Swallowed - Chapter 1.1

Dad had exceptionally broad shoulders. It could have been more so because I was a child, but even now, the shoulders wider than my face would come to mind first. I didn’t even realize it was because I was always looking from behind.

That day, Se-yeong was sitting in the back seat, watching her dad drive. He’s usually gentle, but when he got behind the wheel, he would speed up as if he had changed into another person. If the car in front was even a little slow, he couldn’t stand the frustration and would try to overtake it, and would lose awareness of his surroundings. That was why her mom hated riding her dad’s car. Because of that, she often lamented that he had learned to drive a car he had never driven in before.

That day, she and her dad were on their way to the country house. Her mom didn’t attend, saying she was going to visit her sister-in-law, who had undergone an operation for thyroid cancer a few days ago. The car sped as fast as it always had. It only briefly slowed down when a warning to comply with the speed limit of 80 km/hr was issued, and in an area without cameras, exceeded 120 km/hr, speeding narrowly between cars.

‘Dad, if you run like this, you’re going to get scolded by mom again.’

‘Not if Se-yeong doesn’t talk about it.’

Her dad looked in the rearview mirror with a grin, telling her not to tell her mom. Se-yeong pouted her lips and narrowed her eyes. But she didn’t worry much because she knew how good her dad was at driving. He was an accident-free driver.

Looking out the window, they were getting out of the highway soon. When she grabbed the handle on the window in preparation for the corner, her dad laughed, asking if she was very scared. Nevertheless, he also stepped on the brakes because he couldn’t turn the corner at a speed of more than 100 km/hr. However, the speed did not slow down much when entering the corner.

‘Huh?’

It was a short word. Se-yeong did not know how hard he was braking at the moment. She was struggling to balance her body to keep from being pulled through the window simply because of the speed that did not decrease when turning the corner completely. However, no matter how much force she applied, she didn’t know her body would fall from the car door as if it were a magnet.

‘Dad, slow down…!’

Were the words conveyed to her dad? When Se-yeong opened her mouth, the car was already being sucked into the back of a truck in front of her.

Even in March, the wind was still chilly. The campus, which was quiet during vacation, was crowded with students since this morning. Many students were seen wearing long-padded jackets or overcoats, but some wore thin and refreshing spring clothes regardless of the chilly weather. It was evident they were new students as they had an indelible look of excitement.

Se-yeong, who was huddling and walking briskly in the cold wind, entered the International Studies Hall. Just by entering the building, she left the cold behind her and her hunched shoulders straightened out. The cafe on the first floor already had quite a long line. As she headed there, Park Yoo-jeong, a student who was there first, waved her hand.

“Han-se, over here!”

After a long time, as if her style had changed over vacation, Yoo-jeong was wearing a white jacket and a vivid blue long skirt. She (Se-yeong) thought she (Yoo-jeong) paid attention because it was the first day of school, but soon realized that it was because of the welcoming party for freshmen.

Today was Friday, so the student council president boldly set the first day of the semester as the day of the general meeting. He said he would hold a welcoming party for freshmen, so he planned to drink until the day changed.

「Why are you so pretty? Blue looks good.」

As Se-yeong moved her hands, an empty voice came out. Yoo-jeong, who understood exactly even though her dry lips did not move, frowned with her eyes and smiled. She was used to it now. Han Se-yeong’s words came from the bluetooth speaker on her neck, not from her mouth.

(P/N: She’s understanding Se-yeong’s situation and the reasons behind why she uses the bluetooth speaker to talk rather than speaking the words out with her mouth.)

“I paid a lot of attention. Your hair grew a lot as well? Is this a layered perm? Pretty. It looks great on you.”

Se-yeong’s face was white without blood, so when she had long straight hair, the contrast of black and white made her look very cold, but just by applying a perm softened her sharp atmosphere. She may have paid some attention to the opening of the semester, as her black hair was still glossy even though it was still windy.

Yoo-jeong arranged her (Se-yeong’s) hair that was stuck to the ribbed knit. Se-yeong was wearing a beige long knit dress and black suede ankle boots. The legs that were slightly exposed under the knit dress, which was thick but showed off the curves of her body, were smooth. Makeup was done with eyeliner and lip balm, but the redness, caused by the cold, on her clear skin made her look very innocent and pretty.

