ALL NOVEL #012
#012
I rushed to the sink and swept the glass shards and citron tea into the paper bag with my hands. Small glass fragments pierced my hands, causing red blood to spread, but I felt no pain. Instead, I could only see the shiny, pretty citrons.
“Are you crazy?”
As I frantically gathered the citron tea, the housekeeper let out a small scream behind me, and Shin Haejun grabbed my wrist.
I looked up at him with dazed eyes.
“You’re bleeding.”
At those words, I realized my hand was bleeding. Blood was flowing miserably from my hand, cut and scraped by the glass shards.
‘What’s wrong with bleeding…’
You just openly threw it to hurt me. I shook my head at Shin Haejun’s hypocritical attitude.
“You said you didn’t want it. So I’m taking it back.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should-“
“Wouldn’t the very existence of my gift here be horrible to you? I’m taking care of it myself.”
As I shouted, recalling words I’d heard before, an indescribable emotion appeared in Shin Haejun’s cold eyes.
I shook off his hand and continued sweeping up the citron tea. My hands were sticky and shining with the tea. It looked like they were smeared with honey.
“You…”
“Stop calling me.”
Shin Haejun probably doesn’t like me using their water either, right?
Without even washing my hands, I turned to look at Shin Haejun while tightly gripping the paper bag, leaving handprints. Having suppressed what was rising in my heart until now, my vision wavered with moisture.
“I won’t come like this again.”
After blurting that out, I belatedly worried about what would happen if the scenario called for me to cause trouble again. But I couldn’t take back what I’d already said.
As I bit my lip hard and stared at Shin Haejun’s chest while speaking, his ribcage expanded greatly. It looked like he was holding back a sigh, which made me feel even more upset.
“What’s going on here?”
I can’t wail here. I should go to my downstairs apartment, even if it doesn’t feel like my home, and cry there.
Thinking that and holding it in tightly, suddenly I heard Kim Sehyun’s voice. He seemed surprised to see us confronting each other as he just came back.
“I made some citron tea to thank you for helping in the dungeon, but you said you didn’t want it, so I’m cleaning it up. I’ll be going now.”
It was so shameful that my voice was trembling. As I spoke, trying to suppress my humiliation, Kim Sehyun suddenly rushed at Shin Haejun.
“Did you just throw away what my friend carefully made for you?”
“…Isn’t it worse to bring something unwanted unilaterally?”
Although he clearly felt uncomfortable, Shin Haejun spoke sharply like a contrarian when Kim Sehyun got angry.
Kim Sehyun bit his lip hard when he saw my hand.
“How could you disregard someone’s sincerity like that? Jaeha, let me see your hand. How badly are you hurt?”
I could see blood dripping onto the floor from my palm, which was cut by the largest shard. I closed my eyes tightly once, then opened them, sat down on the floor, and wiped my blood with my sleeve.
“This must be unwanted too. I’m sorry.”
I don’t want to stay in this house for even a second longer.
Honestly, I just hoped that nothing would happen to entangle me further with Shin Haejun and Kim Sehyun.
Seeing the comments flashing on one side of my vision made me feel even more miserable.
Comments (15)
Kk****: Lee Jaeha came when Sehyun wasn’t there to act coy and got caught.. This won’t cause a misunderstanding with Haejun, right?
Zu****: If only it was sweet potato~
Although I didn’t want to make it myself. Is it acting coy when someone tries to return a favor with a thank-you gift? I didn’t want to come when Kim Sehyun wasn’t here either!
‘I dislike Shin Haejun, but Kim Sehyun is annoying too.’
I don’t know if he’s a kind friend who worries about me or what, but as these incidents kept happening, I felt more and more irritated. Even if Lee Jaeha had a normal personality, this level of discriminatory treatment would inevitably cause a rift.
Anyway, Shin Haejun’s lip movements were probably because he wanted to hurry me out.
I glared at the floor, which was stained from wiping blood, then suddenly stood up and ran to the entrance. I didn’t want to breathe in this house any longer.
***
“Haejun, you know you went too far just now, right? Even if you don’t like me, you didn’t need to take it out on Jaeha.”
Haejun kept his mouth shut as he looked down at Kim Sehyun, who was criticizing him. Kim Sehyun was angrily washing the sink, saying Haejun had messed with Jaeha.
‘This wasn’t it.’
Haejun clicked his tongue softly as he listened to Kim Sehyun’s criticism.
The contract made when pairing with Kim Sehyun was clear. Kim Sehyun would guide whenever Shin Haejun wanted. Guiding through sex wouldn’t happen until Shin Haejun felt like it. Kim Sehyun wouldn’t bother Shin Haejun.
In return, the Haesun Group provided wealth for Kim Sehyun and tolerated Lee Jaeha’s presence, whom Kim Sehyun asked to be taken care of together.
