Chapter 175
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 175
A few days later, at the dining table.
Dokyun looked at Eun-byeol, who sat across from him, chin in her hand, a smile leaking from her lips.
She giggled as if something was incredibly amusing before finally asking her question.
“So, do you get it now?”
She was asking if he understood why she existed.
Dokyun nodded, his expression utterly serious.
“You’re the version of Eun-ah who imagined herself growing up like everyone else. Is that right?”
Dokyun watched her expression as he spoke. It was a guess based on flimsy evidence, but he couldn’t think of any other answer.
The traces of time that filled the storage room. The history the other personalities had built while Eun-ah had looked away. They were all things that could be described with a single word: ‘ordinary.’
That’s what had led him to this guess. The things she could never have because she hadn’t lived like others, because she had locked herself away in this house ever since Seo Han-gyeong’s death in her childhood. The things Eun-ah must have craved even as she pushed them away.
A life like everyone else. The version of herself living that life.
Weren’t those the four personalities, and Eun-byeol?
Going on outings with her parents like other kids, having a hobby like drawing, having friends to share her heart with—wasn’t that what Eun-ah had wanted?
As Dokyun thought this, he watched Eun-byeol. She raised her eyebrows in a surprised expression, then clapped her hands.
“Correct! You’re pretty sharp, honey.”
Her words were full of laughter, but Dokyun couldn't bring himself to feel happy hearing them. The thought that Eun-byeol, this version of her, was the self Eun-ah had always wanted made his chest feel heavy.
Seeing Dokyun’s expression begin to cloud over, Eun-byeol gave a troubled smile and stood up from her seat. She walked around the table, sat down next to him, and leaned in close, her tone a little mischievous.
“Are you crying again? If you cry like that, you’ll grow a horn on your butt.” [A common Korean saying to tease children who cry.]
“…I’m not crying.”
A surge of emotion welled up inside him. Dokyun forced it down and looked Eun-byeol straight in the eye.
“Do you think I’m some kind of wimp?”
“You are, though. A wimp.”
Giggle. Eun-byeol let out a laugh. She reached out, placed a hand on his cheek, and stretched it sideways.
“I’m worried. So full of tears, I don’t know if you can even perform your manly duties.”
“I do them better than you, Eun-byeol-ssi.”
“Naughty words.”
Squeeze—.
The hand pinching his cheek tightened. Eun-byeol stretched his cheek, shaking it up and down, before finally letting go with a smirk and pulling out her smartphone.
When Dokyun’s gaze shifted to the phone, Eun-byeol saw it and grinned, shoving the screen in his face.
Displayed on the screen, right in front of his nose, was…
“…Baseball?”
It was a ticket reservation page for a baseball game.
Eun-byeol, pleased with his reaction, smiled and nodded.
“I know I have to go, but one last game won’t hurt, right?”
Pfft. A weak laugh escaped Dokyun’s lips.
“Of course you’d say that.”
She was truly Eun-byeol to the very end.
*
Eun-byeol had said that today’s game was Latte’s last of the season.
The post-season… was obviously out of reach.
It was just a game to wrap up the season. Nothing more.
Dokyun chose the neatest clothes he owned, and he and Eun-byeol took a car to the stadium. This time, they sat together in the VIP seats where Eun-byeol had always sat alone.
“Here.”
Dokyun’s gaze turned to her. In one hand, she held snacks; in the other, a can of beer, which she was now offering to him.
Dokyun took the can, popped it open with a crisp snap, and chugged it in one go.
“Whoa, what’s gotten into you, chugging it like that?”
“You taught me, didn’t you? That you’re not supposed to watch baseball sober.”
“Mm-hm, you learned well.”
Eun-byeol smiled. She laughed, then pulled out another can of beer, opened it, and, just like Dokyun, downed it in one gulp.
“Ahhh—!”
Looking quite pleased, she emptied the can, crushed it in her hand, and spoke.
“Honey.”
“Yes.”
“They’ll win today, right? I mean, it’s the fucking last game of the season.”
Dokyun remained silent.
After waiting a long moment for his answer, Eun-byeol finally let out a smirk and muttered to herself when none came.
“So mean. You could’ve at least said they’d win.”
“You know that’s impossible.”
Today’s opponent was TK, the number one team in the league this season. They were on a hot streak, having crushed every team they’d met in their last five games.
And Latte? They had lost all of their last five games. One of them had been a called game, a truly humiliating defeat.
