Worry

"Wouldn't it be faster to bring the doctor? Since she's also a woman, that would probably be more comfortable for you too."

"It's hard to breathe, so as soon as possible..."

Victoria was still whimpering as she tried to undo the hook somehow, but it didn't seem to be going well.

Her chest was so large that the clasp was pulled taut, and with how weak she was right now, it made sense that she couldn't easily undo it at the center of her back.

"Wait a moment. Let me check, and if she's away right now, then I'll do it."

I got up from the chair and looked around the recovery room, but there was no one there except us.

"Hello—!"

Since there was no one inside, I figured it wouldn't be a bother and called out, but there was no answer.

Maybe she'd gone to the restroom.

I considered waiting, but I couldn't leave someone who said it was hard to breathe unattended indefinitely.

"There's no one here. Are you really okay with me undoing it?"

"Yes. It's not like I'm showing you my naked body, and if it's just underwear..."

Well, thinking about it rationally, underwear is clothing designed to cover the important parts in the first place.

And these days, people have become much more open compared to the past, with plenty of fashion that exposes bra straps and the like.

"Okay."

"You only need to undo the hook. I'll handle the rest myself."

I steeled myself and sat on the edge of the bed.

When I lifted the back zipper of her dress, her fair skin and the black lace straps contrasting against it were revealed.

I tried not to be conscious of it if possible, but my gaze went there whether I liked it or not.

A size visible even from behind—I couldn't even begin to guess how it was physically possible.

I'd undone Aria's bra hook before, so I knew how to do it.

I carefully slipped my hand into the gap, gently pulled the two straps inward to loosen them, and then pulled them apart—the hook came undone with absurd ease.

"Thank you, Si-hyeon."

Victoria slipped her hand inside her dress and pulled out her bra. How should I put it—it's a rude way to phrase it, but the thought that you could fit a watermelon in there crossed my mind before I could stop it.

The sight from the front was just as shocking.

They didn't look saggy, but even so, once freed from their restraint, the weight of the two mounds showed clearly under gravity.

"Hoo."

Only then did Victoria let out a pleased sigh, as if she felt much more comfortable.

As I stared blankly at her for a moment, our eyes met. Victoria blushed and averted her gaze.

"If you stare so openly, even I get a bit embarrassed..."

"Ah, sorry."

I knew myself where my gaze had been directed, so I immediately apologized and looked away.

If I may make an excuse, that's something no man can resist.

To put it metaphorically, it was like dangling catnip or a tube of cat treat in front of a cat and wiggling it gently.

"Anyway, you're kind of unexpected."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything you've shown today. You had this image of someone who considers self-care the most basic of basics, but then you overdo it and collapse, and I thought you'd be the type who never got embarrassed, yet in a situation like this you get embarrassed like anyone else."

Granted, it was an unavoidable situation, but if she was going to be this embarrassed, shouldn't she have not assigned me the role of taking off her bra in the first place?

But Victoria weakly shook her head.

"Right now, I'm, well, not wearing it..."

Come to think of it, the dress she was wearing was white.

Considering I'd only realized the bra color when I took it off, the material probably didn't show through much, but still, when you wear white clothes, you can't help but worry whether it's see-through.

"Right. I'll be careful not to look."

"No, I'm going to lie down anyway. If I cover myself with the blanket, it'll be fine."

Victoria lay down as she was and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

"And I still consider self-care to be basic. It's just that this time, I misjudged my own condition and made a mistake."

"Didn't you know yourself that it was too much?"

"I had to push myself that hard. For a mediocrity like me to catch up to a genius even a little, no amount of overexertion ever feels like enough. So..."

Victoria trailed off.

But it wasn't hard to imagine what she wanted to say.

"From what I can see, you're a genius yourself."

"I thought so too. Until I met Aria."

"Sure, there can be differences even among geniuses. And separate from that, wasn't studying—not practice—the reason you overworked yourself this time?"

"To be precise, that's also one of the causes."

Victoria continued her story.

Various administrative tasks, document review, reports, studying all the material covered on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exams, plus additional Korean study.

On top of that, six hours of practice every day.

"Couldn't you have cut back on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠practice?"

"I can't do that. I don't know when I might have a rematch with Aria. I have to keep honing myself to be in the best possible condition at all times, so that I can give a performance with no regrets."

