I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

“…….”

After Yang Hye-in and Grandma left, the house was enveloped in silence.

Haneul and Sua, who had been listening intently to Grandma’s stories just moments ago, finally exhaled. I felt the same way.

The only one who seemed fine was Sohee.

What can I say? Was there some kind of “sweet delinquent” setting with Grandma? It felt like that’s a trope common in subculture.

“Why is everyone like this?”

Sohee tilted her head and asked, while Haneul and Sua awkwardly laughed and said,

“Uh… just.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say I was tired or awkward, so I just mumbled those words.

Honestly, I was heavily regretting it. Since the time we arrived here earlier.

If Yang Hye-in hadn’t cleverly taken Grandma outside, I would’ve felt like I was sitting on a bed of nails.

Of course, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I just tried to give Yang Hye-in a normal break, but since she rejected it, we ended up arguing without stepping back, and here we were.

“Well, Grandma is a nice person, and this house isn’t that bad, but, I don’t know…”

If you’re not extremely sociable, you usually feel really awkward meeting someone else’s elders, not your own. It’s like the situation is an upgraded version of the awkwardness when you meet someone at a wedding who remembers you, but you don’t remember them.

“Uh, no, it’s nothing.”

But, since there really wasn’t anything to complain about, I shook my head and changed the subject.

Sohee still had a question mark floating above her head, and she popped another piece of candy into her mouth.

“But…”

Next to speak was Haneul.

“So, Hye-in… no, Miss Yang Hye-in, has she never been here while working?”

She almost used the familiar term “Hye-in unnie” but quickly changed it.

“So, she’s never been here…”

“……”

Hmm.

That might be true. At least, I thought so, which is why I struggled to send her on vacation.

But if that’s the case…

…No, there might be some reason I can’t judge. Above all, it could’ve been because of Choi Na-kyung that Yang Hye-in hadn’t come here.

“I can’t exactly ask her directly.”

“That’s true…”

Sua said with a complicated expression.

“Well, if she wants to talk about it, she probably will.”

Sohee was the only one to say that.

Well, she had heard a bit of Yang Hye-in’s personal story before.

…To be honest, my feelings were half and half.

I was curious. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hear it because I felt it would be uncomfortable.

…Well, what can I do?

There’s no choice but to stay quiet until Yang Hye-in tells me.

After all, it was me who brought her here.

*

“Nothing has changed here.”

“Ugh, no.”

I mumbled quietly, but Grandma, who usually has poor hearing, somehow managed to catch that and waved her hand dismissively.

“With the money you sent, I fixed up the house and everything.”

“……That money, you gave it back when I asked for it.”

When I sent Sohee to school, Grandma returned the remaining money as if sending it back was the bare minimum. While it wasn’t every last penny Yang Hye-in had saved, it was still a decent amount, enough for the bank to call and ask.

Thanks to that, things worked out well at that time.

“Still, it’s leftover money after fixing the house, so it’s fine. And this old lady is still strong!”

Of course, Grandma probably doesn’t earn that much directly. Especially, she likely earns much less than Yang Hye-in, who probably works way less than her.

And knowing Grandma’s character, she wouldn’t say anything about it, so Yang Hye-in didn’t bother to bring it up.

Yang Hye-in slowly looked around.

It was already a house halfway up the mountain, and the field was way up behind it.

If you climb the steep mountain, there’s a flat area in the middle, and the field was there. They cleared the trees from a gentle area to reveal the soil. Sweet potatoes were lined up growing there.

It wasn’t a very large field. Although it produced sweet potatoes, it wasn’t enough to sell after digging them up.

Just enough to share a little with the neighbors and eat through the winter, that was about it.

“Grandma, don’t you want to come to Seoul?”

I asked the question I had asked a few times over the years, but,

“I like it here.”

Grandma’s answer was still the same.

“…”

I hate it here.

I had been bold enough to say that before, but… now I wondered if I really needed to express it verbally.

I had already said it too many times.

