Chapter 184: Those who stab you in the back (3)
TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir
My brother raised his glass.
“Wait, let me have a drink.”
“It’s empty.”
Even though I told him, my brother seemed to only realize it was empty when he tried to take a sip because he fumbled as he placed it back on the tray. His honest face was filled with confusion. I felt sorry.
Well, it wasn’t like it was unexpected. He had expected that his brother, who had thrown his private life away for work for the past few years, had finally found himself a woman, but after hearing the situation, it was difficult to tell whether this was more of a therapist session than asking for relationship advice.
I laughed bitterly and said,
“Sorry for giving you a headache. You were the only one I could talk to about this. I did think about receiving counselling, but it’s a bit difficult when your face is known to the public.”
“There’s no need to be sorry. This is what family is for.”
My brother waved his hand.
“First, let’s assume that you and Ms. Songha are dating.”
His voice, which became quiet when he said her name, grew in volume again.
“Let’s assume you are dating with no issues involving the public eye, your careers, the company, or anything else. There’s no chance you’ll break up nor is there a chance your great relationship will worsen. If you want, you can even get married and have a great life.”
“What a great assumption.”
“That’s just on the personal level. Instead, Ms. Songha doesn’t work with you any longer and works with someone else. Whether she changes her manager or she goes to a different company. What do you think?”
What did I think?
If someone besides me helped expand Lee Songha’s filmography, strove for the same goal, and got her on the red carpet?
“I don’t think I can allow that.”
My voice was cold.
I wished it would stop here, but my brother continued,
“What if Ms. Songha wants to do that?”
***
A black scarf fluttered. A woman slowly walked down a hallway.
The floor was covered in marble tiles, and the white walls had faint specks here and there. There was also a window where the leisurely sun beamed in. Within the normal, if not boring, hallway, only the woman seemed different.
“Who is she? Did a woman like her live on our floor?”
“I’ve never seen her since I’ve moved here? Wow, she seems like a celebrity.”
A young couple acted like they had accidentally messed up their passcode to their door lock as they glanced at her.
She wore a t-shirt, jeans, and black boots. While her clothes seemed normal, she herself was far from normal.
She covered her eyes with large sunglasses and wore a baseball cap on her head. She covered her nose to her neck with the out-of-season scarf. Her hair shook under her scarf every step she took. She was a very suspicious yet interesting woman.
When the couple failed their passcode for the third time, the woman stopped a few doors away from them. Her smooth hand stopped in front of the door lock before ringing the doorbell. Soon, the woman entered the apartment. The couple’s gaze was fixed on the shut door.
“That unit, it’s the one with a lot of daughters, right? Is she one of them?”
“I don’t know. I did hear a bit from the lady since she liked to boast about her daughters a lot. The first one graduated from Hyemun Women’s University and was preparing for a job. I think she said her second daughter was in the arts. Her fourth was in the varsity judo team. Something about becoming a national athlete or something.”
“Then what about the third?”
At her husband’s question, she tilted her head.
“I don’t know about the third. I think she said she was in the states?”
Lee Songha let out a stuffy breath. She took off her hat and sunglasses and undid her cumbersome scarf. She looked around the living room. There was a vase with sunflowers. The fabric sofa with cute little cushions was so old that its edges were frayed.
Frames were hung on the wall. Lee Songha stared at the photos.
At the top was a photo of the four sisters in a group hug when the youngest was only 100 days old. Below that were three daughters in school uniforms. Next to that was the first daughter’s graduation photo, the second daughter receiving an award at a drawing contest, as well as a photo of the fourth daughter holding a medal from a regional tournament.
Beside them hung a large photo of the family of five.
The photo looked peaceful and natural. Lee Songha seemed different even here.
“Is it hot outside?”
A middle-aged woman with a tidy short perm and gentle eye wrinkles asked. She was the stereotypical ‘mother’ image in a public service campaign. She was Lee Songha’s mother. She had neatly sliced Korean melons in a tray. Lee Songha received the fork her mother handed her and asked,