Love Born of Pity Chapter 104

After a long wait, he received a report that the room cleaning was finished. Do Yeonjae walked behind Chief Kim, thinking that the stench seemed to linger even in the hallway. He stepped into the wide-open door, as if it were waiting for him to enter. The living room that soon appeared was clean, but his sensitive sense of smell detected a faint, lingering odor.

Do Yeonjae immediately took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose, his face scrunching up.

Fuck.

The curse came out naturally. Had she thrown away her cleanliness just because she was cooped up?

Do Yeonjae was about to sit on the sofa but felt a sense of unease and stood in front of the window instead. How long had he been standing there, looking down below? The sound of a door opening was followed by Kwon Heeyeon’s appearance.

She came out in a bathrobe, glaring at Do Yeonjae and muttering to herself, loud enough for him to hear, about how fussy he was. Then, as their eyes met, she seemed to realize her mistake and forced her lips into a smile. Kwon Heeyeon, who had roughly dried her wet hair with a towel, hid her annoyance and bowed her head.

“Hello, Mister.”

“…”

“You’re here to let me out now, right? If you had contacted me beforehand, I wouldn’t have been in this state.”

Like her expression that failed to hide her irritation, the words she spat out were also shameless. Do Yeonjae stared intently at Kwon Heeyeon’s cleanly washed face.

Her skin was on the fair side, but it didn’t have the faint pinkish hue that Kwon Jiho’s did. Her eyes were long without double eyelids, and her nose was a bit wide. A long philtrum, full lips overall, and a slightly angular jaw.

She had looked suspicious even before he had requested the test. She resembled Kwon Yoon Taek enough for him to be certain without even needing to hear the results.

“Isn’t that right?”

Do Yeonjae felt no need to answer the question she asked with a forced smile and ignored it.

“But what about my oppa? Did oppa come with you? Is he outside? I can leave now, right? But my clothes, I need new clothes. Did you perhaps bring some clothes too? I have something to talk about with my oppa, you’ll give us a moment alone, right?”

“Ms. Kwon Heeyeon, how did you feel when you found out your parents had passed away?”

“What? Why all of a sudden… What are you talking about?”

“Jiho didn’t even have time to grieve because of the guilt of surviving alone, his sister’s hospital bills while she was in a coma, and the debt his uncle saddled him with.”

Looking at Kwon Heeyeon’s dumbfounded expression, Do Yeonjae’s voice continued in a low tone.

“It’s obviously a shocking story, but it didn’t seem to be particularly shocking to you, Ms. Kwon Heeyeon, so I’m asking. It’s not an important question.”

“Of course… Of course it was sad. Why are you asking something so obvious…”

“I’m a bit surprised to hear it was ‘of course’ sad. It didn’t seem that way.”

Contrary to his words of surprise, his tone was flat. The expression on Kwon Heeyeon’s face gradually disappeared. Only after the curved corners of her lips had returned to their original position did Do Yeonjae continue.

“So I wondered if you knew. That the person who gave birth to you, Ms. Kwon Heeyeon, was Kwon Yoon Taek.”

“…”

“There’s a saying that the bond from raising a child is greater than the bond from giving birth. You’re quite cold-hearted, Ms. Kwon Heeyeon. No, is it because you were the one who was raised that you can’t feel such things?”

Do Yeonjae, who had been staring intently into Kwon Heeyeon’s eyes, sneered.

“But it seems Kwon Yoon Taek doesn’t know. That you know. Still, no matter how fond you are of your biological father, if you knew what that fucker did to Jiho, you’d think your oppa would be pitiful.”

He’d only heard the saying that you shouldn’t take in a black-haired beast, but he never thought he would witness it firsthand like this. Do Yeonjae shook his head and opened a bottle of water on the table to wet his lips.

“There are a few options.”

“…”

“I told you last time to answer when I speak. I don’t think my hand will fly out as a warning like it did then.”

“…Yes, yes.”

Her voice trembled as if she instinctively felt fear. Do Yeonjae pressed his throbbing temples and continued.

“One, you study anything you want abroad. I’ll provide the financial support, so you might as well look into something far away and expensive. You’ll have to do some immature acting, telling Jiho you absolutely must be sent, that you really want to go. Well, you just have to do what you’ve always done, so that won’t be difficult.”

“Why should I… I just want to, ha, stay in Korea…”

“Because you’re a hindrance if you’re next to Jiho. Jiho already has so much on his mind, and if you keep stirring things up, it pisses me off. The so-called family he has are all fucking trash.”

Tsk. 

Do Yeonjae clicked his tongue and let out a long sigh.

“If you insist on staying in Korea… the second option is for you to go live in a place that’s difficult for Jiho to visit even once. I’ll look for an island that takes about ten hours to get to. A place where the boats don’t run when the waves are high.”

