WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection ◈
Chapter 30
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The door closed softly. I bit my lip as I looked at the pajamas in my hands. My insides burned at the bra and panties sitting right on top without a care. I had asked Kang Uihyeon to bring them, but apparently, he truly hadn't had a single indecent thought while taking out a woman's underwear. Otherwise, he would have had the consideration to hide them among the clothes instead of placing them so boldly on top.
Nothing about me could possibly stir even the slightest reaction in Kang Uihyeon. In the mirror, Yu Chaewon, her face burning red, let out heavy sighs.
* * *
Mother did not appear all day. Every so often, while studying for my exams, I looked out into the living room, but the one behind all that commotion had hidden herself without leaving behind even a trace of chill.
Why had Mother caused such a scene? What had she wanted badly enough to hurt her daughter? I mulled it over and over until I even began to suspect that Mother had caused the accident to bring Kang Uihyeon into the house. A hollow laugh escaped me. Scheming like that was the kind of thing someone like me would do.
"I'm home."
As I was deep in thought, Kang Uihyeon's voice drifted in from beyond my half-open door as he spoke to someone on the phone.
"I don't think I can for a while."
There was only one person who would call him on a Saturday afternoon.
"Someone got hurt at the house, so I need to stay with them."
The fact that he was mixing in such a plausible lie meant it was one hundred percent Ms. Jeong Sujin.
"Yeah, study hard."
Kang Uihyeon's tone was kind, but if you looked closely at what he said, it was far from affectionate. He was someone who valued his own efficiency above all else. Me, chasing after a man like that, and Ms. Jeong Sujin, calling him first on the weekend, were like people staring longingly at dried fish hanging from the ceiling.
I smacked my head with both hands and fixed my gaze on my major textbook. But my efforts to regain my scattered focus did not last long. Suddenly, the sound of someone entering the door lock password cut in.
Beep, beep. Naturally, the warning alarm went off.
"Ah, fuck. What the hell?"
The curse that followed made the identity of the uninvited guest obvious. I limped out of my room, but Kang Uihyeon was already opening the front door as though he owned the place.
"What are you doing here?"
Yu Dogyeom looked his friend up and down as he came in. When my brother noticed me standing behind him, he automatically furrowed his brow.
"Hey, why did you suddenly change the password? You could've at least texted me if you changed it."
"Chaewon's foot is hurt."
Kang Uihyeon gently took hold of my upper arm and lowered his gaze. Yu Dogyeom followed his gaze and spotted the large bandage on my foot. But my brother merely turned away with an indifferent expression.
"What did you do this time to get hurt? Hey, Uihyeon. Do you have a tablet you don't use? Mine crapped out..."
"She got hurt because of Mother."
Yu Dogyeom stopped on his way to his room. When he turned to look at his friend, his face was so blank it was chilling.
"What did you just say?"
"Mother hurt Chaewon."
Kang Uihyeon knew perfectly well how Yu Dogyeom reacted whenever Mother's ghost came up, so I could not understand why he had brought it up now. I quickly shook my arm free from Kang Uihyeon's grip. All I could think about was getting away from this place.
"You've been hanging around Yu Chaewon so much that you've gone crazy too?"
I headed toward my room as fast as I could manage with my unsteady steps. The exhausting time that had continued since my parents' death anniversary showed no sign of ending. I did not want to fight with my brother again. I was already exhausted enough.
"I saw the knife standing under the couch. Chaewon stepped on it without realizing..."
"You crazy bastard. Say something that makes sense!"
Just as expected, Yu Dogyeom rejected the truth as though he were having a fit.
"Just admit your eyes are fucked up. Stop going along with Yu Chaewon. You keep egging her on, so her mental illness won't get better!"
"Yu Dogyeom."
"Why the fuck have you gone crazy too? Yu Chaewon alone is already more than enough! You're supposed to be my friend and stop her, so what the hell are you doing? Can you see our mother too? Huh?"
Unable to calm down, Yu Dogyeom panted harshly. Having reached the safety of my room, I closed the door, leaving only enough of a gap for one finger. Then I hid cowardly behind it and watched the old friends fight.
