The Snitch
The infamous campaign-plagiarism scandal had finally come to an end. With no small amount of resolve, I made my first school visit as Harin’s father.
The conclusion turned out surprisingly anticlimactic. I had steeled myself and prepared my own way of handling things so neither side would be hurt, yet absurdly, before any result could even come out, Jihye’s side withdrew their candidacy.
It was hard to believe this mere coincidence lined up perfectly with the timing of the confrontation interview. Judging from what Harin had told me the day before, the decision to drop out had already been made in advance.
That night I mixed iced tea and waited for the hour Harin usually returned from the library. When she opened the front door and stepped inside, she eyed me warily, inching closer, and I held out the drink.
“Thirsty? Drink this and quench it a little.”
“...”
Harin regarded me with open suspicion, as if wondering what this guy was up to this time. But a dad could make iced tea for his daughter, right? Why look at me like that?
“Hey, Harin? From what I heard from the homeroom teacher...”
“I heard you went to school today.”
“...”
So she already knew. Even if I could keep Ms. Eunju’s mouth shut, there was no guarantee word wouldn’t leak over to Jihye’s side.
“Well... sorry. I know you told me not to go...”
“Thank you. You went for my sake, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
Harin’s reaction was nowhere near what I had expected. I had been certain she would pour out resentment for my going to school on my own; instead she was looking at me with eyes full of guilt, barely managing to meet my gaze.
“Th-thank you? No—you told me not to, but I went ahead and—”
“No. I’m sorry. Actually I decided to cancel the candidacy but couldn’t tell you beforehand. I was worried you’d start fretting over nothing...”
“...”
So that was it. Father and daughter, each trying only to spare the other’s feelings, had ended up talking past each other. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly and asked,
“I heard the rough outline there too. But why did it suddenly turn out that way?”
“Just... we decided to. It’s friends’ business, so I can’t go into detail.”
“I see... Did the homeroom teacher or anyone else tell you what I said while I was there?”
“Yeah.”
“...”
That was a bit awkward. Because the things I had said there were hardly the words of a proper father to Harin.
I had gone to the confrontation to prove Harin’s innocence. What I actually did was praise Eunju’s pledges and ask them to let the election proceed as planned.
From Harin’s point of view she might have felt betrayed. Having come all that way, she might have hoped I would firmly cry plagiarism and stand firmly behind my daughter.
“Hey... Harin? The reason I said those things there...”
“I know what you meant. You just didn’t want us fighting among ourselves, right?”
“Y-yeah?”
Fortunately Harin was far more mature than I had given her credit for. Instead of jealousy that her dad had subtly sided with Eunju, she saw it as an adult stepping back to mediate a student quarrel.
“But... where did you get the taxi-driver uniform?”
“Huh? The teachers told you? Actually I never mentioned it, but your grandfather was a taxi driver. I kept the uniform as a sort of memento, never thinking I’d actually use it. Thanks to that, no one saw my face, right?”
“Seems so. Is Grandpa’s name Cheolgu?”
“Yeah. Is the name a little funny? It’s not like there’s someone at your school with the nickname Cheolgu, is there?”
“The third-year PE teacher... I just asked because it was curious.”
Truthfully I had been worried about what kind of conversation we would have. She might have been annoyed that I went to school against her wishes, or disappointed that I had taken Eunju’s side.
But look at us now. Our father-daughter bond had grown even stronger than before. We were chatting so amicably we could talk about Grandpa’s past and a teacher’s nickname.
“Still, it’s a shame, isn’t it? You prepared so hard and never even got to open the ballot box.”
“No. Preparing was fun anyway. I didn’t run to win in the first place.”
“Huh? Then why did you run?”
“That’s...”
Harin closed her mouth as if cornered. It wasn’t simply that she couldn’t reveal the reason; I could feel her fluster at having already let too much unnecessary information slip to me.
“Well, you kids have your own circumstances. Get some rest, then.”
“Okay.”
With that, Harin went into her room. The conflict between us was completely sealed. Of course the problem with Eunju would never be resolved in a lifetime...
“...?”
But this kid—she didn’t drink the iced tea again?
