WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 468: That Woman C V

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* * *

"Unni? What's with that face?"

"Wait. Unni... are you crying right now?"

"Ah. Um, no. At least tell me why you're crying."

"It's okay. It's okay, unni. Don't cry. Why are you crying, you idiot. Don't cry."

"...Unni."

That night.

Cheon Yo-hwa had her heart broken.

* * *

The word "one-sided love"[1] was a deeply inaccurate one.

Say "sided," and it sounded as if there were a matching partner, a counterpart cut to fit you.

A best buddy, a seatmate.

It carried the nuance that, even if not now, there might be a chance someday.

Reality was different.

Rather than "one-sided love," maybe "loving alone," or a love broken into pieces, a "shard love," would be more fitting.

"Ah, Go Yuir!"

"Oh. Welcome, Reverend."

This feeling of a heart split clean in two.

"Wow. Rising to such a high position really does the trick, doesn't it? These days your face just glows."

"Ahaha. It's all thanks to you, Go Yuir!"

This feeling where smiling didn't feel like smiling, and thinking didn't feel like thinking.

The words "one-sided love" simply couldn't hold all of it.

"Ji-won told me everything. You're going to be running something interesting over at Stanford?"

"Ah. Yes, that's right."

"Look at you, Yuir oppa. Now I see. I kept wondering why you went and propped up a young lady like me, and it turns out you were planning to use the Cult's assets all along, weren't you-?"

"Yes, I won't deny it. I desperately need your help, Reverend. Someone fresh out into society like me could never pull off work like this alone."

"Aigoo. It'll be a teensy bit hard for us too, having to go all the way out to California and set up shop. But I owe you so much I couldn't very well refuse. Honestly, I feel like I've been led around by the nose with my eyes wide open!"

"Haha..."

"Ah. We sort of glossed over it, but in private I can just call you oppa, right? Yuir oppa?"

"Mm, yes. Of course. Please call me however is comfortable for you, Reverend."

"Aw. You're being too polite. You can just drop the formalities and talk casually, oppa!"

"No. That's a bit..."

She wanted to die.

Every time she met Go Yuir, Cheon Yo-hwa got giddy. But "giddy" didn't necessarily mean anything good.

Her heart pounded abnormally even when she didn't want it to, her face grew hot, and somehow she dressed up "ordinary" with the mask she'd spent her whole life building. She was capable enough to keep up that disguise, but now and then her feelings leapt out, jamming the hammer of her sentences and words like a misfire.

The hinge of her heart creaked. No one had come through the door.

In the room where she was left alone, Cheon Yo-hwa alone gripped the door handle, opened it, closed it, opened and closed it again and again, greeting and seeing off nothing but the air of someone who would never come here.

After they smiled and turned and parted, what stayed in Cheon Yo-hwa's memory were her own words and sentences, the ones that had jutted out crooked in the middle of their conversation.

"...Unni."

No. The truth was, she wasn't entirely alone.

In front of her little sister, Cheon Yo-hwa could choose not to smile. She didn't even need to.

"If that's how it was, you should have just said something."

Her sister seemed to have already guessed everything, even though Cheon Yo-hwa hadn't laid out a word of her own circumstances.

It had been so long. And yet, lately, often, her sister stroked her head.

"You can't give him up?"

"..."

"Should I... get rid of him for you?"

"No!"

Her voice tore. Before she even realized it, Cheon Yo-hwa shrieked as if screaming.

"No. Absolutely not. Don't you dare."

"Why...?"

Her sister's voice was calm.

"You can feel it too, can't you, unni. Ever since Father died, our god-nim's authority has been growing stronger and stronger. We could do it now. If you and I set our minds to it, we could definitely kill that girl..."

"No! I said no!"

Who was she even shouting at?

Cheon Yo-hwa felt as though her heart were being seared in a scalding marsh, drowning in it.

"Those people are different! It's not like that. It's not like that. They're... they're human beings, different from something like me."

"..."

"I'm sorry. I thought my feelings would go away too. In a few years. I don't know why they won't disappear either. Sorry. Father's dead now. That man's gone too, so all that's left is to be happy. So why?"

She wanted to die.

Why did she put on airs in front of Go Yuir every time she met him? Why could she only stay in the kind of air she could smooth over with laughter and smiles?

Why was it that the moment she stood before that person, no, after she'd stood before him and then turned to look back, it felt this embarrassing, this shameful, this agonizing?

"Please, I'm begging you. Yo-hwa-ya. Her... Yu Ji-won. Don't touch her. Just, don't touch her. You can't do that. You're not allowed to do that."

"What if I disguise it as an accidental death?"

"No. I know it, Cheon Yo-hwa. We both know it."

"..."

"She's a really, really beautiful person. Different from something like me. Sorry. I didn't want to say this. I'm sorry."

The sister embraced her unni. And with the same face, the same hair, the same eyes, she murmured.

"So unni was a person who could only love one. From the very start."