Seeing Dokyun’s awkward expression, Eun-byeol clicked her tongue and turned her gaze to the field.
The players from both teams were entering.
The last game of the season.
And the last game that would remain in Eun-byeol’s life.
*
“Motherfuckers.”
Eun-byeol stared at the scoreboard, which read [0 : 11], and spat out a curse.
“Fucking bastards.”
Her face was a bizarre mix of regret, anger, and despair.
“How could they not score a single point until the very end? Are they even fucking human?”
Dokyun hung his head low and kept his mouth shut.
It was devastating.
Watching the game, Dokyun had felt like he was watching a mouse being toyed with by a cat. The scene of his family cat, Bborongi, playing with a mouse overlapped with the game on the field—that’s how badly they were dominated.
After a long moment with his head down, Dokyun glanced over at Eun-byeol.
Her mouth was still spewing vicious curses, but her face was grinning, an expression that somehow felt… relieved.
“Ah, seriously, can those bastards even swallow their food? Do they shamelessly want to keep living? Huh? What do you think, honey?”
…Maybe she wasn’t relieved after all.
“Well, it’s not the first time.”
“Fucking bastards.”
Flinch. Dokyun’s body trembled. He knew the words weren’t directed at him, but he couldn’t help being scared.
Eun-byeol finally opened the last beer she’d been saving, chugged it, and crushed the can.
Her gaze was fixed on the Latte players leaving the field in the distance.
What is she planning to do?
Just as Dokyun was tilting his head in confusion…
“IT WAS SHITTY KNOWING YOU, AND LET’S NEVER MEET AGAIN, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!”
Eun-byeol suddenly let out a lion’s roar.
It was so loud that even amidst the stadium’s noise, the Latte players turned to look at her.
Every single person in the stadium—spectators, players, staff—was staring at Eun-byeol.
Receiving the attention of the entire stadium, Eun-byeol raised both her middle fingers at the players and broke into a wide grin.
“Sons of bitches.”
A look of pure horror spread across Dokyun’s face.
Eun-byeol waved her middle fingers high above her head for a while before finally noticing Dokyun’s expression and bursting into laughter. “Pffft!”
*
After leaving the stadium, they ended up where they always did: a cafe.
As if today were just any other day, Eun-byeol hummed a tune with a relaxed air, ordering every item on the menu and spreading them across the table just as she always did.
“Oh my, honey, look at this. Isn’t it so pretty?”
Dokyun’s gaze followed her finger.
A small tiramisu. On top of it sat a snowman made of white chocolate.
“Yes, it’s pretty.”
“It’s still autumn, but seeing things like this makes me think of winter for some reason.”
Flinch. Dokyun’s body tensed.
Seeing him react to her words all on his own again, Eun-byeol let out a “Pfft” and waved her hands dismissively.
“Hey, you’re not overthinking things again, are you? I’m just saying. It’s not like I’m saying I want to stay until winter or something, okay?”
“Do you think I’m that much of an idiot?”
“Yep.”
Thump. Dokyun’s mouth snapped shut. His eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at her.
With a playful look, Eun-byeol giggled and continued.
“You’re a huge idiot. That’s why you always turn on the waterworks like this. Isn’t it about time you got used to it?”
“What do you mean, ‘waterworks’? That’s so unrefined.”
“Is it?”
“Very.”
“Sorry, then.”
Pfft. A laugh escaped Dokyun’s lips.
“Are you okay?”
“With what?”
“Going like this.”
Dokyun stared straight at Eun-byeol, waiting for an answer.
He knew why she existed. But her lingering regrets were something he couldn’t do anything about. He didn’t have the power to grab hold of the past and change it.
That was why he couldn’t say anything about her wanting to leave like this.
Eun-byeol looked at Dokyun waiting for her answer, then replied with a wide grin.
“Totally okay.”
It was the honest truth, without a hint of exaggeration.
Eun-byeol looked at Dokyun and continued her thoughts.
He’s completely misunderstanding something.
He thinks I’m still here because I have unresolved regrets.
…That’s not it.
My regrets have already been resolved.
You resolved them.
He’s so quick on the uptake, yet so dense when it comes to things like this. He has no idea.
“Honey.”
“Yes.”
“Should we go to Namsan Tower?”
Dokyun tilted his head.
In response, Eun-byeol gave him a smile so wide her eyes crinkled into crescents, sealing the deal.
“And you can’t say no.”
Dokyun blinked, then gave a stiff nod.
“Well, I suppose there’s no reason we can’t.”