BJ Villainess Chapter 298

* * *

My mind was hazy. There was a disconnection between my body and spirit, making everything around me feel muffled.

 

Where… is this…?

 

As my blurry vision focused, I saw a familiar face. It was my stepfather. He was looking at me with a gaze filled with quite evident anger.

 

“Jiwoo, can you play the piano?”

 

“Yes.”

 

My voice echoed clearly in my mind as if it was the correct answer.

 

“…Yes.”

 

“You sure know how to do a lot, Jiwoo.”

 

My mother, glancing at my stepfather for approval, scolded me with an even harsher expression.

 

“Don’t you know Bohyeon is going through a sensitive time? What did you do in front of your brother that made him unable to touch the piano keys?”

 

“Why is that my fault?”

 

I heard my voice again.

 

“Why…”

 

Why am I repeating it like a parrot without any suspicion? It was like replaying a pre-recorded video. That was too strange.

 

I closed my lips for a moment and then calmly asked, “Are you planning to send me abroad because I’m bothersome?”

 

My stepfather answered, “It would be a better choice for you, too.”

 

“That plane ticket on the table is for today, isn’t it?”

 

“…”

 

“Are your employees packing my things?”

 

“You…”

 

For some reason, it felt like I had experienced this situation before and could foresee what would happen. Maybe that’s why? I didn’t feel any particular resentment. Everything felt dull and trivial, even boring.

 

I turned my head to look toward the entrance. “Umi, why don’t you come out from there?”

 

Umi, who had been hiding with a wary expression, slowly revealed herself. My stepfather suddenly stood up, looking like he felt some kind of intimidation from my behavior.

 

“What are you doing? Who told you something…!”

 

“Stepfather.” I gently called out to him.

 

He stopped shouting abruptly. His chest was heaving, probably due to his anxious breathing.

 

“You’ve realized that me leaving this house is for the best, haven’t you? That’s why you’ve prepared for me to study abroad.”

 

There was no need for an answer. What I was giving was a unilateral notification, not a conversation. Everyone in the room seemed to understand this as they remained silent and simply listened to what I had to say. This was a moment where objections or questions were not allowed.

 

“But I have no intention of studying abroad. I also don’t want to be involved with this family anymore. I’ll live as Shin Jiwoo, so I think it’s best to end our connection here.”

 

I straightened my back and held my head high. It was an unfamiliar posture I had never tried before, yet it felt strangely natural.

 

“What do you think?”

 

Beads of sweat had formed on my stepfather’s forehead. He yelled at me as if trying to deny the pressure he was feeling. “…What can a child like you do out there on your own!”

 

“I think that will be taken care of.”

 

“What?”

 

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. The servant, who had been quietly hiding due to the tense atmosphere, quickly checked the visitor and swallowed nervously.

 

“Master, Mr. Holton is here…”

 

* * *

“Then I’ll take Jiwoo with me.”

 

My stepfather didn’t offer any objections to Mr. Holton’s statement and simply nodded.

 

I sat beside Mr. Holton, looking at my stepfather, my mother, and Umi, but none of them dared to look at me, even by accident. It wasn’t out of contempt but out of fear. That felt strangely odd, yet at the same time, it seemed perfectly natural. Why was that?

 

“Let’s go, Jiwoo.” Mr. Holton smiled gently and led me out of the house.

 

Tap! Mr. Holton opened a black umbrella and gestured for me to come under it.

 

Ah. Come to think of it, it had been raining before I came home. That realization hit me in a strange way.

 

“Thank you, Mister.”

 

This wasn’t a thank-you for the umbrella.

 

Mr. Holton smiled, understanding what I was truly grateful for. “No need. It was something I had to do.”

 

Before entering Ozworld’s house, I suddenly asked the question that had been on my mind. “But when did you come to Korea?”

 

“I had some work here this morning, and I rushed over after Ozworld asked me. I’m glad I wasn’t too late.”

 

Mr. Holton answered smoothly, then after a brief silence, he turned to look at me. The expression of the always polite and amiable Mr. Holton had subtly changed to something unfamiliar, almost like that of a stranger.

 

“Be careful this time.”

 

It was an eerily chilling warning.

 

Before I could ask what he meant, Mr. Holton returned to his usual friendly demeanor and said, “I’ll be off now, but if you need anything, just tell Ozworld.” And with that, he disappeared as if his role had ended.

 

I stared blankly in the direction he had left, snapping back to reality only when the servant opened the door and asked me to come inside. Just a moment ago, I felt like I had been half-dreaming, but now everything felt starkly real. And suddenly, I couldn’t understand the actions I had taken at home.

 

What was I thinking, acting so one-sided and high-handed when I had nothing? But I knew that if faced with the same situation again, I would act the same way.

 

If they had been the predators and I the small prey before, now things were different. Now, I was the predator.

 

As I walked down the hallway, I caught sight of myself in a decorative mirror on the wall.

 

“Huh? What’s going on with my eyes?”

