Trip to the U.S. (1)
Trip to the U.S. (1)
She licks even the saliva left on her lips with her tongue, as if it were sweet.
The words, "Thanks for the meal," rose all the way to my throat, but I barely held them back.
I want to keep being intoxicated by this lingering feeling.
But I have things to do.
A-yeon looked down at Su-a, who had collapsed to the floor.
That broken face.
A very chilling feeling crawled all over A-yeon's body.
"Su-a-ya, do you know this?"
"...."
"Right now, I feel so good."
A-yeon's eyes, which had regained their vitality.
"No matter what you actually did, I think I can forgive you for now. No, I will forgive you. Su-a-ya, let's be friends again."
On the other hand, Su-a's eyes were as dark as a rotten pollack.
"But nothing more than that. I can never do things like this with you. It's physiologically impossible. Just imagining it is terrifying."
"...."
"So, by my side, keep watching me and my Oppa cuddling. Please attend our wedding. And when we have a kid, look after them sometimes."
A-yeon gripped Su-a's shoulder.
"You can do that, right?"
Su-a shook her head violently.
To watch the woman she loves most in her life rolling around with another man for the rest of her life.
"I don't want to...."
"Hm?"
"Su, just sue me instead. I'll just go to prison. Okay?"
There's no way she could do such a thing.
"Then you should have left when I told you to."
"A-yeon-ah, please."
"You were the one who didn't want to leave. You said you wanted to be by my side. But now you're saying you don't want to see me and Oppa loving each other? Where does that kind of logic come from?"
"...Don't do this."
She gripped Su-a's shoulder even harder.
"When I said I was having a hard time, did you ever stop halfway?"
"...No, no...."
"You didn't, right?"
"...I didn't."
A grip so strong it made her wince.
"But I'm saying I'll endure and watch all of your pathetic behavior. So, is it okay for you to say 'I don't want to' or not?"
"N, no, it's not."
"Right? It's not, is it? You'll keep watching by my side, even the sight of the woman you like fucking the man she hates, for the rest of your life, right?"
"I have to watch...."
"That's what you have to do, right? Right? Am I right?"
"Ah...."
"You agree too, right? That makes sense, doesn't it? You have to atone slowly like that, right? Hm?"
A-yeon grabbed and shook the shoulders of Su-a, whose mental state was already shattered.
They say friends grow to resemble each other.
Having been subjected to Gaslighting for three years, A-yeon had learned how to Gaslight better than anyone else.
"Answer me."
"...Yes."
"Good."
A-yeon stroked Su-a's hand.
Then, she positioned her hand for a handshake.
"Then let's make up now. Tell me you're sorry."
"So, sorry...."
"Is that an apology? There's no sincerity in it. You have to explain what you're sorry for with your mouth while you apologize, don't you?"
"I'm sorry for intentionally making you an outcast at school... for making up weird rumors and isolating you...."
"Not those trivial things."
She stared straight into Su-a's eyes.
Until she realized it.
"You have something you really did wrong, don't you?"
"...Uh, I'm sorry for making Jin-ho-sunbae try to scare you, too. And I'm sorry for touching your body repeatedly."
"Are you not focusing?"
"Uh, uh...."
Su-a answered with a trembling voice.
"I'm sorry for... for insulting your Oppa...."
"That's right."
"To Oppa, too."
"I am sorry...."
A-yeon raised her hand and stroked her hair, just like her Oppa had done for her.
*
After a truly long time, the police finally arrived.
Only after I and A-yeon finished giving all our statements to the police were we able to return home.
That guy named Kim Jin-ho will likely serve a prison sentence.
No, I'll make sure he serves it.
Even though I handed that guy 500 million, that measly pocket change won't be able to stop my Infinity Ssal-money.
Even if I have to stuff 100 million into the pockets of the judge, lawyer, prosecutor, witnesses, and jury, I will make him serve the maximum sentence.
Besides.
'It'll be easier since I have all the evidence.'
There was an endless amount of evidence of his crimes that Kim Su-a had collected.
He was a much more vicious bastard than I thought.
Of course, I wanted to send Kim Su-a herself to prison for eating prison food more than him, but.
"...Are you really okay with this? Not sending that woman to prison?"
"It's fine. Being by my side will be much more like hell for her."
A-yeon didn't want it.
Even from my perspective, that is a way for her to suffer more.
If I think about it from my position, Yoon-seo leaving me for another man....
'Wow, fuck.'
I can't even finish that thought.
I really took heavy internal damage.
To think I'd have to keep watching that from Yoon-seo's side.
And even have Yoon-seo despise me and not even treat me like a person.
I'd rather send her to prison for three more years.
Of course, that's not something I should be saying, as I'm the one walking a hellish tightrope between Ha-rin-nuna and Yoon-seo.
But that revenge only holds up if A-yeon eventually likes me romantically.
"But A-yeon-ah."
"Yes?"
"That thing earlier... what you did."
It's a topic I wouldn't want to bring up if I had my way.
