Chapter 90: Little by Little (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: Little by Little (6)
After hearing the shocking truth from Kim Do-jin, Shin Yu-jeong couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye for even a moment.
No, she couldn't look at him.
She was ashamed and angry.
And more than anything, she was sorry.
Sorry that the reason he had been so relentlessly tormented wasn't because he was an easy target, but because of her.
‘And I had no idea…’
She was mortified at how she had deluded herself, thinking she wasn't such a bad person in Kim Do-jin's eyes just because she had stopped Kim Jeong-hun once—only for her own mother's sake—so he wouldn't get too badly hurt.
Her insides churned.
At this rate, she felt like she wouldn't even be able to lift her head in front of Kim Do-jin.
So, just as she had promised him, she suppressed her anger on the day they drank and sent a message to Kim Jeong-hun the very next day, asking to meet.
The reply came back: ‘Anytime.’
Perhaps because she had never once contacted him first, he sent a flood of messages, thrilled by the simple fact that she had reached out.
The moment her classes ended, Shin Yu-jeong left the school.
Her destination was Pyeongchang-dong.
When she’d said it didn't matter where they met, he’d sent his address, telling her to come to his house.
“Crazy bastard.”
Curses had poured out of her mouth the moment she heard it, but now, she thought it might not be such a bad idea.
“Good. I can beat the shit out of him without worrying about anyone watching.”
That was how she felt right now.
It felt like she wouldn't be able to calm down unless she planted her fist in that bastard's face.
Too impatient to even wait for the bus, Shin Yu-jeong hailed a taxi.
When she finally arrived, the sight of Pyeongchang-dong made her gasp in spite of herself.
A wide road lined with magnificent, palace-like mansions.
“So he really was fucking rich, that son of a bitch.”
She knew he was wealthy enough that even the teachers at school couldn't easily touch him, but she never imagined it was to this extent.
She felt herself shrink, just a little.
But that wasn't enough to stop Shin Yu-jeong in her tracks.
“Is this it?”
She finally arrived at Kim Jeong-hun's house.
Even here in Pyeongchang-dong, where enormous mansions stood in rows, this one was among the grandest.
He’d said his father ran a small company, but it seemed “small” was just his idea of modesty.
“Hoo.”
She let out a small breath and pressed the doorbell.
A buzzing sound was followed by a woman's voice from the speaker.
[Who is it?]
“I'm here to see Kim Jeong-hun.”
[Ah, you must be Miss Shin Yu-jeong. The Young Master told me about you. I'll open the gate right away.]
“Ha.”
Young Master.
Do people who work in rich houses really talk like that?
“Ugh, cringe.”
She was rubbing the goosebumps that had popped up on her arms when…
Click!
The lock disengaged, and the massive gate split open to either side.
What unfolded before her was a vast garden with a lush green lawn.
In one corner, there was even a large pond where koi fish played.
It was bewildering to see things she had only ever seen in TV dramas appear right before her eyes.
As she hesitantly stepped inside, someone called her name from a distance.
“Yu-jeong!”
A familiar voice.
From the entrance of the magnificent mansion beyond the sprawling garden, a man with sharp eyes was waving with a stylish smile.
It was Kim Jeong-hun.
Shin Yu-jeong gritted her teeth so hard they audibly ground together and walked toward him.
Soon, the two stood face to face.
“Wow, live long enough and you see everything. To think Shin Yu-jeong would contact me first and even come all the way to my house.”
Kim Jeong-hun chattered happily.
Shin Yu-jeong didn't even bother to reply and closed the distance between them even further.
“Hey, Kim Jeong-hun.”
“Yeah?”
When she was close enough.
“Grit your teeth, you bastard.”
The moment she finished speaking, Shin Yu-jeong's left fist shot out and slammed into Kim Jeong-hun's grinning right cheek.
POW!
It was a sickening impact, the kind of sound that could make your bones ache just from hearing it.
Of course, she hadn't used her full strength.
But she hadn't held back completely, either.
Caught by the sudden attack, Kim Jeong-hun's body was thrown to the ground.
The bastard, who had collapsed onto his butt, didn't even make a sound of pain. He just stared up at Shin Yu-jeong with wide eyes.
His expression was one of utter disbelief, not from the pain in his face, but from the situation itself.
“Shin Yu-jeong…?”
“Shut the fuck up. Say my name one more time and you're dead.”
As if to prove her words weren't a lie, her fierce expression and menacing tone made Kim Jeong-hun instinctively clamp his mouth shut.
Shin Yu-jeong spoke.
“I heard you used my name when you were bullying Kim Do-jin.”
The moment she finished, Kim Jeong-hun's expression changed.
“Did that pig tell you that? That I used your name when I was bullying him?”
“Who I heard it from is none of your business.”
