Apology

"I admit defeat. That was a splendid performance, Aria Lindblom."

Once the orchestra that had originally been holding the concert resumed playing, the only ones left in the waiting room were me, Aria, and Victoria.

To be precise, Lucas had followed along to escort me this far, but Victoria had sent him off to guard the waiting room entrance.

Maybe she hadn't wanted her subordinate to see her admitting defeat. Considering that, she admitted it pretty coolly.

Victoria's expression was one of relief.

Even though it had been such an overwhelming, total loss that ninety percent of the votes had gone to Aria.

"That's that. But you haven't forgotten our promise, have you? Victoria."

Aria fixed her gaze on Victoria with a triumphant smile. Victoria nodded with a solemn expression.

"Of course. A promise is a promise."

Victoria walked over to me, step by step.

Then she bowed her body at a ninety-degree angle and apologized to me.

"I apologize for my past rudeness in carelessly calling Si-hyeon, whom I had never met before, a pathetic person. That I let a momentary emotion sweep me away and uttered such words while forgetting even basic courtesy toward another person was entirely due to my own lack of virtue. Would you please forgive me?"

Even though it was an apology made because of a promise, it didn't feel forced. Victoria's attitude was that courteous.

Just as I was about to say that of course I would forgive her, Aria spoke first.

"Victoria. Haven't you forgotten the promise we made?"

"Pardon? I clearly apologized to Si-hyeon for my rudeness. If there was anything lacking in my apology, I will correct it, but..."

"There is. You're supposed to kneel, bow your head to the ground, and apologize for the outrageous things you said. That was the condition I set, wasn't it?"

Victoria's body went rigid.

Victoria's hands, clutching the hem of her skirt, trembled. But she didn't talk back to Aria or refuse.

Watching her, I did feel a little sorry for her.

She had her dignity to think of, after all.

"Aria. This much is enough for me."

"I know you're kind, Brother, but this is the result of a bet. Even if you say this much is fine, Victoria still has the responsibility to follow the terms of the bet exactly."

It was a fair point, so I had nothing more to say.

If, by any chance, Aria had lost, would Victoria have accepted it if I'd told her that Aria disliked her and so I couldn't make Aria return to the music world?

Probably not.

So saying "this much is enough for me" was the most I could do to preserve Victoria's dignity in my own way.

Anything more would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠disregarding the authority of Aria, the winner of the contest.

Victoria knew that too, which was why she neither protested nor refused.

She took a deep breath, and the trembling of the hands clutching her skirt subsided a little.

"You're right. I will apologize again."

Victoria carefully knelt on the waiting room floor.

Then she tried to press her forehead to the ground, realized that such a posture was impossible, and lifted her head again.

"U-um. My forehead won't reach..."

Victoria's face had turned red, apparently ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from shame, and she was on the verge of tears. The two massive lumps of fat attached to her chest were pressed against the floor, yet they still displayed such overwhelming mass that they kept her forehead from reaching the ground.

Aria looked back and forth between Victoria's chest and her own, then answered with a murderous smile.

"If you lift that vulgarly large ass of yours, won't your forehead reach the floor?"

"Wh-who are you calling a vulgar ass?!"

Even as she said that, Victoria raised her hips a bit higher. It was a rather ridiculous posture, but either way, doing that let her forehead touch the floor.

"I, Victoria von Adler, hereby apologize to Mr. Si-hyeon for my previous rudeness. Ngh, please forgive..."

Seeing a young lady from a distinguished family on the verge of tears, pressing her head to the floor and apologizing, I felt like something inside me was breaking.

On top of that, apparently to leave no room for complaint, she had even changed how she addressed me from the plain “Si-hyeon” to the more respectful “Mr. Si-hyeon.”

Feeling like I was about to develop some strange taste, I hurriedly pulled Victoria to her feet.

"Okay. That's enough, so you can get up. Aria, you're satisfied with this much too, right?"

"Yes. And Brother, let's have a little talk later."

Aria's eyes were smiling, but her expression was frightening. It seemed I'd been too obvious about where my gaze had been directed.

But honestly, this much is just a man's instinct, so I couldn't help it. The desire for romance and sexual desire are separate things.

"Ahem, hem!"

Victoria cleared her throat. In the meantime, she had stood up and even tidied her clothes neatly.

She seemed to really dislike appearing undignified.

