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Chapter 9
♧
“Sing-a. What’s wrong? Are you sick again? Your hands are cold.”
Rampa Lim, with a stiff expression, took my hand and examined it.
He had always been like this.
Whether it was his natural kindness, or the shock of seeing a kid who spewed a fountain of blood on their first meeting, he tended to take special care of me whenever he saw me.
To the point where my guilty conscience couldn’t handle it.
It was the same now.
His worried eyes were so sincere I couldn’t even look straight at him. I wanted to scream from frustration.
Get away! Just stay away!
I felt like shouting at Rampa to cut ties with this man immediately and run for his life.
How unlucky is this kid?
If a regressor protagonist wants revenge on a villain, every drama shows the same pattern: everything around them gets destroyed.
And judging from Park Min-soo’s muttering from the future, he wasn’t the type driven by noble justice—just personal resentment.
Look at the exchange rate right now! That bitter man probably wouldn’t even bother preventing the IMF crisis.
Of course not.
“Rampah, I don’t have time for this—”
“Enough! I said go!”
Rampa’s gaze toward Je An-min turned cold.
Phew. Good.
So uncle and nephew, but not that close, huh?
Relieved, I grabbed Rampa’s arm tightly and sniffled.
“Oppa~ Sing-a needs to go to the bathroom. Take me.”
If that villain still had any dignity, he wouldn’t follow me into the women’s restroom!
I needed a private moment with Rampa immediately.
I already used “fortune-telling,” so now I’ll use physiognomy.
I’ll warn him to stay far away from this “traitor face” uncle.
I knew interfering with Rampa’s fate could shorten my lifespan, but this was just relationship advice.
It shouldn’t cost years—maybe just a few days at most.
He was already destined to die young at 22 anyway. I couldn’t just watch him get tangled up in a villain’s mess on top of that!
I glanced over. My mom was still arguing with hospital staff at the payment desk.
Decision made.
I tugged on Rampa’s arm.
“Oppa. Hurry~”
“Okay. Got it.”
“Rampah…”
Je An-min called out like a discarded lover, but Rampa didn’t even turn back.
He lifted me easily and walked off.
“Your mum’s gonna worry if she can’t see ya. Let’s pop out for a sec, yeah?”
“What?”
“I said your mom will worry, so let’s go and come back quickly.”
He smiled faintly, then adjusted how he held me.
And casually added:
“He’ll be gone by then.”
“….”
I went quiet, staring at Rampa’s chin.
In that moment, I realized something clearly.
This nine-year-old boy—only three years older than me—already understood everything.
Whether it was the unpleasantness surrounding Je An-min or my shallow lies.
Maybe age was just a superficial thing to some people.
By the time we reached the bathroom, I decided to speak plainly instead of bringing up nonsense like physiognomy.
“I don’t like that man. He feels bad. I think he might hurt you if you stay near him.”
“You’re worried about me?”
“Yeah. We haven’t known each other long, but I think I’d feel really bad if you got hurt. Do you understand me?”
Even though we had only met a few times, Rampa was clearly someone who naturally drew people in.
When he looked at you with those playful eyes, you just wanted to go along with whatever he said.
So I wasn’t the only one vulnerable to him.
His later romantic history proved it.
Just his list of past relationships alone could fill an awards ceremony.
Best to stay away from him after puberty.
Rampa, with both hands larger than most kids, gently adjusted my hat.
Then he smiled.
“So now you don’t need to go to the bathroom?”
“…I do!”
Ugh. I drank too much water earlier!
“Haha. I’ll wait. Right there.”
I shot him a side-eye and rushed inside.
And then…
I swear to whatever higher power there is, it was only a very short time.
I washed my hands quickly and came back out—but Rampa was nowhere to be seen.
“…Huh?”
Not in front of the bathroom like he said. Not around the corner either. Only strangers passed by.
“Oppa? …Rampa!”
Where did he go?
I stood there, slightly dazed.
Something felt wrong.
My eyelids had been twitching for a while too.
A strange anxiety crept in.
Just as I decided I should ignore it and return to my mom—
“…ngh!”
A rough hand grabbed me from behind.
At the same time, a strange, intense smell filled my senses.
That was my last memory.
♧
Beep— beep— beep—
The hospital room was silent like a dead space.
Only the rhythmic monitor sounds and ventilator pressure filled the room.
A woman was fading away inside it.
Pale face. Thin limbs. No color of life at all—she didn’t even look awake.
“Seriously, she’s not even pretty anymore. She’s getting uglier.”
Without makeup, Seo Sing-a looked like a pearl covered in dust because of old scars.
But anyone who looked closely could tell she had refined, delicate features.
It wasn’t for nothing that she was always called “beautiful” whenever she spoke.
And Seo Cheongsong liked that about her.
A contradictory person—someone who hated herself but also loved herself fiercely.
As he kept watching her, he suddenly felt hollow.
“You don’t even remember, do you? We said we’d take each other in if we were still single after thirty. I haven’t had a girlfriend in 20 years because of that promise…”
“All the girlfriends I mentioned were just to mess with you, idiot. How did you never notice?”
“Now there’s only a year left. Less than a year. By spring, you’re going to marry me for sure, Seo Sing-a.”
“I’ll wait.”
So please wake up.
Sing-a.
“Hospital bills… I owe you, hyung Eun-chu.”
“Don’t say that between us…”
Hospital rooftop.
Christmas carols from the street reached even the sky.
Seo Cheongsong sat down heavily on a snow-covered bench, rubbing his darkened eyes.
ICU visits were strictly limited—one person per day, twenty minutes.
Eun-chu had visited today, so no one else could see her.
He rubbed his face repeatedly. The confident young police officer he once was had long disappeared.
“ICU costs aren’t easy. I’ll pay you back somehow.”
“You always draw such clear boundaries.”
Eun-chu sounded even more bitter.
“Have you considered changing hospitals?”
“Would that change her brain-dead state?”
“…”
“There’s no hope. I’m just holding on because I can’t let go, hoping for a miracle.”
“Miracle…”
“If you think it’s a waste of money, tell me anytime. I’ll find another way.”
“You really have a sharp tongue, Cheongsong.”
“You really…”
Dry and exhausted, Eun-chu looked miserable.
A foolish, lingering devotion.
Seo Cheongsong sighed.
“If you like her so much, why don’t you confess? Instead of following her around all the time.”
“…”
“My sister is a stingy person. Even if she acts kind, she only cares about herself. ‘Drilling stone with raindrops’? That only works for people who don’t know her.”
Even ten years of kindness can’t beat one impulsive day.
Look at her now—she tried to save a stranger and ended up destroying her whole family.
How can someone be so selfish?
♧
♪ we will be together… fates allow ♪
What was that?
Was it a dream?
The dreamlike carol and the real Christmas music overlapped faintly.
“Sing-a! Sing-a…!”
A whispering voice, shaky with uneven breath, called me back to reality.
But the moment I woke up—
I felt my heart pounding violently and an overwhelming wave of nausea.
I didn’t even have time to turn toward Rampa.
I bent over and vomited.
