UTBTR 04

Chapter 4

For the first time in a while, I had a weekend with no assignments and no deadlines.

After melting into my tiny apartment and sleeping for a long time, my mind finally became a little clearer. It was already early Saturday morning. Since I had just woken up in the middle of the night, I thought it might be nice to have a drink.

But unexpectedly, the first thing I did was call Railey.

Calling a man as soon as I had some free time was not something I ever expected my life to come to, but I couldn’t help it. After all, I was someone who had waited four years for him and had only gotten him back half a year ago. Surely it was okay for me to be like this sometimes.

But then again, who knew?

Why was I doing this just to hear that bastard’s voice?

The moment I thought that, I hurriedly pressed the end-call button.

Come to think of it, it was the middle of the night.

But almost immediately after I ended the call, my phone started ringing again.

“Uh, hello?”

―Why did you stop calling?

“No, it was just getting late… Did I wake you?”

―I wasn’t asleep yet.

Railey answered in his usual calm voice.

I quietly got up, took a can of beer from the refrigerator, then returned to my seat and opened it.

“Hey, I don’t have anything to do this weekend. So I just called you.”

―Then would you like to stay at my place?

The answer came back without even a second of hesitation.

I stared blankly at my phone, holding it against my cheek, and took a sip of beer first.

―I’ll give you three seconds.

“What the hell? Wait! Do you have no patience? I need some time to think too!”

―Patience? I never had any. Then shall I come pick you up tomorrow morning?

His temper was so bad that I almost choked on my beer.

I pulled the phone away and stared at the screen with a miserable expression before putting it back to my ear.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to wake up in the morning… Come pick me up a little later. Or just let me go whenever I wake up and feel like coming.”

―If you go to sleep now, won’t you wake up around lunchtime at the latest?

“No, that’s… Actually, I just woke up.”

Railey was silent for a while on the other end.

I awkwardly drank some more beer before calmly answering his next question.

―Say that again.

“Yes, sir. I ruined my sleeping schedule again, so I just woke up.”

―It’s two in the morning.

“It happens…”

―Then I’ll just come pick you up now.

“Now?”

Before I could even finish answering, the call ended.

What the hell was this guy talking about?

I stared irritably at the screen, finished my beer in a few gulps, quickly crushed the can and threw it away, then called Railey again.

―Why? What are you going to do?

“Hey, you’re asking ‘what are you doing?’ when I’m obviously the only one who gets to ask that right now.”

―Since you asked, I’m on my way down to the parking lot.

The moment I heard that, I heard a beep.

It sounded like he was opening his car door.

I quietly listened to the sounds on the other end, then let out a deep sigh and took another can of beer from the refrigerator.

“Hey, Railey.”

―Yes.

There were clunking noises in the background. It sounded like he was opening the car door.

“I just finished what I had to do and woke up in the middle of the night. Let me enjoy some personal free time for once.”

―Can’t you enjoy your free time beside me?

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

This time, he didn’t answer.

Instead, a clear, pleasant sound played, followed by the soft voice of the navigation system announcing that it had turned on.

Apparently, his phone call had now been connected to the car.

I hurriedly continued.

“Even so, what’s wrong with you? You’re trying to come all the way here in the middle of the night. Turn off the engine and go back upstairs.”

―I turned off the engine.

“You bastard. I can hear the navigation turning on. Who are you trying to fool?”

―If I don’t go pick you up now, won’t you drink while sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with another man again?

“Who am I supposed to call at this hour?! I’m drinking alone, so don’t worry and go back upstairs. And anyway, why do you care whether I drink with a man or not? If you’re drinking together, of course you’re sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. What else are you supposed to do, sit in a cross?”

―It doesn’t concern me, but it makes me feel bad, so I’m coming to pick you up. I have to drive, so I’ll hang up.

“Why should I care whether you feel bad or not?!”

―What?

Railey asked softly, as though he were stating an obvious truth.

―If I feel bad, wouldn’t that concern you quite a lot? Who else is going to deal with the consequences except you, Ah-jin?

