Kanpeu (2)
Before chapter 21, there had been that lecture from Karin. What would she think if a two-thousand-year-old elf fell for a human who had just turned twenty? Elves were long-lived, so they didn't put much stock in age or lifespan. But humans lived finite lives and placed great importance on such things above all else. From an outsider's perspective, then, a two-thousand-year-old elf would look like nothing short of a serious pedophile.
Seong Hyunjin thought the same.
"Cha-seok? Done eating already?"
"Hold on. I'll finish it, so don't clear it yet."
Seong Hyunjin rose from his seat and strode toward Serena and that elf.
"Hey, Kanpeu."
There were many derogatory terms for elves, but the ones they hated most were "pointy-ears" and "Kanpeu." "Kanpeu" wasn't originally a word from this world. It originated from a famous transmigrator—a great figure whose achievements were recorded in history books—who was a notorious elf hater and had called them "Kanpeu." Upon hearing the story, Seong Hyunjin was convinced that transmigrator had to be from Korea.
Anyway, calling an elf "Kanpeu" was like calling a person a "filthy monkey." If Karin had seen him toss that at an elf he'd just met, she would've smacked him upside the head.
"...Seong Hyunjin?"
Serena looked at him in surprise as well.
"...So it's you calling me by such a blasphemous name."
The man spoke in an archaic tone, as if recognizing Seong Hyunjin.
"Entrance exam runner-up, Seong Hyunjin. So it was you."
"You know me?"
"It'd be weirder if I didn't. We're in the same class."
"Makes things easier, then."
Seong Hyunjin said, "Quit groping kids when you're past your prime and find someone your age. A fifty-year-old auntie would suit you perfect."
"......"
"This is a warning. Stay away from her. If I catch you pulling this crap in front of me again, I won't let it slide."
Seong Hyunjin gave the fifty-year-old elf pawing at Serena a proper dressing-down. But something felt off. The elf's face had soured as expected from the sudden rebuke, but Serena, who had heard it all beside him, looked utterly shocked.
"S-Seong Hyunjin, what are you...?"
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's just..."
"I thought you were a capable talent, but it seems you're only half-baked after all."
As Serena tried to speak, the elf cut her off.
"No manners to speak of."
"I know manners and common sense, but I don't owe any to a creep hitting on a girl thirty years younger."
"I have no idea what you've been blabbering about."
The elf said incredulously.
"Why on earth would I mix my noble blood with this woman's?"
"...Huh?"
Seong Hyunjin blinked in confusion. That wasn't something a man pursuing Serena would say. Puzzled, he glanced at her, and she sighed.
"...This is Aiel Northwood, the eldest son of the Northwood family. It's my mother's family too."
Seong Hyunjin blinked at Serena's explanation.
"He's family?"
"Yes."
Cold sweat beaded on Seong Hyunjin's brow. So he'd just called Serena's family member a "Kanpeu" and a "creepy old perv hitting on kids..."
...You absolute lunatic, charging in without thinking again.
Cursing himself inwardly, Seong Hyunjin bowed his head in apology.
"S-Sorry, really! Serena, sorry to you too...! I misunderstood!"
"Ah, I'm fine..."
"At least you know how to apologize. I was worried the monkey blood had turned your brains to mush too."
"...I'm truly sorry."
Since Seong Hyunjin had started it by calling him Kanpeu, he endured Aiel's insults to some degree.
Aiel Northwood gave Seong Hyunjin a cold glare before turning back to Serena.
"I came to tell this defective product to act in accordance with the Northwood blood flowing through her veins. Perfect timing—you're involved, so listen in."
The misunderstanding was a misunderstanding, but Seong Hyunjin sensed something off. Hadn't he just called Serena a "defective product"? Aiel was from her mother's family, so he was her cousin. Calling his cousin a defective product?
"Even if half-breed, one with noble blood must carry the authority and duties befitting it. Therefore, Serena Northwood."
He even deliberately used her mother's surname—his family's name—instead of her father's. Seong Hyunjin dimly realized their relationship wasn't just simple kinship.
"You'd best stop those distasteful acts. Do you think it's proper virtue for a Northwood heir to cavort daily with some man you barely know?"
"......"
"It's irksome enough that you've enrolled in the same academy and linger before my eyes, but to flaunt such a sight? How far do you intend to disgust me?"
Serena had no real retort and just listened. Seeing that, Seong Hyunjin—who had planned to stay out of it—finally spoke up.
"But that 'man you barely know'—that's me, right?"
"Who else hangs around this woman but you?"
Seong Hyunjin thought for a moment before replying.
"...Yeah, fair enough. She doesn't know anyone else."
"......Tch."
Serena shot him a glare like she hated him for saying that, but he ignored it.
"She's hanging with me 'cause she has no friends. What's the problem with that?"
"How is it not a problem for a woman of marriageable age to cling to an outsider man?"
"We're not dating."
"It's still improper. Half-breed or not, if Northwood blood flows in her, she must mind her conduct."
Aiel glared at Serena as he spoke.
"It's revolting to my eyes already, and now I must spell this out? Watching an idiot is quite unpleasant."
"...Hah."
Seeing Aiel lecture a twenty-year-old Serena about "marriageable age" and such, Seong Hyunjin quickly grasped the man's worldview and his family's customs.
"Confucian Taliban exists here too, huh."
"What nonsense?"
