40.
#One of Those People
Dawoon arrived at school too early. He arrived 30 minutes before the morning broadcast preparation time for the broadcasting club, only to find the door locked. The door lock password hadn’t been shared with first-year students yet, so he couldn’t enter.
Even the fourth-floor corridor of the student center where the broadcasting club was located was dark, with no lights on. Thanks to the light coming through the windows, objects could be distinguished by the naked eye, but it couldn’t completely dispel the early morning dimness.
Dawoon leaned against the corridor window, staring blankly outside. It was only 7:30, so there were hardly any students walking around the campus. He wondered if he should go to the library to kill time. But with only 30 minutes left, even going to and from the library seemed awkward.
“Jeong Dawoon?”
Turning around at the unexpected voice, he saw Choi Yu-na coming up the stairs, looking surprised to see Dawoon.
“Why are you here so early?”
Yu-na was as surprised as Dawoon, who hadn’t expected anyone to come at this hour.
“If you’re here, why aren’t you inside? Oh, right. We haven’t given the new students the password yet.”
Yu-na quickly entered the door lock password in front of the broadcasting club door. As the door opened with a beep, she gestured for Dawoon to enter first.
“Some new students quit within 1-2 weeks. That’s why we haven’t shared it yet. Don’t take it personally.”
She explained the reason for not sharing the password, even though Dawoon hadn’t asked.
“But really, why did you come so early?”
She asked again after entering the broadcasting club and placing her belongings on the conference room table.
“It just happened that way.”
“Is that so? If you think you’ll come early tomorrow too, I’ll give you the password. It’s a secret from the others.”
Choi Yu-na said with a bright smile. Dawoon quietly stared at her. The granddaughter of the ruling party’s floor leader. He remembered what Hayun had said yesterday.
‘Just as grandfather does, Choi Yu-na might be approaching you for your background, not for you. Do I need to explain that for you to understand?’
He didn’t want to think that way, but he couldn’t ignore even the slightest possibility. As Hayun said, the world Dawoon belonged to wasn’t as simple as he thought.
“Why did you come so early, senior?”
He asked, wondering if perhaps their encounter at this hour was intentional.
“It’s my turn to do the broadcast today. I wanted to read the script one more time. Somehow, I couldn’t concentrate at home. I always come this early on days when I’m broadcasting.”
Choi Yu-na answered without a moment’s hesitation. True to her words, looking at the broadcast schedule posted on the whiteboard covering one wall, Choi Yu-na’s name was written in the main announcer column for today.
Maybe it was just a coincidence after all. Perhaps Hayun was overthinking things.
“Senior.”
As he called her again, she turned her head from the paper that seemed to be the broadcast script.
“Was spilling the drink on me really an accident?”
He didn’t know how to beat around the bush or probe for intentions. But he didn’t want to continue with suspicions either. As long as he didn’t quit the broadcasting club, they would have to keep seeing each other, and he thought it would be better to clarify things one way or the other.
Choi Yu-na just blinked, looking at Dawoon. From her expression, it seemed she didn’t understand what Dawoon was saying. He kept his mouth shut and met her gaze. Several seconds passed, but she still looked puzzled.
“Never mind. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
He shook his head and retracted his words, but her eyes were still fixed on Dawoon’s face.
“Don’t tell me you’re suspicious?”
He flinched at the word ‘suspicious’. Was Hayun right after all?
“That I approached you to hit on you. Your friend said that last time too.”
Choi Yu-na chuckled after saying that.
“Aren’t you being overly self-conscious?”
Dawoon frowned at her amused words. Self-conscious? It was something he had never been called in his life.
“Well, I admit you’re handsome. When you had your interview, the seniors wondered why you applied for PD instead of announcer. They thought it was a waste.”
Choi Yu-na continued speaking in a light tone, turning her eyes back to the script.
“That’s all. Sorry if you were expecting something, but I’ve never had any other feelings for you. Oh, is it because I kept saying I’d buy you a meal?”
That wasn’t entirely untrue. It was suspicious that she came all the way to the classroom even when he said it was okay.
When Dawoon didn’t deny it, Choi Yu-na burst out laughing.
“I guess it really was misunderstandable. It’s not like that. How should I explain… It’s something I’ve been hearing since I was young, ingrained in me. Never be indebted to others. If you owe something, you must repay it someday, but you never know what they’ll ask in return, so you shouldn’t give them any excuse in the first place. That’s how I was raised.”
“…Was it your grandfather who said that?”
He thought that a congressman at the level of the ruling party’s floor leader might be wary of being indebted or owing favors to others.
“You know my grandfather?”
