Love Born of Pity Chapter 97

Unsure of what would be said next, a tense Kwon Jiho held his breath.

“I’ve been curious ever since that kid woke up.”

The low voice resonated at a pleasant speed and pitch.

“Why doesn’t Kwon Heeyeon resemble Kwon Jiho? Even if they have different fathers, if your mother gave birth to her, there should be at least some resemblance.”

It wasn’t an amusing story for Kwon Jiho, and he wondered if it was right to bring up something that was still being confirmed, but he felt the result would turn out as he expected anyway. Do Yeonjae was convinced that Kwon Heeyeon and Kwon Jiho were not siblings. That they were strangers, not sharing a single drop of blood.

“Aren’t you curious? Whether she’s really your sister.”

“……Director, are you curious about things like that?”

“I found myself curious. I wondered what would happen if Kwon Jiho ruined his life for someone who isn’t even his real sister.”

Kwon Jiho, who had been listening silently to Do Yeonjae, gave his head a small shake. He didn’t know why he was talking about such things, but it was a story he wasn’t the least bit curious about. Kwon Heeyeon was his sister. A being who had been with him since his memories began.

“Please let Heeyeon go. It doesn’t matter, right? Heeyeon, I mean.”

“……”

“Ah, is there something I have to do for you to grant this too……? What should I do this time?”

“Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

Do Yeonjae’s voice grew heavy. He was flustered, not having expected the conversation to flow this way. He had thought Jiho would swallow his words as always, but the soft expression he wore as he shielded Kwon Heeyeon, because she was family after all, had become quite firm. Just as he was about to part his lips to clear the tense atmosphere, Kwon Jiho’s voice spilled out a step faster.

“What on earth do you want from me to be doing this? Why are you… insulting my family and all……. I don’t have any debt anymore, so why are you keeping me locked up here… and tormenting me like this? No matter how much I think about it, the only reason you’re doing this to me is the baby, but I said I’d get rid of the baby! I said I wouldn’t have it. That I won’t give birth. You told me not to, so I said I won’t, so why… won’t you even let me have the surgery and keep me trapped here!”

“Kwon Jiho.”

“Am I supposed to be crushed by guilt as the baby grows and die along with it? What is the reason you’re being so cruel to me……? What else did I do wrong besides getting pregnant! I didn’t want to have a baby either. I said I didn’t want to, I… I didn’t want it either.”

Kwon Jiho, who had been plagued with anxiety about losing the baby every moment since coming here, felt his eyes redden in an instant. His trembling eyelids squeezed shut and then opened, and the moment they did, tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping to the floor. Unable to contain his surging emotions, Kwon Jiho continued to speak, his body shaking.

“You said Heeyeon ruined my life? No, that’s not it. The one who ruined me is you. I regret it every day. Every, single, day. Back then, I shouldn’t have held on like that. I shouldn’t have asked for help.”

The things Kwon Jiho was saying were just words spoken out of an inability to control his emotions, and he shouldn’t get swept up in them, but Do Yeonjae couldn’t hold back and let his own emotions explode at the words that he regretted meeting him, regretted receiving his help. He spewed words he knew would inflict wounds. He gripped the slender wrist, applying force as if afraid to let go.

“No, in the end, I would have been the only one you had to grab onto. Even if you hadn’t asked me for help back then, you would have reached out to me at some point. Because I would have made it so.”

“……”

“You’ll have to hold on again this time. Because I know Mr. Kwon Jiho very well.”

Do Yeonjae’s hand reached forward. Covering the still-flat stomach, he secretly let flow words that would remain as scars for Kwon Jiho, as if whispering sweet nothings.

“Have the baby. You may say you don’t want to now, but once you give birth, you won’t be able to abandon it. How could you, who embraces even Kwon Heeyeon and Kwon Yoon Taek, abandon your own true bloodline.”

“……”

“You won’t even be able to die. Am I wrong?”

As Do Yeonjae leaned his head down and came closer, his expression became clearer. Kwon Jiho laughed as he listened to the cruel words that came as naturally as breathing. Right, this was the kind of person he was. Someone who always acted selfishly, just as his mood dictated.

“If I have the baby, I’m allowed to go, right……. mister.”

“What?”

“Don’t touch me like this. It’s horrible.”

He felt like an idiot for having pitied him just because he retched once. Kwon Jiho shook off Do Yeonjae’s hand as if flinging it away and got up from his seat.

He didn’t want to stay in the same space. Since this house had rooms to spare anyway, he planned to stay in the one farthest from Do Yeonjae’s bedroom. If even that wasn’t allowed, then there was nothing he could do.

“Congratulations on your marriage. I… didn’t get to say that back then. I don’t know if you’ll need the child I give birth to, but since you’re telling me to have it, I will.”

He felt that Kang Gyumin, who was marrying Do Yeonjae, was a hundred, a thousand times too good for him. If those words would hurt Do Yeonjae, he would have tried saying them while enduring the fear, but he swallowed them, thinking they would have no impact at all.

