Childhood Friend Edification Theory - CHAPTER 1.1 - Slight R19

01. Childhood friends – Part 1

Ha Do-geom, the third son of Seonha Group Chairman Ha Dongho, and Choi Se-hui, the eldest daughter of Choi Min-wook, Chairman of Korea University Hospital, were married. It was a typical arranged marriage, but the relationship between Ha Do-geom and Choi Se-hui was not particularly bad. The two were a good match, believing that business and love should be kept separate.

Ha Do-geom and Choi Se-hui agreed never to have children outside of marriage. So, immediately after their wedding, they began to prepare for pregnancy and had their only son, Ha Jaeha. With Ha Jaeha’s birth further solidified their bond, and they continued to project the image of a harmonious couple, all while their relationship remained a strictly business arrangement.

On the surface, they seemed to be the perfect family. Ha Jae-ha’s presence added a special spice to this perfection.

“Oh my, Jaeha… what did you just say?”

“I mentioned that there is a mistake in the book. Although the probability of fraternal twins of different genders exists, the book states that the chromosomes of fraternal twins are always identical. During cell division, the number of chromosomes…”

“Honey! Come out here at once!”

The theory, clearly explained by the four-year-old, was not knowledge that could be expected to be understood at that age. The incident raised the hopes of his parents, who already had high expectations of Ha Jaeha’s extraordinary intelligence.

Ha Jaeha was immediately given an IQ test and the result was immeasurable. In fact, it was more accurate to say that it was impossible to fully assess the child’s intelligence at that time. The doctor who assessed Ha Jaeha confidently stated that he certainly had an intelligence in the top 0.001%.

Ha Jaeha was special. His parents focused on how to nurture his specialness. They had the wealth, fame and connections to raise their brilliant child properly. A generous investment? That was an understatement. They invested accordingly, polishing and pushing the masterpiece born of their genes to shine even brighter. But three years of gifted education changed Ha Jaeha.

“Ha Jaeha! Why are you doing this? Why are you breaking your mother’s heart?”

“…..”

“Ha Jaeha!”

“…..”

“Answer me, say something!”  

“Honey! Calm down! Yelling won’t help!”

“Aaaah! What have I done wrong! Why! Why… why is my child like this…?”

Mutism of unknown cause. Although he had the ability to speak, he selectively refused to do so. Ha Jaeha’s parents couldn’t just abandon a jewel that had lost its sparkle because they remembered how brightly it once shone. They spent another year trying to fix him. But after a year, they gave up.

Ha Jaeha moved to a quiet elementary school in Gyeonggi Province. He had become a fragment that had fallen from perfection.

“Hey, did you move in today? What’s your name?”

It was that summer when he met Yun Haea, the girl next door who was a year younger than him.

The sun was especially intense that year. The scorching sunlight poured down with a vengeance, ready to burn her pale skin, and her dark brown hair turned a mysterious shade of auburn. It reminded him of a scene from a cartoon he had seen by chance.

A girl with bright red hair running around wildly. It was just as chaotic. His mother had changed the channel to a medical programme, saying there was no need to watch such things, and that was all he saw of it.

“Why aren’t you talking?”

Haea asked, worried about him not responding to anything. She seemed to think that if he just said a few words, he would get better. One day she brought a feather and tickled him under his nose.

“Tickle, tickle, tickle.“

Efforts were meaningless to him, who saw the world in shades of gray. Jaeha didn’t even try to defend himself.

“Achoo!“

Haea was pleased by the physiological reaction.

“You sneezed!”

She spread her arms wide and jumped up and down. She began to use the feather more often. Everyone except Jaeha welcomed Haea’s visits. This was due to the specialist’s suggestion that the stimulation of a child of his age might bring about a change in him.

“Haea, you’re here? It’s been a while. How are you feeling?”

A few months ago, Haea had fainted in this residence due to a heart valve problem. Today was her first visit since being taken to hospital.

“Hello…”

Haea was actually a very shy and quiet child. She was extremely shy. Even her parents couldn’t understand why she was so fixated on Jaeha and so active around him.

“I’m here, Jaeha…”

Her voice, announcing her arrival, was as soft as a whisper. It wasn’t common to see her giggling with a bright smile on her white cheeks. Usually she didn’t. Haea sat quietly to one side, rolling her big eyes and looking at Jaeha.