Once the great storm had passed I returned to regular work. Three straight days of it, Wednesday through Friday.
Yet my heart felt lighter than it had in a long while. Last Tuesday, to make up for my earlier mistake, I had worn the model taxi-driver uniform instead of a school uniform.
At the same time I vowed never again to do high-school-boy cosplay. The real problem had been trying to use those friends in the first place to solve things with my daughter.
As a result Eunju had been deeply hurt. She had somehow gotten elected, but she would live the rest of her life remembering that I had betrayed her.
But. What. Could. I. Do? I couldn’t turn everything back now, and eventually she would forget.
Busy with vice-president duties, she would one day not even remember a guy like me had ever existed.
So it was time to move to the next stage. After I had bravely gone to the school, my relationship with Harin was back in excellent shape.
To put the finishing touch on it, we needed to raise that relationship another dramatic notch.
By going to an amusement park.
But as someone who had spent more than a decade only on ships and was still unfamiliar with Seoul life, I had no idea how to plan such a thing.
Which meant it was time for Eom Chaewon.
“Hey, Ms. Eom Chaewon? Can I ask you just one thing?”
Friday after work. I brought it up casually as usual. Of course Chaewon stayed silent, AirPods in.
But I had learning ability too. Whether the other person answered or not, state the business first.
“I’m thinking of taking my daughter to an amusement park...”
“I have plans this weekend.”
“...?”
What... was... this... about? Chaewon answered nonchalantly while staring at her phone, never once glancing my way.
But who said I was inviting her? If I let it slide it would only breed more misunderstanding, so I immediately corrected her.
“Ms. Eom Chaewon? I wasn’t talking about going with you. Just me and my daughter, the two of us...”
“Because the kid would be uncomfortable just the two of you, you were trying to force me in as a buffer, right? But I really do have plans this weekend.”
“No, I’m telling you it’s not. But hold on—why would my daughter be uncomfortable going just with me?”
Whoosh! Chaewon spun around as if she had been waiting for exactly that. She looked at me with the eyes of someone who had never in her life seen such a pathetic specimen.
“You’re not seriously saying that, are you? Go to an amusement park alone with a dad who tries to control even your dating life? Why not just fill a bathtub and waterboard her instead? You’ll die of suffocation either way—no difference.”
“I-it’s not ‘jingbe,’ it’s ‘jinbae,’ right? And water torture? Kids like amusement parks. That’s why I wanted to take her...”
“Really? Then try saying it yourself, Team Leader. Traveling with Conan versus just staying home.”
“Uh... I’d have to stay home, I think? If I travel with Conan I wouldn’t come back alive.”
“Exactly. No matter how much kids like amusement parks, they’d rather stay home with Conan than go just with Dad.”
“...”
That was too much! What, did I eat Harin alive or abandon her on a mountain?
I only wanted some quality father-daughter time. Yet Chaewon was treating me like a serial-killer catalyst.
“Team Leader, you don’t have parents so you probably don’t know, but kids are naturally uncomfortable being alone with their parents. If there were siblings or a mom to lighten the mood, maybe—but what fun is there going just the two of you with Team Leader?”
“I-is that so? Then I can never take my daughter to an amusement park in my entire life?”
“It’s not that there’s no way. Just attach someone she can play with. She’s still a kid, so contact a friend’s parents and suggest going together. Your daughter hangs out with the friend; Team Leader can eat cotton candy or whatever with the other parents.”
“...”
Absolutely impossible. Even a legitimate invitation to visit the school had required full-body disguise using my father’s memento.
Besides, Harin’s friends were Jihye or Thuy. They had to be resentful that I had gone to the interview and praised Eunju’s side—would they accept a proposal like that?
“I’m free next week.”
“What? What do you mean?”
I was already reeling from the mere fact that I couldn’t take Harin to an amusement park, and now Chaewon was spouting something completely random. Why suddenly bring up her next weekend schedule?
“Next week I’m free, so I can go with Team Leader’s family. But can I bring one friend?”
“What is this... It just looks like Ms. Eom Chaewon wants a free amusement-park trip with a friend.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“...”
