Dohyun's Wish (1)
Dohyun's Wish (1)
Honestly, Dohyun hadn't expected them to fight to this extent.
At most, he thought they would just be annoyed with each other but end it with a smile.
Beyond Dohyun's imagination, the possessiveness of Yoon-seo and Ha-rin was immense.
"...Excuse me?"
Yoon-seo was flustered.
Where in the world did a woman like this suddenly appear from?
In her long life, she had never met a rival in terms of appearance.
But a woman superior to her in every aspect had appeared.
Personality, health.
From family background to wealth.
From her track record as Dohyun's benefactor in the past.
...Even her appearance.
While their faces might be on par, there was a clear difference in their bodies and style.
Unlike her own disheveled self, she was someone who clearly grew up pampered and precious.
There was only one reason Yoon-seo could act so confident.
She had thought that among all the women who would flock to Dohyun, she was undoubtedly the prettiest.
But Ha-rin was surpassing Yoon-seo in every single way.
She was no match for her in anything.
Yoon-seo's gaze was fixed on Ha-rin's violent chest.
Perhaps the desperation—the thought of being abandoned by Dohyun, which she didn't even want to imagine—led her to go overboard.
"...Leftovers?"
"Yes, leftovers."
Yoon-seo curled her left hand into a circle.
Then, she held up only the index finger of her right hand.
The index finger thrust into the round left hand without hesitation.
Even a passing dog would know what kind of act that gesture implied.
"I finished everything a lo~ng time ago. Must be nice to be late to the party?"
This was her weapon.
The only point where Yoon-seo was ahead was the time spent with Dohyun.
And their progress.
Two and a half years was more than enough to scratch at Ha-rin.
'...She finished everything?'
Ha-rin had been acting confident and smug, but in reality, she hadn't even gone all the way.
At most, they had kissed for four hours and that was it.
But the person in front of her was the very one who had already finished the act she wanted to do.
Ha-rin hurriedly looked back at Dohyun.
And spoke with her eyes.
'...You said you weren't dating yet!?'
They weren't dating yet... but they had done it.
After all, there is a term for having sex before dating.
"Why, your reaction is a bit strange?"
"...Excuse me?"
"No, don't tell me you're acting all cocky just because you kissed intensely in bed, or maybe bit and licked a little? If that's really it, I think I'd find it hilarious."
The quick-witted Yoon-seo figured out Ha-rin's progress.
This was her chance.
"That's not it, right?"
"...."
Unable to refute, Ha-rin glared at Yoon-seo with a look that showed she had been properly scratched.
Yoon-seo didn't back down and glared right back at her.
The argument continued.
'Dohyun-i' was never absent from any of their voices.
"...Hey, you two, calm down now."
"Stay still for a moment."
"You, just step aside for a bit."
Now, mediation didn't even work.
Well, it was something he had expected from the moment he decided to do this.
'It's more brutal than I thought.'
He felt like he finally understood why polygamy was banned in South Korea.
Dohyun felt that he was a blessed person.
They were summoning the courage to fight just to claim him, a mere man.
It was a conflict brought about by his own selfishness.
But if he backed down here, the weight of being the head of the household wouldn't stand.
"...Yoon-seo-ssi, Noona."
Dohyun said in a slightly sorrowful voice.
"I don't want the two of you to fight."
A voice filled with sincerity.
That sweet, melodic tone captured the ears of Ha-rin and Yoon-seo.
"...!"
"...!?"
The very image of the man they loved and wanted to protect.
He was handsome.
His puppy-like eyes, looking as if he had been hurt, melted the hearts of Yoon-seo and Ha-rin.
"...Huh?"
"That is...."
The two of them lost their words at the same time.
They thought Dohyun was scared because of them.
Though the reality was slightly different.
The atmosphere in the hospital room calmed down for a moment.
Dohyun said.
"...I'm going to go get some fresh air."
He stepped out for a moment to give them time to calm down and reconcile.
If he stayed, there was a high possibility they would force an apology just to look good in front of him.
To draw out their true feelings, it was better for them to be alone.
"...Me too."
A-yeon followed Dohyun out.
"...I'm going to the restroom."
"I will go talk to the person in charge, which was my original purpose...."
Su-a ran away to the restroom, and Yoo Seol went to find Yoon-seo's attending physician.
He hoped that the two left behind wouldn't end up pulling each other's hair out.
