She was no different from a beast

Chapter 20

—–CROW—– 

“Uh, Mom…”

“What’s wrong…  Yuna, why do you look so down?”

How should I explain this?

Mom, who usually greeted me with a smile, was fidgeting and looking around nervously. She tilted her head and approached me with a worried expression.

She knelt down to meet my eyes and patted my back.

“Did something happen at school? Did someone bully you? Yuna, tell me.”

Well… something did happen, but I wasn’t bullied… it’s just…

“Did someone hit you?! Are you hurt?”

Mom, I’m not the one who gets hit.

I’m the one who did the hitting… a little too enthusiastically…

I don’t know!

I racked my brain, trying to figure out how to minimize the scolding, and finally decided to just be honest.  I closed my eyes and blurted out:

“I… I accidentally… slammed… my friend… into the ground!!”

“??!!”

Mom’s eyes widened in shock.

Well, this must be shocking for her.

Her daughter, who had a history of fighting wild animals, but never humans, had hit a classmate.  What parent wouldn’t be shocked…

“Is… is your friend alive…?”

“…Mom?”

What are you talking about, Mother?

I mean, I did regain my senses at the last moment and lessened the force of the throw so he wouldn’t get seriously hurt, but still…

I joke about people dying if I poke them, but hearing someone else say it about me is quite shocking.

It feels like… a betrayal?

“W-What should we do?  D-Do you know which funeral home…? I have to go and apologize…!!”

“…He’s not dead.  The nurse said it’s just a bruise.”

“Oh.”

It wasn’t even a dark bruise, just a little redness and swelling.

He must have learned his falling techniques well in Taekwondo. He instinctively rolled as he fell.

If he’d landed flat on his back, it could have been much worse.

I stared at Mom with a deadpan expression.  She seemed to realize she’d said something inappropriate to her eight-year-old daughter and cleared her throat.

“W-Well, that’s good, but Yuna, you shouldn’t hit your friends. Did you have a fight?”

“…No.”

“You just… hit him?”

“…Yes.  To be precise, I threw him over my shoulder.”

“??  Threw him… over your shoulder?”

“Yes. He tried to run away, so I grabbed his neck and…”

I reenacted the scene. Mom pressed her fingers to her forehead and sighed.

A seoi nage is definitely more impactful than a punch or a kick to the stomach.

“You didn’t hit him for no reason, did you?”

“…No.”

I told Mom everything that happened during lunch break, trying to keep my voice calm.

After finishing my lunch, I was still hungry, so I snuck some sesame oil and gochujang from home and mixed it with the leftover food to make bibimbap.  Then Jeongwoo, my partner, called me a pig.

I got angry, bent my spoon in half, and threw him over my shoulder.

I took him to the nurse’s office, where they said he was fine. We made up, but the teacher asked us to bring our parents to school.

Mom listened to my story and remained silent, her expression unreadable.

Honestly, Jeongwoo started it… but I was the one who resorted to violence, so I was more at fault.

‘Ugh.  I’m so old, why can’t I just admit I was wrong?’

It doesn’t matter who started it. If I was involved, I should admit my fault and apologize.

Besides, in my past life, I wouldn’t have even gotten angry. I would have played along, saying, “Oink! Oink! I’m a piggy!”

That’s how I made friends when I was younger.

…I should apologize.

“I-I’m sorry, Mom.”

“…”

I’d already apologized to Jeongwoo, but my actions had dragged Mom into this, so I had to apologize to her too.

And I had to apologize to Jeongwoo’s parents tomorrow, and to the teacher…  Ugh, my image is completely ruined.

“…Let’s go to school together tomorrow, okay?”

“…Okay.”

Mom’s voice was gentle and warm as she stroked my hair, but I could detect a slight tremor. I lowered my head and answered listlessly.

For the first time as Han Yuna… I felt a deep ache in my chest.

For the first time… I felt like I’d disappointed my mom.

