Just a Used Car?
After finishing a simple drive with Jeong Sua and dropping her off at home, I felt pretty good on the way back.
"Whoa, is this really hyung's car?"
"Yeah."
But the moment I saw Kang Suho making a fuss over the car I'd bought, my mood soured. Nothing's more disgusting than watching some guy get all excited like that.
"Pretty cool, right?"
"Yeah. Hyung, can you take me for a drive sometime?"
Like hell I'd drive this idiot around in the middle of the night. It's more than enough to let Suho watch from outside while I fuck the heroines in the car.
"I'm tired. Maybe next time."
I brushed him off with the usual Korean-style non-promise.
"Really? You promised."
But this dense bastard actually seemed to believe I'd take him out.
"Forget it. You should buy a car too."
"How am I supposed to buy a car… I'm only twenty…"
Yeah, someone like you would never manage it. Still living off your parents' allowance and talking about cars?
I'd saved up a decent amount. Ever since I was a kid, I'd been going to the same gym, and eventually started working there part-time as a trainer. The owner didn't usually hire trainers easily, but he'd taken a liking to me after watching how consistently I'd trained since elementary school. He paid me above minimum wage too. The place had been around forever, and since the owner was genuinely passionate about fitness, he kept upgrading the equipment and remodeling, so there were plenty of regulars. On top of that, there were always plenty of pretty female members, which naturally brought in more guys. Thanks to that, between my salary and the extra from personal training sessions, I was making enough to consider it a lifelong job.
"Then go get a part-time job."
"Ehh~ I don't wanna."
Suho whined and flatly refused. God, that voice was annoying as hell.
"Then don't. It's your life."
In romance-comedy stories, the protagonist usually starts out as a complete wreck because of past trauma, then gradually matures through meeting girls and overcoming his issues. But this guy was different. The incident where he got beaten up by middle schoolers and turned passive—I'd stopped it myself, just to test whether I could interfere with the events written in his setting. After that, nothing else happened that would've made him more withdrawn. Because the so-called protagonist had grown up without any real hardship, he'd turned into this pathetic, unappealing guy.
I thought there'd be more incidents, but nothing's happening. And he's still the protagonist?
A sheltered brat who's never suffered a single setback—how the hell is he supposed to be the protagonist? The protagonist role suits me much better. There's only one thing I want. To replace the protagonist of this world with myself. To get revenge on whatever nameless author gave me the role of some extra delinquent. For that to happen, Suho—who's been showered with the author's affection—has to fall endlessly and taste despair.
"Hyung, is this car used?"
"Yeah."
"Pfft. What, you bought a used one because you don't have money either, and now you're telling me to get a job?"
Suho laughed like he was getting back at me for what I'd said earlier. Was this kid actually insane? Did he have a death wish? Did he think a used car meant some piece of junk from a street scrap market? Even though it was used, it was a recent model—basically brand new—and I'd paid a lot for it.
Haa… calm down. Think about Sua.
Think about how, every holiday when the family gathers, Suho will sit there depressed watching Sua beside me. Sua will spear an apple with her fork and feed it to her husband. And that husband won't be him— it'll be me. And when he sees the bunny-like kids Sua and I have together, he'll realize it. That the childhood friend he had a one-sided crush on is having sex with his own older brother. If I can picture Suho getting depressed every time he sees us, then this level of mockery is easy to endure.
"I'll buy a new one when I have more money saved up. Gotta start putting aside money for marriage anyway."
"M-marriage? Hyung, you're planning to get married?"
"Of course. Why, is that weird?"
"No… I just thought you'd never get married. I mean, your relationships with women are kinda…"
Was he trying to say "promiscuous"? I'd heard that word so many times it didn't even register anymore.
"Promiscuous? You think I'd cheat too?"
"…Yeah…"
"Can't really deny it."
I admitted it casually. After all, he was the one who'd personally witnessed my wild sex life. Because our parents were often away from home, I'd brought home different girls all the time—except on days when Sua was coming over, of course. Sua only knew I was promiscuous from what Suho had told her; she didn't know the details. And the things were all too vulgar to say out loud, so even if they were close, Suho wouldn't have told a girl like Sua.
Damn, those memories from when I was a kid… Was it when I was in sixth grade? That noona five years older than me was really something.
"But cheating isn't necessarily a bad thing, you know."
"Isn't it obviously bad?"
"As long as you make the other woman want to keep seeing you even if you're cheating, that's what makes you a real man."
"Is that so… I don't really get it. I want to love only one woman for the rest of my life. Probably most people feel that way, not just you."
So that's why you keep hesitating and can't easily accept the feelings of the heroines who like you. Maybe that's the proper, correct thing to do. But one of those heroines, Jeong Sua, has become mine now. So who's right—you or me? To me, Suho just looks like an idiot who had the girl he liked stolen away.
