Chapter 173: The Seeker Who Heralds Ruin (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: The Seeker Who Heralds Ruin (1)
I haven’t had a single day of rest since the vacation started.
From Christmas to New Year's Eve, and then New Year's Day…
It was all thanks to the events that kept popping up one after another, just a few days apart.
It wasn't that I got no rest in between, but I never had a day where I could truly relax without a care in the world.
In that sense, today was a day I could finally take it easy.
It wasn't that I had nothing on my mind, but at least my ass wasn't on fire.
"Let's see…"
Lying around like a piece of gum stuck to the floor, the one thing I was doing was browsing SNS.
Not my own, but the page of Kim Jeong-hun, the guy who tried to pull something with Jo Yun-kyung a few days ago. I was exploring his space, which was filled to the brim with his photos.
"He takes a shitload of pictures."
No matter how far I scrolled, all I saw were photos where his face came out looking good.
The people occasionally in the pictures with him were clearly just props to make his own face stand out.
I came here hoping to find something useful on the guy, but all I ended up doing was reaffirming his overflowing vanity and narcissism.
"How can there be this little… oh."
Enduring my churning stomach, I was mindlessly scrolling when I finally found a photo that could be considered information.
Captioned simply with ‘Cruise Trip with Family,’ the photo showed people who appeared to be his family, standing side by side.
A middle-aged man with a thick, well-developed jaw, and a beautiful middle-aged woman who didn't seem to match him.
And next to them, a pretty woman in her mid-to-late twenties, linking arms with Kim Jeong-hun.
"Hmm."
The first person to catch my eye was, naturally, the woman presumed to be his sister.
Clear, large eyes with long corners, a sharp nose, and full lips.
She even had the height and glamorous figure of a model.
With a base of innocence mixed with a hint of allure, she had the quality of a first love who would have undoubtedly shaken the hearts of all the boys who grew up around her.
"…He had a sister?"
Why didn't I know until now… No, of course I wouldn't know.
Every time we met, he would just force a one-sided physical conversation. How could I have known?
The first comment on the photo caught my eye.
[EunBi_Kim: My cute and cool little brother~^^]
"Eun-bi Kim…?"
Is her name Kim Eun-bi?
Judging by the comment, she seems to cherish her brother quite a lot…
As if possessed, I clicked on her ID and started looking through her SNS account.
Unlike her brother's, which was solely for showing off, her account was decorated with photos from a wide variety of situations.
From the typical "today's workout complete" pictures to photos with family and friends, food pictures, and pictures taken at famous landmarks around the world.
Among them, the ones that stood out the most were the occasional photos taken with her brother.
The pictures of them linking arms or pressing their cheeks together, along with the comments and hashtags below, explained the nature of their relationship.
"They have a good sibling relationship."
At the same time, a suspicion began to form.
"I heard that real siblings aren't usually like this…?"
It felt strange, so different from the common knowledge I had.
It was to the point where I wondered if they were just pretending to be close on SNS.
Hasn't there been a precedent?
The picture-perfect show-window couple, Son Si-woo and Han Ju-hee.
A small suspicion that this could be the same…
"No, that's not it."
Unlike us, who had a lot to lose and would face a lot of noise if we were embroiled in rumors of discord, these two had nothing like that, right?
There seemed to be no reason for them to pretend to be close for a photo.
"Hmm."
After checking all her recent posts, I put down my smartphone and closed my strained eyes.
Kim Jeong-hun and Kim Eun-bi.
After looking through both of their posts, only one thought came to mind.
"Their personalities are complete opposites."
He was an endlessly twisted bastard who looked down on people because he had a lot and thought he was the best.
She was a bright and warm woman who had a lot but didn't feel the need to flaunt it.
Complete opposites, yet both had personalities typical of rich kids.
"How strange."
Normally, in a case like this, they should get along even less, so how can they be so close?
"…It's not entirely impossible, I guess."
It would be possible if Kim Jeong-hun was hiding his violent personality.
Just like how he approached Shin Yu-jeong, acting like an incredibly sweet and caring man.
The closer people are… the more they hide, especially from family, and because of that, there are many things they don't know.
"This is all just speculation, though."
Everything I've thought of so far is nothing but guesswork.
