245. Trip (15)

…Come to think of it, I had never heard.

Anything about how she grew up in Japan.

She hadn’t told me anything except stories about traveling here and there alone, and I never really pressed her for details.

As for what I knew about Hinami’s past, it was practically nothing, except that she sometimes talked to her mother on the phone.

Let alone her school days, I didn’t even know much about her family relationships.

So, the conversation I just overheard through the door was a bit surprising.

Because the word ‘fought’ didn’t sound like something friends would argue about at all.

“The donburi was delicious, Oppa, right? It suited your taste perfectly.”

“It was fine.”

“Hehe.”

After the meal, as soon as unnie went to brush her teeth, she stuck close to Kang Joo-hyuk.

Her chattering away as if she were super excited, and her inexplicable obsession with him.

I started to guess that maybe that was the cause of it all.

Why a girl as pretty and loved by so many people was clinging to a guy like Kang Joo-hyuk.

Even after getting intimate with him, I couldn’t quite understand it, but now, I could vaguely see the shape of it.

“…Hey, they haven’t even come to clear the dishes yet.”

“Why? They probably know everything anyway. …Can I put my hand in your clothes?”

“….”

Even though an employee would surely come to clear the table soon, the sheer audacity to put her hand inside the man’s shirt and caress his chest… If my guess was right, it could explain it to some extent.

Could it be that something similar happened in reverse when she was young?

She had a love triangle fight with a friend, and she lost, so she deliberately targeted a man who already had a girlfriend….

｢…Ah. I apologize.｣

Just as I was adding imagination to my conjecture, a server came into the room to clear the table.

Upon seeing the man and woman entangled, she apologized in Japanese and tried to clear the table while avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

｢Hello.｣

But instead, she confidently kissed Kang Joo-hyuk’s cheek and waved her hand, greeting the server.

As if provoking her.

With Kang Joo-hyuk’s hand placed on her hip, she looked at the server with a smirk. I got so scared that I awkwardly shuffled away to a corner, putting a step between myself and that chilling atmosphere.

｢…….｣

｢It’s been a while, want to talk? I have a lot I want to say.｣

｢…No.｣

As the other woman didn’t fall for the provocation and continued clearing the table with her lips shut tight, Hinami picked a fight with her in an even more condescending tone.

Eventually, she too threw off her server guise and responded informally.

Only Kang Joo-hyuk, who couldn’t understand Japanese, stood frozen, nervously observing the situation.

｢Why? You said you wanted to apologize first. I’m willing to listen.｣

｢That’s because… I didn’t expect you to act like this….｣

｢Oh, really? Then that’s fine. You don’t have to apologize. I don’t want to force an apology either.｣

｢…Sorry.｣

｢Sorry for what?｣

｢In middle school… I bullied you. Sorry….｣

｢Why did you bully me?｣

Leaning firmly against the frozen Kang Joo-hyuk.

Hinami spoke in a much more confident voice than when she had snapped at me, firing words at the shrinking server.

Even Kang Joo-hyuk, who couldn’t understand the words well, could grasp the meaning just from the atmosphere.

｢……Back then, you seduced my boyfriend….｣

｢I never seduced him. He fell for me on his own. I didn’t like him because he was ugly and skinny.｣

｢…I think so too, now.｣

｢Right-? I wondered what was wrong with your eyes back then. I was genuinely curious why you were bullying me over someone like that.｣

Completely contrary to my guess.

She rambled on with such childish stories, even showing empathy towards the aggressor.

｢Well, thanks to that, I’m living well. You don’t need to feel too sorry.｣

｢….｣

｢Thanks to it, I became an idol, met this Oppa next to me, and received your apology. If you hadn’t bullied me, I would have ended up living an ordinary life and meeting an ordinary guy like you, right? I should actually be thanking you.｣

｢…Sorry.｣

｢I told you, no need to be sorry. …I’m genuinely grateful to you.｣

Just like how he had pushed me to the edge.

Hinami, with just her tongue, pushed the other woman to the cliff’s edge.

｢Ah, you wanna join too? You kept glancing at Oppa earlier. …Are you interested too?｣

｢…Keep your mouth shut forever.｣

｢You’re quick to understand. …Then I’ll keep my mouth shut too.｣

After definitively shutting her mouth right before my eyes.

She slightly pulled aside the yukata she was wearing and placed Kang Joo-hyuk’s hand on her chest.

｢This is all included, right? You’ll keep quiet?｣

｢…Yeah.｣

｢Ah, spread the futon nicely. …I’m going straight to sleep.｣

｢…Yes.｣

After that, Hinami shooed the now overly polite server away with a gesture, flopped onto the futon she had prepared, and let out a deep sigh.

…This might be the first time I’ve felt scared of her.

I rubbed the goosebumps erupting all over my skin, then cautiously approached Hinami and spoke.

“Hinami.”

“Don’t talk to me, Jia. I’m f*ing tired.”

“What?”

“…Honestly, I’m still scared of her.”

But Hinami pulled the futon over herself, breathing raggedly and looking exhausted.

…Was it all an act?