Her cold, simmering gaze fixed on him.
“I'm asking you why you dragged my name into your trashy behavior, you bastard.”
She said, clenching her jaw.
Kim Jeong-hun silently brushed himself off and got to his feet.
When he lifted his head, his eyes held a chill that was completely different from before.
“Why? Because I like you, of course.”
“…What?”
Kim Jeong-hun grinned and continued.
“You hated that pig, didn't you? You said you wanted to beat him up but couldn't because your mom always protected his ass.”
Shin Yu-jeong's face went cold.
“…How do you know that?”
When her hatred for Kim Do-jin was at its absolute peak, she had definitely said something to that effect.
To be precise, she’d said that imagining him cooped up in his room playing games all day made her want to smack him one.
But Kim Jeong-hun shouldn't have known about that.
The people she had been talking to then weren't him, but her other friends.
The three of them, those slutty girls led by Jo Yun-kyung.
That was all.
“Who I heard it from isn't important. What's important here is that I did for you what you couldn't do yourself, right?”
“…You're a complete fucking lunatic.”
A shiver ran through her entire body, and the goosebumps that had already risen on her arms became even more pronounced.
What shocked her even more was his expression as he spouted this unbelievable bullshit.
He looked like he had no idea what he'd done wrong.
No, it was more than that—his face was overflowing with pride, as if he believed he'd done something good.
She realized it then.
Talking to a guy like this would just be a waste of breath.
What could she possibly say to a psycho who seemed to feel not a shred of shame for his actions?
“Forget it… Talking any longer with a bastard like you will just make my mouth hurt.”
She had accomplished her goal of landing a solid punch on his face.
If she had her way, she would drag him by the collar, force him to his knees before Kim Do-jin, and make him apologize, but seeing the state he was in, that was never going to happen.
Doing so might just trigger his trauma even more.
The best course of action, she concluded, was to no longer get involved and for them to live their separate lives.
“Keep living your shitty life. But stay out of my sight. The moment I see your face, even by accident, I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from throwing a punch. So do yourself a favor and stay away, unless you want your face smashed in.”
Shin Yu-jeong spat out the words and turned away.
“Ah, fuck…”
Even after letting it all out, her mood didn't improve in the slightest.
In fact, it got worse.
She had been completely unaware, but Kim Jeong-hun had used her name to oppress and torment him.
All because he'd overheard her telling her friends that she wanted to hit him once.
She was definitely not at fault.
Why should she take responsibility for the actions of some lunatic who acted on his own?
That was clearly the right way to think.
But then why did this feeling of guilt toward Kim Do-jin keep welling up?
“This is so fucked up.”
It felt like she'd come to get rid of a burden, only to leave with another one.
Shin Yu-jeong roughly tousled her hair and walked out of the wide-open gate.
Feeling the intense, lingering pain in his face, Kim Jeong-hun quietly watched Shin Yu-jeong leave.
Then, a laugh escaped him.
“I'm pretty sure I warned him…”
Yes.
He had definitely told him.
To keep his mouth shut, because if Shin Yu-jeong found out, he could actually die.
“Hmm… Did he forget?”
What did he forget, exactly?
His warning? Or the terror he was supposed to feel whenever he thought of him?
Either way, he must have certainly forgotten one of them.
“Then I guess I'll have to go and remind him.”
He smiled innocently, thinking of Kim Do-jin groveling and squealing beneath his feet.
* * *
Elena and I had reached a verbal agreement to be on the same team.
Why verbal? Because the other team members hadn't confirmed it yet.
Making a team based on a unilateral decision is never a good idea.
The moment everyone fails to understand and starts to distrust, holes will appear in our coordinated movements.
“But how am I supposed to convince them…?”
I had learned it firsthand by experiencing her trait.
The cause of the fatal flaw of being unable to distinguish between friend and foe.
And even the solution to it.
So, isn't everything fine then?
Unfortunately, no.
“It's going to take some time…”
Solving the problem required time.
A considerable amount of time.
In short, it meant we had to live with the trait's flaw until then.
How could I get the team members to accept that? And even if we did form a team, what kind of strategy should we use while we worked on fixing the flaw?
One worry led to another in an endless chain.
“It would be simpler if I made Elena the main tanker…”
But then Shin Yu-jeong would probably object.
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
As I was pressing my temples with my fingers because of all the problems popping up one after another, I heard footsteps on the rooftop stairs.
I thought it might be the ajumma and turned my head.
“…Hey, can I ask you something?”
It was Shin Yu-jeong.
Her expression was even worse than yesterday. Did something even worse happen when she met Kim Jeong-hun?
“What is it?”
When I asked, she hesitated.
It seemed to be another difficult topic to bring up.
But this time, her mouth opened faster than I expected.
“Do you think… I should feel sorry to you?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?