Reunion.
Reunion.
I spoke to Da-yeon, who was glancing around nervously.
"Da-yeon, can you go read a book for a few minutes?"
"Uh... okay."
After I kicked Park Ji-hoon, Da-yeon must have sensed something serious was going on—she nodded and slowly walked back to her seat.
"Who are you...?"
I checked that Da-yeon was far enough away, then spoke.
"Who do I look like, you son of a bitch."
A face so flawless you could call it perfection, and an outfit radiating the elegance Kim Seon-hwa had gifted me.
Park Ji-hoon slowly looked me up and down.
"...Nah... no way... nahh~"
He shook his head, scanned me from head to toe, and fell silent.
"...Boss? That you?"
My eyes grew hot at the way he said it.
Ji-hoon, looking at my face, tilted his head and said,
"Nope. Not him."
"You little shit, you really wanna die..."
Ji-hoon flinched at my tone and spoke cautiously.
"...Who are you? I watched Boss for a long time, and I never saw him cry over anyone dyin'."
That country drawl from God knows where—God, it was so familiar.
I walked up to him without a word and drove my fist into his face.
"Ghk!"
"You fucking bastard."
I started beating the hell out of Park Ji-hoon as he clutched his face.
From across the room, a panicked Da-yeon came running fast.
"Aaaah!!! Si-yoon!!!"
"You die, I live, you bastard."
"Boss!!!"
Ji-hoon clutched his swollen face and grabbed my leg, begging for forgiveness.
"Oh no..."
Just then, the young teacher spotted us and rushed over in a complete panic.
"Kim Si-yoon!!!"
Time passed, and the director came in.
"What on earth is going on here!!!"
She looked back and forth between me, with my hands up, and Ji-hoon, with his hands up while getting treated.
"Good heavens..."
The director came over to me, knelt down, and caught her breath.
She must have run over in a hurry after hearing what happened from the young teacher.
"Did Si-yoon do this?"
"Yes."
The director asked me calmly.
"Why did you do it."
"He sexually harassed me."
""...?""
"And he made fun of me for not having a mom."
"..."
Ji-hoon's face twisted into a horrified expression.
The director walked over to Park Ji-hoon as if she had a headache.
"Ji-hoon... did you really do that?"
Ji-hoon's pupils were shaking as he frantically watched me for a reaction, but I just stared him down, dead serious, in silence.
"...Yes."
"Hoo..."
The director spoke to the young teacher, who was beside herself with worry.
"Call Ji-hoon's parents. Right now."
It wasn't long before Dad and Ji-hoon's mother arrived.
"Oh my god!! Oh no!!!"
Dad must have sized up the situation—he started apologizing right away.
"I'm so sorry..."
But Ji-hoon's mother responded calmly.
"No... from what I heard... haah... Ji-hoon started it. I'm the one who should be sorry."
"What?! No! I... I think I've raised my daughter poorly."
"Oh! Please don't say that. My child has such a foul mouth... Si-yoon must have had a hard time holding back. It's my fault for raising him badly..."
I had never once caused trouble at kindergarten.
If anything, I played nice with the little brats.
Dad seemed really angry—he was looking at me with an expression I'd never seen before.
"Um... I need to have a quick word with Si-yoon..."
I looked at the director and shook my head frantically, begging to be saved.
But the director had no reaction. In this room, I had no one on my side.
"Wouldn't it be better to settle this here...?"
"Kim Si-yoon..."
"Yeah."
"Come with me."
I played my trump card with Dad.
"Ah... pick me up."
Dad just stared at me, stone-faced. I hung my head and followed him in silence.
"Si-yoon..."
I avoided Dad's eyes.
"Look at Dad."
"Yeah."
"No matter how angry you are... you can't hit your friends..."
"Sorry."
Dad checked my hands.
When a little kid throws punches, their delicate skin is bound to tear—but both my hands were completely fine.
"...Phone confiscated for one month."
"...Huh?"
Dad grabbed both my hands with one of his, like he was cuffing them, and pulled my phone out of my pocket.
"When we get home, you're putting your hands up for thirty minutes."
"...Yeah."
I opened my arms, pretending I wanted to be held. Dad looked exhausted and ignored me.
"Until you've kept your hands up for thirty minutes, I'm not doing a thing for you."
"...Yeah."
I got picked up early right after the kindergarten fight, and we got home.
During the whole car ride, Dad didn't say a single word to me.
In seven years, I'd never seen Dad like this. I realized I'd screwed up.
I just sat quietly staring at the back of the passenger seat, too.
When we got home, Dad sat down without even changing his clothes.
"On your knees. Hands up."
"Yeah."
I knelt in the corner and put my hands up.
'Haah... shit...'
Exactly thirty minutes later, Dad called me over.
"Si-yoon, sit here."
"Yeah."
"Do you know what you did wrong to get in trouble?"
My arms weren't actually sore, but I pretended my arms and legs hurt from holding the position for thirty minutes, and answered half-heartedly.
"Ji-hoon used words, but I hit him."
"..."
Dad stayed quiet. For a moment, I didn't get it.
Even if I had twisted the situation with a lie...
I told him I'd been taunted for not having a mother. I couldn't understand why Dad was disciplining me so firmly.
"Sorry. But, Dad, I don't think I can promise I won't do it again next time."
"..."
"I just don't think I can take someone insulting my parents and let it go..."
"Haah..."
Dad looked like he didn't know where to even begin teaching me.
Seeing him look as though he was blaming himself for everything, something suddenly welled up inside me.
