Chapter 184: Your First Love Isn't Beautiful (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 184: Your First Love Isn't Beautiful (1)
Around mid-February, not long before the new semester began.
I got a message from Jo Yun-kyung, who I’d almost forgotten about since I hadn't heard from her in a while, asking to meet.
Figuring she’d finished the job I gave her, I agreed to meet at a nearby café.
“Here. This is the information you wanted.”
“……”
She handed me a stack of papers, her face gaunt and shadowed by long, dark circles.
I took it, wondering what it was, and saw that it was packed with information about Kim Jeong-hun’s older sister, Kim Eun-bi.
And it was all neatly organized.
“Wow… I didn’t expect you to go this far.”
I hadn't even read it properly, but I could tell at a glance. It wasn't just the effort she put into organizing it; she had clearly gone to great lengths to gather this information.
The proof?
I just had to look at Jo Yun-kyung’s face across from me.
For a girl who lived and died by her appearance, the fact that she was all dressed up yet couldn't hide the exhaustion plastered on her face meant she must have gone through hell.
“I really worked hard, you know?”
She whined, clearly wanting me to acknowledge her efforts.
“Yeah, you look it.”
As I answered, staring intently at her face, she covered it with both hands as if embarrassed.
“D-Don't look! I haven't been taking care of myself, so I look awful.”
“…How am I not supposed to look when we’re sitting face-to-face?”
“Th-Then look at my chest instead.”
“……”
Yeah, she’s definitely not normal.
The deep cleavage revealed by her boldly low-cut T-shirt shimmered before my eyes.
“She gathered up her very soul for that.”
There was no other way she could have achieved that kind of depth.
It’s not like she was lacking in that department to begin with. Did she really have to go that far?
“A-Anyway.”
Noticing my pitying gaze, she subtly pulled her coat closed over her chest.
What now?
So where am I supposed to look now?
“I did a good job, right?”
Her question drew my eyes back to the so-called report in my hands.
“Well…”
“What do you mean, ‘well’?”
“I’ll give you points for effort, but what really matters is the content.”
When I replied in a slightly critical tone, she puffed out her chest with a confident expression.
“Then go on, read it.”
She seemed quite proud of her work.
“Might as well.”
There was nothing else to look at anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a read.
I turned the first crisp page.
I scanned the personal information listed at the very beginning.
Kim Eun-bi, age 23.
Height 169 cm, a third-year business major at Baekje University.
“Oh…”
Baekje University… along with Silla and Goguryeo Universities, that’s one of the top three most prestigious universities in the country.
So what does that mean?
She’s pretty, comes from a good family, and is smart, too.
This is…
“The textbook perfect daughter.”
“Exactly. She’s the perfect daughter straight out of a novel.”
I could sense a faint jealousy in Jo Yun-kyung’s voice as she eagerly agreed with my spontaneous comment.
As I read through the information on the pages, I began to understand her jealousy.
This woman was incredible in many ways.
Her specs on paper were impressive, but her character was also said to be unbelievably kind.
“She even volunteers at an orphanage once a month.”
“Yeah, apparently she likes kids.”
She donated significant amounts of money and volunteered at an orphanage.
It was like looking at the crystallization of all the best traits of a typical rich girl.
Raised with love, she was bright and cheerful, and with her open mind, she got along with everyone—a true sweetheart to all.
“I think I know what you were just thinking.”
Jo Yun-kyung suddenly boasted, showing off her mind-reading skills.
“What was I thinking?”
“That while reading Kim Eun-bi’s profile, you thought she was the complete opposite of Kim Jeong-hun, right?”
“……”
She was right.
“That was my first thought, too. How could two people raised by the same parents be so different?”
It was certainly true.
One was endlessly lovable, the other endlessly twisted.
Just looking at these two, you could tell how hard parenting was.
You can raise them with the same amount of love, yet one goes astray while the other grows up right.
“Hurry up and read the next page.”
At her urging, I turned another page.
The back of the profile page was filled with details about her hobbies.
Morning jogs, dancing at clubs, shopping at department stores, volunteering at the orphanage, and so on.
“Quite a variety.”
“For a rich person, this is a pretty standard set of hobbies, don't you think?”
“…Is it?”
I wouldn't know. I've never had this many hobbies, even with money.
Along with her SNS posts about her hobbies, there was even a record of how frequently she engaged in them.
The quality of the information far exceeded my expectations, and I started to get a little scared.
…Is this girl a stalker?
“So, what do you think?”
As I quietly closed the file, her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Did you get all this information from her SNS?”
“Most of it, yeah. I started with Kim Eun-bi’s SNS and then jumped to her friends’ accounts, gathering bits and pieces. As for the parts that were missing…”
“Yes?”
She gave me a meaningful smile and shook her head.
“That’s a trade secret.”
“……”
Suddenly, I was starting to find her terrifying.
“So, have you decided on a method?”
“What method?”
“How you’re going to approach this woman.”
“I don't know.”
I hadn't thought beyond just approaching her when the time was right.
As I stared at her blankly, she gave me a strange, knowing smile.
“I have a good idea.”
Her confident smile was surprisingly reassuring.
“…I guess I’ll hear you out.”
* * *
She was born wanting for nothing.
She was showered with love, and thanks to her pretty face and lovely personality, she never even became the target of others’ jealousy.
There were times when some showed her malice, but the many people surrounding her always protected her from it.
