Really?
I don't even remember how I made it home or how I managed to fall asleep. My life. I always thought it would continue on without a single spectacular event—just smoothly, uneventfully, all the way to the end.... With that thought still lingering, I drifted off.
“Huaaam.”
I hadn't tossed and turned at all, so I woke up relatively early.
“What’s that on your arm, Kim Hyun-woo?”
The moment I stepped out of my room, Kim Hyun-ah asked from the dining table. She was eating while watching a variety show on her tablet. She must have spotted the gauze. Honestly, it would’ve been impossible to miss. It stood out too much.
“What, this? A medal of honor proving my manhood?”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“......”
I’d thrown it out as a lighthearted joke to brush things off, but it clearly wasn’t funny to her. It had been a while since I’d seen her look that dead serious.
“Don’t treat your body like it’s disposable. Oppa.”
“Why? Did your heart drop?”
“Of course it did. Ha, I nearly fell over from shock first thing in the morning. If Mom and Dad saw that, they’d lose their minds... You don’t think so?”
“...Huh?”
“If I came out in the morning with a huge bandage on my arm, you really think you wouldn’t be surprised?”
Her words instantly sobered me up. She was right. I’d thought I was being considerate by playing it down, but when I put myself in her shoes, I would’ve reacted exactly the same. No—probably worse.
We might bicker nonstop, but she was still my precious little sister. My family.
“Uh, yeah… you’re right. Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
“Good. Be careful. Does it hurt badly?”
“The doctor at the ER handled it well, so I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
I was wide awake now; going back to bed felt pointless. I dropped down heavily into the chair beside Kim Hyun-ah. Moments like this made me truly understand why family mattered so much. Knowing there was someone who would always be on your side no matter what felt incredibly reassuring.
“Oh, right.”
“Yeah?”
“There was a stabbing in our neighborhood yesterday.”
“...Uh, what?”
I flinched like an idiot.
“I was coming back from my night shift and the whole area was swarming with police cars. I don’t know the full story, but it sounded like a lover’s quarrel. The ex-boyfriend couldn’t accept the breakup, so he waited outside her studio with a kitchen knife.”
“......”
“Ha, fuck. It’s so scary. How am I supposed to come home from work now? I’m going to have my boyfriend walk me all the way to the door for a while.”
Watching my sister—who I’d always thought of as tough—look genuinely scared, I scratched the back of my head. Women probably found situations like that even more terrifying than men did. Just like how Hwangbo Ji-eun had looked yesterday.
“You be careful too, oppa. Don’t get dragged into something stupid and get hurt. The smartest thing is to see something like that and just pretend you didn’t—”
“That was me.”
“...Huh? You’re the one who swung the knife?”
“What are you even saying! No, no—not that. I’m the one who stopped the guy with the knife.”
“You?”
“Yeah.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m serious.”
I casually showed her my bandaged arm. Kim Hyun-ah dropped the three-minute meatball she’d been lifting with her chopsticks and slowly gaped at me. Then—
“Mom! Mom! Kim Hyun-woo’s gone cra—mmph, mmmph!”
I panicked and slapped my hand over her mouth.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
After struggling for a few seconds, she gave up and started licking my palm. It was her way of telling me to let go. We’d done this since we were kids, so I knew exactly what it meant.
“Damn, you’re ridiculously strong.”
“Damn, look how wet my hand is now.”
“......”
“......”
After a brief silence, Kim Hyun-ah spoke first.
“Oppa, are you insane? Did a bullet go through that thick skull of yours or something?”
Her voice was laced with real anger. The fact that she kept calling me “oppa” told me she was genuinely shaken. I felt even worse.
“I couldn’t help it.”
“......”
“Well… I could have, but… sorry.”
When I apologized, she closed her eyes tightly and let out a long sigh.
“Haa, my heart can’t take this so early in the morning.”
“Sorry.”
“Are you really okay, oppa?”
“Huh? I was a little surprised, but… I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Kim Hyun-ah went back to eating and asked between bites.
“Would it have been really bad if you hadn’t been there?”
“Pretty bad.”
Thinking back to what the ring had told me—if I hadn’t been there, Hwangbo Ji-eun’s life would’ve been completely destroyed.
“Even just hearing the story makes my heart race. I can’t imagine how terrified she must have been. I hope she doesn’t end up with trauma… but that might be asking too much.”
We really did think alike when it came to accidents. No wonder we were siblings.
“She’s a strong woman. She’ll be fine.”
“Where did you meet her?”
“At the part-time job.”
“Is she pretty?”
“She is pretty.”
“That explains it.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Can the four of us—me and my boyfriend, you and your girlfriend—grab a drink together soon?”
“We’ll see.”
“What kind of half-assed answer is that?”
After some more pointless chatter, Kim Hyun-ah said quietly, almost like an afterthought.
“You did good.”
