Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can - Chapter 43.1
I installed the dating app where my photos had been stolen. Then I set a suitable photo of myself as my profile picture and waited for someone to message me.
Ding! Ding!
It hadn’t even been a few minutes since I created the account when more people than expected began messaging me. Most of them were casual messages sent on a whim, but there were also occasional messages filled with anger toward me, asking why I hadn’t shown up or whether I had taken their money and run.
“…They’re all middle-aged men….”
When I opened the profiles of the people who were angry with me, they were men in their forties and fifties. I put on my helmet, started the motorcycle, and replied to them.
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Affection Level 38% (Slowdown Penalty x2)
Karma -157,211 (Acceleration Penalty x2)
July was the rainy season in Manila.
Apparently, considering the health of Kim Jihwan’s mother, whose joints had recently been giving her trouble, Kim Jihwan’s family had changed their destination to Jeju Island.
“Are you having fun in Jeju? Don’t forget my souvenir-.”
―Jeju souvenirs are all predictable. You really want one?
I whined to Kim Jihwan, whose video call once again showed nothing but the floor, that a present didn’t always have to be a surprise to be worthwhile.
―Mom says you can come too if you’re okay with it.
Near the end of the call, Kim Jihwan casually brought it up.
“It’s a family vacation. It isn’t my place to join you.”
I made it clear that I didn’t want to go. I thought it would be better for Kim Jihwan to spend an enjoyable time with his family.
―Jihwan-ah, can I have your phone for a moment-?
Just then, I heard Kim Jihwan’s mother’s voice. The video call screen shook briefly, then Kim Jihwan’s mother appeared with a facial mask on.
―Isn’t Hanrim-ie part of our family too? I practically raised you as well-.
After hearing my answer that I wouldn’t go to Jeju Island, Kim Jihwan’s mother expressed how disappointed she was.
I remembered how Ahjumeoni had come to support me when I was struggling with the school violence issue before, so I trailed off and avoided her gaze.
“I know…. I really like you too, Ahjumeoni….”
Daily Quest: Say ‘I like you’ (1/10)
Right. I had forgotten about the daily quest.
“Ahem, and I love you too.”
Daily Quest: Say ‘I like you’ (1/10)
At my words, Ahjumeoni laughed shyly, “Ohohoho.” Thanks to the daily quests being completed one by one, I was able to regain my composure instead of being swept away by my emotions. So the system had beneficial functions like this too.
―My goodness, even my own son doesn’t say things like that to me-.
―Hanrim-ie is our son too-. That was something our son would say to us-.
Jihwan’s father suddenly intruded into the screen as well. They truly were a picture-perfect, harmonious family, and I became slightly emotional.
―Give it to me.
I heard Kim Jihwan snatch the phone away, and the screen shook. After the sound of him walking for a while and closing a door, the bedspread in their accommodation came back into view.
―Anyway, Mom says you can come.
Perhaps because he was embarrassed, Kim Jihwan sounded even more brusque than usual.
Kim Jihwan was pricklier and more irritable than anyone outside, but he was also a good son who shyly accepted the affection and love his family gave him without rejecting it. Kim Jihwan must have played a substantial part in keeping his family so harmonious.
“Sorry, I still think it’ll be a little difficult.”
―What? You little-!
I refused to change my mind. Kim Jihwan became slightly irritated by my repeated rejections.
Rustle, rustle-.
―What was that? Is someone beside you?
Kim Jihwan, who had been getting angry, questioned the faint noise on my end.
“No one’s here.”
Right. There wasn’t a person beside me right now.
“Let’s hang up. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
After confirming that Kim Jihwan had hung up first, I spoke to the thing making the faint noises.
“Ahjussi. Are you uncomfortable meeting up with me?”
“W-Well….”
He was someone I had lured through the dating app I installed after leaving the National Center for Digital Sexual Crime Response. He was a man in his fifties who had messaged me first when I created the account, then immediately started swearing and getting angry.
“What were you planning to do with a minor that made you rush all the way out here at this hour?”
He was kneeling in the light of the motorcycle’s headlamp, his hands clasped politely in front of him as though he were nervous. I noticed a ring on his fourth finger.
“You were the one who messaged me first and asked to talk. Say something.”
The man whose nickname was ‘Chat Guy A’ remained silent. To keep A from claiming that he hadn’t heard me properly, I spoke clearly, separating each syllable.
“With a minor, at this hour, as a married man, after withdrawing a crisp wad of cash and filling your wallet with it, what were you planning to do?”
I spoke while shaking A’s wallet, which contained the identification card he had handed over earlier. His body flinched each time I stressed another syllable, so it seemed he could hear me after all.
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