Only those who have received love know how to give it.
Of the countless things she held in her hands, she boldly gave up what she didn't need.
She gave to the children who, though endlessly beautiful and lovable, had been abandoned for one reason or another.
A life of endless abundance, from the moment she was born to the present day.
A life where she had never once not been the center of attention.
If there was one thing she, who had always lived a radiant life, lacked, it was just that: lack.
The love she received, the money, the talent—they were all like a spring that never ran dry. She didn't know what it meant to suffer from want.
The only deficiency she knew was perhaps the oxygen deprivation that came after running until her stamina gave out.
Perhaps that was why. Why she started every single day with a jog.
“The weather’s nice again today. Mmm…!”
Kim Eun-bi stepped out of her house, breathing in the chilly night air.
She broke into a light jog, passing the road lined with magnificent mansions and entering a nearby park.
It was a vast, beautifully landscaped park, yet few people ever visited.
She didn't know why, but the people around here seemed reluctant to exercise in the park.
Her younger brother next door, her friend across the street—in fact, most of the people living nearby were busy learning from trainers at the local gym.
Is it really that fun…?
She had no interest in any exercise other than jogging, so she couldn't say.
However, she did appreciate how deserted the park was, thanks to them flocking to the gym.
The feeling of strolling through this quiet park, undisturbed by anyone—only those who've experienced it could understand.
“Hmm-hmm~ hmm ♬”
Humming a tune, she gradually picked up her pace along the path that wound between the towering trees.
As her speed increased, the leisurely humming gave way to deeper, heavier breaths.
“Huu, haa…!”
No matter how much oxygen she desperately gulped down, it was never enough.
It was painful, agonizing even, but for some reason, she quite liked it.
Because the more she endured, the more she felt like she was taking another step forward, and it allowed her to indirectly empathize with the feeling of lack.
She had yet to truly understand the pain and suffering that came from want.
So, as her own way of coping, she would think of this moment whenever she saw those who suffered from want.
This moment of struggling through the agony of never having enough, no matter how desperately she gasped for air.
It was the best she could do, and the most she could do.
She wasn't brave or strong enough to let go of everything she had and truly experience lack.
“Haak, haaak…!”
Reaching the end of the path, she finally stopped her hurried steps.
Panting heavily, she glanced at another path before her.
Her routine to start the day involved one more thing besides jogging.
It was to watch the rising red sun and fill her weary body with its vitality.
To do this, she strode up the stairs leading to the top of a low hill.
As she climbed laboriously beneath the bare branches arching overhead, a wide-open space began to appear in the distance.
A small clearing on top of the hill.
Gripping the fence there and gazing out, she could see the city just beginning to wake, and the cars bustling about in the early morning.
And among them, she could see the red sun making its hurried ascent into the sky.
“Hehe, I made it just in time today, too.”
Kim Eun-bi giggled frivolously, staring blankly at the rising sun.
She had seen it countless times, yet she never grew tired of it.
Would a day ever come in her life when she would tire of this sight?
It was then, as she was absorbing the vitality of the rising sun.
Rustle.
“……?”
A sound from the woods behind her caught her attention.
As she turned around with a puzzled expression.
Snap!
Another loud noise from the forest deepened her confusion.
Is there an animal or something in there…?
She had come here every day until now, but this was the first time she’d heard such a sound.
As her attention was drawn more and more to that spot.
Crash!
Suddenly, an unidentified assailant burst out of the woods.
“Kyaa—hup!”
She instinctively clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.
Her wildly trembling eyes quickly scanned the man who had appeared so abruptly.
A large man, dressed in ill-fitting clothes that were thrown on carelessly.
The scars crisscrossing his face and the murderous gaze directed at her made her realize he was far from ordinary.
At that moment, she suddenly recalled what her brother had told her in a worried tone before she left the house.
He’d said some heinous criminal had committed a murder nearby and was on the run, so she should probably stay inside today.
N-No way…?
She had dismissed her brother’s sincere concern with a laugh.
She had thought there was no way a fugitive could hide in a neighborhood with such excellent security, not when the police were searching for him with fire in their eyes.
But it seemed the impossible had happened.
The thick killing intent and malice radiating from the man before her were too intense to be explained otherwise.
I-I’m scared.
It was the first time. The first time she had ever experienced someone else’s unfiltered malice with her entire being.
As she stood frozen like a frog before a snake, the large man began to walk toward her.
With each step his rough, shoeless, and scraped feet took in her direction, her heart tightened in her chest.
S-Someone, help…!
Just as she was screaming internally, unable to even get the words out.
Another figure dropped from the sky, landing in front of her.
A tall man in a long coat.
He stretched out his hand and muttered something, and pure white lightning began to pour from his fingertips.
Crackle!
Tendrils of lightning shot through the air, striking the large man one by one. Charred black, he trembled for a moment before collapsing onto the cold ground.
The man who had subdued the giant in a single blow turned around.
“Ah…”
His hair fluttered in the cold wind, and the delicate features beneath it held her gaze, making it impossible to look away.
It was the first time. The first time she had ever stared so intently at a man’s face.
Fate…
Having grown up without want, she had always dreamed of a fateful encounter.
If she was to love someone for the rest of her life, shouldn't it be a fate so powerful that her heart didn't just pound, but her whole body trembled?
For twenty-three years, she had lived by that thought, turning away every man who approached her.
It seemed she had finally met her destined partner.