Chapter 2
1729 Words
I barely slept that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the photograph.
My mother standing between two boys.
The girl whose face had been scratched out.
And the message.
Your mother lied.
I stared at the ceiling until the numbers on my clock changed from 2:17 to 3:46.
There was something my mother wasn't telling me.
I knew that much.
What I didn't know was why.
The next morning, I found her standing in the kitchen.
She looked tired.
“Mom.”
She turned.
“You're awake early.”
“I couldn't sleep.”
Her hands stopped moving.
“Why?”
I wanted to ask her about the photograph again.
Instead, I asked, “Did something happen twelve years ago?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom?”
She placed a cup on the table.
“Eat your breakfast.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
She looked at me.
For a moment, I thought she might finally tell me everything.
Instead, she said quietly, “Some things are better left in the past.”
“But what if the past keeps following you?”
Her expression changed.
“Ha-eun.”
She walked toward me and held my shoulders.
“Whatever happens at Haneul, don't investigate.”
“Why?”
“Because I know those people.”
“The Kang family?”
She immediately let go.
“Yes.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Especially them.”
I frowned.
“What did they do?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying again.”
She looked away.
Then she reached toward the chain around my neck.
The small silver pendant I had worn since I was a child.
“Do you still have this?”
I touched it.
“Of course.”
“Don't lose it.”
“Why?”
Her fingers trembled slightly.
“Because it belonged to someone important.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom?”
“You're going to be late.”
She walked away.
I stared after her.
Someone important.
That was the first time my mother had ever said anything about the pendant.
I had always assumed it was just an old piece of jewelry.
Now I wasn't so sure.
I arrived at school earlier than usual.
The hallway was almost empty.
For a few seconds, I enjoyed the silence.
Then I heard footsteps.
I turned.
It was only a teacher carrying a stack of papers.
I laughed quietly at myself.
Yesterday had made me paranoid.
I entered the classroom and found Soo-ah already sitting at her desk.
She looked up.
“You're early.”
“So are you.”
“I have a reputation to maintain.”
“You?”
She placed a hand over her chest.
“I'm a very responsible student.”
I smiled.
“Sure.”
She laughed.
Then she noticed my expression.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You look like you haven't slept.”
“I didn't.”
“Why?”
I hesitated.
“I found something yesterday.”
Her smile disappeared.
“What?”
“An old yearbook.”
She waited.
“My mother was in it.”
Soo-ah blinked.
“Your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“I saw her name.”
“What was she doing at Haneul?”
“I don't know.”
I lowered my voice.
“She never told me she studied here.”
Soo-ah leaned closer.
“Maybe there's a reason.”
“That’s what I'm trying to figure out.”
Before she could answer, several students entered the classroom.
Our conversation ended.
A few minutes later, the teacher arrived.
The class began.
I tried to concentrate.
But the empty desk beside the window kept distracting me.
Kang Ji-hyun.
His name was still written neatly on the school ID sitting on his desk.
He wasn't there again.
I wondered if he was always absent from class because of student council work.
Then I noticed something.
A small envelope had been placed on top of his desk.
It wasn't there yesterday.
I stared at it.
My curiosity grew.
But before I could look closer, a student walked over and picked it up.
“That's Ji-hyun's.”
I looked away.
I didn't know why.
Maybe because my mother had warned me.
Maybe because the moment I saw his name, something inside me told me to stay away.
During break, Soo-ah sat beside me.
“There's a school festival next month.”
“Already?”
“Haneul starts preparing ridiculously early.”
She showed me a list of activities.
Clubs.
Performances.
Sports.
Student council events.
“Are you joining anything?”
“I don't know.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“So you can make friends.”
I smiled.
“I already have one.”
She looked offended.
“One?”
“I'm still working on the second.”
She laughed.
Then her expression suddenly became serious.
“Speaking of people…”
“What?”
“You should really be careful.”
“With what?”
She glanced toward the hallway.
“Lee Tae-jun.”
I sighed.
“You've mentioned him twice.”
“Because you're new.”
“And?”