But there are things you can let slide, and things you can't.
A 10-minute deep kiss between siblings.
It was definitely not a topic I could just let slide.
I asked.
"Do you happen to like me?"
Even I could tell.
Looking at A-yeon's eyes, which say it's so sweet she can't stand it, I can see what kind of feelings she has for me.
"H, huh?"
"Not as siblings, but romantically...."
Honestly, it's a feeling that's hard for me to accept.
To suddenly see my younger sister, whom I've raised with such care on my lap since elementary school, as a woman.
But perhaps because we've been apart for so long, or maybe because of the kiss earlier.
I kept being conscious of A-yeon's lips.
"...."
A-yeon couldn't answer and fidgeted.
Then she finally opened her mouth.
"...It's just to mess with Kim Su-a. How could I dare to like Oppa?"
"Is that so?"
"Someone like me...."
Then, getting pregnant and having a kid and all that, was that just out of a desire for revenge too?
"...Hmm."
A-yeon is really bad at acting.
To be precise, maybe I'm the only one who thinks so.
To other people's eyes, she might look like an honor student living without a single worry.
But I could read countless emotions even in her expressionless face.
'No matter how I look at it, that's not it.'
At a glance, it's an answer denying her own heart.
To have seduced Yoon-seo and Ha-rin-nuna, and now even my sister is falling into my grasp.
'This damn popularity.'
It was truly a goddamn popularity.
'Sigh.'
For now, I said what I needed to say.
"What's wrong with you? Don't use phrases like 'someone like me' anymore."
"...Oppa."
I stroked A-yeon's hair.
She's still a sister with shattered self-esteem.
The priority is to let her taste the flavor of money and slowly help her recover.
"I had a lot I wanted to say today, but it's gotten too late."
I entered my number into A-yeon's phone.
"Are you free tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Then shall we have dinner together? I'll buy you something delicious."
"...Your situation must be tough, wouldn't I just be a burden to you, Oppa?"
Did she not see what I used to beat that guy up earlier?
I even intentionally chose to wear only expensive clothes.
"It's fine, Oppa has lots of money."
I showed my phone's account balance to A-yeon.
"...?"
A-yeon, who counted the zeros, was startled.
"...What is this?"
"I got a bit lucky and made a lot of money. That's why I came to find you. Originally, I couldn't because there was no benefit in you living with me."
I said, scratching my cheek slightly.
"But now I think it'll be okay."
I imagined a house where Yoon-seo, Ha-rin-nuna, and A-yeon were all gathered.
From my perspective, I'd be happy for now.
But wouldn't a catastrophe be waiting regardless?
The thought that all three of them might end up hurt keeps dominating my brain.
"If it's okay with you, wouldn't you like to live together again?"
Even so, I said it.
"I'm not forcing you. If you're getting along well with your foster parents, you can keep living there."
Making A-yeon happy is the purpose of my life.
That thought hasn't changed, even now, six years later.
A-yeon, who was staring blankly at my face, chewed over what she had just heard and was startled.
"Huh?"
Seeing that she can't answer, it seems her new foster parents really are good people.
I said in a slightly regretful tone.
"If you don't want to, then...."
"N, no! I don't dislike it! I like it!"
"Really?"
"Yes! I'll talk to my parents well, Oppa!"
*
Things with A-yeon ended well, too.
Actually, if you look at it closely, it didn't end well, but it ended somehow.
On the way home after dropping A-yeon off.
I kept touching my lips and mocked myself.
Was it right to just live separately?
Was I too greedy?
"...Ah, did I really say that for no reason?"
There was a reason why I refused to live with Yoon-seo last year.
Because if a man and a woman live together, the probability of an accident happening becomes incredibly high.
What if I live with A-yeon and an accident happens out of the blue?
And if that wasn't enough, if I have accidents with Yoon-seo and Ha-rin-nuna, and three kids end up appearing, fuck.
Even a soap opera couldn't compete with that.
Still, I have the great advantages of wealth and time.
I am the ultimate time Bill Gates, and a wealth Bill Gates.
I was confident that I would love my children more than anyone else and not raise them like I was raised.
Well, is it a comedy that a guy who hasn't even dated yet is worrying about children out of the blue?
A-yeon doesn't know about my crazy situation yet, either.
And Yoon-seo might decide to cut ties with me after seeing my state.
Right, Yoon-seo.
"It's soon, isn't it?"
It hasn't even been a month since we've been apart, but I already miss her.
I can meet her soon.
I didn't know, but to go on a trip, you need not only a passport but also a visa.
Actually, if the purpose was a short-term trip, I only needed to get an ESTA (Visa Waiver Program).
But because I have a criminal record, I needed a separate visa application through the embassy.
That's why I couldn't go to the U.S. right away.
The screening took a long time, but I should be able to check it when I get home today.
The moment I finally reached the front door of our comfortable home.
"...?"
I could see a middle-aged man and a woman in a suit waiting in front of the house.
Not to mention Ha-rin-nuna, who was looking nervous through the window.