It was such a casual remark, but it filled me with a strange sense of pride. More than when the police officer had praised me.
“I did, didn’t I?”
I grinned. Kim Hyun-ah scrunched up her face.
“Still. Be careful.”
“...Yeah.”
I lowered my head again like a guilty criminal.
“You tell Mom and Dad. They won’t faint or anything, but they’ll be really shocked given their personalities.”
“I know. Don’t worry about it. You just focus on getting to work. You must be tired.”
“I am, but… compared to what you went through facing a guy with a kitchen knife, it’s nothing.”
Scraaaape!
Having finished her food, Kim Hyun-ah stood up and headed to the bathroom. While brushing her teeth, she poked her head out again.
“I still can’t picture it. You doing something like that… Well, if it had been to protect me, maybe I could see it.”
“Same here.”
We both let out small laughs, but if Kim Hyun-ah had been the one in danger, I probably would’ve gone even further. Even without the ring’s power, I would’ve thrown myself at the threat to protect her. And she would’ve done the same for me. That was what our family was.
“Aigoo, my son.”
I can’t even count how much I got nagged after telling Mom and Dad what happened yesterday, right after dealing with Kim Hyun-ah. At one point I genuinely thought it would’ve been easier to face the kitchen-knife-wielding stalker again. That should tell you everything.
Well, it just means they were that worried and shocked.
It didn’t make the morning news, but it was posted on the local community board.
“Hmm.”
My feelings were complicated. I was worried about Hwangbo Ji-eun, and I could kind of understand why the guy with the knife had done what he did. To someone as pathetic as him, she must have been his only light.
“......”
Honestly, I was better than him, but only by a little. From a loser’s perspective, a woman like Hwangbo Ji-eun—pretty face, great body—was like the sun. You know the type. The girls in school who shortened their skirts, wore perfect makeup, and looked stunning. Usually they hung out with the popular delinquents, dated the top students, or both. That was exactly who Hwangbo Ji-eun was.
Honestly, her personality’s pretty good too.
She was a little weird, sure. But she was friendly, didn’t look down on nerds, and even approached them first. She’d even offered to take my virginity at a cheap rate if I was still a virgin.
“......”
If my type had been “delinquent girl,” one night with her would’ve left me unable to think straight. At first I thought it was just a dream. But the thought would keep coming back. After agonizing over it until he felt like he was going crazy, he must have gone looking for her. That didn’t mean what he did was okay. I could just understand it a little.
Thinking about something and actually doing it were completely different.
Like they say, no result comes without a price.
That’s why you had to watch your usual words and actions. Everything eventually came back around like a boomerang.
I need to be careful not to end up in that kind of relationship with Ji-eun.
In a way, if it hadn’t been for the ring, I might have been tempted and ended up in that exact situation with her. Hmm. If that had happened, I probably wouldn’t have been able to act so confidently in front of Moyong Sunae. Haha.
“Hello, boss.”
“Ah, Hyun-woo! You’re here. I already heard from Ji-eun. Are you okay?”
Seeing Moyong Sunae worry about me almost as much as my own sister made my face flush for no reason. She had money, a beautiful face, an amazing body, and a wonderful personality. She really was the perfect woman.
A girl that innocent just needs one good tumble and she’s done for. Done.
Why was I suddenly remembering what Hwangbo Ji-eun had said? Damn it. Infinite mercy, infinite mercy… I shook the impure thoughts from my mind.
“Oppa, is your wound okay? Does it hurt?”
Just then, Hwangbo Ji-eun came out from the back wearing an apron and hurried over to me. She carefully touched my arm. Her touch was so gentle it almost tickled.
“Are you okay? You should’ve taken a day off. The boss and I could’ve handled things.”
“Ah……”
At my words, Hwangbo Ji-eun lowered her head and mumbled something. I couldn’t quite catch it. What did she say?
“...I’m fine. If I stayed in bed any longer, I’d just keep thinking about it and it would’ve been worse. Plus I was worried about you since you got hurt because of me.”
“I’m okay, though.”
“No, you’re really not.”
Ah, she was back to her usual self.
“Anyway, I’ve decided to stop offering to help guys graduate from being lifelong virgins… that kind of thing.”
“Really?”
“Yes. After thinking about it, I realized that only works in manga. It shouldn’t happen in real life. Manga doesn’t have an afterstory, so maybe it’s fine there, but reality does.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Manga can ignore plausibility if it makes the story more entertaining.”
From the start, things like “hypnosis” or “brainwashing” were already unrealistic. If something like that actually existed, hypnotists would rule the world.
“Oh, right. Sunae unnie.”
Suddenly Hwangbo Ji-eun turned toward Moyong Sunae.
“I’ve changed my ideal type too. I want a kind man just like unnie’s.”
“Ah……………………………… Really?”
I felt a chill run down my spine for a second. What was this strange feeling?