A Devil's Whisper
But Yoon Seo-a showed not the slightest hint of fluster at my words. Instead, she smiled as though she had expected me to say exactly that.
"Yes. I thought Ha-eun would say something like that."
"…You knew I would say that?"
"Of course. You've done it several times already, haven't you? When I tried to torment Shin So-hye, when I tried to drive out that chef at the restaurant — each time, you stepped in as if it were your duty to stop me. So I assumed you'd say the same thing this time."
And I was right on the mark, she added. At the soft laugh that slipped from her lips, I stared at her blankly for a moment before letting out a hollow chuckle.
So she said all that knowing full well how I would answer?
"It may be late to say so, but Yoon Seo-a has a truly rotten personality."
"How refreshingly belated of you. But did you know? I can be rather kind to those I consider mine. Ah — the chef was Father's man, not mine, so let's set that aside as an exception."
"…I didn't say anything."
I looked at her with open suspicion, and Seo-a added the remark as though her own conscience had pricked her. Since I had, in fact, been thinking of that very incident, I flinched and muttered the words under my breath.
Seo-a let out a soft hoo-hoo of laughter, then spun on her heel so that her back faced me. Wondering what she was doing now, I watched her — and she spoke at once.
"With that, the business I originally had with Ha-eun is finished. So from this point on, these are my personal questions."
"Personal questions…?"
"Ha-eun. Would you care to come under me?"
"…Excuse me?"
I couldn't help it — I failed to hide the sheer absurdity in my voice as I asked again. Anyone listening would have found the tone thoroughly lacking in proper etiquette.
Fortunately, Seo-a did not call me out on it. She simply continued.
"As I said earlier, I am quite fond of you, Ha-eun. Fond enough that I can add the word very without hesitation. But on the surface, you and I are adversaries. Or rather — if I'm being precise — I am the one unilaterally tormenting you."
"…You're well aware of that, I see."
"Of course. One of my strengths is reading the room."
Still turned away, she tapped the corner of her eye with her fan and smiled. I exhaled a short snort through my nose and opened my mouth.
"So what exactly do you mean by 'come under you'?"
"No matter how much of this I initiated myself, I cannot simply stop harassing you without a reason. Just as a reason is needed to begin something, a reason is needed to end it."
"In other words, only if I submit to Yoon Seo-a — become one of her followers, essentially — will there be a pretext to end the bullying."
The harassment was, in the end, merely an extension of class politics. I had defied Seo-a when she tried to seize control of the class; therefore, I would have to yield before her followers would accept the change and fall in line.
In an ordinary setting, if Seo-a simply withdrew her campaign against me without explanation, people might shrug and assume she had changed her mind. But this was Private Acacia Academy.
Most of the young ladies here possessed at least some political instinct, large or small, and many of those with genuine standing had already experienced the social salons where the upper ranks forged their alliances.
They might be lumped together under the label of "followers," but they were not empty-headed creatures who had surrendered their entire selves to a leader.
Of course, Seo-a's prestige was currently strong enough that no one would voice open discontent even if she made a capricious decision. But if such decisions piled up, even a position that looked unshakable would begin to crack.
This proposal was meant to prevent exactly that. I looked at Seo-a, who was smiling as though I had given the correct answer, and spoke.
"But even if I do come under Yoon Seo-a, the harassment will continue, won't it?"
The young ladies currently forming Seo-a's circle all supported her of their own free will.
If I entered her ranks in the form of a submission, I would be placed below even those followers.
And since I had, until very recently, been a target they tormented without a shred of guilt, I would clearly be in for at least several months of miserable treatment.
They wouldn't hold my head underwater in the pool or lock me in a cramped, dark space again — but every petty chore would fall to me.
Errands. Standing through tea parties without a seat, pouring black tea into cups, preparing the sweets. A glorified servant, essentially.
As if she had read my concerns, Seo-a smiled and spoke.
"You'll have to accept that much. You challenged me, after all — not just anyone."
I didn't challenge you, though. I let out a quiet sigh, and she continued without pause.
"Of course, that period won't last long. One month. After that, I will keep you at my side at all times."
"…At your side?"
"'Winning a thousand hearts is easy; winning one person you can truly trust is exceedingly difficult.' Something Father always says."
Seo-a stepped toward me. One step, then another. The unbroken sequence of footsteps only stopped when we stood fully face-to-face. With a single pace between us, we looked at each other.
I was reminded, not for the first time, that most of these young ladies came from the upper class — and so many of them were taller than me. Seo-a right in front of me, Su-ryeon, Senior Seo-hee, even Shin So-hye. All of them towered over me.
The only comfort was that Chae-rin was roughly my height. In any case, I looked up at her and spoke.
"And you're saying that trustworthy person is me."
"At least in my judgment, yes."
At the certainty in her voice, I let out a short, incredulous breath and answered with a slightly crooked posture.