The smile disappeared from Choi Yu-na’s face. Her expression seemed to stiffen noticeably when mentioning her grandfather. Even after asking, she frowned, seemingly finding it hard to understand how Dawoon could mention her grandfather.
“He came to the Haedo Group Chairman’s birthday gathering last month.”
Congressman Choi Min-guk was among those Hayun had greeted that day. He was also the person who had the longest conversation with Chairman Jeong. Dawoon had only seen him from afar, but he was such a well-known figure that Dawoon at least knew who he was.
“Ah…”
Choi Yu-na’s expression twisted strangely.
“So you’re one of those people.”
The term ‘those people’ she used sounded familiar somehow.
“Oh, sorry. That must have sounded strange.”
It was strange. In Dawoon’s mind, she, as the granddaughter of the ruling party’s floor leader, was ‘one of those people’. But it felt like she was drawing a line first.
Perhaps because Dawoon remained silent, Choi Yu-na’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. She repeatedly parted and closed her lips as if about to say something.
“By any chance…”
She rolled her eyes to look at Dawoon. Somehow, it seemed like she was gauging his reaction.
“Are you from the Haedo Group?”
Given his surname ‘Jeong’, it seemed she naturally made that connection.
“Ah…!”
As Dawoon remained silent without denying it, her eyes widened as if she had realized something.
“The person who came to pick you up yesterday, that was Jeong Hayun, right? The Haedo Group successor.”
Hayun’s face was known in certain circles, so people sometimes recognized him.
“Don’t tell me you’re his brother?”
She seemed quite surprised by the fact that Dawoon was not just a distant relative but a direct descendant of the Haedo Group, blinking in disbelief.
“It wasn’t self-consciousness, it was reasonable to be suspicious.”
Choi Yu-na muttered. It was bitter to realize that her question about whether he had been approached deliberately became understandable just by attaching the name Haedo Group to the same conditions.
In any case, seeing her reaction now, it seemed Hayun’s worries might have been excessive. It was hard to believe that her grandfather had intervened. Jeong Dawoon was not a recognized member of the Haedo Group. Therefore, there was no reason to try to connect the granddaughter of the ruling party’s floor leader with him.
If that wasn’t the case, then that was enough. Being overly conscious was indeed self-consciousness, as she had said. He could just continue as broadcasting club seniors and juniors as before.
“But you don’t need to be suspicious like that.”
As Dawoon was about to turn away after organizing his thoughts, Choi Yu-na added with a strange expression.
“I’m not what you think.”
She smiled bitterly after saying that. Dawoon flinched, wondering if he had voiced his inner thoughts.
“How should I explain this.”
She hesitated as if choosing her words. She even double-checked the closed broadcasting club door, as if worried someone might be listening.
“It’s true that Congressman Choi Min-guk is my grandfather, but I’m kind of an exception.”
Dawoon narrowed his eyes, unable to understand what she was trying to say.
“I am registered in that family’s registry, but I have a different mother.”
Dawoon caught his breath at her cautious words. His heart felt heavy as her situation didn’t seem unfamiliar.
“I live separately with my mom, just the two of us. So I’m really living completely unrelated to that family.”
Now he understood why she had used the expression ‘one of those people’.
“…I’m sorry.”
He felt sorry for bringing up the topic unnecessarily. Although she seemed to be speaking calmly, Choi Yu-na must not be feeling comfortable either. He could understand that feeling better than anyone.
“Why are you apologizing?”
Choi Yu-na waved her hand, laughing awkwardly. She seemed uncomfortable even hearing an apology.
“I’ve been called to the main house occasionally since I was young. Since they put me in the family registry, they wanted me to show my face and live accordingly. Whenever I went, I always heard the same thing – don’t be a burden to others.”
She made a bitter expression after saying that.
“It’s like they’re anxious that I might tarnish that family’s name somewhere. That’s why I did that. When I ruined your clothes, I insisted on compensating you somehow. The card I offered you that day, you know. It was given to me to resolve such situations if they ever occurred.”
The more he heard, the more uncomfortable he felt. It seemed like his own situation kept overlapping with her story.
“You really don’t need to worry about the clothes. You don’t need to feel indebted to me or think you caused me trouble because of that. I’ve already forgotten about it.”
He hoped she wouldn’t feel even slightly indebted. Choi Yu-na, who had been quietly looking at him, smiled gently at Dawoon’s words.
“I bought Na-eun a meal yesterday. I’ve repaid it with that.”
She repeated exactly what Dawoon had said yesterday, as if trying to ease his burden as well. Dawoon smiled faintly and nodded.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
