Chapter 52

[52] Oppa, You Must’ve Been So Surprised

“Sis.”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry, but from now on, I’d rather you didn’t come by like this. And please try not to contact me either.”

It was something he’d have to say sooner or later.

He’d avoided bringing it up until now because he wasn’t sure how to say it.

But he felt like the time had finally come.

Yuna blinked in surprise at Min-jun’s sudden bombshell.

She stared at him as if she’d never imagined he would say something like that.

“What do you mean, Min-jun?”

“It’s true that we were close when we were kids. But that was a long time ago. And if I were single, maybe things would be different, but I have a girlfriend now. It’s not really appropriate for me to keep meeting up with another woman.”

Besides, though not as much as Sia, Min-jun had sensed that Yuna was romantically interested in him and was subtly making advances.

He couldn’t keep leaving the door open.

“I just wanted to be with you, Min-jun...”

“I’m sorry. But I think this is the right thing to do.”

At his cold response, tears began to well up in Yuna’s eyes before she even realized it.

She’d secretly loved Min-jun ever since they were children.

Her feelings had gradually faded over the years, but they’d never disappeared completely.

And even after they lost touch, Min-jun had continued to influence her in ways he didn’t know.

Soon after Yuna immigrated to the United States, she decided that someday, somehow, she’d get the chance to see Min-jun again. Until then, she would become the perfect woman—the kind of woman Min-jun might fall for.

She would be beautiful, capable, kind—an absolutely irresistible woman.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that was what had made her who she was.

She’d been called a genius and made a name for herself as an A-rank Hunter at a remarkably young age.

After retiring, she’d gone on to build a successful business, running a variety of places, including the Chinese restaurant.

And the story she’d once told Min-jun as a joke—that she’d opened a Chinese restaurant because he’d loved jajangmyeon as a child—wasn’t made up, either.

She’d opened it with the hope that one day Min-jun would eat jajangmyeon she’d cooked herself.

Yuna’s love for Min-jun had always been sincere.

I was going to confess when I finally saw Min-jun again as a perfect woman.

But Min-jun already had a girlfriend, so she’d never gotten as far as confessing.

If she couldn’t be his partner, she still wanted to be close to him, like the older sister and younger brother they’d been before.

It was disappointing, but she thought she could be content with that and keep her feelings to herself.

But—

“...Why can’t I? Hm, Min-jun?”

Faced with Min-jun’s firm, unwavering stance, Yuna’s eyes filled with tears, and she finally began to speak from the heart.

“C-can’t we even just be close like an older sister and younger brother? I’m not asking you to date me. I just... like you as a person. I like spending time with you, and I wanted to take good care of you. I tried to become a dependable older sister you could lean on...”

Min-jun hadn’t expected Yuna to be so honest about her feelings, and he looked more than a little surprised.

Her tears might have softened his resolve a little.

But Min-jun didn’t change his mind.

If anything, learning how she felt only made him more certain he’d made the right choice.

“I’m sorry, Sis.”

“I... I could have been more—”

I loved you before your girlfriend did.

I could love you more and do more for you.

Unable to say those words aloud, she lowered her head.

“...No, I’m sorry. I understand. I’ll do that.”

There was no point in continuing. She knew that nothing she said would change Min-jun’s mind.

Giving up, she forced back her tears and left his apartment.

Swallowing her grief, she made her lonely way home.

The whole way back, memories of her time with Min-jun kept surfacing, making her even sadder.

Then her sadness began to twist into something else.

If it weren’t for that woman...

If Min-jun hadn’t been dating Sia, none of this would have happened.

Blaming Sia’s jealousy for what had happened, Yuna began directing her anger at her.

How could she vent all that anger?

She came to a decision.

I’ll spar with her.

Yuna was a retired A-rank Hunter, while Sia was, “officially,” a D-rank Hunter.

Not knowing anything about Sia’s true abilities, Yuna thought she was an ordinary D-rank. With such a huge difference in strength, Yuna figured she could take out her frustration on Sia during their spar.

The thought brought a wicked smile to Yuna’s lips.

***

Worried about Sia, I couldn’t focus on anything all day.

I wasn’t in the right state of mind to look for a B-rank Gate, and when I contacted Rokan to ask how Sia was doing, he said there was nothing he could tell me right now.

