Humans Live on Love // Part 1 Complete
Three months had passed since the day Yujin cried so bitterly. Had those tears washed away the cruelty she once carried inside her? Whenever I met her now, I no longer felt any fear, anxiety, or worry. Her neurosis had improved rapidly.
These days, she spent far more time at our house than at her own. I never imagined someone who had lived her entire life without lacking anything could adapt to our modest home, yet she had settled in more easily than expected. Thanks to her, we no longer had financial problems. In fact, we now encountered more luxurious things than before. Still, she was experiencing the ordinary life of a normal family for the first time.
We ordered delivery from the neighborhood restaurants, ate the meals my mother cooked, lay together on the living room sofa watching the dramas my mother loved and the old variety shows I enjoyed, cleaned the house, listened to music, played games… Yujin had melted into the daily rhythm of my life with Mom. The house that held only the two of us seemed to appeal to her more than anything else, even though she appeared to have everything.
Mom had been going out to meet her sisters more often lately. She claimed it was because they kept complaining about being bored, but I knew she was deliberately leaving the house empty for Yujin and me. Whenever she headed out at night, Yujin and I would scratch our heads awkwardly while seeing her off. And of course, once she was gone, we made love intensely.
After pressing our bodies together until we were both utterly exhausted, we would wash up roughly and fall asleep in each other’s arms on the bed that felt a little too narrow for two. I would drift off feeling her breath and scent against me.
I still had dreams sometimes. Dreams of my older sister. Dreams of Jimin. Dreams of Yujin screaming at me. Dreams of a young boy crouching beside a little girl from my childhood. Whenever I woke from those dreams, my face was always wet with tears.
When I woke, Yujin would wake too. She would wipe the tears from my face and pull my panting body into her arms. Nestled against her soft breasts, I would gradually calm down.
Last night, I had another dream. But this time, no tears came. It wasn’t one of the nightmares that tormented me. Yes… after so long, it was a new dream.
Two birds were flying. But when I approached the ones that had landed nearby and looked closer, there wasn’t a single unharmed spot on their bodies. One had a broken wing, and the other…
…I couldn’t remember. The details of the dream were growing hazy. For a moment, I thought maybe I should start recording my dreams like other people do, but it already felt too late. The images in my head were scattering one by one, leaving behind only the emotions I had felt while dreaming.
…Pity.
Knock knock knock.
“Jihyun, hurry up and come out. I need to wash too…”
Yujin—no, Yujin was urging me. I must have wasted too much time in front of the mirror.
“Yeah, I’ll be right out. Sorry.”
I quickly turned on the shower.
In the apartment parking lot, Suhyeong stepped out of the waiting car.
“It’s been a while.”
“Young Master. Miss…”
He bowed politely to both of us and opened the door.
“Please come with me. The Chairman is waiting.”
“It’s because Jihyun took forever in the shower.”
“He said he’s sorry! Let’s go already~”
“Right, the two of you barely come to see me these days… Your father’s heart is truly aching… I told you to visit often!”
Father was already quite drunk on whiskey, sniffling as the smell of alcohol poured from him.
“Aigoo, they say once you marry off a daughter she becomes a stranger… but these two haven’t even had the wedding yet and they’re already like this…. Sigh…”
“Dad, I’m sorry. We had something come up last week.”
“What do you mean something! You two were probably just on a date drinking! I waited because you said you were coming, but I bet you two just got a motel room and slept there!”
Father pouted and poured out all his complaints. We simply comforted him.
“Father, we’re sorry. To make up for it, we brought you a gift.”
“What is it?”
Father crossed his arms with an exaggerated sulk, answering grumpily, but his eyes secretly scanned us, clearly anticipating the present.
“You really brought a gift? Where is it?”
Yujin pulled an envelope from her inner pocket.
“An envelope?”
“Yujin wrote a handwritten letter.”
“A handwritten letter?? You?”
“Yeah, open it.”
Father hurriedly tore open the envelope with a surprised expression. He pulled out the small piece of paper inside and stared at it intently with both hands.
“To my beloved Fa—”
“Ah, don’t read it out loud!! Just read it to yourself!”
Yujin shouted urgently, stopping him.
