CLMO 42🔐

Chapter 42

“Blay, can you get up?”

Blay, who had collapsed on the field, was helped to sit up by his teammates.

The Pansworth players’ dirty tactics weren’t exactly a surprise—Blay had been warned about their notorious reputation by seniors who graduated from Wharton School.

He had been prepared to some extent and had managed to dodge most of the opponent’s attacks.

“Ah… I think I’ve cracked a rib.”

Even if he hadn’t suffered a serious injury, there was no harm in taking note of any minor damage. Blay pressed his chest in pain, prompting the medical staff to examine him more closely.

“Ian’s hurt.”

While the medical staff checked Blay’s head, arms, and legs thoroughly, Robert, the team’s center, approached to report the news.

“What?”

“You shouldn’t move yet. The examination isn’t finished.”

Blay attempted to lift himself up, but the medical staff restrained him immediately.

With Blay unable to move, Robert continued to explain.

“The Pansworth bastards attacked both you and Ian at the same time…”

Blay rubbed his forehead. Ian had been warned about Pansworth’s style as well, but he had been focused on catching Blay’s passes and hadn’t dodged in time.

Thinking back, if they were willing to go after the youngest grandson of the Williams family, there was no way they’d leave Ian alone.

For the first time showing a troubled expression, Blay waved the medical staff aside.

“I’m fine. Go check on Ian.”

He then gestured to Robert to help him, but the medical team didn’t budge.

“Is there a problem?”

Before the medical staff could respond, Blay’s eyes caught sight of something.

[Onii-chan!]

Xian, who had a crush on Blay.

Xian, who had been stalking him,

[Onii-chan, are you okay? Ah, what should I do!]

Wore a fragile expression Blay had never seen before, speaking in a language he didn’t understand, standing next to Ian.

‘Why?’

Seeing that scene, his ribs truly ached. His chest tightened with a pain that felt like it could crush his heart, and he struggled to breathe.

‘You like me.’

Then Xian shouldn’t have been there. She should have been beside him, crying softly, worrying about him.

‘You misunderstood. She doesn’t like you.’

‘Sorry for making you misunderstand. The one I like is only Ian.’

The alternating words between Ian and Xian echoed in his head, amplifying the pain.

“This can’t be…”

It was real. The person Xian liked wasn’t him—it was really Ian.

“How…?”

How could she not love me?

No, that can’t be. Against his desire to deny reality, his cold logic kept presenting evidence.

‘When did you take this?’

Xian had found a photo of Ian in the clubroom when she was alone with him.

‘Cute.’

She couldn’t take her eyes off a picture of him and Ian in his room.

‘They must have been close since childhood.’
‘Yeah… it’s a long story.’
‘It’s okay. I have plenty of time.’

She had asked about Ian, showing genuine curiosity.

‘I gave you enough. Share with your friends nicely, okay?’

Even the caramel she always handed him wasn’t really meant for him—it was probably meant for Ian.

‘I didn’t even realize…’

Thinking back on all the nonsense he had said—offering to date Xian, making her the homecoming princess, teaching her how to drive—he felt a rush of belated shame.

It was crushing, so much that he nearly forgot he was in the middle of a match.

If he could, he would have shot himself.

Seeing Blay stunned, Rupert tried to console him, assuming he was deeply shaken by Ian’s injury.

“Ian will be fine.”

Ian was now carefully being carried away on a stretcher.

“Not as good as Ian, but Gale’s not a bad player either.”

A backup player had entered for the injured Ian, but Blay’s gaze remained fixed on Xian.

Rupert, noticing Blay’s unusual silence, followed his gaze.

He saw a cheerleader trailing behind Ian’s stretcher.

“By the way, who’s that, hovering around Ian?”

The answer came from another teammate.

“Probably his girlfriend.”

Hearing that, Blay’s face paled, flushed, and turned blue in moments, and he growled:

“She’s not his girlfriend.”

At least, not yet. After today, who knew?

