Chapter 63
‘Why?’
She couldn’t bring herself to voice the question that begged to be asked.
“……Let’s go together. Ye Eun-seol, sorry, but I have something to ask Seul-gi too, so I’ll step out.”
“What? But……!”
Ye Eun-seol tried to stop her, but quickly clamped her mouth shut. It wouldn’t do to show such overt wariness toward Jang Seul-gi.
Soon, he forced a smile, but fortunately, it looked natural enough.
“Yeah. As the guy here, I’m just chopped liver, I guess.”
Baek I-hae gave Ye Eun-seol’s shoulder a quick pat before following Jang Seul-gi outside. From behind, she faintly heard Ye Eun-seol’s voice urging them to return before class started.
Jang Seul-gi headed to the back garden. The unkempt grassy area was a spot students avoided, making it sparsely populated.
Pointing to a bench in the corner, she clearly meant for Baek I-hae to sit there.
‘Surely she wouldn’t try to harm me at school. Ye Eun-seol knows I came out here with her alone.’
Baek I-hae suppressed her anxiety and sat on the bench. When Jang Seul-gi sat right beside her, a brief silence settled between them.
Since Jang Seul-gi had been the one to request the time, Baek I-hae intended to wait quietly until she spoke.
After some time passed, Jang Seul-gi finally opened her mouth cautiously, as if she’d been pondering how to broach the subject.
“I still can’t quite believe you’re my cousin. But it’s true that I was glad it was you.”
Baek I-hae listened in silence.
“Our dad is a really timid person. That’s what frustrated Mom—she said he wasn’t reliable enough—and that’s why they divorced.”
Her eyes, momentarily lost in reminiscence and longing, turned toward Baek I-hae.
“Still, I felt sorry leaving Dad alone, so I begged to live with him until graduation. But once I actually went… I wondered how he would have survived if I hadn’t come.”
What was she trying to say?
Did she mean she was horrified by his neglect of household chores, living like a recluse? Or was she boasting about how overjoyed he was that his daughter had returned?
If it was the latter, it wasn’t something to brag about to Baek I-hae, who was now an orphan. Just as irritation made her furrow her brow,
“He was in debt and being threatened.”
“……What?”
“And to gangsters, no less. In this day and age—gangsters? Hard to believe, right?”
Jang Seul-gi seemed unaware that the place where she’d recently shared a dinner was a gangster hideout.
No, that wasn’t important right now. Baek I-hae couldn’t hide her bewildered expression as she asked,
“You came to take me away in that situation? Don’t tell me you were promised money from Uncle?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then why on earth are you looking for me? You don’t have the emotional or financial leeway right now.”
“That’s exactly why I asked to see you for a bit—to make a request.”
Jang Seul-gi stood up from her seat. The sudden movement made Baek I-hae tense, watching her warily.
Then, out of nowhere, she knelt down in front of Baek I-hae!
“Please help us, I-hae.”
“What are you doing right now?”
“The gangsters are starting to take Dad away and use violence on him. They haven’t done it to me yet……. What if Dad dies like this?”
“No, so why are you asking me for help? Just report it to the police!”
“If we report to the police, they said they’d kill Mom and Grandma……. They even know our home address.”
Jang Seul-gi tried to speak calmly, but tears eventually streamed down her face. Her words, poured out like vomit, were filled with too much grievance to be lies.
“Those gangsters are looking for you. They said if we let them meet you, they’d wipe out the debt entirely and stop threatening our family’s lives! Please, I-hae. Couldn’t you just meet them once?”
“W-wait a minute. Jang Seul-gi! Don’t do this!”
Jang Seul-gi began clinging to Baek I-hae’s legs, hugging them desperately. Her tear-streaked face looked genuinely pleading, but to Baek I-hae, it only sent chills down her spine.
‘Us? She talked about taking me because we’re blood-related, but she doesn’t even include me in “our family”!’
In the end, it meant they intended to sell out Baek I-hae for their own safety. Now she understood why this so-called uncle had suddenly come looking for her.
He was seeking her out because he had a purpose. Otherwise, he would have ignored the relationship for life.
“I feel sorry for your situation, but I have no intention of meeting such dangerous people. Ask to borrow money to pay off the debt instead. I’ll try asking Uncle for you.”