Besides, I’d never seen Sia like that during our relationship, so of course I was worried.

All day, I tried to think of ways to lift her spirits.

It would have been nice to know what was bothering her, but since I didn’t even know the reason, I decided to do what I could.

I picked out some clothes for Sia at a nearby department store. Then, thinking that might not be enough, I made a big batch of tteokbokki for her and put it in a container.

As I was about to put the freshly made tteokbokki in the fridge, I noticed the side dishes Yuna had left behind.

This is bothering me.

For a moment, I wondered whether I’d been too cold toward her. But if I wanted to keep the peace between me, Sia, and Yuna, I’d had no choice.

Still, what should I do with these side dishes she’d brought?

Some of them were for me, which I appreciated, but I felt uneasy about eating them.

But throwing them away without trying them felt wrong, too.

I decided to worry about that later. There was something more important on my mind.

If I managed to get in touch with Sia soon, should I tell her what had happened today?

Or should I wait until she’d calmed down a little and tell her everything later?

With all those little worries on my mind, I ended up wasting the entire day.

Sia finally contacted me the next morning.

At around ten, just as I was wondering whether I should call Rokan again, Sia video-called me.

“Sia!”

I was so relieved and glad to hear from her that my voice grew louder without me meaning to.

[Oppa, I’m sorry. I couldn’t call yesterday. You must’ve been so worried, right?]

I studied Sia’s expression.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but after everything she’d been through, it looked like she had faint dark circles under her eyes.

Aside from that, she seemed much like her usual self—but it was too soon to relax.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just glad you seem all right.”

[I’m sorry for worrying you. You must’ve been so surprised.]

“No. Everyone has days like that sometimes, don’t they? Some days are incredibly happy, and other days you feel so down you can barely handle it. Either way, I’m glad you seem okay.”

Rather than ask what had happened, I needed to say something that would support her.

Instead of asking about the previous day, I started telling her about my own day to lighten the mood.

I told her more about my rank reassessment, which I hadn’t had the chance to discuss in detail before, and shared little stories about picking out her gift the day before—easy small talk she could listen to and laugh at without having to think too hard.

Naturally, I didn’t mention Yuna.

It felt too soon to bring that up.

Sia laughed and responded as warmly as she usually did.

But...

Perhaps because of what had happened, she didn’t look completely cheerful.

It seemed like she was still troubled by it, but was pretending to be fine so I wouldn’t worry.

I wanted to ask what had happened, but I knew I shouldn’t push her to talk about it.

We chatted for over an hour.

[Oppa.]

Perhaps she’d finally gathered the courage to say it. Sia looked at me with an expression more troubled than before.

[I guess if you gain something, you have to lose something, too.]

Just as she had on our last call, Sia opened with a cryptic remark.

[It feels like the world has made up its mind to tear us apart. I felt that way the day before yesterday, too.]

“What happened?”

Perhaps remembering what had happened, Sia paused for a moment, then answered with a bitter smile.

[I’m sorry. I can’t tell you yet. Maybe you’ll find out someday, but... I think it’s too soon right now.]

We were close enough to share all our secrets, but even Sia had something she couldn’t tell me.

Whatever it was, there must have been a reason she’d dodged the question the day before yesterday.

I had no idea what had happened, which only made me more curious.

[But, Oppa, I can tell you this much.]

After taking a moment to compose herself, Sia continued with a serious look in her eyes.

[You and I haven’t gone around doing anything to deserve people hating us. And yet there are people who hate us for no reason.]

She didn’t say who those people were, but she squeezed her eyes shut as if just thinking about them made her blood boil.

[Maybe someone will try all sorts of things to separate us. So...]

Sia couldn’t bring herself to finish.

I didn’t know exactly what she was thinking, but she seemed to be imagining the worst that could happen.

“Don’t worry. If anyone tries to separate us, I’ll grit my teeth and hold on. I’ll keep working to get strong enough to do that, too.”

Just like you did, Sia.

I was ready to do anything.

I didn’t know what she was afraid of, but the way to ease that fear was to reassure her.

Sia seemed like she still had more to say. She opened her mouth, then covered her face with both hands, lowered her head, and began to sob silently.

“I don’t know what happened, but I won’t let the things you’re worried about come true. So please don’t keep it all bottled up.”

Unfortunately, those were the only words I could offer her right now.