…

‘I hope she didn’t notice I was angry…’

Suyeon sipped her wine, something she rarely did, as she thought about Yuna, who had apologized and then reassured her with a forced smile.

Her heart had nearly stopped when she heard that her usually sweet and cheerful daughter… had hit a classmate.

She told everyone that Yuna was just “robust,” but she knew her daughter’s strength was far beyond that of other children her age.

She’d initially planned to scold her sternly.

Resorting to violence, no matter the provocation, was a bad and dangerous habit.

…And she’d planned to lecture her about the missing gochujang and sesame oil.

She was trying to figure out how to address the situation without hurting Yuna’s feelings when her daughter knelt down and apologized in a small voice.

Seeing her usually energetic daughter looking pale and anxious, she couldn’t bring herself to scold her.

‘Is this right?’

She should discipline her.

But she didn’t want to see Yuna so dejected…

“Huh? What’s this?  Honey, is it a special occasion?  Why are you drinking wine? Having a party without me?”

“It’s nothing, honey.  …Yuna had a… disagreement with a friend at school.”

“Oh~ It’s nothing to worry about.  Kids will be kids…”

“Yuna hit her friend.”

“…Which funeral home? Should I start the car?”

Suyeon chuckled at her husband’s shocked response as he emerged from the shower.

She’d said the same thing when Yuna first told her.

Her husband sat down, his expression serious, and gestured for her to explain.  She recounted Yuna’s story.

Her husband listened quietly…

“Wow. Our daughter is so mature.”

“…Huh? Honey, what are you talking about?  She hit her friend!  He could have been seriously hurt.”

“Think about it. If our daughter seriously threw a classmate…  Just the thought gives me chills.  Wouldn’t the teacher have called us before we heard it from Yuna?”

Yuna must have held back so her friend wouldn’t get seriously injured.

“Besides, they made up, and she apologized to you first? That’s not easy.  When I was a kid, I’d never admit I was wrong, even when my mom was whipping me.”

I actually want to praise Yuna.

Even adults try to hide their mistakes.  At least our daughter can admit her fault and apologize sincerely.

“We’ll have to discipline her if it happens again, but I don’t think she deserves to be scolded for this.”

“…Hmm.”

He was right.

Even when she was older than Yuna, she’d been reluctant to apologize.

Admitting fault felt like losing, a blow to her pride.  It felt like she was the only one being punished.

Yuna, despite that discomfort, accepted her mistake and apologized to her friend and her mother.

…Did she even have the right to scold Yuna?

“Wow, but that friend… Jeongwoo, was it? He’s tough.  He’s still walking around after being thrown by Yuna? I’d lose to our daughter in three seconds.”

“…Honestly, I was worried he might be seriously injured.”

“Heh.  Understandable. Anyway, don’t be too hard on Yuna. It’s normal for kids to fight.  Everyone makes mistakes.  I’ll go to school with you tomorrow.”

“Okay.  Thanks, honey.  Want some wine?”

Yes.  She wouldn’t scold Yuna.

It was their fault as parents, so she and her husband would apologize to Jeongwoo’s parents tomorrow.

…Or so she thought.

*Smack!*

“You little brat!! Calling such a pretty girl a pig!!”

“Ow! Mom! I-I already apologized!”

…?

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.  My son is still young and immature.  He needs a good beating to learn his lesson!”

“Oh, no, we’re the ones who should apologize.  We spoiled our daughter…”

“What are you talking about! I heard from my son yesterday that he started it! If my husband said something like that to me, I’d break his golf clubs over his head!”

“…”

Uh… what’s going on?

Jeongwoo’s mother said this with a chuckle, then looked at her daughter.

“You’re Yuna?”

“Y-Yes. I’m sorry, ma’am…”

“Yes, you should be. Why are you so soft-hearted?  Next time that brat says something like that, give him a good beating.  If he says anything mean, give him a black eye so he can’t open his mouth.  Got it?”

“…”

‘She really shouldn’t do that…’

She’d have to tell Yuna not to hit her friends when she came home from school.

—–CROW—–