270. Obsession (5)

A woman who shouldn’t be kneeling before me lay sprawled on the floor.

Her arms were so delicate, her waist thin enough to be grasped with both hands, and more than anything, the very wick holding her sanity together was burning away.

I could step gently on her like that, strip her clothes, lay her on the bed, and do whatever I wanted; it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Even if I attached a metal leash to that choker and choked the breath out of her while dangling it around.

Or grabbing her hair instead of a leash and messing it up completely, it wouldn’t have been a problem anymore.

“…Get up.”

…I wasn’t really in the mood for that right now.

I just wanted to confirm that it didn’t matter anyway.

“Follow me. …If you don’t want to, just stay here.”

Her eyes, lifting her head with a stupid expression to look at me, seemed truly naive.

So this is what happens when the self-esteem of someone who lived their whole life basking in their own glory collapses.

Were the gazes of those around me like this when my shoulder was shattered?

Of course, I wasn’t the type to openly show my expressions like her, nor was I the kind of person whose wick breaks easily.

It just burned away slowly and for a long time over several years, until there was nowhere left to burn, and then it snapped.

But for just something like this, Seo Jia’s wick remained too long to break.

“…”

Without looking at those foolish eyes, I grabbed her wrist and went downstairs.

The sight of my sister-in-law in pajamas walking hand-in-hand with me might not have looked very wholesome, but since she wasn’t wearing anything strange, I believed Haeun would understand.

Dragging her along, I came downstairs, unlocked the door, and entered the entrance hall.

“What the.”

“She looked so anxious, so I brought her here.”

“What are you talking about?”

Haeun, who had been sprawled on the sofa fiddling with her hair, looked at us, frowned slightly, stood up, and took her sister, whom I handed over.

Seo Jia, held by her older sister with a bewildered expression.

“W-what? Did something happen?”

“…Well. Nothing…”

“Haaam… Ah. Did the food in the fridge run out? Are you hungry?”

“…”

Seeing her sister accept her indifferently while yawning widely, she shivered all over.

Soon after, she nodded slightly, quietly walked to the dining table, sat down on a chair, and rubbed her neck.

“…What’s wrong with her?”

“A member of the same group was trembling, saying someone might get caught for drugs. …I brought her here because she looked a bit dangerous.”

“What, Hinami?”

“No, not her. Someone else.”

“Ah. But how does that relate to Ye-eun… oh, right, it doesn’t. If her group collapses, we won’t be able to live here either…”

“It’s not her fault, though. As long as she doesn’t have to pay penalty fees, it shouldn’t matter much.”

“…Mm-hmm. Hearing that, I see why she’s acting like this.”

While she waited quietly, I concisely explained the situation to Haeun.

Haeun quickly grasped the situation, stretched with a big yawn, walked towards the kitchen, heated up leftover curry, and served it to her sister.

“Eat this first. If you need side dishes, rummage through the fridge and help yourself. There’s more rice too.”

“…Mm.”

“When you’re done eating and sleepy, go into the soundproof booth over there and sleep. It won’t be hot if you turn on the air conditioner. Oh, toothbrushes and stuff are in that drawer… Nothing’s changed since you last visited, so help yourself.”

Then, acting like the owner of the house, she casually took care of her, just like one would treat a visiting younger sister.

She came back to me, suddenly sniffed the air, made a strange expression, and grabbed my wrist.

“…Let’s wash together, Joo-hyuk. You smell a little sweaty.”

“There’s no way I would.”

“Oh, but I do. I know your smell better than you do?”

“…”

“Let’s fill the bathtub after a long time and relax before coming out.”

“We just went to the hot springs last weekend…”

“That was the hot springs. The bathtub is the bathtub. …They’re different.”

“…Alright.”

She dragged me into the bathroom attached to her room.

Seo Jia, who had been watching us while quietly eating curry.

Heard us chatting, jumped up, and rummaged through the fridge.

…Instead of side dishes, she took out ridiculously expensive wine and poured it recklessly into a plastic cup, not even a glass.

It was a bit of a waste, but.

I could cute-ly overlook her doing that because she wanted to get drunk.

In the first place, if you think about it, it’s also my sister-in-law’s house.

**

“Haaam… Ah. I’m tired.”

“…Why did you bring Ye-eun here?”

As I let out a long yawn in the warm water, Haeun, who was on top of me, grumbled.

…Well, technically, it was an act I couldn’t complain about even if I had thrown more tantrums.

Because I didn’t think I had made the wrong choice, I confidently pushed back my bangs, hugged Haeun tightly, and replied.

“Even so, I couldn’t just leave you behind.”

