Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Teacher Jung tapped Se-jin on the back as she was folding up the banner.
“Choi Se-jin. Look at how successful your brother is, coming here for an event like this. You need to work hard if you want to be even half as good as him. You get it?”
Se-jin bit her lower lip and hung her head. It was the look of someone who shrinks into themselves when their very worth is denied. Bom, knowing that expression all too well, stepped forward.
“Se-jin is already working hard enough, Teacher Jung.”
“Aww, she’s got a long way to go to match her brother. Teacher Yoon, I’m heading in first!”
Why didn't people realize that words tossed out so carelessly could leave such deep scars? Bom watched Se-jin, whose expression remained frozen even after Teacher Jung had left.
Behind Bom, one of the twins—she wasn't sure if it was Dae-han or Min-guk—asked a question.
“Teacher. Can we go back inside now?”
“Sure. Let’s hurry before the main bell rings. Dong-pyo, Dae-han, and Min-guk, go back to your classroom. Han-gyeol and Se-jin, go to the seminar room.”
“Yes, ma'am!”
As everyone scattered, Han-gyeol approached Bom’s side.
“Teacher, let’s walk together.”
“Alright. Se-jin, you come too.”
“I—I’m fine. I’ll go on my own.”
Se-jin, her face still flushed from Dong-pyo’s earlier comment, hurried away. Only Han-gyeol, unaware of what had happened, tilted his head in confusion.
Bom checked her wristwatch and felt relieved. There was still a bit of time before the bell.
“Shall we head over, then?”
She walked leisurely toward the seminar room with Han-gyeol. The campus, where spring had just begun to take hold, was fragrant with blooming flowers and visually stunning.
In this regard, it was a stark contrast to the school she had worked at in Seoul. Perhaps due to high land prices, that playground had been small and covered in an orange urethane track. While there had been flowering trees there too, they weren't nearly as lush as these.
Soaking in the atmosphere, Bom suddenly asked something she had been curious about.
“How did you end up joining Greennarae? I didn't know you were interested in things like this.”
When she first started recruiting club members, she had been terrified that no one would show up. But Han-gyeol had come looking for her the moment she posted the notice.
“Ah, green energy. I’m very interested.”
Han-gyeol pressed his hand against his mouth to hide a smile, adding in a voice laced with amusement, “It’s because of my uncle.”
“Huh?”
Bom’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden mention of Jae-gyu.
Looking up at Han-gyeol, she saw the smile still lingering on his lips.
“Has my uncle not told you what he does for a living yet?”
“...He... has a job?”
Ahaha. Han-gyeol threw his head back and laughed out loud.
Realizing she had made a slip of the tongue, Bom hurried to make an excuse.
“It’s not that, it’s just... he’s out and about so much during the day.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind. Haha.”
Unable to find a proper response, Bom kept her eyes glued to the ground. It seemed like she was constantly getting flustered whenever Jae-gyu was involved.
“You should hear it from him directly. He runs a business related to renewable energy.”
“What?”
Bom blurted out the question before she could stop herself. Han-gyeol wiped a tear from his eye and started laughing again. Bom’s face burned.
He was a businessman...
Only then did the general air of leisure he carried and the reason he drove a car worth hundreds of millions of won make sense. She had secretly written him off as a hopeless 'car-poor' slacker, so she was more than a little shocked.
Do people really make that much money in the renewable energy business? But why does he always seem like a man with so much time on his hands?
She was so preoccupied with thoughts of Han-gyeol’s uncle that they reached the seminar room before she knew it.
Judging by the sound of a microphone echoing from behind the closed doors, it seemed the event had already begun.
<Meeting with a Successful Professional>
The name of today’s event was printed in color and posted on the door.
This 'Meeting with a Successful Professional' was a project funded by a budget allocated for career guidance.
She had only heard this morning that the first invited speaker was Se-jin’s older brother, Choi Yi-jun.
It was awkward. She hadn't known that Yi-jun was a prosecutor either. However, it wasn't particularly surprising; the role matched his image with chilling precision.
“Only the front seats are left,” Han-gyeol whispered.
The seminar room was dark, with only the stage lights left on.
Fortunately, it seemed he had just started, as Choi Yi-jun was bowing to the audience. Bom took Han-gyeol and found two empty seats in the very front row.
Yi-jun’s gaze lingered on the front row for a moment before pulling away.
“First, a brief introduction of myself.”
A plain presentation slide, devoid of any special effects, transitioned to the next page.