“Why do I have to deal with them?”

―Who knows?

At last, I heard the engine start.

I let out a scream of frustration, then hurriedly began tidying up my apartment, making all sorts of noisy sounds because I knew Railey would definitely lecture me when he saw the state of the place.

From the other end of the phone, Railey clicked his tongue.

―It seems you’re hurriedly cleaning the house.

“Oh, you bastard. Are you really coming?”

―Is there somewhere you want to go?

“Where would I go at this hour?”

―Think about it. I’m hanging up.

And after saying that much, he hung up again without waiting for my answer.

I threw my phone onto the sheet and angrily started cleaning my room.

In fact, Railey Kraha was still the same bastard he had always been. He was extremely jealous, loved interfering in other people’s business, and had never lost his habit of pushing forward without thinking things through.

But hadn’t he also avoided giving me a vague answer this time?

I hurriedly gathered the beer cans and cheap wine bottles piled up around the room and put them into a box. Then I sat down on the floor and thought deeply.

The truth was, I was still living almost like Railey and I were dating.

If I had started questioning our relationship, it was because of his subtle change in attitude.

Of course, even if two people were lovers, they didn’t have to kiss every single day or sleep together all the time.

But Railey Kraha was that kind of person.

Even if every other person in the world was innocent and proper, Railey Kraha was not.

What kind of person was he?

He had kissed me suddenly before we were even dating, simply because he wanted to. He constantly kissed me and seduced me, and then, before we were even officially together, he had already slept with me.

I had played along with him, but that was only because he had pushed me into it with that kind of personality. I had certainly never been the one to suggest it first.

But my body had changed…

More accurately, I had gone from the ideal body I had possessed inside the novel to my ordinary, realistic body.

I had become an ordinary person with an average appearance, no special abilities, and not even a particularly good personality.

Ever since Railey had met the ‘human Kim Ah-jin,’ I had never once seen that intense, clingy side of him or his reckless habit of suddenly pushing things forward.

After all, the reason he had developed feelings for me in the first place was because I was an ordinary modern person.

I had shown him the value of something he had never been able to experience during his entire life in his dystopian world.

So naturally, what was I supposed to think?

Damn it. Did I really have to think about things like this?

I hated the fact that I had to think about this at all.

And I hated the situation that was forcing me to think this way.

It was stressful in itself.

After thinking about all sorts of things, I hurriedly gathered the empty bottles and cans before Railey arrived, put them into a box, and left the apartment.

I planned to leave them at the recycling area first.

After getting rid of the urgent trash, I cleaned up the mess in my apartment and quickly gathered the laundry and put it into the laundry basket.

Only then did I open my closet and pick out the clothes that looked relatively clean.

But just as I was about to put them on, I held the back of my hand to my nose and sniffed.

It seemed to smell a little musty.

“Do I really have to go this far…?”

I checked the time of my last call with Railey Kraha, then hurriedly washed myself with water.

I filled a basin with water and washed my hair.

Since everyone else in the building was probably asleep, I couldn’t properly shower, so I planned to throw the water away later.

Since I had only washed quickly, I sprayed some perfume on myself just in case and went back to the closet.

“I’m not even a middle schooler dating her first boyfriend. What am I doing…?”

I grumbled again as I quickly pulled out a blouse and put it on.

I usually dressed rather shabby, so a white blouse with jeans counted as one of my nicer outfits.

Once I was dressed, I felt like I was the only one clinging pathetically to old feelings.

Maybe Railey Kraha had simply decided to keep me beside him for the rest of his life out of courtesy and loyalty toward the woman who had waited four years because of him.

After all, that bastard had absolutely no interest in dating or marriage.

He was the kind of person who would willingly take responsibility for keeping just one person beside him if he considered it his duty.

“Goddamn it… I’m starting to hate my life…”

Even while grumbling, I put on some decent clothes and quietly sat down on the sheet.

And then I began thinking again about just how unnatural our current relationship was.