WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection ◈
Chapter 19
──────
My own older brother hadn't even replied, yet his friend was skipping class just to take me to the columbarium. Just as Kang Uihyeon had said before, if he stopped playing the role of my oppa, I would be the only one sorry about it.
“Isn't it strange?”
I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice or the spring in my step. I didn't know whether it was appropriate to feel this way while going to observe my parents' death anniversary.
“What is?”
“My mom is at home right now, but I'm going all the way to the columbarium to pay my respects.”
I had told Kang Uihyeon that Mom had returned. He carefully studied the relief on my face and merely said he understood. That half-day commotion came to an end just like that.
“You have to pay your respects to your father too.”
Kang Uihyeon was the only person who didn't make a big deal out of me mentioning Mom's ghost. Yu Dogyeom shuddered whenever I so much as looked into empty space. Other people who knew my parents had died would probably react the same way.
“It's Jeong Sujin's birthday today.”
As I got into the car and fastened my seat belt, I cautiously tested him.
“Aren't you going?”
“I'll see her tonight.”
Of course. A man who was equally kind to everyone wouldn't put everything else aside and rush over just for me.
“You're busy. Taking care of this and that.”
I openly grumbled as I glanced into the back seat. A paper shopping bag with a cosmetics brand logo lay there. It wasn't hard to guess who it belonged to.
It took an hour to get to the columbarium by car. The quieter the roads around us became, the more often I checked my phone. Would Yu Dogyeom arrive on time? Or had he already come and gone? At least for today, we had to pretend to be close siblings in front of our parents. Mom would know the truth anyway, but I still wanted to keep up the pretense.
“Dogyeom will be there.”
Kang Uihyeon spoke as he parked in the lot.
“He said he'd buy fresh flowers too.”
Kang Uihyeon had gone through trouble as our mediator again. As the closest friend caught between two ill-tempered siblings, he was the only one having a hard time.
When we went inside, Yu Dogyeom was standing before our parents' urns, just as Kang Uihyeon had said. The floral wreath hanging in front of the niche had been replaced with a new one.
“You're here?”
Yu Dogyeom greeted us when he spotted us approaching. I felt sorry for Kang Uihyeon, but I was glad he was here beside me. Without him, the Yu siblings might have left without exchanging a word. At worst, we might have started fighting again in front of our parents' remains.
I tucked the letter I had prepared yesterday between the flowers of the wreath. I had so much sorrow I wanted to pour out to my parents, but I didn't want to sob in front of Yu Dogyeom, so I wrote a letter every time I came. The pale blue stationery was filled edge to edge with loneliness known only to my parents and me.
“Ride in my car when you leave.”
I was looking only at the family photo taken when we were young when Kang Uihyeon's voice came from behind me.
“I'd appreciate that. It was damn far by bus. Do you have plans tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“She isn't my girlfriend.”
Yu Dogyeom let out a hollow laugh. I pretended to fuss with the envelope, trying to tune out the conversation behind me.
“Are you still watching yourself around Yu Chaewon?”
But Yu Dogyeom wasn't about to leave me alone.
“How long are you going to stay alone because of her? Are you related by blood or something? You're just an oppa and dongsaeng who know each other, so why can't you date because of her?”
Yu Dogyeom had been the second person after Kang Uihyeon to notice my feelings. At first, he had dismissed them as a child's innocent crush. But when time passed and I still clung only to Kang Uihyeon, he began to find my feelings disgusting. Yu Dogyeom was also the one who had most often cruelly told me that I would never catch Kang Uihyeon's eye, not even if I died and came back, and that if our genders were reversed, I would have been reported to the police long ago.
“Want to come with us?”
Kang Uihyeon completely ignored Yu Dogyeom's nagging and asked something unrelated.
“Come where?”
“To celebrate Sujin's birthday.”
Sujin. He called her Sujin.
I stared at little Chaewon in the photograph, cradled in Dad's arms, and dwelled on Kang Uihyeon's low voice. It was a natural way to address her, but my heart dropped because of the gentle warmth in his voice.
“Why would I go there? You two should have some time alone.”
“The more people celebrating her, the better.”
“At this rate, you'll bring Yu Chaewon too.”
“If Chaewon is okay with it, she can come too.”
“Are you insane?”
I looked away from the photograph and turned to Kang Uihyeon. There was no malice on his composed face. He clearly hadn't even considered some cruel scheme to crush my spirits by showing me how sweet things were between him and Jeong Sujin.
He simply wanted many people to celebrate Jeong Sujin's birthday. That simplicity painfully tightened around my chest. Kang Uihyeon couldn't even imagine how many times his indiscriminate kindness trampled all over me.
“Sure. I'll go too.”
“Hey, Yu Chaewon.”
Yu Dogyeom cut in, glaring at me.
“What are you planning to do there? Just go home quietly. Okay? Don't think about getting in the way of someone else's relationship.”
“I've had a meal with Ms. Jeong before. We even went to an exhibition together. Don't overreact.”
Yu Dogyeom turned to his friend with an expression that asked if it was true.
