Ch.76Chapter 76. Impudent Brat

I tried to stay awake.

For as long as possible.

To hold onto Jinsoo if he tried to leave.

But when I came to my senses…

“Ah.”

Cuss was sprawled out on the bed.

She sat up abruptly and looked around.

As warm, almost hot sunlight streamed through the window, Cuss got out of bed.

“Ack!”

At that moment, she slipped and tumbled sideways.

She had stepped on the blanket that she’d kicked onto the floor.

Irritated, Cuss grabbed the blanket, stuffed it into the corner of the bed, and stomped into the main bedroom.

“…”

Jinsoo was sound asleep.

Perhaps it wasn’t time for him to wake up yet.

She was hungry.

Intending to wake Jinsoo, Cuss climbed onto the bed.

“Hmm…”

Sometimes Cuss would wake up first and approach him like this.

On those occasions, Jinsoo would open his eyes at the slightest movement of the bed.

But today, Jinsoo must have been very tired, as he showed no signs of waking even when she lay down right next to him.

“Sniff, sniff…”

Cuss put her nose near his pillow and sniffed, her face stiffening.

It was a smell she’d never encountered before.

The shampoo they used at home had a fresh, sweet scent.

But this was different.

It was a bright, tangy smell.

Definitely not a scent found in their home.

“Ugh… I don’t like it…”

Just as I thought, he went somewhere last night while I was asleep.

She was certain of it.

“Hmm…”

Cuss gently lifted Jinsoo’s shoulder and burrowed into his arms.

She buried her face in his broad chest.

It was warm.

And comfortable.

Cuss closed her eyes gently with a faint smile of satisfaction.

She thought she’d take a short nap.

No, she wanted to sleep forever.

Like this.

Just the two of them.

“Oh, what’s this? When did you get here?”

“…”

That time didn’t last long.

Yawning as he woke up, Jinsoo roughly ruffled Cuss’s hair and got up.

Cuss could only watch Jinsoo’s back as he left the bed, her hair now disheveled.

Soon, Cuss resigned herself and trudged out of the room with a disgruntled expression.

“Don’t you have school? Go wash up.”

“…”

Jinsoo was fiddling with something in the kitchen without even glancing her way.

She didn’t like that at all.

“Jinsoo…”

“What?”

“I think my hair is too long.”

“Your hair?”

Jinsoo turned around abruptly.

Then he walked over and touched her hair.

The fine strands slid through his fingers and fell back down.

“It is getting quite long. Want to cut it?”

“Yes. I want to cut it.”

“How about cutting it really short?”

“Oh…”

That seemed like a good idea.

Then she wouldn’t have to struggle every time she washed her hair.

“Juliane has a bob cut too. It looks really convenient. What do you think?”

“No.”

Juliane.

It was like a magic word.

Suddenly, the bob cut that had seemed so appealing no longer interested her.

“I like long hair.”

“Really? Won’t it be uncomfortable?”

“I can bear it.”

“Bear it… Do you even know what that means?”

“I do. It means to accept something, doesn’t it? Aren’t you underestimating me too much?”

“No, it’s just… it doesn’t seem like a word that suits you.”

Jinsoo’s chuckling annoyed her.

What does he take me for?

If I just chose the right host, I could rule the universe.

It’s just bad luck that I ended up in this child’s body…

“I was too busy today, so this is all I could prepare.”

Breakfast was toast, bacon, fried eggs, and baked beans.

It was delicious as always.

Maybe because Jinsoo made it.

It had a stable, reliable taste, completely different from the strange organic combinations that Juliane occasionally concocted when she tried to cook.

She ate all the beans first, the part she liked least.

If she left them, Jinsoo would force her mouth open and make her eat them.

She saved the most delicious bacon and bread for last.

By the time she was poking at the salty bacon with her fork, Jinsoo had already brought his plate over and was sipping from a steaming cup.

“What’s that? You seem to drink it every day.”

“This? It’s coffee, coffee.”

“I want to try it too.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“…”

She took the cup.

