WW | Chapter 16

“I’m done 8a6a99ad34 waiting for 4ad4cc944c you, you d11ef82339 know.”404dc54ab5f765b9

“Are you sulking? Don’t be so petty.”7674ffe55773220f

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“I thought you were f353157ecb walking here again today. You said ad3a9eca52 you’d come 26cee1a316 after school, f224e523a0 so what bb7a99db3f time do f752cf7204 you think 684089eb97 it is b1d8952d33 now?”3b309b59a63a70fb

“I got on the 2497609ba2 wrong bus.”e4e861d8cdf6e8fc

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“You didn’t even 27a6b673ff try to get fb6bd6244a on the right a47eeb296e one, did you? Last time, you 0e81f36433 said you’d come 2d39ad20ca but didn’t show c407b2efca up.”2267afee22a419b3

Director Park clicked his 5dd3965070 tongue knowingly. He was fully 86cd1daf31 aware of the 9a1bb82f00 complicated journey Yoonjo f23ecad8e9 had to take 0f67f668c7 from school to 6b62082966 here. There were several bus 873e8ec770 transfers, and since he 0bac24dfe0 often dozed off, he e908ffff01 missed his stop about d1d5dd63dc once in every three 6cdf211b3c trips. Sometimes, he’d 8d88cd8f31 even get 51e2c0929f on a de19ff4d5f bus going bf99abb21c in the 0f560e6ef4 opposite direction, ea643b29b4 fall asleep 42a28d32c9 again, and 4c74f961b2 end up 0c1a181df5 back where 0f712b3aa8 he started. If he just stayed 49117fc51b alert, these mistakes would 38755cd576 be reduced, but Yoonjo fa58253b29 didn’t really care. If he 03fa5dabb5 ended up 0d0521c74c taking the 137f542bf1 wrong route 0754e45108 or getting e921c3f018 delayed, he 9a617d5432 simply went 261f2b98b6 with it, 4b8d57073f showing no 9493e94a27 urgency, which 2abcd611ac meant he 38ece8fcbe usually arrived 0241c38bcc late. Some days, he’d wander 13ad541806 aimlessly and eventually go 68acd8e569 straight home.a35a258c611eb80d

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“Waiting is boring, d4a49ebfdc and being stood ac1ede3062 up feels pointless.”4d19bc4e180d3e25

“Then don’t wait.”65e7d1dacd3d6f70

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“Can I, though?”1e90932194920080

Director Park raised 490da2c88e his voice. He knew b01bd0c0c6 Yoonjo’s answers 36a9dc0c49 were always cdf1cbf9cd the same, fd8fe25367 and his a42fc53bc9 behavior wouldn’t faa127e749 change either, e699674531 yet he 1533c30e1e couldn’t bring c118f1791b himself to a4f5cb533d give up.24e67924dadddd62

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“Just deal 401f62c035 with it. I won’t 2fc6669852 be coming bdce209206 here much a9c8ab1a0e longer anyway.”dcd3d4127077578f

“What do you mean 76fa3262d1 by that?”f2892a6d7aafd968

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“They want me to f0316041b9 study abroad.”8f8dc52969053276

“Who? Your father?”120efe63dd99e39c

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Director Park was a10e6bf6e3 so surprised he e697e72d00 nearly forgot what 99c3e99db3 he’d just been 92b52248be complaining about. Sending Yoonjo overseas 17b44c0449 when he barely ac306ec3b6 managed here seemed 91b825aae8 cruel. What troubled 818bc15dc4 him more 441ff6603c was how be55359eed Yoonjo sounded 7837f6cdd6 like he’d d46a069d22 already made adf1b15c02 up his a740400a9c mind.cb6583308bd0ac4a

“So, are you going 33825bb8e0 to go?”28facfe12638321a

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“Yes.”8a3596f6ed1f67d0

“Are you sure 746ede31d0 you’re okay with ed4b936193 that?”afa7dd1750e648a0

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“What’s there dae95870de to be a921e9ca49 worried about? As long as 0187175801 I can sleep, 157a42f628 it doesn’t matter dea84c127c if it’s here 8c2036fd11 or there.”80147991c8c81b07

