Love Born of Pity Chapter 36

Kwon Jiho’s lips parted to defend himself against Kwon Heeyeon’s barrage of accusations, but no coherent words came out. He wondered if he was dreaming. He had never imagined he would hear any of this from Kwon Heeyeon.

“You’re going to say you were young and naive? That you sold your body because you were struggling, and try to justify it?”

“…….”

“It’s disgusting. Dirty and horrible. You’re so…… repulsive. Are you even the Kwon Jiho I knew? The Kwon Jiho who only played the piano?!”

At those words, Kwon Jiho jumped to his feet. He tried to explain, to defend himself, but his mouth wouldn’t open. Unable to utter a word, he fled the room as if running away.

He stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the call button, but the feeling of shame choking him made him run frantically down the emergency stairs. He stumbled and fell, his knees and shins becoming bloodied from scrapes and cuts against the stairs.

He couldn’t feel the pain. His only thought was to escape. When he got outside, he wasn’t on the lobby level, but in the underground parking lot. Kwon Jiho rubbed his blurry eyes with the back of his hand and wandered among the parked cars before finally making his way outside and leaving the hospital grounds.

“Ugh, uh, uhh……”

Choked sobs echoed pathetically. The sun was setting, the sky changing from scarlet to black. Kwon Jiho, apologizing to the people he bumped into, couldn’t even think of returning to Do Yeonjae. He just wanted to get as far away from the hospital as possible.

♬⋆.˚

Do Yeonjae, who had stayed in the car to take care of some work, suddenly checked the time. Even if he had let Kwon Jiho go in a little after 7, it had been well over an hour. He couldn’t have missed him coming out; he had been working, facing the front. Did he not come out? What could they have to talk about for so long?

Do Yeonjae took his phone out of his jacket pocket, found Kwon Jiho’s number, and dialed it as he got out of the car. His feet moved as if it were the most natural thing to do. His steps towards the entrance were unhesitant.

“Why isn’t he answering?”

Fuck. A sense of foreboding, the reason for which he couldn’t understand, made him curse under his breath. He jabbed the elevator button impatiently, ended the call, and tried again, but only the automated message saying the number couldn’t be reached repeated. He had told him to have a long visit on the weekend and to come out quickly today, yet he disobeyed again.

Do Yeonjae went up to the 10th floor, tagged the access card he had received from Secretary Kim beforehand, and went inside. His steps towards room 1001 were unwavering. As he opened the tightly closed door and entered, the caregiver peeked out and then straightened up in surprise.

“Is Mr. Kwon Jiho here?”

“……Ah, Mr. Jiho? Mr. Jiho today……”

The caregiver bowed to Do Yeonjae, whom she had seen several times, and then turned to Kwon Heeyeon, lying in bed, and asked if her brother had come.

Do Yeonjae’s gaze shifted to Kwon Heeyeon. A skinny child lying down with a sullen expression, looking at him. That was his only impression, even upon seeing her again. No matter how closely he looked, the girl lying leisurely in bed, her eyes wide open, observing him, didn’t resemble Kwon Jiho.

“Did Mr. Kwon Jiho come and go?”

“……Why are you looking for my brother?”

“It’s quite difficult to get a straight answer. I came looking for him because he didn’t come out even after I waited.”

At the sudden change in his tone, Kwon Heeyeon turned her head away without answering. Ha, that fucking……. The caregiver flinched at the low, vulgar curse.

Do Yeonjae’s gaze fixed on Kwon Heeyeon. Just as he had felt before, unlike her brother, she was ill-mannered. Who was it that begged and pleaded to save her when everyone said she would die? Unaware of who she owed this luxurious hospital room and rehabilitation treatment to, she treated Kwon Jiho with that attitude again today.

“What did you talk about with Kwon Jiho that he’s not coming back?”

Kwon Heeyeon’s shoulders trembled at the ominous question.

“……Caregiver. Excuse me, but I have something to discuss with this mister, could you leave us alone for a moment?”

