Chapter 273
Chapter 273
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 273
Chapter Title: Greed and Love (5)
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“S-Sis… ter?”
Isabella looked up at Ha-eun, her face pale.
Ha-eun, who was usually as cheerful as a blazing fire, now had a gaze as cold as ice.
“What did I say before? That I’d respect Oh-jin’s decision, right?”
And Oh-jin’s decision was to sort out their feelings for each other.
Whatever the reason, she couldn’t just ignore the choice he had made.
“B-But, before he lost his memories…”
“So he decided to accept your feelings back then, but suddenly changed his mind after losing his memory?”
“Y-Yes! Th-That’s right!”
Isabella nodded her head frantically.
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes, looking down at Isabella.
She didn’t seem to be lying out of desperation.
“…Something’s strange.”
Ha-eun muttered, frowning.
The memories Oh-jin had lost this time were only a tiny fraction of his date with Isabella.
Of course, she couldn’t know exactly how much of his memory was gone, but it didn’t seem like enough to completely alter his usual feelings and way of thinking.
After all, even when he’d lost all his memories of being her lover—a different situation, but still—his feelings hadn’t changed.
“Come to think of it, you said earlier you ‘won’t lie anymore,’ right?”
That must mean she had lied before.
Flinch.
Isabella’s shoulders trembled.
“Th-That’s.”
Breaking out in a cold sweat, Isabella avoided her gaze.
Ha-eun’s eyes glinted sharply.
“What did you lie to Oh-jin about?”
“……”
Isabella hung her head like a criminal in a courtroom.
“I-I’m sorry, Sis.”
“It’s not about being sorry. What was the lie?”
“Well…”
At Ha-eun’s irritated tone, Isabella hesitantly recounted what had happened with Oh-jin.
As the story unfolded, Ha-eun’s expression changed with every passing moment.
By the time the unexpected confession was over…
“…Ugh, my head.”
Ha-eun let out a deep sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Hey, you foolish girl.”
She smacked the top of Isabella’s bowed head.
“You think that con man would fall for something like that?”
“B-But, he definitely.”
“He probably knew something was off but just decided to trust you. That’s how much he trusts you.”
“……”
“But you tried to deceive him, didn’t you?”
It was an undeniable fact.
Isabella bit her lip, feeling her heart tear to shreds with guilt.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s not me you should be apologizing to, is it?”
“I’m sorry to you too, Sis.”
She had tried to pull a fast one, knowing full well that the two of them were dating.
It was something she had to bow her head and apologize to Ha-eun for as well.
“…I’ll apologize to Mr. Oh-jin tomorrow.”
“And what are you going to do after you apologize? Go back to Italy?”
“……”
Isabella’s face turned deathly pale.
She knew instinctively.
If she returned to Italy now, she would never have a future with Oh-jin.
The hope that sustained her life would be uprooted entirely.
“I… have to go back.”
The crime she’d committed was too great to shamelessly remain by Oh-jin’s side.
“A-And I… won’t… *hic*… appear… before Mr. Oh-jin again.”
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
A suffocating sensation.
The thought of no longer being by his side crushed her with a dizzying despair.
“You hear that?”
Ha-eun, who had been staring blankly at the weeping Isabella, suddenly spoke.
“Pardon?”
Who was she talking to?
Isabella, who had been crying with her head down, quickly looked up.
Ha-eun let out a smirk and pulled her smartphone from her pocket.
The phone was in the middle of a call.
Isabella’s eyes widened.
As a stunned “No way” escaped her lips, Ha-eun pressed the speaker button on the phone.
[That’s a bit of a problem.]
A familiar voice came from the smartphone.
It was the voice Isabella most wanted to hear, and at the same time, the one she dreaded hearing the most.
“M-M-M-Mr. Oh-jin?!”
[I thought something was strange. So that’s what happened.]
Oh-jin’s wry laugh came from the other side of the phone.
Isabella, her face ashen, grabbed Ha-eun’s shoulders.
“S-Sis. D-Don’t tell me, from the very beginning…?”
“Oh-jin was worried about you and asked me to check on you.”
Ha-eun shrugged and clicked her tongue.
“Well… I knew it would come to this someday.”
Right after they returned from the Demon Realm.
She’d had a vague premonition ever since Isabella had become a complete wreck, thinking Oh-jin was dead.
“This is all your fault, you bastard.”
Ha-eun frowned, glaring at the smartphone.
“Ah, augh.”
Isabella stomped her feet, not knowing what to do.
To think that Oh-jin had heard her entire conversation with Ha-eun.
Did that mean all her lies had been exposed?
“I-I-I have to d…”
“D?”
“I have no choice but to die now.”
Isabella squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her sharp nails against her own neck.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute!”
Ha-eun urgently grabbed Isabella’s hand.
She nearly stumbled from the girl’s bull-like strength, but thankfully, she managed to stop Isabella’s hand before her nails could pierce her skin.
“What do you mean, die?!”
“…You said it before, didn’t you, Sis?”
Her low, heavy voice trembled, mingling with the teardrops.
“That if Mr. Oh-jin died… you would follow him.”
“……”
“It’s… it’s the same for me.”
Oh-jin wasn’t dead, but…
If she couldn’t be by his side, it was practically the same as being dead.
“I’m sorry. For getting above myself and trying to take your place.”
“……”
Ha-eun stared sharply at Isabella, her lips pressed into a firm line.
A surge of irritation washed over her at the sight of Isabella weeping pathetically.
“What’s wrong with you? This isn’t like you.”
