The Secret We Left Behind

Chapter 1

Three months earlier…

“Ha-eun.”

I looked up from tying my shoelaces.

My mother stood in the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee she had not touched.

“You’re going to be late.”

“I know.”

I stood and adjusted my new school uniform.

Haneul High School.

One of the most prestigious schools in Seoul.

Until I received the scholarship.

“Ha-eun.”

“What?”

She walked over and fixed my collar.

“If anyone asks about our family…”

She stopped.

“Don’t tell them too much.”

I laughed softly.

“Why would anyone ask about our family?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mom, I’m just going to school.”

She looked away.

Then she said quietly, “Just promise me.”

“Okay. I promise.”

She nodded.

I picked up my backpack.

“I should go.”

“Ha-eun.”

I turned.

Her expression had changed.

“Be careful at Haneul.”

“I will.”

She hesitated.

Then she whispered, “Especially around the Kang family.”

I frowned.

“The Kang family?”

My mother immediately looked away.

“Go. You’ll be late.”

So I left.

At the time, I thought it was just another one of my mother’s strange warnings.

I didn’t know that by the end of the day, I would hear the name Kang more times than I could count.

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The moment I saw Haneul High, I understood why everyone called it an elite school.

Students walked through the entrance in expensive-looking uniforms and carried bags I could probably never afford.

Some arrived in luxury cars.

Others were dropped off by private drivers.

I looked down at my shoes.

They were old.

My mother had cleaned them carefully the night before, but they were still old.

I took a deep breath.

It’s okay.

I walked through the gates.

Almost immediately, I heard whispers.

“That’s the transfer student.”

“The scholarship student?”

“She’s from a public school, right?”

“I heard she got the highest entrance score.”

“Lucky.”

I kept my eyes forward.

I didn’t have to listen.

“Are you Yoon Ha-eun?”

I turned.

A girl with shoulder-length hair smiled at me.

“I’m Han Soo-ah.”

“Hi.”

“You’re new, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I guessed.”

“How?”

She pointed toward the school buildings.

“You’ve been standing there for almost a minute.”

I laughed.

“Was it that obvious?”

“A little.”

She shrugged.

“But you look like you need a friend.”

That made me smile.

“Thanks.”

Our classroom was on the third floor.

Some students smiled.

Some nodded politely.

Others barely acknowledged me.

Then our homeroom teacher entered.

“Everyone, settle down.”

The classroom became quiet.

She looked at me.

“You must be Yoon Ha-eun.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Come to the front and introduce yourself.”

I stood.

My hands were cold.

“Hello. My name is Yoon Ha-eun. I recently transferred here under the scholarship program. I hope we can get along.”

I returned to my seat.

Soo-ah leaned toward me.

“You survived.”

“Barely.”

She laughed.

The teacher began attendance.

Names were called one after another.

Then she stopped.

“Kang Ji-hyun?”

Nobody answered.

The teacher looked toward an empty desk beside the window.

“Kang Ji-hyun?”

A student raised his hand.

“He’s at the student council office.”

The teacher sighed.

“Of course.”

I glanced toward the empty desk.

Everything on it was perfectly arranged.

A notebook.

A black pen.

A school ID.

I could barely read the name.

KANG JI-HYUN.

I looked at Soo-ah.

“Who is he?”

She stared at me.

“You don’t know?”

I shook my head.

“Kang Ji-hyun?”

“Yes.”

She lowered her voice.

“He’s the student council president.”

“He’s also the top student.”

“And his family owns the Kang Group.”

My expression changed.

“The Kang Group?”

She nodded.

I remembered my mother.

Especially around the Kang family.

I looked at the empty desk again.

Soo-ah continued.

“Everyone knows him.”

“Is he popular?”

“Very.”

“Then why haven’t I seen him?”

“He’s usually busy.”

“With what?”

“Everything.”

She smiled.

“But there’s something else.”

“What?”

“He’s not someone people approach easily.”

“Why?”

She shrugged.

“That’s just how he is.”

I looked toward the empty desk.

I had never met Kang Ji-hyun.

I didn’t even know what he looked like.

Yet his name already felt strangely familiar.

By lunchtime, I had learned something important about Haneul.

There were rules nobody wrote down.

Who belonged to which group.

Who had money.

Who had influence.

Who could get away with things.

And who couldn’t.

Soo-ah and I sat together in the cafeteria.

She pointed toward a beautiful girl surrounded by several classmates.

“That’s Seo Min-ah.”

“She’s popular.”

“She is.”

“Student council?”

“Vice president.”

I nodded.

Soo-ah lowered her voice.

“She and Ji-hyun are close.”

“Dating?”

“Not officially.”

I laughed.

“You seem to know everything.”

“It’s impossible not to know things here.”

Before I could respond, a group of boys walked past us.

One of them said, “I heard Lee Tae-jun got into another fight.”

Soo-ah immediately stopped eating.

I looked at her.

