17.1: BBQ Restaurant

“Jihyun, you must try the bulgogi. It is the signature item of this restaurant,” Mrs Son placed a generous serving of grilled BBQ beef slices on Jihyun’s plate.

“Mmmm… This is really delicious. Thank you, Mrs Son.”

Although Jihyun was not officially cleared from the theft charges, Wendy and her mother went ahead to celebrate her acquittal in advance. After submitting the video file as evidence to the police station, the trio went to a Korean Grill Restaurant for dinner.

“It’s just a matter of time before you are released from suspension. I feel so lonely without you around in school.”

“I hope so too, but with Kyungah’s father being a police superintendent… Oops!” Jihyun accidentally brushed her arm against the saucer, causing the gravy to land on her skirt. “Excuse me, I need to go to the washroom.”

Wendy gazed at the retreating figure of her best friend with sympathy. No matter how optimistic she wanted to be, she was not unaware of the possible conflict of interest that could prevent this case from being handled fairly. In the midst of brainstorming a way to cheer Jihyun up later, Wendy was distracted by a familiar voice near the staircase that brought patrons to the second floor of the restaurant.

“Are you okay?”

“Just a little light-headed, after climbing the stairs…”

“What’s wrong my dear?” Mrs Son noticed the stunned expression on Wendy’s face.

“No, don’t…” before Wendy could finish her sentence, Mrs Son had turned around only to be to left as dumbstruck as her daughter.

“Is that your Appa I’m seeing? With another…”

“No, Omma, calm down. It could be a misunderstanding…” Wendy left her seat to follow behind her mother, who was already walking towards the owner of that “familiar” voice. Before she had a chance to prevent the confrontation, her father had noticed them.

“Eunyoung, I’m planning to inform you properly when I return home tomorrow. Since you’ve caught us first, I might as well confess here,” Mr Son wore a guilty look on his face.

“Let’s do this at home, not in a public place like this,” Wendy pleaded.

“It’s okay Wendy. Your appa has a point. I don’t want to wait till tomorrow to know who that woman is either.”

“Then I shall get straight to it. Eunyoung, being with you put me in a state of mind-numbing existence. I held on grudgingly only for the sake of the children. Otherwise, the relationship had long lost its fizzle,” Mr Son’s expression radiated fondness once his view was focused on the female companion beside him. “However, I found that feeling of sparks again when I met Yejin.”

“No, that’s not what I want to hear!” Mrs Son covered her ears and shook her head vigorously. “Just tell me it’s a moment of temptation on your part and I’ll forgive you. Tomorrow we’ll be back to normal…”

“Stop deluding yourself, Eunyoung! It’s Yejin that I love now. I’d get the lawyer to prepare the divorce documents…”

“Jihyun? Why are you here?” the female companion finally spoke, reminding Wendy of the friend she had momentarily forgotten about due to the current state of affairs.

“I could have asked you the same question,” with the two of them facing each other, Wendy started to notice their resemblance. What her father said next confirmed her suspicion.

“Is that your daughter? She’s beautiful just like you,” Mr Son extended a handshake towards Jihyun. “Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Mr Son. I’m in a relationship with your mum…”

“Is he one of your clients?” Jihyun interrupted curtly and ignored Mr Son’s gesture.

“Jihyun, watch your manners!”

“Don’t try to change the topic,” Jihyun distanced herself from Mr Son and moved closer to her mother. “You promised me that you maintained a business-like relationship with your clients, which ended once the service is over. There shouldn’t be any further development into… into…”

“Jihyun, it has always been like what you have mentioned. I had no feelings for all my previous clients beyond the service I had to provide. Mr Son is an exception.”

“What’s so different about him? And why him of all people? My best friend’s Appa…” Jihyun was choking on her tears.

Before Mrs Kwon could answer, Mr Son stepped in and patted Mrs Kwon’s shoulders gently, a stark contrast from his apathy towards Mrs Son. “You shouldn’t push yourself unnecessarily. Let me take over, as I owed my wife the same explanation as well.”

“First of all, my sincere apologies to Jihyun-ssi and my beloved daughter. I didn’t know you are best friends already, not that it would change anything, because,” Mr Kwon took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. “Yejin is pregnant with my child. I’m prepared to take the responsibility, which isn’t much of a problem since I’m already in love with her.”

“No thanks, Mr Son!” With an air of defiance, Jihyun carried on. “I’ll quit school, find a job and support my younger sister or brother. We don’t need you here. So please, return to your family!”

“You shouldn’t do that. Yejin told me you are aiming for college and you’ve been doing well in school. It’d be a waste to quit halfway. Let me bear the responsibility instead.”

“I agree that Jihyun should continue with school and not get entangled in the adult matters,” Mrs Son appeared strangely calm when she sauntered towards Mrs Kwon.

“Omma, I know you are upset right now, but please don’t do anything rash,” Wendy who had qualms about her mother’s actions reached out to hold her back, only to be gently pushed away.

“Mrs Kwon, my husband and I can adopt the child that you are carrying right now. We will also bear all the expenses incurred due to your pregnancy. All I ask of you is a simple request,” Mrs Son instantly dropped to her knees right in front of Mrs Kwon. “Please do not take my husband away! He’s all that I have!”

