Ch.37Chapter 37. It’s Your Fault

“Uh… Juli… I… signal… is…”

“What? Jinsoo? Jinsoo, can you hear me?”

When the words came through broken and choppy, Juliane shouted.

But there was no answer, and instead the call simply disconnected.

“Bad connection…?”

The national telecommunications company had merged all three carriers 50 years ago, and something like this shouldn’t have happened.

She tried calling several more times, but while the signal went through, Jinsoo didn’t answer.

Could he be somewhere in a mountainous region?

Even then, thanks to Starlink, there shouldn’t be any connection issues.

“Sigh. Where are you?”

Tapping on the laptop beside her, Juliane heaved a deep sigh.

The tracking program displayed on the laptop showed a map of Los Angeles.

The call had been too short to narrow down the location sufficiently.

If it had lasted just a few seconds longer, she could have pinpointed exactly where in LA he was.

“I don’t want to be doing this either.”

This made her feel like some kind of stalker.

Tracking someone’s location without any specific orders from the Audit Office.

But she couldn’t help it.

Today was a precious holiday.

The first holiday since school started.

And it was an exceptionally beautiful day.

On a day like this, what needed to be done was clear.

“We should be going on a family outing!”

Juliane shouted with her face buried in her arms on the desk.

She needed to build family bonds on this rare holiday.

She needed to take lots of photos and upload them to social media.

That way she could both inform the Audit Office that the mission was progressing smoothly and stick it to the parents at Saint Catalina School!

“Why aren’t you answering right now of all times, you man!”

She was starting to feel anxious.

Pretending to be Jinsoo’s lover was purely for Jinsoo and Cuss’s sake, but as she kept at it, Juliane had developed her own determination.

She wanted to show off that Cuss had such a young and pretty mother.

Especially after seeing Cuss being pushed around by upperclassmen.

She wanted to establish some authority, you could say.

Anyway, this wasn’t just about Jinsoo and Cuss anymore.

It was about Juliane’s own pride too.

“Answer! Please!”

By now, all eyes in the cafeteria were on the loudly complaining Juliane.

Everyone was wondering why this woman, who always ate quietly by herself, was acting this way.

She was a new employee, so they all just assumed she’d gone crazy from excessive work.

“Juliane. Everyone seems uncomfortable.”

“Oh, senior.”

Her superior appeared behind her, offering a coffee cup.

Only then did Juliane notice the stares around her, and her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Don’t be so obsessive. That man must be scared.”

“Scared? Isn’t it normal for couples to meet every day?”

“Not every day when you’re not even living together…”

“Of course we should meet every day!”

Her superior could only give a bitter smile at Juliane’s firm response.

It sounded like something only a dating novice would say.

“I think that man values time with his daughter more.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if a mother joined them?”

“I’m not so sure.”

Recalling his previous meeting with Jinsoo Kim, her superior shook his head.

This was a man who proudly showed off (secretly taken) photos of his daughter.

It was clear he wanted to spend the holiday alone with his daughter, avoiding Juliane.

But this clueless junior was even using call tracking to chase after him…

He couldn’t help but find it pathetic.

“Give up and go get your health checkup. It’s that time, isn’t it?”

“I don’t like that… it feels weird.”

“Go quickly. Unless you want to suddenly drop dead someday. I heard they built a factory near the station. You don’t need to go far anymore.”

“Fine. I guess I’ll just go get my health checkup today.”

Juliane shoved her laptop into her bag and picked up the coffee cup for a sip.

“Ugh. Bitter.”

Her superior patted her on the back as she made a face, then left.

***

“Jinsoo. Let’s go now, okay?”

“Hey, wait a bit. It’s almost over! Hey! Cyber-cha… I mean, Bob’s daughter!”

“It’s Bella. But what did you just call—”

“Right! Bella! Why are you blocking the way?”

“Sorry…”

I wanted to get up quickly too.

But this cyber-cha… Bella kept trolling me.

If I were alone, I would’ve finished this ages ago, seriously.

“Ah! It’s because I’m not using a Mario controller. Let’s switch.”

“What does that have to do with anything? They’re all the same.”

“No, I need to catch that Mario to play better.”

These people who can’t play always have so many excuses.

Eventually, I switched consoles with Bella.

Glancing behind me, I saw Cuss resting her head on my shoulder, looking at the screen with a bored expression.

“I’ll finish soon. It’s fun playing after so long.”

“Hmph! Jinsoo is mean!”

“Huh?”

Cuss bit my neck.

But knowing full well what would happen if she actually sank her teeth in, she just mumbled against my skin.

That tickles, kid. Take it easy.

“Hey. That tickles.”

“Hmm… what about this?”

“Hey.”

Cuss stuck out her tongue and started licking my nape.

It wasn’t ticklish, but this was…

The problem was it was making me feel a bit aroused.

“Hehe. Stop it, Cuss. That guy Jinsoo is a pedo, so he’ll get excited.”

“Excited? Why would he get excited just from licking?”

“Well… you see…”

I had to endure.

If I gave in here, I’d become a pedophile who gets excited by his daughter licking his neck.

