The same was true for Juyoung, the “golden apple.”
‘No. It’s really not true!’
She was someone who’d come to feel a bit more closeness to Hwan than others due to the previous incidents. That’s why she was even more indignant than others, hitting her cushion repeatedly saying this current situation was nonsense. She too was confident that based on the Hwan she’d known and newly come to know, such a thing absolutely hadn’t happened.
So she’d gone around arguing with people spouting nonsense earlier that it couldn’t be true.
But she couldn’t help her fingers hesitating at the response that came back.
[Do you have proof?]
“…Proof?”
To be coldly honest, she didn’t.
When it came to a person’s heart, once words like ‘still, just in case, what if’ came to mind, it couldn’t help but waver. With nothing to say and no other recourse, she eventually returned to HwanHui’s Garden, the most comfortable place, and let out a deep sigh.
‘…Will he be okay?’
She was curious. About Hwan’s situation, about his heart.
So after hesitating and worrying for a long time, she clicked on the nickname “IAmHwanOfJoseon” that showed as offline, opened the message window, and carefully tapped the keyboard. It was a difficult question she’d completed after writing and erasing several times.
[The rumor going around now isn’t true, right? Right? What do you think, IAmHwanOfJoseon-nim?]
Even though she’d learned the other party was Hwan, she couldn’t just press him demanding to know what this was all about. Moreover, hadn’t they ended things last time pretending not to know each other? Like that time, Juyoung thought this was the right thing to do.
‘I wasn’t even planning to act like I knew him more.’
Just reaching out like this again was already a huge thing.
‘But right now it’s an emergency situation…!’
Juyoung bit her lips tightly and looked at the blinking cursor. Her heart truly wanted to protect Hwan’s secret. But perhaps because she’d lost to her continuing worry, in the latter part of the message she saw herself openly crying and begging.
[You’re okay, right? If you’re okay, could you please just type a . even just one ㅠㅠㅠ]
What were Hwan and Huiseo doing right now? She’d gotten choked up thinking that and sent it. Of course, Juyoung was still regretting it right after, just like that time, and wondering whether to cancel sending the message.
But just then, her phone vibrated with a buzz.
[Hwan posted on social media everyone!]
Then not just Juyoung but everyone’s antennae shot up. There had even been people constantly going in and out waiting for Hwan’s upload. When they accessed Hwan’s social media, the first thing they finally saw was none other than “hands.”
‘…Suddenly hands?’
It was none other than Hwan’s two hands spread out flat on a wooden table.
‘Not like a statement or something?’
Bewildered for a moment by the completely unexpected photo, people all understood Hwan’s intention in uploading this photo from the phrase “Clean (palm emoticon)” added below the picture.
In this chaotic situation, he was showing proof of his clean hands.
‘That he didn’t do it.’
Even without writing it out in detail, at least the meaning was fully conveyed to those who believed in and waited for him.
[This is him saying he didn’t do it, right? I’m not the only one thinking that, right?]
[That’s right, if he’d beaten someone so badly they couldn’t speak, would his hands be intact?]
[I’m crying ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
For those supporting Hwan who’d been holding their breath and waiting, it was truly like a festival scene. But HwanHui’s Garden was even noisier and more chaotic than other places because of another photo Hwan had uploaded along with it.
That too was a photo of hands.
However, unlike the first photo where both hands were Hwan’s, in the second photo there was a difference in that the right hand was right-handed Hwan’s hand, while the left hand was left-handed Huiseo’s hand.
“Strictly speaking, the three of us fought that day. If I clear my name, you might get hit by stray fire too. So wouldn’t it be good to upload your hand together in advance?”
Though who would think Jeong Huiseo would hit someone?
The people of HwanHui’s Garden saw right through Hwan’s scheme.
[Hwan ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Am I the only one noticing the hand size difference in the middle of all this?]
[Just add rings and it’s perfect]
[But couldn’t Huiseo have just taken a separate photo?]
[Shh be quiet]
[In the middle of all this chaos, filling it with his selfish desires like a couple photo is so like the Lee Hwan we know]
‘He’s okay.’
Thanks to that second photo, people could feel even greater relief.
At that point when everyone was crying, “IAmHwanOfJoseon” appeared on HwanHui’s Garden’s connected users list.
Confirming that, Juyoung couldn’t help but let out another sigh of relief. The fact that Hwan had the presence of mind to enter HwanHui’s Garden right now could also be interpreted as it not being such a big deal. Just confirming that made her get choked up and tears almost came out for no reason.