“Eunyoung! What nonsense are you talking about?” Mr Son snapped. “The child belongs to me and Yejin, so we’ll be taking care of him or her together. It is you whom I’m divorcing!”

“Omma! Don’t be like this,” Wendy persuaded her mother to get up from her knees. “If Appa chooses that woman, then let him go! You still have Unnie and me.”

Deaf to Wendy’s pleas, Mrs Son grabbed onto Mrs Kwon’s legs in a desperate attempt to get her way. “Jihyun is a nice girl. As her Omma, I’m sure you are a good person as well. You won’t want to break up our family, right?”

“Mrs Son, I’m really sorry. I didn’t expect to get pregnant at my age so I hardly use the pills.”

“If you are truly apologetic, why not you leave my husband on your own accord?”

“Hey, Eunyoung! Don’t sow discord between Yejin and me!” Mr Son shoved his kneeling wife out of the way. While trying to find balance from the impact, she accidentally bumped into Mrs Kwon. In the next instant, the whole restaurant witnessed the horror of Mrs Kwon tumbling down the stairs. On reaching the bottom, her head crashed violently against the wall edge.

Despite all efforts made to send Mrs Kwon to the hospital within the shortest time possible, she could not survive the excess blood loss from both her head injuries and miscarriage.

“Look at what you’ve done! You’ll die a terrible death for killing them!” Mr Son literally pointed an accusing finger at his wife outside the operation theatre, before collapsing to the ground and bawling his eyes out. “Yejin… my unborn child…”

As if fulfilling his own prophecy, Mrs Son hanged herself in her own home the next day.

Over the next few days, Wendy and Jihyun were busy keeping vigil at their own mother’s funeral.

“Wendy, you may go to the funeral of Jihyun’s Omma if you want to. I’d be around here…”

“Thanks, Unnie, but I’d rather stay by Omma’s side all the way till the last moment. Besides I don’t wish to see that a**hole over there.”

Wendy did not blame Jihyun for this unfortunate incident, but neither could she overcome the inner conflict that the latter was the daughter of the woman that tore her family apart. Mr Son’s decision to be by the side of the other woman at her funeral instead of that of his wife drove more wedges between the two friends. In her depressed state due to excess grieving, Wendy closed the door on every effort Jihyun made to reach out to her when they returned to school.

17.2: School

During this period of time, Wendy kept herself busy with school work and activities from her Art and Craft club. While it helped to numb the pain from her mother’s death, she ended up cutting Jihyun out of her life. She started getting acquainted with the other students, but none of those friendships ever got to the bestie level she shared with Jihyun. The closest Wendy achieved was with Sooyoung, although it was mostly Sooyoung’s one-sided effort to force her out of her shell, doing things as simple as having lunch together in school.

“Kyungah ditched me for her boyfriend again. What a great friend I had there!” Sooyoung lamented while staring at her phone.

“Kyungah? She’s still around in school?” Wendy and Sooyoung had just finished their food so they sit around to chat for a while.

“Of course. She’s a student here. Where else would she be?”

“Well, I thought…” before Wendy could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a conversation from a nearby table.

“That had finally died. Otherwise, she might just end up sleeping with all our fathers.”

“We had several victims prior to her death. At least now we know the list won’t grow any longer.”

“Just the thought of catching that with my appa in his bedroom made my blood boil. Luckily my appa treated her as nothing more than a one-off affair he paid for. But I guess not everyone is that fortunate.”

Wendy had been hearing accounts of infidelity involving Jihyun’s mother since her first day in this school. What sounded like a malicious rumour back then hit differently now (Chapter 9).

“Shhh… she’s coming this way.”

“Why should I keep it down? It’s not like she didn’t know about it already, right Kwon?” the student was already making a move towards where Jihyun was.

Jihyun ignored the incoming threat and focused on her lunch instead.

“Hey looter, I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up in school like nothing’s happened!” the student took a seat opposite Jihyun and continued. “Come to think of it, you have the same horrible habit as your Omma. One steal husband, the other steal money. Why didn’t you also disappear from this world just like that ?”

“Did you really think one simply vanishes from this world after death?” Sooyoung decided to contribute her two cents after listening from the sideline.

“What do you mean?” the student asked nervously.

“Mrs Kwon, the one you keep referring to as the , might still be lingering among us,” Sooyoung pointed at the overfilled trash can at the far end. “To ward off the likes of you for bullying her beloved daughter.”

A pile of food cartons and plastic cups toppled over right on cue after Sooyoung finished her sentence, catching everyone in a jumpscare.

“Let’s get out of here!” the two students scurried off in a flash.

“Did you do something?” Wendy asked out of curiosity.

“I didn’t,” Sooyoung laughed and two squeaking rats emerged from the pile of trash that had landed on the ground. “Our rodent friends did it.”

“Great timing!” Wendy rolled her eyes before looking at her watch. “If there’s nothing else, I need to attend my Art and Craft Club meeting.”

“Wait a minute,” Sooyoung stopped Wendy on her track. “Since Jihyun is here as well, both of you might want to talk.”

“My meeting is starting in a few minutes time.”

“Screw the meeting! I mean just postpone it or something. Aren’t you the President?”

Wendy contemplated for a while but decided to attend the meeting anyway.

If only she knew that this would be the last time she saw Jihyun…