‘How deeply hurt Huiseo must have been.’
In Hwan’s mind, Director Jeong was the person who should understand that most. But he couldn’t bring himself to speak, worried that informing him might become an even greater wound for both of them. So Hwan couldn’t help but burst into pitiful tears, saying that Huiseo experiencing such humiliation was all because of him.
He poured out tears and snot as if he’d received all of the harsh lashing from moments ago himself.
“How could they say such things to Huiseo? How…”
So the Chief Secretary also couldn’t help but be flustered, not knowing what to do.
Just as the Emperor was strict with Hwan but easily granted anything if it was Huiseo’s request, the Chief Secretary too, though harsher to his own son Huiseo than anyone, showed weakness toward Hwan. Of course, that was probably because Hwan was a member of the imperial family he’d devoted his life to, rather than being Huiseo’s friend.
“Your Highness. You mustn’t do this. You must maintain your dignity…!”
“What dignity! *Sob*, in this situation, how can I… Right now to Huiseo…!”
“Alright! I won’t do that, so please stop now…!”
The troubled Chief Secretary broke out in a cold sweat at the crying that only grew louder, making his efforts to calm him futile. Though the reckless appearance like a small child might look somewhat unseemly, perhaps it was the most effective method of dealing with the stubborn Chief Secretary.
In the end, the only one who could sort out this chaotic situation was Huiseo.
“I’ll talk with His Highness the Prince first.”
What Huiseo said as he struggled to extract himself from Hwan’s arms was none other than that he would have a conversation with Hwan. After all, he too hadn’t fully grasped the situation either. He needed to know why Hwan had deceived even him and followed along to such a place.
There seemed to be circumstances he didn’t know about.
Somehow, if even Huiseo could accurately understand the situation, an outline of how to respond going forward would emerge. Then, as Huiseo personally soothed Hwan, only then did this absurd commotion enter something of a lull.
The PR Director who came out late and saw that mayhem, and the exhausted Chief Secretary, all agreed that would be best. Seeing them exchange glances, it seemed the two also needed time to consider how much of this unusual situation they should reveal and how to handle it.
Thus, in the PR Director’s office where all four people had been moments ago, only Hwan and Huiseo remained.
“Huiseo…”
Hwan called him in a wet voice, the crying still not completely gone. He felt unbearably sorry that things had come to this because of his lighthearted attitude. Though Huiseo had been gently soothing such a Hwan until now, once they were alone together, his gaze immediately changed and he revealed his true colors.
Amazingly, he grabbed Hwan by the collar.
It was a scene that would make the PR Director or Chief Secretary outside faint if they happened to see it. But given the situation, right now in Huiseo’s eyes, he couldn’t see prince or anything else.
“Hui, Huiseo.”
“You’re going to tell me everything that happened, leaving nothing out.”
“I will, I will…!”
Hwan’s urgent cry rang out. He didn’t dare even think of lying.
From the information gathered that way, first there was the fact that none other than Choi Yuwon had called Hwan to that place.
As Hwan had mentioned earlier, the text he sent remained as evidence. According to Hwan’s continued explanation, when he went to that place, Choi Yuwon was already beating Hong Donghyeon, and Hwan had ‘only used his mouth’ to have a war of words, just as Huiseo had earnestly warned him in advance.
However, regrettably, there was no way to objectively prove this.
“…I told him to stop. But since such a thing happened during the day, I guess I lacked sincerity. I should have gone and told a teacher right away…”
He only thought about running to the parking lot where Huiseo was waiting because he wanted to see him.
He didn’t know the price of that momentary avoidance would be this great.
“I was wrong…”
He repented to his bones. But he really didn’t hit him.
The person who actually hit him was someone else, yet being cornered like this for something he didn’t do was too unfair. Had he really lived so miserably that no one would believe him this much? Overwhelmed by a sense of doubt, Hwan’s shoulders drooped.
Huiseo stared at such a Hwan for quite a while.
“You’re absolutely certain you didn’t hit him?”
“Really! Look, look at my hand! If I really beat that guy to a pulp like that, could my hand be this clean?”
The indignant Hwan turned his hand this way and that, thrusting it before Huiseo’s eyes.
What he said was quite persuasive, so Huiseo nodded. He’d asked to confirm in the first place, and he knew that Hwan wasn’t someone who could cunningly finish such a tremendous task and return in that short time while he waited in the car.
