Her Voice / han sanghyuk (#14)

Episode 12

JooEun

I stared down at my beautiful blue dress that has sparked in the light and looked towards the door of the restaurant, there were a lot of people and one of them would be my father sitting in there waiting for me and my mother with his happy facial expression. "JooEun, let's go now." My mother said as she gets out of the car and I came out soon after, thanking the personal chauffeur and making my way into the restaurant with my mother.

My mother told her name to the waiter waiting at the doorstep and he directed us to the table which is being occupied by 2 other people than Appa who is sipping his glass of wine. Keun Eomeoni and her son, the firstborn in this family, Appa's only legitimate child and the only child who is recognized by the public, Choi JooHwan who is a few years older than me and he is interning in Appa's company.

[Keun Eomeoni is your father's brother's wife but in this case, JooEun's mother is the second wife of her father so she has to call the first wife in this manner as they are not blood-related.]

Why didn't she tell me that we are having dinner with them as well? My smile instantly faded as I saw them and they got up greeting me and my mother, smiling with their eyes and I gently smiled. Even though I am the second wife's child, she still treats me the same as her son as I still bore the same surname.

"JooEun-ah, take a seat next to JooHwan. This is your first time meeting him right?" I nodded and I looked at my half-brother for a brief moment before taking a seat next to him. We have never met as my mother has lived on her own ever since I was born in another house while Keun Eomeoni stayed with Appa and her son as she is still his legitimate wife after all, my father didn't want to divorce his wife so he married my mother in private and stayed married to his first wife. All in all, I was to stay hidden away from the public as I am my father's illegitimate daughter.

"I am Choi JooHwan." He replied coldly. 'Choi JooHwan.' He conversed in sign language. So he has learned sign language as well...

'Ne, I am Choi JooEun.' I told him. 'Nice to meet you, I heard that you were interning at the company just last month. Was it good?'

He just did a curt nod to all I was saying and I felt a little awkward. Reply if you understand, don't just nod. Keun Eomeoni laughed. "Don't mind him, JooEun-ah. He doesn't really know sign language that well so he didn't understand what you were trying to say, could you write it down instead?"

I remembered that I brought along my notebook and I took it out writing down what I wanted to say to my half-brother before giving it to him, he read it and looked straight at me. "The internship was good and I'm sure that you wouldn't get the same as me, there can only be one successor to Appa's business." He replied. "How is school?"

'Good.' I conversed. 'The people there were good, I had a good time in school.' If I told anyone of them that I had gotten bullied in a span of two days, they would not want me to go to school and I will go back to homeschooling which I don't want to.

"Like hell, JooEun got bullied in school. They called her a dumb deaf." Omma told Appa and Keun Eomeoni showed her shock facial expression.

Omma, why do you have to tell him that? He is sure going to make me go back to homeschooling for sure, his orders are final and can never be changed. "Oh my, really? JooEun, you got bullied in school? Who?"

"They took her book and tore it up, they verbally abused her by calling her deaf and dumb--"

'Omma, stop it!'

"Fine." My father slammed his hand on the table and everyone at the table all stared at him, he rarely gets angry and when he does, he is very scary. "Prepare her a dropout application and give it to the school on Monday. By then, she is to stay at home."

"Oppa, you can't make JooEun homeschool again, she wants to stay in school." Omma said to Appa. Then why did you mention that I got bullied?? He wouldn't be so angry if he didn't know that I got bullied and I would continue to go to school.

"But she got bullied!! That is already one big cross, it is a mistake for her to go to a normal high school." He continued and I feel like getting out of here, I don't want to stay here listening to reasons why I shouldn't go to school when I really want to.

I stood up, taking my belongings. "Where are you going?" My half-brother JooHwan asked. "You haven't ordered any food." The rest of the family have also started turning their attention towards me and I felt a little intimidated.

Their stares are scaring me a little... I don't want them to keep staring at me like this... 'I have... Something on.' I told them.

"You can't go, we are having dinner together," Appa said.

'I have to, it's an emergency. Sorry.' I walked out of my seat and left the restaurant. I looked around me and thought that I have to go as far as I can, away from this place that I now dreaded. I have looked forward to having dinner with Appa but have never expected his other family to show up, my mother mentioned that I had a hard time in school and told my father about it.

I really wanted to continue schooling but I don't think that I have the chance to go to school now, he would never allow me to go back to school as I have been bullied. I reached the convenience store to take a rest, 20 minutes of running has made me a little tired, sweaty and my feet hurt from the high heels that I was wearing. Wearing high heels is a luxury until you start running in it.

I sat down in one of the seats just staring at the table until a bowl of instant noodles was placed in front of me, I looked up and I immediately looked back down. It was an adult female with her sunglasses placed on top of her head and she had one of the sweetest smiles ever. "Eat, it's a treat."

I shook my head and looked towards another direction, I can't take it. She is just a stranger and I would feel so bad if I take her food, it is her money, not mine. "It's okay, I have already eaten so it is yours." She insisted and I just sighed, opening the cover of the instant noodles. I took a bite of it and she continued to smile. "Is there any reason why you haven't had any dinner yet?"

I took out the notebook from earlier and I wrote it down for her. "I got out of the restaurant on my own." She read it out loud from the sentence that I had written. "Why?" She then asked.

I shook my head, I don't want to tell her anything but I eventually told my whole story to her, revealing that I was the chaebol of the CEO of one of the most successful insurance companies in Korea. I wiped my tears away while she patted me on the back telling me that it is okay and it is nothing wrong with me wanting to go to school.

'That's all I can tell you.' I placed the finished bowl of instant noodles at the side and slightly nodded before getting up.

"Where are you doing?" She asked me.

'Home. I'm sleepy.' I told her in sign language, I have to stay in somewhere tonight, I can't go back to my own house in fear that she might want me to drop out of school like what my father wanted me to be. My mother was lying, she never wanted me to go to school in the first place.

"It's late and I'm afraid that most of the hotels are already full, do you want to stay overnight at my house tonight?" I wanted to say no but at this point, I had no choice. I agreed as long as I can stay out of it for one night, just one night.