Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Mother's Love
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Unfamiliar morning sunlight tickled my eyelids.
"Mm..."
Back when I lived in that underground studio apartment, the sun never pierced through to wake me up like this. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all. If anything, it made my mood feel a bit lighter.
Next to me, Lee Seo-yoon was sleeping soundly.
Her disheveled hair revealed the strap of her nightshirt that had slipped down her shoulder. At a glance, it looked like she wasn't wearing a top.
"...Mm."
My gaze lingered awkwardly, making me feel embarrassed. I carefully reached out and pulled her nightshirt strap back into place.
With the exposure reduced, my mind finally calmed. Now I could look at her properly again.
"Mm..."
Sensing my presence, Lee Seo-yoon shifted under the covers, and soon her drowsy blue eyes met mine.
"Good morning, unnie."
Lee Seo-yoon stared at me blankly in her half-asleep state before breaking into a smile.
"Yeah. Good morning, Sarang."
Come to think of it... even without makeup, she's this pretty. No wonder not just anyone can become an idol.
"Let's eat breakfast and head out. Want to wash up first?"
"No. You go first, unnie."
Lee Seo-yoon headed to the bathroom first. Left alone in the room, I leaned against the bed and blankly looked around.
I ran my fingertips over the clean walls. Unlike the dust-covered, black-stained walls of my room, the wallpaper here was spotless.
"Huh?"
As I glanced around, my eyes caught a box in the corner of the drawer. More precisely, the stack of letter envelopes piled high on top of it drew my attention.
I stood up and peered into the box at the letters inside.
'...Why are there so many?'
There had to be at least thirty. And each one was decorated with such care. She wasn't even in a debut group yet—did she already have fans?
They were all already opened, as if she'd read and saved them. It only made me more curious.
...A boyfriend, maybe?
"Sarang?"
At Lee Seo-yoon's voice, I hastily set down the letter I was holding.
"Oh... There were so many on the desk. I didn't read them."
"Pfft. Why are you acting like you got caught stealing?"
"That's not it."
Lee Seo-yoon approached, towel-drying her damp hair a few times. Fresh from the shower, her skin looked even fairer than usual, flushed with warmth on her cheeks.
Her subtly alluring appearance made me avert my eyes for no reason.
"Can I ask what the letters are?"
"Mm... Well..."
Lee Seo-yoon hesitated, avoiding my gaze as if choosing her words. She seemed reluctant to answer.
Was it really love letters from a boyfriend?
"They're confession letters."
"What?"
"Confessions I've received. They put so much effort into writing them that I felt bad throwing them away, so I kept them here."
All of these were confession letters?
How many people has she enchanted to get this many?
"Don't worry about it, Sarang."
Lee Seo-yoon stepped closer and took my hand. Was it my imagination? The tips of her fingers tickling the back of my hand felt oddly intimate.
"I won't be getting any more letters from now on. Got it?"
"Uh, y-yeah..."
Huh?
I didn't have any reason to care about that in the first place.
Holding Lee Seo-yoon's hand, we arrived at the agency.
The B-Class trainees were sweating it out, practicing to their chosen personal songs.
"Mm..."
I stood in front of the mirror, carefully examining myself.
Thanks to Lee Seo-yoon's help, I'd decided on a song to prepare.
The title track from Han Sea-ah's second solo album. It was a concept that highlighted a girl's fresh innocence and purity.
Emphasizing purity over cuteness, it had few playful gestures and simple choreography. Perfect for me right now.
Sitting in front of the mirror, I intently watched videos on the phone the CEO had given me.
Music video, stage performances, fancams. The more I watched, the more I had to admit one thing.
'Han Sea-ah really is on another level.'
With her flawless beauty backed by real talent, people couldn't help but fall for her.
I used to dismiss idols as just performers, but watching Han Sea-ah's stages changed my mind.
And I slept with a woman like that for one night. If I spilled the story on a show later, no one would believe me.
After watching a few more videos, I started getting the feel. Singing wouldn't be an issue—the real challenge was the dance.
I at least had to show some effort.
I set the choreography video to 0.5x speed and started following Han Sea-ah's movements from the feet up.
