## Chapter 57 – Meeting My Stepmother’s Childhood Friend Alone (3)
Offering a woman instead of friendship fees?
Sein is? To this kid? What reason could she have?
The answer to the question swirling in Do Hye-jung’s mind was provided by Joo Ji-wan once again.
“Jung Sein has nothing. No friends, no family.”
“No, maybe not friends, but family…”
“No. It’s not like that. Even if she has a family, that family means nothing to Sein.”
Joo Ji-wan’s words landed heavily on Do Hye-jung’s chest.
The family he was talking about was her.
And her father.
“I’ve never even seen Sein’s father.”
“He’s busy.”
“I know, he’s busy. But this is the third time I’ve been to this house. Twice in the evening, once during the day. And he hasn’t been here once. Besides…”
This time, Joo Ji-wan crossed his legs. It was an arrogant posture, as if he had taken control of the conversation.
“If we thought there was even a slight chance her father might come, we wouldn’t have been talking so loudly. But Jung Sein didn’t seem to care at all. As if her father would never come to this house.”
Joo Ji-wan’s eyes stared directly at Do Hye-jung.
But Do Hye-jung couldn’t meet his gaze and lowered her eyes to the table.
“It’s not just now, it was like that in the past too. Back then, I used to hang out at Sein’s house all the time, but her father was never home. Her mother was always there, though. When I asked Sein if her father was coming, she always answered, ‘He’s not coming.'”
Even for a busy person, not running into each other to this extent was strange. Besides, the last time she came to this house, she had committed such a big act. As someone who thought she might end up in a drum this time, it felt strange that nothing was happening.
“I also looked into what Jung Sein did at school. The illegal admission thing. The one where the president resigned.”
The illegal admission scandal at Ewha Women’s University that once shook the world.
The president of Ewha Women’s University was replaced because of that. It even had an impact on the general election for National Assembly members that year. Jung Sein was at the center of that incident.
“It turned out that the problem was with the daughter of a lawmaker from the opposing party. A political rival to Sein’s father.”
The illegal admission of a National Assembly member’s daughter and the resignation of the university president.
Why was Jung Sein, a mere student, so deeply involved in such a big incident?
The reason was none other than Jung Sein’s father, Jung Dae-ho’s, political show.
“I thought Jung Sein used her father’s power, but what do you know? Wasn’t it the opposite?”
Jung Dae-ho strongly criticized the illegal admission of the lawmaker’s daughter, and brought his own daughter, who happened to be attending the same school, to the media.
‘My daughter, who entered Ewha Women’s University solely through her own efforts, said this: What about the efforts that she and her friends have made so far! My daughter, whose lifelong efforts have been denied, pleaded with tears in her eyes. She asked for the eradication of corruption in private schools!’
Did Jung Sein really say those words to her father?
Joo Ji-wan, who knew her true self better than anyone, could say with certainty that she would never have done that.
‘The university entrance exam, which should be the fairest in Korea, has been tainted by corruption. It is an act of deceiving all the students and parents who are working hard even while cutting back on sleep. If that daughter shamelessly continues to attend school even after this corruption has been revealed, if that father shamelessly continues to wear the badge of a National Assembly member, what can I, as a father, say to my daughter Sein?’
Jung Dae-ho played it like that. He secured an image of an honest man who had his daughter enter a prestigious university fairly, and even an image of a father who cared deeply for his daughter.
Because of this, Ewha Women’s University student Jung Sein received media attention and her photo was even featured prominently in the news.
As a beautiful college student who honestly works hard, Jung Sein, the daughter of a National Assembly member who doesn’t just stand by and watch corruption in the school. It reached a point where no student at Ewha Women’s University could not know Jung Sein.
Jung Sein used this incident in reverse to take control of the school, but was that really what she wanted? Only Jung Sein herself knew the answer to that.
“I guess Sein’s father doesn’t think of her as his daughter either?”
Do Hye-jung couldn’t say anything.
He dragged his daughter into politics to boost his popularity and eliminate his political rivals. Even if Jung Sein cleverly used the situation, it was definitely not something a normal parent would do. In fact, Jung Sein had to go through a storm-like school life after that.
“Jung Sein has nothing meaningful. Not her father, not her mother, not her friends, nothing. The only things that matter are probably me, and herself.”
Then, as if correcting the words he had spoken, Joo Ji-wan muttered.
“No, maybe even herself doesn’t matter.”
Even herself doesn’t matter.
Do Hye-jung didn’t even want to think deeply about what that meant.
Joo Ji-wan took out his cell phone and held it out to Do Hye-jung.
“Would you like to see this? What Sein sent me.”
Do Hye-jung took the cell phone.
Her slender hand was trembling slightly.
She didn’t want to see it. But not seeing it wouldn’t solve the problem. She had to see it in order to take any action.