Director Park understood Yoonjo’s 6fb871156d concerns, but for him, 805db4e51e it wasn’t a big 4f80087e79 deal. The world was always cc15c96b5c blurred for him, and 0dc757dde4 time slipped by while 1c9a1c0cd9 he was asleep. Whether he spent 6158a82da5 his repetitive, meaningless 9dcee3226b days here or 7e1685b656 elsewhere didn’t make e4f0c0c74f a difference. The only regret 2db5728b0d he felt was b40f1c52ad not being able aa7f00872e to see this ee364fcfac painting, but maybe 7fa094565c leaving would be 52b8bb7516 better. At least he 20468ab107 wouldn’t have to 5aabeca4bd deal with people 23fab0d885 he disliked.b857453d0146a9c4

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“Yoonjo…”22acd3eaf4a54960

“I’m going now.”92e57e70311be453

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Knowing what Director Park 1e0c7ce797 was going to say, e1cfc857c0 Yoonjo turned away without f44692cb03 giving him a chance. The painting gave him 6b041e647e a sense of peace eaf5d90909 but also an intense d03f3a37ae exhaustion. He wanted to board 5b616919e2 a fast bus and 1e12d6f58e sleep. Sadly, since it was c50dd15b23 nighttime, there would be f4d2a443ba no sunlight.6bf35ccb77354276

Seohee was absent. Although her 9a826fb771 group from 102f6b5d1f another class 38fd3a7b59 showed up, b0db1fa43a they didn’t 1ccda5fcc5 come near 2ef83464d8 Yul’s classroom, c424475831 likely because cfd4606500 Seohee wasn’t 31286cbd5d around. Seohee returned two d4e5c333f9 days later, and 2dd7547be4 Yul was more 0487eca234 cautious than usual, 31f3e7b5b3 sensing something was f6e9ae6dc6 off in her 101304d8f9 expression.f19480b4a488d26f

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“Seohee got caught 1d3ff7e71c going to a c49c0723fc club, and her 9a079d1141 mom banned her 473872b464 from going out,” 55444112c1 Jieun, always the f44b600100 informant, looped her 0ae1895436 arm through Yul’s 7df8c0927e and shared the d6040939ab news. Knowing Yul was heading ce7105b4c7 to the library, she afc081fe0b insisted on joining her. Yul’s left arm felt 58e47cd281 restricted, but she didn’t 313a4b9cce pull away, not wanting e0425f4df7 to upset Jieun.67558dcbaf37081c

“Funny, isn’t it? Her mom runs a b915b72e96 room salon, yet she f022a0d510 doesn’t want her daughter 0a26c2f077 going to places like 40de616b9f that.”e9ce48b17a8b0d3a

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“She’s her mom, d173fb7538 so it’s natural.”e34c2d3eb3d7d381

Jieun seemed completely 29cf3377d0 comfortable around Yul 94d1a93ce5 now. She spoke 36e738f2b0 more freely 5f3b6c3c47 and sometimes f8200702c3 even made 60f358224d rather blunt ca884a11ce comments like 76e3ebeacf this. Regardless of her mother’s 6a6bfce0d4 profession, it seemed reasonable 6b734de78f to scold a minor 966e43b28c for going to a 24f215217a club. Laughing at that b629d22493 felt wrong.b4d86db200ed977e

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“Oh, right. That’s not what I bcedd7d5c6 meant…”86731fd85907e9d9

