The Last Abandonment

"...Huh? So... what... what are you even saying...?"

I tried desperately to hide the tremor in my voice, but the sudden, incomprehensible words made my tongue tangle. Su-ho said nothing. He simply lowered his head in heavy silence.

Whether he had heard me or was choosing to ignore me, he slipped off his outer jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

"Look at the state of you. Where the hell have you been?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Say something. What are you talking about?"

"...Exactly what I said. I hope you never appear in front of us again."

"...Eh...?"

My legs refused to hold me, but I forced them to move. I grabbed Su-ho by the shoulder as he kept his head bowed, and the face that met mine was more wretched than anything I had ever seen on my little brother.

What is happening right now?

Su-ho was staring at me with an expression I had never witnessed before. Anger. Sorrow so deep it looked like he might cry at any second. Regret and disgust swirled in his eyes. The strength drained from my fingers where they gripped his shoulder, and I had no choice but to let go.

Why are you looking at me with those eyes? You, of all people, shouldn't look at me like that.

"...There should be money in the inner pocket of the bag. It’ll be enough to rent a small room right away. It’s the last thing Dad is giving you, so spend it carefully."

Dad said that? Why? Why suddenly?

"...I’ll talk to him myself. Where is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dad right now? I’ll go to him...!"

If we just meet and talk, everything will be resolved. Whatever misunderstanding this is, it can be fixed. He always said he was on my side.

"That’s enough."

The moment I tried to push past Su-ho and leave the phone booth, he seized my arm and shoved me back into the cramped box.

It was the first time I had ever lost to him in raw strength. It felt heavy. It felt terrifying.

"Su-ho, whatever you’re thinking, it’s a misunderstanding. Something’s gone wrong. I—we. We can fix this together."

"A misunderstanding? Of what? Where does the truth end and the lies begin? You can fix it? You still don’t even understand what the fuck you’ve done, do you?"

It hurts. It hurts so much. Please don’t do this to me.

Are you only seeking family when you need something from us? I’m sorry. I’ll apologize for everything. So please… please stop looking at me like that…

A migraine like nothing I had ever felt crawled up the back of my skull. It felt like my head would split open. I clutched my temples with both hands, but the noise of the street and Su-ho’s voice driving me into a corner tore a venomous scream from my throat.

"..Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!! What the hell did I do so wrong?! Huh?! You said we were family! Is this what family does?! I never wanted a family like this!! You said I abandoned you first? No. No! Dad abandoned me first. Dad. You. Mom…!!"

"...Pathetic bitch."

"...What?"

Su-ho cut off my burning words with a single sentence. He was looking at me with genuine pity.

"Remember a few weeks ago? The day you beat Im Chan-woo half to death. That day you told me I was a hypocrite. You said if I was going to sell out Mom and Dad to make my own life easier, then just do it. Must be nice, you said. To be able to live so simply."

"...Huh?"

Su-ho swept a hand down his face, sighed, and continued.

"And I don’t care if you like men or women, but..."

"...How would you even know about that…!!"

"Liking your little brother’s girlfriend. Isn’t that something you’re not supposed to do? And the hilarious part is, why is it my fault that I broke up with Chae-yun? Do I have to rearrange my entire life and spoon-feed you just because you want it?"

"No, wait, Su-ho…!"

"...Why should I have to go this far for your love?"

Su-ho’s face was twisted in misery, like he was barely holding back tears. His eyes grew wetter by the second.

No. No, no. This is all wrong. I can still fix this.

"I’m sorry, okay? Su-ho, let’s just go home first and..."

"Let go, fuck..."

Su-ho violently yanked his arm free. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and turned to leave.

That was when his phone began to ring. He wiped away the last of his tears, cleared the sorrow from his throat, and answered in a voice stripped of emotion.

"Yes, Dad. No, I met her. We were talking for a bit… Yes… You want me to put her on?"

