Chapter 88
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Even If the World is Unfair (4)
After meeting that fortune teller lady, the date surprisingly went off without a hitch.
“Umm... Haa...”
At first, she seemed dejected, maybe because of the curses the lady had laid on her, seriously pondering something.
“Yeah, I've been such a fool all this time...”
She even muttered self-reproach to herself, her mind clearly elsewhere, but it wasn't long before she snapped back to normal.
“Jun-hyuk, how about we check that out?”
From then on, we enjoyed a perfectly ordinary date.
It didn't look like she'd planned it out ahead of time—instead, we just wandered toward whatever caught our interest on the spot—so nothing like the previous disasters happened.
‘Seeing this, maybe that fortune teller lady really did have some genuine spiritual powers?’
I was seriously starting to wonder if Seo-yeon really had all that bad karma sabotaging her plans when dusk began to fall, and Seo-yeon turned to me.
“By the way, Jun-hyuk, you messaged me before that you could drink now, right?”
“Yeah. Thanks to this artifact Yu-ra noona gave me. I still can't chug like a pro or anything—just a moderate amount.”
“That's great. Honestly, I've been worried about you. You're so weak with alcohol, I was afraid something bad might happen.”
She stopped there and fell silent again.
Her twitching lips gave away exactly what she wanted to say.
“Seo-yeon, you want to grab a drink?”
“...A little.”
“Then let's do it. How about that place? Soju with some stew sounds perfect.”
“Yeah. As long as I can drink...”
On our way, we spotted a budae jjigae joint and headed in together.
By the time the hot, spicy stew started bubbling away, Seo-yeon had already cracked open the soju and filled an empty glass.
‘She's pounding it already?’
The stew wasn't even ready yet.
After silently sharing the first shot, she kept refilling and downing her glass over and over.
“You know, come to think of it, ever since I met you, Jun-hyuk, I've just been on the receiving end of everything.”
Around the time she'd polished off a whole bottle by herself, she finally spoke up.
“If it weren't for you, I'd probably still be out there making smear videos about celebrities.”
“No, that's not true. If it was you, Seo-yeon, you would've realized your mistakes quick and turned your life around like you have now.”
“I know myself better than that. I probably would've kept going down that path. You pulled me out of it, and I'm truly grateful.”
She seemed pretty wasted, so to lighten the mood a bit, I scooped some stew onto her plate.
But Seo-yeon didn't touch it and just kept talking.
“And after that, it was more of the same—just receiving help. When I was agonizing over what to do next, you introduced me to Yu-ra and helped me land a solid job. You hung out with me without expecting anything in return.”
“Seo-yeon, are you drunk already?”
“Yeah. If I wasn't drunk, I could never get these words out.”
A chill ran down my spine.
The fortune teller had said Seo-yeon had a ton of bad karma and could never be happy.
“Jun-hyuk, I have something I want to say.”
Was she about to beat herself up, saying someone like her didn't deserve to be with me?
Was that why she was borrowing liquid courage to break things off now?
“I know it's really selfish, but...”
Seo-yeon meant a lot to me, just like I meant a lot to her.
Our first meeting was rocky, but now she was a precious connection I didn't want to let go of.
‘But if it's really what she wants...’
I'd have to let her go.
At the same time, I didn't want to.
Conflicting emotions clashed inside me when Seo-yeon's declaration hit my ears.
“I'm quitting the Millennium Guild.”
Huh?
＊＊＊
Lee Seo-yeon forcibly held back the heat rising with the booze.
Ever since getting advice from the fortune teller, she'd been mulling over this one thing nonstop.
“Why quit your job all of a sudden?”
“I need to, so I can hold my head high.”
All that talk of bad karma and supernatural nonsense—she couldn't comprehend it, didn't want to.
There was only one thing she'd taken to heart from the fortune teller's words.
[You've only ever received help from others. What have you ever accomplished with your own two hands?]
Even begging forgiveness from her victims back in her Go Jin-yo days had only been possible thanks to Yoo Jun-hyuk.
Landing a top-tier job now was thanks to him and Choi Yu-ra.
Dating the man she saw as her life's benefactor and personal ideal guy was only possible because he'd accepted her and Choi Yu-ra had stepped aside.
So what had she ever done on her own?
“I want to achieve something by myself, without help from you or Choi Yu-ra.”
This wasn't right.
She couldn't stand tall as his equal girlfriend like this, and she'd always feel indebted to Choi Yu-ra, the woman she shared him with.
“Of course, this isn't some rash decision without a plan. It won't be that different from what I do now. I'm thinking of starting up a company, taking it public, and dispatching staff to handle business between Hunter guilds—or doing the coordination myself.”
She didn't want it to end up like this.
She didn't want to lose to that damn bitch, wanted to stand on the same level as them.
That was the dilemma Lee Seo-yeon had been harboring since meeting the fortune teller.
‘I just spilled it all.’
She looked at Yoo Jun-hyuk with trembling eyes.
This wasn't the kind of thing to bring up on a date—it was the worst mood-killer.
But she had to say it.
Because people's resolve, vows, and feelings strengthen or weaken over time.
She was dead set on quitting the guild now to stand as their equal, but tomorrow could be different.
The perks of working at the Millennium Guild were something she'd come to fully appreciate with her body and soul over the past half-year plus—it was an irreplaceable environment she couldn't easily walk away from.
“That's why I called it selfish. It's like turning down help from both of you.”
What would his reaction be?
