Life, Once Again!

decent eyes.
That president’s face reminded her of the man in her past, and that man in the past made an indecent grin as he stroked her legs.
The days of shame became vivid to her again, and Joohyun had arrived here in her car full of annoyance.

She thought that she was perfectly over it.
She believed that she hadn’t run away, but that she completely disdained them.
No, she thought that she had won.
She wouldn’t have to be involved with that disgusting man again, and she also had the confidence to make such a person never think about such a thing again in his life if she came across one.
The past was just the past.
She thought that it was alright since she was no longer as weak as she was before.
However, the woman inside the mirror had cruel eyes.

The truly strong laugh and smile.
That was because they knew that whatever harm that came their way was unable to harm them.
However, the weak barked.
They barked while praying that the danger wouldn’t come their way.
The woman inside the mirror was on her guard in order to hide her weakness.
It was the worst kind of gaze.

Joohyun pushed down on her cap.

“Should we walk another round?”

“….”

“Looks like we should.”

So this was the reason he kept taking detours.
Joohyun sighed.
If she met her little brother in her current state, she would have given him an unpleasant experience again.
Showing him her weak side once was enough.

Maru bought a sports drink from a nearby vending machine.

“I was making such a disgusting face.
No wonder people didn’t recognize me.”

Joohyun smiled in self-loathing as she drank the sports drink.
Maru, who had been staying quiet while standing next to the vending machine, spoke,

“Bangjoo, he’s a good kid.
He depicts his sister as some kind of a freakish monster, but people would never even talk about someone else if they truly hated them.
He’s a good little brother that likes his big sister.
I thought that he was a good junior without any problems but I came across something strange about him today.
He’s too cheerful regardless of the moment.
It’s quite strange.
It’s like he thinks that he can’t be dejected.
Putting it that way, the fact that he can’t reduce his voice is probably also related to this.”

Maru drank his drink in one gulp and crushed the aluminum can with his hands.

“But when I had a look at your face today, I think I know why.
Actually, the reason I called you here was because of two things.
One was that I wanted you to teach us some tips and tricks for acting as a senior to a junior, and the other was that – I know it might be rude of me to do this but – I wanted to talk to you regarding Bangjoo.”

Joohyun leaned against the wall and looked down at the canned drink.
She could see the drink making waves inside the can.
When she stared at the drink long enough, she saw the man with the disgusting smile inside that hole.
She immediately threw the can on the floor and stomped on it with her shoes.
She heaved out a deep breath, which made her feel better.

“If he looks that way, then it’s probably because of me.”

“Hm, I had my thoughts, but it looks like you know something after all.”

“Of course I do.
Haa, perhaps it was negligence on my part.
At that time, I was busy taking care of myself.
Also, Bangjoo, that kid is quite reassuring.
He has done everything since he was young, and he didn’t cry when he was in front of me.
He was able to cook and do the laundry ever since he entered elementary school, and he never came to me for homework.
After entering middle school, he had become the perfect single man.
Perhaps I might have become relieved in one corner of my heart since he was like that.
Ah, he’s okay.
He’ll do fine on his own.”

The day that nameless president stroked her body, and she shook off his hands with the resolve to die, her brother had seen her in the state where half of her soul had escaped her body.
That boy silently cried in front of her locked door.
He kept standing there throughout the night.
During that time, she bashed her head into a wall and spent time severed from the rest of the world in order to forget about that horrific experience, as well as to find a new path forward.

She stood back up again while resolving to herself that she would never be hurt again in the future.
Right now, she realized that it was just her way of escaping reality, but it didn’t matter.
What was important here was her brother.
Was he really okay during that horrible time?

When it became morning, her little brother started the morning for her with a brighter expression and a more energetic voice.
Seeing him act that way, she was relieved and just went about her day as usual while not thinking much about it.
However, he was just an elementary school kid back then.
Would he really have spent the night up without any side effects at all?

Was Bangjoo really okay that day?

Really?

“So that’s why you’re caring so much about us? How kind of you.”

“Uhm, honestly speaking, Bangjoo needs to do well in acting.
A friend of mine wants the grand prize this time.
So we’ll have to fix Bangjoo.
Each person we lack is a step further from reaching that goal.”

“So you’re worried about your grades rather than about someone else’s family?”

“I’d appreciate it if you say that I’m worried about both.”

“Hey, you’re quite a cold kid.”

“The only people that can be at ease because they’re pursuing profit is a coward.
Rather than that, can we get going? We’ve been walking around several times already.
If you’re okay, we should really get going.”

“Phew.
How’s my face? Does it still look scary?”

“No, it’s pretty.”

“Why don’t you come up with a better lie?”

“Usually, I’m good at lying, but it’s not working for some reason today.”

Joohyun heaved out a deep breath before straightening her back.
It seemed that it was about time she had to face the really important problem that she had been subconsciously avoiding this whole time.
Now that she thought about it, she rarely had a proper talk with her brother.
Perhaps it was her that had been avoiding it this entire time.
She must have been running away because the events of that day might pop up if they kept conversing.

“Let’s have a talk after today’s stuff is over.”

“Sure.”

Maru smiled as he spoke.
Joohyun smiled as well.
Just what was this kid? Well, there was no way someone ordinary would have said the same thing as Haejoo.

“Hey, do you know who Jung Haejoo is?”

“Who’s that?”

“It’s fine if you don’t know.”

Joohyun pushed Maru’s back and told him to lead the way.