Barely suppressing his laughter, Seongjo also immediately turned his gaze away.
“No, what kind of talk is this about bringing lawyers into a kids’ fight?”
Their parents grumbled, but it was a somewhat passive voice. Seongjo glanced down at the watch on his left wrist, then stood up from his seat.
“I’m a bit busy. Jo Yeongeun, get up. Let’s go.”
At those words, Yeongeun hurriedly stood up from her seat following Seongjo.
“Ah, yes, yes…!”
“We’ll be going first then…”
Both the homeroom teacher sitting between them and the other parents had confused expressions. They seemed to hesitate about whether or not to hold back Seongjo. Mentioning lawyers would weigh on their minds if they were to continue holding him back and pursuing or blaming him.
Seongjo smiled at them once each, then left the staff room with Yeongeun. Yeongeun stuck close to Seongjo’s side and walked diligently, as if deliberately trying not to look back.
“Wait a moment.”
It was when the two had already stepped out into the hallway that a voice holding them back was heard from behind. Seongjo and Yeongeun turned around almost simultaneously.
“Yeongeun-ah.”
It was that man. This time too, his gaze didn’t reach Seongjo. That fact was somehow both displeasing and interesting. Yeongeun glanced at Seongjo. When he nodded his head meaning go ahead, Yeongeun, who had been wearing a completely dark expression until just moments ago, approached him with a much brighter face.
“Yujeong-ssaem! I was so grateful earlier…”
“I just said what I saw, no need for thanks. Here, you dropped this.”
Was his name Yujeong? Far from what he had imagined, but somehow it was a name that suited him well.
Unlike his cold-looking impression, his tone when dealing with students was gentle. Seeing Yeongeun smile happily with relief after receiving a small doll keyring from him made his feelings more subtle.
Seongjo, who had been watching them from a few steps away with his arms crossed, moved his feet before that strange feeling could fade. When he approached closer to the man, Yeongeun flinched in surprise and stepped back as if making way. Seongjo didn’t bother to stop Yeongeun.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
Then his face frowned slightly.
As if he was witnessing all kinds of nonsense.
Was it a mistake? Then what was the identity of this sense of déjà vu? Had he converted the vague favorable impression he had upon seeing him into the impression that he seemed to have seen him somewhere?
Since he openly showed a displeased expression, he expected the conversation to end there, but after watching Seongjo for a moment, he showed an unexpected reaction. He approached closer to Seongjo. The distance narrowed enough to make even Seongjo slightly flustered. A scent, whether skin lotion or perfume, wafted strongly from him. He asks.
“Have you been drinking?”
Was the reason he slightly lowered his posture to identify the smell of alcohol? He raised his head and straightened his body, then added.
“In broad daylight.”
The silence that entered between the lines felt particularly long. While Seongjo didn’t answer, his slow words continued.
“For someone who came as a child’s guardian, isn’t that rather uneducational… that’s what I’m thinking.”
To think this kind of content was the answer to whether they had met somewhere before. Somehow he felt a strange hostility. Had Lee Seongjo’s first impression been really terrible to him?
To begin with, Seongjo wasn’t Yeongeun’s guardian. Rather, shouldn’t he be praised just for coming all this way for the younger sister of his betraying lover? However, he had no intention of arguing back like that, and he didn’t even feel the urge to bristle. He just found this situation amusing.
Seongjo slowly lifted his arm and brought it near his face. Around his wrist lingered a not unpleasant scent mixed with fabric softener and perfume. He hadn’t drunk that much alcohol to begin with, and he had washed his face, gargled, and even used perfume, so he thought it wouldn’t show. He couldn’t tell whether it was just imperceptible to himself or whether this man was extremely sensitive, but… Seongjo naturally assumed the latter.
“You have a sensitive nose.”
“…I hear that often.”
“Your personality seems sensitive too.”
He looked at Seongjo with an expressionless face. However, there was definitely a displeased air mixed into that countenance. A face that seemed not just to dislike Seongjo, but also somehow angry. It was puzzling.
Certainly not ordinary.
But somehow it didn’t feel bad.
“Well… I guess I was mistaken.”
“…”
“It wasn’t any nonsense, so don’t misunderstand.”
