Second Half Chapter 51

Jerim, who had been carefully organizing the family members he’d heard about from Aaron long ago into a family tree, narrowed his eyes. No matter how he tried to piece it together, there was no room for Delgado to be included among those six siblings. Unless he treated her as a completely separate entity. For example… a hidden child not included in the family register.

‘No, even so, that’s way too much of a soap opera plot.’

In Taborona, the image of Aaron’s father, David Reyes, was actually quite good. He was known as a devout Catholic who made large, regular donations and operated a large orphanage; he was regarded as a philanthropist who paid significant attention to children from underprivileged, broken homes… Surely not. However, since what Aaron was claiming seemed to be exactly that “surely not,” Jerim asked cautiously.

“…Hey, so you’re saying Delgado is like, an illegitimate child or something?”

“You hit the nail on the head.”

“Do you have plans to switch careers to a writer when you retire, by any chance?”

“I don’t. Right, I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so I prepared this.”

Aaron gestured with his chin toward the table, telling him to look at the other materials quickly. Jerim began to examine them one by one. From the DNA test results of David Reyes and Gabriela Delgado to photos of David holding a newborn baby, and even photos of him being physically affectionate with a person presumed to be her biological mother.

There was even a date stamped in the corner of the newborn photo: November 25th. It was about a month after Aaron’s birthday. Aaron sipped his coffee as he watched Jerim’s pupils dilate with every page he turned.

“As you can see, we are siblings. If the existence of an illegitimate child becomes known, it’ll be troublesome for Gabi and my father in many ways, so we can’t reveal it publicly. Just so you know, these are materials prepared in extreme secrecy, so don’t go telling anyone.”

“Are… Are you allowed to show me something like this…?”

“I’m not. But if I hadn’t shown you, you wouldn’t have kept believing me anyway.”

“That’s… true.”

If someone kept their mouth shut for ten years and only now blabbered, ‘Actually, she’s not my lover, she’s my half-sister,’ who would believe them? No, honestly, even if he had made such an excuse with only words ten years ago, Jerim couldn’t guarantee he would have believed it. It was such a far-fetched subject, after all.

Aaron continued speaking toward Jerim, who nodded with a dazed face.

He explained that a reporter who had picked up a tip about Gabriela being an illegitimate child had begun blackmailing her for money ahead of her Hollywood debut. In the midst of that, instead of embracing his struggling daughter, his father had flown into a rage, saying that if she caused him any loss, he would cut off the support needed for her Hollywood entry and even the living expenses he provided to her biological mother’s side.

Continuing the explanation in a tone that suggested he was fed up, Aaron finally brought up the main topic.

“Anyway, while all that was happening, a dating rumor coincidentally broke out with me. A photo of me comforting her was taken from a weird angle…”

“…That photo where it looked like you were right about to kiss?”

“I was wiping away her tears! Why on earth would I kiss my own sister?”

“Oh… I don’t think I could comfort my younger sibling like that even if they were crying.”

Jerim imagined himself doing that to his younger sister and brushed away the goosebumps that rose on his forearm. If she were crying, he’d be curious about why, but at most, he’d send her some pocket money to change her mood; he wouldn’t be able to personally wipe away her tears. At that, Aaron sneered as if he were hearing something ridiculous.

“You’re the kind of guy who wouldn’t comfort anyone like that even if they were crying.”

“No, fuck, I’m not that heartless of a… human being.”

He tried to retort that he wasn’t such a heartless person, but then he realized he’d never done such a thing for any of the lovers he’d dated, so he changed his sentence ending. He could hug and comfort them, but wiping away tears—just imagining it made him feel embarrassed.

…Was he such a cold-hearted person that he was always dumped? By Aaron too? A new realization struck Jerim’s head. Aaron, who had no way of knowing Jerim’s inner thoughts, laughed loudly and returned to the original topic.

“As you know, I’m not close with my family. Gabi was the only one I’ve been close with since we were young, like real family. I had a lot in common with her. Unlike my other brothers and sisters, we were the same age, so we were like friends.”