"That's just the excuse of losers who can only handle one woman. Not me."
"Sometimes I can't tell if you're smart or just ignorant."
Smack—!
This guy just keeps pushing when I leave him alone. I smacked Suho on the head for running his mouth without any fear. Felt a bit better.
"You really say whatever you want to your hyung."
"Ugh… I don't get why my friends like someone who hits people so easily…"
"What, you have someone who likes you? Who? A girl?"
"Yeah. Just some female friends… Why?"
Well, with that face, of course he'd have plenty of female friends. Plus the title of the vice president's little brother— he'd be pretty popular among the first-years.
"If they're pretty, introduce me sometime."
Not that I was going to eat them myself—I'd hand them over to Kim Gicheol. He'd helped me get a good deal on the used car, after all.
"Absolutely not. I don't want to lose my friends."
Suho shot me a disgusted look. Right—in his eyes, I must've looked like trash, already rejected by Sua and still asking for introductions to other girls even though I supposedly liked someone. Lucky for me, I'm an even bigger piece of trash than he thinks.
"Tsk, suit yourself. More importantly, you don't have any girls you're interested in lately?"
"……"
There he goes again with that disrespectful stare. I ought to gouge his eyes out.
"No. I'm still one-sidedly crushing on Sua…"
"Then you don't have any girls you meet often these days either?"
"There's no one I meet as often as Sua… At school I just get along with everyone…"
"Really nothing? Think carefully."
One thing I'd realized while living in this world: the protagonist and the heroines are always connected somehow. If there's a girl Suho is close with? She's most likely a heroine.
"Hmm, not really… But… why do you care?"
Suho was looking at me suspiciously. Anyway, I could never grow to like this guy. If he'd just tell me, I wouldn't have to make him come up with annoying excuses.
"I'm curious what kind of girls my little brother is getting close to. You're thinking about dating, right?"
"O-of course! I'm definitely going to date someone!"
The moment the topic of dating came up, he got strangely fired up. At least he wasn't completely uninterested in girls.
"Then stop hanging out with that kid every day after school and get close to other girls too. You need to gain experience now so you can treat someone you really like well later."
"Thanks for the advice, hyung. But I still don't think I like anyone besides Sua."
"Got it. If you need dating advice, just tell me."
Of course, if she's a heroine, I'll take her. If she's an extra, I'll definitely give her to you, so don't worry. Since there didn't seem to be any other heroines around Suho lately, I was about to wrap up the conversation and head to my room.
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"There's something I want to ask… Is that okay?"
"What is it?"
"Are you the leader of Ijin-hoe?"
"No. Ijin-hoe has nothing to do with me."
"Liar. I heard everything from the seniors. They said you led the charge in dismantling Ilbi-hoe, and Ijin-hoe was formed after that."
So the rumors had already reached the first-years. Well, it was inevitable that my own little brother would hear them. It wasn't something I needed to hide anyway, so getting caught didn't matter. Still, it was a bit unfair. I'd never once called it Ijin-hoe myself. After Ilbi-hoe was dismantled, my friends suddenly started talking about forming a new delinquent group, and I'd told them to do whatever they wanted—I'd already washed my hands of it. But the fact that I'd dismantled Ilbi-hoe, that Ijin-hoe was formed afterward, and that they'd used my name "Ijin" for the group name—those three things combined kept fueling the rumor that I was the leader.
"It's half true that I dismantled Ilbi-hoe. A friend asked for help, so I helped. But Ijin-hoe has nothing to do with me."
"Fine, fine. I'll pretend I don't know."
The way he agreed so unpleasantly made me lose it. If he kept this up, I really wouldn't be able to hold back. The more he acted like this, the more brutally Sua would suffer, didn't he know that? Should I make her wear a butt plug all day? Since she tended to think I was an expert when it came to relationships, if I gently persuaded her that "this is normal for couples," she'd probably do it.
"Does that kid know about the rumor too?"
"Yeah. Since she always hangs out with me, if I know something, Sua probably knows it too."
The way he said it like he was bragging was irritating.
"How did she react?"
"She just said 'That's just like Oppa' and that was it?"
What, that's all? Nothing else? Like, didn't she laugh a little, or say it was impressive or something… You know, stuff like that. I wanted to dig deeper, but if I did, Suho would start suspecting something between us, so I didn't ask any more. I'd just ask Sua directly later.
"Hey, wake up early tomorrow. If you're late, I'm leaving without you."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'll give you a ride. The kid's coming to our house too so we can all go together in my car."
"Whoa, really? So we're always going to school in our car from now on?"
Seeing how excited he got, I kind of regretted bringing it up. This was only temporary anyway. Once he found out about my relationship with Sua, I'd ditch this parasite and go to school alone with her.
Just endure it until then.
The less he suspected us, the more thrilling it would be.