Grandma didn’t stop Yang Hye-in from leaving.

Yang Hye-in kept looking down at the village in the distance and slowly opened her mouth.

“Grandma.”

“Uh-huh?”

“Don’t you resent me?”

It had been years since she had left here and hadn’t returned.

In the meantime, Grandma had been living alone.

She had sent money, only to take it back claiming she needed to borrow it again.

Anyone could see that she was a bad daughter.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

But Grandma just said that, as always.

“You probably had your reasons…”

“……”

Yang Hye-in didn’t answer anything.

*

It was quite a long time until Yang Hye-in and Grandma returned.

Maybe because the field was spacious?

Looking at the steep path back, I really didn’t feel like following them up.

Yang Hye-in still had a blank expression, and Grandma still had a smile.

I feel sorry for both of them to say this, but honestly, they really didn’t match.

But Grandma is nice.

……

Well, she was definitely a good person.

Personally, even though I felt uncomfortable toward someone I was meeting for the first time, who was also much older than me, it seems Sara didn’t feel that way at all.

“But what if the house is small? The blankets are enough if we take them out, but if we all lie down together, it might feel cramped…”

Grandma said, looking at us with a somewhat worried expression, but I quickly shook my head.

“Ah, no, we’re fine.”

We really were fine.

Because I was used to sleeping squished between the three of us every night. Since Haneul started sleeping over frequently, the bed had gotten even smaller.

So I was accustomed to waking up cramped to the point it was hard to move in the mornings.

Besides, it was a much bigger house than the bed. I didn’t think it would be a big deal if we slept close together.

“That’s a relief…”

“Really, it’s fine.”

After I said it several times, Grandma finally nodded and smiled.

*

It’s when you live in a much better environment than usual that you realize how ungrateful people can be; you get entirely used to that life and don’t want to go back to the original state.

The bed I’ve been using since I came to this side is really a premium bed. Not just in size, but the comfort level is incomparable to the bed I had back in my original world.

And of course, it was way more comfortable than lying on a blanket on the floor.

With my eyes closed, I listened carefully. It seemed all the other kids had fallen asleep. Maybe it was due to the hours of driving and having eaten a bit too much, making them fuller than usual.

However, I couldn’t fall asleep.

Although the situation wasn’t as cramped as usual, I still found lying on a hard floor incredibly uncomfortable.

In the end, after tossing and turning for a while, I just sat back up.

Even though it was a place like this, where there weren’t many bright lights outside like in Seoul, the night sky was bright. From the faint light coming through the window, the moon must have been shining brightly.

Sitting there for a moment, I let out a deep sigh and simply got fully upright.

When the sleeping situation is uncomfortable, the best option is just to wait until sleep hits you hard.

Fortunately, Sara’s body was weak against drowsiness. If I stayed awake just a little longer, the discomfort of the floor would put me to sleep.

Do you think I want to do this?

Well, it can’t be helped. It seems Sara’s weak body stems from both congenital and acquired causes.

She gets tired faster and feels fatigue more than others. Normally, it isn’t a problem, but when something like last time comes along where she has to push herself no matter what, it becomes quite troublesome.

Maybe I should start upping the types of exercise I do.

…Ugh, I really don’t want to.

As I sighed heavily and came out of the porch where I had been sitting, I saw someone already sitting outside.

It was a familiar back.

“……Yang Hye-in?”

As I called out softly, Yang Hye-in, who was looking up at the sky, turned her head toward me.

Her figure, faintly illuminated by the moonlight… honestly, I thought I should be the “young lady” here, not her, because she looked so elegant.

“Miss.”

“……I told you not to call me ‘young lady’ here.”

I casually glanced back but didn’t see anyone else following me out.

“……”

“……I know. Then what should I call you?”

Good question!

I couldn’t use “Miss Yang Hye-in” in front of Grandma.

Well, since it had come to this, maybe we could discuss it until we fell asleep.

Thinking that, I went and sat next to Yang Hye-in.

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