"As one of the top families in Korea, the Moon group is known to have raised the most brilliant heirs of the country. To accomplish this, the Moon group conditions their children to act a certain way. When you are born, a enormous weight is placed on you more than other children. You need to become a useful a.s.set to the company, or you will be punished. When it came to me, I was immediately a top candidate for president because of my father"s position, so I was especially burdened. On the other hand, since Jaeun was a female, her life worked a bit differently. She was raised to be used as a p.a.w.n for future relations."Jaemin cleared his throat. "The custom is that females are given the ability to live as crazy as they want as long as they don"t tarnish the Moon family image, stay desirable, and marry to whoever will give the family the greatest honor. One of the reasons to why Jaeun was able to act the way she did is because of this rule. Ultimately the Moon group invests in the females when they are young and are paid back through this future deal. Never has there been anyone to go against this rule."
That was... Terrible. The widespread misogyny in the family made Yoona want to throw up. To sacrifice your freedom of love for power, money, and beauty was quite sad. In the sense that such importance was placed on such materialistic things.
Though no pity coursed through her heart, she began to understand why Jaeun was the way she was. Why she treasured to put all these materialistic ideals before human relations. She was conditioned and raised to be this way. Like a trainer with his dog, Jaeun had grown up to view these ideals as treats, and then only be bred for the purpose of wealth from their owner"s hand.
"Jaeun was a standard child. Quite dumb per say. When we were younger and took our IQ tests, she didn"t even fall below the top ten percent. A disappointment to the Moon family. Everyone shamed her, and she was known as the "black hole". With that said, Jaeun also had a twin sister named Jihee. Unlike Jaeun who failed in many aspects, Jihee went against all standards. For the first time in our family history, she had an IQ higher than all the males. Not only was she smart, but she was beautiful as an angel, hard working, exceptionally talented in everything she did and succeeded to grab the attention of everyone around her. It was an impossible feat, but all the males in the family paled in comparison to this young girl. Since her personality was beautiful too, everyone still loved Jihee. She was the bright star of the family. And unlike the others, she was seen more than a bargaining chip. She had the potential of being an heir."
Yoona could tell where this story was going. With Jaeun"s jealous traits it is obvious how the story unfolds. She gulped slowly.
Jaemin talked as if Jihee was a precious person to him. Could it be that Jaeun was the murderer instead?
Everything was confusing, so she stayed silent and continued to listen further.
"Now, with such a bright twin sister, what happened to Jaeun? Everyone focused on the talented girl but left the other in the darkness. Even I couldn"t help but love Jihee more. She was almost perfect. However, with Jihee"s perfection, Jaeun began to gain a complex against her. Who wouldn"t? No matter what you do, a person close to you, a twin sister, could do everything better. Anyone would be traumatized, I don"t blame her. There was no escape with the dreaded Jihee curse. As a result, Jaeun was neglected and overwhelmed with self-pity and grief. She cried every single day alone in her room."
"One day everything changed." His voice hitched at the back of his throat, and all he could do was let out a sad smile. "Jihee pa.s.sed away from a car accident. The enemy that existed, the ghost who wouldn"t leave her alone, was gone. As if she never existed. While the whole family mourned for her, the only person who did not shed tears was Jaeun who watched in the corner, pale while shivering as if she was possessed. From that day, something switched in her. She became obsessed with being perfect, to fulfill the shoes Jihee placed. To make sure nothing like Jihee would ever happen again, she aimed to be the best of the best, no matter where she is. Why? After her twin was gone, she was able to live a better life. Everything was better without Jihee. She didn"t want another Jihee.
Yoona stayed silent; her mind processing all this information.
A family should love each other, yet those two were destined for pure hate. Doesn"t matter who is in that position, in general, it was unfortunate. Whether or not she pitied Jaeun, it was a fact that the devil lived an unfortunate life.
Yet there was something that stabbed her throat.
This was supposed to be Jaemin"s explanation so why was he only talking about Jaeun? How did this justify his actions? From what she could tell, he was painting Jaeun in a bad light so he seemed like the better sibling.
"I"m not sure how this information is supposed to justify your actions," she said. "Hurry up."
He raised his hands up in defense. "I"m getting to that. Trust me please."
She narrowed her eyes. The way he spoke his words was dangerous. How dangerous. Not just with his reply, but his whole story was a trap. Anyone else would"ve been sucked into his family"s pitiful past. If it wasn"t for the fact that she knew the Moon siblings may be murderers, he would have tricked her too.
Be careful. She reminded herself.
"Now, how does that fit into the games? The reason for her willingness to ruin other girls was because she doesn"t want a Jihee situation to arise again. Destroy the enemy before they"re too powerful. Strike their roots early. That was her goal."
"As her brother, I knew how dark her mind was. How filled with vengeance my beautiful little sister has become. The reason to why I partic.i.p.ated in these games was to help her, so she did not suffer again. You don"t understand Yoona. When Jihee was alive, Jaeun was in excruciating pain every day. Her heart blackening by the second. She was ignored and isolated. Everyone compared the two together, some saying it should"ve been Jaeun who died."
His hands began to shake, distress erupting in his eyes. "I-I-I couldn"t lose another sister again. Even if it meant losing you."
Yoona clenched her teeth, reminding herself not to fall for his words. This was a trap. He was trying to gain her sympathy.
What he said made sense. His actions were somewhat justifiable through this reason, but that didn"t mean it was true. Did he really commit these acts for the sake of his sister? Or was there something more?
Shivers ran down her spine. He was truly scary. This was why he was the heir to the Moon Group.
Jaemin looked back up, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears. "Finally, the reason to why our game with you took so long. As to why she went after you after everything was finished is because of who you are."
He took a deep breath. "Yoona. When it comes to personality, you are the reincarnation of Moon Jihee. You are her worst nightmare."