“Aigoo, she says she loves me… Well, well…”
Father’s eyes glistened with tears.
“This is the first time I’ve seen her use honorifics with me. My goodness… The whole letter is written in honorifics. Dad! I’m sorry I couldn’t visit last week. With Jihyun—”
“Ah, I said don’t read it! I can hear everything!”
Yujin rushed over and tried to snatch the letter away.
“Then just give it to me!”
“Okay, okay! I won’t read it!”
Their cute little quarrel made me smile. Worried they might knock over the table, I quickly lifted my coffee cup and took a sip while watching their fierce back-and-forth.
“Having fun, are we?”
Mother’s voice, colder than usual, shattered the warm atmosphere. At her appearance, Yujin let go of the letter and returned to sit beside me.
“Mother…”
Mother sat down in the chair across from Yujin. Yujin avoided her gaze and took my hand.
“Throwing away your company work to go around fucking and giggling like idiots. What a lovely sight.”
Mother snatched the letter from Father’s hand and scanned it with her eyes.
“...Fucking hell… what kind of disgusting…”
Rip. Rip.
The torn letter fluttered down onto the table in pieces. Mother poured her glass full of whiskey.
“Are you two having a wonderful time playing house? Hm? You think that will change this bastard’s personality? Stop this creepy nonsense and come to your senses already.”
She glared at me while holding the full glass.
“...Mother, that letter was written to Father. I don’t think you should be the one tearing it up.”
Splash.
The whiskey flew straight at me and Yujin.
“I’ve been too lenient and now you’re acting like spoiled brats. Get out.”
The richly flavored liquid completely soaked my face and clothes. I wiped the whiskey from my face with my sleeve and looked at Yujin.
“Are you okay?”
“...Yeah.”
I used my sleeve to gently wipe the whiskey dripping down her hair.
“If you pull that shit one more time, I’ll smash your skull with the whiskey bottle, so watch your mouth. Fucking… pathetic bastard…”
Mother’s face twisted with unfiltered rage and disgust as she warned me.
“If you insult Jihyun one more time, I’ll really rip your mouth apart, so you watch your own mouth.”
Yujin shot back at her. It was the first time in a while I had heard her speak so roughly.
“Dad, let’s just meet outside from now on.”
Father looked momentarily stunned by Yujin’s words, then nodded carefully. Yujin grabbed my hand and pulled me up, heading for the door. I bowed to Father and followed her.
“You unfilial bitch. Look at the way you speak to the mother who gave birth to you.”
Mother’s icy voice stabbed into the back of Yujin’s head. Yujin stopped for a moment at those words.
“Shut the fuck up. I’ve never once thought of a bitch like you as my mother.”
With that, Yujin walked out of the room. I glanced at Mother briefly before following her.
Suhyeong had prepared a change of clothes for us. We wiped the whiskey off our bodies with towels and changed into the fresh clothes.
“...Jihyun.”
Yujin spoke as she changed.
“I wish I had been born into your family instead.”
I answered while changing as well.
“Even so, if that had happened, we wouldn’t have been able to date. How could we if we were siblings?”
Yujin let out a small laugh.
“That’s true. When you put it that way, I guess this is better.”
“Thank you.”
After receiving my thanks, Suhyeong got back into the car. Yujin and I stood in front of the apartment entrance, watching his car drive away.
“Shall we head up now?”
“Yeah!”
After causing such a big scene, the walk back home felt heavy with many thoughts. Of course, the main one was, What if Mother tries to harm us somehow…
Yujin must have sensed my worry. She took my hand and swung our arms back and forth.
“Don’t worry! I can at least protect my boyfriend!”
Her words brought a smile to my face. Feeling the gentle swing of our arms, I walked home with her.
“Is there anything in the mailbox?”
“Yeah, I’ll check.”
While Yujin held the elevator, I gathered the notices stuffed in the mailbox. One from the bank, the electricity bill, and…
…?
There was something else inside the mailbox. I opened the compartment and pulled it out.
The familiar texture in my hand. I took it out and checked what it was.
Ding!
“What are you doing? The elevator’s here.”
“...It’s nothing.”
I shoved the blue bottle of Listerine deep into my pocket.