Seongjo, who had winked one eye, left behind his disgusted face and returned to Yeongeun, who had been standing back at a distance. Yeongeun, who had been fidgeting and stomping her feet restlessly, followed behind Seongjo with relief.
Yeongeun, who had been following silently, hesitated before finally speaking up.
“Um, Seongjo oppa…”
“Hm? You can’t call me oppa.”
“What? Since you’re oppa’s friend…”
“We’re not friends though.”
“Wh-what?”
It seemed she had mustered up courage to speak, but he had teased her too much. Seongjo laughed seeing the flustered Yeongeun. In reality, he and Yeongbeom weren’t originally friends, and now even more so, so it wasn’t wrong. However, as if it had been a joke, he continued in a softened voice.
“I just said uncle a moment ago. Well, I’m of uncle age anyway.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Yeongeun apologized while looking around. It seemed she was checking if anyone had heard. Seongjo answered nonchalantly.
“I’m not telling you to apologize. Outside, you can call me whatever you want.”
“…Thank you so much for today.”
After hesitating, Yeongeun bowed her head in greeting. Seongjo looked down at Yeongeun with a face lost in thought for a moment. Several thoughts came to him at once. From the thought that she didn’t really resemble Jo Yeongbeom in personality or appearance… to the thought that wasn’t she a bit small even considering she was still in middle school?
He had done his duty. It would be fine to have a driver take Yeongeun home like this, and for himself to return to the drinking party he had slipped away from or go home.
Seongjo recalled the past week anew.
The emotions he felt toward Yeongbeom were truly complex. Betrayal, sadness, understanding… He would get furiously angry at Yeongbeom who had forsaken 8 years of love in the worst way, but when he recalled good memories, his mood would just sink. He would want to understand, wondering if his unspeakable hardships had been that great, and so he chose a stable married life with another woman. He had never even thought he could feel such ordinary emotions.
That’s why he didn’t want to see Yeongeun as much as possible. Because he felt like he would be swept up in storm-like emotions again while thinking of Yeongbeom.
But it was better than expected. Even the fact that this child was Yeongbeom’s younger sister didn’t really impact him much. He just had the strange thought of wondering if maybe she was this small because her older brother didn’t feed her properly.
Seongjo asked as if tossing it out.
“You, aren’t you hungry?”
He also had a lot to ask Yeongeun. So it wouldn’t be a bad choice.
* * *
Silence descended between Seongjo and Yeongeun, who were sitting side by side in the back seat of the car Secretary Kim was driving. Yeongeun’s face was full of tension as if sitting on a bed of thorns, uncomfortable with this situation. If Seongjo himself had driven instead, the sense of distance wouldn’t have been this close and it would have been fine. The problem was that he had come after drinking.
His attitude seemed prim and like he was picking a fight, but there was nothing wrong with what that teacher said about him being unsuitable as a child’s guardian. To at least not make her get indigestion before eating, Seongjo didn’t speak to Yeongeun throughout the journey.
The place Seongjo took Yeongeun to was a nearby restaurant. It was because when he asked what she wanted to eat, Yeongeun answered that anything was fine. Fortunately, it seemed to be a good choice, as Yeongeun, whose eyes sparkled as soon as they entered the restaurant, selected the children’s set that came with a cute character-shaped drink and had a satisfied expression.
Seongjo, who finished ordering accordingly, looked at Yeongeun’s face once before opening his mouth.
“Who was that teacher earlier? From what I saw, he didn’t seem to be your homeroom teacher.”
“Ah, right. The homeroom teacher was the person sitting with us… Yujeong-ssaem is the math teacher.”
“His name is Yujeong?”
“Yes, Teacher Jeon Yujeong… Do you know each other by any chance?”
Yeongeun, who had been looking at Seongjo with eyes full of interest, immediately hesitated and read the mood. She added explanation-like words even though he hadn’t said anything.
“Ah, you seemed to say you’d seen him somewhere earlier…”
“Well, he does feel somehow familiar, but I don’t particularly remember the name.”
“Ah…”
Jeon Yujeong. It was a pretty name, but hearing the name didn’t bring anything to mind. I’m really going to end up being someone who just pulled nonsense instead of déjà vu… Seongjo thought to himself and smiled nonchalantly at Yeongeun.
-ssaem (쌤) – [Casual/affectionate form of “teacher” (선생님)]