So Kim Sehyun’s complaint about guiding being difficult because of Lee Jaeha was a clear breach of contract. Yesterday, Kim Sehyun failed to provide the level of guiding Haejun wanted. The sporadic guiding felt almost like a joke.
‘…He cried.’
It was just throwing the citron tea as a kind of warning, following his usual temperament. Although it looked very sweet and delicious, it was to deter Lee Jaeha’s behavior of constantly clinging to Kim Sehyun.
Then Lee Jaeha cried sorrowfully, swept up the citron tea, and ran out.
He didn’t expect that kind of face. According to Kim Sehyun, Lee Jaeha was an ordinary person, moderately selfish and moderately kind. So he thought Lee Jaeha would curse or get angry, not look so sad.
“Haejun, are you listening?”
Kim Sehyun carefully asked while examining Haejun’s expression.
Haejun started to feel stifled again, as if he was having indigestion. Kim Sehyun sometimes looked at him cautiously like that. Kim Sehyun quickly lowered his tail and explained with a pitiful face, “I didn’t mean to upset you…”
If he wanted to defend his friend, he should have done it to the end. He didn’t seem to realize that his neither-here-nor-there attitude made Haejun feel more stifled.
‘They were definitely different.’
Kim Sehyun with his inherently pitiful appearance and Lee Jaeha with his glamorous looks were different.
But why… did he feel like Lee Jaeha’s whole body was crying just now? He was more concerned about Lee Jaeha, who always wore a gloomy smile, than Kim Sehyun, who always looked sad.
And that hand.
The hand with blood dripping looked so pale that Haejun almost said he was sorry. His mouth felt blocked, and no words came out.
He kept thinking about how small Lee Jaeha looked, curled up wiping his own blood.
To be honest, he was curious about how many scratches were on that hand, wanted to see it, and kept thinking about it. Thoughts like what kind of face Lee Jaeha might be making downstairs… bothered Haejun.
“Haejun… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to criticize you out of nowhere. Jaeha must have upset you somehow, right? Maybe because his appearance is flashy, sometimes even when Jaeha says the same things, he often gets misunderstood.”
Kim Sehyun’s words, which were unclear whether he was defending his friend or criticizing him indirectly, made Haejun feel even worse.
Haejun spoke to Kim Sehyun with an even colder gaze than before.
“Not at all, he was rather better than you.”
At those words, Kim Sehyun’s face looked shocked as he opened his mouth.
***
Comments (22)
Es****: Look at Haejun racking up bad karma with his words
└Mr. Shin, if you keep doing that, you’ll lose your husband position
Ap****: How shocked must Sehyun be to hear that to his face… When will Shin Haejun regret it?!?
Lying on my side on the bed, sniffling, another unwanted comment window popped up.
Seems like Shin Haejun did something to Kim Sehyun again. I thought all protagonists were treated preciously, but looking closely, whenever something happens to Kim Sehyun, everyone, including Shin Haejun, gets slaughtered.
‘You’re lucky to be loved.’
I know it’s pathetic of me to think this about a mere novel character. But today, with excessive stress beyond the lethal dose, my brain feels completely empty.
It was so sad that no matter how hard I tried, neither Yeon-soo Lee in the original world nor Jae-ha Lee in the novel world could get what they wanted.
‘I want to self-harm.’
Looking blankly at my thigh shining white as my pants rolled up, suddenly a terrible urge came over me. It was the kind of thought that would make my counselor very sad and say, “Yeon-soo, you shouldn’t do that.” Then the realistic thought that the knife in this house isn’t mine made me go limp again.
Ding!
My phone had been ringing continuously, telling me to check the reward.
I don’t feel like checking it now… Anyway, if I check it, another quest will come and mess with me. In my current state of ultimate lethargy, I didn’t have the energy to deal with the app.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
But my heartless phone kept sending notifications as if telling me to check it.
“Alright, I’ll look at it.”
I sighed softly and took out my phone. Only now did I frown as my cut hand stung.
: *Even a Villain Says Thank You*
Quest Rank: E
You have completed the quest. A reward will be given!
Reward: First Aid Kit
The moment I pressed complete quest, a first aid kit dropped on the floor. When I opened it, it was full of bandages and ointment. As if it knew my hand was badly cut.
‘Are you kidding me?’
As I stared blankly, Nine kept talking with a crying face.
: Yeon-soo, please apply it to your wounds quickly!
I don’t want to, I won’t do it. What’s the use of all this?
I didn’t intend to whine to Nine, but seeing the bandages that were obviously given by the author or a similar entity, I suddenly felt a surge of anger and threw the first aid kit.
: No, please apply it quickly!
Please just leave me alone. Thinking that, I was about to turn off my phone when… the next quest quickly appeared.
: *A Villain’s Hands are Clean*
Quest Rank: F
A villain shouldn’t receive concern with badly injured hands! Let’s treat the hands immediately using the first aid supplies.
Reward: ???
I really want to kill…