WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection ◈
Chapter 15
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“Then what time will you come tomorrow?”
“I think we'll leave here before lunch.”
“Okay, then. Uh... see you Monday.”
“Okay.”
We spent ten whole minutes on a pointless call. Only after hanging up did I realize that Kang Uihyeon and I were the only ones left in the yard. The lively noise leaking out of the pension hung in the air around us.
Kang Uihyeon's hand spread wide. This time, a whole handful of my hair was trapped in his grasp. Unlike when I was on the phone, I could clearly feel his grip now.
“You've gotten pretty close.”
Was it just my imagination that made his low voice sound so sour?
“You sound comfortable talking on the phone, too.”
Unlike his mocking tone, Kang Uihyeon's lips curved in a smooth smile. I had the urge to pick apart every word he said.
“We talked on the phone sometimes before.”
“No, I mean the way you talk.”
Kang Uihyeon explained as he tightened and loosened his grip on my hair.
“You weren't pretending to be nice to Han Jio.”
You were curt with him, just like you are with me.
With that added remark, I understood exactly what he meant. I had spent the entire call looking only at Kang Uihyeon, so I forgot to be kind to Han Jio. Without realizing it, I had exposed the grumpy side of myself that I had carefully hidden from Han Jio.
“Well, maybe I've gotten comfortable with him now, like you said, oppa.”
I hid my fluster and lied. Not once had I completely let my guard down around Han Jio, who always adjusted himself to me. My mind was always busy calculating. If anything, I felt secure in Kang Uihyeon's grip as he held my head and pressed down on it.
Haa. Kang Uihyeon let out an obvious sigh. His impatient irritation showed in the faint crease between his brows. I grew anxious that he might let go of my hair and go inside just like that.
“Why are you sighing?”
“Because you're too popular.”
This time, I let out an empty breath. Just the people I remembered who followed him around could fill three truckloads.
“Is that something you should be saying to me?”
“This is why I wanted you to go to Baegyeong Women's University.”
Kang Uihyeon twisted the hair in his hand.
“You went to an all-girls middle school and high school just fine. Why did you insist on not going to a women's university?”
I had no room in my chest to flutter at his idle play with my hair. He had brought up the subject we had fought about not long ago.
“But now that I think about it, having you attend the same university as me isn't bad either.”
There was not the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
“I can find out exactly what kind of nonsense you're getting up to.”
I blankly looked up at the man making a joke that was not funny at all. My scalp went cold for a different reason than before. First, Kang Uihyeon's joke might not be a joke. Second, every part of me was within his sight. Third, I had realized that his interference did not upset me at all.
“Does it bother you?”
I asked Kang Uihyeon, expecting an obvious yes.
“Of course it does. You invite men into your house without a shred of caution.”
Just as I expected, Kang Uihyeon admitted it readily.
“Since Dogyeom won't act like an older brother, someone has to, right?”
I suddenly remembered Baek Jungyeong muttering that I was strange. Even someone as oblivious as him could show decent insight sometimes. To an outsider, a man who was happy to attend the same school so he could watch his friend's younger sibling's relationships, and a woman who was delighted to wonder whether his control was jealousy rather than being creeped out by it, would look like a completely insane combination.
By that logic, there was no need for me to hate Kang Uihyeon for showing up at the art museum with Jeong Sujin. Watching how Han Jio and I treated each other must have mattered more to Kang Uihyeon than enjoying a pleasant, intimate time alone with Jeong Sujin. If he had not been curious about my date, there would have been no reason for him to show up there.
Once I thought of it that way, the resentment I had built up over the past week melted away like snow. And I resolved to get up to even more nonsense. I would stir up Kang Uihyeon's mind even more intensely, so he would not have time to focus only on Jeong Sujin.
“Go inside now.”
Kang Uihyeon let go of the hair he had been twisting around and around. Seeing him take out his phone as he tried to send me in, he was clearly about to call Jeong Sujin. I quickly grabbed the hand holding his phone and pulled his gaze toward me.