"..."

"That must be exactly why Teacher Go Yuri chose someone like that for you. Out of countless options and candidates. ...Yeah. That's vicious. Truly."

Time was dying.

Yet only the time inside Cheon Yo-hwa kept dying. Outwardly, the Reverend who had newly seized power was handling business with peerless competence.

Her talent burst into full bloom.

As if she'd been born with an instinctive nose for organizational management and resource allocation, she pulled off not only the Cult's existing enterprises but also the "time capsule" quest Go Yuir had commissioned, step by step.

"I've rounded up all the personnel the operation needs. So, Yuir oppa, how exactly do we make a time capsule?"

"Mm. I have an ability called time seal, and we'll be using it. Reverend, the Outer God's authority has gotten stronger by now, hasn't it?"

"Ah, yes!"

Go Yuir called the "god-nim" dwelling within the sisters an Outer God.

Strangely enough, Go Yuir held more detailed and precise information about the "god-nim" than the sisters did. It was probably information he'd heard from a reincarnator.

"Reverend. By any chance, have you been having strange dreams lately?"

"Eek!"

"Dreams oddly overflowing with realness, almost impossible to tell apart from reality, and even after you wake the memory stays nearly whole, like lucid dreams. Isn't that so?"

"Eeek...!"

Cheon Yo-hwa reacted with exaggeration. Because that exaggeration would be etched into him as "Cheon Yo-hwa's natural self."

"H-how did you know?! I've been agonizing so much over that lately!"

"That too is an authority arranged for you, Reverend. Think of it as a kind of simulation ability."

"Simulation..."

"Yes. As long as you're given enough data, you can run a simulation of any scenario, Reverend. Ah. Of course, what's flat-out impossible won't work. Only feasible scenarios."

"...Heeh."

Then was kissing your lips in last night's dream also something that could have happened, originally?

That retort nearly burst out of her, and Cheon Yo-hwa held it in by a hair.

It wasn't all that difficult. She'd grown quite used to holding things back in front of Go Yuir anyway.

"You're saying we'll use my simulation ability to make the time capsule? Hmm. I still can't quite picture it."

"My time seal. Your simulation, Reverend. And your sister has to create an anomaly called a Baku[2]. Only then is it possible."

"My sister too?"

"Yes. This part's fairly complicated... Anyway, for now please focus on growing the authority. Ah. Even when I say grow, of course I'm not asking you to reach the point where the Outer God devours you."

"Hmm. So what's my role?"

Go Yuir smiled awkwardly.

"I'd like you to 'simulate' the things that happened between Ji-won and me, Reverend."

A pause.

Cheon Yo-hwa set down her coffee cup, putting on an air of being perfectly natural about it.

A cafe run by a member of the Cult.

They'd reserved the whole place, so there were only the two of them for customers. Still, being like this felt good, as if she'd set down the title of Reverend and was enjoying an "ordinary" date out in the world.

Of course, behaving this way couldn't help but spread rumors.

The members of the Cult were always smashing the "subscribe" and "like" buttons on the Reverend's every move in the YouTube of their hearts.

Within the Cult, Go Yuir was already passed around as something like the Reverend's kept man. There was no denying Cheon Yo-hwa had, knowing this, let the rumors run.

Even though the truth was nothing of the sort.

Even though it was obvious this kind of scheming would do nothing for the relationship between "those two."

"Uh, um. I'm sorry, Yuir oppa. What... what does it mean to run a simulation of things between you and Ji-won...? I'm not sure I understand."

"The baku. The anomaly that will later be altered into the tutorial fairy can store other people's dreams. Naturally, it's also possible to input the contents of the dreams you've had, Reverend."

"Yes. I can understand up to there."

"To raise the resolution of this dream, that is, to store a truth that isn't some mere dream but is endlessly close to reality. You'll run the dream's contents through your simulation, Reverend."

"..."

"After that, I bind the fairy that now holds this dream of truth with my [time seal]. On the grounds of Stanford University."

"Ah."

"This way, someday in the future, the regressor who comes to unseal the sealed time will, through the baku, inherit this cycle's dream."

"..."

"This is the time capsule."

Go Yuir smiled.

"The one Ji-won and I thought up so desperately... the shabbiest, the tiniest Ark in the world."

"..."

Cheon Yo-hwa realized it.

Looking now, the direction and intensity of the smile the girl named Yu Ji-won had worn resembled the man in front of her exactly.

It was a fact she'd barely managed to grasp precisely because she had watched the two of them harder than anyone.

"Now that you've heard this far, you'll have guessed, but... it's also the reason we approached you in the first place, Reverend."

The traces of the one she loved, because she loved him, she could find in someone she could never love.

"An operation that's impossible without your cooperation, Reverend. Because in this world, you're the only one we can ask for this plan."

"...Ah."

"Will you help us?"

It was miserable.

"Mm, well. Yes!"

It was cruel.