It was different from when the dance teacher guided us directly. Trying to follow just from the video ramped up the difficulty. Moves that looked simple on screen went wrong the moment I tried them—every tiny angle and timing off.
From morning till afternoon, I repeated it endlessly, but I couldn't even match 30 seconds by video standards.
...Frustrating.
My body felt so inadequate for moves that looked this easy. I thought about giving up countless times.
Dragging my tired body home, I still couldn't let go of the phone screen. I walked under the flickering streetlights, watching Han Sea-ah's videos.
"Sarang."
A deep voice calling my name made me immediately turn off the phone screen.
The scar visible under bright blonde hair brought an instinctive smile to my face.
"Aunt Yu-na!"
It might have been more of a conditioned reflex.
"You've been busy lately. Hard to even see your face."
"Haha... I kind of ended up as a trainee."
"Right, yeah. Thanks to that, you're even filial to your mom. Sarang's so mature."
Thinking of the two million that went into my biological mother's hands still made my stomach churn.
"Got a phone, huh? Did your mom buy it?"
"No. The CEO provided it."
"Hmm."
Aunt Yu-na naturally fell into step beside me, walking toward home. The cigarette smoke wafting from her clothes pricked my nose.
"Sarang."
"Yes?"
Aunt Yu-na's dark eyes pierced straight through me. Meeting that gaze always made me shrink.
"You're not serious, right?"
"Huh?"
"About becoming an entertainer. You're not serious, are you?"
Her narrowly opened eyes looked like a smile at first glance. But the pressure seeping through crushed me.
"Of course not. There's no way I'd do that. I'm just working hard so the contract doesn't fall through."
"...Yeah, figured."
Aunt Yu-na smiled faintly and patted my shoulder.
"Right, Sarang. Who else would stay by your mom's side if not you? So mature."
My shoulder throbbed where her palm brushed. She could control her strength a bit.
"I'll walk you home. Let's go."
"Huh? I can go alone..."
"I'll drop by to see your mom too."
No choice—I walked side by side with Aunt Yu-na toward home.
We descended the familiar stairs into the basement. With each step down, the light grew dimmer.
Finally, opening the front door released the familiar stench of alcohol assaulting my nose. And from that direction stood a woman.
A woman with delicate beauty hard to believe she'd ever borne a child. To the world's eyes, she'd seem endlessly fragile and lovely.
But to me, she was nothing but ugly and filthy.
"Ji-ye, I told you to cut back on the drinking."
Aunt Yu-na sighed and approached the table where my biological mother sat.
Aunt Yu-na effortlessly lifted her into an embrace, familiar as ever. My biological mother smiled in her arms, sly as a fox.
Soon, that fox's gaze landed on me. Her usually cold pinkish eyes curved affectionately today, for some reason.
"Daughter."
The unfamiliar term froze my body.
She slipped from Aunt Yu-na's arms and approached me directly. I wanted to back away, but there was nowhere to go in this cramped underground studio.
In the end, the fox pulled me tightly into her embrace and patted my back.
"I spent the money you gave me so well. This is why raising kids is worth it."
"..."
"You know, I was thinking. Once this contract ends, how about catching the eye of other agencies? Yeah, a big one might offer an even larger signing bonus."
The alcohol breath stabbing right in front of me made my head spin.
"Ji-ye, you're wasted. Go inside and sleep it off."
"Mm... Maybe."
At Aunt Yu-na's words, my biological mother finally released me. She staggered toward the bathroom, and soon the sound of vomiting echoed.
"Sarang, you head in too."
"...Yeah."
I went straight to my room without looking back and shut the door. My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor.
"Urk."
I clamped my hands over my mouth. But it didn't help.
"Ugh..."
How many times did I dry-heave? Only after clinging to the floor and retching for a while did the burning in my stomach ease a bit.
"Haa... Haa... Fucking annoying."
A beating would've been a hundred times better.
I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead with the back of my hand.
Suddenly, Lee Seo-yoon's home came to mind. That noisy place that had irritated me so much.
I really shouldn't have gone.
'If only I hadn't been born pretty... I'd be fine with dying.'
No.
But since I was born with this face anyway.
It'd be a shame to throw it away like this.