23. Jeong Su-yeon (4)
Written by Malranggong.
*Please note that this article contains depictions of domestic violence.
The spark of interest in Ho-seok died down more easily than expected. Their parents probably thought it was better to focus on raising Jeong Su-yeon, who was right in front of them. And more than anything, they knew that if they blew the whistle on finding Ho-seok, all their misdeeds would be exposed. If they stirred things up in the name of finding Ho-seok, they'd definitely run into the police...
***
It was around the time she entered elementary school that she began to be seriously managed. From then on, every test, including dictation, required a perfect score. Naturally, she couldn't get more than ninety-nine. All her parents wanted was a perfect score. Still immature and not quite an adult, they always expected perfection from her. She couldn't fall behind anyone. Anything below a perfect score was often met with harsh punishment.
“Is this all you got right? Ninety points in math? How can that be?”
It was always her mother who scolded her first. She thoroughly found out when Jung Soo-yeon was taking her exams and made her take out her report card as soon as she got home from school. Because of this, Jung Soo-yeon was always afraid to go home, and she would hesitate in front of the house every time, deciding whether to go in or not. However, Jung Soo-yeon was still young and did not have the courage to run away like Ho-seok, and fearing a greater retaliation later, she would hesitate and go in. When Jung Soo-yeon entered the house, what greeted her was not warmth and words of appreciation for her hard work, but rather pressure to quickly take out her report card.
In fact, Jeong Su-yeon wasn't capable of getting a ninety. In fact, she was capable of getting a perfect score. However, the moment the test paper came into view, her stomach began to hurt involuntarily, and she couldn't concentrate throughout the test. In a way, that result was inevitable. With so much pressure, how could she not feel stressed and even tense?
“Ninety points? Is that all you can do? You used to get a perfect score. Did you cheat or something back then??”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
Mother raised the cane high and struck Jeong Su-yeon's right arm hard, asking if she was a dumb person who had eaten honey. Jeong Su-yeon groaned faintly in so much pain and flinched, but Mother ignored her and continued to strike her with the cane. The sharp cane quickly wounded Jeong Su-yeon's right arm, and Jeong Su-yeon, unable to bear the pain, bit her lip and let tears fall. From then on, Jeong Su-yeon learned what it meant to swallow tears.
Jung Soo-yeon's arm, now so bruised, had to be treated by herself. Neither her mother nor her father took pity on her wounded arm, nor did they treat it. They simply told her to figure it out herself, urging her to hurry to her room and write down her mistakes. No matter how much Jung Soo-yeon complained about her arm hurting and her inability to write, her mother firmly insisted she write down her mistakes. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she ordered her to do so.
Jeong Su-yeon had no choice but to roughly treat her bruised arm and, under her mother's watchful eye, begin to write down her error notes. Her hands trembled from the wounds, but she clenched her teeth and endured the pain as she wrote.
“Is there anyone in your class who got a perfect score?”
Jeong Su-yeon nodded silently.
“You’re doing a good job. Can’t you get a perfect score when other kids do?”
Saying this, the mother pushed the back of Jeong Su-yeon's head hard.
“So, who got 100 points??”
“…”
“You didn’t get hit enough? You have to get hit more before you open your mouth??”
“…—this.”
“Speak up.”
“…Kim Taehyung.”