I could guess why she'd been on the verge of tears a moment ago. Of course there was shame involved, but she'd probably also been torn between her pride, her dignity, and the dilemma that breaking a promise was even more undignified than having to press her forehead to the ground.

"But don't think this is the end! At least while I'm in Korea as an exchange student, I'll be making a nuisance of myself to you."

"Wait, exchange student?"

Aria's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked visibly flustered by Victoria's declaration.

"Yes. Of course, I won't deny the fact that I came to Korea to follow you, but even I am not so idle that I could stay in Korea long-term without any justification."

"No wonder your schedule seemed so loose..."

Aria let out a sigh.

So Victoria hadn't loosened her schedule to obsess over Aria; it had been empty from the start for university life.

"It's only until the end of this semester for now, but the exchange student period can be extended. Well, that part will depend on how much I come to like this country."

"Right, right. Enjoy yourself and go home. And if possible, I'd like you not to bother me from now on."

"I refuse. Today's contest made me even more certain. I won't disparage Si-hyeon, but the fact remains that it's a shame to let your talent rot like this."

She had gone back to simply calling me “Si-hyeon.”

Feeling a strange emotion at that fact, I cut in.

"That's enough. It's not like Aria has completely cut ties with music, so she'll handle it herself."

"...I've been wondering this whole time, but what exactly is your relationship with Aria, Si-hyeon?"

"She's my younger sister. My half-sister, to be precise."

"You two seem quite close. I'm close with my brother too, but you two..."

Victoria swallowed the rest of her words.

Maybe because of what had just happened, her words and actions felt even more cautious than before.

She seemed to have guessed what was between us, but it didn't matter.

Aria didn't care about what other people thought, and while I wasn't quite as indifferent as Aria, I felt the same way about the opinions of strangers who had nothing to do with me. What problem would there be even if it became known to some stranger living abroad whom we'd never see again?

At those words, Aria clung to me as if showing off.

"To get back to the point, the gist is that it's fine as long as Aria doesn't completely give up on music like she did today, right?"

"That's right."

Victoria's gaze didn't waver.

Even if we were in that kind of relationship, that fact probably didn't matter much to Victoria.

Only one thing mattered.

Whether Aria continued with music. That was the only issue.

Still, just in case, I subtly tested her reaction.

To be precise, through Aria.

"Aria. Can you play for me like this from time to time? I'm asking because I want to hear it."

"If it's a request from you, Brother, gladly. Though if you simply want to hear me play, I could play for you anytime when it's just the two of us..."

"But then I wouldn't get to see you in a pretty dress like this, would I?"

"Honestly, Brother."

Victoria stared at the two of us with horrified eyes.

I was just thinking that maybe we'd gone a bit too far doing this in public when Victoria suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Si-hyeon—no. Mr. Si-hyeon!"

She had switched back to “Mr. Si-hyeon” again.

At the same time, Aria shot a glare at Victoria for suddenly clinging to me.

"Please, do stay on good terms with me from now on. And if possible, just one request..."

Victoria likewise glanced over at Aria.

From her words and gesture, I roughly understood the situation.

It seemed that to this young lady, it truly didn't matter how lovey-dovey we were.

She'd just seen how Aria melted at my words and thought that maybe, if I asked, Aria might fully return to the music world.

"What matters most is what she herself wants. No matter what, I have no intention of forcing her to do something she doesn't want to."

"There you have it, Victoria. Brother is on my side."

This was the first time I'd seen Aria act this childish.

Despite everything, seeing Victoria approach her first, did Aria actually think of her as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a friend deep down?

"Understood. Then I'll take my leave for today. I've confirmed that Aria's skills haven't rusted, after all. That alone is a sufficient gain for today."

Victoria gathered her violin and draped her leather jacket over her shoulders again.

"Ah, if you're leaving, I'd recommend going out the back door. I had Lucas arrange a car to be waiting."

"I appreciate it, but you're not trying to find out our address, are you?"

At Aria's words, Victoria stopped walking and flinched.

Apparently, that was the right answer.

"Ngh, I won't say it isn't. But it's also true that it's out of consideration. You can't say you don't know how many people gathered here because of the fact that you, who had disappeared, would be performing, can you?"

Well, she wasn't wrong.

Because of one sudden, short intermission performance, hadn't the scalped ticket prices for the VIP seats supposedly soared to fifty thousand dollars?

And on top of that, people had come from other countries just to see it.

I couldn't make sense of it.