*
"...Phew."
He walked around the hospital.
A-yeon also looked quite shocked.
Perhaps because she, being introverted, couldn't imagine doing something like that.
Or perhaps she was shocked by the realization that I had already been tainted.
Anyway, she followed behind me, looking scared.
'Is it really impossible to make everyone happy?'
I am happy.
There are people who love me this much.
It was a truly pleasant day.
There is Yoon-seo who is getting healthier, Ha-rin Noona, and A-yeon.
I wish these days would last forever.
Our siblings wandered around the hospital.
Then, we stopped for a moment at the sound of loud wailing coming from the middle of the path.
"...Amy, Amy!"
A coffin was being loaded onto a transport vehicle.
It seemed to be the deceased who had passed away in this hospital today.
American hospitals don't usually have funeral homes attached, so they transport the coffin to a place called a Funeral Home to hold the funeral, he heard.
"Amy!"
People who appeared to be acquaintances of the deceased were wailing in English.
As if they couldn't believe the death, they reached out their arms while watching the coffin being loaded into the car.
Other men were holding back a person who looked like a grandmother as she desperately tried to rush forward.
Several men barely managed to stop the movements of one old woman.
For a moment, I was afraid.
What if I hadn't obtained Probability Manipulation?
Yoon-seo would have ended up like that, right?
The future where I would be wailing while looking at Yoon-seo's coffin with the same expression as those people.
"...."
Just imagining it was horrific.
I looked to the side.
A-yeon, who was watching the same scene, also had a bad expression on her face.
She was clearly thinking about our father's funeral.
Because I had taken the blame for the crime, A-yeon had presided over our father's funeral.
They said almost no one came to visit.
Not my mother, not A-yeon's mother, not a single one of the women he had met.
At most, aside from a few relatives from our father's side or some acquaintances he knew, the funeral hall was empty.
She had spent three days in solitude at the funeral hall of the man she had killed with her own hands.
I understood why A-yeon was trembling like that.
"...Let's go."
"Yeah."
Just as we turned our steps to return to the hospital room with a soured mood.
Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder.
Who is it? I turned my head.
There stood a haggard-looking man in a black uniform.
A terrifyingly dark atmosphere.
It seemed he was the family of someone who had just died.
Why did this person grab me?
At the moment I couldn't understand, an incredibly intense intuition pierced through my entire body.
"...What is this."
I got goosebumps.
An indescribable sensation burrowing into my entire body.
If humans have a sixth sense, is this what it feels like?
In an inexplicable way, I realized that this man was of the 'same kind' as me.
A few days before coming to America.
I heard the truth about Phantastia.
That it wasn't just a simple game, but a global anomaly.
And that a massive event would soon occur involving players with Mythic-grade traits.
It was a state secret, and a top-secret of the Baekseong Group.
Honestly, it was hard to believe.
In fact, even now, I'm still somewhat half-doubting it.
But right now, I had the conviction that it really wasn't just a simple game.
"...Mythic-grade."
I could tell just by looking.
This man is of the same kind as me, a player with a Mythic-grade trait.
Do those chosen by gods recognize each other?
The man asked.
"Do you speak English?"
I nodded, full of wariness.
"...Yes."
He glanced at A-yeon, who had a confused expression.
Instinctively, I hid A-yeon behind me.
"Is the woman next to you a lover? Or a sister? Either way, she looks like a precious person."
"...That's none of your business."
"Well."
Suddenly, the man reached his hand behind his waist.
From the series of movements, I realized this country wasn't Korea, and I got goosebumps.
"Follow me."
"...."
"Leave the woman there. Let's talk just the two of us for a moment."
A-yeon, who didn't know English, was confused.
She didn't seem to understand the motion of him trying to pull out a gun either.
"Oppa?"
"...Go up first. I'll talk for a bit and come back."
In this situation, it was better for A-yeon not to be here.
I followed behind the man, moving my steps to a secluded part of the hospital.
*
"To think you'd actually come when I told you to."
"...."
"Do you smoke?"
The man offered me a cigarette.
I had smoked a few times when I was in juvenile detention, so I knew how to do it.
Of course, it wasn't exactly my preference, and it cost a lot of money, so I quit immediately.
"...If you refuse, I can't help it."
The man lit a lighter and lit the cigarette.
And took a deep breath.
...Should I attack him now?
The man has a gun.
