Even If It’s Not Love

“What’s wrong? You don’t know what’s wrong? Why did I entrust you with that old woman! Why are you doing this when I entrusted her to you!”

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“What is missing?”

Even though she knew that talking to a drunken person would be of no use, Yoo-hwa asked, wondering if she had made a mistake during work today.

“What is missing? Ha, you’re asking what is missing? You mean you don’t know? Ah, whatever… What do you mean you don’t know! You’re doing things like this while taking money! If a person— do you hear me? If a person entrusts you with a job, you should do it properly! Properly!”

Her words went round and round in the same place.
Her hands trembled at the old lady’s shouts and the plastic bag shook, making a rustling sound.

She had to ignore the old lady and go inside, but she didn’t know whether she would be like this all night long if she ignored her like that.
If she’s shouting like that, she’s somehow suppressing herself; but if she’s unlucky, she might even break the opaque glass on her wooden door.

In that case, she would have to deal with the compensation herself.

Because that brazen old lady would insist that she was drunk and that she couldn’t remember.

Above all else, she wasn’t confident that she could endure hearing the screams coming from outside in her room.

She was afraid she might be reminded of the time when she was pushed back by her mother and locked up in her room, having to listen to the sound of violence that continued mercilessly.

Suddenly, fear rushed in.

“Go inside.”

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Yoo-hwa’s body flinched at the sudden voice.
When she turned her head, Woo-hyun was standing next to her and looking down at the old lady.

“No.
It’s my problem.”

At Yoo-hwa’s answer, Woo-hyun turned his head and looked at her.
Yoo-hwa’s whole body was shaking like an aspen tree.
It was an indication of extreme anxiety and fear.
Even so, she persisted in trying to solve it herself.

Like a person who doesn’t know how to depend on someone.

“It is also my problem.”

Yoo-hwa looked at Woo-hyun with a gaze that said, ‘How is this your problem?’.

“I can’t sleep because it’s noisy.”

“… Sorry.
I will sort this out right away.”

“Go to my room and stay there.”

Woo-hyun cut off Yoo-hwa’s words.

“…”

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“Okay.
Then, you stand up.”

When Yoo-hwa silently refused, Woo-hyun responded lightly.
When he finished speaking, he grabbed one of the old lady’s arms and lifted her up.

“What! What are you doing, you bastard!”

The old lady rebelled by shouting, but Woo-hyun easily raised her upright.
Then he dragged her and shoved her inside the public restroom, locking the door.

The old restroom door was often open when the wind was strong, so it could be locked from the outside.
You could tell by looking at the light coming out of the cracks in the door whether or not there were people inside anyway.

Inside the public restroom, the old lady shouted and knocked on the door, but Woo-hyun did not move.
Yoo-hwa looked at him with dumbfounded eyes.

“What?”

“What did you do just now?”

“Then are you going to leave that crazy woman with the grandma?”

“…”

“She won’t die in this weather.”

“Still…”

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“Or are you going to keep listening to her?”

“…”

She never had the confidence to do that.

“I’ll let her go when she quiets down, so you go home and rest.”

With those words, Woo-hyun went inside his house.
Thud.
As soon as the sound of the door closing was heard, Yoo-hwa’s body collapsed.

“Aah.”

A sigh escaped from her trembling lips.
Yoo-hwa moved, practically crawling, and sat down on the stairs.
The old lady was still swearing angrily in the public restroom, but it was quieter than before.
Yoo-hwa clasped her trembling hands tightly.
But it was useless to hold her trembling hand with her other hand.
The tremors only aggravated.

A long time passed, but she did not dare to go home.
It was difficult to go inside because her legs were weak.

The tip of her nose was so cold that it tingled, and the inside of her mouth was so cold and dry that warm steam didn’t come from her breath anymore.
The hands that were holding each other were already frozen white since long ago.
Even if they were cold enough to be painful, Yoo-hwa did not move.

Yoo-hwa was wandering through the memories of the past.
The memories that she had buried and vowed that she would never revisit burst out like popcorn and cluttered her mind.

“Miss Yoo-hwa… Kim Beom-sik’s daughter…”

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“What? Kim Beom-sik? You mean that serial killer?”

“Oh my…”

She was at the dentist’s reception, where she had barely gotten a job, when it was first revealed that she was the daughter of a murderer.
Whatever way it may have been found out, the rumor spread like wildfire.
Yoo-hwa still remembers clearly the people’s gaze at that time.

Fear, worry, anxiety, astonishment, shock.
And the sense of refusal that came at the end.
She learned once again that a person can be thrown away by another person without a single word.

It was from then.
No matter where Yoo-hwa worked or what she did, rumors spread that she was the daughter of the murderer Kim Beom-sik.
Those who heard the rumors sympathized with her but were afraid.

“Where will she go, when she shares his blood?”

She didn’t share his blood at all.

“Still, she’s the daughter of a murderer… I’m feeling uneasy.”

She herself was a victim.

“She’s really scary.”

Really… She didn’t do anything.