326. Catfight (11)

About two weeks have passed since that day.

They showed up without any contact, but I knew exactly why those two suddenly barged in.

…More precisely, why Hinami came to my house at this timing.

It’d be foolish to pretend I didn’t know.

“…Where’s unnie?”

“She’s noisy, so she ran off to my room.”

“Hmm. I see.”

From the bathroom attached to Haeun’s room, Hinami, damp and dripping, walked out with her hands behind her back.

She wasn’t naked, but her fair skin was clearly visible through her white t-shirt.

Normally, adding her signature sweet scent to that would make my head spin, but today, I couldn’t think of anything like that at all.

“I brought a gift, would you like to receive it?”

“What is it.”

“A very expensive gift.”

“…Let me see it.”

I already knew what the gift Hinami brought with her hands behind her back was, even without her saying it.

How it would turn my life upside down.

I had already thought it all through.

“Here. …Take it.”

“…”

She held out a long stick in front of my eyes.

On that stick…

Though not perfectly clear, two lines were definitely drawn.

The result of what I had done all this time was inside that stick.

It was etched within her body.

“…No reaction?”

“…Wait a moment.”

I couldn’t guess what expression was on my face right now.

Was this joy, or nervousness?

Even though I thought I was prepared, I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding.

…My child.

Is inside her belly.

Someone who hasn’t dated, lived together, or married yet.

A 20-year-old idol.

Is carrying my seed.

“…”

Hinami’s face, which had offered me the test kit with a smile, gradually stiffened.

She probably thought I would be purely happy.

I wanted to welcome it like that too, if it were only up to my heart.

But the moment I saw that right before my eyes, I couldn’t just be happy.

Because I could no longer dismiss it as a joke.

Because it was irreversible.

Because I had to take responsibility.

“Hey, Oppa-“

“Hinami.”

“…Heh heh.”

Before Hinami’s face could be stained with sadness, I pulled her into a tight embrace.

Because no words could convey this feeling, I could only convey it through body heat.

Actually, I don’t really know what family is.

To me, ‘Dad’ was a son of a bitch I never even saw once, and ‘Mom’ was the same.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t believe I could be a good father, and honestly, I was scared of that.

…I was afraid that the child she was so happy to have might grow up like me.

But,

It didn’t matter anyway.

Because I had done it all knowing the consequences.

“…Haa. I really… did it. …Pregnancy.”

“I know, right.”

“It’s not a dream… is it? Seeing how warm your body is, Oppa.”

“It’s not a dream.”

“…It’s reality, isn’t it.”

The words ‘it’s not a dream’ didn’t feel that romantic.

Rather, the coldness of the word ‘reality’ felt much heavier.

In about three more months, her body would change so much that it couldn’t possibly be hidden.

An idol who has to stand before cameras would change into a form she must hide completely.

She herself spoke about it as if it were simple, but it was by no means an easy task.

I couldn’t hide everything, nor could I always be by her side.

Most of it would be things she had to endure alone.

Thinking that I was the one who caused such things, it felt heavy enough to make my shoulders ache.

“Hoo. Earlier, when the two lines… appeared, I was really happy. …But now, I feel strange.”

“Me too.”

“…Maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t gotten pregnant on the first try. If it’s like this, we can’t have sex for a while.”

“It can’t be helped.”

“I wanted to make babies with Oppa more. …Getting pregnant on the first try, isn’t that too much?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ehehe… Just kidding.”

As I stroked her head buried in my chest, she started making jokes in a slightly trembling voice.

She must have realized it wasn’t such a simple matter.

Contracts, reputation, popularity – all could be ruined in an instant, she knew that better than anyone.

A burden too heavy for a mere 20-year-old girl to bear.

No matter how much I wanted to carry it for her, there were limits.

Even if I acted as a shield, the world would throw stones at her rather than curse an unknown me.

“…I should tell unnie, right?”

“She’ll probably know without you telling her.”

“Right. Since unnie trusts Oppa so much, there’s no way she’d think I couldn’t get pregnant on the first try. Heh heh.”

“Probably.”

“…When should I move to Japan?”

“After your activities end, right before your belly starts showing, move.”

“Then we won’t be able to meet for a while, huh?”

“It’s close enough. Japan, at least.”

That’s why I had to hide it.

We couldn’t get caught.

