a clever girl, so she could easily calculate the pros and cons. If she stayed in Korea, it was obvious that she would eventually be forced into marriage with Assemblyman Park. No matter how she looked at it, going abroad and broadening her horizons seemed far better for her.

As expected, she must have finished her calculations quickly, because Eum lifted her head.

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“You want to marry me too, Teacher.”

But somehow, she’d arrived at a strange conclusion.

“Actually, I did a little digging. I heard you’re going on blind dates these days, too.”

Jihoon suddenly felt as though he’d lost the ability to speak.

“Where did you hear that?”

“It’s a secret.”

Eum answered coyly, but in reality, she had happened to overhear her father, Yeon Changshin, and her stepmother, Kim Joo-yeon, talking.

That was all she knew. She had wanted to hear more, but Bora had come out of her room, forcing Eum to leave.

“The conclusion is that even you think marrying me is the best option, isn’t it?”

“Why would that be the conclusion?”

Jihoon found it so absurd that he laughed. Eum looked cute with her lips pressed together in a serious expression.

“Studying abroad isn’t cheap, you know. Spending that much money is something you only do for your child or your wife. But I can’t become your child, so that only leaves being your wife.”

“So you’ll go, then?”

“No? I’m going to stay by your side.”

Eum cupped both hands around her mouth as though she were about to whisper a secret.

“After we get married.”

Then she smiled brightly, and Jihoon’s heart strangely fluttered.

Did the sun really follow only her around?

The light Eum radiated seemed to grow brighter and brighter, until it was almost dazzling.

Eum hadn’t been feeling well since the afternoon. Her period had started.

So today, instead of going up to the study room after school, she headed straight home.

At times like this, it was better to lie down somewhere warm and go to sleep early rather than push herself. After sleeping, the pain in her lower abdomen would improve considerably.

But the moment she took off her shoes in the entryway, she saw Bora coming out of her room.

“Why are you coming out of my room?”

Bora also screamed as though she’d seen a ghost when she saw Eum home earlier than usual.

“What the hell! Why are you home so early?”

“I asked you why you were coming out of my room.”

Bora’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Then, apparently having thought of an excuse, she lifted her chin.

“I-I was just helping Mom clean your room.”

But there was nothing in her hands.

A faint sigh escaped Eum.

Ever since the rainy day when Bora had seen her with Jihoon in front of the house, Bora had been watching her constantly.

Eum could feel Bora glaring at her whenever their paths crossed, but she’d pretended not to notice because she didn’t want to get involved. It wasn’t worth wasting her time dealing with her, either.

“What did you clean it with? Did you sweep the floor with your hands?”

“No? Mom asked me if there was any trash she needed to empty, so I went in to check. There wasn’t any, so I just came out.”

“Mom isn’t home.”

“Over the phone!”

Eum normally cleaned her own room herself. Not once had her stepmother, Joo-yeon, ever cleaned it for her.

Yet now she was supposedly calling Bora and telling her to check her older sister’s trash can? It was such an absurd story that not even a passing dog would believe it.

But instead of raising her voice, Eum simply held out her right hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Show me. Your call history.”

“What? Are you accusing me of lying?”

“Show me.”

Bora’s face finally turned bright red.

The truth was that Bora had gone into Eum’s room to see if she could find something she could use against her. If there was anything she could use to make Eum miserable, she wanted it in her hands.

And just when she had thought of a particularly effective idea and was feeling pleased with herself, she hadn’t expected Eum to come home at this exact time.

Bora’s heart had dropped in surprise for a moment, but she quickly lifted her chin even higher and raised her voice.

“How ridiculous. My call history is private information. Who are you to demand something like that from me? And if you really don’t believe me, ask Mom yourself.”

With that, Bora deliberately slammed her shoulder hard into Eum’s and went into her own room.

Left alone, Eum let out a weary sigh.

She slowly opened her bedroom door and went inside.

At first glance, nothing seemed noticeably different.

The books were still in the same place, and there were no signs that the chair had been moved. She kept her drawers locked just in case, so Bora wouldn’t have been able to open them.

But contrary to Bora’s claim that there had been no trash, the small trash can beneath the desk was overflowing with snack wrappers from all the late nights Eum had spent studying.

Eum put down her bag and collapsed onto the bed.

She stared blankly into space for a moment before shaking her head and covering her face with both hands.

“Don’t stress yourself out over something like this, Yeon Eum. It’s pointless.”

Even if Bora had stolen something, the best thing Eum could do for herself right now was pretend not to know and let it go.

But even knowing that, once her feelings had been thrown out of balance, it wasn’t easy to restore them.

At last, the day of the CSAT dawned.

Bright sunlight streamed through the morning.

Eum opened her hollow, exhausted eyes.