Chapter 51: Smear Campaigns and Crayons

When spring comes to an end, orange flower buds begin to shyly peek out between the green leaves reaching up towards the sky.

This is the Chinese trumpet vine, which continues to bloom all summer long, its trumpet-shaped petals opening and closing in turn.

The Chinese trumpet vine, a type of climbing vine that roots in the ground and entwines itself around nearby trees or supports, can easily scale walls ten to twenty meters high.

As its rather grand name suggests, there's a touching legend about the Chinese trumpet vine: a palace maid, waiting endlessly for her beloved, became the flower on the palace wall.

However, true to a culture that values merit above all, the Chinese trumpet vine is remembered less for pure-hearted devotion from the lowly and more as the flower crown bestowed upon the top scorer in the imperial examination.

Thus, in the Joseon Dynasty, if commoners were ever caught cultivating the Chinese trumpet vine, they were dragged straight to the authorities and beaten bloody.

There’s one place famous for boldly draping its walls with these trumpet vines, the flower of the top scorer.

That is none other than Korea's most prestigious private elementary school, Ira Elementary School.

Today, for class 1-4 of Ira Elementary, the seventh period was English class.

A young blonde-haired, blue-green-eyed foreign teacher began the speaking activity for the eight-year-olds with the fast, tricky pronunciation of a native speaker.

“Today’s class is about painting ‘My Family’ and introducing it to your friends. Are you all ready?”

“Yes, sir!”

As befits a private school, the children gripped expensive, professional-grade crayons and eagerly filled their papers.

Among them, a girl with bright, alert eyes and lips smaller than cherries pursed in concentration stood out, pouring all her focus into her drawing.

After sketching a lady in a luxurious fur coat—one that looked fit for Cruella de Vil—and a baby angel as cute as herself,

she hesitated as she reached the space where ‘Dad’ should go.

Pausing for a moment, she then smiled bashfully and drew a man holding a laptop.

The face of the child holding the man’s hand in the drawing was beaming with joy.

When it came time for her presentation, the girl stood up holding her picture and gave her speech in fluent English.

“My dad writes at home while my mom is working. I am so proud of my dad like that.”

(CL Group director Jeon Min-jeong is my mom, and my dad is a writer who works at home. My dad is a very famous drama writer.)

Then a boy who looked like a toad shot his hand up and asked with a mischievous face,

“May I ask you what your dad wrote?”

(Tsk, your dad’s a writer? How laughable! What’s the big deal about that! Let’s see what he’s written.)

“Twin Love.”

“ T, Twin Love?”

(The very Twin Love that surpassed writer Park Eun-sook in ratings and swept four awards at the year-end awards?)

“Yes.”

In the end, the chubby boy bowed his head and apologized with an “I’m sorry” for his rudeness, and the girl—looking as cool as dew—gave a curt nod, settling the situation.

After finishing all her classes for the day, on the way home,

the girl, having been praised for her excellent drawing skills, held her sketchbook tightly even in the car driven by the family chauffeur.

As she stepped inside the grand gate—like something out of a drama—a warm-faced woman in her fifties greeted her.

This was Han Myeong-ja, who managed the household of CL Media director Jeon Min-jeong.

“Areum’s home~ Did you have fun at school today?”

“Yes, ma’am. We drew pictures during English class today.”

Recently, the girl’s name had changed from Lee Areum, her father’s surname, to Jeon Areum, taking her mother’s surname.

Areum handed the sketchbook she was holding to Han Myeong-ja.

“Oh my, what pretty and colorful drawings! Our Areum is so talented.”

Han Myeong-ja smiled with pride at the picture drawn by Areum, but then her expression stiffened.

She had realized that the utterly ordinary man drawn on the right side of Areum’s picture was none other than Jeon Min-jeong’s ex-husband, Lee Jeong-hyuk.

“Areum, are you hungry? I made braised short ribs.”

“Wow, braised short ribs! Yours are the tastiest in the world, ma’am.”

“Hehehe, I’m glad. Go wash your hands and come to the dining room~”

“Okay!”

Watching Areum trot off to the bathroom, Han Myeong-ja carefully closed the sketchbook and took it to Areum’s room.

She slipped the sketchbook back into Areum’s bag and let out a breath.

“Oh dear, if madam sees this, there’ll surely be trouble. Areum keeps looking for her dad—this is going to be a problem.”

In Jeon Min-jeong’s presence, the name Lee Jeong-hyuk was practically forbidden.

Even though it was her own daughter, if the words “dad” or “Lee Jeong-hyuk” came up, she would explode in rage.

That expression, “the out-of-control heiress of a chaebol family with anger management issues,” fit Jeon Min-jeong perfectly.

When Areum returned, washed and seated at the table, she gave Han Myeong-ja a deep bow.

“Thank you for the meal!”

How could such a kind child—who even bows politely to a mere servant—have come from a woman like that?

Han Myeong-ja simply couldn’t understand it.

***

That afternoon was no different from any other.

I spotted my name in the title of a short news video uploaded to YouTube.

[Lee Jeong-hyuk’s , Promoting Pro-Japanese Sentiment?]

[Controversy has arisen over writer Lee Jeong-hyuk’s hit drama , which swept last year’s awards. Allegations are being made that the settings and dialogue in  are all Japan-friendly……]

However, I’d already checked the scenes in question and judged that there was absolutely nothing wrong.

