Chapter 35
Through our clasped hands, I could feel Hyunwoo trembling.
After holding me down on the floor in his arms for a while, he seemed to have calmed down a little, but...
Still seeming unwilling to let me go, Hyunwoo held one of my hands, a faint seed of anxiety lingering in him.
For no particular reason, I found myself noticing how big his hand was, and realized that to Hyunwoo, I must look like a baby or a small animal.
"Sorry... Let me stay like this a little longer..."
He had practically buried his face in my chest, soaking the new clothes he'd only gotten two days ago.
But when I thought about how the tears wetting them had come from making Hyunwoo anxious, I couldn't complain.
"......"
Even if I didn't answer, I had no choice but to let Hyunwoo hold me anyway.
Lately, Hyunwoo had started to look like a child throwing a tantrum, and it gave me a strange feeling.
He was usually strong and dependable, but how should I put it... He seemed to fall into loneliness at inexplicable moments...
A relationship where we both sank into depression and sometimes acted so violently that we hurt ourselves could hardly be called healthy.
While we lived together, all we could do was keep living like this until time passed and this routine became familiar.
Even if on the surface we both seemed so strong, and had sworn we wouldn't have any more regrets...
There wasn't much difference between us; we were both fragile, like people with a screw loose.
"Just a little longer..."
It wasn't all that hard to let Hyunwoo hold me.
But that didn't mean I wanted to stay in his arms forever. It was a little embarrassing.
Above all, the thought of what on earth we were doing in the entryway hit me hard, and it was difficult to shake off my embarrassment.
Even if nobody was there to see us like this, any outsider would find it a bizarre and ridiculous sight.
Beep beep beep beep!
And my naive assumption soon made me realize that reality could stage a more dramatic scene than any TV drama...
Beyond the front door, which creaked as it opened, stood an elegant woman adorned with beautiful jewels I'd never seen in my life.
"...Oppa?"
The woman froze when she saw us, her expression showing exactly the reaction I'd expected from a third party...
"Wow..."
I absentmindedly stopped stroking the back of Hyunwoo's head at the sight of her beauty and stared at her.
Hyunwoo seemed to feel the same way—or maybe he was simply shocked by the appearance of someone who shouldn't have been here—but he stayed frozen in place.
And so, with the sudden appearance of an unidentified woman, the three of us all froze at once in a bizarre tableau.
"Hyunwoo, who's that woman...?"
I still hadn't figured out what was going on, but I cleared my mind and asked Hyunwoo anyway.
Could she be the girl Hyunwoo said he liked the other day?
Had he confessed, succeeded, and given her the door code and everything...?
But if so, am I in trouble here?
Hyunwoo opened and closed his mouth in bewilderment at my question.
He looked back and forth between me and the woman, his expression desperate, as if something that should never have happened had happened.
"Oppa. Who is this child...?"
The woman seemed to come to her senses and asked Hyunwoo the same question.
Both she and I were wondering why the other was in the house.
But unlike me, who was merely curious, she looked genuinely disgusted.
Hyunwoo really needed to clear up this misunderstanding fast...
The atmosphere was ominous.
"It's a misunderstanding...! I don't know what you're thinking, but..."
Unable to withstand the pressure, Hyunwoo made a vague statement and claimed his innocence without a shred of evidence.
No, seriously, what is going on...?
"I thought you were at least an honest, decent person... Even when Dad was against it, I trusted you..."
"I'm telling you, it's not like that...? Just put the phone down first..."
"Oppa, even if it was only for a little while, I was happy. Take care of yourself in prison..."
The atmosphere seemed to be getting more and more heated...
Judging from what they were saying, I couldn't quite tell what was going on, but I understood that Hyunwoo might get arrested over some misunderstanding.
A lovers' quarrel... maybe? Could she have mistaken us for a couple because I look like a girl now, and thought he was two-timing her...?
"W-Wait! Hyunwoo didn't do anything wrong..."
Thinking I could clear up the misunderstanding myself and resolve this easily, I shouted in a hurry.
The woman's and Hyunwoo's attention immediately focused on me, and all three of us were tense.
"We're not like that...! Hyunwoo and I aren't in that kind of relationship..."
"...What kind of relationship are you in?"
Maybe my desperate plea had gotten through, because the woman asked me what my relationship with Hyunwoo was.
...But what should I say?
"Um... his, uh, pet...?"
In the end, I blurted out the first word that came to mind, thinking of how Hyunwoo had treated me and what he'd said to me lately.
I had basically taken the place of Hyunwoo's cat, so in a way, wasn't that an accurate answer?