She had to finish her activities before her belly started showing, just as planned, and live quietly in hiding.

It was okay even if we couldn’t meet often.

It was okay even if it was something I couldn’t boast about to others.

“…Then can you bring Jia with you when you come? I don’t have any friends in Japan, so I think I’ll be bored alone.”

“I’ll try my best.”

As long as we’re happy just between us, we don’t need to care about anyone’s gaze.

So….

“Ehehe… Ah. But don’t get Jia pregnant while I’m gone, okay? If you get the two most popular members of our group pregnant at the same time, Oppa will really get stabbed.”

“I know. I’m not crazy enough for that-“

BANG.

Cutting off our poignant conversation, someone walked into the open doorway.

A flimsy… no. A revealing bra and panties.

Whether it was sweat or because she just washed, her skin and hair were damp.

And,

Tear-filled eyes.

She, who approached us while stroking her purple hair.

“Brother-in-law.”

“What the hell.”

With a voice trembling far more than Hinami’s, who was teary-eyed with overwhelming emotion.

“Break up with unnie right now.”

“…What are you talking about.”

After separating Hinami from my embrace,

She, dressed provocatively unlike her usual self, pulled me into an embrace.

“Choose just one. …Don’t try to have it all.”

…Don’t try to have it all,

Choose only one.

“…What are you trying to do, Jia.”

“Don’t you… pity unnie?”

“That’s for Haeun unnie to decide, it has nothing to do with you.”

“It does. …Because we’re family, after all.”

“Haa…”

While saying she pitied her sister, I couldn’t grasp her feelings for a moment as she clung to her brother-in-law half-naked.

But the more I heard her heart pounding, demanding my embrace with a tearful, irritated voice, the clearer the picture became.

What she meant by ‘don’t try to have it all, choose only one.’

“…Are you jealous? Because I’m having Oppa’s baby.”

“…Shut up.”

“You thought it was unnie’s, but now that I’m receiving Oppa’s love too. Is that why you’re angry? …You don’t like that?”

“I said shut up…”

Our cute sister-in-law must have hated that.

Without breaking up with Haeun, or their relationship souring.

Hinami also being chosen.

While she was still just my plaything, the other two were receiving special treatment.

She couldn’t stand it.

If I had chosen only one person, it would have been ‘common sense’ and understandable.

But our current relationship was far from normal.

“Seo Jia.”

“…”

Stroking her, acting spoiled like the youngest, I tried to understand her feelings.

After all, she was someone I had turned into this.

Her pride, which stood tall enough to reach the sky.

Her self-esteem, so solid that it wouldn’t budge no matter how much it was kicked.

Her purity, which allowed her to be confident even in front of fans.

Her reputation and popularity, which everyone revered, had all crumbled one by one since she met me.

“I told you last time. …You choose.”

“…”

“I’ve already made my choice. To take responsibility for everything. …So you choose too. Whether to abandon a trash like me and live quietly, or… …lean on me too.”

Just as I had to take responsibility for Hinami,

Seo Jia was also a woman I had to take responsibility for.

“I’ll promise you one thing. …You can leave me, but I will never leave you first.”

“…”

“Choose. …However you want.”

Hearing my words, she lifted her head, tearfully.

Biting her lips until they bled, her heart pounding.

Letting out a sigh so deep it felt like the ground would cave in, she quietly moved away from me.

“…Please do it to me.”

“Do what.”

Bringing her forehead to my instep, she knelt down.

“Me too… like Hinami. …Please make me.”

…Until the very end.

She confessed to me, beating around the bush.

“…Are you sure it’s okay? If two members leave like you said, the group will be destroyed.”

“It… doesn’t matter.”

“Hinami, are you okay? Your friend is acting like this.”

“It’s okay. Because I was first.”

Seeing her friend bravely surrender to me, casting aside her shame, Hinami looked at her with a face neither smiling nor crying and spoke calmly.

As I helped the completely broken woman up, she walked onto the bed on her own, threw off those cheap panties, and then…

“…Since I can’t do it with Hinami for a while anyway, I’ll do it instead… I’ll do it for you.”

“…Alright.”

Casting aside even the last shred of her meager pride onto the floor.

As if it didn’t matter whether she was a substitute for her sister or her friend.

She craved me.

Betraying her own sister,

Getting her friend pregnant,

By a piece of trash.