“Who’s Lee Tae-jun?”

She sighed.

“Another name you should remember.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s trouble.”

“What kind?”

“Fights. Skipping class. Breaking rules.”

I smiled.

“You make him sound terrible.”

“He’s worse.”

“Have you met him?”

“Unfortunately.”

I looked around.

“Where is he?”

“Probably somewhere he shouldn’t be.”

She pointed toward the group of girls.

“Min-ah, if you don’t want drama.”

Then toward the student council office.

“Ji-hyun, if you don’t want trouble.”

She paused.

“And Tae-jun…”

She shook her head.

“Just don’t.”

I didn’t know then that those names would eventually become impossible for me to ignore.

After lunch, I went to the library.

I needed somewhere quiet.

I wandered through the shelves until I reached the old yearbooks.

One book caught my attention.

Haneul High School — Twelve Years Ago.

I pulled it out.

I wasn’t sure why.

Twelve years.

I opened the book.

Students.

Clubs.

Sports teams.

School festivals.

Then I saw a familiar face.

My mother’s face.

She looked younger.

Happy.

She was wearing a Haneul High uniform.

“Mom…”

Why had she never told me she studied here?

I looked beneath her picture.

YOON SOO-JIN

I turned the page.

There were several names.

One immediately caught my attention.

KANG MIN-JAE.

Another.

LEE DONG-WOOK.

The same surnames I had heard earlier.

Then I found a photograph of four teenagers.

My mother stood on one side.

Two boys stood beside her.

Between them was a girl.

But her face had been scratched out.

I stared at the photograph.

Who was she?

Why had someone destroyed her face?

I reached closer.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

I jumped.

Unknown Number.

A message appeared.

“You shouldn’t be looking at that.”

I looked around the library.

Nobody.

Another message appeared.

“Some secrets should stay buried.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Then another message arrived.

“Especially the ones involving your mother.”

I quickly closed the yearbook.

I looked toward the library entrance.

Still nobody.

I put the yearbook back.

Then my phone vibrated again.

This time, it was a photograph.

I opened it.

It was the same old photograph.

My mother.

The two boys.

The girl with the scratched-out face.

But someone had circled one of the boys in red.

Underneath it was a single word.

KANG.

I stared at it.

My mother’s warning echoed in my head.

Especially around the Kang family.

I locked my phone.

For the first time since entering Haneul, I wanted to go home.

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Rain began falling before the final bell.

Most students rushed toward the gates.

I waited inside the classroom until the hallway became quiet.

As I walked downstairs, I passed the student council office.

A glass door stood at the end of the hallway.

Engraved on it was a name.

KANG JI-HYUN

STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT

I stopped.

I stared at it.

So this was the person everyone had been talking about.

The person my mother had warned me about without even knowing I would hear his name.

I wondered what he looked like.

Then I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned.

Nobody.

My heart began beating faster.

I looked back at the office.

The lights were off.

I continued toward the exit.

I didn’t see the figure standing on the second-floor balcony.

I didn’t know someone was watching me.

And I didn’t know that someone had recognized me.

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When I arrived home, my mother was waiting in the living room.

“How was school?”

“Good.”

“Did you make friends?”

“One.”

She smiled faintly.

“That’s good.”

I put my backpack down.

Then I hesitated.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Did you ever study at Haneul High?”

Her smile disappeared.

Only for a second.

But I noticed.

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

“I saw your name in an old yearbook.”

Her face became pale.

“What year?”

“Twelve years ago.”

She stopped breathing for a moment.

“Ha-eun…”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t look through those records again.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“Mom.”

“I’m serious.”

I stared at her.

“Why are you scared?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

She looked away.

I took out my phone.

“I also found these names.”

I showed her the photograph.

The moment she saw it, she reached for my phone.

“Where did you get this?”

“In the library.”

“Delete it.”

“What?”

“Delete it, Ha-eun.”

“Why?”

She looked at me.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

“Because you don’t know what you’re getting involved in.”

“Then tell me.”

Silence.

“Who are they?”

She didn’t answer.

“Mom.”

She closed her eyes.

“Go upstairs.”

“No.”

“Ha-eun.”

“I want to know.”

Her voice broke.

“You need to stay away from Haneul.”

“But I just started.”

“Transfer.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

“Transfer to another school.”

“Why?”

She looked at the photograph again.

Then she whispered—

“Because some people don’t want the past to stay buried.”

My phone suddenly vibrated.

I looked down.

Another message from the unknown number.

“Your mother lied.”

Slowly, I raised my eyes.

My mother was staring at my phone.

She looked like she knew exactly who had sent it.

And suddenly, I wasn’t sure which frightened me more.

The message…

or my mother’s reaction.

That night, I realized something.

I hadn’t chosen Haneul High simply because it was my dream school.

Maybe there was another reason I had ended up there.

Maybe my mother knew it.

Maybe someone else knew it too.

And whatever happened twelve years ago…

was waiting for me.