“You don't understand what he's like.”
“What did he do?”
She lowered her voice.
“Last year, he got suspended for almost two weeks.”
“For fighting?”
“Among other things.”
I looked toward the classroom door.
“Is he really that bad?”
Soo-ah shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You just said—”
“I said he's trouble. I didn't say he's a bad person.”
That surprised me.
“You're defending him.”
“I'm not.”
She looked down.
“I just think people here judge him too quickly.”
Before I could ask anything else, the bell rang.
The conversation ended.
Later that afternoon, our teacher asked us to help organize some old school materials for an upcoming event.
I volunteered.
Maybe because I wanted to stay busy.
Maybe because I wanted an excuse to return to the library.
When everyone left, I found myself standing in front of the old yearbook shelf again.
I stared at the empty space where the book had been.
Someone had moved it.
I searched the shelf.
Nothing.
My heart sank.
Then I noticed a piece of paper sticking out from between two books.
I pulled it free.
There was only one sentence written on it.
You should stop looking for her.
My hands went cold.
Her.
The girl in the photograph.
I looked around.
“Hello?”
No answer.
I turned the paper over.
Nothing.
Then I heard a sound behind me.
A book falling.
I spun around.
Nobody was there.
I walked toward the shelves.
Nothing.
But on the floor was another photograph.
I picked it up.
It was old.
The same four teenagers.
My mother.
Kang Min-jae.
Lee Dong-wook.
And the girl whose face had been scratched away.
But this time, the photograph had been taken somewhere else.
In the background was the Haneul High playground.
I looked closer.
Something was written on the back.
A date.
October 14, 2014.
And beneath it—
She knows.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
I opened the message.
You were closer to the truth than you think.
Another message followed.
Ask your mother what happened on October 14.
I stopped breathing.
October 14.
I quickly took a picture of the photograph.
Then I heard footsteps in the hallway.
Someone was coming.
I shoved the photograph into my notebook and stepped away from the shelf.
The footsteps stopped outside the library.
I waited.
The door opened slightly.
I held my breath.
But no one entered.
After a few seconds, the door slowly closed again.
I waited another minute before leaving.
The hallway was empty.
As I walked toward the stairs, I noticed a figure standing at the far end.
A boy.
He was wearing the Haneul uniform.
His face was turned away.
I couldn't see him clearly.
He stood near the student council office.
Then he walked away.
I didn't follow.
For some reason, I remembered my mother's warning.
Stay away from the Kang family.
I tightened my grip around my notebook.
When I got home, my mother wasn't in the kitchen.
“Mom?”
No answer.
I found her in the bedroom.
She was looking through an old box.
The moment she saw me, she quickly closed it.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
I stared at the box.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Do you know what happened on October 14, 2014?”
She froze.
I knew immediately.
She knew.
Her eyes slowly met mine.
“Where did you hear that date?”
“So something happened.”
“Ha-eun.”
“What happened?”
She stood.
“Don't ask me about that day.”
“Why?”
“Because I can't tell you.”
“Can't?”
Her voice trembled.
“Not yet.”
I stepped closer.
“What does the girl in the photograph have to do with you?”
My mother went pale.
Then she whispered something that made my entire body go cold.
“She should never have been at Haneul.”
“Who?”
My mother looked toward the window.
“The girl.”
Before I could ask anything else, something fell from the old box.
A small photograph landed on the floor.
I picked it up.
It was another picture of my mother.
But this time, she wasn't a teenager.
She was much younger.
Maybe five years old.
And standing beside her was a little boy.
I looked at his face.
My heart stopped.
Around his neck was the same silver pendant I had worn since childhood.
I looked down at mine.
Then back at the photograph.
There was writing on the back.
For Ha-eun, when she remembers.
My fingers began to shake.
I looked at my mother.
“Mom…”
She closed her eyes.
And for the first time, I realized something terrifying.
Maybe the secret wasn't only about her past.
Maybe it was about mine.
And maybe twelve years ago wasn't the beginning of the story.
Maybe it was the part everyone had been trying to make me forget.
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