 

My once dark gray eyes had turned into a bright silver-gray. I felt anxious, wondering if I was sick.

 

I hurried to tell Ozworld about this strange change, but I found him suddenly collapsed in the middle of the room.

 

“Oz!”

 

He was unconscious, breathing heavily and feverishly, much like the last time he was ill. I quickly alerted the servants that he had collapsed.

 

Before long, the doctor arrived and inserted a needle into his arm, just as before.

 

“He’s just overworked himself; he’ll be fine after some rest.”

 

I nodded at the doctor’s words, but I didn’t quite understand. We had been together constantly, and I hadn’t seen him overexert himself. Could it be that he’s hiding a terminal illness from me?

 

Feeling upset, I sat on the chair beside the bed when something on the floor caught my eye. “What’s this?”

 

I picked it up and saw that it was a pocket watch. I didn’t know Ozworld had something like this. I had known him for a long time, but I had never seen him carrying a pocket watch.

 

“It’s pretty, but the glass is all broken.”

 

Still, the hands of the watch were ticking away just fine.

 

Knock, knock.

 

“Jiwoo? The room is ready, so I’m here to show you. Is now a good time?”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

Hearing the servant’s voice from outside, I placed the pocket watch on the side table and left the room. And the existence of the pocket watch soon slipped from my mind.

 

* * *

I started living at Ozworld’s house. But I had no intention of staying indefinitely. I planned to quickly create a game that could make money, sell it, and use that money to become independent.

 

I was sure that if I told Ozworld about this plan, he would oppose it with displeasure. However, Ozworld’s reaction was slightly different from what I expected.

 

“Then how about you give that money to me? I have a vacant apartment that you could use.”

 

Ozworld explained that the apartment wasn’t meant for rental income and that even a small amount of rent from me would be beneficial.

 

“And I’ll be using the unit next door myself.”

 

He was the one who suggested that we separate our living spaces until we become adults.

 

Honestly, I was very grateful. Even if I made and sold a game, I knew I wouldn’t make money right away, and I wouldn’t make much. But I was stubborn about not wanting to live with Ozworld because of my pride. Ozworld understood this and gently persuaded me to make a more rational decision by putting aside some of that pride.

 

“I just don’t want you living in a dangerous place.”

 

“…Alright.”

 

After a serious illness, Ozworld seemed to have undergone a change of heart; his attitude had softened significantly. He had always been kind, but there was a sharpness that he couldn’t completely hide before. Now, that sharpness was entirely gone.

 

When I accepted his proposal, he kissed the back of my hand with a relieved expression. Then he teased me, “Thanks for giving in, Jiwoo.”

 

“Don’t be annoying.”

 

Though I growled and made a stern face, I was secretly grateful that he was trying to lighten the mood with his playful attitude.

 

I thought that if Ozworld had been like this from the beginning, we might have started dating back in elementary school.

 

“You seem different somehow.”

 

He tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. “Do I?”

 

“Yeah. You seem more relaxed.”

 

“Oh…” He chuckled as if he had a guess and whispered to me, “Do you want to know why?”

 

Hmm. From the sly smile on his face, it was clear he was just trying to mess with me.

 

“No thanks.”

 

“No, I’ll tell you. The reason is—”

 

“Aah! I don’t want to hear it.”

 

“It’s because I know how much you like me. Isn’t that right, Jiwoo?”

 

Ozworld was incorrigible. I slapped him lightly to put him in his place, and we ended up eating ice cream together while studying. After all, we were still students, with the looming presence of the college entrance exam ahead of us.

 

The days we spent together were incredibly peaceful. I went through exam prep in a stable environment with plenty of support, and finally, the entrance exams were over. My scores were much better than expected, giving me the opportunity to apply to top-tier campuses. However, the campus I had originally attended was already very good, and with my current grades, I could get a full scholarship.

 

Ozworld, however, was set on following me to whichever college I applied to. Why would someone with a perfect score on the college entrance exam want to attend the same college as me?

 

“If you do that, I’ll break up with you.”

 

At my threat, Ozworld sighed and muttered gloomily, “I should have made some mistakes on the test. What a mistake.”

 

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense?”

 

“I just want to go to the same college as you.”

 

“Sigh.”

 

In the end, Ozworld reluctantly applied to the university he was supposed to go to, sulking the entire time. Seeing him so downcast, I felt a bit sorry for him and said, “Instead, we can live together.”

 

Up until now, we had spent so much time going back and forth between each other’s houses. It seemed more practical to combine households, so I casually suggested it, and as expected, Ozworld was overjoyed.

 

He hugged me tightly and said in a happy voice, “I love you, Jiwoo.”

 

He really knows how to say cheesy things.

 

“…Me too.”

 

Ozworld playfully pretended not to hear me. “What did you say?”

 

“I said I love you too!”

 

Ozworld burst into laughter, and I, trying to maintain a fake angry face, ended up laughing along with him. It was a perfect day, so perfect it was almost unbelievable.