Chapter 09
“Sing-ah. What’s wrong? Are you sick again? Your hands are cold.”
Im Rampa’s expression hardened with worry as he took my hand and checked it.
Rampa had always been like this.
Maybe it was because he was naturally kind-hearted, or maybe because seeing a little kid spray blood like a fountain right in front of him during their first meeting had been deeply shocking.
Either way, whenever he saw me, he went out of his way to take care of me.
To the point where my tiny conscience started feeling uncomfortable.
Just like now.
The worried look in the boy’s eyes was so sincere that I couldn’t even bring myself to look straight at him.
My bone-deep F feeling self became overwhelmed and wanted to scream.
‘Stay away! Stay away from me!’
I wanted to grab Rampa and shout at him to cut ties with this person immediately.
How could he be this unlucky?
Even if you only watched dramas, you’d know how a protagonist who regressed into the past takes revenge on their enemies, right?
There was no doubt that everyone around him, including Je Anmin himself, would be reduced to rubble.
From the curses that Uncle Minsoo had muttered right after his regression, it was obvious he was the type of person driven more by personal desires than some noble cause.
Just look at the exchange rate right now! That vicious Uncle Minsoo probably wouldn’t even let the IMF save us! I’m telling you, it’s obvious!
“Rampa. Uncle doesn’t have time for this right now—”
“Enough! I said go!”
(Stop! I said go!)
Rampa’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Je Anmin.
Phew~ Thank goodness.
Although they were uncle and nephew, it seemed like they weren’t particularly close.
I felt slightly relieved and hugged onto Rampa’s arm tightly as I sniffled.
“Oppa~ Sing-ah needs to go to the bathroom. Take me there.”
If this traitorous villain bastard has even a little bit of shame left, he won’t follow me into the women’s restroom!
I was desperate.
I needed somewhere I could be alone with Rampa right now.
‘I already used the fortune reading, so this time I’ll use physiognomy.’
The face-reading of Prince Suyang—
No, the face-reading of a traitor.
I had to tell him to stay far, far away.
I knew interfering with Rampa’s fate would shorten my lifespan, but this was just advice about human relationships.
It wouldn’t cost me years or months.
Maybe just a few days?
Besides, this guy was already doomed to die at twenty-two.
As a kind neighbor in this era, I couldn’t possibly sit back and watch him get dragged into a mess with a regressor protagonist because of some relative.
I glanced over.
Mom seemed to have run into some kind of problem and was arguing intensely with an employee at the service counter.
Having made up my mind, I tugged on Rampa’s arm.
“Oppa. Hurry~”
“Okay. Got it.”
“Rampa…”
Je Anmin called out pitifully, like an abandoned lover, but Rampa didn’t look back at him anymore.
He simply picked me up effortlessly and walked away with large strides.
“Your mum’s gonna worry if she can’t see ya. Let’s pop out for a sec, yeah?”
(Your mother will worry if she can’t see you. Let’s go quickly and come back, okay?)
“What?”
“I said your mom will worry, so let’s go and come back quickly.”
Rampa smiled as he spoke and glanced down at me in his arms before adjusting his hold.
Then, as if saying something insignificant, he casually muttered,
“He’ll be gone by then.”
“……”
I became quiet and stared at Rampa’s jaw.
At that moment, I realized it.
This nine-year-old boy, who was only three years older than me, already knew everything.
Whether it was the unpleasant feeling Je Anmin gave off…
Or my shallow little lie.
Maybe for some people, age was nothing more than a superficial thing.
So when we arrived in front of the bathroom, I simply told Rampa as he put me down.
Instead of bringing up my ridiculous physiognomy nonsense, I spoke directly.
“I hate that uncle. He makes me uncomfortable, and I think you’ll get hurt if you stay near him.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“Yes. We haven’t known each other for long, but I think I’d feel really bad if you got hurt. Do you understand what Sing-ah means?”
Even though we had only met a few times, regardless of the size of his talent, Rampa was the kind of boy anyone could easily grow fond of.
When he looked at you with that mischievous smile in his eyes, you naturally ended up thinking,
Fine. Let him do whatever he wants.
So it wasn’t only me who was weak against him.
Wasn’t there a reason why his future scandalous love life existed?
The list of women who had passed through Im Rampa’s life alone could probably hold an entire awards ceremony.
The best choice was to stay away from someone like him once he reached puberty.
Young Rampa used his large hands, bigger than those of other children his age, to gently fix my fur hat.
Then he nodded.
With a playful grin, he asked,
“So you don’t actually need to go to the bathroom anymore?”
“……”
“I’m going!”
Ugh.
I drank way too much water earlier!