Chaewon glared at me with pure contempt, as if I were about to pull the give-and-snatch she had equated with murder, and turned her head away. But did that even make sense?
Truthfully, if it meant I could take Harin to an amusement park, doing a favor for Chaewon and her friend was nothing. But she hadn’t forgotten, right?
Chaewon still thought Harin was a kindergartener. The moment I brought a high-school second-year and showed her to Chaewon and her friend, I would become lifelong mockery material.
Whine... So I really couldn’t go to an amusement park?
After dropping Chaewon off I returned to the neighborhood. Two free days of weekend left, yet I was living the pitiful life of a man who couldn’t even take his daughter to an amusement park.
Come to think of it, things had felt strange lately. Four days since I quit the high-school-boy cosplay. Without realizing it I found myself ruled by an unfamiliar emotion.
Loneliness.
Swoosh...
On the way home I turned my head without thinking. An alley I used to pass without a second glance.
Eunju’s house was there.
Would I never see her again? Of course, as Harin’s father I might still call sometimes.
But the days when I listened to her worries and spent somewhat intimate time together would never return, would they?
Was that all? Were Wonhui and Mokhwa doing all right?
Eunchae still never stood out to anyone—who was she hanging out with these days?
If I went to the convenience store I might run into Hyunji. Precisely because of that, going to a far-away convenience store had become habit.
Shake-shake...
What the hell was I thinking? Those relationships had all been illusions built on lies to begin with.
Just as internet friends aren’t real friends, those kids had never existed in my life.
I had a real life now. Not many people—office coworkers, or Chaewon who still interpreted my words however she pleased.
Above all I was Harin’s dad. So stop the idle thoughts and focus only on my daughter.
Even now Eunju was standing at the complex entrance, but I would just ignore her lightly and—
Screech!!
I slammed the brake on pure reflex. Huh? Who was standing at the complex entrance right now?
“E-Eunju, what are you doing here!?”
So startled I immediately rolled down the window and called her name. But the more shocked one was Eunju.
“Senior... you drive too?”
“...?”
How long had it been since I quit high-school-boy cosplay, and I was already making such a basic mistake again? Yet having driven right up in front of her, there was no way to cover it.
“Well... my birthday’s a bit early. So I got my license right after. Anyway that’s not important right now, is it? Who were you waiting for here?”
“No. I was waiting for senior.”
“...”
The scene felt familiar. Hadn’t she come looking for me in exactly the same way only a few days ago?
“Uh... Eunju? Why are you saying that again...”
Honk!
I must have been blocking the narrow complex entrance too long. A car trying to leave at that exact moment blared its horn like a maniac.
“Haa... Get in for now, Eunju.”
She had to go home anyway, so I might as well give her a ride. Eunju awkwardly opened the passenger door and climbed in.
Vroom!
While we headed toward her house, everything had happened so suddenly my head was still a mess, and she spoke first.
“You never answered my texts or calls. So I had no choice but to come find you here myself.”
“Well... sorry, Eunju. Honestly I figured even if we talked again I wouldn’t hear anything good, so I just...”
As she said, she had contacted me several times asking to meet and talk. I had been curious what it was about.
But having decided to quit the cosplay, why meet again? I thought if I simply didn’t respond a few times she would get tired and back off on her own.
Instead she had come looking for me in person.
“In the end you ran away again, didn’t you?”
“Right. Call me a coward if you want—it can’t be helped.”
“Why did you think you wouldn’t hear anything good from me?”
“That... do I really need to explain? After what I did to you, anyone would...”
“I heard from Ms. Eunju. Everything about what Harin’s father said when he came to school that day.”
“Yeah, I’m really sorry I couldn’t go that day. But I have my own reasons I can’t explain...”
“You two agreed on it beforehand, right? That no one had stolen anything, so you tried to save both sides?”
“Huh? How do you know that? Wait—did Ms. Eunju tell you? No, that woman pretends her mouth is sealed tighter than anyone’s, so why would she—”
“She didn’t say. I just thought it might be like that and tested once.”
“...”
A trap investigation. Still, at least Ms. Eunju wasn’t the snitch. That was a relief.