25. Her way of survival
Written by Malranggong.
*Please note that this article contains depictions of domestic violence.
It was Jeong Su-yeon who was able to escape from that hellish place when she was nineteen.
Jung Soo-yeon had become accustomed to the constant abuse she endured. No, she had become so numb to it that she no longer felt anything. All she could think was, "Oh, here we go again." When Jung Soo-yeon turned seventeen, not only her mother but also her previously quiet father had become involved in the abuse. Because of this, Jung Soo-yeon's struggles became doubly difficult when she entered high school. Although that doubling of hardship had become dulled within a year.
Jung Soo-yeon had no will to live. She simply hoped to die a natural death, hit by a car on the street. Whenever she crossed the street, she would not even look to see if a car was coming. And when a car suddenly approached, she would unconsciously stop and stare. Every time this happened, the cars would suddenly stop and scold her, asking her what she was doing so dangerously. But Jung Soo-yeon didn't even apologize, just stared blankly and went her own way. She was like a doll, an empty shell without a soul.
It was when she discovered a document that Jeong Su-yeon gained the will to live.
That day, as always, Jeong Su-yeon was cleaning up the messy living room after being beaten by her parents. As she was organizing her belongings, she opened a drawer and found a suspicious envelope inside. As if possessed, Jeong Su-yeon took out the documents inside…
At that moment,
A meaningful smile began to spread across Jeong Su-yeon's face.
That document contained none other than the entirety of her parents' absurd behavior. It seemed as though they had put important documents in such an easy-to-find place, taking them lightly because Jeong Su-yeon had been acting so submissively. Her parents assumed that Jeong Su-yeon would be too scared to find such documents, so she would quickly pretend not to notice. However, Jeong Su-yeon was not as easy as they had thought. She had been so indifferent to everything, lacking the will to live, that she had simply been submissive... Jeong Su-yeon was like a hyena, ready to pounce on any opportunity.
“I found it, the weakness…”
With that document, Jeong Su-yeon was able to threaten her parents and escape that hellish place. And from then on, Jeong Su-yeon began to develop a zest for life. She played with others' weaknesses to her own advantage, executed her plans according to her own ideas, and immediately recorded or left evidence of others' weaknesses…
That was Jeong Su-yeon's way of surviving.