Cheon Seo-hui's Withdrawal
Cheon Seo-hui was dropping out.
In other words, she had declared she was leaving the Academy.
The moment that shocking news reached me, the first thing that rose in my mind was the memory from the earlier class—how she would swing her sword, then clutch her wrist and hang her head low. Even then, she must already have been carrying the decision to withdraw inside her heart.
I'm too late.
As someone who had once dropped out myself, I wanted to meet her right away and talk her out of it. Quitting school was never as simple as people thought. I wanted to persuade her somehow, to make her take back that declaration.
But unfortunately, I was in no position to do so.
"Teacher Han, aren't you going to class?"
"…Ah."
I had heard about Cheon Seo-hui during lunch. I still had afternoon classes left.
So this is how a teacher's status holds you back.
I couldn't just abandon my lessons, so I had no choice but to finish the remaining classes first. In the meantime, I left her a message.
…Of course, no reply came this time either.
The Academy's withdrawal process was simple yet cumbersome. There was a system called the "Academic Interruption Reflection Period." Commonly known as the reflection period, it was essentially a chance to think things over carefully one more time.
In ordinary schools the extra opportunity carried no real force, but at the Academy—an institution of a different standing—the reflection system was written into the school regulations. Exactly fifteen days of thinking time, including the day the student first requested withdrawal. That meant we had to settle the matter within two weeks, no matter what.
"Teacher Kim, could I discuss something with you for a moment?"
I went first to Cheon Seo-hui's homeroom teacher. As a subject instructor, I needed her permission before anything else.
"What is it?"
"It's about… student Cheon Seo-hui."
"Ah… Seo-hui. Yes."
"I've been thinking it over carefully, and I honestly believe no one has more talent than that girl."
"Seo-hui…?"
Teacher Kim, Seo-hui's homeroom teacher, looked thoroughly surprised by my claim. She was a veteran who had spent years at the Academy and had her own standards after dealing with countless gifted students. By those standards, Cheon Seo-hui apparently did not measure up as that kind of talent.
"If that girl hadn't injured her arm, she would definitely have been in Class 1."
Academy classes were assigned strictly by grades. The higher the number, the lower the performance. Cheon Seo-hui, who had finished dead last in the entrance exam, belonged to Class 13—the final class of the Swordsmanship Department. In plain terms, the bottom-of-the-barrel class.
"Seo-hui is… that good…?"
Teacher Kim, who understood the system better than anyone, had unconsciously dismissed Cheon Seo-hui's talent. People only see as much as they know, after all. She had simply failed to pierce through the girl's potential.
"If she just adjusts her style a little, she can definitely make it big. Dropping out like this would be such a waste."
"You're right. It is a waste, but…"
Fortunately, Teacher Kim agreed that we should try to keep Cheon Seo-hui. However—
"I don't know if we can persuade her."
—she was skeptical about actually turning the situation around.
"Seo-hui is so firm about it…"
The problem was Cheon Seo-hui herself.
"I'll try persuading her once."
"You, Teacher Han…?"
I boldly spoke up and passionately described the fragments of talent I had glimpsed firsthand—how if the angle of that arm could just be narrowed properly… In the end, what I was saying was that I wanted to persuade Cheon Seo-hui myself and raise her.
"Hmm…"
Teacher Kim fell into brief thought. Once she reached a decision, she nodded.
"All right."
"Thank you!"
"Don't mention it. Oh, by the way—do you need Seo-hui's contact information?"
"…Pardon? Ah, y-yes! I'd be grateful if you could give it to me… yes…"
That was the moment I officially received justification to go looking for Cheon Seo-hui.
After school. All classes had ended and I was busily preparing to leave when a knock came at the office door.
"Yes!"
The door slid open a crack and a head peeked in. It was our lovely daughter.
"All ready to head home?"
Nakyeong, who belonged to the Magic Department, used a different building. Every day she came over this way so we could leave together, but—
"Ah. I forgot."
I had completely blanked on telling her to go home alone today.
"Forgot what?"
"No, I have somewhere to go later… I was going to tell you to head back first."
"Where are you going?"
Nakyeong's eyes went round as she tilted her head and asked about my business.
Should I just tell her honestly?
I hesitated for a moment inside, then quietly mumbled while pretending to pack my things.
"Well, a student said she's dropping out, so…"
"Dropping out!? Who!?"
"…You probably don't know her. She's from our department."
Before she could dig any further, I quickly took the lead.
"Let's head out first. I'll drop you at the station."
That didn't make her lose interest, of course.
"What kind of kid is she?"
"Who?"
"The one you're going to meet right now. You wouldn't go out of your way to find some ordinary student just because she's dropping out."
You're not even her homeroom teacher, she added calmly, striking right at the weak point. She had easily figured out that Cheon Seo-hui was no ordinary student. It was information anyone could arrive at with a little thought, so I didn't bother denying it.
"Yeah. Watching her in class, she has talent, but her arm seems a bit inconvenient."
"Her arm? Did she hurt it somewhere?"
"Yeah. Seems like she got hurt right before enrollment… and of all things, she's left-handed and it was her left hand that got injured."
"So that's why she's dropping out?"
"Who knows. I'll have to meet her and ask properly."
