My Ninety-Nine Dads

Instantly, my heart tightened painfully again.

Terrified that they might get arrested, I took a deep breath and slowly put down my spoon.

“Dads, from now on, can you maybe stop doing those kinds of jobs?

“I’m growing up. I’ll get into a good college and support you guys.

“So could you find safer work instead?”

The three grown men froze at the same time. Then, almost immediately, they tearfully hugged each other and agreed.

Two hours later, after reminding me about a few more things and leaving behind three black cards, the three of them hurried off.

I stood at the doorway and watched them disappear down the hallway, my eyes stinging.

“Don’t forget to change jobs!”

“Got it!”

However, the moment the door closed, Robert looked at the others in confusion.

“That’s weird. Our girl doesn’t like me researching nuclear submarines anymore?”

The other two looked just as confused.

Meanwhile, after shutting the door, I looked down at the family group chat on my phone called “Loving Family”.

The unread messages had already passed nine hundred and ninety-nine.

All my dads were asking things like, [Ariel, was studying tiring today?]

[Do you have enough money? Don’t try to save it, Dad’s got plenty!]

My eyes began tearing again.

Sniffling quietly, I finally typed out a message in the chat box.

[I’m doing fine, don’t worry about me. Dads, if work gets busy, make sure to stay safe too.]

Send.

The moment I saw all the caring messages pop up on the screen, I made up my mind.

I would not cause my dads any more trouble.

‘Ariel, you have to endure it.

‘Just until the college entrance exams are over, and everything will be fine.’

…

At Monday’s morning assembly, the field below was packed with students.

Meanwhile, I was kneeling on the ground and mechanically confessed my “crime”.

“It was because I held resentment toward Macy that I pushed her down the stairs… I was jealous of her… I’m a terrible person…”

My voice echoed across the entire schoolyard, every word feeling like a knife slicing into my throat.

Macy sat in a wheelchair at the very front, pushed there by several classmates.

She watched me kneeling on the ground, slapping my face and apologizing over and over again, her eyes filled with excitement.

Meanwhile, the whispers below blended into an endless buzzing noise.

“I heard her family’s super poor. She only studies here because of financial aid.”

“She’s so vicious. Obviously jealous that Macy’s rich.”

“Just look at her. Totally pathetic.”

“No wonder she’s so uncivilized.”

Every cruel word stabbed into me like needles, painfully sinking into my flesh.

But by then, I was already numb.

After finishing the confession, I slowly raised my hand.

Slap.

My first lap hit my right cheek.

…

Fifty times.

One hundred times.

I kept slapping myself again and again.

My face went from numb to unbearable pain until finally all I felt was warmth.

After the self-criticism ended, I walked off the stage with my face swollen.

The crowd parted around me like I was some kind of disease.

Surrounded by her followers, Macy deliberately walked past me. In a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, she sneered.

“Some people are just born pathetic. You think apologizing is enough? From now on, whenever you see me, call me Your Majesty. Got it?”

I clenched my fists tightly. My nails dug deep into my palms, but I said nothing.

I only returned silently to my seat and took out wet wipes, desperately trying to scrub away the red words written across my desk.

However, the paint had already seeped into the wood grain.

The more I wiped, the messier it became, like ugly scars carved into the surface.

For the entire day, I was surrounded by endless malice.

The moment the dismissal bell rang, I finally couldn’t take it anymore and rushed out of the classroom.

Not daring to leave through the front gate, I circled to the deserted alley behind the school instead.