Absolute Advantage Chapter 14.2

All that happened today was Adam's phone call early in the morning. Nevertheless, her whole body was tired and she felt like she was going to faint.

Hae-won, who took off all her clothes, first put her toes in the bathtub. The toes sucked into the warmth of water like the roots of a plant.

“Oh, it's cold.”

Feeling cold outside, she hurried into the bathtub. The bubbling foam returned like a tidal wave and gently wrapped around the body's outline.

The warm water was both comfortable and uncomfortable. To be exact, it was right that the comfortable situation was uncomfortable. At some point, she refused to take a break.

Hae-won curled up like a fetus and slowly stretched her legs and leaned back. The tip of her toes rose slightly by buoyancy.

Is this how jellyfish floating in the sea feel?

The sea.

Jellyfish.

Two words persistently tore through the mind and regenerated a memory.

'Look at this. I went to the aquarium with my family over the weekend.'

'Wow, that's cute. What's this?

'Jellyfish doll.'

'Can I touch it?'

'Me too, me too.'

It was around the time she entered elementary school.

One of her classmates drew attention, boasting that she went to an aquarium with her family over the weekend.

Spending the weekend with her family, having parents taking her to the aquarium, was a different story for Haewon.

But other children took it for granted. She envied jellyfish dolls held by a child who had been to an aquarium.

It was a really trivial discovery, but for young Hae-won, it was a moment when she realized that her life was different from others in nature.

Maybe that's why.

The memory of this day was clearly built over the years, and now it is played naturally in the head like a short film.

And the faded video of memories changed places.

'Little kid. Why do you look so bad?'

Before she was utterly unmotivated by life, her father called Haewon a little kid.

Hae-won hesitated for a long time and told her father about what happened at school. Of course it wasn't all.

'You want to see jellyfish?'

'Yes.'

Actually, I want us to go to the aquarium together on the weekend. Actually, I wish I had a mother. The truth is, I'm just like the other kids.….

She knew that saying that would only hurt her father's heart.

So Haewon chose horses and picked jellyfish only to see. She thinks she can hope for that.

“Look carefully.”

Dad took out a crumpled cigarette pack from his back pocket and bit a cigarette in his mouth.

“Hoo.”

The white smoke from my father's mouth swam through the winter sky like a jellyfish. Dad pointed confidently at the jellyfish he made with the tip of his cigarette.

'Jellyfish.'

'Hehe. It's a jellyfish.'

Her father smiled at Haewon. Hae-won also laughed along.

But soon, instead of making jellyfish, Dad threatened Hae-won to put out a cigarette on her body.

The cause was simple.

This is because when Chairman Seo Cheong-do, who provided living expenses to his father and daughter, died, he became poor enough to barely buy a pack of cigarettes.

Hell began then.

In the end, her father dabbled in gambling. Eventually, he took Haewon to the Philippines for a night flight.

'Dad, I want to go home. Can we go back to Korea? People here don't communicate, I think everyone hates me. I'm scared.'

'Hang in there a little bit. If you hang in there, you'll be like, Huh? I'll let you wear pretty clothes and eat delicious food. I live in a ten-bedroom house. I'll let you grow a lot of jellyfish. Got it?

It was simply a word that came out of the mouth of a human seeking a fortune by gambling away.

Young Hae-won didn't need pretty clothes or delicious rice. She didn't need a ten-bedroom house or a jellyfish.

She just missed the old days when she lived with her dad. No, it wasn't that long ago, actually.

She thinks she can go back with a little effort, but she guesses it wasn't from the perspective of an adult.

'Who am I to suffer for you? Do you think someone wanted to come all the way here? I'm trying to be responsible! I'm going to take responsibility for you!'

And it was death that was waiting for the father and the daughter at the end.

“I did it wrong…….”

Unlike the mature body, which was submerged in water and crunching, the pleading of a frightened voice flowed from the mouth.

So Adam closed his mouth and gently lifted Haewon's hair on her cheek.

The short hair, which is a little over the jawline and resembles its owner, was heavier than usual with light brown hair that was stained with water.

“Ugh, uh….”

Even though Adam rubbed the hair he grabbed in his hand, Haewon was still encroaching on the nightmare.

Should I wake her up?

He glanced down at the water and thought.

But he wants to keep hearing her sick voice. He also wanted to appreciate the sensual body soaked in water.

At the same time, when Hae-won, who came to her senses, looked at him and imagined what kind of expression he would make when he was freaked out, his lower stomach throbbed pleasantly.

“……Adam.”

Adam's eyes widened at the sudden call.

Yes?

Why my name said all of a sudden?

Chapter end