My Brother's Friend Wasn't a Guy - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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52.

The next day, Lee Jin was putting the finishing touches on the ceramics she planned to submit to the competition. But concentration came with difficulty.
“What on earth was he thinking…….”
The more she brooded, the more frustrated sighs escaped her.
“Rotten man. That whole thing about liking me—it was all a lie.”
If he truly cared for her, how could he do something like that? If he’d shown even the slightest consideration for her feelings, he never would have done something so insane as to throw himself in front of a car.
Lee Jin was by nature someone who rarely showed anger, but when she did, it was terrifying.
Because she only grew angry over genuinely justified causes, people around her grew even more fearful, stammering in her presence.
Just then, the workshop door chimed. Lee Jin, who had stepped into the entranceway, fixed the visitor with a rigid, hardened gaze.
“Could we talk for a moment?”
It was Kang Hyun’s mother, Jin Ae-ran.
The memory of her recent visit with a money envelope came flooding back, but Lee Jin pushed the recollection away and replied.
“Yes, please come in.”
After guiding Jin Ae-ran to the workshop’s table, Lee Jin prepared some light refreshments, set them before her, and took the seat opposite.
For Jin Ae-ran, this seat felt like sitting on pins and needles.
The constant thought of whether things really had to go this far made it difficult even to manage her expression.
But what could she do? This was the sorrow of ordinary parents saddled with a madman for a son.
She studied Lee Jin’s face while mentally rehearsing what she meant to say. Seeing that her expression was far from bright, opening her mouth felt like stepping into unknown territory.
From what she’d heard Kang Hyun say yesterday, it seemed his actions had thoroughly kindled her anger. And rightly so—anger was the only reasonable response to such madness.
Jin Ae-ran opened her mouth with the belief that what she was about to say would help ease the girl’s mood.
“It seems we weren’t simply meant to meet once and be done with it.”
“Yes.”
Lee Jin had no inkling of what Jin Ae-ran was getting at and answered merely out of courtesy.
“As you saw at the hospital, that crazy——ahem…….”
Jin Ae-ran choked on her words, hastily clearing her throat to cover for the harsh language that had nearly spilled out.
Recovering her composure, she plastered an elegant smile back onto her face and continued.
“In any case, Kang Hyun has been making such a fuss about needing you that I can’t very well pretend not to notice. There’s no getting around a child, after all. So I’ve decided to accept it.”
“There’s no need for that.”
Hmm? What? Jin Ae-ran’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if her ears had deceived her.
She’d expected gratitude, yet the girl was telling her there was no need. What exactly was she refusing?
Seeing the sudden confusion cloud Jin Ae-ran’s expression, Lee Jin added an explanation.
“I have no desire to force my way into a place beside Kang Hyun. When we first started dating, I didn’t even know he was with the Munseong Group.”
“Well, I know that. It’s not your fault. Of course, you have many shortcomings as a daughter-in-law, but I’ve decided to accept and overlook all of that.”
“That’s exactly why there’s no need. Rather than accept someone as lacking as me, you should bring in someone who’s truly suited to the Munseong Group.”
It wasn’t a polite demurral offered one or two times out of modesty. Jin Ae-ran realized that Lee Jin’s resolve was immovable, and she grew flustered.
I’m giving my blessing, and yet she’s saying no? Jin Ae-ran found herself at a complete loss, stammering in the face of a development entirely contrary to what she’d expected.
“You saw what lengths Kang Hyun was willing to go to. He says he can’t live without you, so what am I supposed to do?”
The implication being she couldn’t bear to watch her son die—hearing this, Lee Jin exhaled a long sigh.
“It’s the same for me. But should I be grateful for permission gained through such extreme measures?”
Thinking of it again only rekindled her anger; her eyes gleamed with displeasure. Jin Ae-ran felt the sting of her miscalculation and swallowed hard.
Because Lee Jin had the delicate, doll-like beauty and gentle demeanor of someone fragile, Jin Ae-ran had looked down on her.
She’d assumed that someone with so little to show for herself would readily agree when offered money and told to leave.
But beneath that seemingly vulnerable exterior, Lee Jin possessed a spine that would not break. Jin Ae-ran should have recognized this long ago.
Blinded by her own sense of superiority and arrogance, she’d never bothered to truly see who Lee Jin was. The result was that Jin Ae-ran now trembled under the weight of her miscalculation.
She had never considered the possibility that Lee Jin might reject Kang Hyun outright—and yet here it was, happening before her eyes.
Only now did she realize that what Kang Hyun had said before was not a lie.

