The Damn Family Is Back Again

350. Family (20)

It was predictable, but the kid didn’t fail the part-time job interview.

The boss, who judged after seeing the kid’s work skills a few times, was so impressed that his eyes widened and he gave a big thumbs up, showing how much he liked it.

Declaration of acceptance.

And naturally, a positive response followed.

From tomorrow, there will be one more new part-timer here.

There was no day as boring as today.

I secretly thought it would have been better if the kid started today.

So, unlike usual, I made a careless mistake.

The next day. I couldn’t sleep.

I don’t know if it was because I was eagerly waiting for the part-time job time, or because I was facing stressful times both inside and outside the house.

But they say joy comes after hardship. The part-time job time approached.

Just when I was wondering what story to start with, I made eye contact with the kid. I was flustered, but I thought it would be enough to just raise my hand slightly to let the kid know we were from the same school.

But the reaction wasn’t that pleasant.

The kid responded indifferently. Pretended not to see me and just did their work. Silently doing their own thing.

Time flew by like that, and before I knew it, the part-time job time was over.

Until we parted ways. No, until the kid finished their work and disappeared like a bullet. I couldn’t say a single word to the kid.

…Maybe the kid wasn’t in a good mood.

If I have time later, I might be able to talk then.

But during the part-time job hours after this, there was no chance to start a conversation again. Too many people came, and we had to work without a moment to breathe.

The next day arrived.

Today, for sure! I clenched my fist and tried to start a conversation.

It would be perfect under the pretext of teaching something. After all, I’ve been working here the longest, and it’s appropriate to teach the new recruit who just joined.

…But, that kid was too perfect.

Once taught, they never forgot and executed it exactly as instructed. Despite the numerous tasks, while other part-timers frequently made mistakes and caused problems, requiring constant cleanup, this one just effortlessly broke away from that norm.

They never forgot what they learned and fulfilled their duties. They handled all the tasks while just glancing at the manual and getting everything done perfectly. Even if their grades were top-notch, could they really do all this…?

The boss said to teach them directly because they might make mistakes…

Mistakes? There’s no way. They even corrected and fixed mistakes, so I ended up needing to learn from them instead.

What is this? This way, I can’t even teach them.

As they silently worked, I resented the flood of customers.

And so, another day approached.

Another day arrived. And with more misfortunes piling up, I couldn’t say a word.

Now, with the main tasks increasing, it became harder to see them.

This can’t go on.

Today, I deliberately started a conversation. I felt like I had to say something.

“Hey!”

“…”

“We’re in the same class, you know that?”

Ah.

I wanted to run away.

Why do we make conversations more awkward by stating the obvious facts that both you and I know?

It’s obvious that we would have already seen the list of classmates…

“No. This is the first time I’m hearing about it.”

“…What?”

Did he really not know?

The school must have sent the class assignments in advance…

“Anyway, I don’t care which class I’m in or who is in it.”

…Ah. Seeing those eyes, sunken like ashes, I understood something.

This kid. It never made sense that he was working a part-time job.

How could the adopted son of a wealthy family be working a part-time job?

Being in the same school, the same class, those things wouldn’t bring him joy.

And the fact that he had to earn money by taking on tasks even before the downsizing… that could be speculated in its own way.

Why he developed such a twisted personality.

Why he coldly did his job while putting the word “transaction” first, I understood.

Maybe if I had deviated just a little, I would have become like him.

We were in the same situation.

This kid, like me, was alone.

He probably couldn’t trust anyone.

Even his family turned their backs on him, so the world wouldn’t look kind to him.

I couldn’t help but understand his feelings.

This kid doesn’t think of anyone as special.

There is no emotion of seeing someone as special.

That emotion is unnecessary for this kid.

Because such emotions are unnecessary for someone who strictly calculates gains and losses, numbers and symbols, formulas and theories.

In that case… it’s clear how others would appear.

I am just Girl No. 1 from the same class in the same school.

