Beauty Lies Within

⌘ IV. The Ethimology of Us ⌘

✤

Gina wasted no time diving back into her phone, now searching Naver, the  Korean Google. She typed Sam's name in Hangul and scrolled through articles and forums, her eyes darting over lines of text. Emily sat beside her, fidgeting with the hem of her borrowed pajamas, feeling uneasy with each passing second.

"Found something," Gina muttered, her eyes widening slightly as she clicked on an old news article. She skimmed the text, occasionally mumbling translations to herself, and Emily could sense the tension building in the air. Gina glanced up briefly, her face conflicted, before she started translating.

"So...apparently, he had a bit of a reputation in high school," Gina began hesitantly. "Some issues with his temper and getting into fights with classmates. But then, there's this incident..."

Emily felt her chest tighten as Gina continued, her voice measured. "One day, he confronted his friend's ex-girlfriend at school. He started off asking her calmly to admit she cheated on his friend, but she didn't exactly respond well. She was snarky, kept pushing back, and he lost his temper."

Emily's fingers stopped their anxious fidgeting. She was listening intently now.

"The confrontation escalated," Gina said. "He raised his hand, apparently just to threaten her, but her new boyfriend stepped in. And that's when things got physical. They fought, and...at some point, the other guy fell down the stairs. He ended up with a broken arm, shoulder injuries, and a pretty serious head wound that needed surgery."

Emily covered her mouth with her hand, her mind spinning with this new information. "But...was it an accident?" she managed to ask, her voice trembling.

Gina sighed, still scrolling. "There's more," she said, her tone somber. "A forum where his old classmates are talking about it."

She opened a forum thread titled 'That Incident with S.J.' and began reading. The comments varied widely:

One user wrote: 'That guy was always a jerk. He acted like he didn't care about being nice or controlling his temper. He definitely pushed the other guy down the stairs. People like him think their looks will get them out of anything, but he deserved whatever he got. So many people were hurt by him over the years.'

Gina glanced at Emily cautiously but continued. "This person seems to think he's a bad guy..."

Another comment caught her eye. This one had a more sympathetic tone: 'Look, Sam's not a saint, but this whole thing is a misunderstanding. He was just standing up for his friend. Sometimes he just loses control and says or does things without thinking. But he's not a violent person—he just can't tolerate injustice.'

Gina's face scrunched up slightly as she read another post aloud, "And, of course, there's this..." She clicked on the reply, shaking her head in disbelief. 'He's too hot to have done something like that! He probably didn't even push the guy; he just slipped! I'd die to have him look my way.'

"Seriously?" Gina muttered, rolling her eyes. "He even had fangirls justifying everything he did."

Emily stayed silent, absorbing each word with a growing sense of dread. She watched as Gina scrolled down, scanning the screen for more information until she finally landed on another article. "Okay, here's something from a legit news site," Gina said. "It says the school and authorities concluded that it was an accident. He didn't intentionally push the guy—it was during the struggle, and he just lost his footing. Sam was given public service hours as a consequence."

Gina turned back to Emily, her expression less guarded. "Well, at least he wasn't convicted, right?"

But as soon as she looked at Emily's face, she realized something was wrong. Emily's eyes were filled with unshed tears, and a few had already escaped, trickling down her cheeks silently. Gina's heart sank at the sight.