Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Frontline (4)
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Cute kid.
Shoulder-length hair, eyes that somehow tricked you into thinking they were sparkling.
Normally, she'd be the type to think, Maybe I should try getting friendly with her—an innocent-looking girl who was just that adorable.
But why?
Why was this irritation bubbling up so fiercely?
It had to be because that girl had the exact same eyes as her.
"You, who are you?"
In response to her "Are you okay?", the first words out of her mouth were curt.
She could feel the sharpness in her tone, something she wouldn't normally let slip.
It was surely because of the emotion flickering in that girl's eyes—something so disgustingly off-putting.
The girl swallowed her words.
As if she had no idea how to introduce herself.
Only after carefully choosing her words did the girl finally speak.
"I'm... Legend's friend."
An uncertain reply.
Even that rubbed her the wrong way.
Friend?
Friend?
This girl who rode in the ambulance with him in the dead of night was just a friend?
Just as a black, sticky, indescribable emotion surged up her throat, a nurse came running over, drenched in cold sweat.
"Are you the patient's guardian?"
"Yes."
The two voices overlapped.
Jeonseon glared at the girl. What the hell are you, claiming to be a guardian?
Only then did the girl seem to realize her mistake and step back.
"Ah, sorry. I rode in the ambulance as a guardian—"
"Guardian, please sign the consent forms."
Perhaps due to the urgency, the nurse cut her off and handed the papers to Jeonseon.
"Can the guardian fill this out?"
A consent form for death during surgery.
Ugh. Something was rising in her gut.
Desperately forcing the bitter stomach acid back down her throat, Jeonseon picked up the pen.
She could die during surgery.
Agreeing to that brought a devastation beyond words.
Her eyes didn't even follow the text.
She just searched for the blank white space to sign.
Her hand trembled wildly. Still, for her little sister's sake, it raced across the paper without hesitation.
"All confirmed. Honestly, they've probably already started the surgery. In an emergency like this, they can operate without consent."
Good.
They've already started.
Jeonseon, who had been biting her lip to avoid bothering the nurse, finally asked,
"...What's the success rate?"
She felt the mysterious girl behind her perking up her ears and drawing closer.
Girls who cared for someone's well-being gathered before the nurse, pleading for hope.
Please, say it's high. Say it's no big deal.
No matter how she thought about it, that wound wasn't minor—but still, the girls desperately wished for a miracle.
"It's the little sister I haven't seen in three years. Please..."
Without realizing it, Jeonseon grabbed the nurse's collar.
Like clinging to something—anything—because there was nowhere else to hold on.
Like it was the last lifeline before plummeting into that deep abyss, she gripped it tightly.
I'm an idiot who knows nothing about medicine, so tell me that wound's nothing serious, that the paramedics and doctors rushing like that is just how it always is.
The nurse hesitated for a moment.
As if unsure how to respond, she sifted through answers in her head before settling on one.
"The doctor will do their best. Let me guide you to the central operating room."
Ah, really.
The worst possible answer.
Knowing it was the best she could offer was enough to drain the hope and color from both girls' faces.
"Pha."
The bathhouse. The water had clearly been hot, yet a woman's face emerged from beneath the surface.
"Hah. Hah..."
Ragged breaths sucked in air, expelling the water that had nearly filled her lungs.
This was why she hated baths.
Her body, starved almost to the point of malnutrition, all skin and bones without a trace of muscle, didn't allow her much time in warm water.
She sighed at her scalding-hot skin, red as if boiled.
...Sorry for the topic we just discussed, but she'd need to ask for burn ointment. A lot of it.
She mocked herself, the wreck she'd become after losing her little sister.
Should've confessed her true feelings while she had the chance.
Repeating her idiotic, clumsy delusions in her head, knowing they were impossible, she sank back into despair on her own.
At this point, far too late, they were nothing but meaningless fantasies.
'Come to think of it, what happened after that?'
Heading to her room, she recalled what came next.
Right, that day they followed the nurse to the brightly lit operating room.
She came to her senses in front of the central operating theater.
A place where people held their breath, praying for a miracle.
The two girls sat facing each other.
Even breathing felt hard. Her head spun, tears kept flowing.
