Resort Getaway (2)
"Ugh... Who are you..."
I examined the wound on her head.
It looked like just a scrape compared to the blood flowing from it.
I'd seen plenty of injuries like this back at the orphanage.
"My name's Kang Noah. I'm a streamer."
"...What?"
All eyes around us locked onto me and the woman.
She was completely wasted.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she alternated stares between her hand and mine.
"You... mocking me...? Can't even walk straight... tripping in a place like this..."
"Don't worry. I'm not the type to mock anyone."
Was it my sincere expression, gaze, and words?
She hesitated, then nodded blankly.
"We got a report of an injured person!"
Paramedics rushed over—someone must have called them.
While they checked her head wound and gave first aid, I held out a card to her.
"Want to flip this first?"
"What's... this?"
"What else? A card."
"...A card?"
She hesitated, then flipped the card I was holding.
It was the Chariot, reversed.
Not the best meaning, but the tarot's interpretation wasn't the point.
"Listen, friend. I know all about the ridicule and mockery you've heard from people."
"...How would you know."
I knew.
I'd seen it the moment I laid eyes on her.
Ho Haneul came from a well-off family.
Her father was the president of a mid-sized company.
Her mother was a successful university professor.
And that was why.
From a young age, she'd grown up under the weight of everyone's expectations.
A tiger's child should be a tiger, right?
Even her older brother and sister excelled in their fields.
They won awards at every competition and always ranked in the top three at school.
So naturally.
Everyone assumed she'd be the same.
But she wasn't.
Much to everyone's disappointment, Ho Haneul wasn't all that exceptional.
It wasn't for lack of effort.
She'd tried desperately, just like them.
But she was ordinary.
The people who'd pinned their hopes on her were let down.
First, the relatives.
Then her brother and sister.
And finally.
Even her father and mother.
They stopped paying attention to Ho Haneul, who could never rise above mediocrity.
They even disliked that she stayed in Korea.
So they shipped her off for unwanted study abroad.
Even overseas, she didn't thrive.
The people who initially approached her soon drifted away, dissatisfied with her averageness.
So maybe that's why.
She had no place to stand, neither at home nor abroad.
When she finally returned to Korea after her studies.
What welcomed Ho Haneul were a few photos.
Photos she received without even seeing her parents.
Go on a blind date and get married for the family's sake.
Marriage itself was fine.
But.
At the very least, she'd expected her parents to tell her in person.
Instead, they just sent some lackey with orders to marry.
Plunged into despair, she fled to the resort.
A resort she came to alone.
Its bar.
Where she drank alone.
Drank and drank until she was smashed, when cheers erupted from the next table.
Friends celebrating, maybe?
She saw a group blessing a woman on her birthday.
They looked so happy.
Ho Haneul stared ahead slowly.
A small slice of cake sat before her.
A single candle standing alone.
"Happy... birthday to you... Happy birthday to you. To my dear Haneul... Happy birthday."
She murmured the song softly, her voice soaked in tears and alcohol, then stood.
There was no place for her.
The emptiness and sadness blinded her.
Her foot caught on a small bump, she tripped, and her head hit the floor.
Hot blood trickled from the gash.
Today, pain overshadowed by sorrow.
Was her ordinary twenty-third birthday.
"Ho Haneul."
"....!!"
"I get that you're sad about the arranged marriage proposal right after returning from abroad without even seeing your family. And that they never really loved you."
"...Who the hell are you."
Light returned to her eyes, which had been glazed from drunkenness moments ago.
Ho Haneul stared at me with trembling eyes, then shrank back.
Like she'd seen something she shouldn't have.
"Ah, did my dad... send you?"
"What? No, I'm Kang Noah."
"Kang... Noah? Who's that."
Hmm. I thought I was pretty famous by now, but guess not.
"Google it."
She hesitated, then pulled out her phone.
And started tapping, typing in my name.
"...The top fortune teller?"
"That's me."
