Out of Time, Baek Yi-Jin. [ON HOLD]

ii. The Fencer's Daughter.

ii. The Fencer's Daughter.

Hye-Jin took great pride in being a fencer's daughter. She had watched her own mom proudly and often boasted about her achievements, serving as her own cheerleader whenever she had a match. Chan-Mi considered her as her good luck charm, taking her to her professional matches whenever she could. Hye-Jin loved the energy at the arena and despite there being hundreds of people who chanted her mom's name, Hye-Jin always tried to shout the hardest of them all. She did not feel embarrassed for even a second as she cheered her on as loud as she could, proudly showing off that she was the fencer's daughter. But then Chan-Mi retired, and she made the decision to be a stay at home mom, since she wanted to truly be there for her daughter.

In response, the media accused her of retiring because of the damage done to her career because of her scandal, which was reported by Shin Jae Kyung—who used to be an old friend of Chan-Mi and was now a news anchor at UBS. Hye-Jin saw firsthand how much this hurt her mother, who tried to keep it to herself, always faking a smile to hide her true feelings. But eventually, it all became too much for Chan-Mi and she had a huge breakdown. An eight year old Hye-Jin walked in on her mom crying on the bathroom floor and simply held her close, comforting her in the only way she knew how. Seeing her mom—her role model—so vulnerable made their bond grow even stronger, allowing her to realize that even the strongest people, even those who were put on a pedestal, were still human.

  Hye-Jin could still recall the years her mom stayed at home fondly. Chan-Mi would prepare her breakfast and her lunchbox, take her to school and pick her up afterwards. The two would laugh together as they ate dinner at the table and watched their favorite dramas together on the couch before Hye-Jin went to bed. At the age of nine, Hye-Jin began to voice her interest in joining fencing classes and the first thing Chan-Mi did was reassure her that she did not have to fence, since she did not want her decision to be influenced by her. But Hye-Jin truly wanted to, because she grew to love the sport because of her mother. And that is how Hye-Jin fenced from the ages nine up to sixteen out of sheer interest. She was quite successful and even won golden medals at competitions. But when she got to high school, she decided to quit, since she knew she did not want to pursue an actual career—she wanted live her life as a normal teenage girl and engage in other extracurriculars.