Sitting in a spot she'd only seen in dramas or movies, sobbing—it was a truly horrific experience.
One so utterly wretched she'd never want to go through again.
'Seol-a.'
Jeonseon clasped her hands together.
Praying with all her heart. Please come back safe.
Her eyes burned from the endless tears.
"...To the door."
At the murmur, Jeonseon looked up, wiping her tears.
There sat a girl with dead eyes, half out of her mind, sniffling.
The girl who called herself Legend's friend—they hadn't even properly introduced themselves amid the chaos.
Couldn't make out her mutterings clearly, but seeing her like that made Jeonseon's anger flare for no reason.
'Shouldn't have stepped away.'
From Europe to Korea.
The ridiculous news hit before the fatigue from the long flight had even faded.
The emotional drop felt like plummeting from heaven to hell.
Her head throbbed, her brain melting.
Through her fracturing sanity, the sticky, filthy, dark emotions that had filled her chest since earlier threatened to spill out.
'Friend my ass. Coming out fully armored like that.'
Subtle makeup, but not the kind a girl her age would wear.
Spread so precariously over her whole face—like makeup meant to seduce men.
And that outfit—what the hell?
Unlike Jeonseon, bundled up against the cold, a skirt baring her legs in midwinter.
Her intentions were so obvious it made her skin crawl.
'No. Don't think like that now. Pray.'
Still, Jeonseon quietly endured, waiting for her parents to arrive.
Because your safe return mattered more than this ugly jealousy born from forbidden thoughts.
Hands clasped, forehead pressed to them.
Waiting solely for you to call me big sis again.
It was late at night, traffic shouldn't be bad—why were they taking so long?
"...Because of."
The girl kept muttering.
Because of what?
"I'm sorry."
When their eyes met, the girl apologized to her.
What was she sorry for? Honestly, she just wanted her to shut up.
"Because of me... I'm really sorry."
"Because of you?"
The girl was crying. Anyone else might've pitied her, asked what happened, patted her back saying it wasn't her fault.
The girl began her story.
The story of Legend and her.
She didn't know why Myth—who introduced herself by that name—suddenly spilled it all.
Maybe to unburden her heart, or thinking family had a right to know.
The tale invaded her mind.
The sweet, innocent stories they'd shared while she'd fled to Korea to hide her feelings.
───Ahh. Yeah, nice. A really beautiful story. Perfect as the intro to a rom-com.
Normal Jeonseon might've reacted like that.
Or maybe not.
What was certain was she wouldn't have reacted that way.
"You?"
The nurse said the trash who did this to Seol-i was dead.
Her aimless rage had been building inside, ready to burst—and here you were, right in front of her.
You, blaming yourself for it all.
Ahh. Really───
───Why'd you do that?
Her aimless rage had found its target.
"You were fighting? Sis and Myth...?"
"They didn't give details, but we're not blind. We could guess why."
Mother wore a bitter expression.
"Why'd you fight...? No, who started it?"
Of course, I had no idea why they'd fought.
Myth wasn't at fault, neither was Sis. The drunk driver was the culprit— what reason could they have to fight in that short time?
Objectively, Sis and I weren't even that close.
I couldn't imagine Sis picking a fight without reason just because I collapsed, or Myth starting one.
Mother turned to look at me.
Staring silently for a while, she chuckled and pinched my cheek, stretching it out.
"You don't need to know. That's just how a woman's heart works."
A woman's heart?
Not family's? It was baffling, but I nodded along.
Mother's words always had reason. Especially with tears still lingering at her eyes—I couldn't keep prying like an interrogator.
But this, I had to ask.
"...So what happened with the disownment?"
Mother's sigh filled the spacious living room.
She rubbed her eyes repeatedly, her face etched with deep regret and remorse.
It oozed out, thick and cloying.
At this unfamiliar expression, I swallowed cautiously.
"It was our mistake."
Mother looked up at the ceiling.
"My fault. Not yours."
As she started to speak, the door opened and Father came in.
Home from work?
Outside, the sun had set, the Seoul sky pitch black with only the moon shining proudly.
Time flies when you're talking.
"I'll take it from here."
Father sat beside me, still in his tie.
For some reason, his fist clenched so tight his veins stood out.