No matter how much money I have, if I get shot, I die.
If I rush him while he's off guard, take the gun, and kick it far away.
I simulate the situation fiercely.
But I can only think of a future where I get shot and die.
Perhaps he read my expression, as he lifted his clothes with a blank face.
"You're naive. We're in a hospital, there's no way I could have brought a gun inside."
"...."
Only a leather belt was visible; the handgun I had been thinking of was nowhere to be found.
"Relax. I just wanted to talk for a moment after meeting one of my own kind for the first time."
He focused on smoking in silence for a while.
And with a deep sigh, he asked me.
"What's your name?"
"...That's a secret."
Why would I tell him, when I don't know what he might do?
"You're thorough."
I was prepared to run away at any moment.
He started again.
"Looking at your reaction, it seems you know about that game, and about the event that will open soon."
I acknowledged it without a word.
"Are you going to participate?"
A war of Mythic-grade trait holders conducted with wishes as the prize.
I am currently in a situation where I have entrusted my body to the Baekseong Group.
"...Is that even a question?"
"Then I'd like to ask. What kind of wish do you want to achieve?"
Honestly, it's not an event I'd risk my life for.
I have already achieved all the goals of my life.
I made money, met A-yeon again, and saved Yoon-seo.
I also have the ability to repay Ha-rin Noona, who took care of me.
At most, it's just to prepare for any contingencies so that the people I love don't get into trouble.
That is my wish.
If I win, it's a huge bonus. If I fail, it's just a pity.
"...To live healthily and happily for a long time."
As if he had guessed my thoughts, the man shook his head.
"Pathetic."
"...."
"It seems you don't have a wish you desperately want to achieve right now."
The man looked up at the sky for a moment.
"Unlike you, I have one. If it's for that wish, I'm willing to sacrifice my life."
This time, he looked past the alley.
The truck that couldn't depart because he had left his post.
The truck that had just loaded the coffin was reflected in his eyes.
"The person in that coffin is my daughter."
He calmly told his story.
"She was the last child my late wife left behind. She was my life, and my greatest treasure."
His gaze looking at the truck was nothing short of sorrowful.
"I raised her preciously, refusing all sorts of hardships as a single father. My lovely daughter, whom I wouldn't even mind putting in my eyes. But."
As if it were too hard to even put into words.
"A few months ago, a burglar broke into our house."
The man says with a painful expression.
"Those bastards tied me up and raped my daughter in front of me."
I tremble, unable to contain my anger.
"For three days, I had to watch the process of my daughter being tainted, suffering all sorts of filthy acts, and being cruelly destroyed. I had no choice but to watch that damn horrific scene helplessly for three days."
His expression crumbled.
"Can you understand that feeling?"
"...."
The cigarette in my hand was crushed.
"The bastards were caught and received their due punishment. Even so, the wounds my daughter suffered were irreversible."
The lighter cracked.
"Just yesterday, my daughter attempted suicide. While I was away for a moment. She was taken to the hospital by a neighbor's report, but the doctors couldn't save her."
He looks at me again.
His eyes were pitch black and dead, with even the tears dried up.
"And she is loaded into that coffin, leaving now to have her funeral."
A voice filled with extreme desperation rang in my ears.
"I want to reverse all of this. I'm willing to do anything I can."
He reaches behind his waist again.
With an expression that seemed to lament the fact that he didn't have a gun.
"That's why it's a pity. If I had a gun, and if this were a secluded place outside the hospital, I would have shot you without hesitation."
I couldn't answer.
"I don't know what kind of trait you have, but Mythic-grades are all full of people who aren't in their right minds, after all."
The man stared at me, who was silent with a complicated face, for a long time.
"...You're pitiful."
Suddenly, he pitied me.
"The fact that you don't have a wish you want to achieve yet also means that one will soon appear."
He threw away the crushed cigarette and stepped on the lit end to extinguish it.
"The gods of Phantastia aren't idiots. They are betting everything on the war. They choose and pick the Apostle with the highest potential for victory and gift them their powers."
"...."
"So, someone like you, who doesn't care whether they win or lose, can never be chosen."
And he turned his back on me, preparing to leave.
"Good luck."
Leaving those last words, he headed to the funeral hall with the coffin containing what used to be his daughter.
I watched his car move away from the hospital.
"...Fuck."
For a long time, I stood frozen in that spot, unable to move.