We kept up the small talk as we climbed into the car parked side by side.
"Dropping you in front of the station is fine, right?"
I fastened my seatbelt and was about to start the engine when—
"It's a girl, right?"
—she suddenly threw a sharp question at me.
"…Huh?"
"The one you're going to meet right now. It's a girl, isn't it?"
Where had that certainty come from? It wasn't even a probing tone; she had flat-out declared it was a girl.
"Uh…"
Slightly flustered, I tried not to show it and asked back.
"How did you know?"
"I've known Dad for how many years now? I can tell just by looking."
"As expected of my daughter—sharp as ever."
Fortunately, Nakyeong didn't react with her usual extreme sensitivity. She normally went beyond sensitive and into full allergic reaction whenever women were involved, so I had been careful. Surprisingly, she seemed fine about this sort of thing.
"Is she pretty?"
…Or not?
"Well, kids your age are all pretty, you know."
I mumbled vaguely while pretending to be busy backing the car out, glancing around. But Nakyeong saw right through me.
"Wow. You didn't say she isn't pretty."
Whoever she took after, her observation skills were maxed out.
"…She just looks ordinary."
Sensing a faint chill in her tone, I hastily laid down a smoke screen. But—
"Liar."
—it was useless in front of her.
"If she really looked ordinary, you wouldn't have answered like that."
She truly lived up to her self-proclaimed title of Han Dohyeon Expert, a.k.a. "Han-Know-It-All."
"Think whatever you like."
I drove toward the school gate as if nothing were wrong and, under the pretense of checking the side mirror, snuck a look at the passenger seat.
"……"
Oddly enough, she stopped pressing further and just fiddled with her phone.
What? Is that the end of it?
Normally, the mere mention of meeting a woman outside would light a fire in her eyes and send her charging in, age be damned. This time she really seemed to have no major interest and stayed quiet. Had she understood my position as a teacher?
"Here okay? There's a car over that way."
"It's fine."
Before long we arrived in front of the subway station.
"Go on ahead."
I was saying goodbye to Nakyeong as she got out of the car when she suddenly turned back and met my eyes steadily.
"…What?"
"Don't overdo it."
With that and a see-you-at-home, she stepped out of the car.
What is she, my wife or something?
For a brief moment, the back of my neck prickled for the first time in a long while.
Finding my way to the neighborhood where Cheon Seo-hui lived was not difficult. I had already visited several times, so the route was clear in my mind.
See? All that was necessary after all.
I rationalized my past stalking once more, parked in a suitable spot, and sent a message.
I didn't expect her to come out no matter what. Suddenly showing up could feel burdensome. The important thing was to show her how sincere I was. In the end, what moved people was the heart, wasn't it?
From my perspective, Cheon Seo-hui was the reincarnation of my reborn wife, but she herself was nothing of the sort. Objectively speaking, I was the only one getting all sentimental for no reason. That was exactly why I needed to appeal to her with my sincerity even more—not as "ex-husband Han Dohyeon," but as "swordsmanship teacher Han Dohyeon."
An hour passed, then two.
"……"
A message finally arrived on my phone, which had been quiet for a while.
"!"
It wasn't the person I had been waiting for so desperately.
"Ah…"
Inwardly disappointed, I sent a suitable reply and went back to waiting for her.
One hour. Another hour. Time flowed on until it was past nine at night. Before I knew it, I was the only customer left in the shop.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry, but we're about to close…"
As it turned out, this café shut its doors before ten.
…She did read it, though.
I stood up empty-handed and promised myself tomorrow…
"Sir."
"Ah. Sorry."
The second day was not much different. I sat planted in the same café waiting, but Cheon Seo-hui never showed.
She is reading them, at least.
Whether I should call it fortunate that she diligently read every message, I wasn't sure.
At this rate I'll become friends with the café part-timer first.
By the time I repeated this for a third day, Nakyeong started giving me looks.
"You're not going to meet her again today, are you?"
"I'll be back soon."
"…Soon when? Coming home near eleven again like yesterday?"
"…Today I'll really be back soon."
"Dad, who's more precious to you—me or that pretty little girl?"
Caught by the devilish question of who was more precious between wife and daughter, I swallowed blood tears inside and chose my daughter.
"Of course you're more precious!"
I didn't forget to use the opening to emphasize my position as a teacher.
"But her talent is just too much of a waste, you know? I feel like she'll really regret it later."
"……"
When I put it that way, Nakyeong looked displeased but didn't forcibly stop me. Choosing to become a teacher really had been a stroke of genius.
And so, when the weekend arrived, I spent time with Nakyeong for the first time in a while. The moment afternoon came, I raced over to Cheon Seo-hui's neighborhood.
—Just what kind of girl is making someone else's dad suffer like this!?
The fact that I broke into a cold sweat stopping Nakyeong, who huffed and insisted on tagging along, remains a secret.
She's not even reading them today…
I was sitting by the café window again, staring blankly outside while waiting for contact, when—
Someone suddenly approached the table.
"?"
Reacting to the presence, I turned my head slightly—
"Huh!?"
—and upon discovering the girl who had come close, I shot to my feet in shock.
"……"
Cheon Seo-hui.
At last, she had appeared before me.