Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#060

“Grandmother. I’m here.”

As soon as we entered the hospital room, Kim Shin ran straight to Grandmother.

“What?”

Although he didn’t say the rest, just by looking at Sun Woo’s expression, it seemed like he was saying, “What’s with that bastard?” He must have been surprised since I suddenly brought Kim Shin without a word. Grandmother seemed startled for a moment at Kim Shin’s appearance but soon greeted him with a smile. Thank goodness at least Grandmother welcomed him.

“Yesterday, Kim Shin suddenly brought up Grandmother. And before I knew it.”

“Yesterday? Kim Shin went to that birthday party with you too?”

Calling it a birthday party made it sound like a cute and small-scale birthday celebration. It was a very grand party.

“We didn’t go together, but we met there.”

Sun Woo didn’t seem very happy about Kim Shin’s arrival and was just silently watching. If a friend came, he should welcome him a bit. Kim Shin sat next to Grandmother, wagging his tail like a dog who found its owner.

“Grandmother, when are you getting discharged?”

“Who knows. I’ll have to go when the doctor tells me to? I haven’t even started treatment yet, my dear.”

“What’s wrong with you? Ha Jin won’t answer me even if I ask him.”

“Oh, did he? Jin-i didn’t tell you? It’s not something to hide.”

At Grandmother’s nonchalant attitude, Kim Shin seemed to feel relieved and smiled brightly. Judging by his expression, he seemed to think it was an illness that would pass like a cold. Since Grandmother was also smiling warmly, I thought she would brush it off as a minor illness. But my prediction was completely off the mark. Grandmother threw a heavy fast ball at Kim Shin without any warning.

“Oh my. I have cancer, what else.”

As Grandmother spoke as if conveying very good news that didn’t match the content, Kim Shin’s expression, who had been smiling at her, gradually hardened. Then he looked at me with a face like the world was collapsing.

“Ha Jin… You said it’s okay?”

“Shin-nie. Grandma is okay, though?”

Still bright, Grandmother poked Kim Shin’s cheek as she saw his sad face. Kim Shin’s expression remained dark even while his cheek was being poked.

“Grandmother…”

“Oh, it’s treatable. Why are you worrying? Shin-nie, you have such a soft heart? Even though you don’t look like it? Grandma is fine.”

“Do they really say it’s treatable? Is it really treatable?”

“Grandma just needs to put in a little effort. Oh my, how awful! If you’re going to cry, go somewhere Grandma can’t see and cry.”

Grandmother’s words comforting Kim Shin were full of playfulness. Although Kim Shin couldn’t completely ease his hardened face, he seemed a bit relieved.

“I guess Grandma suddenly got two more grandsons, so they’re letting me stay a little longer. Thanks to Shin-nie and Jin-i, I’m really lucky. Right?”

Grandmother smiled as she alternately looked at Kim Shin and me.

* * *

On the way back to the hospital room after seeing Kim Shin off, I briefly saw someone wearing a familiar school uniform as I passed through the corridor. For a very brief moment, I saw him going up to the rooftop, and the cast on his right arm was still the same.

Even though I only saw him momentarily, I strangely felt uncomfortable.

Why… are all the circumstances telling me that he is the one Mother is involved with?

Could it be that the reason Father hit an ordinary high school student… was because of Mother?

Thoughts led to more thoughts and guided me to the rooftop. I didn’t need to clutter my mind. I just needed to ask. What should I ask? It felt a bit hasty to ask what his relationship with Mother was. If I was misunderstanding, it would be a big mistake.

As I was pondering over the question to ask him, before I knew it, the rooftop door handle was grasped in my hand.

I slightly pushed the handle down and opened the door. A pounding heart and anxiety, as if opening Pandora’s box, devoured me.

“…”

He was leaning on the railing, looking down. Why did he look so precarious even from the back? As if deeply thinking about something, he maintained a still posture until I approached him closely.

“Excuse me…”

I had no choice but to call him like this since I didn’t know his name. At my call, he flinched and shrugged his shoulders. My figure was briefly reflected on the tall glass wall installed on the railing. Without turning around, he was looking at me through the glass wall.

“I have something to ask…”

I trailed off, speaking in an ambiguous manner that was neither polite nor casual. As if my words rubbed him the wrong way, he clenched his fists. The bulging veins on the back of his hand represented his mood.

The more he reacted like that, my suspicion gradually turned into certainty.

‘Damn it. It can’t be, right?’

Erasing the needless thought, I took one more step closer to him.

“I have something to ask. Can I ask a question?”

In the end, I lowered my speech to him. It felt more comfortable since he was wearing a school uniform.

He turned around with a rough gesture. Glaring at me with wide-open eyes, he twisted his lips and clenched his teeth. His eyes looking at me were filled with contempt and anger. Looking at him in his school uniform, I hoped he wasn’t involved with Mother.