‘I’m not usually like this.’
It was the moment when she was wiping her moistened eyes, thinking how fortunate it was.
Then a notification “A message has arrived” came and her eyes widened.
“A message?”
Her heart, which had been thinking for a moment, soon dropped with a thud.
“Could it be from Hwan? I’m crazy. I’m crazy. What did I write?”
She’d hoped not, but it really was. Confirming the message sender was “IAmHwanOfJoseon,” Juyoung made a fuss as if about to tear apart the cushion she was holding. Then after barely checking the message while clutching her pounding chest and even doing Lamaze breathing, what the heck, there were no other words at all, just [.] with a single period.
“What is this…”
Juyoung, about to express her bewilderment, recalled the message she’d written earlier.
‘If you’re okay, could you please just type a . even just one ㅠㅠㅠ’
No, she was the one who said that, but who knew he’d really type exactly just one period? Juyoung, who’d been puffing out her cheeks sulkily for a moment, soon burst into a bright smile without realizing it.
‘There’s no stopping him when he’s being quirky.’
He was indeed the Hwan they knew.
[Hwan didn’t do that]
Having concluded thus, she—and everyone in HwanHui’s Garden—earnestly hoped this nonsensical situation would end quickly and their kids could enjoy themselves again.
***
Thanks to the photo he uploaded, they could definitely avoid the atmosphere of being one-sidedly criticized. However, as expected, an even more tense fight broke out with “he did it, he didn’t do it” and it became noisy.
As a result of the imperial family’s deliberation, it was decided that Hwan had no choice but to be absent from school for a few days. With reporters starting to swarm, they couldn’t risk an awkward scene being created, and there were also safety concerns. The reason was appropriately set as “he’s not feeling well.”
Meanwhile, the school seemed to have pulled cards like “fact-finding investigation” and “school violence committee” to avoid criticism of sitting idle. So it would be fortunate if things were clarified crystal clear, but the imperial family was wary of making things bigger unnecessarily and having them flow in an unfavorable direction.
‘Of course, we can’t just keep avoiding like this.’
They also needed time to prepare countermeasures while watching the trend of public opinion.
So in the end, Hwan couldn’t take a single step out of the palace, but in contrast, Huiseo insisted on going to school as usual. It was none other than because the name Choi Yuwon had come from Hwan’s mouth.
“I’ll go and talk to him.”
Huiseo volunteered to go and talk with him.
To clarify the truth, he definitely needed to meet and talk with him once. Huiseo considered this his responsibility. In many ways, this had happened because of him, so he had to clean it up.
He also wanted to scold him for keeping his mouth shut despite clearly knowing the situation had gotten this far. The fact that he’d broken his spirit in their last conversation also worked as confidence.
One mistake was enough. He was determined to clean things up.
“…Won’t it be dangerous to go alone?”
“No, I have to go.”
Hwan cautiously tried to stop him, but it didn’t work on Huiseo at all.
Then he went out not through the parking lot direction where reporters were camped out, but through the usually closed northern Sinmumun Gate, even took a taxi, and resolutely went to school. There were a few reporters on the school side too, but Huiseo didn’t spare them a single glance as he busily entered the building.
“Only Jeong Huiseo came.”
“Really.”
“They said he’s sick.”
“As if that’s true.”
Seeing Huiseo walking the hallway alone, murmuring sounds could be heard from here and there.
But Huiseo was only looking for Choi Yuwon.
Upon entering the classroom, he immediately saw Yuwon sitting leisurely and annoyingly as if Hwan’s situation was none of his business. It was the seat right in front of the very last window seat where Huiseo had fought with him in the past. In front of him, like the day the two had reunited, but this time conversely, Huiseo stood.
And Huiseo’s gaze naturally went to Yuwon’s hand.
“…Ha.”
Unlike Hwan’s clean and smooth hands, his hand had a bandage openly wrapped around it. It was outrageous that even with such conspicuous evidence, no one suspected Choi Yuwon, no, didn’t even dare think to suspect him and was desperately looking away.
And because of that, Hwan was being driven to the edge of a cliff instead.
Huiseo, who couldn’t help but be angry, irritably grabbed Yuwon’s injured hand and spoke.
“Let’s talk.”
Then Yuwon raised the corners of his mouth and smiled as if he’d been waiting.