“Whoa.”
“Damn. That’s insane...”
Exclamations erupted from the students all at once. The resume filling the screen was the definition of an elite path.
“Currently, I am serving as a prosecutor in the Sinwon District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Department 3, Financial and Economic Crimes Division.”
Following the self-introduction, he began explaining the role of a prosecutor. Bom stared blankly at the screen.
“...While such prestige is important, a prosecutor’s mission is to uphold justice and human rights as a representative of the public interest.”
A long string of stiff, textbook-like content followed.
More than half the students couldn't endure it and were nodding off. Most of the teachers who had come just to see Yi-jun’s looks had already slipped away.
“A good prosecutor must strive to look upon the weak and marginalized with a warm heart.”
A warm heart. It was a statement completely at odds with the cold behavior Yi-jun had displayed. She found it incredibly strange.
He should try looking at his own sister with a warm heart first.
The thought came naturally. Bom herself had been hurt by the icy voice and attitude he had shown toward Se-jin.
Thinking of Se-jin, who likely dealt with that every day, she felt nothing but pity. Then, a stray thought crossed her mind.
Is there anyone who would recognize how I feel like that?
But she knew the answer: there was no one.
At home, her only role was to marry into a good family and be a daughter her parents could brag about. People she met at school or in society only saw her as a curiosity once they found out she was Jung Nan-hee’s daughter.
There was no one she could truly open up to or share her worries with. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Bom tried to shake off the gloomy thoughts. Ever since Yoon-cheong’s phone call, she had been struggling with a persistent sense of anxiety.
Don't think about it.
The seminar room was stuffy from the heater someone had turned on. Bom, who had tossed and turned with insomnia the night before, felt her body grow heavy with lethargy.
“...”
She shouldn't sleep. It was unprofessional for a teacher. It was rude...
“On the next slide, I will discuss several ways to become a legal professional. Generally, the term 'legal professional' refers to anyone qualified to register as a lawyer. Broadly, this includes judges, prosecutors, lawyers...”
Yi-jun’s voice was excessively monotonous. Bom’s eyelids gradually fluttered shut.
“...”
“Teacher, wake up.”
Bom jolted awake to see Han-gyeol smiling softly at her.
“Oh, no. What do I do?”
“I fell asleep too. I bet there isn't a single person who stayed awake through that.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was a total wipeout. Teacher, I’ll head in first. Take your time coming out.”
Bom stood up with a dazed expression. The empty seminar room still held the warmth of the heater.
As she stepped out into the hallway, the sound of sleek dress shoes echoed behind her.
“Teacher Yoon Bom.”
The low voice she had been hearing for the past hour called her to a halt. Startled by the voice, Bom composed her expression and turned around.
“I have something I’m curious about.”
“Yes? To me?”
Bom looked around the area.
“Who else would be here?”
Realizing they were the only two left in the empty hallway, Bom broke into a cold sweat. Since she felt guilty, she found it difficult to look him straight in the eye.
“What... is it? Please, go ahead.”
Yi-jun stepped close to Bom, one hand in his trouser pocket and his lips curled into a crooked smirk.
“Did you sleep well?”
A cold thumb touched the corner of her mouth. Bom’s eyes went wide.
Yi-jun lightly brushed the area near her lips.
“You were even drooling.”
Bom was horrified. That couldn't be right. She had never done such a thing in her sleep before...
“Is that true?”
“I saw it the whole time.”
Bom tried to think calmly. If she really had slept and drooled, it was a situation that could easily offend a speaker. Especially since she had been in the very front row.
Bom immediately bowed her head.
“I’m so sorry. You must have been offended. I didn't sleep well last night, so I must have dozed off for a moment.”
“I wasn't so much offended as I was fascinated.”
“Pardon?”
“You were sleeping more deeply than anyone else. I kept watching to make sure you hadn't died.”
Even without a mirror, she knew her face had turned bright red. The back of her neck felt hot.
“Well, whatever.”
Yi-jun licked his lips with an unreadable expression. A strange glint flickered in his dark pupils. She thought he looked like a snake. A snake that had found its prey.
“I’ll be going then, Teacher Yoon Bom.”
“Oh? Ah, yes. Have a safe trip back.”
Still looking perfectly composed, Yi-jun walked away with a clean, rhythmic stride.
I hope I never have to see him again.
She didn't want to, either. Bom used the back of her hand to rub the spot near her lips where Yi-jun had touched her, as if wiping it away.