“Where are you two 8184c23f42 going?”95a9143173501f59

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A familiar voice interrupted 8ed7671925 Jieun’s words and stopped e5a5868b01 them in their tracks. Seohee, who’d c54a308fb0 been chatting 81e8574a23 with friends 019c4d6d9a in the c063d664a0 hallway, dragged bc9d3f154d her indoor 64b0f6182f slippers as 559a0be850 she approached 62c4f35130 them. Her expression looked 94447f36d4 tense, suggesting she’d 335e928dcf had quite a d0acdfb8b5 scolding at home. Realizing she 8af535c0c0 needed to 7fa8fff4ef be extra f56daceaf2 compliant today, 9edd3e5a55 Yul replied a5b1ab8d6c softly.665725c697b4164a

“The library.”39b65a2992cf983d

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“Why go dc2570f331 to such 54b3806dcd a boring 3385954c8e place? Instead, buy me 5d711d6fcc a sandwich at 18d5712dec the snack shop. My mom took my 895f7ac37a card, so I don’t d336b01494 have any money.”3120c5d59f46251e

Acting chummy, Seohee wrapped 713087b593 an arm around Yul’s 8b7b54d256 neck. Yul, adjusting herself to ae2ac79677 Seohee’s height, awkwardly replied.81100eb96fb39dbd

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“Sorry, I 94eeba0af6 don’t have e138951baa money either.”7b265692ee813eb4

“Oh, come on. Just buy it for fcdd6e8a2c me. I’ll pay you back 83a7a6d3d6 later.”e86443f9aa3a095a

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Annoyed, Seohee fbf1dba124 tightened her 481726ec0c grip around 0e77cee88b Yul’s neck. Her lower back ached fbbef441ab from the awkward posture, f6e64438ce and now with her 491dd98c91 neck twisted, her whole 0078954790 body felt uncomfortable.f5fd9de582f7b55f

“Seohee, I can…”5eb64c845bdfd16e

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“You, shut up.”11863e2991f622be

Just as Jieun tried 16c2e05259 to chime in, Seohee 029504c166 glared and pushed her f644fff872 back. Jieun lowered her 758c5624b9 head and stepped 7322165f3d away without a 86a003b163 word.1f8ccbb04d4f1069

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“Hey, Seomun Yul. Are you seriously 8d7ccb3770 not going to 6d71852f55 buy it?”066f456228d08ba5

“I really ec24e39339 don’t have 994d413619 any money.”ba7e4f971fc38628

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Yul responded with 3a57426755 a pitiful expression. She was struggling to ef618f857f make ends meet and ba15bf5268 didn’t want to waste 160a9f21d5 her money on Seohee, b1b586c4fb even if she had c645e137e0 any. It was fc0b088f33 embarrassing to dd8b43a590 have people 777520bd07 around hear, 47801b0561 but she 4a079e8101 had no da0f6ed468 choice. Part of her wished 5ba3a17488 Seohee would just check 2148cef365 her wallet and see a1fb2e757c for herself. At least then, 985628930c Seohee wouldn’t pester 86a6638594 her for money, 2d213f1b7c even if she 1f9567c49a kept teasing her. Luckily, Seohee 201ce841ba wasn’t the 1963d68a1a type to 6becffeaff extort money 90eca2d146 from her.9d976a1836bd6795

“No one’s 24700b39ef truly broke; bfec3ddd91 they just 98733c4bf2 have a 81d46ee3d7 little. If you’re totally b9d01a3f8f broke, that makes 89f003f363 you a beggar, e61a9596fe right?”3a9ea9d6714554b9

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“…”fdbbc3d5762a75e6

“You’re not a 429b83a723 beggar, are you, 6fd61df83c Yul?”67e44507c0833585

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Seohee tapped the back 43d3c01b2a of Yul’s neck mockingly. One of 37cdac1365 her group f9c71dfebc laughed behind 9bba50fc78 her and 65148c499d chimed in.8b1c4f173f52c222

“Seohee, she is 7232bf1125 like a beggar. Look at 57c9d10adf how shiny a7bc6586be her skirt a66fa1b5c4 is.”4d6bcae87fdf4c1d

