Kim Tae Rin took the cup from Han Seo Jung’s hand. She placed it on the bedside table.

Han Seo Jung said playfully.

“He said not to call him elder brother, but I might try calling him that casually later.”

Kim Tae Rin also admitted that Choi Yoon had more good qualities than she had initially thought.

However, no matter how upright he might be in some aspects, it was difficult to embrace his past actions. So while the Choi Yoon she saw here was good, the Choi Yoon seen from the other side was not.

“Seo Jung. Choi Yoon supported the anti-half-yokai policy, you know. Even though he says he doesn’t now. Back then, he really had a big influence.”

“Right?”

Han Seo Jung nodded with a slightly puzzled look. Kim Tae Rin muttered.

“I wonder what made him change his mind?”

Until now, she had only hated Choi Yoon’s past, never thinking about the reasons for his change. For the first time, Kim Tae Rin became curious about Choi Yoon. She spoke again.

“It’s not easy for people to change. I wonder if there was a catalyst?”

Han Seo Jung shook his head.

“He might not have changed. He might have been that kind of person from the start but couldn’t express his own opinions, and only now is able to voice them.”

“But…”

“Maybe it was even harder because he was a celebrity. He might have had surprisingly little power. Maybe he couldn’t judge what was important. When I was young, there was a lot I didn’t know either.”

Kim Tae Rin smiled slightly. She was about to say you’re still young but stopped herself.

Han Seo Jung had a thoughtful look. He muttered.

“But usually, people don’t easily admit their mistakes. Yet Choi Yoon came down here even knowing we hated him. Seeing that side of him, he doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

“Sometimes it’s frustrating. When I talk to him.”

About to add something, Kim Tae Rin chose her words carefully. It wasn’t right to mention their differences of opinion on disguised yokai.

“Sometimes it feels like he lives in a completely different world. Like there’s no way to even squeeze in.”

Han Seo Jung’s eyes showed full understanding. He said jokingly.

“For a top star, he’s pretty easy to talk to.”

Kim Tae Rin smiled deflated.

“And it’s a bit confusing. You know, Seo Jung, I really hated Choi Yoon.”

“You did hate him intensely.”

“Getting to know him directly is confusing. There are good parts that make me think I might have misunderstood him, and times when I can’t stand to look at him, wondering how he could make people so miserable.”

Han Seo Jung showed an attentive expression. Kim Tae Rin said.

“But is that possible? For someone to be only half good?”

“No one is perfect.”

Han Seo Jung said.

“If you only think about the other person’s flaws, elder sister, you’ll never be able to love anyone.”

Han Seo Jung reached out his hand. He casually brushed back Kim Tae Rin’s hair and gently touched her exposed forehead. A lukewarm temperature between them. He lightly caressed it before pulling away.

“So you’re saying it’s okay if I have flaws?”

“Of course.”

Han Seo Jung answered abruptly, making Kim Tae Rin look at him again. She asked seriously.

“Really? What are my flaws then?”

“That you don’t see me as a man?”

A hollow laugh escaped her.

“Other than that.”

“There aren’t any.”

“What if I keep not seeing you as a man, I mean, if it’s a flaw I can never fix?”

“Nothing can be done. You can’t fix people.”

Kim Tae Rin leaned back and stared at Han Seo Jung. Han Seo Jung loosely clenched his fist and tapped the bed idly. He said.

“You just look at yourself. That person’s flaws are permanent. They can’t be fixed. Then what about me? Can I accept the other person’s flaws?”

“You mean see if I can handle someone who won’t change?”

Han Seo Jung chuckled.

“Right. Look at how you’re talking even now. It’s such an important issue for me, but you’re reciting it as if it’s someone else’s story. You think this will easily change? When time passes and we turn fifty or eighty, and it’s confirmed that I still only have this much significance to you. Can I still like you then? That’s the issue.”

“It’s not about the other person’s flaws, but whether I can accept them?”

Han Seo Jung was sitting on the bed and Kim Tae Rin was in a chair beside it, so Kim Tae Rin had to look up at him. His eyes falling on her had their usual bright, cheerful light.

He had been so consistent since first confessing his feelings. Han Seo Jung was just as inflexible as Kim Tae Rin had been unchanging.

“You can discover your spouse’s good points later, it’s not too late. But it’s better to notice their flaws early. So when you first start to like someone, you look closely at their flaws. Don’t try to fix them, don’t give advice, just observe. While thinking, can I accept these flaws?”

“As they are.”

“That’s right.”

Kim Tae Rin stared at Han Seo Jung as if seeing him anew. Han Seo Jung grumbled.

“What? What’s with that look?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Why do you think I heard it somewhere?”

“There’s no way you could come up with words like that on your own.”

“Are you looking down on me right now?”

“I’ve known you for more than a day or two.”

Kim Tae Rin laughed at the end of her words. Han Seo Jung made a sulky face but ended up chuckling. He answered plainly.

“Dad.”

Kim Tae Rin was about to rest her chin on her hand but fumbled.

“Dad?”

This is surprising in its own way.

“You’re shocked too, right?”

“I want to curse.”

“You can curse if you want.”

“To think that someone who says such things would act in such a…”

She swallowed the rest of what she wanted to say.

If there was anyone who should be angry here, it was Han Seo Jung, not Kim Tae Rin.

Kim Tae Rin still remembered the bankbook that Han Seo Jung had reluctantly pulled out.

Clinging to a thin hope, yet already knowing the answer, he asked with a faint, almost extinguished voice.

Elder sister. The money hasn’t come in. Dad says he sent it.