"But if you collapse doing that, it defeats the whole purpose. This time you were lucky it ended as simple overwork with no particular abnormalities, but is there any guarantee it'll be the same next time? What if you collapse and hurt yourself, or continuous overwork strains your brain?"

Before I knew it, I was angry.

I wasn't sorry.

Someone had to get angry at this attitude of treating self-neglect and overexertion as if they were natural.

"Are you worried about me?"

"Anyone would be, after hearing what you've done."

"I appreciate the concern. But this is one thing I can't concede, even to you, Si-hyeon. Even if my life is short, if I can burn brightly and then fade, I'll have no regrets."

Victoria declared.

Her determination was so absolute it bordered on foolishness, and a question occurred to me.

"Because you want to beat Aria?"

"It would be a lie to say otherwise. But that woman—Aria is a star. No matter how far I reach, I can't touch her. So."

Victoria reached toward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the empty air with a dreamy expression.

As if trying to grasp an invisible star.

"So I reach out. That's why I felt my life was worth burning. Even if my talent is insignificant compared to hers, if I burn everything I have, then someday—"

I might reach her.

That was what Victoria was saying.

"So the reason you want Aria to return to the music world is because otherwise even the chance to reach out would disappear?"

"Yes. It would be troublesome if she didn't. I finally, finally met someone I could think it was worth burning everything for."

So before meeting Aria, there had been no one like that.

As I'd thought, Victoria was a genius too.

It was just that Aria was completely outside the norm.

"I've devoted my whole life to music. I thought I was a genius. I thought of myself as a star others couldn't reach. That thought, that arrogance—she shattered it far too easily.

It was a shock. Arrogant as I may have been, I've never slacked off. I considered that the duty of someone standing at the top. And yet she trampled my entire life so easily."

Simply.

From Victoria's perspective, it was understandable.

For Victoria, it was an instrument she'd played her whole life. For Aria, it was an instrument she'd touched for the first time that day.

And despite that, Victoria had been overwhelmingly defeated.

"To Aria, I was just someone she could devote her life to like that."

"I know. If there's a reason she could give up so easily despite having that much talent, then of course it could only be that reason."

"I'll ask even knowing it's rude. Do you have any intention of giving up on persuading Aria? Then you'd both be more comfortable. Aria could live the life she wants, and you could become a star."

Victoria let out a weak laugh at that.

"If only I could. If only I could keep deluding myself that I'm a star, and turn away from the real star in the sky..."

"So there's a reason you can't?"

"Could you say the same thing to Aria, Si-hyeon? To forget a man like me and live on, that it would be easier for both of us?"

I had nothing to say.

If I'd realized she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had feelings for me before hearing Aria's true feelings, maybe I could have said that.

But not now.

Now that I knew the extent of Aria's feelings, I couldn't brush it off so simply.

"Sorry. That was out of line."

"There's no need to apologize. I'm the one pushing my own greed and selfishness on others and clashing with them."

In other words, Victoria's behavior wasn't going to change going forward.

"Then I won't try to persuade you any further. But at least take care of your health. When something like today happens, it makes my heart lurch."

"You're kind, Si-hyeon."

"I told you earlier. Anyone would say this."

"Not just anyone, it turns out. Unlike my brother, you respected my will more. You didn't treat me with indifference, telling me to handle my own life myself."

"Your brother seems to worry too much."

I smiled bitterly as I said it. I could fully understand how her brother felt.

"Yes, really."

"It's because he's family. I'm ultimately an outsider, so I can say this. If Aria were ruining her health like this over something, I'd scold her like crazy too, you know?"

"But you wouldn't forbid her from doing music entirely. Like now."

Until now, I'd vaguely thought of Victoria's brother as a good person who cherished his younger sister.

But was there actually some other circumstance behind it?

There was an edge to Victoria's words just now.

"Are you not on good terms with your brother?"

"No. We're on good terms. He doesn't completely forbid me from doing music either. It's just..."

Victoria paused for a moment.

"He definitely doesn't approve. He also doesn't look favorably on my obsession with Aria."

Victoria's gaze was fixed on some farther point in the empty air.

As if recalling memories with her brother.

I wasn't family, so it wasn't my place to pry any deeper. The conversation naturally stopped there.

"I'll get going soon. Seo-yeon will come in my place shortly."

