Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Frontline (3)
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Since it wasn't the kind of thing to discuss over drinks at a bar, the next day I kept it buried deep in my heart for the time being.
I visited my parents' home after a long while.
'Sorry, Seol-ah. Even so, I'm still an outsider. I don't think I can say anything more.'
Myth had refused to share the really personal details.
It meant there was something about my sister that made even Myth hesitate to tell me.
"Sis."
I pictured my sister in my head.
My relationship with her... well, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, I suppose.
Just your standard sibling dynamic, the kind you'd find in any family. If anything, since I'd heard most brothers and sisters fought constantly, we probably had it pretty good.
'Sis, come play with meee~.'
'Seol-ah, sorry, but could you give me some space?'
'Whyyyyy!'
'...Sorry. Sis has reached her limit.'
If anything, I remembered trying to get closer to her, while she pushed me away.
Looking back, maybe we weren't that close after all. But she never really neglected me either.
It was one heck of an ambiguous sibling bond.
"Seol-ah?"
"You're home?"
As I opened the familiar front door of our house with a smile, there was Mom.
I'd come unannounced for a surprise, not wanting her to leave work early on my account, but it turned out today was one of her days off.
Well, as a freelance designer with flexible hours, it wasn't that surprising.
Mom came running out in her socks to greet me.
"What brings you here without even calling?"
"Oh, just passing by and thought I'd drop in to see you and chat a bit."
"I thought my son had forgotten all about us now that he's shacking up with his girlfriend. Good boy."
Mom ruffled my hair wildly.
I swear I'd come by to say hi every other week or so. Was she a little hurt? I'd have to visit more often from now on.
"Go sit in the living room. I'll bring some drinks and snacks."
"Sure thing."
I hurried to the living room.
The new place was great, of course, but you couldn't really compare five months in an apartment to twenty years in your childhood home.
I flopped down on the sofa.
The supple leather with its perfect bounce cradled my back firmly.
Before long, a glass of orange juice and neatly sliced fruit appeared on the table.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"Aw, just to see you, Mom."
"You're terrible at lying, you know that?"
There was no fooling Mom.
I came clean about why I'd come.
"It's about Sis. What's going on with her?"
"...Yeah, I figured that's what it was. About time you started wondering."
Mom flinched a little at the mention of Sis but soon sat down beside me.
"How much do you know so far?"
"Just that she's out of contact, basically."
"Mm. Myth probably couldn't say much more than that."
Mom nodded as if she understood.
Something Myth couldn't bring herself to tell me, but family could.
One thing was clear: it wasn't anything good.
"To be precise, Seon-ah has cut all ties with us right now."
"...What?"
Disownment.
In the dictionary sense, severing all relations.
The words from Mom's mouth far exceeded my wildest imagination.
"I'll tell you what happened that night."
"Hold on, that night? Sis was in Europe then."
Mom shook her head side to side.
And with that, the story of that day—one I knew nothing about—began.
After her workout, Seon-ah soaked herself in the bathtub.
The warm water enveloped her entire body perfectly, the intense pressure unique to being submerged squeezing her tightly.
Seon-ah looked down at her own body.
A frail, flat frame with barely any curves, her ribs starkly visible.
"...Seol-ah."
Even now, closing her eyes brought that day back vividly.
A cold winter in Korea.
Of course, being in a lower latitude—and Busan, no less—it was nothing compared to Europe's chill, but winter was still winter.
"Finally, the day I get to see Seol!"
Seven years ago, she emerged from Gimpo Airport and hopped happily into a taxi.
The day the family reunited after so long, at a hotel in Seomyeon.
That fresh-faced Seon-ah from back then had been brimming with hope.
...Of course, it drove her crazy not seeing her little brother every day, but what could she do? There was a reason they had to be apart.
"Miss, you look happy. Something good happen?"
"Yeah. Today I finally get to see my little brother after ages."
"You must really love your sibling, huh."
"Haha."
Sigh. If only she could chat this freely in front of Seol too.
For some reason, she just couldn't be this lively around him.
"Aah~ I miss Seol so much."
Even though she'd see him soon, her heart kept pounding like mad.