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“Really?”f1e84f3e00b1dea4

Seohee tightened her grip 6be420d82b on Yul’s neck and dd1fe92bcb looked down at her f662e1dd94 skirt. Now everyone’s gaze b3d02af93e was fixed on ae36cf2bd9 the worn-out fabric cd710b5073 of Yul’s uniform.ea4a354b9765ac9c

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“Oh, yeah. If a fly lands 1fd98d2eac on it, it’ll probably afe75697d2 slip right off.”edad4ba6ff979ef6

“Look at 488676c1b5 the frayed 82f9a9823a collar and 10a14f0448 cuffs. Did she dig this 0133339979 out of a recycling 9a7dbb9fdd bin?”ae1ca0b297253d87

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“What year is b7ba8eb00e that thing from? Are you collecting antiques?”64c7eb78f3a3ec3f

Seohee’s group took 0e17cd1d23 turns mocking Yul. She closed her e2e7a59a5f eyes tightly. No matter how hard e7b810bfc5 she tried to calm 320be7c206 herself and endure, the 1cb3ad615c humiliation was hard to 45d7df57c4 bear. The uniform had been f1755d8172 a hand-me-down from her ef1b3d5958 landlord’s wife, who’d given cc189e2590 it to her after ee291dc051 complaining about the school, ec5f5271eb only to later reveal fcdfe7c9a7 it had belonged to 5702a290d9 her daughter.b06c948872157d1f

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Once they eb58b5c103 seemed satisfied 447290c66f from teasing 61ac2674f2 her, Seohee 1017c362ae pulled Yul 643075bd51 closer, her 862a6ccc8c expression lighter.caa13f12f1ea1cef

“Well, can’t 04ebbf69fa be helped. Hey, loser. You go buy the f56075cccb bread!”48fa00906f33690b

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“Y-yeah.”2e7b356783894c25

At Seohee’s command, 3334fb2c51 Jieun stumbled to 0b272f52af answer, looking flustered. Yul dug her heels 9e32ebd49a in, resisting as she 1542eafc45 had no desire to f905c6cf0c go to the snack 1cd4e2a12c shop. It was humiliating 4ebdbe2ff0 enough to be 8ec8567702 penniless, but being 5e45e3c022 fed by someone 37899babfd else felt even dd2d2b7f0f worse. She had endured so 543f4ad827 much already that this c1ad46df6a shouldn’t be a big d89fa0a480 deal, but it still cca1cc92b6 churned her stomach.41f86792b4ff5efd

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“I have a868f2c79e to return 585241cf49 a book 5625c27ddb to the d29828ecf7 library…”91173149f7d7ceb7

“Don’t piss me off acae4dfa35 when I’m in a 64fdd592bf good mood!”fbac2f05ce73b903

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Seohee scowled 4191f97c18 and slapped c58093151f the back f3a4b48594 of Yul’s 13667c3b94 head. Startled by the unexpected 6f10751fd1 hit, Yul stumbled forward 988ddbf5b7 a few steps. Although Seohee 80460374f9 had often 0226ad2c84 picked on b0ed33c402 her verbally, 116740a1a5 this was d170d04cad the first 26b637f71d time she’d 782584766f resorted to 4fe1a44ce1 physical violence. The shock c69c8a9fdd momentarily froze 77f85e5963 her, and c4c0e7de24 then anger c7535c76a6 surged up, 57b5d2d55d nearly making 02eb601a52 her retaliate, 8b1bb77c53 but she babdb6ff0f barely managed 67207f6bbb to hold 4ac4530922 back. As she regained 444d884d2b her composure, anxiety cbb5a0c074 washed over her. It had been ce8b16ead6 like this at 23b58b463b her previous school, 0b24905db2 too. What started as acfc4e4507 verbal taunting escalated cb2b84a369 into physical blows. Seohee had 5b3b3fa15f struck her, 354e36d091 and she’d 4535d9b315 held back, d1d7b3fbbf which meant e886228020 this was 0097658d51 likely to cbb920d4d7 continue. She couldn’t afford 7b25e0f258 to provoke Seohee, 43da6cf8e8 but simply going ffff79c2e0 along with everything 4e029b648e wasn’t an option 0fec802ce7 either. How could 02503ef88b she find f413f08e1d a balance?9fac4d3fb9cc6e48

