Chapter 49 – Misunderstandings and Truth
Saturday.
Eunji Jeong met her best friend Shin Miae during her middle school days.
“Miae! How long has it been since this?”
“Jeong Eun-jeong! It’s been a while! Do you feel better?”
“Really? I’m stressed because I feel like I can’t take care of it… I’m glad you look good too.”
And after talking a few words, the two headed to the track in the playground of a nearby academy.
Since we practiced together on the track and field team in middle school, we went to different high schools, so it’s been 3 years since we practiced in the same place.
The two girls recalled their middle school days and ran with all their might not to lose, but Jeong Eun-ji continued to win by a slightly more significant margin than then.
After about 10 sprints over time, the two fell flat on the track and were out of breath.
“Haha… Haha… Eunji, why do you think you’ve gotten faster?”
“Hehe… Hehe… Miae, how did you not lose any of your skills? There was such a gap…”
“Blank… Ha, that’s right…”
Shin Mi-ae let out a quiet sigh.
Eunji Jeong decided to cheer her up a bit by asking something she was curious about.
Be careful to avoid hurting her friend as much as possible.
“Is it okay to take second-grade classes? Don’t the kids just ignore me or ostracize me because I’m older?”
“Not really? To begin with, I don’t participate that much in class, and since I train most of the morning and afternoon, my classmates don’t really pay attention to me. Neither do I.”
“I’m jealous of that. Our academy’s track and field club has a normal class schedule, so it’s annoying. And it’s even more annoying because that bastard is in the class.”
“That bastard?”
“Uh… You know. Han Seong-jin in middle school…”
“Ah.”
At that moment, Shin Mi-ae’s expression became quite crumpled.
“I tried not to think about that incident as much as possible, but this year, that bastard was in my class, so every time I see Ssangpan, I think about it and it’s so frustrating.”
“It’s a good thing I didn’t go to Jinsu Bridge.”
“I’m just asking in case… Are you okay now?”
“Well, it’s just… I don’t see the faces of the bastards, so I usually just forget about them.”
“I guess I brought it up for no reason. I’m sorry.”
In response to Jeong Eun-ji’s apology, Shin Mi-ae tapped her shoulder.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. By the way, is that guy still the same? He came here again and started threatening others because Senior Ji called him, and now that he’s in his third year, Ji is trying to manipulate others?”
Eunji Jeong felt something strange in her friend’s words.
“What do you mean, Senior Ji called you?”
“Why do you know? When I was pregnant back then…”
“What… Didn’t you meet alone?”
“…?”
“…?”
Eunji Jeong felt that the conversation was becoming increasingly strange.
And the same goes for Shin Mi-ae.
“That bastard came and threatened me that he would come after me if I didn’t do what he told me to do.”
“I don’t understand right now… What is a senior? A 3rd grader at that time? Why is a 3rd grader there?”
“Huh? Eunji, don’t you know?”
“No, I know… But it’s different from what I know. Didn’t that bastard threaten to erase you because you had that bastard Han Seong-jin?”
“What?! Why do I have that bastard?!”
“?”
#####
4 years ago.
“I don’t like it! How can you say that!? You said you loved me! You said you would take responsibility if anything happened! It’s our child!”
“Hey, you said it was a safe day! But what is this?! I can’t raise a child. I’ll pay for the surgery, so get it over with as soon as possible.”
Inside the gym, Shin Mi-ae was scolding a man who was one year older than her and was one of the group of third-year middle school students.
But he remains steadfast.
He said that he loved her and that he would take responsibility for it, so he allowed his body and gave it his all, but as soon as he heard the news of her pregnancy, his attitude changed, and he had already been fighting like this several times.
“Hey, if you really keep throwing a tantrum like this, I’ll have no choice but to use another method.”
“Another way? Okay, try it! No matter what you do, I won’t erase this kid! You take responsibility!”
“Mr. Ha… I really can’t understand. It won’t work. You brought this on yourself.”
Then he briefly opened the door to the gym and called someone right outside the door.
“Hey, Han Seongjin. Come in.”
‘Han Seong-jin…?’
Shin Mi-ae also knew Han Seong-jin’s name very well.
Among the second-year group of students, he is the worst of the worst.
Shin Mi-ae flinched and took a step back when she heard endless rumors about her drinking and smoking since she was in elementary school.
Her boyfriend, a third-year senior, tapped Han Seong-jin on the shoulder and said one thing quietly.
“Don’t be too harsh.”
“Yes.”
And he immediately left the gym.
Shin Mi-ae, a man alone, felt a creeping fear in her heart.
The physical education warehouse is closed after school, there is no one around to ask for help, and Han Seong-jin is a type of human being who is full of all kinds of evil rumors.
‘Seo, could it be me…?’
If they beat me up or raped me in this place with no one around…
She knew very well that no matter how strong she was for a woman because she was part of the track and field team, it was impossible to beat a man of that size.
However, surprisingly, Han Seong-jin did not touch himself, but instead piled up mattresses in the warehouse and laid down on them and said.
“Hey, I don’t know who it is, but when you speak, do as your senior tells you.”
“What?”
“Do as you are told. I have to listen calmly to get what I want, right? Don’t tire each other out and listen to what I say.”
“What are you? You have nothing to do with it! This is my business and yours! Tell your brother to come and talk to me!”
“Ah, did you really hit my ear hole?”
Han Seong-jin, who cursed loudly, picked up a block from the bottom of a nearby jumping frame.
Kwaaang!!!
“Aaaaah!”
And then he threw it right next to Shin Mi-ae, but close enough that it didn’t hit her.