She cleverly sent the caregiver out of the room. Sitting up, she rubbed her dry lips with the back of her hand and lifted her head. Her confused gaze soon sharpened. It was quite audacious, even.

“Are you the one who gives money to my brother?”

“Ah.”

“Is it true? You said something about giving and taking back then. Did you tell my brother to sell his body? Are you a pimp or something?”

Do Yeonjae scoffed and nodded at Kwon Heeyeon, who asked pointedly, looking him straight in the eye.

“Something like that.”

“Did my brother use that money to pay for my hospital bills?”

“If Mr. Kwon Jiho didn’t waste it on anything unnecessary, then yes.”

Kwon Heeyeon’s momentum faltered at his calm voice. Unlike Kwon Jiho, who had lowered his posture and couldn’t speak as if he had committed an unforgivable sin, the man in front of her remained upright throughout. He even looked down at her with a reprimanding gaze.

“So what did you say to my brother? You couldn’t have asked nicely like you just did.”

“…….”

At her silence and the act of pulling the blanket higher, Do Yeonjae lost his patience and kicked the table next to him. Crash! The easily toppled table rolled across the floor, and the sound of the vase shattering echoed piercingly.

With such a commotion, the caregiver, a nurse, or someone should have come in, but no one entered the room. Kwon Heeyeon’s face turned even paler.

“……I just a, asked if he paid for the hospital bills…… by selling his body……”

“Did you really ask so nicely? This fucking thing is omitting parts of the story when I ask nicely.”

Do Yeonjae raised his arm as if to strike, then with a large swing, lightly tapped her hollow cheek with the back of his hand. It was a weak force that didn’t even make a proper sound, but Kwon Heeyeon, experiencing this kind of threat for the first time, squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered softly.

“I won’t hit you so lightly next time.”

“……W, who would thank you for s, saving them like that……? How could you do s, something like that? Aren’t you ashamed? I said you should have j, just let me die…… why…… sob why did you do such a…… sob such a thing…… Did you think I would thank you……? sob”

Her trembling lips parted, and she blurted out the words she had said to Kwon Jiho.

“And?”

“……Don’t make excuses, saying you did it because you were young, I said. sob Don’t say you did it because you were struggling…… I said that too. Did you think that would justify selling your, body……? I said it was disgusting and creepy. Horrible, sob, repulsive.”

“Ha, fuck. Even something like this is a sibling. Kwon Jiho cried and begged me to save you. He clung to me so desperately because I’m all he has.”

Do Yeonjae let out a disbelieving laugh. Kwon Heeyeon lowered her head, only catching fragments of Do Yeonjae’s words.

“Listen carefully, kid. You’re still young, and you haven’t been awake for long, so you don’t know how the world works, so I’m telling you. Even though you’re twenty-one, your time stopped at eighteen. Well, seeing as you’re saying things like ‘selling your body’ and ‘pimp,’ it doesn’t seem like you’re completely clueless.”

“…….”

“Since I’m speaking nicely, you’re not even looking up. How rude. Aren’t you going to answer?”

Although spoken softly, his words struck her like lightning. Kwon Heeyeon flinched and abruptly lifted her head.

“Y, yes……!”

“Yes, you should look at people when they’re talking to you.”

“…….”

“Kwon Jiho worked day and night, taking on every part-time job imaginable to earn your hospital bills. From construction sites to restaurants, even cleaning buildings. That clumsy kid did all sorts of things to save you. But who would hire such a young and naive kid for a proper wage? He struggled, earning less than half of what others made.”

Irritation filled his sharp, blade-like gaze. Annoyance laced his voice as he muttered about how many trashy people kept interfering in Kwon Jiho’s life. He didn’t like Kwon Heeyeon, who made the already pitiful kid even more pitiful.

That’s why he revealed things he wouldn’t have if he were in a good mood. He thought that if this trashy thing felt even a little bit of guilt, she would stop holding Kwon Jiho back. Then, perhaps, he would be the only one left in Kwon Jiho’s life.