Hexed Intention

A person must know how to express anger when necessary. Withstanding maltreatment and forgiving indiscretions? There’s no bigger nonsense in the world. People who are quick to forgive are easily trampled. People who withstand poor treatment end up enduring it forever. That’s just how the world works. People only show respect when they are afraid. When someone screams with rage or destroys things in their fury, they achieve that respect through inspiring fear.

That was what Yoonmin had always believed. His mother forgave his cheating father four times, which was the reason his father was now entangled in his fifth affair. His mother put on a strong face, but behind that dam was a reservoir of tears. Because she allowed it to slide once, she had to go through it again and again. When Yoonmin asked why she stayed with his father, she replied that it was because she still loved him. What kind of garbage was that?

After the morning assembly ended and before the first class began, Yoonmin lay slumped on his desk, his eyes half-open.

“Yoonmin! Can you read my fortune?” someone called to him. “And if possible… my compatibility, too.”

This time, it was a boy making the request. After Jian started acting friendly toward him, Yoonmin had expected to be bullied by the boys. To his surprise, the opposite was happening. Instead, he was often asked questions like, “Hey, are you close with Jian Kim? Can you find out what she thinks of me?” He also started getting requests to check compatibility between crushes.

Were high school boys this naive all the time? I haven’t spent enough time around them to know one way or the other.

“No!” he growled at his would-be client.

“Why not?!” the boy demanded.

“My brain doesn’t work in the morning. I can’t comprehend yin and yang right now.”

“What are you talking about? You read Jinsol Kim’s yesterday!”

“Yesterday,” he said irritably, “I was well-rested and feeling good, but today, I’m not. If I try to read fortunes now, the results will be skewed.”

“So… once you feel better, I get to go first, right?”

When Yoonmin merely grunted, the boy handed him a chocolate bar, muttering something about feeling better soon.

Compatibility, what a load of nonsense.

Back in 8th grade, Yoonmin once checked his compatibility with Haein. He was way too embarrassed to admit it and never told her. The result was that they were like water and wood—two elements that complement each other. Total bullshit.

Yoonmin glanced at Haein through half-lidded eyes. She was still coughing occasionally, but it didn’t seem to stop her from chatting with her friends. As soon as she arrived at school, the other kids swarmed her, peppering her with questions about her wellbeing.

“Are you okay?”

“Shouldn’t you still be at home?”

“You still look so pale…”

Yoonmin bit his lip as he watched. He was about to lose his mind to the conflict warring inside of him. He was ashamed, remorseful, confused, and angry. He wanted to leap to his feet and kick over some desks and chairs.

Damn it, why did I sneak that Jell-o cup in there? Am I crazy? Have I actually lost it?

What was he trying to do? Was he trying to forgive her? No, that was absolutely not it. Then what?

The truth was already clear, though he didn’t want to face it. He felt sorry that Haein got sick. The thought of her beautiful face turning pale, her rosy lips turning blue and trembling, sweat coursing down her forehead, unable to eat properly, and moaning with pain in bed… It was unbearable. He cursed her every day, wishing for her to suffer from a deadly illness, yet he still felt sympathy for her when she caught the flu.

Why am I the one feeling sympathy?

Haein was still surrounded by people, her tired face somewhat lighter with laughter. Everyone was expressing concern for her. She looked even more delicate than usual and he noticed how her black hair gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. She had become much prettier than she had been in 8th grade. Everyone loved her. Everyone cared about her. She had chosen the admiration of everyone else over her friendship with Yoonmin. How could he even think about feeling sympathy for her?

Did Haein notice the Jell-o? If she did, how did she react? Maybe she scoffed. Maybe she didn’t even eat it and threw it away.

She has to die. Haein Ju has to die.

That was what he told himself. Hating someone for a long time is harder than people think. Emotions tend to return to a neutral state. To maintain hatred, you have to keep refueling it.

He must have run low on fuel. To remedy this, he focused on recalling the past—how Haein persistently ignored him, how her friends insulted him, and how he got the nickname “pillbug” from Haein and her group of cronies.