But why did they both look horrified?
"Oppa... No. You son of a bitch. What the hell is wrong with you? Huh?!"
"...Huh?"
For some reason, the situation had gotten even worse.
Should I have said I was his friend instead of his pet...?
"H-Hey! That's not what it is...! We're friends, friends. Right, Minseo...?"
Nod nod nod nod.
Hoping something—anything—might work, I nodded without hesitation.
The woman's face stiffened even more.
Why...! This time, I thought I'd answered properly, without leaving room for misunderstanding...
"Would you believe that?! That kid just said 'pet'... th-that thing!"
The woman came over, grabbed my upper body from beneath Hyunwoo, and pulled me out from under him.
She lifted me by the armpits, stretching me out like...
...Huh? Have I had this happen to me somewhere before?
"Hey. You fucking bitch. Let go of Minseo."
Hyunwoo's voice suddenly turned rough, and I felt him grab my legs.
...?
The woman had hold of my upper body while Hyunwoo held my lower body, leaving the two of them holding me up in the air.
The situation was so absurd that I wondered if this was a hidden-camera prank, and my mind went blank.
"Huh...?"
One word, distilled from all my emotions and every bit of expressiveness I had.
Who was this woman, and how could she open Hyunwoo's front door?
Why had she suddenly started cursing Hyunwoo and trying to take me away?
There was nothing I could make sense of.
As far as I could tell, this didn't look like a normal conversation between a man and a woman in a relationship...
"Oppa, if you left home just to do shit like this, then go hang yourself and die quietly. I'm serious..."
"Hey, Lee Hyuna. That's not it. Just let go first. Let go, and we'll talk."
Whatever was going on, all I could think was that I wanted them to put me down.
Being held up in the air while they pulled me in opposite directions, my stomach and waist stretched taut, was agony...
As the strength in both their arms gradually increased, I felt like I was being drawn and quartered.
Crack.
"Hey! Are you going to take responsibility if you pull Minseo's arm out of its socket?!"
The woman put all her strength into pulling my body, and a strange sound came from around my shoulder.
I felt something twist for an instant, and saw Hyunwoo shouting at the woman.
"If you'd just let go without making a fuss, this wouldn't have..."
"It hurts..."
In the end, perhaps the pain was more than this body could take, because tears began to well in my eyes.
"Huu... uhhh..."
Seeing that, the woman looked deeply flustered and checked my expression.
She clicked her tongue briefly, then obediently lowered me back to the floor.
Hyunwoo didn't let that chance slip by. He caught me, hugged me tightly against his chest, and lifted me in one arm, as if he had no intention of letting me go.
"Hyunwoo..."
That confirmed it for me.
Whatever else was going on, that woman was a bad person to me...
Hyunwoo's arms felt warm and cozy as always.
"......"
He stroked me for a moment, then set me down with a stern expression.
Then he strode over to the woman, who was frozen in place, and grabbed her by the hair.
Just as I started to feel a little satisfaction, something felt off when I saw Hyunwoo shut the door and drag her inside...
"Hey! Fuck...! Let go of me! Just because you're my oppa, you think you can do anything?! Huh?! You criminal bastard!"
The woman's elegant appearance from when I first saw her was completely ruined as she screamed and was dragged inside...
I could even see the veins standing out on her neck as she hurled abuse at Hyunwoo.
This seems a little much... Should I stop him...?
"Minseo."
"...Y-Yes?!"
My tongue stumbled from fear at Hyunwoo's sudden behavior.
Hyunwoo's violent side was something I'd never seen before...
I trembled all over as I looked at him, like a child witnessing their parents fight for the first time.
"Go into the room. Cover your ears."
"B-But..."
Hyunwoo's manner was so unfamiliar, as if he were clearly warning me he was about to beat that woman.
He won't hit her if I don't go in, right...?
When I glanced at the woman, thinking that, she gave me a faint smile.
"It's okay. Go on in."
Even though she was clearly at a disadvantage, she was on her knees on the floor, telling me to go into the room.
In the end, I felt like my heart couldn't take any more, so I obediently went into the room and closed the door.
Then vivid sounds came from beyond the door...
Smack!
"Aaagh! What kind of older brother beats up his own little sister?! Huh?!"
Thwack!
"If Minseo's arm gets dislocated, are you going to take responsibility?! Huh?!"
Bam!
"I supported you when you left home to become a cook, but who knew you'd be sleeping with a kid like that!"
......!
"You fucking bitch... kicking me there is cheating... ngh..."
Surprisingly, the fight didn't last very long.