The Isabella she knew would, especially at a time like this, put on all sorts of sophisticated airs and act shamelessly like a sly fox.
But what was she like now?
Not a sly fox, but a leech squirming in muddy water.
A slimy feeling of disgust rose at the sight of Isabella, so miserably dejected.
Ha-eun glared fiercely at Isabella and continued.
“Why did you tell such a pointless lie in the first place?”
If she wanted to be by Oh-jin’s side, there was no reason she had to be ‘the first’.
Isabella bit her lip and lowered her head.
“…because.”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Because… I was scared.”
She had known, really.
That no matter what she did, she could never take Ha-eun’s place.
And because she knew that better than anyone, she was scared.
So scared, so terrified, she felt like she was going crazy.
Even after losing his memories of being Ha-eun’s lover, Oh-jin had reconnected with her as if it were nothing.
Between them was a bond that transcended memories and recollections.
But what about her?
What about her, who was nothing but ‘the second’?
Did she have anything that could be called a memory with Oh-jin?
Did she have a bond that transcended memory?
“I’m sorry… *sob*. I’m sorry.”
What if Oh-jin used that technique again, the one that turned his entire body into a black storm cloud?
What if he forgot his memories of her one more time?
Could she, like Ha-eun, go back to their original relationship as if nothing had happened?
“I… I w-wanted to be… like you, Sis. Like you.”
That was why she had yearned to be the first.
Even knowing it was a position she didn’t deserve.
Even knowing it wasn’t a place she could obtain with a clumsy lie.
She had been greedy.
“I was… wrong.”
“……”
Ha-eun watched the sobbing Isabella and silently wiped her face.
Haaah.
A deep sigh escaped.
“Hey, Kwon Oh-jin.”
Ha-eun turned her head toward the front door.
“You’re there, aren’t you?”
“…Pardon?”
Click.
The front door opened, and Oh-jin, dressed in a hospital gown, stepped inside.
Isabella’s body jolted as if she’d had a seizure, and she stumbled backward.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin?!”
“……”
Oh-jin approached Isabella without a word and gently reached out, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Ha-eun clicked her tongue and turned away.
“You handle the rest.”
“…Handle it?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’ll follow your decision.”
“……”
Oh-jin, who had been thinking with his lips sealed tight, finally spoke in a low voice.
“Sorry, Noona.”
A deep sigh escaped him.
“I guess I really am a piece of trash.”
“You’re only figuring that out now?”
Ha-eun let out a hollow laugh and kicked Oh-jin squarely in the shin.
“If I brought home another guy and told you I was going to date you both, what would you do?”
“I’d beat the hell out of him and tell him to get lost.”
“You selfish bastard.”
“I told you. I’m a piece of trash.”
He was done thinking about it so complicatedly.
Who gave a damn about the aftereffects of Gaecheon?
“Instead, though it’s not exactly a substitute.”
Oh-jin slowly straightened up.
He held Isabella with one hand and took Ha-eun’s hand with the other.
“I’ll make you happy. Both of you.”
Even if he had to trample and burn the entire world to do it.
“…M-Mr. Oh-jin?”
“Bullshit.”
Ha-eun scowled and spat out a harsh curse.
But despite her rough words, she didn’t let go of Oh-jin’s hand.
“I’m letting you off the hook, so you better listen to me from now on, got it?”
“With the sins I’ve committed, I’ll have to listen to whatever you say.”
“Do the Zero Two dance for me in a maid outfit.”
“I’m sorry, Isabella. I don’t think I can accept your feelings.”
“Ah…”
Isabella’s pupils contracted.
Her shoulders trembled, her face filled with despair.
“Hey, hey. You’re going to make the kid cry again.”
Ha-eun let out a smirk and patted Isabella’s shoulder.
“…Sis?”
“I’d probably be pretty pissed if some random girl tried to snatch Oh-jin’s spot.”
She smiled faintly and gently stroked the hair of the collapsed Isabella.
“But, well. To be honest, I don’t really dislike you. It kind of feels like I’ve gained a little sister.”
Though her occasional bold actions made her blood boil, Isabella was fundamentally a friendly and kind person.
It was like having a sharp younger sister.
As a romantic rival, she was the worst possible opponent, but as a friend or colleague, it would be hard to find anyone better.
“S-So, does that mean you… a-accept me, Sis?”
A brilliant galaxy spread across Isabella’s once-empty eyes.
Ha-eun shrugged and turned her head toward Oh-jin.
“You just bolted from your hospital room without a word, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yeah.”
There was no time to explain anything.
“They’re probably in an uproar by now, thinking you’ve disappeared.”
With a patient from the VIP room suddenly vanishing, the entire hospital must have been turned upside down.
“Wait. I’ll call them right…”
“Don’t bother. I’ll go and handle the discharge papers.”
It wasn’t like holing up in a VIP room would cure the aftereffects of Gaecheon anyway.
Ha-eun glanced down at Isabella and continued.
“Finish your talk with her in the meantime.”
“…Thanks, Noona.”
“Whatever. This is all my fault for dating a guy like you.”
Ha-eun heaved a deep sigh and turned around.
“Oh, wait a minute.”
Just as she was about to leave, she seemed to remember something and rummaged through a drawer in the room.
What she pulled out was a small paper box, slightly larger than her palm.
“If you’re going to do it, use this.”
Ha-eun tossed the paper box to Oh-jin.
“……”
“……”
Seeing the number ‘0.01’ written on the paper box, the expressions on Oh-jin’s and Isabella’s faces froze solid.