However, he had told Kang Gyumin he wouldn’t create an illegitimate child, an out-of-wedlock child for him, and he was sorry he couldn’t keep that promise. He hated himself for feeling relieved that the baby was safe even as he felt like he was suffocating from guilt.

“Kwon Jiho.”

“Back then, on the plane. I thought it would be nice if it just crashed and we died. Just you and me. It would have been… nice.”

Without stopping his feet even at the voice calling him, Kwon Jiho walked away. He crossed the living room and holed himself up in a corner bedroom. Lying on the bed, he buried his face in a pillow.

“You’re mean, you’re mean……. You’re wicked. Sob, you’re mean.”

His sorrow burst forth like a flood. He hated Do Yeonjae, who was always so mean only to him. Kwon Jiho sobbed and hiccupped on the bed for a long while before suddenly shooting up at the feeling of his stomach churning. Just then, the door flew open. Seeing Do Yeonjae enter with a blank face, Kwon Jiho covered his mouth.

“Uwegh……!”

The food he had eaten, thinking it was delicious, came right back up. His back heaving with dry retches, Kwon Jiho left the room and headed for the bathroom. As he staggered, about to collapse several times in his haste, Do Yeonjae quickly approached and reached out a hand to support him.

“Do, ugh, don’t tou—egh—ch me.”

Kwon Jiho pushed away the hand trying to steady him and went into the bathroom. Left alone, Do Yeonjae paced in front of it. The sound of him throwing up everything he ate inside continued for a long time without stopping.

“……Ha, fuck.”

He finally got some food into him, but because he couldn’t control his own fiery temper, he made him throw it all up. It seems the one who could never be fierce to begin with was suffering badly after spewing vitriol at him for the first time in his life.

He should have held back. He shouldn’t have gotten swept up. What was the big deal about being told he was regretted? He had brought up Kwon Heeyeon too hastily. He had underestimated Kwon Jiho’s heart, which was capable of doing anything for his sister. The foolish man didn’t even know how to reduce the volume of his affection, still cherishing something that was nothing but a stumbling block in his path.

If only a little bit of Kwon Jiho’s affection and kindness, which extended even to those things, had been directed toward him. That was all he wanted.

Do Yeonjae paced restlessly outside the door, then raised his hand. When he knocked, asking if he could open it, a round of retching sounds came back instead of an answer. He felt as if his heart was not just melting, but burning to a crisp.

“Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

“Hahh, euk……”

“I’m opening the door—”

“Haa, ah……. Don’t, huh, come in. Just…… go away. Please……”

In the end, Kwon Jiho, who had always accepted him, was sincerely rejecting him. The distance that had been closing was now growing so far that it was impossible to grasp.

♬⋆.˚

From that day on, the relationship between Kwon Jiho and Do Yeonjae changed completely. Do Yeonjae was anxious to try and say even a single word to Kwon Jiho, but Kwon Jiho treated Do Yeonjae as if he didn’t exist at all. Is this how one would be when facing an invisible man? Do Yeonjae sincerely suspected that perhaps he was truly invisible to his eyes.

“I have to go to the office for a bit.”

Even when he spoke, there was no reply. Kwon Jiho didn’t even give him a glance.

“Chief Kim will be here. If there’s anything you need or want to eat, just tell him. He’ll prepare it for you.”

His indifferent expression was fixed on empty space. Do Yeonjae looked at the hand resting on his thigh for a moment, then carefully took it.

“Kwon Jiho.”

“Don’t…… touch my body.”

At the gaze that finally moved and the hand that was pulled away as if to cast him off, Do Yeonjae’s eyes crumpled. The one who always called him Director-nim was now using the defiant address of ‘mister’. The moment he opened his mouth to ask how long he would keep this up, Chief Kim entered cluelessly.

“Good morning.”

“……Ha.”

Chief Kim tilted his head at his deeply crumpled expression. Do Yeonjae, who had been sending a sulky look toward the blankly standing Chief Kim, rose from his seat.

“I’m leaving. Contact me if anything happens.”

“Yes, have a good day.”

Video conferences could only go so far. He couldn’t keep leaving his position vacant. Do Yeonjae moved his reluctant feet toward the front door. Chief Kim followed him out of habit.

“Is there anything I should be paying special attention to?”

“There’s nothing, so just watch him carefully. Make sure he doesn’t do anything strange.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Even as Do Yeonjae left through the front door, Kwon Jiho remained motionless. It wasn’t as if there was anything in the empty space, yet he remained with his head slightly lifted. Chief Kim returned to the living room and tried to make a few words of conversation, but no reply ever came back.

As Chief Kim stood awkwardly by his side, a loud, bellowing voice suddenly erupted from outside. Did he come back already? Perhaps the guard posted at the front door had made some kind of mistake. Kwon Jiho must have heard it too, as his head, which had been perfectly still, turned toward the outside.

The sound of the front door being violently thrown open was heard, and someone stormed in ferociously, stomping their feet as loudly as possible.

“Just a moment……”

“What are you doing stationing people out front like that! Stationing them! Is this a house, or a prison? I swear, I can’t tell the difference.”

An irritable voice and a tone that resonated from a different kind of sound box filled the living room thunderously.

“……Chairman?”