Interlude. Why? (2)
During the remaining time in her second and third years of middle school, the only time Soi looked forward to was dismissal time.
Most students felt that way, but for Soi, she no longer felt any interest in the place called school.
Because Lua was no longer at school.
She didn't even have anyone she could call a 'friend'.
Ever since she grabbed the collar of the kid who was badmouthing Lua, the classroom would go quiet whenever Soi walked in.
Were they scared of getting their collars grabbed? Or were they even more afraid of what might happen after that?
At least they must have realized one thing.
That something was wrong.
"......But what exactly is wrong?"
A few days later, Soi asked, tilting her head as she recalled her own actions.
"I don't know either. Mom seems to know something, but she wouldn't tell me."
Chaeyi replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Regardless of how you put it, violence is violence. Even if the other party started it, if you really look at it, they only brought up the name of Lua, who wasn't even at school.
So, even if she didn't go as far as hitting them, just grabbing their collar and threatening them should have resulted in some kind of disciplinary action against Soi.
But nothing happened.
It wasn't like anyone threatened them not to. Even the parents who heard the story at home and came to get angry remained silent.
Neither Soi nor Chaeyi knew the reason.
Because the reason was outside of school.
Yujin and Dohyun weren't the type of people to threaten others with their status. If they were that kind of person, they wouldn't have gained such great popularity as they had now.
If someone spoke to them, they would smile and answer, and if someone asked for an autograph, they would gladly give it. There are plenty of photos of the two with citizens if you search online.
This meant that the reason Yujin was so popular with people wasn't just because she was 'strong'.
And because Yujin was like that, her relationship with her colleagues was also very good.
Soi resembled Yujin. Yujin, like Soi, liked making friends and had a personality full of laughter.
"Lua......."
One day, Yujin was crying at work. Looking at a photo of Lua.
"I'm sorry......."
Not where others could see, but in the corner of an empty meeting room in the Association building, quietly and secretly. As if she didn't want to show it to anyone else.
She couldn't cry at home. Because there was a child who was holding back tears even when she really wanted to cry. The reason Yujin cried was because she felt so sorry for Lua.
What did that young child do wrong?
Is it because I brought her in that things turned out this way? Would she have been happier if she had gone to a different home? Was I not able to protect her properly when she needed it?
Yujin had never once thought of Lua as someone else's child. Even though Lua couldn't call Yujin and Dohyun 'Mom' and 'Dad', that wasn't Lua's fault either.
She just thought she could live with her like a daughter. Just like Soi, forever.
Since she already owed a huge debt, she wanted to repay it. She wanted to let her feel the warmth of a family.
But Lua, who should have had that, even quit school.
Since she even said with her own mouth that she wanted to quit, how much of a nightmare must school have been?
Because Yujin was someone who met her current husband, Dohyun, at school, and met many of her current friends at school, with her school days remaining as her best memories, Lua's pain seemed so immense.
"......Ah."
And a colleague passing by saw that scene.
Yujin didn't notice because her head was bowed low. In fact, if it were normal times, she would have noticed even if they hadn't entered her field of vision.
But Yujin, lost in sorrow, had no time to notice the presence of the colleague who had only briefly peeked inside through the small window on the meeting room door.
"It's probably because of the second daughter."
When they agonized over it and confided in another colleague, that colleague nodded with a serious expression and said.
Even among the many colleagues of Yujin and Dohyun at the Association, Lua was already known as 'Yujin's daughter'. Because when Yujin boasted about her daughters' photos in front of her colleagues, she never distinguished between Soi and Lua.
Everyone knew the fact that she was adopted, but naturally, the colleagues didn't bother to distinguish that fact either.
So, the full story known to those colleagues was,
"It seems the second daughter of that family was bullied at school and ended up quitting."
......was that.
And that was a fact no one could deny.
Not long after, rumors began to circulate on the internet.
That the child known as the Witch's daughter had quit school.
It wasn't a post that detailed the full story of the incident. So, the post gave birth to countless speculations.