"You say that so easily. After everything you've put me through."
"But I never went too far, did I? I even left you alone on the holidays."
That… was true. On the days this place called the Sabbath, neither Seo-a nor her followers ever came after me. Thanks to that, I had actually been able to enjoy leisurely tea times with Su-ryeon and Chae-rin.
But I could not accept the claim that she had never gone too far. After being forced underwater again and again, I could no longer even relax by submerging myself during a bath — how could anyone call that mild?
Before I could spit out something sullen, Seo-a spoke first.
"Shall we try a little hypothetical?"
"…What kind of hypothetical?"
"Suppose I am locked in a severe conflict with someone, and Ha-eun holds a weakness of mine."
A weakness? I forgot my slanted stance entirely, straightened up, and asked her.
"Do you have a weakness?"
"…Seeing how your eyes change at the mere word 'weakness,' I am now quite certain I must never tell Ha-eun any of mine."
"Anyway — so?"
"The weakness you know is so sensitive that if the person opposing me learned of it, the damage would be severe. In the worst case, I would never recover. In that situation, what would you do, Ha-eun?"
I thought for a moment before answering.
"There's a high probability the conflict started because Yoon Seo-a did something wrong first, so I would go straight to the other party and tell them your weakness."
"…Let's assume I did nothing wrong."
"That's unlikely, but… if that were the case, well."
I twisted a lock of my carefully tended black hair between my fingers and continued.
"I probably wouldn't say anything. I'd keep it carefully to myself — and then tell whoever got hurt by Yoon Seo-a's wrongdoing later on."
"The last part was unnecessary… but yes. That's exactly it. Even while being tormented by me right now, you still weigh the rights and wrongs of whoever opposes me before deciding whether to hand over a weakness."
Disinterested fairness. Seo-a leaned in slightly, bringing her face closer as she spoke.
"An unbending conviction, and the spirit to refuse injustice. A character completely opposite to mine — and that is precisely why I can trust you. As long as you don't cross that line, it's fine."
"…In short, you trust me because I'm easy to handle?"
"I won't claim that meaning is entirely absent."
Seo-a said it without the slightest intention of hiding the truth, then stepped back.
"But that doesn't change the fact that Ha-eun is someone I can trust. The ones who gathered to follow me are ultimately hyenas calculating profit and loss. To them, I must always present the image of an impregnable fortress that will never fall."
But she did not have to do that with Ha-eun. Ha-eun was not someone who had approached her weighing gains and losses — she was someone Seo-a had chosen herself.
Even so, I could not understand it. Perhaps I really was the kind of person she described.
But at my core, I was someone who put safety first above all else. Staying out of conflicts with no clear right or wrong was only natural.
Of course, Yu Ha-eun's sense of justice occasionally surged up and sent my body charging forward on its own — but that was never my own will.
So I could not understand why Seo-a placed this much trust in me.
And I did not want to understand, either.
As I remained silent, Seo-a extended her hand and spoke.
"If you take my hand, then from the moment you leave this place, Ha-eun becomes mine. Petty harassment will continue for a while, but once that period passes, no one will dare treat you carelessly."
"No matter how humble Ha-eun's background may be. Of course, there may be those who attack you simply to insult me."
"But don't worry. People like that — I will silence every last one of them. So thoroughly that they will never dare look down on Ha-eun again."
"Become mine, Ha-eun."
The words were like a devil's whisper. I glanced at Seo-a, who had drawn close without my noticing. Looking into those dark red eyes gleaming with possessiveness, I opened my mouth.
"Suppose, for the sake of argument, that I do become Yoon Seo-a's person."
"Rather than supposing — why not simply become one?"
"Then what happens to Shin So-hye?"
At my words, those gleaming eyes blinked once — then curved into crescent moons.
"Ha-eun. Do you know how to strengthen the bonds among members of a group?"
"I wouldn't know."
"There are two methods. One is to establish an external enemy. The other is to create an inferior being within the group and have everyone attack that person together, thereby forging solidarity."
Does that answer your question? At Seo-a's words, I found myself smiling as well.
Did it answer my question? Oh, it answered it perfectly.
"You really are the worst."
I dropped even the polite speech and spat the words at her, then struck her hand away. My own hand stung more from the blow — but the gesture itself was answer enough to her proposal.
I glared at her with a blank expression. Seo-a never lost her smile; she merely stroked her hand, then opened her fan and covered her mouth.
"What a pity. I was certain Ha-eun and I could have become quite close."
"What a coincidence. From the very beginning, I thought Yoon Seo-a and I would never be compatible."
"Hoo-hoo. Is that so? But Ha-eun — do you happen to know something?"
"I don't particularly want to know, if I'm being honest."
I shot the words at her without bothering to hide the hostility in my voice. Seo-a's eyes curved as she replied.
"I am the sort of person who cannot rest until I have what I want."