The jumping block that hit the floor bounced back and forth due to the recoil and landed in the corner of the warehouse, and Han Seong-jin walked up to Shin Mi-ae, who was trembling in fear, slammed her against the wall, and grabbed the nape of her neck with one hand.
“Kek, kekeuk…”
“Hey, if you don’t want to be left behind, don’t make me say the same thing three times.”
“Ouch… Cough…!”
“What do you think will happen if I hit you in the stomach three times really hard?”
“Oh, no! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”
“Or should I call the kids? About 10 of you, grab me once and give me back properly?”
Shin Mi-ae trembled and shed tears as she was faced with a terrifying threat for the first time in her life.
Han Seong-jin loosened his grip on Shin Mi-ae’s neck, but she still did not move in front of her nose and kept pressing with her large size.
“But no matter how bad it is, I also have to be prepared, so I don’t want to do that. So, let’s go on amicable terms with each other, okay? Do you want to be beaten and pushed around until you’re on the verge of falling behind and have a miscarriage, or do you want to just erase it with your own will when your senior says he’ll pay for the surgery?
No, if you give birth before then, will you be able to handle it? Of course, you will be kicked out of the house, and the only thing you can do is run, so what can you do as a single mother at that age? Just give it a chance and grab it?”
“Ugh… You son of a bitch… Who are you? You have nothing to do with it, so what are you? Why do you intervene and say this and that!”
“I have to solve this, so I can owe it to my senior? It’s annoying for me to do something like this too, but it’s annoying to be called in forcibly, so let’s just end it while we talk, okay?”
Only after that did Han Seong-jin withdraw from Shin Mi-ae’s presence and leave her gym.
Shin Mi-ae, who was left alone, collapsed into her seat as her tension relaxed, and she sobbed bitterly.
#####
“… That’s how it happened. Eunji, did you think I was pregnant with that kid?”
“No, I heard you had a baby because of Han Seong-jin, so of course I thought that bastard got you pregnant.”
Jeong Eun-ji only knew that her friend had an abortion because of Han Seong-jin, but she was not told exactly who made her pregnant.
She didn’t even think to ask because it would have touched her friend’s too great trauma to ask. She just heard her friend cry and say, ‘Because of that bastard Han Seong-jin…’ Of course, she didn’t know what Han Seong-jin was. I thought it was a child
“Ha… I was really scared of that bastard’s threats… But there were also things that made me think differently because of what that bastard said.”
“Any other thoughts?”
“That bastard was like that back then. I was going to get kicked out of the house, and what could I do as a single mother at that age when the only thing I knew was running? I suddenly got really scared. There was really nothing I could do.
Of course I can’t run track and field if I’m full, but that doesn’t mean I’m good at studying, and the bastard called my father is telling me to get rid of it, so what can I say to him at home? I’ll be kicked out and live at a single mother’s center, and I’m not ready to raise a child. If I give birth, I’ll have a baby, but the child will also be in pain…”
“…”
Jeong Eun-ji just looked at her confused friend, lost for words.
“So… That’s why I did it out of my own will. When I die, I’ll go to hell. I’ll have to live the rest of my life atoning for my child. Ha… It’s okay for a bitch who thoughtlessly played with her body to end up like this.”
“Miae…”
“By the way, you were in the same class as Han Seong-jin, right? Is that son of a bitch still living like that?”
“Huh? Well, right…?”
In Jeong Eun-ji’s eyes, Han Seong-jin had definitely changed a lot since he was in the first and second grades or in middle school, but she didn’t bother to say that in front of her friends for fear that it would sound like she was protecting him.
“Well, if you told me that that bastard has changed, I wouldn’t have believed you even more. Oh, do you know why that bastard came to me and said that?”
“Uh… Didn’t you just come here because Senior Ji told you to?”
“I found out later that it was during my break from school, but there was that bastard who got me pregnant and told me to give up the baby. I guess he was already seeing another woman at that time.”
At those words, Jeong Eun-ji’s anger was directed at the man who was one year older than her, whom she did not know.
“What?! There are all these bastards?! Weren’t you his girlfriend?”
“Mr. Ha… I guess I was just enjoying it. But Han Seong-jin came to me and used that as an excuse to put me in debt and take advantage of that human’s girlfriend.”
“What…”
“I guess that’s why I had a huge fight with that person. But Han Seong-jin beat me up and then just took it away? You got me pregnant, then you told me to get rid of the baby, and then when I didn’t listen, you dragged Han Seong-jin in. I’m so sorry, you bastard.”
That’s the end of Shin Mi-ae’s story about her past, but Jeong Eun-ji was confused in her head.
The reason she hated Han Seong-jin so much that she wanted to kill him was because she thought it was because he made her close friend pregnant and forced her to have an abortion, but in fact, she never made her pregnant and her abortion was because her friend did it of her own volition. Did you do it?
‘Wait a minute, so the whole reason I hated Han Seong-jin so far… Was an illusion?’
Jeong Eun-ji, whose hatred for Han Seong-jin was so great, could not easily accept the truth.
‘No, no, anyway, it’s true that you created an atmosphere of fear in Mi-ae, no matter what your senior told you to do, right? It would not have had any influence on Mi-ae making that decision! It’s true that she has nothing to be unfair about and has done nothing good, right?
And she also stole that senior’s girlfriend? So Han Seong-jin is the worst bastard! Bastard, what did you say to Yuri on that topic? After all, I can’t just let things get along with Yuri!’
Despite the confusion, Jeong Eun-ji somehow found a reason to hate Han Seong-jin, ignoring the fact that he has now changed.
However, she did not know that at that time, another friend of hers, Lee Yu-ri, was becoming a ‘woman’ in Han Seong-jin’s house.