Aria apparently couldn't refute that either, and answered with a sigh.

"Then we'll decide where to get off ourselves. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"Understood. Then, until next ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time. Aria Lindblom. And Mr. Si-hyeon."

Victoria bowed politely, then left the waiting room first.

The two of us remained.

There was no reason to stay any longer, so we left the waiting room too.

"You must be Ms. Aria and Mr. Si-hyeon. This way."

When we went outside, a person in a black suit and sunglasses was waiting.

Whether the consideration was genuine or not, we didn't encounter a single person the whole way out to the back door.

When we stepped outside, a black sedan was waiting.

We got into the back seat, which the person in the black suit politely opened for us.

"Where shall I take you?"

"Please take us near Gangnam Station."

Even so, I didn't want to let them come all the way to our house, so I deliberately asked to be taken to Gangnam Station.

Near there, it wasn't far from home, so there was no worry about Aria, in a dress and heels, having to travel for a long time. There were also plenty of people, and with the option of taking the subway, it would be hard to tail us.

The person in the black suit immediately started driving.

In the moving car, looking at Seoul's nightscape, I spoke to Aria.

"Aria, what's the name of the piece you played at the concert earlier?"

"It doesn't have a name. I improvised it on the spot. I needed a piece that would contrast with Victoria while making the gap in our skill obvious."

So she'd composed a piece like that on the spot?

As soon as she heard Victoria's piece?

I was reminded anew of Aria's genius.

"That piece, the people in the VIP seats were listening and even crying."

"What about you, Brother?"

"I felt it was a piece that was chillingly sharp yet captivating. But how should I put it, I can't explain it well. I also felt like it contained love for me. Though it might just be my own conceit."

I felt embarrassed even as I said it.

Unable to meet Aria's eyes, I kept my gaze fixed out the window.

But Aria giggled and leaned her head against my shoulder.

"You're right. I did it on purpose. So that no matter how brilliant a critic, they wouldn't notice—so that only you, Brother, who has heard my organ playing, would notice."

"Really?"

Honestly, no matter how much of a genius Aria was, I couldn't believe it went this far.

With all those renowned critics gathered, was it really possible to hide a piece's intent so that exactly one person would notice?

"To be precise, it's possible because it's you, Brother. Because I know you better than anyone, and understand you better than anyone."

Just how much did Aria understand about me?

It was a strange feeling.

Even I felt like I didn't understand myself that well.

"That's amazing."

I answered with a double meaning.

Because it was true that it was amazing, and it was also true that knowing me that well was amazing.

But Aria said it as if it were only natural.

"Don't you know me better than anyone too, Brother? I think it's similar."

Hearing Aria say that, I felt like I understood a little.

Maybe people just can't view themselves objectively, so they can't properly understand themselves.

Before long, the car dropped us off at Gangnam Station.

Holding hands, we disappeared into the crowd.

The way home was quite arduous.

I was in a suit, trying to be formal, and Aria, who was unrealistically beautiful even on a normal day, was in a full dress, so we drew attention everywhere we went.

It was so bad that some people looked around us wondering if it was a movie or drama shoot, and there were people who took photos and tried to post them on Humanstar. Whenever a smartphone camera was pointed our way, I blocked it with my body, but I don't know how much I managed to cover.

Still, after walking and walking, we eventually entered a quiet nighttime street.

Once the passing crowds had thinned to the point where I could count them on my fingers, I spoke to Aria.

"Do your feet hurt? Want me to carry you on my back?"

"I'm fine. You must be tired too, Brother."

"Me? All I did was sit and watch a performance. What would I be tired from? It's fine, just get on."

I crouched down and gestured, and Aria came over and climbed onto my back.

I lifted Aria up and started walking.

"Thank you, Brother."

"It's nothing."

It wasn't worth being thanked for.

The remaining distance to home wasn't far. Making a show of it would be ridiculous.

The two of us siblings were silent for a while.

The silence wasn't awkward.

Then, apparently tired, Aria began to nod off on my back.

Feeling the sensation of her soft breathing tickling my ear, I arrived home, carefully removed her heels at the shoe rack, and gently laid Aria down on the bed in her room.

I wondered if it was okay to lay her down in her dress, but if it came to it, I could just iron it later.

Just as I was about to leave, Aria's slender hand grabbed mine.

Aria, eyes narrowed, whispered in a sleep-muffled voice and drowsy expression.

"Don't go, Brother..."