“What are you talking about? You’ve been doing it all along.”

“It’s just… she seemed a bit unstable, so I brought her here. If I had spoken normally, she would never have come down, so I had to use a few tricks.”

“Couldn’t you have just knocked her unconscious and brought her, like our Master used to do?”

“…This place has good security, but it’s not deserted, you know?”

“Really? You came in holding hands so openly, I thought there was no one around.”

“Wrists, not hands.”

“It’s the same thing.”

Whether she was jealous or pretending to be jealous.

Haeun was adorable, grumbling with an ambiguous attitude while gently stroking the back of my hand.

…It wouldn’t be wrong to say I climbed up there deliberately just to see this expression.

No matter how sexy, young, and attractive Seo Jia might be.

She wouldn’t possibly be jealous because of me.

Her getting angry because of me is only…

Not because she isn’t loved by me.

But simply because she can’t stand seeing someone else being loved.

Because she’s afraid of collapsing herself.

She wants to use me as a support.

“…”

…Look.

Bursting into someone else’s bathroom without a word and walking in heavily.

Haeun would never do something like that.

She’d probably sulk and hide somewhere, then whine and complain to me later.

“…Let me wash too, unnie.”

“It’s small… There’s no room for you.”

“Then I’ll come in when you’re done. I’ll wait here, so you go first.”

“…If you want to wash, you can just use the bathroom off the living room, right?”

“I want to soak in the bathtub too… I’ll wait here too.”

“With that face…? I saw you drinking earlier. You shouldn’t bathe while drunk.”

“…I only had one drink.”

Like sisters who were moderately close but not quite.

The way they exchanged conversation with sharp tones towards each other was so tense, it was hard to catch my breath.

The moment I interfered in their conversation, it would lead to some kind of resolution.

So I kept my mouth shut and just listened to the two sisters’ conversation.

“…Do you really want to wash in the bathtub that badly?”

“Yes.”

“Haaa… Then I guess I have no choice. …Joo-hyuk, sorry, but could you give us some space?”

“Huh?”

“My sister wants to wash with me somehow… I can’t help it, right?”

“…Yeah. Alright.”

Thanks to Haeun choosing such a strange solution.

I temporarily got out of the water and gave them space.

I brushed past her, nervously chewing her lips and looking back and forth between me and Haeun.

Roughly dried myself and waited for them outside the bathroom.

Of course.

No matter how I thought about it, Jia didn’t seem like she would win.

**

“…What are you trying to do?”

Those were the first words I threw at my unnie after he disappeared.

My sister acting so entitled just because she was chosen by one man was infuriating.

…And I, clinging to the same man, felt equally disgusting.

But.

No matter how disgusting it was, I couldn’t escape.

Even if I went back upstairs, I would just fall into the same cycle of thoughts.

“What do you mean? Because you’re obsessed with Joo-hyuk, I just let him out for a bit?”

“When did I?”

“I don’t know since when. …But right now, you are.”

I hated my sister, who was so confident despite having nothing but one thing.

I have everything, yet I can’t stand it because I’m afraid of losing it.

What makes my sister so great that she’s so confident?

…Aren’t you afraid?

A woman younger, prettier, and more attractive than you.

Might try to steal everything you have.

What makes you so great that you’re so confident?

“Anyway, as I said before. Don’t think about doing anything strange with ambiguous feelings.”

“…What if they aren’t ambiguous?”

“Then try seducing him well. …Oh, but I don’t know if Joo-hyuk will fall for it?”

“…So if I slept with my brother-in-law right now, you wouldn’t care at all?”

“Rather than not caring… It’s mine in the first place, and you’re trying to steal it, right? Of course, I’d try to protect it.”

“…”

“But well, no matter how great you are, I don’t think I’ll lose it… So do as you please.”

…Why.

Aren’t you afraid of me.

The Master, whom my unnie loves so much.

My brother-in-law.

Is a man desperate to rape me.

“Well… If you genuinely went for it, I might be a little scared… But you can’t do that, right?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Can a kid like you, trembling because an incident happened in the same group, truly give up everything and live like me?”

“…”

Why do I.

Can’t give up anything.

Think I’m a greedy woman who wants to take everything?

…Me too.

If it weren’t for this damn job.

I could have…

Enough…

Could I have been loved by him?

Received his obsession?

If I.

Didn’t have the label of an idol.

…Would he have.

Even paid attention to me?

I couldn’t answer that question.

“If you can’t, then stay still. …Just watch. Don’t try to interfere.”

“…”

Unnie.

Didn’t even need to ask herself that question in the first place.

…That.

Was so infuriating.

And humiliating.