Se-yeong moved her fingers on her cell phone again and pressed the keyboards quickly and accurately. Because the day was cold, her knuckles were slightly swollen.

「It’s difficult to manage because it’s so long.」

“It must be annoying to dry. I hate washing my hair because it’s cold.”

(P/N: Her head will feel cold after leaving the shower since her hair will be wet.)

Washing and drying the hair was always hard work. When she looked at Yoo-jeong’s short hair with envious eyes, she (Yoo-jeong) complained that she could not just let her hair be since it would stretch out if dried carelessly, so she usually wouldn’t dry her hair. It meant that the length was short but troublesome.

“Right. You’re going to attend the general meeting today, right? We can go straight to the bar.”

「Okay.」

Even if the student council president announced the mandatory attendance of the previous year, the welcoming party for freshmen could be missed depending on their personal preference by the third year. However, it was noticeable that there was a tendency to emphasize unity. Besides, there was a great reason for everyone to not miss it this time.

“I guess he’s unusually handsome. I heard the school was turned upside down during welcome week.”

The unexpected remark was about the freshman who entered the school. Rumors had it that he was so handsome he should have been admitted into the Department of Theater and Film, but was instead assigned to the wrong department due to a computer error.

“The light finally shines on our fingers. Yes, your cornea should be blessed.”

Global Communication Major in the Department of International Studies. It was a new department established 5 years ago, and was famous for its hellish curriculum that required both English and Chinese to be able to graduate. Se-yeong and Yoo-jeong were in their third year, but there were no outstanding figures, looking up or down. For the first time, a handsome freshman entered such a department, so everyone’s expectations hit the sky.

(T/N: No matter what year people look at, there were no outstanding figures in their department. Because of that, everyone had high expectations for this new freshman since he is “so” handsome.)

“My expectations are rising in real time because I haven’t seen his face yet. What if it isn’t as good as I thought.”

「I’m sure he’s handsome.」

Upon hearing the strangely certain tone, Yoo-jeong looked at Se-yeong. Se-yeong probably hadn’t seen his face yet, but it just sounded like she knew how handsome he was.

“Hey, why is it so cold today!”

Jang Da-ram, who just opened the door and entered, found the two and ran. He was buried in a long-padded jacket as if it was still in the middle of winter.

“Wow, your clothes are thin?”

“Jang Da-ram-ssi, still a long-padded jacket?”

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“It’s best to be warm since I’m getting older.”

“Hey. You look like a middle school student?”

“Hehe, would you look like a 5 year old if you were next to me?”

“It’s a great thing.”

“Good. You look young.”

Da-ram teased Yoo-jeong, curling his body to a smaller size and shivering. Da-ram was nicknamed a squirrel because of his name, but he was actually small and cute enough to be reminded of a squirrel. Yoo-jeong hugged him and tried to tickle his chin because he was so cute. She could only see his face and fingers because of his long-padded jacket that almost extended to his ankles.

Da-ram, who was struggling to escape from Yoo-jeong’s arms, reached out to Se-yeong for help. Se-yeong, who was watching the two with a smile, quickly grabbed Da-ram’s hand and pulled him because she thought it was getting too noisy. Held by Se-yeong, Da-ram gave Yoo-jeong a fist. Yoo-jeong laughed, saying it was a little bit too much, then realized that the line had shortened, so she quickly moved forward.

Se-yeong and Yoo-jeong, members of ‘Iced Americano Even If I Freeze to Death’, ordered ice, while Da-ram, member of ‘Americano That is Hot and Warm Even If I Die’, ordered hot coffee. Da-ram said it wasn’t the time to do this. Especially in this weather, for the trembling Da-ram, it wasn’t even a question of asking whether or not to drink an iced drink.

“Let’s hurry and go. The professor, won’t overlook tardiness.”

(P/N: The pause after Professor, here, is due to Da-ram pausing for a moment in his speech since he’s cold and most likely is speaking stiltedly as a result.)

When they entered the classroom, familiar faces were already sitting down. There were animated conversations blooming here and there, asking about their current situations. It was about who became an exchange student, who enlisted, and most of them were information that she had heard about during vacation. While chatting, time flew by, and a man with a somewhat unique personality entered the classroom.

“Hurry up and sit down. I’m going to start class.”