"...You're that great fortune teller?"
The gauze on her head bugged her; she reached up to touch it.
I grabbed her hand.
They'd just treated it and stopped the bleeding—mess it up now, and it'd reopen.
"Answer me. Are you really that good?"
"Pretty good, yeah."
"...So what's my future like?"
"My readings aren't cheap. Can you pay?"
"Money's not..."
"Alright, then. In four days, you overdose on sleeping pills and attempt suicide. And it succeeds."
"......."
Ho Haneul's face drained of color.
She must've had a hunch herself.
That she had nowhere left to go, nothing left to do.
That's when it happened.
"How about giving her this at least?"
"Oh, thanks."
Seo Yurin had returned with a hangover remedy drink.
She gulped it down from the can I handed her.
But it wasn't enough to sober her up completely—she slapped her own cheeks a few times.
"Hoo... Okay. I'm clear-headed now."
Her eye makeup was smudged with tears, giving her a scary look.
Maybe tell her to wash up, but she showed no sign of getting up.
She just stared at me silently.
Anyway, she's sober now—time to talk properly.
"Me, suicide...? But I'm not that miserable..."
"Not miserable? You've just been holding on this long."
Yeah.
She'd endured well.
Even cast out by her family just for being ordinary.
She'd toughed it out remarkably.
But the trigger to shatter her walls was something else.
"When you get back from the resort, your brother and sister will tell you they've never once seen you as a sibling."
"......."
"And your mom will say she regrets ever giving birth to you."
That shock would send her into a drunken stupor, leading to the suicide attempt.
"...Why?"
Ho Haneul murmured blankly.
Why.
Why they hated her so much—she couldn't comprehend it.
"When you get home from the resort, your parents will push the arranged marriage hard. But the guy's in his late forties, on his third marriage."
"......."
"Someone connected to your dad's company."
Forcing her to marry a middle-aged man on his third go.
She refused, and that's when the family hurled those words at her.
"...Why is this only happening to me..."
"It's not only you. The world's full of trash parents and families."
Even from what I knew, there were dads addicted to gambling and women—scum who borrowed their kids' names for loans then vanished.
Some moms even used their daughters for stress relief.
And me? No parents at all.
"...Real families like that exist?"
"The world's a lot bigger than you think."
Of course, that didn't mean she shouldn't feel unhappy about her own situation.
"....Haa. So, what should I do?"
"Best thing? Just leave home and live your own life."
Family doesn't have to mean clinging tight.
If you arm yourself with a "you're you, I'm me" mindset, you can ignore their sneers or nagging and just live.
"Is that even possible?"
She'd spent her life craving her family's love.
Pretending otherwise, but Ho Haneul yearned for their warmth more than anyone.
Telling her to ditch them cold turkey wouldn't be easy.
"You should find something else to fixate on."
"Something else... to fixate on?"
"Yeah. You've been obsessed with your family all this time, right?"
"That's..."
She'd craved their love.
Worked hard for their approval.
But never achieved enough to earn it.
And that only fueled her obsession more.
"I'm not saying live like some carefree drifter, but you don't have to achieve big things in life."
"......."
She hung her head.
I ordered a cocktail from the bartender.
A sweet one.
One sip moistened my parched, chatter-dried mouth.
"The world's not all bitter. There's plenty sweet too. Enjoy it in moderation."
"...Haa. So... what should I do?"
"I could say you can still be happy in an arranged marriage... but I haven't seen the guy, so who knows. If it comes to it, I can read his fortune later. Or how about getting a job?"
No arranged marriage, strike out on her own—no family support.
"Yeah, true..."
She agreed.
"My senior mentioned an internship spot if you're interested. Room and board included... Might not be bad to try."
In that instant, her future shifted.
From overdosing on pills and dying in her sleep.
To diligently working at a company.
And the place she got hired at was...
Huh?
Why was Hong Siyeon there...?
Was she getting a job at Hong Siyeon's company?