This kid didn’t care who ended up in the same class from the beginning.

Because everyone in the world would look the same.

…Yeah. When you think about it, it’s just the same school. We just happened to be in the same class by chance. And this time, we might have just ended up in the same class again.

No matter how hard I try to get closer, it doesn’t change.

The one who considered that kid special was just me, one-sidedly.

The other side didn’t show any interest in me.

The only one who remembered that day, who didn’t forget that time, was me.

In other words, I am seen as nothing but a stranger.

Soon, I will just disappear from memory.

Knowing that, the excitement immediately subsided.

As the gloomy timing matched, customers started to flock in.

Yeah. Let’s just work. I should focus on my part-time job.

…But I couldn’t even focus on my part-time job.

My body wouldn’t listen. As if it had turned into a stone.

My eyes were closing on their own. The weight of my eyelids was unusual.

Because of that, while carrying what I needed as usual, my body was tilting sharply to one side.

My body, which had stayed up all night for several days, was exhausted to the point of being worn out, but perhaps this was to be expected since I hadn’t slept for a day or two.

Ah. If I cause an accident like this, it will be a big problem.

I will probably get seriously injured.

I might have to stay in the hospital for a while.

I won’t be able to come back here to work part-time.

…Really, it’s a day I don’t want to remember. Today.

The thoughts that came to my mind as my eyes closed and my body fell, that was all.

But.

-Thud.

The body that was about to fall to the ground was firmly caught by someone’s arms, preventing a disaster.

“I was wondering why you were staggering like that since earlier. Sigh.”

Just before my eyes closed due to drowsiness.

I heard the sigh of that person.

Time passed like that, and my drowsy eyes opened. When I checked my surroundings, I couldn’t help but be startled. I had fallen asleep for several hours straight in the break room…

‘What should I do…’

When I hurriedly tidied up my clothes and face and came out, everything had already been left to someone else.

To that person, no less.

“You’re finally awake?”

“That…”

My lips couldn’t part, knowing I had dumped all that work on him.

It wouldn’t be strange to hear some harsh words.

I had messed up my own work and even taken on someone else’s, yet I had the nerve to sleep soundly and wake up refreshed. It was only natural for him to find it annoying.

Even so, he didn’t complain.

He just nodded once, signaling that it was time for me to do my part, and silently went about his own work.

It wasn’t just for the moment. Until the end of the shift, he didn’t utter a single word of complaint, just quietly did his job.

…My heart started pounding wildly again.

In the end, I managed to finish the remaining shift without any issues, regaining my composure.

Neither the boss nor the other part-timers seemed to have noticed, as there were no mentions of it.

He could have asked for a cut of my hourly wage or demanded more money for the trouble I caused him today, but he didn’t.

In short, it was pure goodwill.

…

To stay just as strangers with someone like him?

No. I don’t want that.

“Hey. I’ll be leaving a bit early today! Sorry!”

I started to feel greedy.

She was just another girl from the same school, but I didn’t want to remain in that state.

I didn’t want to give up.

On the surface, she seemed cold, but I knew she was the kindest person.

The clear difference is that only one side remembers that time unilaterally, but on the other hand, there is a commonality that we had the same experience.

No one helps, no one believes.

We both have the mindset that we must live alone in this world without anyone to trust.

So, you will understand better.

Because you know that psychology. As someone who has experienced it, you have more room to delve deeper.

Yes. Let’s start step by step from the beginning.

If you’re someone not much different from others, let’s start by becoming friends.

If you keep trying, someday this heart might reach you.

No. I will make it reach you.

“Huff, huff… Wait a minute!”

I was out of breath. When did they finish organizing so quickly and disappear without a sound? I could barely follow by looking at the footprints left in the snow.

They turned around.

“By any chance, do you have the same ‘deal’ in mind for this year?”

“…”

“Right! First, it’s only right to repay you for helping me today. Take this.”

“This is…?”