"You don't know what it's really like for me, not having a mom."
"..."
"She really isn't here... so if people make fun of me for it, I'm gonna do it again."
Dad had a deeply disappointed look on his face for a long time after I said that. He just sat there in silence.
"...I understand. Dad's... sorry."
Dad washed me up without a word, changed my clothes, and then went to bed first.
I was hungry, so I looked around.
It smelled like food. I wanted to make something for myself even if I had to do it alone, but I was too small.
I went into the storage room and dragged out a bag of chips with difficulty.
Then I just sat down in the storage room, picked at the chips, and glanced once toward Dad's room.
"..."
After hesitating a moment, I headed to my own room.
Dad's disappointed face kept coming back to me. I couldn't sleep, so I just stared at the ceiling.
After what felt like a long time, Dad came into my room.
In one hand, he was holding the bag of chips I'd dug out and eaten alone a little while ago.
"Dad's sorry..."
He had made dinner while I was being punished, but the shock I'd put him through must have made him forget to feed me.
Tears streamed from Dad's eyes.
Seeing me lying with my back turned must have overwhelmed him—his voice was shaking badly.
"I... Dad... Dad wasn't... enough... I'm sorry."
Dad, holding the bag of chips and crying like a little kid.
"...You came to get me?"
"Yeah..."
"Hold me."
Dad held me tight, breathing raggedly.
He looked so pitiful, like he might collapse at any moment.
"Let's go to sleep."
As if my voice brought him some relief, Dad swallowed and said,
"Okay."
At twenty-nine, Dad was still young—raising a seven-year-old all by himself was a hard thing to do.
These days, I'd been having fun reading the comments on Dad's songs.
- Sounds like a song he wrote after fighting with his daughter.
- Lol for real
- Whoa... but honestly, the albums Ji-ho puts out as time goes on... are insane.
- Seriously... you can feel so much emotion in them.
- How does every release break a new record...
- Ji-ho's only 29... damn.
- Si-yoon's already 7, wow.
My name was always embedded in Dad's lyrics.
"Si-yoon~"
"Yeah?"
"Come eat."
"Yeah."
I tossed my phone onto the couch and went to eat.
It should've been an awkward meal after yesterday, but I broke the ice.
"Bland again today, I see!"
"...Should I add a little more salt from now on?"
"Hmm... this girl is still but seven years old... once she turns eight, we shall put our heads together and deliberate!"
"Pfft."
I drank the lukewarm seaweed soup.
"Hmm... how refreshing."
"Yes~ I am most grateful."
"The soup is good today, so I shall put my rice into the soup and eat it thusly."
Dad must have fretted a lot over what happened yesterday—he let out a relieved sigh at my reaction.
With my spoon in my mouth, I met Dad's eyes as he watched me.
"What."
"Hm? Nothing. Is it good?"
"I said it's bland."
"...Okay."
Seeing Dad back to his usual self, I started treating him like normal again.
Dad brushed my teeth, gave me a shower, and dried my hair.
Long, straight hair down to my waist.
"Should we cut your hair?"
Dad flinched as he said it.
"Why...?"
"Hm... because it flutters around so much?"
Dad made it sound like if I really wanted to cut it, I could—but he couldn't hide that he'd be sad about it.
"You're prettiest with long hair, Si-yoon..."
"Oh, fine... let's go with that, then."
My hair was dried, and it was time for me to go to kindergarten.
Dad checked my daily log again and tucked my notebook into my bag.
He stacked things neatly into my bag one by one, then pulled a few out when he felt how heavy it was.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm... do you need your water bottle, Si-yoon?"
"I don't even use it."
Dad lightened the bag, slung it over his shoulder, and picked me up.
"Let's go to kindergarten~"
"Yeah."
As I looked at my phone in Dad's car, he glanced back at me in the back seat.
"We're almost there. Are you all ready?"
"Yeah."
What's there to get ready? You just grab your bag and show up.
When we got to Hanbit Kindergarten, Dad lifted me out of the car seat.
I spoke up first.
"I'll try to work things out with words if I can."
Dad looked at me, brightened, and nodded.
"If it happens again, that's still okay—but don't lead with your hands, got it?"
Whether saying 'it's okay if it happens again' was really something you should say to a kid, I wasn't sure, but I nodded.
"Got it."
"I'll come pick you up later~"
"Yeah. Keep working on another song for us to sing together~"
"Okay."
"Don't go making some other mom behind my back."
"...Huh?"
After seven years of living with Dad, my way of talking had started to sound like his.
Though I was the one copying him.
Dad walked me to the entrance, said hello to the young teacher, and drove off.
I quickly scanned my surroundings.
The most urgent thing wasn't Dad, who had just left. Wasn't the director. Wasn't the young teacher greeting me up ahead.
'That son of a bitch Lee Jae-hyeong.'
I spotted Park Ji-hoon and slowly walked over.
Ji-hoon flinched when he noticed me approaching. Given how foul-mouthed the bastard normally was, it didn't look like his parents had scolded him at all.
"Boss, weren't you a bit too much yesterday?"
"Don't call me Boss in front of other people. I'll rip your mouth open."
"..."
"You little shit. I couldn't even sleep 'cause I was getting chewed out thanks to you."
Maybe the sight of a pretty, delicate little body getting angry seemed jarring to him—Ji-hoon laughed.
"...You laughing?"
"Hnk!"
When I tilted my head, dead serious, Ji-hoon recoiled in horror.
"Is this funny to you...?"
Seeing me and Ji-hoon sticking close together, the young teacher assumed we'd made up.