"Your mindset's rotten. I felt a bit bad for snapping earlier, but hearing you talk, that guilt's gone."
Aiel's brow twitched and furrowed at Seong Hyunjin's words.
"You—whose bloodline are you from?"
"Why?"
"Naturally, to inform your family of this outrage so you realize what you're doing. That hair suggests an elder family, but the mixed blood obscures it."
Of course he'd run off tattling—typical petty Kanpeu. But Aiel wouldn't get his wish.
Seong Hyunjin had no idea about his family origins.
"Dunno."
Seong Hyunjin declared it boldly, like a proclamation. Then he dropped a line no one in the world had ever heard before on Aiel.
"My parents ditched me right after I was born."
It was his orphan reveal.
Aiel blinked once, then again. In a slightly flustered voice, he asked back.
"...An orphan?"
"Yup."
Seong Hyunjin was nonchalant, but some students at nearby tables gasped in shock. Only Serena, who already knew, remained somewhat calm.
It was a natural reaction. They'd suddenly learned about Seong Hyunjin's birth, and it wasn't pleasant news.
An... orphan?
I thought that guy had zero worries...
As everyone reeled from the unexpected fact, Aiel recovered first.
"...Hah, I can guess what happened. One of your parents couldn't withstand the family pressure, abandoned you, and even cast out their promised lover."
As Aiel speculated why Seong Hyunjin's parents had abandoned him, Seong Hyunjin widened his eyes.
"Oh, so that's what happened?"
"...Why say it so casually? Your parents ditched you for something so trivial?"
"At first I thought they just dumped me for no reason. Happens a lot."
Seong Hyunjin said, "At least my parents had a reason. Lucky them."
His response stunned not just Serena but the surrounding students too. What kind of positive thinking was that?
...Maybe he was abandoned young and had to think positively just to survive?
The more empathetic female students even started seeing him as a tragic protagonist. They pitied Seong Hyunjin—who had insulted Aiel first—and began eyeing Aiel, who kept calling him "half-breed" and such, with distaste.
But Aiel ignored the stares from the start, maintaining his haughty demeanor as he demeaned Seong Hyunjin.
"...Being half-breed must mean your head's empty too. I explained why your parents ditched you, and that's your reaction."
Aiel said incredulously, then turned to Serena.
"Talking to you confirms it. Stay away from this man from now on. If I see it again, I won't forgive you. Uphold the Northwood honor, Serena Northwood."
With that reprimand, Aiel stormed off. Students' piercing glares stabbed his back, but he vanished without a care.
The moment Aiel left, Seong Hyunjin muttered in a hollow voice.
"What a weirdo."
"Seong Hyunjin..."
As Serena called him, he belatedly added, "Sorry for butting in. I thought some psycho Kanpeu was hitting on you."
"...I'm half-elf too, and so are you, but Kanpeu?"
"...Ah, sorry."
As Seong Hyunjin scratched his head awkwardly, Serena let out a small sigh. Then she thanked him for stepping up.
"Still, thanks for the help. I heard less appetite-ruining nonsense because of you."
"He's really your cousin? He treated you worse than a stranger."
"He is family. Mother's from the Northwood house."
Serena said, "Of course, she left the family when she married Father, but the Northwoods are so... conservative in their ways."
Seong Hyunjin could tell she was trying to speak well of her mother's family. When talking about their customs, she hesitated before settling on "conservative."
"They say even married-out daughters must uphold the family honor as kin."
"They already married her off, and now...?"
"That's why they meddle with me a bit."
Serena recalled Aiel's earlier words as she spoke.
"What Aiel just did—he's the Northwood heir, so he wants to control anyone with the bloodline. He's the one who'll lead the family someday."
"Don't your parents say anything?"
"They do. Father flies into a rage every time, but as you know, even with power, casually crushing a whole race's family is problematic."
The Dragon Star could wipe out an elf family overnight if he wanted. But wielding power however one pleased would make him no better than a beast.
Especially since it was his wife's family—however rotten, he couldn't lash out openly. The Dragon Star had sent several warnings to leave his wife and daughter alone, but the replies dripped with the Northwoods' outdated notions.
"The Northwoods are more conservative than you can imagine. They have flaws, but their spirit is unyieldingly proud. They'd rather perish than submit. That's why they ignore Father's warnings."
"...What a pain."
"Right?"
Serena agreed with a light laugh.
"So enduring it is best for me. If I just bear it, there's no real issue."
"What if he actually tries something harmful?"
"It's fine. He talks big, but he can't actually interfere with what I do."
"Because you're the Dragon Star's daughter?"
"Yes."
She could tolerate verbal nagging like this, but if he touched her for real, it would be a different story. The name Northwood might vanish from the northern elf forest.
Seong Hyunjin roughly understood and said, as if choked.
"Man, being from a prominent family sounds complicated as hell."
"...By the way, Seong Hyunjin, was it okay to say that?"
"Say what?"
"About your birth. I already knew from Master that she took you in as a baby, so it was fine for me, but..."
Serena knew from before, but the other students didn't. Seong Hyunjin looked around at her words.
The students who'd heard were giving him pitying looks, and as they whispered to others, the entire cafeteria soon fixed its gaze on him.
Under those eyes, Seong Hyunjin said in a slightly flustered voice.
"......Am I famous already or what?"
"Not the kind of fame you wanted, I bet?"