Chapter 10: Prove It
756 Words
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Eun-ha didn’t return to campus right away.
For the first time since stepping through St. Lysander’s gates, she felt like she didn’t want to go back. Not because she was afraid of the whispers. Not because of the pressure.
But because she didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Had she ever belonged there? Had she been chosen because of her merit—or because she’d been picked out of a crowd and placed like a pawn on a board she didn’t even see?
Her mother hovered as she packed her bag.
“You’re not going to talk to him?”
Eun-ha zipped the duffel shut. “No.”
“You should,” her mother said gently. “Not for him. For yourself.”
“I need to know he didn’t know.”
“Then ask.”
But Eun-ha wasn’t ready. Not yet.
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She arrived back on campus late Sunday night. Her dorm was quiet. Ji-hye, her roommate, raised her head from her laptop, startled.
“Hey—God, you scared me. You okay?”
Eun-ha managed a tight smile. “Not sure.”
Ji-hye nodded, not pressing.
“You were gone two days. He’s been looking for you.”
“I figured.”
Ji-hye hesitated. “He didn’t look like himself.”
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The next morning, Eun-ha returned to routine.
Lecture. Notes. Study hall.
And everywhere she turned—Jae-won wasn’t there.
Which was worse.
Because it meant he knew.
She finally found him in the music building’s practice rooms—a place he never visited unless he needed to escape.
She knocked on the door.
He opened it slowly.
They stared at each other for a full ten seconds.
Then she stepped inside.
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“I saw the file,” she said.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
He nodded. “Not from the start. But I found out this semester.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know how.”
“You should’ve told me the second you knew.”
“I wanted to. I was going to. But then things got complicated—”
“Stop,” she said. “No more excuses.”
Jae-won ran a hand through his hair. “I thought if you found out, you’d leave. That everything we had would feel fake to you.”
“So instead, you let me find out from a file?”
“I made a mistake.”
She stepped back. “No. You made a decision. And that’s worse.”
His voice dropped. “I didn’t ask him to do it. He didn’t even tell me. I found the record on my own.”
“Why was it there at all?”
Jae-won’s jaw clenched. “Because he knew I’d notice you.”
That stunned her. “What?”
“He knows me better than I thought. He read my application essay. He saw my rejection of the other girls. He planted you like bait, thinking you’d distract me from rebellion.”
“And I did,” she whispered.
“No.” He stepped closer. “You reminded me why I wanted to rebel in the first place.”
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Silence stretched between them. Then:
“Tell me one thing,” she said. “Was any of it real?”
He didn’t hesitate. “All of it.”
She wanted to believe him. Her heart begged her to.
But her mind wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” she said. “That your father manipulated this, or that I still want to be with you anyway.”
He nodded. “Then let me prove it.”
“How?”
“I’ll confront him. Publicly. At the board meeting next week.”
“Jae-won—”
“If I don’t cut him off now, he’ll never stop. He’ll keep pulling strings until we can’t even breathe.”
She stared at him. “That would cost you everything.”
“It would give me everything too.”
She whispered, “Then do it.”
He nodded.
And she left the room, heart thudding like a war drum.
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That night, Eun-ha received a message.
> If you push him to defy me, I’ll make sure you regret ever stepping onto this campus.
No name.
But she knew exactly who it was.
She didn’t reply.
Instead, she typed one sentence back:
> I wasn’t afraid when I had nothing. I’m not afraid now.
And she hit send.
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End of Chapter 10
[To Be Continued...]
- Writer