“Hahaha. I’ll wait right there.”
I glared at Rampa and quickly went inside.
And then…
I swear to heaven, it couldn’t have taken long.
I washed my hands quickly and came back out.
But Rampa was nowhere to be seen.
“Huh?”
He wasn’t in the hallway outside the bathroom where he said he would wait.
He wasn’t around the corner either.
Only unfamiliar strangers passed by.
“Oppa? ……Rampa!”
What?
Where did he go?
I stood there, confused.
It was strange.
And besides…
For some reason, my eyelids had been twitching for a while.
An unexplained feeling of anxiety began creeping over me.
Just as I tried to ignore it and decided to return to Mom first—
“……Mmph!”
A strong hand grabbed me from behind.
At the same time, I smelled something strange and overpowering.
That was my last memory.
♧
Beep— beep— beep—.
The hospital room was silent like a dead space.
The only sounds inside were the regular beeping of the monitors and the pressure adjustments of the ventilator.
The woman was slowly withering away inside this room.
A pale face.
Thin limbs.
With not even a trace of color in her skin, she looked nothing like someone who was simply sleeping.
“You really aren’t pretty at all. You’re getting uglier and uglier.”
Bare-faced Seo Sing-ah looked like a dusty pearl because of the old scars covering her face.
But anyone who looked closely could never fail to notice how exquisitely formed her features were.
It wasn’t for no reason that Seo Sing-ah always called herself a beauty whenever she opened her mouth.
And Seok Eun-chu liked that side of her.
The contradictory Seo Sing-ah who hated herself while fiercely loving herself.
After watching her for what felt like forever, Seok Eun-chu suddenly felt overwhelmed.
“Do you remember saying that if we still didn’t have anyone after turning thirty, we’d take care of each other?”
“……”
“Because of that promise, I haven’t had a single girlfriend for twenty years…”
“……”
“All those girlfriends I talked about? I was just teasing you. You idiot. How did you never notice even once?”
“……”
“It’s been a year now. Less than a year remains. When spring comes, you’ll have no choice but to marry me, Seo Sing-ah.”
“……”
“I’ll wait for you.”
So please…
Wake up now.
Sing-ah.
“The hospital bills… I owe you, Eun-chu hyung.”
“Between us, why are you saying things like that? You’re making me feel hurt.”
The hospital rooftop.
The sound of Christmas carols from the streets reached all the way up to the sky.
Seo Cheong-song rubbed his darkened eye area and sat down carelessly on a snow-covered bench.
Visits to the intensive care unit were strictly limited.
One person a day.
Twenty minutes.
Since Seok Eun-chu had visited Seo Sing-ah today, nobody else could see her again.
Seo Cheong-song repeatedly rubbed his dry face.
The confident, handsome young police officer from before had disappeared long ago.
“It’s not even a regular room. Paying for an ICU stay isn’t easy.”
“Forget it. I’ll pay you back somehow.”
Seo Cheong-song had always been clear about keeping boundaries.
That made Seok Eun-chu feel even more bitter.
“Have you thought about changing hospitals?”
“What difference would changing hospitals make? Would it change the fact that she’s brain-dead?”
“……”
“There’s no hope. I’m only holding on because I can’t let go and I’m hoping for a miracle.”
“A miracle…”
“If you ever get tired of wasting money on something pointless, tell me. I’ll find another way.”
“Your tongue really is sharp, Cheong-song.”
“Hyung, you really…”
The thin and exhausted Seok Eun-chu.
It was a pitiful and foolish devotion.
Seo Cheong-song swallowed a dry sigh.
“If you were going to be like this, you should’ve confessed at least once.”
“……”
“Instead of just following her around all the time.”
“……”
“My sister is a selfish person. Even if she pretends to be kind, the truth is she only thinks about herself. ‘Water drops can pierce stone’? Only strangers say things like that. You know better than anyone…”
Even if you treated her well for ten years, who could beat a single impulsive decision she made in one day?
Look at her now.
She got into an accident because she wanted to help some homeless stranger she didn’t even know, tearing her entire family apart.
How could someone be that selfish?
♧
♪ We will be together… fates allow ♪
What was that just now…?
Was that a dream?
The Christmas carol from my dream overlapped faintly with the Christmas carol I could hear in reality.
“……Sing-ah! Sing-ah…!”
A whispering voice, mixed with uneven breathing, called out to me softly.
As if telling me that reality was this way.
But the moment my consciousness returned, what I felt was—
A heartbeat racing so violently it made me dizzy.
And an intense wave of nausea.
Without even having time to turn toward Rampa calling my name,
I bent my head down and vomited.
