Chapter 14 – A Day When Nothing Happened, Behind the Scenes

The university Jin Seon-hu attends has a few unusual clubs.
From clubs that want to know how a club like that got permission, to clubs that really want to know if there are people doing that kind of activity.

One of them is the bird watching club.

Bird Watching.
It literally refers to the game of watching birds.

What this group does is simple.
Watching (observing) their Bird (Jinseonhu).

It started as a small department club.
Six like-minded students from one department gathered to form a club.
They publicized their activities and recruited collaborators.

By the end of the first semester, half of the department had registered their names in this club.
And when a year passed, it was promoted to a central club and members were received from all over the school.
The number is unofficially around 500.
There are still 6 members officially registered, but the number of women sympathizing with them is increasing.

The most important thing in bird watching is to observe birds in their natural state.
Never invade a bird’s privacy.
That is the first rule of bird watching.

It doesn’t matter whether you see it or imagine it.
If anything, you can write a novel in your diary.

However, approaching or talking to them is prohibited.
Even if you observe, never make eye contact.
Even the realization that someone is watching you can be a threat to a bird.
Moreover, it is absolutely forbidden to touch or feed them.

Just watching and enjoying from a distance.
That was the significance of the existence of the bird watching club.

“But these days, freshmen… !”

The club president was furious and knocked on the desk.
On the desk, there were several bottles of the same type of mineral water that the former ruler drank today.

“Chairman. What should I do.”
“… Let’s edify in our own way. When that doesn’t work.”

The other female students standing around the venue nodded their heads with solemn expressions.

After a while, the scandalous freshman was dragged into the club room.
She was the girl who was dragged away after her mouth was blocked by her other students while talking to Jin Seon-hu.

“Why did you bring me? I have an appointment and I have to go.”

Said her junior while fiddling with her red-stained nails.
Heavy makeup, earrings, and a short skirt.
She was a typical, playful girl these days.

She has no intention of arguing with what she wears.
However, it was unforgivable for them to approach their blue bird in such a form.

“If you promise me one thing, I will send it back right away. Do not approach Seon-Hoo Jin, a 2nd year student.”
“Yes? By what authority do you interfere?”

The junior laughed as if he was staggered.
However, the chairman did not care about her junior’s cheeky attitude.
If I thought it would shake like this, I wouldn’t even start.

“Hey. Turn off the lights.”

At the words of the president, the other female students move in perfect order.
Turn off the lights and close the curtains. Some students locked the door.

“What, what are you doing? Will you report me if I touch even a single hair?”

Sensing her crisis, the junior got up from her chair and took her defensive posture.
Instead of answering, the chairman played a video on his laptop and presented it to his juniors.

“This is an edited documentary filmed by Seonhu’s mother, Im Im-hye, when she was in middle school.”
“Actress Im Shin-hye? If you are pregnant, is that pregnancy hye? Seonhu was the son of Im Im-hye?”

To the junior who asks in surprise, the chairman gestures to look at the screen instead of explaining.
On the laptop screen, her mother, who looked younger than now, was interviewing her.

“The first time I saw him was on the TV news.”
『There is a boy who was abused by his real parents.』

The screen went from the mother of the late father to the screen of the news broadcast at the time.

“The police urgently arrested a couple in their 20s on charges of child abuse.”

“Earthquake marks from a cigarette burned along with bruises were clearly visible on the body of the victim.”

『Daycare teacher (Mosaic): The child peed that day and blood came out. I was still a sick child, so I called his mother. Then she said her mother was fine, she said to leave her alone because later she will take her to the hospital. But I’m worried, so I’ll take you to the hospital first.”

『Doctor: Two ribs were broken, and both the radius and ulna of the right wrist were broken. The ribs were broken when the father kicked the child in the stomach, and the wrists were probably broken when the child blocked the child when he swung something like a hard stick. My wrist was so swollen, how did no one know about it?”

“Some point out that the police who received the report of child abuse did not recognize the seriousness and responded lukewarmly to the case. Neighbor B, who reported it to the police a long time ago, burst into anger, saying that it was treated as child discipline, not child abuse.”

A child’s bruised body. A swollen wrist from a broken bone. Then, X-ray pictures of the broken bones were displayed on the screen one after another.

Some club members were already sobbing while watching the video.
The chairman also silently wiped away his tears.
It was such a heartbreaking story every time I saw it.

The screen returns to an interview with Im Seon-hye, Jin Seon-hu’s mother.