“…But, uh, the fact that you’re the same age is, well, I mean…”

“It was an affair, yeah. But well, that’s my parents’ problem, isn’t it? They got divorced a long time ago, so it’s not something for me or Gabi to concern ourselves with.”

Jerim, unable to find an appropriate reaction, shut his mouth. Even though it had been a long time since he’d started living in Europe, the shock coming from these cultural differences remained the same. To calm his mind, he finally took a sip of the coffee Aaron had handed him. It was properly brewed hand-drip coffee with a nutty flavor and moderate acidity.

It’s delicious, but if I drink it all, I might not be able to sleep when I go home, so let’s only drink half. Having made that vow, Jerim slowly sipped the coffee and quietly listened to Aaron’s words.

“That scandal was a godsend for Gabi. Because surely no one would think someone would date their own sibling. And at that time, I…”

He seemed to hesitate suddenly, and then a voice that had become much less confident leaked out faintly. As if he were admitting this was his own fault.

“…I didn’t even know a scandal had broken out between her and me for several days.”

“Did you live without even looking at your phone? Is that even possible?”

“At that time, it had been exactly one month since the two of us had a huge fight and you transferred to England. Back then, I didn’t have the confidence to be okay while looking at a phone filled with traces of you…”

Seeing Aaron trail off, Jerim also nibbled on the soft flesh inside his mouth without making it obvious.

For someone who was the one to suggest we have some time to think first, I guess he did have a hard time. That’s a relief—that I wasn’t the only one living like I’d lost my mind. He firmly chewed and swallowed that sentiment, which felt like a moment of ugly relief, so that he would never have to spit it out.

Aaron slowly opened his mouth again.

“…I was bedridden with a cold, and when I went to training after a few days, it was noisy. Thanks to that, I found out.”

“…You were even sick?”

“Yeah. Why, does it bother you now?”

His tone was somewhat resentful. Does he think he was the only one who had a hard time? Recalling the things he’d gone through after the breakup with Aaron, Jerim’s expression hardened until it was cold. Seeing that, Aaron chuckled and changed the subject as if to signal it was just a light joke.

“Anyway, after that, the whole family stepped in and stopped me, telling me not to explain and just stay quiet. So I couldn’t release a correction article…”

“What about Delgado?”

“Gabi asked me too.”

“To keep your mouth shut?”

Seeing Aaron nod, an old question tried to pop out without passing through his brain.

“Hey, even so…”

Shouldn’t you have contacted me? Even if you found out late, at the very least, you should have contacted…

Even after waiting for a call for several days and then smashing his phone right before boarding the plane out of anger upon seeing that decisive photo, Jerim hadn’t been able to give up hope deep down.

He had entrusted the broken phone to Coach Kang Juhan, who was acting as his personal agent and guardian at the time, to have it fixed, and then left for the pre-season tour. When he received the phone a week later, which had been reduced to a piece of junk that barely managed to turn on, the first things he scanned were the messages and call logs. To check if there had been any contact from Aaron in the meantime.

Back then, how much had he despaired, hesitated, and regretted while looking at that clean notification window? Did “let’s have some time to think” just mean “let’s break up”? Or was there some other reason he couldn’t contact me? Since I spent a week without a phone, a similar situation could have happened to Aaron.

…But including the time I spent waiting before that, does it make sense that he couldn’t contact me even once for almost two weeks? Should I just contact him first? Ask what on earth this scandal is. Why isn’t there even an explanation. Do I still have the right to… or do I not anymore. Is he still very angry? Is that why there’s no contact?

I really shouldn’t have said those kinds of words at the end.

‘I understand well enough how you’ve been thinking of me all this time, Jerim. …Thanks, for letting me snap out of it at the very end.’

In the end, the image of Aaron dropping tears with a hurt face while asking for time to think would often flicker before his eyes, making him put the phone down. Then, suddenly, anger would surge as if his insides were being turned upside down, and after kicking balls and running until he was showered in sweat, he would pick up and put down the phone again… Anyway, he wasn’t in his right mind back then.