Chapter 36: I thought it was real this time

Yu Garyeon, like a woodpecker, hammered her head against my chest, spewing a torrent of accusations, yet her face was brighter than ever.
Is it because she’s drunk? Her mood swings are all over the place.

“I really hate you.”

For the record, my finances recovered quickly thanks to Yu Garyeon landing on the lucky spaces consecutively.

“One, two, three, four… Oh, a lucky space? I wonder how my good-for-nothing husband managed to bring in such good fortune?”
“Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up. Are you the only one here? Or what, are you stalling because you’re afraid I’ll win? Are you saying kids aren’t allowed to win?”

Han Yeoreum’s voice snapped me out of my drowsy state. I had been blinking blankly, on the verge of dozing off.

“Uh, ah. Sorry.”

Those two drank, and they’re still not tired? The drunkenness just won’t wear off.
I hope they don’t insist on playing another game after this.

With that thought, I woke up from my slumber and hastily moved my game piece. Yu Garyeon’s finger poked my cheek.

“Hey… why didn’t you land on this one?”
“Huh?”
“Here, right next to it!”

I, flustered, read where Yu Garyeon’s finger was pointing.

“「Woke up in the morning to find my lover (or spouse) beside me in bed, feeling so lovely that I lingered for a long time and was late for work, resulting in disciplinary action. – 600,000 won. / If married, including spouse’s penalty, 1,200,000 won」.”

What is this insane prompt?

“Are you tired of a woman like me now? Do I not seem lovely to you anymore? Why?”

A large shadow fell over Yu Garyeon’s face as she looked at me. Her tear-filled eyes looked like they would spill over at any moment.

“No, Garyeon. This is just a game—”
“You only said those mean things because you were tired of me, right? I, I just thought your reaction was cute. I just wanted to keep seeing it…”

Alcohol is truly the enemy. But at the same time, I felt like I was finally getting a clue as to what she thought of me.

“I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. Money, I’ll give you all the money. I’ll listen to everything you say from now on… so please, don’t hate me.”
“Garyeon.”

I took out a tissue and brought it to Yu Garyeon’s eyes.

“What do you mean, tired of you?”
“Really? You don’t hate me?”
“If I hated you, I wouldn’t be sitting next to you like this.”

Yu Garyeon, who blew her nose into the tissue I had given her to wipe her tears, soon looked at me with the face of an injured fawn and spoke.

“…You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You acted like that to get me to say those things. I know everything.”

Her form, once again nuzzling her face into my chest, resembled a sick woodpecker.

“I still hate you. I hate people like you the most in the world.”
“Okay.”
“Stop acting all high and mighty and just play, will you?”

Han Yeoreum, who had been watching us, said with a sullen expression, tapping the game board.
As I was getting nudged in the side, I drew a lucky card from the corner of the game board with one hand.

“Let’s see, 「After a chance encounter reunites you with your fated person, you realize your true love and end up marrying them. Marry the player with the most assets in the game. / If you have a spouse, you get a divorce. (Ownership of joint assets goes to the divorced spouse.) / If your current spouse is the player with the most money in the game, marry the player with the next highest rank」…?”

I clutched my head, a headache blooming as I read the nonsense written on the card. The player with the next highest rank was none other than Han Yeoreum.

“What! You, you, damn it!”

Han Yeoreum’s scream from across the table echoed in my head.

“I worked so hard to turn this around, and now you’re just going to swoop in and take it? You?”
“No, it’s not like I wanted to do this.”
“Shut up, you thief! You’re a good-for-nothing, do you feel good sucking off other people’s money like a kept man?”

Han Yeoreum shouted, pounding her chest as if genuinely wronged. She looked like she was about to punch someone with that fist.

“Okay, okay. Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t think this is right either. Garyeon, if you’re.”

Okay with it. Just as I was about to say that and turn my head, the game board flew up with a loud noise.
The game pieces and bills on the board danced limply in the air.

“Dammit…”

Yu Garyeon, letting out a curse, stood up abruptly and started stomping on the game board lying in the center of the room.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit…!”

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, I watched her blankly for a moment, then came to my senses and stood up, placing a hand on Yu Garyeon’s shoulder.

“Garyeon, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“…Liar.”

Yu Garyeon’s expression as she glared at me was unusual. Her eyebrows were twisted in an uncontrollable rage, and her lips trembled, as if about to spew something out.

Soon, Yu Garyeon’s small fist struck my shoulder. And once it started moving, it didn’t stop, continuously pounding on my chest and waist.

“Lies, you lied to me again. I thought it was real this time…!”

It wasn’t painful, but it was heartbreaking. Every time Yu Garyeon’s sorrowful tears fell on my feet, I could feel the depth of her despair, and a corner of my heart ached.

It was clear that this wasn’t just drunken behavior.

Of course, alcohol had its influence, but it was just a drop of dew on a calm lake. The resentful curses now tumbling from her were undoubtedly what Yu Garyeon had been harboring all along.

I grabbed Yu Garyeon’s fist, which had started to turn red.

“Garyeon, I’m sorry if I did something that bothered you. First, calm down, and let’s talk…”
“Don’t give me that empty talk!”

Yu Garyeon shook off my hand and started throwing whatever she could get her hands on—the pillow from the bed, a plastic bottle filled with water, and even the game pieces and roulette wheel.

“Hey, hey… What’s with her all of a sudden?”

Han Yeoreum also tried to stop Yu Garyeon, but she was no match for her in her drunken state.

“Yu Garyeon, if you’re going to hit me, hit me with your fists. You’ll get seriously hurt if you keep throwing things and fall.”
“Shut up, you damn bastard!”

As I continued to try to calm Yu Garye-on down, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my forehead.

“Ugh…”

Soon after, a red liquid trickled down my head and dripped onto the floor. I let out a soft groan, overwhelmed by the pain.
It seemed the cardboard game board Yu Garyeon had thrown had hit me squarely on the forehead.

“Huh…?”

Yu Garyeon’s eyes followed the blood on my forehead, her pupils darting around. Her face, which had been flushed with anger just moments before, was turning pale.

“Are you crazy? Not only did you flip the board, but now you’re attacking a perfectly fine person?”

Han Yeoreum’s sharp cry broke the brief silence. She stumbled over from the other side and started pacing anxiously, looking at my forehead.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you see me clearly? Does your head hurt? You don’t feel like throwing up?”
“It just grazed me. It doesn’t hurt that much, I’m fine.”
“What do you mean, fine! Seriously, if you’re drunk, you should just sleep quietly in a corner, why did you have to throw something like that…”

Yu Garyeon flinched at the sharp gaze piercing her.

“I, I didn’t mean to… Th-That person lied to me first, that’s why…”
“What kind of bullsh*t are you talking about? Seriously, you’re unbelievable. Weren’t you satisfied with scratching his arm with your stubbornness yesterday? Now you’re even throwing a tantrum during a game and putting a hole in his head? What if it had hit his eye!?”
“Ah, ugh…”

Yu Garyeon’s whole body started trembling at Han Yeoreum’s words.

“Seriously, what kind of person is so hell-bent on hurting someone? Can’t you be of any help at all?”
“Ugh…”
“Hey, I don’t know if you know this, but a few weeks ago, he was having a really hard time because of you people. He was throwing up alone at dawn, and he couldn’t even eat properly… But he still came. Because he wanted to reconcile with you! I don’t know what happened between you two, but if he reached out first, you could have at least talked to him. Why are you just fuming and getting angry on your own?”

A wave was coming.