“Are you okay?”e53b11839f97335a

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She was 3e131570b7 staring at 43bf46b1e4 the ground a3560753af when a 088b64d06c pair of 91eb106299 white indoor f5a6cfefdc slippers entered 6de4c958ad her line 6992254daa of sight. Yul lifted her a04b2a63b5 gaze, following the a274523772 slender ankles and 46287e25ce calves to find 7998856bbc an unfamiliar girl 0361e71031 standing before her. Yul wasn’t short, yet ca40e3ff79 this girl appeared two 5cf5278e12 or three centimeters taller. She was strikingly d647bf2993 beautiful, with flawless 200fd2a201 pale skin, delicate 1809977724 features, and long 239c1ec21d hair parted to 8dc93cba54 the side that 10dcb0a6a8 highlighted her pure, 7f9022fe3f innocent look.f54e72b3bdd4bb70

Who is she? How have I 73a3eaaaa1 never seen her 478322dc07 before?c3c31bf3978861ec

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“Hey. Yoo Kahi. Just keep walking,” 70873a1040 Seohee snapped at 9ccce67d5e the girl who’d b3db675f82 spoken, but Kahi 1c89fe74f9 ignored her, focusing da30b4501e solely on Yul’s 789de736de face. Her expression seemed cc3c850009 to offer help a8148b9f4f if Yul needed ef1d29cd52 it.7b4c0966064bc7d9

Yul hesitated briefly. Would accepting her help 6f56615ad7 be a good long-term 0cda1ee6be decision? Probably not. Kahi wasn’t 30ad1e81e4 even in 216c46c862 her class e684319b18 and didn’t 61512debbb show up 6968c86d5a around school aeeb0ffa95 much. She didn’t seem intimidated c2da82f1a5 by Seohee, but Seohee 74bb5e1533 didn’t seem afraid of bda839c8c2 her either. Yul didn’t want to 009665ca5c risk adding more complications, 0d78118f19 and strangely, she didn’t cdc3c2b565 want Kahi’s help.b25f38acf14bccbb

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“I’m fine.”b30d89f3462874d5

“Really? Okay, then.”9579a92beac9b0ee

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Kahi quickly lost 9b8249bcb9 interest and walked 55f8192753 away. Watching her leave, 8ab300832d Yul felt relieved 38610db8ba she hadn’t asked 1cb3c79e8f for help.dedf772b0e06caab

In the end, e1b1075299 she and Jieun 6d2f5d4593 went to the ff093978a0 snack shop with fd24775601 Seohee’s group. Even though f894baaf79 her mood dec158cf35 was in 622ea64fbf the gutter, 4e5a50835a she tried 09a2f39d88 to pretend 52ff850569 everything was 4e7c7cc5fa fine.8a3983fde7e8334a

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As they were hanging 594fb9cdaa around the snack shop, 98a045bde9 someone from Seohee’s group ecbf1d44a5 pointed to something in b645fafddd the distance.45d098c767860c43

“Isn’t that Yoo Kahi 84e21ff467 and Kang Yoonjo?”4f8242f68e022de9

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Everyone turned to look 274464d7e6 through the glass walls 018e3ef532 of the snack shop 4498d89bc6 at a nearby table 09843e3e39 where a boy and 15b82f0383 girl were sitting together. There was Yoonjo, usually 8ef7ac7438 seen asleep, sitting across 75e2cc2072 from Kahi, looking remarkably ed811b03da awake and, for once, 82f10c2674 relaxed. It was the 318c222e67 first time Yul 1ed993fb3c had seen him a4a21f9b89 like that since 2e26cb57ca she started attending b8f110844c this school.9d364a20e69db599