“Hey, the Korean teacher is coming! Sit down, quick!” the lookout loitering near the door yelled. The students scattered like cockroaches, scuttling back to their seats.

Haein, on the other hand, stood up.

“Haein? Are you going to the bathroom now? You’ll get in trouble if Korean class starts without you,” a few of her friends hissed.

Haein didn’t respond to them. Instead, she walked over to Yoonmin. Startled, Yoonmin pushed his chair back.

“Are you… trying to run?” she asked him. “The Korean teacher is coming.”

Yoonmin paused. Haein was right. There was no running away. Yoonmin looked around in bewilderment. All the kids were staring at the two of them. She was the only one standing in the entire class, so all the attention was on them.

The classroom fell deathly silent. Even the kids who had been telling Haein to sit down were just gaping at her now. Everyone was waiting for Haein to speak.

What on earth was happening? Haein, Yoonmin knew, was not the type of person who could handle so many people watching her. She had cried on her first day at this school because too many people talked to her. Could two years of being a cool kid have really changed her personality to this extent?

No, that wasn’t it. Haein’s face was even paler than before, her lips trembling and turning blue. She was plainly terrified.

“What?” Yoonmin muttered under his breath. Haein spoke in a trembling voice.

“Thank you… for the Jell-o.”

And that was it. Haein spun around and scurried back to her seat. Neither Yoonmin nor the other students could say a word. No one understood what had just happened.

Especially Yoonmin, who was deeply confused. Thank you for the Jell-o? She stood up just to say that? To Yoonmin?

“What’s going on?” the teacher asked with mild surprise. “Why are you all so quiet? Have you guys finally decided to take my class seriously?”

The class began. But Yoonmin couldn't focus at all.

***

Damn it, did Soyul skip her teacher’s assistant day?

After class, Yoonmin went to the bathroom, and when he returned, no one was left in the classroom. Not even the one person who was supposed to stay behind. Sly Soyul got away with most things because she was small and cute. People just shrugged her transgressions off.

But I’m different. You’re dead, Soyul. I’m going straight to the teacher.

Muttering to himself, Yoonmin took a broom out of the cleaning supply cabinet and began sweeping, lost in thought.

You’ll be a total pushover in no time, he told himself.

Whenever his father got caught for having affairs, he would beg Yoonmin’s mother for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, I must have gone crazy, you’re the only one I love, there’s no one more beautiful than you, I can’t live without you…”

This happened four times, and Yoonmin couldn’t understand why his mother kept falling for it.

You’re the only one? I can’t live without you? All lies. He was living just fine. So why did his scumbag father keep spewing the same bullshit? Maybe he wanted to feel better about himself, or maybe he was just afraid of losing his comfortable life. He wanted to keep his family but cheated regardless. What a piece of trash.

Then why was Haein acting like this now? Out of genuine gratitude? Because she wanted forgiveness? Ha, it was laughable. After two years, she suddenly had a change of heart? Yeah, right.

Well, maybe it did make sense, if he really thought about it. Recently, Yoonmin’s social status in the class had shifted. He had gone from a gloomy loser who always wandered alone to a highly sought-after fortune teller. It was a bizarre upgrade but an upgrade nonetheless.

Perhaps it was reasonable, then. Haein ditched Yoonmin to hang out with her popular friends. Now that those same popular friends had an interest in Yoonmin, she wanted to cozy right back up to him again.

Thinking like that made him feel sick. What would happen if he started drifting closer to Haein again? When the kids eventually got bored of fortune telling and Yoonmin was back on Reject Island, she’d probably abandon him again. Just like his father continually met new women.

Revolting.

He never should have given her that Jell-o. Or, if he was going to give it to her, he should’ve put a laxative in it. He was such an idiot.

At this point, I’ll have to prepare that spell. It’s so cruel, I haven’t tried it yet… but I have no other choice now. I’ll sneak graveyard dirt from Jiyoo and—

The classroom’s front door slid open.

Was it the teacher? Or had Soyul come to her senses and returned? Those thoughts only lasted for a moment.