Loading Han Seo Jung into the truck, driving to the bank in town, taking a number, sitting across from the teller at the counter to confirm that it wasn’t the bankbook that was wrong but that Dad’s words were lies, barely comforting the stunned Han Seo Jung and forcing him to eat a roll of kimbap, then getting back in the truck and returning – that day was remembered as the worst day since Kim Tae Rin came to Soseulli.

The only consolation there was that at least Han Seo Jung didn’t go to the bank alone. Seeing Han Seo Jung sitting quietly in the passenger seat – back then he was even smaller, like an unripe grain of rice – hugging the chili seedlings requested by a neighbor and sniffling, Kim Tae Rin thought she wanted to kill that bastard of a father.

In reality, it wasn’t entirely impossible. Kim Tae Rin wasn’t an ordinary human.

If she set her mind to it, she could approach silently from behind and snap his neck. She’d never done it before, but she knew instinctively. That it wouldn’t be difficult.

First, she would casually ask Han Seo Jung for his personal information and keep it in mind, then later when the government was searching for disguised yokai, if there was absolutely no way out, she would kill that human trash on her last journey and follow him to hell…

While gripping the steering wheel tightly and glaring ahead as they returned to Soseulli, the murder plan became quite detailed.

Dad is bad, right?

But Kim Tae Rin deflated at Han Seo Jung’s next words.

But I miss him so much.

Because he’s family, he said. What is that? If only he could forget cleanly. If only he could act as if it never existed.

The fact that it was the only relationship you’re born with that can’t be changed, an absolute precedence that can’t be overcome no matter how hard you try, made Kim Tae Rin feel powerless.

What followed was predictable. Instead of killing Han Seo Jung’s family, Kim Tae Rin decided to become his family.

It started with dressing up beautifully and attending school events pretending to be his elder sister.

Although he said he didn’t want to cause trouble, Han Seo Jung didn’t seem to mind. Unlike the unwanted blood ties, the two of them chose each other and became even stronger.

Nevertheless, Kim Tae Rin often felt discouraged that she couldn’t fill all of Han Seo Jung’s needs, and at the same time, she was furious at the uniqueness of Han Seo Jung’s parents.

I want to do it but can’t, while you obtained it freely but don’t know how precious it is.

The father was a complete bastard, the mother was no different, and the fact that these two people were once truly in love only made this outcome more tragic.

When the doctor subtly suggested that abortion was legally possible for mixed-blood children, they had no idea they would come to hate each other so much. Their biggest mistake among many misjudgments…

No. Then I wouldn’t have met Han Seo Jung. So should I be grateful they gave birth to him? Even to people who repeatedly say having you was the biggest mistake of their lives?

And you say things like that?

What about flaws and whatnot?

As Kim Tae Rin grew angry and flustered, Han Seo Jung laughed. He leaned forward and gently patted her back.

That touch was quite mature.

But in Kim Tae Rin’s eyes, Han Seo Jung was still a child. Nervously licking his lips stained with hamburger steak sauce as he hesitantly held out his bankbook.

“Dad thought he could fix Mom. But he couldn’t. Maybe Dad expected he could fix not just Mom but me too. If not, I can’t understand why he abandoned me. No matter how much I think about it.”

“Tell him to do better himself.”

A curse slipped out at the end. Han Seo Jung laughed again.

“What? You tell me not to curse but you do it yourself.”

“Don’t worry about that bastard. There’s no need to analyze why he did it, and it’s not worth trying to understand. Just forget about him. He was just that kind of person.”

“I don’t contact him either.”

“Good! Don’t!”

“You’re getting angry as if you’re really family.”

Han Seo Jung had a carefree expression, as if it didn’t matter. But Kim Tae Rin was still not appeased. She said stiffly.

“There are many different forms of family in the world. You and I are one of them.”

“I’m happy you came.”

Kim Tae Rin paused. There was something biting in Han Seo Jung’s words. His gaze towards her was warm with affection. Han Seo Jung turned his body, then slowly lay down on his side from his sitting position. Looking at her, he said again.

“I like waking up and seeing you beside me.”

“…You can hate your parents a little more too, you know.”

“I guess so.”

Han Seo Jung soon fell asleep. As she smoothed out the blanket again and again to remove any wrinkles, Kim Tae Rin had to make a decision about what to do next.

It was truly regrettable to Park Jae Sun, but the opportunity had flown away.

Han Seo Jung said his life was ruined, but in Kim Tae Rin’s view, it was her life that was really ruined. At least Han Seo Jung wasn’t living under a false identity.

When the full investigation begins, everything will be revealed.

If the end is already determined, how should one live?

The answer was simple.

Protect the person you love, and fulfill the responsibilities you couldn’t before.

Kim Tae Rin decided to stay at the restaurant. She resolved to stay by Han Seo Jung’s side. She planned to ask Choi Yoon to let her participate in the filming as well. She wanted to earn as much as she could, pay back the money she borrowed from Park Jae Sun as much as possible, and if possible, leave something for Han Seo Jung.

She wanted to leave the world without any debts.

Then she needed to deal with Choi Yoon first.

That man knows I’m a disguised yokai. However, at the same time, he shares the belief that the full investigation should not become a stepping stone for yokai discrimination. So we’re not completely at odds.

I need to make Choi Yoon my ally.

I need to become a perfect exception to his fixed notion of disguised yokai.

So that he can no longer recklessly investigate my life.

And I will also get a clear confirmation that he won’t report me.

Kim Tae Rin grabbed Choi Yoon’s phone from the bedside table.