Oppa, That Must Be A Mistake - Chapter 4

“It’s kind of awkward to ask you this, but I felt like I was eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation, so I tried to pretend I wasn’t, but I just couldn’t let it go.”

Seungwon said, his eyes hard.

“Don’t be shy just tell me.”

“Well.”

As he watched Seung-won hesitate, Joo-Won thought to himself.

‘You’re actually believing that bullshit? Wow, you’re even more naive than I thought.’

Joo-won didn’t think for a second that Hye-ju was serious when she said that Seung-won was the one she likes.

Common sense, his face doesn’t look very similar to Seungwon’s, so there’s no way he misunderstood someone and handed him Pepero. As if he had waited, he showed up just in time for his return home. Besides, what is that embarrassing confession song? I think there were things like saying that I’ve been watching you for a long time, and that I loved you even when you were far away, but anyone can see that it’s Kang Joo-won’s favorite song.

If Seung-won hears that obvious lie, he would misunderstands it… … .

‘It’s difficult.’

Joo-won, who fell into a hard illusion, could only feel sorry for Hye-joo, who couldn’t accept it. Also, my back hurt. On the day Seung-Won is misunderstood because of the excuse Oh Hye-Joo said earlier, he could be hurt for no reason.

But Seung-won’s next question completely threw Joo-won’s calculations off.

“Hyung, did you really report Hye-joo to the police, are you out of your mind?”

Ah. So this is what you heard earlier.

“After hearing it at first glance, I doubted my ears. Are you really crazy?”

Joo-won breathes a sigh of relief when he realizes that what Seung-won heard was about the police station. However, Seung-won’s reaction was harsher than he expected.

“What kind of idiot calls the police on his brother’s best friend?”

“What, man?”

“She’s my friend! She’s not here to see you, she’s here because she left something at my house! What the hell did she steal? How valuable is it that you’d call the police?”

“It’s none of your business.”

I have my own privacy, but I can’t say she stole my panties.

Joo-Won waved his hand in the air.

“Stop talking and finish the game.”

“Brother!”

Joo-won wiped his hands on a clean towel and turned away, but Seung-won wouldn’t let go.

“Do you really think Hye-joo is a stalker?” he asked.

“I told you, it’s none of your business.”

“Answer me. Your ridiculous delusions are about Hye-joo, I have a right to know.”

“Right to know?”

“Because we’re friends.”

Ha.

Joo-won rubbed his fingers across his forehead.

Honestly, if he really thought Hye-Joo was a stalker, he would have called the police to report her for stalking, not theft.

He called the police for a different reason, but he didn’t want to say why.

“I don’t think she’s a stalker, okay?”

“Then why did you report her?”

“Hey, Seung-won Kang.”

“Answer me.”

Seung-won didn’t back down.

Sometimes the little brother could be so stubborn. Joo-won knew that his grandfather wouldn’t be able to stop him if he rose from the grave. For some reason, he’s been a bit stubborn lately. Huh?

“Okay. I’ll answer you.”

Joo-won stared at Seung-won with calm eyes.

“There was something missing from my house, and there was a misunderstanding.”

“What is it? It can’t be mine.”

“It was mine.”

“So you reported my friend for something that doesn’t matter?”

“I said there was a misunderstanding. You’re annoying me, so you really need to tone it down. If you want to know the truth, ask your best friend Oh Hye-joo?”

Joo-won sarcastically unbuttoned his shirt, He thought that was the end of the conversation, he was wrong.

“Are you sure that you’re reporting her because of that?”

Joo-Won’s brow twitched at the barbed words from behind him.

“I’m not ignorant of your wounds, and I have no idea why you called the police on Hye-joo.”

“Get out.”

“Is it because of that incident ten years ago, right?”

“…… One more word, if you want to know look it up.”

The calm voice was intimidating, almost goosebump-inducing. Seung-won knew he has reached his limit, but he didn’t stop.

” Even if I’m going to get beaten like a dog, but I have to say something. I know you’re upset about stalking, and I can understand if you really thought she was a stalker. But she’s not that kind of girl, and I want you to apologize.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You did it to warn her to never go near you again, or did you want to leave her a report record? Either way, you probably wanted to avoid something bothersome like it was 10 years ago!”

Joo-Won’s searing eyes calmed down. The Saccharine Abyss was deep and dark, with no end in sight.

“It’s a nuisance.”

The corners of his mouth curled up.

“Yeah, a girl I used to date died and I got suspicious. I had a few stalking calls to the police, so I was cleared of the charges.”

Joo-Won raised hid head slightly while looking up from his desk.

“I understand. That I could have prevented her death if I had called the police the last time she came to my door.”

That nightmarish day ten years ago. The day the woman who had given him her heart, however briefly, hanged herself.

“Brother…….”

The slightly overcast sky, the smell of rain in the air, the dark shadows on the asphalt. None of it is forgotten.

“I could have saved her.”