‘Hwan can’t do something like that.’
But it was an excuse that wouldn’t work on other people.
They clearly wouldn’t believe unless shown definitive evidence saying “no” right before their eyes. If they didn’t explain properly, they’d be endlessly nitpicked and suspected at every turn. But unfortunately, with the cards they held, it was nowhere near enough to shake off such suspicion.
‘Too disadvantageous.’
Agonizing over the difficult situation, Huiseo first thought to try changing public opinion, which was getting worse by the day. That seemed to be the only thing they could urgently do at their level. With such thoughts, Huiseo grabbed his ‘clean hand’ that Hwan had waved before his eyes moments ago.
“Let’s show this to other people too first.”
Though he didn’t know how much they’d believe.
‘We also need to take action on our side.’
Silence wasn’t always right.
If their side also hurriedly sent a signal saying no, at least people friendly to them would have justification to step forward and defend them. If it became a battleground like that, it would naturally get even noisier, but the situation had long passed the point where it could be resolved by sitting still and waiting.
‘Let’s escape noisily.’
With such thoughts, to Huiseo nodding his head resolutely, Hwan asked carefully.
“How?”
“What do you mean how? You have something you’re good at.”
“What?”
To the bewildered Hwan, Huiseo held out his palm. Then he spoke resolutely.
“Hand it over. Your phone.”
“…Huh?”
My phone, why, why?
Hwan made a frozen expression, guilty for no reason.
***
At that time, like many other communities, HwanHui’s Garden was equally in an uproar. It was chaotic with people who had heard rumors through word of mouth and gathered in disbelief. They too wondered what on earth this was about. No, honestly, it made no sense.
‘Hwan hit someone?’
The Hwan they knew, though he caused many other minor troubles, wasn’t someone who would beat someone that severely. Of course, how could they, who at most only encountered him through broadcasts from afar, know every side of Hwan, but still, they really thought this wasn’t it.
‘Unless he did something tremendously harmful to Huiseo.’
No, even if that were the case, surely Huiseo would have grabbed his pants leg to stop him.
So the people of HwanHui’s Garden firmly believed this was something that absolutely couldn’t have happened.
But outside, the fact that Hwan had swung his fists was becoming almost an established fact, which turned their insides upside down. Though no official report had come out yet, a post that spread in an instant on the internet as ‘stock market gossip’ was the root of the problem.
‘Prince A, famous as a usual troublemaker, really causes an accident this time? Indiscriminate assault on fellow student at same school.’
The stories attached to it were even more of a spectacle.
[He was originally famous for being rude haha]
[I saw through him from the start]
[His eyes looked sharp, physiognomy is science–]
[It wasn’t for nothing that I didn’t warm up to him tsk tsk]
[My friend’s friend confessed to him and got slapped]
[I never understood the atmosphere of only praising him in the first place;]
Thinking this was their chance, people who’d been looking at Hwan unfavorably all jumped out and ran wild.
‘If they knew all along, why didn’t they say something earlier? Why only now talk about eyes and physiognomy?’
They said all sorts of nonsensical things. Watching such mayhem, people who liked Hwan, people who had been cheering for him, and people of HwanHui’s Garden felt their blood truly drying up.
‘That’s not it, right? Right?’
Though they were afraid, still they believed in the Hwan they had known.
The victim hadn’t precisely pointed to Hwan. Since it was still just a rumor, they comforted each other saying ‘waiting comes first.’ They thought there would soon be a position statement from the imperial family, as they couldn’t be unaware of this chaos. The people of HwanHui’s Garden felt the same.
[Everyone calm down and wait, an official statement will come soon]
[The one having the hardest time right now is Hwan ㅠㅠ]
[If we don’t believe in him, who will?]
But in the midst of that, with one post that went up, the anxiety of people who’d been barely holding on burst out.
[Actually my younger sibling attends the Imperial Higher Education Institute and when I asked, it seems the situation is really serious, they say a fact-finding investigation is starting soon]
‘Fact-finding investigation.’
They couldn’t even tell whether to be happy or sad about those words. If a fact-finding investigation started, could he clear his name and return to those bustling, fun times like before? Everyone couldn’t easily leave comments and watched the situation while hemming and hawing.
