I Don’t Want to be a Villainess

“By doing the right thing, we can also keep the family business alive.”

Lee Soo-ah said this to her father.

“Is that ‘right thing’ being close to Ye Sara?”

No.

Lee Soo-ah answered in her mind. Just being close was not enough. She wanted to be a little closer, to be together for a long time.

She wanted to become like her.

…And she hoped Sara would become like her too.

She thought this. But of course, she couldn’t say such things out loud.

Her parents were good people. Her mother was the same. Although they were both busy and couldn’t often see her, they knew how to enjoy their time with their daughter that they couldn’t spend together.

However, both of Lee Soo-ah’s parents had a somewhat conservative side.

Maybe it was because they ran one of the oldest companies in Korea. Perhaps because they had ancestors who were respected by people, even if they didn’t become the best in Korea or the world. Both of them wanted Lee Soo-ah to carry on the ‘bloodline.’ Of course, they never said it outright. It wasn’t even special enough to have to be said plainly in the first place.

They would just occasionally talk about, “Someday when our Soo-ah gets married and has children…”

Lee Soo-ah thought that was perfectly natural.

She had thought so.

According to her father, continuing the family business was important. Lee Soo-ah didn’t want the company to disappear. But if it wouldn’t disappear, there was no need to insist on carrying it on herself.

Her parents were conservative, but they weren’t the type to oppress others. They didn’t discriminate against homosexuals. In this day and age, doing that could rock the entire company. Lee Soo-ah at least didn’t think her parents were that closed-minded.

Therefore, even if the person Lee Soo-ah liked was a girl, her parents would not outright oppose it initially.

However, they would still quietly hope for her to marry a man.

That’s right. Women can’t have children together. Although same-sex marriage is allowed and same-sex couples can adopt and raise children, that adopted child wouldn’t have ‘bloodline.’

She had uncles and aunts, but her parents would want to pass the company onto Lee Soo-ah. She found that burdensome. Ever since she was a child without someone she liked.

…But that doesn’t mean she could just throw away the family business because of her whims.

Sara would never have done that.

“Yes, that’s what I think.”

Lee Soo-ah spoke calmly. Her slightly racing heart was slowing down as she spoke. It was just difficult to start thinking about it, but now that she was speaking, her tension was gradually melting away.

Her father just sat quietly, seemingly waiting for Lee Soo-ah’s words.

“…Do you know the exact situation that Sara is in right now?”

“No, not really.”

The reply was immediate.

“Then why did you tell me not to get close to Sara?”

“That’s…”

Her father paused in the middle of his sentence. Then he closed his eyes thoughtfully and sat still for a while. He tapped the desk lightly with his fingers, and finally sighed deeply before opening his mouth.

“I heard that the chairwoman, her guardian mother, warned her directly.”

‘Heard such things.’

Lee Soo-ah doubted her ears for a moment. Did that mean her father was cooperating in ruining a child’s life just because he heard a rumor?

…If that were the case, it would mean that Lee Soo-ah was also participating in a rumor whose truth or falsity she did not even know.

Her heart tightened like someone was clutching it tightly.

“Nobody said anything directly. They just combined the rumors floating around here and there. But there were certainly important cases that supported those rumors.”

Her father said that and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

“A few years ago, a fairly successful medium-sized company disappeared without a trace. Coincidentally, it was a company that supplied a large corporation, so that large corporation was also hit hard. Many subcontractors branching off from that medium-sized company went down all at once. It was quite a big issue.”

“…How does that incident relate to Sara?”

“The son of that company befriended that Ye Sara.”

“….”

Lee Soo-ah’s mouth gaped slightly.

“That’s not all.”

Before Lee Soo-ah could say anything, her father spoke first.

“I’m not just thinking about that one incident. Even before those kids became friends, Ye Sara was already starting to become isolated, I’ve heard. And there are ‘rumors’ that there was someone who led that isolation.”

Again, it was ‘rumor.’

“According to that ‘rumor’, a huge amount of donations had gone into a certain school foundation attended by rich kids, so whether one goes to school or not, attendance is processed, and even if they don’t take the test, the test papers are automatically graded, and they can get above-average scores.”

“….”

“And if there’s anyone approaching that kid, someone will surely destroy that person. The method is mainly through money. Not just the son of that medium-sized company. There were already several families that set a precedent before that. They were from even smaller companies, the children of company presidents. And,”

Her father took another gentle breath.

“Interestingly, the medium-sized company that was supplying the company to Yujin Group was one of our rumored targets…”

Then he looked quietly at Lee Soo-ah.

