“Were you worried?” Park Hye-Young asked

“W…Well…” I started.

“You’re funny, pretending like you don’t know. You were annoyed by how I visited Ms. Ki-Young,” she pointed out.

“I-It’s not like that, Miss Hye-Young. W-Whatever Ki-Young oppa does…i-it doesn’t matter to me…” I explained.

“That’s not what your face says…” Park Hye-Young commented.

“I-It’s true.”

“Stop playing around, you bitch. Do you think that we don’t know about your cunning side? You look slow-witted and stupid, but you’re pretty smart. It hasn’t been that long since you came here, but you managed to hit the jackpot. Is seducing men with that kind of face a good technique…I just don’t understand. Or maybe it’s the men that have strange tastes. You know, some men are interested in women that are slow-witted. Pfft,” Park Hye-Young explained.

I didn’t really understand what she was saying.

“Again with that expression. I really don’t like it,” Park Hye-Young commented.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“What are you apologizing about? I bet you think we’re all idiots…” she said.

“I-I don’t. I-I just…”

“Do you think that Mr. Ki-Young actually likes you? Do you think that’s why he really cherishes you?” Park Hye-Young asked, interrupting me.

“T-That’s…”

“Don’t flatter yourself, you dumb bitch, you’re just really lucky. You were just the first one that caught his attention and somehow got involved with Mr. Ki-Young. You may not know, but I know what kind of person he is. People like Lee Ki-Young don’t trust people, to begin with, they get tired of people easily and once a person is of no use to them, they’ll cast them aside,” Park Hye-Young explained.

“O-Oppa isn’t that kind of person. And…”

“That’s probably what you want to believe because that kind of belief is what helps you sleep at night. But it’s unfortunate since what I said about him is right…things may seem okay right now, but once time passes, things will change. In my eyes, you’re the type of person that people easily get tired of. Pfft. Has no one ever told you about this?” Park Hye-Young asked with a smirk.

I bit my lips because I was very confused.

My head was feeling really hot. I wanted to yell out something, but my voice wasn’t coming out. My body simply continued to tremble.

“I’ve never seen you with that expression before. Are you mad? Did I hit a nerve? People have always abandoned you, right?” Park Hye-Young asked.

“N-N-N-N-No, that’s not,” I answered while stuttering.

“Yeah right. It’s written all over your face. If not, then maybe people have taken things from you? Regardless of which one you are, you’re just a miserable person. You know, don’t keep thinking that you’ll always be first. What do you think has been happening over there when you’re not looking?” Park Hye-Young asked.

Park Hye-Young’s face started getting closer to mine. The moment I heard Park Hye-Young’s voice whispering into my ear, I yelled without realizing it.

“You know…Mr. Ki-Young is better than I thought,” Park Hye-Young commented.

“S-Stop lying!” I yelled.

“Oh my, looks like I’ve been caught.”

Tears started filling my eyes. I wanted to say something to deny her, but I felt like something kept blocking my throat.

Park Hye-Young was right. I was abandoned by my parents and my older sisters. The friends that I spent time with and the people that I liked had all abandoned me. Maybe I was the type that people easily got tired of. I always made mistakes and had trouble speaking properly. Getting bullied was part of my daily life and being alone became more comfortable than being with others.

Still…

‘Oppa isn’t that kind of person.’

He was a bit different from the others. Compared to the people that I met, his principle was different. Lee Ki-Young told me that I was like family. He told me that I was like his younger sister and that he wanted to cherish me. He cared and looked after me every day and said that even Mr. Deok-Gu felt the same.

Ki-Young oppa told me every day that he cherished me. He always cheered me on by saying that I could do better even when I made mistakes. Even when I asked stupid questions, he always answered with a smile and quietly watched over me.

“Y-You’re wrong,” I told Park Hye-Young.

“That’s just wishful thinking. Honestly, something like that can happen. I’ll give you a warning, little sis. If there’s something you want, it’s better to get what you want as soon as possible before you get abandoned. If not, everything will be taken away from you,” Park Hye-Young explained.

“P-P-Please stop. D-Don’t talk about oppa…”

“No,” she said, interrupting me.

The moment I saw a smirk on her face, I felt something pushing my shoulder, and naturally, my body moved back. When I looked back after I landed on my rear, all I saw was Park Hye-Young’s back walking farther away from me. At the same time, I heard voices everywhere.

“She deserves it,” a survivor commented.

“What happened?”

“I think our innocent, little Miss Ha-Yan is going to get abandoned soon.”

“Stop it, she’ll hear you.”

“Stop what? Didn’t you hear what just happened? She’ll be alone again soon enough…I wonder who she’s going to go to next. Oh! I don’t think there’s anyone she can go to now. It probably would’ve been best if she stuck with Mr. Seok-Woo…she should have known her place. That’s why she’s alone,” one of the survivors said.

“She’s all alone now.”

‘Impossible.’

There was no way Ki-Young oppa would abandon me. He told me that he would always be by my side, so there was no way he would abandon me. He said I was like family, so there was no way he would abandon me.

‘Are you sure about that?’

However, I could hear Park Hye-Young’s voice inside my head.

“Impossible!” I yelled out.

“What’s going on?” a survivor asked.

“Did she yell just now? I guess she’s really angry now…” another commented.

“I guess her true nature is coming out, heh.”

Impossible. There was no way that Ki-Young oppa would abandon me. He was different from the others. He was warm-hearted and kind.

‘Your older sisters even abandoned you.’

