Hamartia

Hamartia – Chapter 1
Author: Brown Moon
Translator: Dalgona
Proofreader: Delia

<Hubris>

You were simultaneously my most difficult problem, and the one that I wanted to solve the most.

“Why did you have to appear in front of me.”

I summed up my questions about you to one short sentence.

It was a short question, but it was one that I pondered over constantly. What did I have to do to not know you. What was I supposed to do to know you and not fall for you.

It was a short question, but I poured my countless worries into it. What should I have done to not know you? What should I have done to not fall in love with you, even after knowing you?

As if my worries were a joke, you opened your mouth easily. Then you called me. You even said my name. As if that was the answer to all of my questions. And as if my worries, thoughts, quandaries, as if nothing was important.

You just called my name.

[01. Sight]

“Ha Yeonjae.”

Shin Jonghyun looked at Jin Nana, who was just standing there, and nudged Yeonjae’s side a few times.

“Hey, it looks like it’s your turn.”

With a gentle hold, Ha Yeonjae nudged Jonghyun’s hand off of him and walked towards the boy standing near the cafeteria entrance. Even as Yeonjae approached him, the male student didn’t seem flustered, nor did he avoid him. He just stared at Yeonjae who approached him.

Shin Jonghyun and Kim Jaejin sprawled over the cafeteria table and watched the two male students’ actions. As was usual, they kept a 1-meter distance between them and just acknowledged each other’s gaze. They didn’t greet each other, nor did they exchange niceties. They just made eye contact.

“Shin Jonghyun, you didn’t hear anything from Ha Yeonjae?”

As if the two had made a promise to each other, they seeked out the other every day. Nobody seemed to know the relationship between the two.

“Our majesty shuts his mouth as soon as he hears the ‘Jin’ from Jin Nana, Shin Jaejin.”

Even with Jonghyun’s bored response, Jaejin didn’t look disappointed. Jaejin didn’t expect a proper response to his question in the first place. Ha Yeonjae never spoke about Jin Nana to anybody. Even Jonghyun, his long-time friend, had never heard anything about Jin Nana. This already spoke volumes.

“What the heck kind of relationship is that….. .”

When he first saw this interaction, Jonghyun wondered if Jin Nana’s friends had any clue about it so he sought out Jin Nana’s classmates to ask. But none of the responses he got were of any help. That made sense, because Jin Nana didn’t have any friends at school. More than half of the kids he talked to told him that they’d never even heard him speak.

“I don’t know. I don’t get Ha Yeonjae or Jin Nana.”

Kim Jaejin smacked the back of Jonghyun’s head at his muttered response.

“How do you not know anything? You’ve been by Ha Yeonjae’s side for ten years already.”

“I just had that thought, too. Are we even friends?”

“What’re you even saying? You’re just his attendant.”

“I’m pathetic for not being able to argue back, just pathetic.”

Ha Yeonjae’s nickname was “The Emperor.” One particular teacher without a sense of humor just called him that one day, and explained that it just sounded similar to his name. In actuality, Ha Yeonjae didn’t really fit with the title of “Emperor.” He didn’t exude pressure, nor was he arrogant. He was extremely helpful and was always ready to lend a hand.

But it did kind of fit, too. Ha Yeonjae had it all, and stood above the others. Maybe that was why everyone else his age automatically put him on a pedestal. It wasn’t like the other students went the extra mile for him, though. They just nodded when he said that something was right, and shook their heads when he said something was wrong.

And naturally, sticking with Ha Yeonjae all that while, Shin Jonghyun’s nickname became “The Attendant.” The title of “Emperor,” in all honesty, was immature and wasn’t used very often. But “Attendant” was a widely used nickname, and Jonghyun felt kind of dejected about it.

But Jonghyun really didn’t have any rebuttals. Shin Jonghyun himself was just another person orbiting around Ha Yeongjae. Enough that the nickname “Attendant” wasn’t even wrong.

“Poor bastard.”

“Why does Jin Nana even put up with this interaction when he’s so hostile?”

