The next morning, Seol Ah grabbed her lunchbox from the table. She saw that Yu Young also made Po Lim's lunch. Seol Ah knew that Po Lim would not come home for lunch, so she grabbed the lunchbox and took off. Before heading to her school, she walked to the nearby junior high school. Seol Ah paused, watching a group of girls surround one of them. Po Lim.
"So your sister is really adopted, and you didn't know that?" one asked slyly. A few giggled.
"Daebak, if that was my household, I would never want to go back into that hellhole…" another sneered. Po Lim trembled as she clenched her shirt's hem, sobbing silently.
"Your mother would dare to leave her hardworking husband in the States and return to here…" another chimed. They all laughed.
Seol Ah dropped the lunchbox loudly enough for them to stop and turned around. They paused and quickly paled.
"Is that…?"
"Po Lim…" Seol Ah called urgently. Po Lim froze as a teardrop fell to the ground. She looked up and saw Seol Ah tightening her jaw.
"Unnie…"
Seol Ah stomped toward Po Lim, yanking her away from the group. Seol Ah stared at the girls as they anxiously looked at each other. Her heart raced as she wanted to raise her voice, but she closed her eyes.
"So what if people think I'm adopted? Po Lim is still my sister… you don't have proof that I am adopted, so why are you bullying an innocent person over my issue?" Seol Ah questioned. The girls cowered, looking at each other.
"Unnie… just leave. Why did you come here?" Po Lim whispered. Why is she here? This is so embarrassing!
Seol Ah glanced at Po Lim.
"Omma was worried—"
"I don't care!" Po Lim shouted. They locked eyes with each other in silence. The girls group squeaked and snuck away, leaving the sisters alone. Seol Ah furrowed her brows and scoffed.
"Po Lim, what's wrong with you? I came here to give you your lunch box that Omma made… aren't you thankful—"
"Why should I be thankful to someone like you?!" Po Lim added tensely.
Seol Ah paused, gulping a hard lump as her eye twitched.
"I… I'm sorry, I didn't expect that," Seol Ah responded slowly. She walked to grab the lunchbox and handed it to Po Lim's hand before walking to school.
Po Lim stared at the lunchbox and cried to herself. She went into the school building.
Once Seol Ah reached her school, she sat down solemnly without realizing that Jang Yu was staring at her. Seol Ah put her backpack down and then her head. Jang Yu softly knocked on her desk, startling her.
"Seol Ah! Did you go home safely last night?" Jang Yu pried. Seol Ah looked at her, exhausted from Po Lim's interaction earlier.
"Yes… I did," Seol Ah lied. Then she froze, thinking. She glanced at Jang Yu, who stared at Seol Ah coldly.
"I see…" Jang Yu said sternly. I guess she hasn't done anything yet. She quickly turned to face the front of the classroom.
Every student marched through the entrance door and took their seat in the designated area. Jin-ho was the last to come, sitting at the back of the class. As he sat down, he glanced at Seol Ah, who rested her head. His neighbor, Kyu Won, patted his shoulder, but received no response.
"What are you looking at, Jin-ho?" Kyu Won asked. Then he faced the direction where Jin-ho's head was… Seol Ah. Kyu Won grinned. "Ahh, that adopted student."
"Adopted?" Jin-ho echoed as he looked at Kyu Won, who laughed and sat.
"Rumors spread across the school… that she has no parents and was adopted by a family who pitied her…" Kyu Won stated. Then he quickly pulled Jin-ho's shirt. "I heard that you tripped over the entire court to catch her… did you get to feel how big her chest was?"
Jin-ho slapped his hand away, scoffing and resting his head. Disgusting… Then Jin-ho closed his eyes.
Kyu Won clicked his tongue as he chuckled nervously.
"Aigoo… you act like you're into her, but do you really like her?" he shook his head.
The moment the teacher walked in, every student stood and greeted before the lesson continued. The hours passed quickly, but Seol Ah couldn't wait to go home. Jang Yu didn't even try to wake her up to eat or anything.
