Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2.1

It was weird. She was on the same floor as Seol Do-hyeok on the second floor, but it was the first time she saw his door open. He seemed to have come to age recently as he always drank and came in late at night every day. Sometimes, she was even able to tell whether he was home or not by seeing smoke coming out through his door.

After peeking into his room, Yu-hwa suddenly screamed in fright.

Seol Do-hyeok was sitting on the floor, a sharp glass piece on his palm and blood on his other wrist. Yu-hwa covered her mouth and was doubting whether what she was seeing was real or not.

Looking blankly into the air through all the empty bottles around him, his vacant eyes slowly met with hers. Yu-hwa rubbed her eyes in disbelief. She checked Seol Do-hyeok’s face again and it was pale and expressionless.

“Oh my, blood, blood! Oh no. M-mister! Missus!”

Butler Han, who happened to be coming upstairs, saw Seol Do-hyeok and shouted.

“Missus hurry! Yu-hwa, go into your room,” Butler Han said as he ran downstairs.

But it’s not like Yu-hwa was standing there on her will. Her feet felt stuck to the ground and she couldn’t move. She watched as the blood from Seol Do-hyeok’s left wrist dripped to the floor, making a puddle.

Butler Han came running back upstairs and into the room with his parents in tow.

“Doh-yeok, wake up! Why? Why?!” The lady kneeled in front of him in panic and cupped his face. “Can you see me? Look at your mom, okay?”

“Butler Han, call 911!”

The butler frowned as he hesitated with the phone in his hand.

“But sir… Do you think it is wise to call 911?”

The two owners looked back at him after the question. Seol Insup’s eyes showed hesitation, but the lady yelled first, “What are you talking about? My son is dying! We should hurry up and take him!”

Owner Seol crouched beside the lady and pressed down on  Seol Do-hyeok’s wrist desperately.

“Seol Do-hyeok, is it drugs again? No, no—it’s not, right? You’re just drinking, right? Answer me!”

Seol Do-hyeok slowly looked up, then his empty stare went straight to Yu-hwa’s.

“Who the fuck are you to come into our house?”

They could see whites in his blinking eyes now.

“Leave. Get lost!”

After shouting, Seol Do-hyeok collapsed, and the adults moved him to the hospital and they did not come back even after two days. From what she heard from Butler Han, the wound on Seol Do-hyeok’s wrist wasn’t deep and there was no trace of drugs either.

By the third day of Seol Do-hyeok’s stay in the hospital, Yu-hwa’s adoption was dissolved.

When she came back to her senses, she was already back in the orphanage. She was lying down on the director’s sofa with IV fluid on her thin arm. She bawled until she couldn’t breathe and she had no memory after that.

The director was on the phone. He was holding his neck as if he was angry.

“…they treated her like an item, discarding her back in here like they were making a refund for damaged goods… Yeah, their son did drugs earlier this year. The media even went nuts about it… They were trying to cover up that scandal by adopting a child… said something about societal obligation and all that.”

Yu-hwa quickly closed her eyes. She could feel herself tear up again.

“That’s not a problem. I said we’ll take care of the document in about a month. Do you know how much they sent me? I’m okay with how things developed as long they don’t want their money back… Ah really? Let’s talk tomorrow then.”

The director stretched his arms while leaving and closed the door.

“Sob….”

Yu-hwa suddenly started to cry. They used her as currency.

It was her own misunderstanding that she thought this was her chance for a kind and loving home, but everything soon turned into despair. Her body shook on the sofa. She couldn’t open her eyes even though she was alone. She was scared and hurt.

Ever since then, she told herself never to cry for the same reason ever again. As she started acting normally again, the people in the orphanage started to forget Yu-hwa’s little incident.

Even though people started to forget about her, Seol Insup still came from time to time when she was leaving for school. He brought her clothes and treated her to expensive dinners every now and then. He was very curious about what Yu-hwa wanted to be, so he would ask her what she wanted to do and learn. He would also give her allowance when they’d say their goodbyes.

The reality was harsh. The fact that they dismissed her adoption was real and that wound already became a scar for her. Nothing really changed even though he felt sorry for her and was trying to do things to make it up for her.

There was a side effect though. Her hands and feet were already cold, but things had gotten way worse. They felt frozen no matter the season and she would feel the freezing temperatures more prominently whenever she was trying to sleep. She wore three pairs of socks and would clench her hands trying to sleep until her joints hurt in the morning.

Yu-hwa learned two things from this. Firstly, if you experience something that wasn’t suited for you, there would be side effects. And secondly, no one approaches you without any intention.