The color inside was strange.

A completely black darkness that didn’t let any light through.

Her instinct, engraved at the genetic level, screamed that food of this color should never be consumed.

But wasn’t this a drink that Jinsoo enjoyed?

It must be delicious.

After a slight hesitation, she took a sip.

“Ugh! Kack!”

“Hahaha! Doesn’t taste good?”

“It’s incredibly disgusting! Ugh…”

It tasted nauseating.

The bitter, astringent flavor that reached the tip of her nose wouldn’t go away even after repeatedly drinking water.

“Why on earth do you drink this?”

“Because it tastes good.”

“Are you serious? There must be some problem with your nervous system.”

“Actually, I’m not sure either. There are probably people who drink it because they like the taste… but I’m not one of them.”

“…?”

“It’s just… it makes me look more grown-up. I started drinking it as a college freshman, and it became a habit.”

Jinsoo started saying things she didn’t understand.

But she understood to some extent.

To look more grown-up.

If I had looked more grown-up, would my situation have been different?

Could I have been accepted by Jinsoo as something other than a daughter?

Could I have been in Juliane’s place?

“I want to drink it too.”

“You said it tastes bad. Drink it when you’re older.”

“On second thought, I think it tastes good.”

“What the…”

She clung to Jinsoo and almost snatched the cup away.

She thought it might be different the second time, but it was still impossible.

It tasted awful.

But she endured and kept sipping.

“Don’t drink too much or you won’t be able to sleep.”

“Oh.”

That was good news.

If she drank this every day, she could monitor Jinsoo every night.

She now had a reason to drink this revolting beverage.

Despite furrowing her brow, Cuss emptied nearly half the cup.

“Stop drinking. You need to go to school. Oh, are you getting along with the other kids? Are you still fighting with Tom?”

“We don’t fight. Now that I’ve subdued his brother too, both brothers must be looking up to me.”

“I wonder. Do you know the saying ‘biding your time for revenge’?”

“No.”

“It means… ah, never mind. Anyway, it means enduring and being patient for the sake of revenge. Can you be sure those two will just sit quietly after what you did to them?”

“Gasp… No! Come to think of it, if it were me, I’d be plotting revenge too!”

This was an emergency.

She thought Tom was being quiet because he had submitted to her, but it was actually because he was planning his revenge.

She was glad she realized it now.

She almost got caught off guard by that little human while being complacent.

“I understand. I need to beat him up again to make sure he can’t rise up…”

“No, don’t do that. Just go to school.”

A light knock landed on the top of her head.

Before she knew it, Cuss was being pushed out with her backpack already on her back.

“Off you go. Take the school bus home when you’re done.”

“Hmm? Isn’t Juliane coming?”

“She’s busy. Just be alone at home for a little while. I’ll be back soon. Don’t cause any trouble!”

“I won’t…”

Though she was pouting, her mood had improved a bit.

Juliane wouldn’t be picking her up.

She didn’t particularly enjoy being alone, but what mattered was that she could be alone with Jinsoo afterward.

Time alone with Jinsoo, without that monster with the huge tumor on her chest.

Thinking about that, she could wait for hours.

Actually, she probably wouldn’t even have time to feel lonely.

After school, Alice would bombard her with texts and calls.

“Yawn… Go on. Give me a kiss.”

“…”

“What are you doing? I’m not going without one.”

“Hmph.”

On the school bus steps, Cuss stood at eye level with Jinsoo and turned her back on him with a snort.

She felt somewhat resentful.

Today, she didn’t want to indulge Jinsoo’s creepy desires so easily.

You should feel some yearning too.

With that, Cuss stomped up the stairs and slipped into a back seat.

“Haha. Is it puberty?”

“Well… I guess so.”

The door closed and the school bus departed.

Looking embarrassed, Jinsoo scratched his head as his figure receded.

Sitting in the very back seat, Cuss pressed her forehead against the window until Jinsoo was out of sight.

***

The hologram windows in front of Conrad flipped through rapidly.