A high school student. A minor.

“Ask. The question.”

The voice that came out of his mouth was sharply cracked and trembled with anger at the end. If someone saw, they would think he met his mortal enemy. No, more than that, he was speaking to me in a casual tone so naturally. Does he think I’m younger than him no matter what?

Laughing hollowly at the absurdity, his eyes were full of only hostility.

“You remember me, right?”

“…”

At my question, he only narrowed his eyes without answering. His action of biting his lips even more only increased my doubts. Why does he dislike me so much?

“We ran into each other at my father’s office, didn’t we?”

“Huh? So what?”

He was still speaking casually. Well, since I didn’t reveal my age, I let it slide.

“Did you get hit by my father that day by any chance?”

“…”

“I was standing outside and heard the sound of an ashtray falling. That’s the sound that comes out when I get hit.”

I tried to draw a sense of empathy with him. It was to smoothly carry on the conversation because he was too hostile. But far from empathizing, he only had a mocking expression on his face.

“So what?”

“I’m curious why you got hit.”

The corners of his mouth trembled slightly as we faced each other. Is it the author’s habit? Whenever people suppress their anger, they all tremble their lips. Father, Mother, and the man in front of me too.

“…Why do you get hit?”

He suddenly asked a question. The reason I get hit… Most people probably wouldn’t understand well. He might think it’s a lie, but what can I do when it’s the truth? I opened my mouth to answer his question.

“I get hit for not studying well.”

“…”

“It’s true.”

“…”

“You? I already told you. Why did you get hit?”

At my question, one corner of his mouth twisted up. It was a clear sneer. His expression became arrogant as if he had stepped on me.

“I got hit for studying too well.”

“…”

What is this? The answer is too strange, isn’t it?

It was clearly mocking my answer. As if someone would hit another person for studying well, even if it’s their father. Right?

“What does you studying well have to do with my father? Who are you?”

As soon as my words ended, he swiftly raised his left hand and grabbed my collar. There wasn’t much impact since there was a considerable difference in physique, but I was dumbfounded by the sudden action. It seemed like he would fall over if I even slightly swung my arm, so I just stayed still for him.

‘But why is he grabbing my collar? It’s not like I asked Father to hit me.’

He’s not even giving a proper answer and is just getting angry by himself. Still, he looked like a baby cat with its fur all ruffled up. He seemed to think he was threatening me, but it had no impact on me at all. After looking at his distorted face for a while, I shifted my gaze and examined his right arm in a cast.

“Did your right arm end up like that because you studied too well? What and how well did you study to that extent?”

“Shut up.”

It was a voice seething with anger.

“But why are you so hostile towards me?”

I grumbled feeling wronged, but there was no response from him. When I lightly hit his hand, it fell away from me powerlessly. Seeing his desolate appearance, I forgot about his hostility towards me and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. His slender build made him look more like the weak one. It’s as if I, the big one, am bullying him.

“Do you happen to live in OO apartment?”

As expected, he didn’t answer.

“Do you know an actress named Baek Su-ah?”

I asked thinking he would have no answer again, but what do you know? The guy switched on as if a switch was flipped and charged at me fiercely. He grabbed my collar again, making my upper body sway slightly.

“Why are you attacking for no reason.”

An attack that doesn’t even work on me. It seemed like he would fall over if I shook him even slightly, so I just let him do as he pleased. I could feel him trembling with anger as his fingertips shook. He was breathing heavily while looking at me with reddened eyes.

“Will you shut that mouth?”

He uttered each syllable with difficulty, and I sighed.

Honestly, I hadn’t even asked what I really wanted to ask yet. How he knows Mother. What their relationship is. But seeing him react like this… I have a bad feeling.

“You…”

He called me with difficulty again. His reddened eyes were glaring at me, and his hand grabbing my collar trembled even more.

“…Is living fun for you?”

Suddenly he asks me how living is for me.

“How does it seem to you?”

I no longer wanted to give him a proper answer. When I smiled brightly at him, he couldn’t contain his anger and bit his lips, eventually drawing blood. Blood slightly seeped from his torn lower lip. He pulled me with all his might. I was about to resist, but feeling sorry for him, I bent my upper body as he led me, and he brought his face close to my ear. The sound of his teeth grinding was heard, and he called me in a low voice.

“Ha Jin.”

“…”

“How does it feel to use a name that isn’t yours?”

What is he talking about? A name that isn’t mine?

I raised my head and looked at him. He forcibly pulled up the corners of his trembling lips and stretched his lips to smile at me. The blood smeared on his lips gave an eerie feeling. Shocking words continued to come out of his blood-stained lips.

“How does it feel to live a life that isn’t yours? Is it fun? Fake Ha Jin?”