“Does your girlfriend know? That this girl has been a crazy stalker chasing you for over ten years?”
“Have you finished paying your respects to your parents?”
No one could beat Kang Uihyeon when it came to changing the subject. Yu Dogyeom only sighed in disbelief, and I took one last look at my parents' urns.
I still hated becoming an uninvited guest, and nothing was more awful than becoming a pathetic supporting character who completed the leads' romance. But I wanted to see a crack form in Kang Uihyeon's unruffled face. I wanted to show the man who so openly ignored my devotion just how terrible I could be.
“Let's stop by a flower shop on the way.”
I smiled sweetly at Kang Uihyeon.
“It feels wrong to go empty-handed.”
* * *
I had to make a constant effort to seem like a good person, but Jeong Sujin didn't need to try at all. If she had come out expecting a date for two, she could have had trouble hiding her expression upon seeing uninvited guests. Yet she seemed genuinely touched when we said we had come to celebrate her birthday.
“Happy birthday, unni.”
“The flowers are so pretty. Thank you, Chaewon.”
Honestly, even I thought Jeong Sujin looked pretty as she held the pink bouquet to her chest and breathed in its scent. She was beautiful in the same way Kang Uihyeon was. They suited each other so well that I couldn't understand why their relationship had remained so stagnant. In an old-fashioned phrase, they were a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
“I'm sorry we came so suddenly. My younger sister kept saying she wanted to see you, Sujin.”
Yu Dogyeom grinned at me. He had noticed my inferiority complex. My brother looked delighted that a woman with a pretty face and kind personality was going to be by his best friend's side.
The birthday dinner was at a restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere. When Jeong Sujin went inside and chose a seat, Kang Uihyeon naturally took the place beside her. I came in after them and had no choice but to sit across from Jeong Sujin. This much was within what I had prepared myself for.
“I couldn't bring a gift, so I'll pay for the meal.”
Yu Dogyeom swaggered as he ate the bread before the meal. He didn't go to school or work and lived off the money our parents had left behind, yet he had a talent for showing off like the son of a wealthy family wherever he went. Why was Kang Uihyeon even friends with Yu Dogyeom?
“Oh, really? Then I should eat a lot today. You should eat plenty too, Chaewon.”
Jeong Sujin kept looking after me. How had Kang Uihyeon introduced me to her? Did she perhaps think of me as something like her future sister-in-law? That would be the worst.
Our food arrived, and the server brought over a cake with lit candles. Thoughtful Kang Uihyeon had even prepared a cake in advance. A bright smile spread over Jeong Sujin's face in the yellow glow.
“We should sing.”
Yu Dogyeom clapped and began.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.”
I sang in a clear voice while watching Kang Uihyeon's lips. He would probably recite the next words without thinking much of them.
“Happy birthday, dear Sujin. Happy birthday to you.”
Just as I expected. Kang Uihyeon didn't place much importance on song lyrics. The only ones conscious of them were me, tense and alert, and Jeong Sujin, who had grown shy.
“Now, make a wish first.”
At Yu Dogyeom's fussing, Jeong Sujin closed her eyes for a moment, then blew out the candles with a puff.
What wish had she made? Had she wished for things to work out with Kang Uihyeon? But Jeong Sujin wouldn't need to give something so grand a name as a wish. It was a future naturally given to her. That was the kind of wish someone like me would make.
“This is the first time I've seen Uihyeon celebrate a woman's birthday. We've been friends since we were eight.”
Yu Dogyeom chattered excitedly like a fish in water.
“He's gotten plenty of confessions too, but he never gave any of them a second look. I once seriously asked him if he was gay.”
Jeong Sujin's peal of laughter was clear.
“Wow, if you've been close since you were eight, you've basically been friends your whole lives. That's amazing.”
“Uihyeon is nice enough to be my friend, that's all. Where else would you find someone who puts up with even his friend's younger sister's temper?”
“Temper? Chaewon is so sweet.”
“Sweet, my ass. She's only putting on an act because you're here. Once we get home, she changes completely. She doesn't care whether I'm her oppa or not, and she has no respect at all.”
Yu Dogyeom seemed determined to crush my spirits while he had the chance. Kang Uihyeon was sitting quietly, but Yu Dogyeom was making a fuss all by himself.
“Why? I'd love to have a younger sister like this. Chaewon, you're popular at school, aren't you? I bet lots of guys ask for your number.”
“There are.”
It was not me who answered, but Kang Uihyeon. The man who had silently focused on his meal joined the conversation for the first time.
“When she's studying in the library, guys often leave notes for her. There are even posts on the school community asking what department she's in, with descriptions of what she looks like.”
“Really? Things like that happen at a coed university? Nothing like that happens at our women's university.”
“This girl is popular?”
Yu Dogyeom snorted loudly.
“Once they learn what she's like, they'll all run away. Who would stick around her?”
“Even after learning what she's like, there are people who can't give her up.”
“Does everyone there have rocks for brains? They get all worked up just because of her face.”
“They seem to have brains attached. They don't dare confess carelessly.”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