The voice on the other end was thick with grief. In the chaos of not understanding anything, Dad’s words summoned fragments of memory that rose like bile in my mind.

"Ah… aaa…!! Aaaaaagh!!! Uwek…!! Urghhh…!!"

What is this memory…? A whole week? I had been in that motel room for a week…?

The rising disgust made my legs give out. I collapsed onto the floor and vomited everything inside me.

No. When? When exactly? Why? Why would I do something like that?

No. I’m still me. I’m Hong Su-a. I’m… Hong Su-a? Am I still myself?

The call ended with a cold mechanical beep. No more voice came through.

"...Take care of yourself."

Su-ho looked at the wounds on my feet, took off his own shoes, and walked away.

"...Don’t… go..."

I reached out with a powerless hand, but I couldn’t touch him.

"...Hehe… hehehe..."

No one needs me anymore. Why am I even alive? I sat on the cold pavement and simply laughed. Why? Why? Why? Why? If it was going to be like this, why was I even born?

"...No one… no one believes me… no one even looks at me..."

My head felt weightless. The feeling of being left completely alone. Nothing matters anymore. Nothing at all.

"Heeheehee… kyahahahaha..."

"...You really found her?"

"Did you doubt my words?"

The human who had become the host of the blue petal and my own ability were connected no matter the distance. If I wanted to find her, I could sense the host’s presence. I had followed that thread to track down Su-a after she ran away, but…

"...Heeheehee..."

Her condition was worse than I expected. Her mind had been pushed to its absolute limit. The family she had clung to as her final support had abandoned her too. It was like the last block of a Jenga tower—once it was pulled, the whole thing collapsed easily.

Still, it was fortunate she retained some sanity. If she had shattered completely, everything I had done until now would have been wasted effort.

I rolled up my sleeves, approached the girl sitting on the pavement laughing like a madwoman, and secretly brought her into an empty alley. I placed my hand on her head and focused my mind at my fingertips.

The parasite had nearly finished fusing with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hong Su-a’s brain. I was curious what kind of change would appear in the personality of a human driven this far.

Our consciousnesses connected through my fingertips. I passively completed the fusion with the parasite.

"...I… am..."

The expression that had been soaked in manic laughter fell into a trance. Though invisible to the eye, the existence of the human called Hong Su-a grew fainter and fainter. Something else was being born in its place.

As if to prove it, her body began to convulse violently in short spasms, letting out strange, broken moans.

"Ahh… ugh? Clothes…?"

About a minute passed before the convulsions finally subsided.

What I sensed now was clear. The thing inside this body was no longer Hong Su-a.

"...Hong Su-a?"

"..."

"Did something go wrong?"

The moment I turned to answer Chae-yun, who was asking if I had failed because of the strange atmosphere, Hong Su-a moved like lightning. She knocked me to the ground and crushed her lips against mine in a savage kiss.

"Slurrrp♡ Puha…♡"

"Pwah! What the—?"

Before I could even process what was happening, she wrapped me in an embrace with monstrous strength. If she were still human, my bones would have been crushed to powder.

It was clear now—Hong Su-a was no longer human.

After the long, crushing hug, she finally lifted her head to look at my face. It was still her face, but the expression had changed completely. Her cheeks were flushed crimson, her breathing was ragged, and her eyes looked vacant, as if something inside had left and something new had taken its place.

"I love you. I love you. I love you so much. Don’t abandon me. I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all. For you, I can do anything. Please love me. Love me…"

She muttered like a broken person, using raw strength to pull down my pants. She took my cock—which hadn’t even hardened yet from the shock—into her mouth and began sucking it greedily, lovingly swirling her tongue around it.

"Hngh…♡ I’ll do this… I’ll do so much for you… Don’t throw me away, okay♡"

Su-a, radiating insane levels of obsession toward me, paid no attention to anything around us. She only looked at me. Like a small child desperately craving love from her parents.