“Yoonmin.”

The person who entered was neither a teacher nor Soyul.

It was Haein.

“I need to talk to you.”

On instinct, Yoonmin threw the broom to the ground and darted for the back door.

Look what you did, he fumed at himself. I knew giving her the Jell-o was a bad idea.

Yoonmin seized the doorknob and shook it. But it didn’t open. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the padlock sealing it shut. He knew the key was attached to the attendance sheet, but he’d have to pass by Haein to get it.

Why was the door already padlocked? That was the responsibility of the teacher’s assistant. He’d seen the back door open just after the homeroom session ended, so it hadn’t been locked the whole time—

“Did you lock it?” Yoonmin shot at Haein.

She nodded, walking toward him with tears welling up in her eyes.

Damn it, why is she tearing up like she’s the one who’s been wronged?

Yoonmin tried to pass by her at a distance. He put desks and chairs between them, never taking his eyes off her. But then he heard a crash as one of the chairs toppled over. Haein had tried to jump over a chair and banged her shin on it. Anyone who’s done that knows it hurts like hell when you hit your shin on anything hard. Haein, as clumsy as she was, apparently was unable to even jump over a single chair.

But there was no sign of pain on her face. Yoonmin was frozen in place by the sound and Haein’s probable injury (which he, of course, would be blamed for). Before he could move, Haein wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest.

A strange mix of shampoo and sweat wafted from her hair. Her breathing was heavy. Her pale, thin arms gripped him tightly.

“Let go,” Yoonmin said in a low voice.

He could have shaken her off, but he didn’t. If he did, Haein might do something stupid like fall over and break her nose. He quickly rationalized his concern. Using his physical strength to harm someone was brutish and uncultured. The way he needed to hurt Haein was through magic. It was the only way, in Yoonmin’s mind.

Haein was already sobbing. “I’m sorry,” she wailed into his chest. “I’m sorry, really sorry. It’s all my fault… everything…”

Yoonmin couldn’t find his voice.

“I’ll do whatever you want. If you want me to beg on my knees, I will. If you want me to stop being friends with everyone else, I’ll do it. So please…”

Yoonmin didn’t want to hear this bullshit. He wanted to cover his ears, but Haein’s wiry arms pinned his own to his sides.

“So please…” Haein pleaded. “Please, can’t we go back to the way things were? Saying hi in the morning, talking together, coming up with jokes together, walking home together, just like before…”

Yoonmin thought this must be how his mother felt when his father begged for forgiveness after she caught him cheating.

But I’m not an idiot like my mother.

At last, Yoonmin spoke. “I think I said something similar to you before. How did you respond then?”

Haein didn’t answer.

Yoonmin squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at Haein’s face. If he saw it, he might realize that he was just as stupid as his mother.

He reached deep down, pouring fuel onto the fiery hatred in his heart.

You’re the one who ignored my greetings, avoided talking to me, threw the joke notebook into a recycling bin, refused to walk home together… It was all you.

“Haein Ju, you’re enjoying life, aren’t you? Just like you wanted. And I’m doing just fine without you. Better, in fact.”

“Yoonmin…” she said haltingly. “No, please…”

“Let go of me,” he growled. My friend’s waiting outside.”

At the word “friend,” Haein loosened her grip. Yoonmin turned his back on her and stepped out of the classroom.

“If you’re going to stay there,” he said over his shoulder, “I’ll leave the attendance book here. You can lock the door and take it to the teacher’s office.”

Without giving her time to respond, Yoonmin hurried down the stairs, practically fleeing the school.

Why do I have to feel like this? She’s the one who messes everything up, not me.

***

Jiyoo was standing at the school gate. She didn’t bother to ask why he was late. Instead, she pointed at his shirt and said, “What’s that?”

“What?”

“On your chest.”

Yoonmin looked down. There was a damp stain on his uniform, right where Haein had buried her face.

“Oh,” he muttered. “Water just spilled on me while I was moving a flower pot.”

Jiyoo frowned slightly.

“Really?”