“It’s not something that can be solved with money. The interest is piling up way beyond the principal even now! They won’t do anything dangerous to you. They just said they want to talk, okay?”
Baek I-hae forcibly pried Jang Seul-gi’s hands away. She’d gripped so tightly that her calves throbbed.
“Your dad is the one who made the mistake—so why ask me?”
“……We’re your only family now. Are you going to abandon your family?”
Jang Seul-gi drooped her eyes with a hurt expression. Her bare legs were touching the grass, but she didn’t seem to mind the itch.
For a brief moment, pity stirred, but Baek I-hae turned her head away. A warning rang in her mind: getting involved would be dangerous.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear this.”
She spoke coldly and turned around, but inside, her emotions boiled hotter than anyone’s.
From the start, they didn’t even consider her family!
She hadn’t expected anything, but the feeling of being abandoned and betrayed was utterly wretched.
‘No. This is for the best. I already sensed something off about Jang Seul-gi anyway. Let’s think of it as a clear chance to distance myself.’
The man who had chased Baek I-hae last time was likely a gangster she’d tipped off to approach her.
She’d need to find out which side he was on now, but if she asked Seo I-heum, he’d look into it. All she had to do was find the person her uncle had borrowed from.
‘It’s okay.’
Once she found that person, she’d learn the reason they were targeting her. Maybe that person was the main villain.
Then all the risks would disappear. It would bring her closer to a happy ending.
However, Baek I-hae couldn’t bring herself to enter the school building and instead sank down right there.
‘……I’m scared.’
She’d tried to think calmly, but the flood of “what ifs” terrified her. How Jang Seul-gi might react to the rejection, what retaliation she might face.
If she met Ye Eun-seol with this face, he’d surely worry. She couldn’t let anyone see her like this.
“Baek I-hae?”
A familiar voice called out to her.
Slowly lifting her head, there stood Seo Do-gyeom, as if by some miracle. His hair was disheveled, like he’d come running and stopped abruptly.
“Do-gyeom……”
It was a vulnerable side she couldn’t let anyone see. She’d vowed not to trust people, yet here she was, looking hurt in the end.
Seo Do-gyeom approached and wordlessly pulled Baek I-hae into a tight embrace. She had no idea what her face looked like reflected in his eyes.
But his unhesitating hug felt like his own clumsy way of comforting her. Like he was saying she wasn’t alone, so it was okay.
‘I’m sure I look pathetic. Normally, you wouldn’t want the person you like to see you like this.’
Why did she keep wanting to lean on Seo Do-gyeom?
Nestled in his arms, she rested her cheek on his shoulder. The hope that had seemed on the verge of vanishing moments ago now firmly took root.
‘I’m glad I like Seo Do-gyeom.’
She’d never liked anyone before, so she couldn’t be sure if this was love. She was just gradually learning that love wasn’t only about a racing heart and butterflies.
“Why is your leg hurt?”
The nail marks from where Jang Seul-gi had clung desperately, refusing to let go. Seeing the reddened skin, Seo Do-gyeom spoke with a tone of distress.
At his concern, Baek I-hae smiled faintly and said it was fine. But a disapproving gaze followed.
“You always say you’re fine. You can be honest with me.”
“Because you’re my boyfriend?”
At Baek I-hae’s question, Seo Do-gyeom made a peculiar expression. As if wondering if that’s what boyfriends did.
“No. Because no matter what you say, I’m someone who won’t be disappointed in you.”
It would have been the same even if I weren’t your boyfriend—the words seemed to echo.
Perhaps it was the relief in those words that made her spill what she’d kept bottled up inside.
“I actually didn’t want to go with that so-called uncle. I hoped Uncle would chase me out, saying not to say useless things since I-hae is our family.”
She’d longed for family so much, but blood alone didn’t make one family. The family Baek I-hae wanted wasn’t like that.
Something more precious and solid—a true shelter.
“Don’t go. You can stay by our side.”
She’d wanted a relationship where being inside that shelter felt utterly natural.
Gazing intently at Seo Do-gyeom’s face, who gave her that so effortlessly, Baek I-hae kissed him as if entranced.