“Mother, listen carefully. It’s me who’s been clinging to her. I’m the one who’s anxious she might run away.”

At the time, she’d thought he was only saying it to take Lee Jin’s side, and the thought had angered her even more. But now she understood—it had been the truth all along.
Her heart burning, Jin Ae-ran reached for the tea Lee Jin had brought and drank it in haste.
What was she doing at her age because of this youngest son? Jin Ae-ran suddenly confronted the reality of her situation and felt a crushing exhaustion settle over her.
Yet she couldn’t simply leave. There was no telling what that mad fool might do next.
“Still, finding another man like our Kang Hyun would be difficult…….”
“Perhaps. But even so, I have no desire to try harder at this relationship with Kang Hyun. I have nothing more to say.”
…….
Faced with Lee Jin’s clear boundary, Jin Ae-ran found herself with nothing left to say.
Still, she urged Lee Jin to think carefully, warned her she’d regret it later—clinging to him was the last shred of dignity Jin Ae-ran could afford to lose.
“Yes, well. If that’s how it is, I have nothing more to say.”
Jin Ae-ran hobbled out of the workshop. With no way to persuade her and no way to hold on, fleeing was the only option left.
“Why is this so hard?”
Getting Lee Jin’s consent had taken everything. The mere act of deciding felt like upending heaven and earth itself.
Yet Lee Jin seemed utterly indifferent to whether heaven and earth turned upside down or not.
“What do I do now?”
Jin Ae-ran trembled as she conjured Kang Hyun’s face in her mind. She could see him vividly—the way he’d rampage and spiral into madness the moment he learned the truth.
That would be nothing short of catastrophe.

***

After Jin Ae-ran left, Lee Jin threw herself into her work to escape the tangled thoughts that cluttered her mind.
By the time she finished the competition entry, it was late evening.
It was the right choice. The right decision. Lee Jin repeated these words to herself as she locked the workshop and headed home.
Honestly, she’d never expected Jin Ae-ran to show up asking for permission or anything like that.
It was a surprising change, but if that change had started with Kang Hyun’s reckless act, there was nothing welcome about it at all.
Why do I feel something good about this? They say love is having things not go your way, but she couldn’t understand Kang Hyun going this far.
‘I care for him too, but maybe if I just keep living like this, things will be okay.’
It was honest—she couldn’t forget him.
Memories of Kang Hyun existed in most moments of her life. Cutting them out and forgetting them was impossible.
But time fades all memories eventually. They’d become beautiful keepsakes, like photographs preserved in an album.
Yes, that would be enough. With that thought, Lee Jin took her steps toward home.
Soon she arrived at the entrance to the dark alley near her house—the same one where she’d once met delinquents.
‘What…?’
Lee Jin stopped, sensing something was off. The alley, once the darkest and most desolate in the neighborhood, no longer felt that way at all.
She glanced around hastily.
That’s when she spotted them—streetlights she’d never seen before, installed closely together. Their light poured into the alley, making it noticeably brighter.
It wasn’t just the streetlights that were new. The CCTV cameras had multiplied too. It would barely be an exaggeration to say there were no blind spots left in this alley.
‘Could it be…? No, it couldn’t be.’
Lee Jin didn’t think the changes to this alley were mere coincidence.
‘I hope I’m just being paranoid.’
But seeing the streetlights and cameras, she kept thinking of Kang Hyun.
Lee Jin hurried into her house, nearly running inside. She turned to Ko Myung-sook and asked urgently.
“Mom, what’s going on with those lights out there?”
“Those? Ah, the streetlights, you mean? They should’ve done this long ago. The neighbors are thrilled about it.”
“But why did so many suddenly appear all at once? We submitted complaints for years and we barely got one installed at the corner.”
“Well, according to the ward chief, someone donated them? Apparently the same person installed the CCTV too. There’s even talk of giving them a commendation or something.”
Lee Jin’s expression hardened as she heard this.
She’d never heard of anyone donating streetlights to an alley before. The fact that the local government would approve and install them so quickly seemed unbelievable.
Lee Jin closed her eyes tightly as the image surfaced—the broad back of someone walking ahead through the alley.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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