“Right, there is no evidence. Someone thoroughly hid it. They probably silenced the mouths of people who knew, scared them, and probably threatened them. If someone had the money to silence all those people, it would be even easier. That’s why it’s a ‘rumor.'”

Lee Soo-ah’s father leaned towards her slightly, lowering his voice as if someone might be listening.

“The rumors are that they wiped out the medium-sized company at the risk of their own group’s companies taking a fatal hit. It’s said that during the process, all sorts of dirty things happened – the president was kidnapped and beaten until all his limbs were fractured, and his wife went missing while shopping only to return a mess three days later, naked, and someone set fire to their home, and a thief broke into the factory warehouse, and the company’s most crucial secrets were leaked. The culprit who was found claimed it was all his doing without someone’s orders, and ultimately ended up in prison, only to come out suddenly wealthy and living lavishly…”

And then he leaned back and sat still in his chair.

“I heard that the only one who could remain safe from that family was the son who had been close to that daughter. As for how that son remained safe, opinions vary. There’s a rumor that it’s a punishment for making him live while watching his family collapse, but…”

“…But.”

Finally, Lee Soo-ah opened her mouth after listening to the story.

“But still, our company is this big. Our business is almost unrelated to that company. Also, that sort of method might work on one target, but it would ultimately fail if it’s a bunch of people…”

“Sua.”

Her father sighed softly.

“What’s important here isn’t just that the company failed. What matters is that everything that happened during the process of that company disappearing could also happen to anyone around that girl. I don’t know if I could stay sane if something happened to you.”

“Ah…”

Lee Soo-ah couldn’t help but close her mouth after hearing that.

Her heart, which had calmed down, started pounding again. From tension. And from fear. The confidence she had when she first spoke was gradually fading away.

“This is a ‘warning.’ And such warnings work best on those who have a lot to lose. This isn’t a warning meant for everyone from the start. It’s a warning directed at someone approaching her. The fear of ‘I might also be a target’ is what deters someone from getting close to that kid.”

Including us.

Though unspoken, Lee Soo-ah felt that last remark echoing in her ears.

“…I don’t want to.”

But Lee Soo-ah said that upon hearing those words.

“Sua.”

“No matter what, I’m sure there must be a way.”

“There’s no way that there isn’t. It just means we absolutely don’t need to do it.”

Because you never know what kind of wounds you might suffer if you tried.

“No, it’s something I have to do.”

Soo-a clenched her teeth. Fear and tension had not lessened at all. Her heart was still pounding.

But still, she had to do it.

Because she was one of the closest people to Sara.

Because she was one of the few who discovered a secret that no one else knew.

“I have information that I’ve uncovered.”

“Hmm.”

Seeing that Lee Soo-ah wouldn’t back down to the very end, her father looked at his daughter intently.

“Really? Then can you share that information? If that information could be helpful to you, I will allow you to be near that girl.”

“….”

Lee Soo-ah thought for a moment. Should she really tell her father about this information?

It wasn’t because of the importance of the information that she hesitated. She was just seriously considering whether it was okay to casually divulge Sara’s personal information.

…Okay, I’ll set aside the things about that letter and the sleeping pills for now.

Instead, let’s talk about what I saw with my own eyes.

Thinking that, Lee Soo-ah looked directly into her father’s eyes and opened her mouth.

And she shared the plan she had thought of.

Leaving out the most crucial parts.

*

In the end, she couldn’t get permission to go outside.

She expected as much. But that didn’t mean she was going to give up on what she had already decided.

Lee Soo-ah’s room was on the second floor.

She opened the window and pulled the curtains. Then she made a rope by tying the curtains together using a method she had searched for online.

She thought the rope was sufficiently made, but the problem was that Lee Soo-ah didn’t have the strength to climb down it.

Fortunately, she fell onto the grass, so it wasn’t loud.

As she fell, her left side touched the ground lightly, but it was not severe enough to prevent her from walking.

The sleeping Choco lifted its head to look at her.

Lee Soo-ah walked over to Choco and patted its head, saying, “I’ll be out for a while.”

The old dog weakly licked Lee Soo-ah’s hand.

“I’ll come back once everything is sorted out.”

The old dog rested its chin on Lee Soo-ah’s hand, staring up at her. She couldn’t tell what it was thinking.

Lee Soo-ah stood up.

She carefully walked toward the door to avoid making noise.

Then she slightly opened the front door, stepped outside, and immediately started running.

To where Sara was.

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