What should she do first when they met?
Hug him tight? Or try a European-style kiss? Three years ago, she wouldn't have even dared imagine crossing that line.
But after three years apart, surely she'd matured enough to hold herself back a little.
Yet the moment she stood before Seol, she'd freeze up and let her untamed imagination run wild with things she'd never actually do.
Right then, her phone rang.
First call since arriving in Korea. Could it be Seol?
Seon-ah carefully picked up her phone and felt disappointed.
The screen showed just two words: 'Mom'. ...Well, she hadn't told Seol she was coming, so of course he couldn't call.
"Yeah, Mom—"
- Seon-ahhhh!!!
For the first time in her life, she heard Mom scream like a banshee.
Thud.
People have instincts.
The heart-stopping wail from her always calm and gentle mother made her face drain of color and her own heart ache as if it were plummeting.
The driver must have heard it too—she felt him glancing her way.
- Seon-ah, Seol-i, Seol-iiiiii!!!!
That day marked the beginning of every nightmare.
Was it traffic, or just that Gimpo was closer?
Surprisingly, Seon-ah arrived first at the large hospital in Haeundae.
It felt strange.
Today should have been a good day, no doubt about it.
A blessed day filled with the joy of reuniting with her beloved little brother after years apart.
But the stinging disinfectant smell and the all-white surroundings typical of hospitals left only unpleasant sensations.
Midnight at the hospital meant only the emergency room was open, so naturally Seon-ah waited there for her brother.
That's when the siren's blare assaulted her ears.
Beyond the hospital's glass windows, a spectacle of flashing red lights.
It's Seol.
Seon-ah shot up from her seat on instinct.
Even before her, doctors in white coats dashed toward the ambulance.
"Male! Teenager, unconscious!"
"Barely any spontaneous breathing, cardiac arrest!"
"Airway secured, oxygen supply via bag-valve mask!"
"To the OR! Hurry! Nurse Seo! Blood packs?"
"Got them ready."
"Guardian?!"
"On the way. ID confirmed! And there's a sister already at the hospital!"
With a rattling clamor, the doors marked 'Emergency Medical Center' in red swung open as paramedics desperately wheeled in a stretcher.
Even covered with countless cloths, the blood soaking through was unmistakable.
Her brother's blood-soaked face lay there.
Seon-ah's heart plummeted.
Thud.
She'd started running but collapsed straight to the floor.
Seol-ah. She tried to say his name, but her throat was choked, no words came out.
"Legend...! Legeeeend!!!"
And behind them, a girl running at a pace clearly slower than the paramedics.
Even with zero medical knowledge, Seon-ah could tell.
Her brother's wounds were anything but ordinary.
The life fading from his face, the corpse-pale hue.
The grotesque silhouette of twisted limbs peeking from under the cloth, the paramedics' desperate transport, the doctor's shocked expression—they all told the tale of his condition indirectly.
Thankfully, the paramedics and doctor didn't waste a second glancing her way and rushed Legend deep into the hospital.
"Urk."
Nausea climbed up her back.
Her heart felt ready to burst from her chest.
Two years? No, three.
Seeing her bloodied brother after three years was enough to turn her stomach inside out.
The in-flight meals from the over-ten-hour flight from Europe came surging back up to greet her.
A nurse rushing from afar with a black bag in hand—but someone beat her to it, patting Seon-ah's back.
"Ar-are you... okay...?"
The gentle hand patting her back was trembling, and the voice of the mysterious girl addressing her shook too.
Seon-ah's head turned creakily, taking in a youthful teenage girl.
High school age, maybe the same as Seol, or perhaps the same age as Seon-ah herself, a year older than him.
She'd been the one calling Seol's name and following behind earlier. Could she be...
Seol's girlfriend or something?
Urk.
Some indescribable emotion swelled up inside Seon-ah.
The terror of possibly losing Seol mingled with a pitch-black, sticky, utterly dark feeling, creating a dissonant harmony of disgust.
"Who are you?"
Seven years ago, December 24th.
On the worst day of her life, in the emergency room, two girls who loved the same boy locked eyes.