About twenty minutes until the next lecture.

I needed to get up soon if I wanted to walk at a leisurely pace.

"Si-hyeon."

Victoria called out to me as I was about to leave.

Victoria spoke to me with a gentle smile, not her usual confident one.

"As I thought, I think it would be fine to marry you after all."

"No thanks. I'm not interested, you know? At least if your goal changes from Aria to me, then tell me again."

Instead of answering, Victoria quietly closed her eyes.

Our conversation ended completely there.

* * *

"Is Victoria doing okay?"

"They said there's nothing particularly wrong. Though if she keeps this up, something will be."

I talked with Aria as we walked home.

After lectures ended completely, I considered going back to check on Victoria's condition, but Seo-yeon said she'd go see her and told me it was fine to head home.

"That's a relief, at least."

"Yeah. Anyway, what's that Lucas guy doing, not stopping his charge from overworking herself like that?"

I muttered a light complaint about Victoria's secretary, who hadn't shown his face at all.

Then Aria gave a rather unexpected answer.

"She probably hid it. Especially at university, she would have told him to stay out of sight as much as possible except when coming and going."

"Why?"

"Because the person who placed Lucas at Victoria's side is none other than her brother, Viktor von Adler."

In short, if the fact that she collapsed reached Lucas's ears, it would immediately be reported to Viktor.

"Even setting aside today's collapse, wouldn't he inevitably know she overworks herself normally?"

"She probably deliberately assigned him all sorts of miscellaneous tasks to keep him distracted. That girl, despite how she looks, is good at pretending to be fine."

Even though her words were curt, Aria's expression was full of worry. She seemed to have long known that Victoria overworked herself, but this appeared to be the first time she'd seen her collapse.

"She said she's caught up on all the material, so she'll sleep well starting today."

"Even so, her sleep won't exceed six hours. Honestly, why come all the way to Korea when she could just live comfortably in Austria..."

Aria grumbled.

Since Aria was always devoted to me, this side of her felt quite new.

"You're worried, huh?"

"Of course I'm worried. When I've seen her collapse like that right in front of me."

"Let's just watch for now. I did tell her not to overdo it at the expense of her health."

When I stroked Aria's hair, her expression finally relaxed.

After we got home, while I was preparing dinner, a call came in. It was Linnea's number.

"Hello."

"Ah, Si-hyeon. Are you doing well?"

"Yes, both Aria and I are doing well. How about you, Linnea?"

"Jin-seong and I are doing well too. After he was discharged, Jin-seong has been completely full of energy."

I'd heard last time that there was nothing wrong, but according to Linnea, it still seemed to have taken quite a while for him to be discharged.

I guessed my father was so energetic simply because his stifling hospital stay had ended.

"Are you in the middle of preparing dinner?"

"Yes. There's some frozen shrimp left over today, so I'm going to make fried rice with it."

"That sounds delicious. It makes me want to return to Korea quickly."

Even though only her voice came through the phone, it wasn't hard to imagine Linnea smiling happily.

"When you come back to Korea, I'll make it for you anytime. When do you think you'll be able to return?"

"It might be a bit later than I said last time. Because Jin-seong collapsed, the lumber selection took a long time, and we've only just finished contacting the processing company."

"Don't overdo it. Health comes first."

"Of course. Ah, Si-hyeon. Shall I put Jin-seong on?"

"It's fine. If something comes up, I'll call separately later. Should I put Aria on instead?"

Right now, I didn't have the courage to contact my father first.

Because every piece of news I had to deliver was a bombshell.

"I'm fine too. I'll talk to Aria separately later. Then I'll hang up now, Si-hyeon. Enjoy your dinner."

"Yes, you too, Linnea."

The call ended.

After setting my smartphone on the dining table, I went back to working the wok and cooking off the moisture. Aria came out to the living room after changing clothes.

"Brother. Were you on the phone with Mother?"

"Yeah. Father's been completely discharged and is full of energy these days. Though it seems it'll take a bit longer before they return."

"That's a relief."

As she said that, Aria came over to my side.

"Brother, are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow I only have morning lectures, so I should be free. Is something up?"

"I want to go buy swimsuits together tomorrow."

"Sure, then let's head to the mall right after morning lectures."

"Promise?"

Aria smiled.

I didn't know then.

What kind of swimsuit she would end up buying.