“T-That’s not true.”

‘And your parents abandoned you too.’

“It’s not like that. Ki-Young oppa is different. He’s different.”

I’m sure he was different.

Calming myself down was really difficult. I felt like I couldn’t really breathe. My breathing became more and more rapid and I became confused. My eyes were filled with tears, but they didn’t roll down my cheeks.

I heard people ridiculing me. I didn’t really care about what others said about me, but I needed something a little more different.

My feet were heading towards the place where Ki-Young oppa was.

‘I’ll only need a moment, right? If I tell him that there was something I didn’t understand, I’m sure he’ll come to see me.’

I was certain he would take the time to see me. I felt like I would be able to calm down if I saw his face.

When I continued walking frantically, I heard a voice. The voice belonged to Lee Ji-Hye.

“Please gather for a moment, everyone,” she said.

“Okay,” the people answered.

“Tomorrow when Mr. Hyun-Sung, Deok-Gu, and Ki-Young head outside, they’re planning on choosing a few people from here to take with them. Mr. Hyun-Sung will tell you the details, so when I call out your name, it would be best to prepare,” Lee Ji-Hye explained.

I recalled something about going out to hunt together. It was only natural for me to think that I could use this to spend more time with him. Although I wasn’t sure about how I forgot about that, I would be able to spend more time with him now.

‘What a relief.’

When I turned my head, I saw Kim Hyun-Sung, Park Deok-Gu, and Ki-Young oppa behind Lee Ji-Hye.

‘Oppa.’

He had a serious face, which was different from his usual face, but I felt like I was calming down. My heart was pounding fast, but my head wasn’t hurting and I wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore. The frustrating feeling that I felt earlier disappeared as soon as my eyes met his. My face turned red for some reason when I realized that I couldn’t understand this feeling.

‘He saw me.’

I was certain that stared at me just now.

When people stopped talking amongst themselves, Kim Hyun-Sung quietly opened his mouth.

“First of all, I’m sorry for calling you all here when I know you’re all busy. I'm sure you’re all aware, but it’ll be difficult to try to continue to survive here. Food rations are decreasing by the day and the number of survivors keeps increasing. We have food and water that we obtained from the starting points, but we don’t have a lot. I believe there’s a need for us to widen our search area a little bit.”

“Oh…” was all the people said.

“The number of people that can fight needs to be increased. Of course, I understand that you’re all afraid of the monsters. There are those that aren’t used to fighting and those that want to remain here. However, we need to start moving. I didn’t want to give you bad news, but if we don’t do this, then we’ll all get killed in the end. That’s why we believed that it would be best to consecutively take all of you outside with us,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

After he finished talking, Ki-Young oppa started talking next.

“Mr. Ki-Young.”

“Yes, I understand what you’re afraid of, but there are things that we can obtain only if we fight. I’m sure you all know, but this isn’t the same Earth that we once lived on. After seeing the status window, system attributes, and jobs, I’m certain that you all know what that means. Flame,” Ki-Young oppa said.

I saw flames rising up from his hand. The people around him widened their eyes at the sight.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened, but the job that was shown on my status window was a mage. There aren’t a lot of spells that I’m able to cast, and I’m just an ordinary human that’s no different from all of you. I used to run away because I was scared of them and even hid because I didn’t want to encounter the monsters. It was definitely luck at first, but if you face your fears and fight, you’ll be able to obtain a job too. If the group becomes stronger, then all of us can become stronger and in the end, we can all escape this place, but we do need to move a bit independently,” he explained.

“Wooow…”

“As a test, we’ll take two people with us. Miss Ha-Yan,” he called out.

“Oh…”

“And Miss Hye-Young,” Ki-Young oppa called out.

“Yes, I look forward to working with you,” she said.

“We’ll be taking two people for now. Once the two people reach a certain level of stability, we’ll create groups again and take other people. Any questions?” he asked.

“I’d appreciate it if you could explain what your basis is on when selecting people,” a survivor requested.

“Potential, but it’s also to relieve your anxiety,” he answered.

“If we go out to hunt on our own…”

“We don’t want to block your free will, but we don’t recommend doing that,” Ki-Young oppa said.

I heard people talking, but I couldn’t really hear what they were saying. More than that, Park Hye-Young, I saw that woman. I heard that other people were going to go with them, but I never imagined that woman would be going out with them as well.

“Congratulations, unnie,” a survivor said.

“Don’t get hurt,” another said.

“Mr. Hyun-Sung, Ki-Young, and Deok-Gu will be there too, so I think I’ll be fine. I’m a little bit scared, but I need to overcome it. If there are more people that are able to fight, it will be for the better,” Park Hye-Young said.

People surrounded Park Hye-Young and congratulated her, but I wasn’t jealous. But I did feel strange for some reason.

‘Don’t take him away from me.’

When I quickly looked back up at the podium, I saw oppa looking at Park Hye-Young. There was a small smile on his face.

Not only did I keep hearing the voice that I heard earlier, but I started to hyperventilate.

‘You’re the type of person that people easily get tired of.’ 

Park Hye-Young ran up to the podium and shook everyone’s hands.

‘You’ve been abandoned.’

‘He’ll be taken away from you.’

‘Your older sisters abandoned you too.’

‘Even your parents.’

‘Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.’

‘In the end, you’ll…’

‘Stop…’

‘Abandoned…’

‘I don’t like it.’

The moment Ki-Young oppa held Park Hye-Young’s hand, I felt something collapse inside me.