I Don’t Want to be a Villainess – Chapter 139

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: Wojo

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“Anyway, so.”

Nam Da-un took a sip from his can and spoke.

“So, what did you want to talk about that made you call me?”

“That is….”

I paused for a moment after coming this far.

Is it really the right thing to ask this person about it?

Of course, this person would know well since he was directly involved, but considering that the cause of the incident lies with me, I thought it might not be right to ask.

…But still, the truth is, there’s no one else who can tell me about this as accurately as him.

Besides, ‘that person’ had already listened to it once.

“I wanted to ask you about something that happened in our childhood.”

“Oh, that.”

Contrary to my worries, Nam Da-un responded to my words lightly.

“I told you last time, it’s just a rumor. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Yes, I knew that from reading his memories.

But the Nam Da-un I know would say that even if something like ‘that’ had happened.

After all, he was the one who spoke to me, saying I seemed similar to him when everyone else was afraid of me and avoided me.

“…Really? You really disappeared without anything happening?”

In my childhood memory, this person suddenly vanished.

He didn’t leave me a goodbye, nor had I heard anything about him moving away before that.

One day, he simply stopped coming to school.

After that, I became truly alone.

I resented him at first, but when I later learned that he disappeared because of me, I couldn’t think of anything like ‘resentment’ at all.

The terrible rumors that I heard about what might have happened to him, whispered loudly enough for me to hear as I passed by.

Perhaps those rumors were meant for me, as I was close to this popular person at school, but I couldn’t dismiss them outright.

“As I told you before,”

Nam Da-un sighed exaggeratedly, making a big gesture as he spoke.

“If I really went through something like that, why would I even think of attending this school?”

“….”

“Even I would get scared if the chairman of the richest group in the world marked me, you know? Wouldn’t you feel the same?”

“….”

Of course, it would be scary.

He probably wouldn’t even think of coming near me.

“But still.”

Even so, I said it.

“I still want to hear it.”

“Hmm.”

As I spoke as if pleading, Nam Da-un looked at me, as if calculating something.

Then,

“…Looks like that woman is moving again?”

That’s what he asked.

“…I think so.”

I was somewhat sure, but I didn’t know exactly how or to what extent.

If anything even slightly similar to what the rumors about him suggested were to happen—

—I probably wouldn’t be able to hold back this time.

The people I cherish the most, the people they cherish.

I couldn’t bear the thought of all of that being destroyed because of me.

“Well… honestly, it’s not something I really want to talk about.”

Nam Da-un said while resting his chin on his hand, perhaps reading the expression on my face exactly.

His gestures might have become a bit lighter than how I remembered him from childhood, but those piercing eyes were the same as ever.

“Alright, if you really want to know.”

In the end, Nam Da-un opened his mouth.

*

“…Is it really true?”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

Nam Da-un said as he crushed the empty can in his hand.

“The company went bankrupt because of a mistake made by the original contractor. I still don’t know the details, but it’s probably true that the chairman was involved.”

“….”

“It’s also true they stole the patent, and it’s true that they counter-sued us with that patent, forcing our company to pay a huge settlement. But it wasn’t because of ‘you’ or ‘me.’ It was just a coincidence that everything overlapped.”

“How do you know that….”

“How do I know?”

Nam Da-un covered his eyes with his hand.

“My eyes are pretty accurate. Not much has changed from childhood to now. My memories are clear. And besides, the Eugene Group often does stuff like that. If a subcontractor makes something they see as trivial but useful, they claim they made it first.”

“….”

I had no words.

“But, at that time, it actually backfired. My father’s company was a fairly successful mid-sized enterprise back then. We didn’t win the case outright, but we dragged it out for a long time, holding on. Well, I’m no expert, and I didn’t hear the full story, just bits and pieces through my father.”

Nam Da-un spoke while staring at the crushed can in his hand.

“Reporters who sensed the scandal swarmed in, and public opinion started to turn, so the Eugene Group took extraordinary measures.”

“’Extraordinary measures?’”

“Coincidentally, my father’s company and your group were using the same bank.”

“….”

“Well, for a company the size of the Eugene Group, they wouldn’t have put all their money in a single bank. They’d have insurance companies, security firms, cash assets, share buybacks… But still, it seems clear that the ‘money deposited in that bank’ was more than what our company had.”

“So, in other words….”

“At that time and even now, the Eugene Group is a massive company, right? Their assets are comparable to the total assets of a major domestic bank. So pressuring a bank, where ‘capital’ is the most important thing, wouldn’t have been that difficult.”

“But that…”

I swallowed the words, “is illegal.”

Even in this school, the number of illegal things I’ve done is overwhelming.

Not just me, counting all the illegal things happening in this school would require more fingers and toes than I have.

“Anyway, they applied pressure from all sides. All over that one patent.”

“What kind of patent was it….”

“I don’t know, something related to phone screens, I think.”

Nam Da-un shrugged as he said this.

“Anyway, it was a mistake. From the bank’s perspective, they lost an important client because of another client, and they lost trust in the ones that remained. Our company went bankrupt and couldn’t continue the patent lawsuit, so the Eugene Group ended up with the patent, but the leaked scandal severely damaged their image.”

“…And that’s when rumors about you started to spread?”

“And about you, too.”

“….”

“Why, does it not make sense?”

Seeing the expression on my face after hearing the story, Nam Da-un asked.

“Then, what about the stories about your parents….”

“My parents are both alive and well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Think about it. Would even the wealthiest person do something like that? In a situation where their image was already ruined by the patent lawsuit, if a scandal like that broke out, the company’s very survival would be at stake, whether it’s true or not.”

“….”

That’s… possible.

But maybe not.

As the banker in my memory said, this country is too small to handle the Eugene Group.

“At the very least, they wouldn’t be able to avoid an investigation. Yes, my father did collapse; his blood pressure spiked, and he collapsed. He even had an anger disorder for a while and had to visit a psychiatrist. But no one beat him up. My mother never experienced anything strange, and our house never caught fire. We just sold it because we couldn’t afford it anymore and moved to a cheaper place. If a fire broke out afterward, I don’t know anything about it.”

“Then all those rumors….”

“Someone must have made them up. Kids love to make up all sorts of nonsense. Like how there’s a picture online that if you look at it a few times, you’ll die, or how there’s a body buried somewhere in the school. They probably made up weird stories about me because I disappeared suddenly.”

But who believed it so wholeheartedly?

It wasn’t just children who believed those ridiculous rumors that ruined my life.

If adults hadn’t believed them, I wouldn’t have had to go through such a past.

“Sometimes,”

Nam Da-un said with a sigh, almost as if letting it out.

“It seems like even adults believe what kids say without thinking. Especially if they think it might harm them. I don’t know who exactly spread the kids’ rumors among the adults, though.”

Emphasizing the word ‘who,’ Nam Da-un finished his story.

“Is this enough to convince you?”

“….”

“You still don’t fully believe it.”

“I have one more question.”

I asked Nam Da-un.

“What?”

“Why did you come back to this school?”

“….”

At my question, Nam Da-un closed his mouth and looked off into the distance.

Where his gaze landed was on the kids practicing with a soccer ball.

…Well, it seemed like they were looking at us until just a moment ago, but let’s just move on.

“I know roughly what kind of place this school is. I saw it with these eyes back then, too.”

Nam Da-un said as he quietly watched that scene.

“But when I think about the happiest moments in my life, they all happened here at this school. That’s why I came back.”