For the honor of Kim Jinsoo the man, I must finish this stage before my little soldier wakes up!

“Jinsoo. Get up now. I need to teach you how to use the phone too. Yawn…”

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Cuss moved from my neck up to my ear.

She gently bit my earlobe and started chewing on it.

She kept rolling her tongue around too.

She seemed to be trying to tickle me… but if that was her goal, she failed.

If her goal was to turn me on, she succeeded spectacularly.

“Slurp… slurp… Jinsoo…”

“Damn it! Alright! Alright!”

I had no choice but to put down the console.

I surrender, you brat.

Happy now?

Your dad just wanted to indulge in some nostalgia for a bit.

And you couldn’t even wait that short time…

“Why aren’t you getting up?”

“Wait a bit. My legs are numb.”

“Right. Wait for him, Cuss. That hopeless pedo can’t help himself.”

“Hmm…?”

Damn it.

If I could stand up right now, I’d punch that shiny cocoa puff right in the face.

I mean, honestly, how could anyone not get hard when Cuss is licking their ear like that?

I guarantee it’s impossible unless you have erectile dysfunction.

“Is your leg okay now?”

“Yeah. It’s fine now, so let’s go. Don’t forget this.”

“Ugh.”

I almost left the hat behind.

I picked up the straw hat that was lying on the ground and pressed it firmly onto Cuss’s head.

She lifted the hat slightly and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

Why does she look so pretty today?

Maybe because she hasn’t caused any trouble yet today.

“Don’t torment Jinsoo too much, Cuss. He must be struggling.”

“Why don’t you shut up?”

“Hahaha!”

Leaving behind Bob, who was laughing like an evil villain boss, we left the abandoned factory.

“Jinsoo! Jinsoo! How do I use this? Huh? Huh?”

“Wait. I’ll teach you when we get home.”

“Have a safe trip!”

“Uh…”

I took the car keys from the thugs who were giving uncomfortably polite goodbyes and got in the car.

They didn’t touch anything, did they?

Sunglasses still there. Air freshener still there.

Surely they didn’t swap out the tires for cheap ones in that short time?

With a “no way” mindset, I started the car.

“Hmm…”

In the passenger seat, Cuss was fiddling with the phone.

The power wasn’t even turned on yet.

I was about to explain but decided against it.

Better to explain step by step at home than let her mess something up by touching random things.

“Jinsoo.”

“What?”

“My lower abdomen hurts a little.”

“What? It hurt yesterday too. Why?”

“I don’t know. My whole body aches a bit…”

“What? Is it going to rain?”

Given that her stomach has been hurting yesterday and today, it’s probably not just a stomachache.

Could it really be a cold?

I was a bit worried.

As I sped up to leave the slum, the bright sunshine began to fade.

Dark clouds crept in, creating an ominous atmosphere, and then it started pouring rain.

Wow, it really is raining.

What are you, some old lady?

Making it rain when your knees ache?

“It’s coming down hard.”

The rain was quite heavy.

At this rate, even with an umbrella, we’d get soaked quickly.

Fortunately, we arrived home soon and I pulled the car into the garage.

But there was one problem.

There was no direct passage from the garage to the house.

It was just a few feet, but we’d have to run through the pouring rain without umbrellas.

“Give me the phone. You might drop it while running.”

“Okay.”

“When I count to three, we run.”

I prepared to cover Cuss with my windbreaker.

She already seemed to be coming down with something, and getting wet in the rain would be trouble.

Of course, the trouble wasn’t about Cuss being sick, but about me having to take care of her.

“Ready? One… two…”

“Three!”

“No! Hey!”

Cuss suddenly shouted “three” and dashed into the rain.

I was so taken aback that I just stood watching for a moment, which delayed my start.

In the end, we both arrived at the front door completely soaked.

I tossed the windbreaker to Cuss who had arrived first, then quickly took out my keys and opened the door.

“Brr! Cold!”

“I said to run when I count to three.”

“You did count to three.”

“I meant when I count, not you. Geez, you blockhead.”

We were both completely drenched, with water dripping onto the entryway floor.

We were only outside for a few seconds, but anyone would think we had walked all the way from the slum in the rain.

“Hehehe. It’s like when we got wet last time, Jinsoo.”

Cuss pointed at me and giggled.

By “last time,” she meant… when we took a bath together?

That time I got soaked because Cuss turned the shower on me.

“You…”

“Yes?”

I tried to say something while looking at Cuss, but the words got stuck in my throat.

Her flowy dress was now soaked and clinging to her slender body.

The fabric was so thin that the curves of her lower abdomen and even her navel were visible.

Her white underwear was clearly visible too.

I gulped and slightly pushed back her straw hat.

Cuss’s face was fully revealed as water dripped down behind her.

“What is it, Jinsoo?”

“No, you… this is cheating.”

“Huh?”

I caressed Cuss’s cheek and pushed my thumb into the side of her mouth.

I could feel the warm, soft flesh of her cheek, her hard molars, and her moist tongue.

This is your fault.

It’s your fault for bewitching me.