There's no way I could grasp their true relationship based solely on photos posted to an SNS account.
If I were to add my personal wish… I hope their sibling bond is very deep.
"Then I think I might see an interesting path forward…"
A revenge drama, incredibly thrilling for me and utterly despairing for him, might just be completed.
"An informant is essential at times like these."
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. You see as much as you know, and knowledge is power.
It would be nice to have an informant who could pick out just the information I want…
As it happens, there is a suitable candidate.
"I wonder what our dear Yun-kyung is up to."
Jo Yun-kyung, who had joined hands with Kim Jeong-hun, would be perfect for the role of an informant.
Whether she accepts or not isn't the issue.
She will definitely accept my proposal.
The only question is when.
I'd prefer it if she'd hurry up, bow her head, and come play her part properly.
"Ugh, whatever. I'm not going to think about it today…"
Today is a rare day off, so I'll take a nap first and think about it when I wake up…
Vrrrr- Vrrrr-
Just as I was about to, my phone suddenly rang.
Wondering who it was, I checked the screen to see the name of the person I had just been thinking about, displayed right there.
"Speak of the devil…"
It was so absurd I had to laugh.
I immediately pressed the call button and spoke to her.
"Hey, it's my day off, so let's talk tomorrow."
—Hey, wait…!
Ignoring her urgent voice, I hung up without hesitation.
Vrrrr- Vrrrr-
As the phone vibrated again, I pressed the decline button, put my smartphone on silent, and tossed it far away.
She's probably about to die from frustration right about now, right?
But this is the right way to do it.
The more I act like this, the more she'll burn for me.
* * *
—The person you are trying to reach is unavailable…
"Aargh! This is so annoying, seriously!"
The monotonous mechanical voice sent a surge of irritation through Jo Yun-kyung. She threw her smartphone onto the bed and frantically tousled her hair with both hands.
"Do you have any idea what I went through to make this call!"
Over the past few days, she had tasted the greatest humiliation of her life.
Because she had brought up Shin Yu-jeong, her best friend and her complex, she had briefly lost her reason and given up her body, and on top of that, she had heard words she could barely bring herself to repeat.
"What? A f-fuck… haa, seriously."
Despite her pride being wounded beyond measure, she had called him.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, thinking about how she had fallen for his act, but that night had been hot enough to blow away all those bitter feelings.
‘How on earth…’
It was the first time in her life.
She had never climaxed so mindlessly during sex with a man.
No, it was the first time she had ever reached climax at all.
When she thought back to her sex with him, everything she had experienced before felt like children's playtime.
It was on a completely different level.
That heat kept making her think of Kim Do-jin.
It had been agonizingly difficult at the time, but now that she had recovered her stamina, she wanted to experience it again.
His thick, club-like thing ramming inside her, and his rough movements, as if treating her like an object.
"Hahh…!"
She let out a hot breath, and with a look of realization, she reached down to feel between her legs.
Just as she'd expected.
The panties she had changed into just a few hours ago were soaked through.
"Seriously, haa…!"
It had been like this for four days.
If she just stayed still, the memories and pleasure of that time would surface, and her body would heat up on its own.
The absolute worst moment was the day after that hot night.
She had run out of food and was on her way back from the convenience store in front of her house when she saw a sausage with a ridiculous name like ‘Giant Big Sausage’ or something. The brief thought of Kim Do-jin had been enough to completely drench her panties.
Thanks to that, she had rejected all the calls from men asking to meet up over the past three days and had been holed up at home.
"You bastard… haa, ahn…!"
As a temporary measure, she tried using her fingers to soothe her body, but it was no use.
It only lowered the heat for a moment; it could never be a fundamental solution.
"Heut!"
Crossing the shallow hill of climax, Jo Yun-kyung's body trembled once before going limp.
She knew.
She knew what she needed to do to cool down this heated body.
After changing the sheets and her panties, she forced her eyes shut and tried to sleep.
‘So you didn't answer because it's your day off, is that it…’
Then she had no choice but to call tomorrow.
This was absolutely not about becoming his fucktoy or some other vulgar thing.
‘Just you wait, Kim Do-jin.’
This was simply about fighting against the man who made her this way to get what she wanted.
And so, she consoled herself.