"It's your request, oppa, so of course I have to grant it! Eheheh. But are you really sure you're okay with this?"

"Yes?"

"This means I'll end up knowing everything that happened between the two of you. Things like this- and things like that. Kyaa! How embarrassing!"

"Ugh. Well, it is a little embarrassing. But it's fine. I'll trust you, Reverend."

"..."

The corner of her mouth trembled faintly.

'What are you doing, Cheon Yo-hwa?'

Smile.

"Ahaha. Hon-estly, oppa. If you trust people that easily, you might find a knife in your back later, you know?"

Right. Smile. I said smile.

It's the thing you're best at, isn't it. Smiling.

"Ah! But... um. Never mind, never mind."

"Yes? What is it?"

"It's nothing! Let's drop it. It's fine to just let it go."

"No. Please speak freely, Reverend. For what it's worth, didn't we accomplish the hardest thing together?"

Huh? Or did we not?

Was there one more thing you're even better at than smiling?

"Mmm. So the thing is..., haa. The truth is, the number of people inside the Cult making weird guesses about your and my relationship has gone up a bit, oppa."

"What?"

"It seems, the. Ah. Don't get the wrong idea, okay? Because I absolutely don't think that way! It's just, cult members who have no- idea about our circumstances. These good-for-nothing nobodies, this riffraff- saying isn't this a little strange. Saying aren't we giving too much special treatment to an outsider like you, oppa."

"..."

"Talk like that goes around once in a while. Honestly, I don't get how these cockroach-like things just never end no matter how many you squash. Right?"

"Even so, killing them is..."

"No. You have to be firm on a problem like this, oppa. When the Reverend, me, says drop it, they should drop it. The nerve of these lowborn things crawling up to butt in, telling you and me what to do?"

"..."

Acting. Scheming.

When it comes to deceiving and controlling people, you'd be better than anyone, wouldn't you? Right? You even deceived Father.

You're definitely far, far more capable than Yu Ji-won at that one thing at least. How enviable!

"Haven't you seen blood enough? I think there's probably a gentler way."

"Hmm? A gentler way..."

Lift a finger, prop it under your chin, yes. As if it's nothing. With no ulterior motive at all. Just act like you're thinking.

Look at that. This man. He's watching with such an incredibly serious expression.

While firmly believing the world is going to end, he frets about the lives of cult members who have nothing to do with him? Why?

What an idiot.

"...Mm, well. There's a little bit of talk going around saying maybe you and I are actually dating..., saying wouldn't it all make sense then, but..."

What an idiot.

"Ah, don't worry about it! Our elders are always going on and on about my social life anyway."

"Ah..."

What an idiot.

"I know perfectly well how devoted and pure you and Ji-won are to each other. I do!"

"Ji-won and I aren't that kind of..."

"Ihihi. Forget it, forget it. When you go to California, I'll book your first-class tickets and hotel, so take it easy and enjoy your trip!"

"..."

"And so there's no chance of that kind of noise after the trip, I'll clean it all up nice and tidy. So don't you worry!"

"..."

What an idiot.

"Reverend."

"Yes?"

"Maybe that method... might actually work."

"What method?"

"A betrothal."

"Eh."

What an idiot. What an idiot. What an idiot.

"Think about it. Not actually getting married, but holding a betrothal to disguise our relationship. Then no one will make a sound when we use the Cult's resources."

"Uh, uhhh... That's true, but. I personally don't mind, but are you sure you're okay with it? Oppa?"

"Yes. Either way, if we push the wedding date far enough back, the world will end before that day comes. If a betrothal, words and nothing more, is enough to win over the Cult's goodwill..."

"No, no! Not that. Ji-won. You have Yu Ji-won, oppa. So you're really fine getting betrothed to me?"

"Ah."

Go Yuir smiled.

He understood the intent of the question belatedly, but a faint yet warm smile, as if the question itself held no meaning at all.

Endless trust hung there.

"It's fine. If it's Ji-won."

"..."

"Because I believe in that girl."

Half a year later.

A betrothal was formed between Cheon Yo-hwa and Go Yuir.

Some members of the Cult voiced dissatisfaction at the low status of the live-in son-in-law, but his academic background wasn't one they couldn't accept, and at least the dissatisfaction was never openly expressed.

"..."

Crinkle.

The engagement document, written out so carefully, character by character, the paper with Cheon Yo-hwa's and Go Yuir's names lined up side by side, crumpled in her hand.

"Ahaha."

She wanted to die.

Footnotes:

[1] The Korean word for one-sided love, jjaksarang, literally means "pair-love" or "partner-love," which is why Cheon Yo-hwa rejects it: the "pair" implies a matching counterpart. She prefers pyeollyeon, literally "fragment/shard love," rendered here as "shard love."

[2] A baku (Korean: mongma) is a creature from East Asian folklore said to devour dreams and nightmares; here it is repurposed as an anomaly able to store and replay people's dreams.

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