A silent jeer broke out because he said he would start class on the first day. Yoo-jeong, who sat next to Se-yeong, already looked bored.

The professor in charge of the ‘Language and Society’ lecture today was notorious for his strictness. It was common for him to be sensitive to tardiness and absences, and scores would be deducted just by falling asleep. Instead, if the class attitude was good because the exam was easy, A+ would not be available.

Although the electronic attendance method was used, it was a small-sized lecture, so the professor learned faces by calling names one by one. The professor, who was calling one by one, soon called Se-yeong’s name. “Yes,” after he heard the short answer, he wrinkled his eyebrows a little, loosened them, and looked at Se-yeong.

“It’s you. The girl who can’t speak.”

Yoo-jeong’s expression crumbled. It was true that his personality was twisted.

Se-yeong moved her fingers with a grave expression, and soon, an answer popped out of the speaker around her neck.

「I can speak.」

“That’s not what I’m saying. To be precise, it’s written.”

Only then did everyone realize that he pitied Se-yeong. A different energy from curiosity was felt. He spoke nonchalantly with both arms on the electronic table.

“You’re in the third year, and you know that talking has temporal synchronization, right? On the other hand, writing takes longer to compose and choose what to express, so Han Se-yeong has an advantage over other students here.”

Advantageous. No one had described it as ‘advantageous’ to Han Se-yeong, who could not speak. No one knew he was sarcastic. The classroom became chaotic.

“Did you say Broca’s aphasia? If you’ve been treated seriously, I’m sure you can speak a bit, but did you decide to live with your mouth shut? Are you ashamed of stuttering?”

Broca’s aphasia. It was a speech disorder, where one had no problems with hearing or their vocal organ, but could not speak properly.

She can listen and understand, but when she tried to speak with her mouth, she could not complete a sentence and could not speak words properly, with only the sounds of ‘Uh Uh’ coming out. Se-yeong, who had suffered from Broca’s aphasia since she was 16 years old, replaced her mouth with a TTS (Text to Speech) program.

She wasn’t ashamed of stuttering, but she was frustrated to be unable to communicate. ‘I ate food.’ She couldn’t even say these simple words, stuttering – ‘ate, ate fo, food’. In her head, she made perfect sentences, but when she tried to put it out of her mouth, the order was mixed up and tangled. She never knew how frustrating and painful it was to be unable to speak the way she had thought.

The world waited patiently and did not interpret Se-yeong’s words. So Se-yeong abandoned her voice.

These days, language packed for TTS programs were well-presented and synthetic techniques improved, so the pronunciation was more natural than expected. However, since the variables for pitch height and length had not been controlled yet, the intonation was a little unnatural and emotions cannot be expressed, but there was no problem in communicating.

When Se-yeong just looked at him quietly without explaining the situation or refuting his words, the professor scoffed at her. She didn’t know if he disliked the idea of having a disability, or if he didn’t like her performance, but judging from his attitude, it was obvious that she would be struggling throughout the whole semester.

The professor, who watched her lips twist unsightly, laughed and began to call for attendance again. As if nothing had happened.

“Wow, the personality is really terrible. He’s the language and social studies professor? How do you teach with that personality?”

As soon as they went outside after class, Yoo-jeong vented her anger, beating her chest. While heading to the department’s office to schedule a meeting with her advisor, she continued to get angry as if she had been attacked. Da-ram didn’t get angry openly, but thinking like Yoo-jeong, he gave a little advice to Se-yeong.

“Se-yeong, make sure to record the class. If he makes discriminatory remarks, you should use them as evidence. If you put everything in the class evaluation, he can get fired.”

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Da-ram’s words sounded even more terrifying than those of Yoo-jeong, who was angry like fire. Clearly, the professor was not a full-time professor just now, so he can either be penalized or fired based on his evaluation score of the lecture.

「Yeah. I don’t want to suffer.」

Da-ram smiled as if he liked Se-yeong’s answer.

“No matter how easy the exam is, I hate that I have to see that twisted man all semester long.”

Se-yeong agreed with Yoo-jeong’s words. It wasn’t the first time she met someone who pitied her. Most of the people she met after she got hurt were like that. They were always curious, judged and defined at their disposal. Some parents complained that Se-yeong didn’t like going to school with their child.