And when Do Hye-jung saw the screen, she covered her mouth with her hand.
Otherwise, she felt like she would scream.
“That bastard, she sends me pictures like this without a second thought. Even though it could ruin her life. Should I call this a friendship fee too?”
It’s not just her life. Since it was known through the media that she was the daughter of National Assembly member Jung Dae-ho, if these photos were to spread, not only her father Jung Dae-ho, but also her stepmother Do Hye-jung would not be free from blame.
“So, in the end, the only meaningful existence in Jung Sein’s mental world is me. To the point where she doesn’t even value her own life. What do you think will happen if you take me away from her?”
Do Hye-jung belatedly forced a smile and asked back.
“Aren’t you…overestimating yourself too much?”
The smile was already crumbling, but she didn’t realize it. If this were a filming, it would have been an NG already.
Joo Ji-wan replied without losing his composure.
“Then would you like to test it out? Should I distance myself from Sein once, as you said?”
Do Hye-jung’s expression hardened even more.
“Then she’ll ask. Why aren’t you playing with me? Then I’ll tell her that your mother told me not to.”
As he said that, Joo Ji-wan smiled.
The expressions of the two people facing each other were now completely opposite.
“That girl won’t stay still. She’ll probably judge you as an enemy. I can’t even predict what she’ll do…”
Something eerie crawled up Do Hye-jung’s back.
Goosebumps were on her exposed arms.
Clack.
Do Hye-jung put Ji-wan’s cell phone down on the table.
Her tightly clenched lips felt like they would bleed from being bitten too hard.
Joo Ji-wan picked up his cell phone, tapped it a few times, and put it in his pocket.
“What…what do you want me to do?”
Tears welled up in Do Hye-jung’s heavily made-up eyes.
It was a genuine tear, not acting.
“I did my best! To be that child’s mother! To be recognized as a mother!”
A bitter cry filled the living room.
Ji-wan sat and listened to such lamentations with a blank expression.
“I made her meals every day, talked to her! I tried to take care of her! But she doesn’t even look at me! She doesn’t care about me at all!”
Ji-wan didn’t know how much of that was genuine.
But the emotions she felt were conveyed to him directly through her trembling voice.
“I tried too…”
Do Hye-jung covered her face with both hands.
A sobbing voice leaked out from between the fingers covering her face.
The image of the haughty actress Do Hye-jung handing over an envelope of money was nowhere to be found.
Only a pitiful woman who had not been recognized as a mother by her stepdaughter was in that place.
“Hoo~.”
Joo Ji-wan sighed deeply.
As if he didn’t know what to do either, as if he was frustrated.
Even during that time, his eyes were scanning Do Hye-jung’s legs and body.
Now that she was covering her face, it was an opportunity. An opportunity to look at her as much as he wanted without being noticed.
“Well, it’s not like there’s no way…”
Do Hye-jung’s sobs stopped at Ji-wan’s muttered words.
“What way…?”
“Ah. No, it’s nothing.”
Ji-wan pretended not to hear Do Hye-jung’s quick question.
As if he had said it without realizing it and then realized his mistake.
“What way is there? Tell me. Huh?”
Do Hye-jung was desperate.
An incomprehensible daughter. A daughter who doesn’t accept the existence of a stepmother.
Being recognized by such a daughter was her lifelong wish. For Do Hye-jung, that very thing had become the purpose of her life. There was no turning back now.
The only friend that daughter had any meaning for. If she could only get a hint from him!
“No, that’s…”
Unable to resist Do Hye-jung’s desperate eyes, Ji-wan opened his mouth.
“You know? Sein listens to me.”
She listens to him.
The nuance was subtle, but that was the truth. He was the only one who could communicate with her daughter.
“So, I think something might happen if I talk to her.”
Even as he spoke, Joo Ji-wan sighed deeply as if he didn’t want to.
“I don’t really want to do that.”
“Why?!”
“Why, you ask…”
Ji-wan said in an absurd tone at the question that seemed like she would devour him.
“Conversely, why should I do that? If my relationship with her changes now, I’m the only one who loses out.”
The current relationship. A relationship where Sein offers him women like friendship fees.
It was a one-sided and absolute relationship. Of course, he wouldn’t want that kind of relationship to change.
Do Hye-jung thought about the bargaining chip she could take out for him.
Money. She had already tried it once and failed. How much more effective would it be if she raised the amount further?
Threats. Threatening him using her husband was already out of the question. She would be lucky if he didn’t threaten her with the photos of her daughter in his possession.
Other than that, the only thing that would work is…
…a woman?
Ji-wan’s eyes, which had glanced at her legs again, quickly returned to their original position.
Do Hye-jung felt like she had come up with the only way to persuade him.