There were many posts saying it was a good thing.
Asking if it was right for a kid with the same powers as a criminal to attend a school for normal people where ordinary kids go.
Asking if they hadn't seen 'that video'. That the Witch considers that kid her daughter. That she had already attacked twice. If she had continued to attend the same school, surely a moment would have come where other kids would have been seriously hurt.
Asking if they hadn't seen 'that photo'. The photo where she broke a window with her superpower because she was in a bad mood. Surely if she had continued to attend school, a moment would have come where she would have hurt someone with that ability.
But there was also a lot of backlash against that.
And, logically speaking, that backlash was also correct.
Should she not be allowed to attend school just because she is the Witch's daughter?
Experts naturally said no. Because that is guilt by association.
The media took the lead in spreading 'that video' and 'that photo', but on the other hand, they also took the lead in covering the news of the 'Witch's daughter' dropping out, hiring all sorts of experts to try and hide their shameful behavior.
Child psychology authorities, famous lawyers, criminal psychologists, etc. The experts mostly took the side of the Witch's daughter.
And the interviews with the heroes too.
Seo Lua was the 'Witch's daughter', but she was also the 'Hero's daughter'.
Rather, the Witch abandoned her daughter, and the Hero raised that daughter with love.
So, someone argued. That it wasn't 'the Witch's daughter dropping out', but 'the Hero's daughter who protected the world being forced to quit school due to bullying'.
That alone didn't cause public opinion to suddenly reverse. Because this story had existed from the moment the post about the Witch's daughter started circulating on the internet.
But one thing is certain, the public happily found 'another entity worth bullying'.
Rather than a girl with many complex factors intertwined, they found the 'bullying group', which were much easier to identify and were clear villains.
......No matter how much the other party bullies you, if you 'resort to violence first', you might end up giving them the moral high ground.
The reason is that violence is too easily visible. Because there is no evidence that the other side bullied you, but there is evidence that you hit them.
But when you know the whole story, sometimes that violence becomes something you can think, 'that could have happened'.
One kid's stupid parents proudly posted on the internet that Soi grabbed their daughter by the collar. Even mixing in words about the Witch.
The hundreds of comments underneath were all just mockery.
The parents, realizing something was wrong, hurriedly deleted the post.
But once you become famous on the internet, it's not easy to be forgotten.
*
Soi had lost interest in attending school, but that didn't mean she had just given up on everything.
She wasn't late. She studied hard too. Even if she couldn't get 1st place in the grade, she could manage to get into the top ranks.
But she didn't do anything else.
In group activities, she stayed far away alone. Even if there were times she hung out with school kids, she didn't meet them separately unless it was Chaeyi.
Before, if someone picked a fight, Soi would back down, but now she didn't.
If someone even mentioned Lua, she would go and confront them.
You could say she isolated herself, but Soi herself, Chaeyi who often hung out with Soi, and those around them, felt that Soi was ostracizing those around her rather than that.
During those middle school days, there was only one moment Soi waited for.
"I'm home!"
Lua, who was waiting when she got home.
Perhaps Lua was lonely at home, because she always waited at the entrance when it was time for Soi and Chaeyi to come home from school.
Soi rushed into Lua's arms without hesitation. Even if she couldn't hug her tightly, she could be held like this.
The hand wrapping around Soi's head, the sensation of it gently stroking, was clearly felt.
Soi was, in the end, a child who liked being with someone.
No matter how the situation turned out, it wasn't easy to spend time ostracizing everyone at school.
"How was school?"
"It was fun."
Soi answered Lua's question like that.
Because if she told Lua that she was living like that because of her, Lua would surely be sad.
"I made up with the kids too."
"I see. That's a relief."
Lua seemed to believe those words.
Fortunately.
But, even while answering like that, one question still remained in Soi's heart.
Why?
Why did Lua have to end up in this situation?
Why on earth?
But she decided not to ask that question in front of Lua.
For some reason, she felt that if she kept asking, even this warmth right in front of her would disappear in an instant.
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