『How can her real parents do that to their own children, they are so angry and pitiful, because I am also the mother of the child――』
“She thought there was no way she could help. Then, when she heard that the child had been put into her institution, I wondered if I could adopt her.”

There, the Chairman stopped the video.
The junior who was watching with concentration became angry.

“No, why stop? People are watching.”
“This is all I can show non-members.”

The chairman covered the laptop. Lights are on in the room too.
Then he took out some A4 papers and put them in front of his juniors.

“This is a copy of the psychiatric diagnosis submitted by the seonhu to her professor.”
“… Psychiatry?”

The juniors read the contents of the paper held out by the chairman with suspicious eyes.

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Depressive disorder. Avoidance of publicity. Claustrophobia…”

Adjustment disorder. Sleep disturbance. Anorexia. Throw up. Panic attack.
It was like a diagnosis listing mental illness by type.

“As a result of being abused by her biological parents, Sunhu has been suffering from a mental disorder until now. The diagnosis was that her mental state was not good, so she submitted it to the professor saying that group activities such as MT or group assignments would be difficult.”
“… Is this real? Doesn’t this mean she needs to be hospitalized instead of going to school?”

The chairman shook his head at the junior who opened his eyes wide.

“There is no problem as long as there is no stimulation from the outside. The most important thing is that you want to continue going to school and adapt to social life little by little. We were also asked by the professor to help Seonhu graduate safely.”
“I see… Then, I will be by your side so that seniors and seniors can adapt well to school…”

Bang!
Before the younger colleague could finish his words, the chairman jumped up and hit the desk with his fist.

“I told you not to stimulate it from the outside! Because of a bitch like you, Seonhu took a month off from school last year too! You know why?!”
“Why, why?”

The chairman suddenly raises his voice in anger.
The surprised junior shrank his body and asked again.

“It’s because a thoughtless woman like you has been following me around like a stalker and has a seizure! Thanks to that, we had to go to a non-declarative school for a month!”
“Well, why are you angry with me? I’m not like that…”

At the words of the junior, the chairman barely sat down.
The chairman squeezed the tears in his eyes with a tired face.
I took a deep breath to swallow my anger.

“… So, what happened to her?”
“I want to know?”
“… No.”

To the junior who swallowed words, the chairman handed out another piece of paper.

“Sign here. It’s a club membership application.”
“I, have you heard of other clubs already?”
“Duplicate subscriptions don’t matter. Because it’s not like I’m doing anything else. It’s just a sign that you will follow the principles set by our club.”

Looking closely, the phrase written at the top of the paper was not a “Membership application” But a “Signed pledge.”
The junior who skimmed through the contents said with a dissatisfied expression.

“But what’s good about joining here? It seems that there are only behavioral restrictions and no merit.”

Then the chairman took a picture out of his upper pocket.
The junior’s eyes move along the picture.

“Jin Seon-hu, a photo of his high school uniform.”

After hearing that, the junior swings his arm in an attempt to snatch the photo away.
However, the speed at which the chairman withdrew his hand was faster. The junior’s hand cut through the air.

The junior who took a swing made an impression as if he was resentful.

“Aren’t you a senior stalker? It’s a crime to gather members with other people’s photos.”
“You don’t have to worry. We also obtained parental consent.”
“Guardian?”
“I have nothing to tell outsiders about that. So, do you want to sign or not?”

Even while frowning, the junior read the contents of the pledge once again.
The text was long, but in summary, it was about cooperating together so that the ancestors could safely graduate from school.

If you sign here, you will not be able to approach the future.
However, even if she did not sign, there was no guarantee that she would be able to become acquainted with the seonhu.
I’m sure there will be interruptions like today. Perhaps these people will mark more thoroughly.

Even if she succeeded in sneaking up, she did not know how the unstable senpai would react.
If she ever has a seizure because of her sleep and doesn’t come to school…
I couldn’t imagine what would happen to this fanatical group of schoolgirls.

“… All right. Can I write your name here?”

That’s how another collaborator was named in the bird watching club that day.
The younger student put the photo he received from the chairman in his wallet and left while humming.

“Then, today’s work is over, so let’s all disperse.”

Following the words of the president, the members greeted each other in turn and left the club room.

“Whoa…”

A quiet club room.
Left alone, the chairman quietly took something out of his pocket.
It was a smartphone.
I unlocked it by pressing my fingerprint, and stroked the phone screen lovingly.

“Seonhu-ya… ♡”

On the screen of the smartphone, the senior and junior officers and the chairman in school uniform stood side by side smiling.