Or perhaps ‘mask’ would be a more accurate word.

Seeing my friend’s vulnerable side after so long, I froze for a moment, both body and mind.

“Move aside.”

Kang Joo-hyuk, who had been leaning against the wall, stood up abruptly, pushed me aside, burrowed into the futon, and hugged her tightly from the front.

Then, patting her back, he gently comforted Hinami, who was breathing heavily, in a way that didn’t quite suit him.

…In a way I could never manage.

“…”

Lying on the same pillow, sharing tremors, I watched them quietly. Then, unnie, who had gone to brush her teeth earlier, walked out with heavy steps.

She looked at me, then the two of them in succession, wore a strange expression, brushed past us, and walked into the adjacent room.

I also didn’t want to stay in this uncomfortable atmosphere any longer, so I carefully got up and followed unnie.

“…Why are you following me.”

“Just because.”

Unnie, who was sprawled on the futon in the next room staring at the ceiling, tried to shoo me away in a grumbling voice without even looking at me.

But she didn’t seem like she really wanted me gone, so I settled in a corner, sat down with a plop, hugged my knees, and looked at unnie,

Asking a question.

“What.”

“…Why do you like a guy like that?”

Still.

An unresolved question.

…I can understand a little now why Hinami likes him.

But why unnie likes him remained a complete mystery.

At least, the unnie I knew didn’t have a gloomy past like Hinami’s.

She was the type to bully others, not be bullied.

She was the type to receive love, not shower it like she was doing now.

“…I don’t know.”

“What?”

“If you ask me why, I can’t answer either. …Why I came to like a guy like that.”

But unnie glared at me coldly and avoided the question, saying she didn’t know.

…It felt like those sharp eyes held the answer.

Unnie, unable to utter it in front of me, looked at me, then suddenly got up and started rummaging through her luggage.

“What are you doing?”

“Can you stop acting friendly now? …Since when did you ever treat me like a sister?”

“….”

Then, she spat out the words in a chilling tone, gathered a few clothes, and left the room, leaving me behind.

…I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to follow her.

I plopped down onto the futon unnie had just been using and closed my eyes.

Anyway, what was about to happen in the next room…

…was actually something I shouldn’t meddle with.

I realized that now.

**

…It felt refreshing, yet slightly unsettling.

If only she had accepted my proposal, even this lingering unease would have vanished.

As I said myself, any resentment I harbored from childhood disappeared long ago.

But that didn’t mean it was completely erased from my life.

Like pencil marks left behind after erasing with an eraser.

“…It’s suffocating, Oppa.”

“Sorry, should I loosen it?”

“No. …Just a little lighter.”

Breathing softly in Oppa’s embrace, who held me tightly, I recalled the expression of ‘her’ whom I had stared at intently earlier.

…Should I say she looked like a fool, or just plain stupid?

What’s certain is that she didn’t look as confident as before.

It felt unfair that my life got twisted this much because of such a nobody, yet at the same time, I felt fortunate that my twisted life had become such a success.

If I hadn’t gone through that, maybe it would have been me working as a server here, not her.

In that case, I probably would have started a family with a pathetic man like her old boyfriend and lived pretending to be happy.

…And then I probably would have cheated, just like my mom.

And if I cheated with a man like Oppa, wouldn’t I have eventually been abandoned someday?

But now, Oppa is my first, so he’ll possess me.

“Get out.”

“No.”

Lost in thought while in his arms, suddenly Madam, the legal wife, burst out and started nudging me with her foot.

Well, she did snatch him away right before my eyes, so it’s natural for her to be angry.

Still, seeing unnie get angry just because I hugged him for a moment after enjoying him so much since morning felt both annoying and cute.

Because I could feel her obsession with Oppa so intensely.

…The more I managed to take from her, the better I felt.

“Hey.”

“I said no. You did it this morning, and right before we came back earlier. Aren’t you trying to monopolize Oppa too much?”

So, pretending to be angry at unnie, who kept nudging me, I acted annoyed. Unnie smiled, looked down at me, and chuckled.

Thinking unnie had suddenly gone crazy, I stared intently at her with question marks in my eyes.

“…Get out so I can get dressed. I brought clothes for you too.”

“….”

Unnie threw the clothes in her hands at me, and while my vision was blocked, she stole Oppa and pulled him towards her.

…Even though I thought her scheme was quite cunning, I wasn’t that annoyed.

I got up from my spot, picked up one of the costumes that had spilled out, glared at unnie clinging to Oppa’s shoulder,

And said this.

“Bring Jia too.”

“…Why her?”

“If we leave her be, she’ll get sulky…?”

Because Jia and I had hung out like friends for the first time in a while.

Because Jia had tried to take care of me like a friend for the first time in a while.

So, just for today, I decided to take care of my friend too.

Even though it was a shame that the time focused on me would decrease.

…Because Oppa wouldn’t get tired of me.

And.

Oppa would ultimately choose me over her.

He would love me more.

She might be a colleague I could never beat in singing, no matter how hard I tried…

…But when it comes to moans, I’m superior.