"Dogyeom."
Unlike Yu Dogyeom, who was flushed red with anger, Kang Uihyeon's face held only calm.
"You're the one who's not in your right mind."
"...What?"
Yu Dogyeom's voice, suddenly seeming as though it might fade away at any second, barely slipped out.
"How long are you going to keep denying reality and running around with women? You don't go to school, you don't earn money, you leave your younger sister alone at home, and you pretend not to know even when she's stabbed by a knife."
It was the first time I had ever heard Kang Uihyeon speak to his closest friend like that. More than anyone, Kang Uihyeon understood Yu Dogyeom's wandering. Even if it meant taking responsibility for his friend's younger sister, even if it meant dealing with the nuisance of mediating between siblings, he had let Yu Dogyeom roam around outside as he pleased.
"How many times has Chaewon been hurt in this house while you've been going wherever you please? And you still want her to call you oppa?"
The color quickly drained from Yu Dogyeom's face. The accusations were not much different from what he heard from his younger sister every time, but Kang Uihyeon being the one to say them must have shocked him.
"How long are you going to avoid your responsibilities?"
"What responsibilities do I have?"
Yu Dogyeom shouted brazenly.
"You've been playing Yu Chaewon's oppa in my place all this time, so why the fuck are you making a fuss now? Are you tired of it too? What, has Yu Chaewon grown up and started creeping you out? You can't keep doing it, so you're trying to dump her back on me?"
The arrow turned toward me. I tightened my grip on the doorknob. I had resolved from the beginning not to get involved in this fight, so I had to swallow it down.
"You never took responsibility for her in the first place. What do you mean, dumping her back on you?"
Kang Uihyeon's low voice was too cold. It was probably a voice neither I nor Yu Dogyeom had ever heard before. My brother's clenched fists were trembling.
I was scared. Scared that Yu Dogyeom kept pressing Kang Uihyeon to admit I had become a nuisance to him. I was afraid Kang Uihyeon would agree. I wanted them to leave me out of their conversation. Even for just a moment, I wanted my existence to be completely forgotten.
"If your younger sister gets hurt, ask if she's okay. Ask whether she received treatment and how she got hurt. That's what you're supposed to do."
Kang Uihyeon was saying something completely obvious, but it probably did not reach Yu Dogyeom properly. My brother's fierce gaze flew toward me behind the bedroom door.
"Hey, how old are you?"
A sharp question followed.
"How old are you that you still want someone to take responsibility for you? How long are you going to act like you're the only one who has it hard? Huh? Do you think you're the only one who lost your parents overnight?"
I was cowardly for hiding here, but Yu Dogyeom was just as cowardly for dragging me into this. He had nothing to say to Kang Uihyeon, who had done his part for three years, so he was pouring his anger out on me.
"Why do you shut up in front of Kang Uihyeon? Go on, say fuck, fuck, like you do when it's just the two of us. Why don't you?"
Yu Dogyeom let out a sharp laugh, then suddenly clutched his head and screamed.
"Please, just live your own life! Stop fucking giving me shit about being an oppa or whatever! How long are you going to let Mom hold you back? Our mother is dead! She's dead!"
After venting all his rage, Yu Dogyeom spun around. It seemed he had come home to pick something up, but in the end, he ran out empty-handed without saying goodbye. The only thing my brother took from this house was an accusation that he was irresponsible.
Bang! The front door slammed shut.
Kang Uihyeon, who had been staring at it, walked toward my room. For a brief moment, I felt the urge to lock the door. I did not want to talk with Kang Uihyeon about Yu Dogyeom's outburst.
"It's quiet now."
Standing on the other side of the door, which was open only enough to reveal one of my eyes, Kang Uihyeon looked at me and murmured. I could not understand what he meant right away.
"He probably won't come by for a while."
The omitted subject was Yu Dogyeom. I nodded. My brother had already come home only a handful of times. And now that he had even fought with his closest friend, he would likely endure outside somehow rather than come here in the future.
"What about Chaewon, left here alone?"
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