Once the bell rang for the end of the session, everyone gathered outside the school building. Seol Ah raised her head and looked around. She saw Jin-ho resting his head as well. She frowned, gathering her backpack and walking out of the building. As her footsteps faded in the hallway, Jin-ho opened his eyes. He pouted as he moved his head to place his chin on the desk. Soon, he headed out to the school entrance, which was half a mile away from Seol Ah.
Seol Ah slowly walked by a building, watching the reflection as she went…
The two men from yesterday.
Her heart dropped, thudding loudly. She quickly reflexed her stance and ran as quickly as possible. One of the men smirked, spitting out his disgusting mucus.
"This little lady is a runner…"
The two men darted shortly behind her. Seol Ah kept glancing behind her, seeing them catching up to her. She panted. Until…
A dead end. An empty alley.
"No…" Seol Ah gasped. She turned around, but it was too late. The two men stood before her, blocking the only way out. She swallowed, clenching her hands. The men chuckled. Their footsteps echoed between the buildings, each step closing the space around her.
"How long will it take to teach a little lady a lesson not to run away?" the darker one questioned. The one with the cigarette scoffed, panting.
"You have quite fast legs, little one… but it's too bad that our boss hates pretty girls!" he said, then he swung his hand toward her.
Seol Ah instinctively dodged as his fists punched her hair. She pushed his hand away and made her way to the opening. However, the darker one grabbed her hair and yanked her down. She grunted, kicking his feet before he tried to grab her wrist. She scurried away, getting to her feet.
They both stood beside each other, cracking their knuckles and necks.
"This one is quite a mess to deal with… maybe her TKD skills are a problem…" the man commented slyly.
Seol Ah bit her lower lip in frustration. How did they know that I used to do TKD? I… Then it clicked. Jang Yu. The only person she had told since she came to Korea.
"Jang Yu…?" Seol Ah called, clenching her hands.
The two men pulled a dagger out of their pockets. The darker one stared at Seol Ah's eyes.
"Eyes of one that doesn't fear death…" he said softly.
Seol Ah leapt forward, kicking one to the chest and twisting her entire body in midair before landing another kick to the darker one's neck. Although they defended the attack, they were pushed away from each other. Seol Ah saw the opening and ran toward it. The darker one quickly threw his dagger toward her, scratching her shoulder.
Seol Ah held her arm in pain, looking back at them. Before the other one threw his dagger at Seol Ah, someone grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the alley.
"Run!" Jin-ho shouted suddenly.
Seol Ah froze, staring at him with confusion. How did he know I…?
Before she realized it, she followed Jin-ho away from the two men. He pulled her into a small opening by a busy street, covering her head with his chest. He looked away and covered her injured shoulder with his jacket.
As soon as they realized that the two men were gone, Jin-ho looked both sides of the street.
"I think they're gone… you should be safe now—"
Seol Ah quickly pushed him away. He widened his eyes and looked at her.
"Why are you following me?" Seol Ah questioned sharply.
Jin-ho paused, thinking.
"I… I just heard something and saw what happened…" he replied, scratching his neck. "I thought you were struggling—"
"And you didn't do anything but pull me away? Not even call the police?!" Seol Ah wondered.
Jin-ho swallowed, feeling dumb.
"I… didn't think of that."
Seol Ah bit her lower lip, frustrated at herself. She looked away, grabbed onto his jacket, and was ready to throw it. Then she saw her blood on it. She frowned.
"Thank you…" she said, flushing with embarrassment. I'm acting so ungrateful right now. This is so embarrassing! She turned away and ran home.
Once she reached home, it was silent. She looked around and realized that Yu Young had left that afternoon.
"Thank goodness no one is here."
Seol Ah headed toward the mirror to check her shoulder. She carefully removed the shirt and groaned. She then wrapped a bandage over the shoulder nicely enough to stop the wound from opening.
"If Omma-nim returns home and sees this, she will have a heart attack…" Seol Ah mumbled. Then she tossed it into a trash bag, throwing it into the large bin outside for the garbage truck.
Meanwhile, Yu Young wiped her sweat as she looked for groceries, never realizing that a teenage girl and a man were following her closely. The girl smirked.
"So… she was troublesome after all…" the girl sneered. She watched Yu Young look at the groceries. "Then, as Jang Yu said, let's target her weakness, her mother."