Though the documents were difficult to obtain, they weren’t particularly useful.

Combining all this information might lead to a common opinion questioning the military court’s execution of duties.

But no matter how he looked at it, going beyond that seemed impossible.

Proving Jinsoo Kim’s false accusation was nearly impossible.

“Hmm…”

Still, since Juliane had jumped into this, she must have something she believed in.

Though she might seem reckless at first glance, she only fought battles she could win.

Considering Juliane’s personality, the probability of her asking for his help approached zero.

She’d probably say something about not wanting to burden her father or wanting to prove her own abilities.

Ring ring…

“Hm?”

It was a call from Juliane.

Speak of the devil.

Conrad put on his earphones and answered.

“What is it, Juliane?”

“Father. I need your help.”

“…”

An unexpected statement.

“What kind of help?”

“Actually… Sigh. You already knew to some extent, didn’t you? That Jinsoo was falsely accused.”

“…”

“I thought so. I’m trying to reveal that, and I really need your help, Father.”

All his predictions were off.

He still couldn’t understand his daughter’s thought process.

“What kind of help do you need?”

“Just… if you could get me a few documents…”

“You know that’s illegal, right?”

“I know. But I’ll make sure no one knows it was you who got them…!”

“Sigh…”

No, it wasn’t that.

His daughter’s thinking was still the same as always.

If she was going to ask her parents for help, she should be more bold in her requests.

It was irritating that she only asked for help within limits that wouldn’t cause trouble.

“I won’t get them for you.”

“Ah…”

“If I reveal it myself, the issue of confidential information leakage disappears, doesn’t it?”

“Huh? What? Father?”

“I’ll cooperate.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. But there’s a condition.”

“W-what is it, Father?”

Anxiety tinged Juliane’s voice.

Cute kid.

“Tell me the real reason you’re doing this. Then I’ll help.”

“Of course, to expose the Navy scandal so that there won’t be victims like Jinsoo anymore…”

“Not the superficial reason. The honest one.”

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Most of the people who put Jinsoo Kim away ten years ago are either dead, discharged, or promoted to work elsewhere than the military court. And does Jinsoo Kim truly want this? Or is he just reluctantly going along because you’re being so proactive?”

“…”

Silence followed from the other end.

As expected.

That Jinsoo Kim seemed to be living comfortably, having forgotten everything.

It was Juliane who wanted to stir up the hornet’s nest.

“Tell me your honest desire, Juliane. Then I’ll help.”

“It’s… my selfishness.”

That’s right.

Humans are inherently ugly creatures.

That applies to both Conrad himself and his daughter.

Having peeled away a layer of his daughter’s pretense, Conrad smiled with a strange sense of elation.

“I’m doing this for my own satisfaction. Jinsoo would probably be content as things are. His daughter Cuss might not care about anything else as long as she’s with Jinsoo. But I’m frustrated. Me. The criminal record that hangs like shackles around Jinsoo, following him everywhere. That heinous record that anyone would despise… Yes, it bothers me too much. Even if he’s okay with it, it bothers me and hurts my heart. All I want is to restore Jinsoo’s honor. I want to feel at ease with that. I don’t want to be the wife of an ex-convict. That’s why I’m doing this. Satisfied?”

“…”

Juliane answered, panting with excitement.

It wasn’t a particularly satisfying answer.

But it couldn’t be helped.

This was who Juliane was.

She had been like this since she was young.

“Fine. I’ll help you completely. Considering the impact, it would be better if I made the announcement.”

“Father! No matter what, that’s…”

“Do you have any connections with the press?”

“No…”

“If you’re not confident, leave it to your father. As long as the evidence is sufficient, I’ll guarantee success.”

“Thank you, Father. Really. Really. Truly…”

He heard her voice choking up.

Finding it unpleasant, Conrad hung up.

“Ugh…”

The chair creaked as he leaned back.

Conrad squeezed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly.

Somehow, his dry eye syndrome seemed to be getting worse by the day.