Jonghyun blurted out his question. Jaejin turned his gaze and scanned Jin Nana once more.

If Ha Yeonjae screamed, “I’m the most important child of an important household,” then Jin Nana had the same feeling with a darker tone. Jaejin felt like Jin Nana was the cherished youngest daughter of some movie-like underworld boss. Everyone knew that he was male, but because of his delicate face it just felt more right to call him the youngest daughter than the youngest son. Even his name was ‘Nana’.

But contrary to how people understood Jin Nana, he was quite a model student. He skipped class every once in a while, but he studied hard and he had good grades.

If it wasn’t for his dark image, it wouldn’t have been weird to say that Jin Nana was Ha Yeonjae’s friend. Ha Yeonjae arrived and left school in a fancy foreign car driven by a personal driver, and Jin Nana came to and left school in a taxi every day. It was obvious that both of them were rich. Based on their looks, if the two of them decided to form an idol group, people would’ve believed it. They were even model students with good grades.

There was a lot of speculation on the two’s relationship. The most convenient one was the following: that they were old friends who fought and fell apart, but still had feelings for each other and stayed by each other’s side.

But Kim Jaejin decidedly shook his head on that particular speculation. If either of them had any regrets, they could’ve just resolved it; and second of all, Ha Yeonjae wasn’t the type of person who would leave any regret in interpersonal relations.

Kim Jaejin was friends with Ha Yeonjae for more than three years, but he still didn’t know his phone number. For that kind of person to pull this kind of bullshit with a friend he fell apart with just didn’t make any sense.

Moreover, to say that they had any regrets just went against how much Jin Nana hated Ha Yeonjae. That was obvious by the cast both of them had on their arms.

It was something that happened exactly a week ago: a passing student bumped into Jin Nana, and he lost his balance and wobbled near the top of the stairs. Thankfully, Yeonjae, who was coming down from the stairs, immediately grabbed his arm and barely managed to save him from falling. But Jin Nana didn’t say any word of thanks. Even in that short moment, he glared at Ha Yeonjae.

Ha Yeonjae teetered dangerously on the top of the stairs with Jin Nana’s arm in his grasp. Surely, Jin Nana should’ve known that if he ripped his arm away from Yeonjae’s grasp, the other would fall down with him. But even then Jin Nana grabbed his arm out of his grasp. Because of that, Jin Nana, and even Ha Yeonjae, ended up falling down the stairs.

Shin Jonghyun and Kim Jaejin were there when it happened. And because they saw how it all played out, they didn’t understand Jin Nana at all.

To prefer falling down the stairs than getting any help from Ha Yeonjae. And that attitude, acting like he didn’t care that Ha Yeonjae got hurt because of him. Jin Nana was really something else. Both Jonghyun and Jaejin struggled to figure out why Ha Yeonjae would even care about Jin Nana.

With frustration simmering deep within them, Shin Jonghyun, who was observing the two quietly, stood up.

“Hey.”

Jin Nana, who always had a face of indifference, turned to look at Shin Jonghyun with a surprised look.

“You’re Jin Nana, right? I’m Shin Jonghyun.”

What’s he doing? He’s not in elementary school. Kim Jaejin scrunched his eyebrows as he heard the other’s greeting.

“So, I’m Ha Yeonjae’s friend… .”

Embarrassed when Jin Nana just stared without a word, Shin Jonghyun opened his mouth to speak.

“I know. His best friend, Shin Jonghyun.”

“Huh? You know who I am?”

Jin Nana scrunched his face, looking like he made a mistake, and turned around to leave the cafeteria. Ha Yeonjae patted Jonghyun’s shoulder and laughed as he watched Jin Nana’s retreating figure.

“Good job, Jonghyun.”

“What? What is it?”

“No, seriously. You did a good job.”

“Oh my god! What is it! How does he know me? Hey! Stop laughing and say something!”

Shin Jonghyun grabbed Ha Yeonjae’s arm and shook it, but Ha Yeonjae just continued to laugh by himself.

xx