Thinking they might become a couple after this incident made him feel insane. Blay struggled to restrain his urge to leave the stadium immediately and separate them.

“Xian is not Ian’s girlfriend, understand?”

“Ah, got it.”

Blay’s fierce tone made even his teammates flinch.

“Wharton School, ready to resume the match?”

The referee approached. Pansworth had already been penalized.

“Yes.”

No matter how he felt, the match had to continue. Blay’s fighting spirit ignited, though it was unclear whether it was aimed at the Pansworth players—or at Ian.

[Onii-chan, are you okay?]

A strangely familiar voice.

Ian, who had fainted briefly, slowly regained consciousness.

His limbs ached as if he had been hit by a speeding car.

Still, he reached out to grasp that familiar voice.

His beloved little sister. The one true family he had in the world. He would have died for her.

[Xian…]

Had he died? Or was he dreaming?

If it was a dream, he didn’t want it to end. He wished he could stay in it as long as possible.

[My brother…]

His little sister had died alone in Korea. He only learned of it after her remains had been interred.

He hadn’t been there at her deathbed or funeral.

How lonely and scared she must have been.

She must have hated and resented him as she died.

That’s why she wouldn’t appear even once in his dreams.

But this time, she appeared.

It was okay if she resented him or was angry—just once, he wanted to see her face. He wanted to ask if she was no longer in pain.

The fact that his little sister would forever remain five years old, never growing up, shattered him.

[Onii-chan, I’m here.]

His fingertips touched something soft drifting in the air.

The sensation was real. Could it really be Xian here…?

Tears streaming, Ian focused his eyes and saw a girl looking at him with worry.

[Onii-chan!]

The girl, seeing him regain consciousness, widened her eyes.

[Xian?]

No. She wasn’t his Xian. Just a girl claiming to be Xian.

‘Of all times…’

In his weakened state, he had been tricked by his own assumptions.

He stiffened his expression and coldly pushed away the hand of the girl who claimed to be Xian.

“Go away.”

Normally, she would have backed off with a hurt expression. But today, she didn’t. Determined, with a resolute expression, she spoke firmly in Korean.

[I heard from Mei Zhang.]

Mei Zhang. A name long buried in memory, both in the minds of others and his own.

“How do you know about her…”

[I heard everything—what the Morgans are really like, and how they treated the children they adopted.]

Ian’s mouth fell open.

[Whatever they said about me wasn’t true, because I’m alive now.]

Normally, Ian would have dismissed her words and walked away.

But now, injured and emotionally fragile, he wanted to believe her.

“She’s alive. My sister, Xian, is fine…”

[Yes.]

Xian nodded.

[After you were adopted, I met good people.]

Her story continued like a fairy tale. A kind couple, a new family, her illness miraculously cured—a happy story.

[After I recovered, I traveled with my adoptive parents, mostly to China and Mongolia. One day, the orphanage director sent a letter.]

Ian silently blinked, listening.

[The letter said who you were adopted by and what school you’re attending. They apologized for letting me know so late.]

[…When did you get the letter?]

Ian asked in Korean, quietly listening.

[Not long ago. December of last year.]

He had been adopted to the U.S. over ten years ago. Yet only now did she receive news about him?

Seeing his confused expression, Xian nodded in understanding.

[I thought it was strange too, so I tried to contact the director directly. I also asked my adoptive parents to help. But…]

She hesitated and sighed.

[They passed away. I guess the letter was like a confession before dying.]

[…]

Ian thought inwardly: it was clearly the work of his adoptive parents. They were the only ones who could have deliberately cut off his relationship with Xian.

They probably secretly bribed the director to keep her quiet.

It wasn’t hard to deduce their thinking, and he felt disgusted with himself for understanding it.

[So I decided I had to meet you no matter what. Fortunately, my adoptive parents also wanted to return to the U.S.]

Overlapping circumstances led Xian to come to the U.S.—to find her brother.