Yoo Jun-hyuk, who had stayed silently quiet for a long stretch, looked at the anxious her and smiled.
“Sounds good. I'll cheer you on.”
He didn't try to persuade her not to quit.
Didn't scold her for biting the hand that fed her.
Just one plain word, no fancy rhetoric: support.
“Thank you.”
No, his smiling face was the rhetoric.
The two finished eating and stepped outside.
Unlike the artificial blizzard of early dawn, this year's first natural snow fluttered down softly to greet them.
“Umm, what now?”
“Dunno. I...”
Even without heavenly interference, Lee Seo-yeon's plans had only gone as far as dinner.
She'd called herself a side chick, but she couldn't even dream of dragging him to a motel or her place if he didn't want it.
“I'm kinda tired.”
“Then I'll walk you home!”
As they walked side by side, Yoo Jun-hyuk slyly took her hand.
“Not sure I can make it home. I'm exhausted—like, really bad.”
Their fingers intertwined.
Slowly, sticky and soft like a slug.
Ten fingers overlapping, gripping tight as if to say he'd never let go.
“So...”
The firmly held hand led her to a stop in motel alley.
Yoo Jun-hyuk flashed a warm eye-smile at the shocked Lee Seo-yeon.
“Shall we... find a place to rest?”
He'd been waiting for her to take the lead.
But her confession of wanting independence had his heart swelling more than ever.
He wasn't trying to take charge himself, but giving her a little push to step up didn't seem so bad.
“...”
A sudden opportunity.
The old Lee Seo-yeon might've missed it, but not this one.
“Sh-sure, why not?”
The moment she seized it, doubt crept in.
Was this a dream?
She cautiously pinched her side with her other hand, and sharp pain flared.
‘Not a dream!’
It wouldn't hurt like this if it was!
On the way to the counter, the pain kept reminding her this was real.
‘I never got those perverts who say pain feels good, but now I do!’
Had she pinched too hard, though?
Why did her side still hurt?
‘It's not just my side...’
The pain spread from her side to her waist.
“Seo-yeon? You okay?”
“F-fine!”
Gotta pay quick.
I want a room with Jun-hyuk, want to make love!
“Your color looks really off...”
“I'm fine! Oh, I'll handle the payment!”
But even with iron will, some truths couldn't be overcome.
“Huhk!”
Agonizing pain shot up her spine and blasted her mind away.
She crumpled like a deflating balloon, foaming at the mouth, and was rushed to the ER. Yoo Jun-hyuk, called in as her guardian, asked the doctor worriedly.
“Uh, is it... something serious?”
“Hmm, not really serious. Just a kidney stone that burst.”
“Huh? Kidney stone?”
A doctor's duty is to stay calm always.
With a nonchalant expression, the doctor glanced at the chart and said,
“Yeah. Urinary tract stone. In my 30 years as a doctor, I've never seen one this bad.”
“And the treatment...”
“We'll just shatter it with ultrasound, so no need to worry too much. Though it'll hurt like hell, of course.”
On the way out after the consult,
Just before the door closed, the doctor's voice reached Yoo Jun-hyuk's ear.
“Wow, how'd it get this bad? Did she sell out her country in a past life or something?”
“...”
It felt eerily familiar, so Yoo Jun-hyuk patted his pocket.
What came out in his hand was the talisman from the fortune teller.
Untying the red pouch slightly revealed the yellow talisman inside, crumbled to black ash as if it'd done its job.
[O God, please grant this dogshit evil boss a urinary tract stone.]
[It'll save you from pain and shave off a bit of that bitch you brought's bad karma too.]
“Hmm.”
No more skipping cafe shifts whenever he felt like it.
“Sorry, Seo-yeon.”
For real.
＊＊＊
“Phew.”
One week after kidney stone treatment and discharge.
Lee Seo-yeon was preparing to leave the Millennium Guild after submitting her resignation.
[Why not stick around longer? With your skills, Seo-yeon, you could keep climbing the ladder.]
Other employees tried to dissuade her, but with her mind made up, there was only moving forward.
Handover was almost done, so not much time left seeing this office view.
“Seo-yeon? I heard you're quitting?”
“Yeah?”
Choi Yu-ra approached Lee Seo-yeon, who was taking in the office scenery.
Sudden visit, but since she'd decided to quit, she'd half-expected it.
“What're you planning to do after?”
“Thinking of starting my own business. And... I'm really sorry. It was a spot you hooked me up with, and here I am bailing.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.”
Choi Yu-ra patted her shoulder.
“I'd have done the same. Girl power.”
She hadn't explained her reasons for leaving to Choi Yu-ra, but as a fellow woman, she got it.
“You got this.”
“...”
Watching the departing woman, Lee Seo-yeon pulled out her smartphone.
[Bitch]
Her fingers danced, changing the name.
[Choi Yu-ra]
Then Choi Yu-ra turned back, like she had something else to say.
“Oh, right! Eaten lunch?”
“Huh? No, not yet.”
“Wanna join? Heh, I'll be eating the lunchbox Jun-hyuk packed, though. This morning, he even made heart-shaped fried eggs? He didn't have to go through the hassle. As long as it's full of love, anything tastes good.”
“Umm, I'll eat alone.”
“Well, can't force you.”
Choi Yu-ra left again.
Lee Seo-yeon danced her fingers once more.
[Super Bitch]
She'd wanted success anyway.
Now she had even more reason to crush it.
“Someday when I make it big, I'll pay it all back.”