“It’s been a while, huh? How have you been?”

“……”

“I’ve been good! Actually… I was a bit sick, but I’m okay now.”

“……”

“Um……“

Haea felt uncomfortable at the lack of response. She wasn’t very good with words. If she disliked visiting or talking, she could stop coming, but there were no deviations from her regular visits. Weather conditions did not matter to her, whether it was hot or cold, except during the months when she was unwell.

“Today I brought something else instead of a feather.”

“……”

“Tada~! Isn’t it pretty?”

“……”

“This is… De, De… what was it?”

“Delphinium.”

“That’s right! It’s a flower I got from the hospital, and I wanted to show it to you because the meaning of the flower was pretty. It will make you happy………. huh?”

“……”

It was an emotionless gaze. Empty eyes that break people’s hearts. It was amazing that Haea had been able to hold out this long. Any other child would have been frightened enough to run away. What child wouldn’t be frightened by the shiny, empty, shell-like appearance, the glassy eyes that followed her eerily. 

But Haea endured it. It wasn’t his gaze that broke the little girl, but his voice. A tone that had cracked badly from lack of use. A rough, scratchy tone that was hard to associate with a face as beautiful as a porcelain doll, cutting through the hot air.

“Jaeha… sob, Jaeha…”

Standing close, Haea grabbed Jaeha’s collar and clung to him. Tears streamed down her white cheeks, warming her chubby cheeks and bringing a blush to her neck. Her w*t breath was as hot as the sun he remembered from that day. Jaeha watched silently as the child’s hot body fell to the ground.

But soon he moved.

* * *

On that day, even the adults were aware that it was Haea who was the cause of Jaeha’s reaction. Jaeha’s parents, who lived in Seoul, came down.

They advised Haea’s family to move, saying they were worried about Haea’s physical condition. Haea’s parents couldn’t refuse the suggestion to live closer to the hospital after their daughter had collapsed twice.

Korea University Hospital. The hospital, which had the best medical staff in the country, was headed by Haea’s grandfather. Haea’s treatment continued there. This small gesture was in response to something much bigger, but Haea’s parents accepted the proposal with gratitude towards Jaeha’s parents.

Haea’s family moved again, this time closer to the hospital, next door to Jaeha. Jaeha’s condition continued to improve and he returned to being the pride of his parents as if nothing had happened.

The more this happened, the more anxious Jaeha’s parents became, worried that their only son might deteriorate again. They constantly tried to keep Haea by his side. They attended the same elementary and middle school. Although their high schools were different, since Jaeha chose a science high school and since he didn’t live in a dormitory, there were no problems between them.

Jaeha was born in February, one year older than Haea. Before the abolition of early admission for those born in January and February, Jaeha advanced two grades quickly. But when Jaeha went to science high school and skipped a year, he was three years ahead. Three years after Jaeha started university, Haea also enrolled in the same university, bringing them together again. Their relationship remained unchanged for a long time. Well, at least she thought it stayed the same for a long time.

The change that Haea noticed was probably that day.

“Jaeha, can I come in?”

Instead of knocking on the door, Haea whispered, afraid to wake him if he was asleep.

“Ugh… Ha...”

A strange sound came from the slightly ajar door. It was a damp, whispering sound, like wind through w*t leaves. Not quite recognizing what it was, Haea felt her ch*st instinctively tighten, pressing against her lungs. Her lips tightened as a sharp pain echoed through her ch*st and she fidgeted with her hand.

“Haah…“

Hesitantly, she licked her dry lips, while on the other side, Jaeha’s breathing grew faster and harsher. His breath licked her earlobe, making the inside of her knees tighten. Her hand on the doorknob became slick with sweat. The cold metal scratching her fingers made Haea step back.

But she couldn’t just let go of the doorknob. She shouldn’t try to run away without knowing what terrible thing might be lurking inside. However, Haea stepped back and the door opened by her movement. The first thing she saw through the door, which opened smoothly without the slightest rattle, was his erect p*nis.

Standing as high as it could pierce the sky, it was as thick as Haea’s wrist. Even though his large hand, honed from playing national basketball in middle school, partially covered it, the shiny gl*ns and blue veins running along his p*nis were still clearly visible.