“I made it myself. If you flip through each page, the meaning comes out right behind it. This way, it’s easy to memorize, right?”

I handed over the English vocabulary book I had made for efficient memorization.

It would be useful as I made it to review and memorize in my spare time.

The biggest advantage was that it could be hidden on the body more easily than for any other reason.

“If necessary, let’s do the group project together this year. I need to fill my grades too. Even if others deliberately mess up during exam study, I can make copies, so we can study together. Besides, I can share the extra workbooks I bought. This way, we can save more money, right? Instead of asking for help every evening, this would be better.”

“If you can copy the main parts… and the workbooks too…”

“And during the part-time job hours. I have a lot of things I don’t know while studying too. Don’t you think it’s efficient to teach each other while studying?”

At that answer, Minhyuk seemed to be thinking carefully.

“…But there’s one condition.”

“What is it?”

“There are too many guys who come around and hit on me. So… how about pretending to be dating?”

The conversation was roughly concluded.

There were some rather absurd exchanges, but… a successful ‘deal’ was made.

Minhyuk still wouldn’t be a special person to her.

If you ask how he looks, he’s just someone she did a group project with… but she felt a bit relieved that his reaction wasn’t as dry as others.

“…It was you who awakened me, who was alone.”

You were the one who taught me the word ‘favor’ that was trapped in the world.

“So. This time, I’ll approach you. Minhyuk.”

I don’t intend to end it as friends.

Because I like you. A lot.

*

“…”

The tomb of Duke Bagrande, composed of four inner chambers.

And the hidden memorials in each chamber.

As if it wasn’t over yet, I had no choice but to follow the intention of the status window that revealed the number of the next memorial.

In fact, the memorial was shining brightly as if it was waiting for me right there.

The vacation period after the second year of high school and before the third year.

Most of that vacation period was spent working part-time jobs.

From that time on, I frantically gathered money to escape from that house. Once I secured a high-paying part-time job, I couldn’t let it go.

By luck… No. With the help of others, I managed to get the part-time job.

The story started from there.

But there were so many things I couldn’t understand.

Because it wasn’t from my perspective.

They made chocolate over and over again and gave it to me when they succeeded.

They made porridge for me when I caught a cold.

In a situation where I was outnumbered, they deliberately called the teacher.

They went to the student council president to reveal the truth to the kendo club that tried to frame me and get me disciplined.

They found small evidence that it was a false accusation in the distorted incident and worked hard to get a proper judgment from the vice president of the student council.

When I suddenly collapsed because my body wouldn’t listen, they struggled to support me and took care of me diligently.

During the part-time job, they made sure the youngest, Eunji, wouldn’t catch me.

When the second child, Eunhye, came with a strange feeling, they covered for me by saying we were studying together, erasing her suspicion.

During the convenience store part-time job, they quickly diverted attention when the eldest and the stepmother almost found me nearby.

Besides that, there were training camps, school trips, after-parties, hospital visits, sports competitions, family birthdays, and so on.

…All of that.

It passed quickly in the form of a memorial.

The remaining two memorials were all like that.

This long memory, it was all not my memory but Ji-eun’s memory.

Even if it was the same event, it looked different from Ji-eun’s perspective.

It showed differences in various parts, not just what I knew.

“…”

I was confused.

It wasn’t just showing my past, but vividly drawing Ji-eun’s memory as it was.

The end of the memorial showed only one ambiguous scene after time passed since we parted.

But that scene was strangely like seeing the Marquis of Theresia and the Duke of Bagland.

“The notes… as expected.”

Harnie muttered in a serious tone, biting her lips.

All this time, I was so engrossed in the memorial that the contents of the notes left by Roselle didn’t come to mind.

But she wouldn’t be like that.

“…Listen carefully, Karsein. Actually, when I saw these notes, I felt something right away. So, there’s something I want to say here and now.”

Looking into my eyes, Harnie said.

“You… your relationship with your family didn’t just get worse, it was ruined because of someone else’s intention.”

…What?