When he smiled brightly with his handsome, almost radiant features, it created the illusion that only the area around him was lit up, even though it was night. But Kwon Heeyeon was not fooled by the loathsome smile. She gritted her teeth, thinking that, contrary to his appearance, he was a very scary bastard.

“The third and fourth options aren’t much different. Whatever you choose, it will be difficult to meet Jiho even once a year, so wouldn’t it be better to just go to a faraway foreign country and live however the hell you want?”

“I can’t even speak English, how…! How can I go abroad?”

“Then do you want to be stuck on an island? If you can’t do it, you should think about learning, for fuck’s sake. Where do you get off glaring and saying you can’t? Is being unable to do something a source of pride?”

He had tried to suppress his temper, but she was not helping at all. Do Yeonjae gritted his teeth and pushed down his surging anger. At the same time, the thought that it might be a better decision for Kwon Jiho to just get rid of Kwon Heeyeon without anyone knowing grew larger. The floor he was staying on was high, after all. If he said she somehow jumped out the window, it would be plausible, for fuck’s sake.

“Hoo… Okay. You’re young, so I can understand. It can be scary. If you decide to go abroad, I’ll provide you with an interpreter for the time being. So you can adapt while you learn.”

“…Then, ha. Then I’ll do that.”

“Good. It must have been a difficult decision, but you’ve thought it through well.”

Hearing the answer that took less than a few minutes, Do Yeonjae’s lips curved as if in satisfaction. He nodded and stared intently at Kwon Heeyeon, who was muttering as if she had more to say.

“But my uncle…”

“I think the first thing would be how you found out.”

Do Yeonjae, who was perched on the windowsill, wrinkled his nose. He could feel the stench again. He desperately needed Kwon Jiho’s scent. A splitting headache began to set in.

“…When I was little, I overheard my parents and uncle talking while I was sleeping. They asked him to raise me just a little longer. That he would take me with him once he was settled… That they would tell me who gave birth to me. I also saw him crying, begging them not to discriminate against me and to take care of me.”

“What the, fuck. Fucking bastard.”

“…He’s my father.”

“Defend what’s worth defending. Do you feel sorry for that trash because he couldn’t raise you? Jiho’s life became a living hell because of that bastard.”

At the instantly somber atmosphere, Kwon Heeyeon swallowed dryly. She lowered her stiffly raised head and slowly continued.

“…I didn’t tell anyone that I knew. When I grew up, and went to college… when I could take care of myself, I was going to tell them then. That I knew all along.”

Listening to her voice, which grew smaller and smaller, Do Yeonjae also nodded. He opened his mouth, pretending to sympathize with her story.

“I was going to reveal it too. I thought maybe then Jiho would detach himself a bit from his family. But, I’m not going to. I don’t think anything will change by revealing it.”

“…What?”

“So you, Ms. Kwon Heeyeon, should also keep quiet for the rest of your life. Whose child you are, that kind of thing. It’s not that important anyway.”

Do Yeonjae clearly remembered Kwon Jiho’s reaction when he had asked him if he thought Kwon Heeyeon was really his biological sister. The expression contorted as if he had been insulted, and the sort of venom that filled his gentle eyes, which steadfastly believed that she was indeed his sister.

Even if Kwon Jiho, who had embraced trash like Kwon Yoon Taek as his family, were to find out now that Kwon Heeyeon was not his biological sister, would he irresponsibly abandon her? Would he not be as fond of her as before? When he weighed it, the answer was ‘no’.

Kwon Jiho would undoubtedly continue to cherish and care for Kwon Heeyeon as his sister. He might even find her more pitiable and unfortunate. The thought that Kwon Jiho was more than capable of that led him to the conclusion that it would be better to bury all the secrets and send Kwon Heeyeon to a very distant place.

Out of sight, out of mind. If there was so little contact that he couldn’t even feel the responsibility, he might even forget.

“I want to see my uncle. And my oppa too.”

“Do I have to spell it out for you that you can’t?”

They say there’s no cure for stupidity, and that seemed to be a saying made for Kwon Heeyeon.

“…At least a phone call.”

If Kwon Yoon Taek had given birth to her, it would be right for Kwon Heeyeon to also present as a secondary gender, but according to the hospital records at the time of admission and the paternity test results, she was a perfect beta. It was a strange thing. He wondered if it was possible, but he was told that such cases, while rare, were not non-existent.

There were cases like Kwon Jiho’s, who presented as an omega from a beta, so what was the big deal about a child born to an omega being a beta.

“Just be quiet for a few more days. I’ll let you have a few phone calls with your oppa. You have to act like a childish little sister who wants to study. Let’s do a good job with the acting.”

“…”

“That way, I might feel like letting you meet Kwon Yoon Taek one last time, don’t you think?”