“Don't?”
Though I had not said anything yet, Kang Uihyeon read my thoughts exactly. When I quietly nodded, he put his phone into his pocket. Then he lightly tapped my cheek with the back of his hand.
“Okay. Let's go in.”
Kang Uihyeon took the lead. I matched my pace to his without hesitation. The gravel softly rattled beneath our sneakers. I wished this path could go on as long as possible, but I did not mind that it soon ended and we had to return to the noisy pension. I planned to stick close to Kang Uihyeon all night.
As I entered the chaotic entryway, crowded with everyone's shoes, the corners of my mouth twitched up on their own. For a while, I would probably be in a good mood. If there came another day when Jeong Sujin drove me into the ground again, I would remember what Kang Uihyeon had said.
That he liked attending the same university as me.
3. The Upper Hand in the Relationship
Mom's old affliction had flared up again.
Hearing the sound of glass breaking, I went into the kitchen and found the cup I had left by the sink that morning on the floor. The cup did not float through the air and drop itself, so naturally, Mom had done this. After making more work for me, she sat on the living room sofa as though it had nothing to do with her.
“What are you unhappy about now?”
I muttered quietly as I walked into the kitchen. Careful not to step on the broken glass, I picked up the larger pieces first.
One thing I had learned from living with my dead mother for three years was that her actions grew more extreme as June drew near. Usually, she only sat still and watched, but she would drop or break things to get my attention. As if she wanted me to look at her.
“You don't have to do this. I know you're here.”
As I brought over the broom and dustpan, I glanced toward the sofa. If ghosts had emotions too, it was not impossible to understand why she grew sharp and restless around this time of year. Still, it was unbearably bothersome to put off going to school and clean up after Mom.
“Ah!”
I suddenly lost my balance and fell hard forward. It felt as though someone had kicked me, shoving me roughly. My legs had not given out, and I had not slipped on anything, but my knees hit the floor with a thud.
“Ah, shit...”
Even a simple fall would have left me throbbing with pain, but the problem was that small pieces of glass were scattered across the floor. My palms, which had hit the ground, and my knees exposed below the hem of my shorts stung and burned.
Even though I hurried to get up, beads of blood had already formed on my palms and knees. I turned my head and glared at Mom, who had somehow come right up behind me. This was the first time Mom had touched me like this. Before pain, shock close to betrayal swept over me.
“What are you doing? Why did you push me?”
I demanded an answer, but Mom did not look sorry. She only gazed steadily at me with the same blank expression she had worn for the past three years. Just as when I had cried and begged her to leave this house, and she had not moved an inch.
I had thought I was used to it lately, but suddenly, I was sick of all of it. I was sick of being the only one who had to deal with my dead mother, and of Mom making me aware of her presence whenever her death anniversary approached. Like Yu Dogyeom, I wanted to get far away from home. I wanted to run from responsibility and guilt and live looking after only myself.
“Why only me? Why? What did I do wrong?”
I threw aside the broom and dustpan and sat against the refrigerator. I needed to finish cleaning up the glass, treat my injuries, and go to school, but I did not want to move a finger. I wished my whole body would empty out, shrink into invisible particles, and disappear from Mom's sight.
I wanted to call Kang Uihyeon and whine to him, but everything felt exhausting right now. For years, I had repeatedly called him over to this house for similar reasons, and I wondered if he might be getting tired of it. If I told him I had cut myself on glass, he would come running whenever I asked, but sometimes I worried that I was using up every chance I might need in the future.
Just as the villagers no longer believed the boy who cried wolf because he lied constantly, someday, when I was in real danger, Kang Uihyeon might be too worn out by then to look after me.
“Mom, I'm having a hard time.”
I muttered as I looked down at my dead mother's feet.
“How long is this going to go on? Forever?”
Of course, Mom could not answer. Moisture blurred my vision. I thought I was completely drained, but apparently I still had the strength to cry. I pulled both legs into my arms and buried my face between my knees. A terrible loneliness pressed down on my head.
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