You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t have a clue what I felt when I saw the way her lips were pressed to my cheeks, the way they’d dried up, how dare you.

“Now tell me.”

Joo-won opened his eyes and looked at Seung-won.

“Why do you think I called the police on Oh Hye-joo?”

His voice was eerily quiet, as dry as a void.

*

Eleven years ago.

During his sophomore year of high school, Joo-won was tutored on an essay by a female college student at Seoul National University.

She was petite and unusually shy. He saw her twice a week for about a year, and what he didn’t expect was for a romantic relationship to develop between them.

By the time he was in middle school, Joo-won was well over six feet tall and was considered handsome. Girls at a nearby high school would walk in circles for dozens of minutes to get a glimpse of his face.

On Valentine’s Day and Pepero Day, his house would be piled high with gifts, and people would think he was a celebrity.

Won Hye-rim.

She was the one who first set fire to Joo-won’s heart, who had never been interested in women. She was his first crush.

During tutoring sessions, when he would gently hold her hand or affectionately stroke her cheek when she got a difficult question right, Joo-Won was quite fond of her.

But Hye-rim’s feelings were nothing compared to his.

As she began to focus on her studies for her senior year, she became more and more demanding. She wanted to see him every day, she wanted him to talk to her throughout the day, she craved his affection during tutoring sessions, and on days when she couldn’t get through to him, she’d show up at his house and make him flag down his parents.

The stalking began the moment Joo-won finally pushed her away completely.

Hye-rim stood in front of the house at night and during the day. Holding a red umbrella on rainy days and a black coat on windy days.

He called the police several times, but the case was never properly investigated because she was a vulnerable woman and a student at a prestigious university. Each time the police came, they were simply cautioned and turned away. In the meantime, Joo-won had gotten into the habit of looking out the window with an anxious gaze.

She didn’t do much when she came, just looked up staring at him upstairs were Joo-won was, and if she happened to see him, she’d look at him shyly, as if to ask him to come down.

But the feeling of being watched grew more and more unnerving by the day.

Until one day. After failing a mock exam the night before due to lack of sleep, he confronted her outside her house and said harsh words at her.

-What did you do with me? Why are you being so persistent?

-You kissed …….

-Yes, a dirty kiss. It was just a playful kiss.

-Was it nothing to you?

-You have a way of making a kiss mean so much. You’re obsessing over something you’ve only known for a month. It’s psychotic. You know that?

I said things on purpose to get her off my back. If I had known she was going to hang herself that very day, I wouldn’t have said it.

It was a windy Wednesday when she hanged herself in her studio. Her wobbly feet were strewn with mementos of her time with Joo-won.

“Did you really think that Hye-joo might kill herself?”

Seung-won knew how the incident had scarred Joo-won, but he still couldn’t bring himself to connect it to Hye-joo.

“Say something that makes sense. Why would Hye-joo die? She’s having so much fun! She’s the most cheerful girl I know!”

“I know.”

“I know, but why!”

“Because so did Won Hye-rim!”

She was a bright, smiling girl.

I hadn’t expected such a woman to make such a choice in one moment.

He knew better than anyone that it was a delusion to link the dead Won Hye-rim and Hye-joo.

Still, his breath tightened down his throat, because the face he’d seen that day had looked exactly like Won Hye-rim’s. How to describe it?

A face that looked like her world had fallen apart? No, it was a face that looked like a worse kind of loss.

Of course, it was an impulsive decision to call the police and kick down the door. I was haunted by a nightmare from ten years ago when Seung-won told me that he hadn’t been able to reach Hye-joo and that she hadn’t answered when he went to her house. …… So.

He had the same look in her eyes as Hye-rim, and I couldn’t leave her alone.

“I know, she’s delusional.”

Joo-Won muttered bitterly.

“But I wanted to check, that’s all.”

Seung-won didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips. He looked like he wanted to curse, but it didn’t come out.

Only after a while did Seung-won turn around with a deep sigh.

“Hye-joo, is not that weak, she’s not even a stalker!”

Joo-won didn’t respond.

He didn’t regret calling the police.

*

That same evening.

Hye-Joo was lying on her bed in her one-room apartment, kicking the blanket.

“Ugh, I hate it, they’re bringing this again!”

Through the fluttering sheets, she could see a black plastic bag in the corner. It was Joo-won’s underwear, which she had brought back in a panic after Seung-won’s sudden appearance earlier.

‘I’m going to burn that thing to death.’

I didn’t know if I should tear it up or just throw it away, but I decided to give him a personalized burning ceremony. Judging by the way Kang Joo-won threw it in the trash earlier, it doesn’t look like it’s anything important, so he can dispose of it however he wants.

I was rolling my eyes, trying to find a suitable drum.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang. Hye-Joo reflexively stiffened her shoulders.

‘Is it the police again?’

She wondered if the trip to the police station had been traumatizing. Hye-Joo pushed the plastic bag onto the veranda with her tiptoes and stared at the intercom.

An unexpected figure stood on the screen.