If it was problematic for the male and female leads to drink highballs at an izakaya, then all the trendy izakayas around Hongdae and Seongsu-dong in Seoul should be closed down.

Besides, in the key episode where the couple gets together, the bar they visit is a deeply traditional Korean pub serving jeon and makgeolli.

Exactly.

This was just someone nitpicking to find fault.

‘Besides, the filming locations were Sokcho, Jeongdongjin, and Jongno. Pro-Japanese, really?’

Not even for a moment did I feel anxious, even after seeing that headline.

I wasn’t the only one; the comments section was ablaze as well.

- Aren’t you embarrassed, nitpicking over nonsense like this?

- This was released by CL, lol

- The reporter who wrote this article works at CL, period

- Reminds me, I should binge Twin Love again, what a treat

- Even in the news clip, Seo Ji-won is just legendary

It was obvious why such a ridiculous article had appeared.

‘Jeon Min-jeong still hasn’t come to her senses, huh.’

Ever since  pushed aside Park Eun-sook’s —which CL Media had shamelessly promoted—CL had been consistently trying to manipulate public opinion in this way.

However, not only did I avoid using controversial actors, but I’d also cast rookies as leads and crafted a drama that realized the high standards of Godflix scripts, so the fans stood firm in their support of .

The fact that Jeon Min-jeong was still playing this game no longer bothered me, except for one thing.

“I wonder... is Areum being raised well?”

When I learned that not a single drop of my blood ran in her veins, I was overwhelmed with emptiness and anger.

But she was still the daughter I’d poured my heart into for five years.

Not only did Jeon Min-jeong seize custody without giving me a chance to fight, she even secured a restraining order.

“She must have started elementary school by now.”

Looking out at the flowers blooming outside the window, I imagined Areum wearing a private elementary school uniform and heading off to class.

But I quickly shook off the thought.

“Let’s not dwell on it.”

It wasn’t a problem I could solve anyway.

‘What stings more is knowing I have no obligation to solve it.’

For now, I needed to focus on my own path.

That’s what I decided.

***

Meanwhile, inside Jeon Min-jeong’s luxury sedan.

On her way home from work, Jeon Min-jeong scowled as she read the comments on the recent  video.

“What the hell, why are we getting hate here? Honestly, this is ridiculous.”

Annoyed by the vicious comments from Korean trolls, she dialed her secretary chief, Gwak Ga-hyo.

“Chief Gwak.”

- Yes, Director. This is Secretary Chief Gwak Ga-hyo.

“What the hell is going on? Explain.”

- Yes, Director, as per your instructions, we’ve tried several times to get articles and news segments out, but unfortunately, the results…

“So, what, are you kidding me? Did I ask you to make Lee Jeong-hyuk that bastard look good, or did I ask you to make him get bashed?”

Of course, the only reason Lee Jeong-hyuk was so praised and loved right now was because his scripts had brought tremendous entertainment to viewers, one after another.

- If I may, Director, Lee Jeong-hyuk is currently one of the top writers in Korea, and given his immense popularity, if we move recklessly, it might backfire. Even our competitors are doing their best to protect his image.

“I pay you a hundred million won salary to solve problems like this, Chief Gwak. Stop whining and do what I told you. Got it?”

- …Yes, Director. I apologize for my shortcomings.

More swayed by personal feelings than objective facts, Jeon Min-jeong lashed out with a torrent of abuse before Gwak Ga-hyo could finish explaining.

After pouring all her anger on the ever-guilty Chief Gwak, Jeon Min-jeong’s car finally pulled up at home.

As soon as she arrived, the chauffeur quickly opened her door, and the house staff rushed out to greet her.

“Welcome home, madam. Please let us take your coat.”

“I’m tired. Is the bath ready?”

“Yes, your favorite hinoki tub with aromatherapy bath salts is prepared.”

“Sigh, when is Dr. Park coming? I told you, I need my care session ASAP—I’m so stressed these days.”

“He’ll be here tomorrow at five in the afternoon.”

As Jeon Min-jeong crossed the living room on her way to the second-floor bathroom, Areum emerged from her room and gave her a deep bow.

“Welcome home, Mom.”

“Oh, Mom’s home.”

Giving only a half-hearted response, Jeon Min-jeong started up the stairs, but Areum called out clearly,

“Mom, just a moment.”

Areum had somehow retrieved the picture she drew in English class from her bag and now offered it to Jeon Min-jeong.

Looking at her mother with pure eyes, longing for praise like any child her age, Areum waited, but Jeon Min-jeong’s face crumpled as if she’d seen something distasteful.

“Jeon Areum! How many times do I have to tell you—Lee Jeong-hyuk, your so-called dad, is no longer family!”

“But… he’s still my dad…”

“Ugh! Who did you get this stubbornness from! Enough. I’m tired, so stop bothering me and go to your room.”

As Jeon Min-jeong stomped noisily upstairs to the bathroom, Areum’s eyes filled with tears.

But she held back from crying in front of everyone and quietly returned to her room, shutting the door with a thud.

She crouched down, gazed at the picture of her dad, Lee Jeong-hyuk, and softly called out the name she missed so much.

“Dad… I miss you…”