Chapter 23

 

Since he hadn’t said anything since leaving the workshop, the air in the car felt heavy.

Maybe he wasn’t going to talk the entire way home. Yun-seol touched her arm, sensing tingling where he’d pulled her away.

The rain had quit coming down like a madman long after they left the workshop.

In the distance, she could see her house.

She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t think of anything. She glanced at him several times and opened her lips to speak, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Despite her efforts to approach him, he remained focused forward. He kept his hands on the steering wheel, as if establishing eye contact might result in anything horrible happening. She noticed his grasp on the steering wheel tightening as she glanced at his hands.

When he drove up exactly in front of the house, he opened his mouth without looking at her.

“Take the umbrella.”

“……”

Yun-seol simply stared at him, saying nothing. She pressed his lips together as if he was feeling something strange.

For a brief period, there was silence in the car.

“Umbrella….”

“The rain has stopped, thank you.”

I cut him off to insist that he take the umbrella. He turned his head and looked me in the eyes.

“It’s right in front of my house, what’s the point of taking it?”

She sounded a little cold, so I cleared my throat and spoke softly, and his stony face softened a little.

He seemed to notice, and she felt a stone thrown in the midst of her chest.

She clenched her palms together, irritated. There has been no progress. She hasn’t eaten anything, but she’s not hungry.

“Oh……. You’ve had your coffee. Still, take it inside.”

I averted my gaze from his hand as he extended the umbrella. I pulled it aside before blinking slowly in disbelief at the approaching hand.

His hand instantly moved away as soon as I took the umbrella. My tongue twitched slightly.

Again, silence fell.

I didn’t realize I was about to suffocate until I reached out to get out of the car.

“Tomorrow…….”

A brief pause.

I put down my hand on the doorknob and turned to look him in the eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing, just be careful,” He said, closing his mouth and looking her in the eyes.

I didn’t think that was what he was going to say, but there was no way of knowing. His face indicated that he was not going to tell me.

“Be careful, Mr. Ji-hyuk.”

“Yes.”

“…Thank you.”

“…Thanks.” 

I couldn’t take my gaze away from him as he smiled longingly, and it wasn’t just a melancholy look; it felt as if he’d given up on life.

I unlocked the car door and stepped out, clutching the umbrella he’d given me, feeling stifled. I took a step away from his car.

I wanted to turn my head away from him, to see if he wouldn’t move until I was inside, but I didn’t look back as I passed through the gate.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the fence. He’d been there for a long, and judging by the absence of sound, he was still there.

Yun-seol let out a sigh, her heart heavy with the stories of his childhood, the story of his brother, and his first acquaintance.

I understood a little why he despised children.

I swept a stray strand of hair up. A car was parked outside the gate. Yun-seol shifted her feet and walked across the garden.

I wanted to go inside, but I didn’t want to scare anyone with my bulging eyes and darker expression, so I decided to wait a little longer.

I sat on the swing, which was not wet from the rain because of the sagging shade. Because it was a rocking swing, it creaked with each movement. For a moment, I tilted my head and peered at the sky. I could smell the earthy odor because it had been raining.

“Seol,” I heard my aunt’s voice and looked up.

“Auntie…….”

“Why aren’t you coming in? Is something wrong?”

She knew everything.

“…Auntie.”

“Huh?”

“Jun-hyuk is dead.”

“What? How did it happen?”

Seo Jun-hyuk pushed her shoulder and rolled down the stairs, sobbing as she clutched her aunt’s hand. I couldn’t tell my mother, and I couldn’t stop the sorrow in my chest, so I held my aunt and told her the truth.

“…I don’t know when it was…. I think it was when it was all over the news…. I think it was after that.”

“How did it happen?” My aunt looked very surprised. After all, she had seen Seo Jun-hyuk for longer than she had.

“My sister-in-law…….” Well, she’s not my sister-in-law anymore, but whatever.

“They said she was driving away and then got into an accident….”

“Oh no. Ouch…….”

My aunt sat down next to me as my legs gave out.

“There are no words to describe the grief of losing a child; you’ll live with that guilt for the rest of your life. Not being able to die and missing him every minute of every day. Feeling sorry for herself. This is why we have to be a good person. What you did will go back to your child, so we need not to do such a thing…….”

Yun-seol’s face went bitter as she heard her aunt say she was being punished.

“I’m not happy.”

She had hoped that Seo Jun-hyuk and her sister-in-law would be punished, but she is disappointed that Seo Jun-hyuk has died.

“That’s right. Who would be happy with that?” Her aunt grabbed her hand and patted it on the back.

“Is that why you were so depressed that you didn’t even come home?”

“…….”

“Do we need to be worried?” Yun-seol smiled instead of responding. Yunseul stepped up from the swing after glancing at the rainy sky.

“Let’s go inside now.”

“Okay. But Seol…….”

Yun-seol helps her aunt get up from the swing, and she calls his name softly. As if she has something to say.

“How did you hear about Jun-hyuk Seo?” she asks after a brief pause.

“It’s not in the news. I was wondering how you heard about it.”

Yun-seol’s eyes flitted wildly.

“Oh…. By accident. I overheard it.”

Auntie’s eyes narrowed. It was excessively hot.

“Auntie, I have to use the restroom, so I’ll go first.”

I didn’t want to tell her I’d seen him, so I crept away.

Yun-seol enters the room, slams the door shut, and sits on the floor. She has no idea why she feels uneasy, despite the fact that she is not guilty.

She needs to clean up and complete her design. …However, why? She sighed and reached for her design notebook from her backpack. Yun-seol drew her legs together and buried her face in her knees.

Oh, I don’t know.

“What’s wrong with me?”

The complexity made me feel like my head was going to explode.

I felt like I was forcing myself to be happy, while I was heading into despair.

Yun-seol’s eyes narrowed.

 

* * *

 

“It’s really pretty. I like it.”

“That’s good because you too are so handy, you made it even better.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Yun-seol smiled as she cleaned the floor. A family member paid a visit to the workshop today.

“Mom! Mom! Me too!” I was nervous because a couple with a six-year-old daughter and a solid relationship had set an appointment to make a pair of bracelets. I’d previously made bracelets for middle schoolers, but never for a six-year-old preschooler, so I was a little worried.

But I didn’t have to worry because I made the bracelets with her fern-like hands.

The entire time I was making the bracelet, I couldn’t stop smiling.

“You did a great job, you made it better than Dad!” she exclaims, and she wraps her arms around her neck as she massages her hair. She wraps her arm around her and hugs her with her other arm, and she hugs her mother, and seeing her warms her heart.

I could feel how much they loved and relied on each other. Isn’t that what family is all about? Trust and love without words.

“Dew, what does your bracelet say?” her mom asked her.

“It says Daughter, Mom, and Dad!” I was envious of the family’s joy and smile as they caressed their inscribed bracelets.

“I’ll come back next time, and I’ll tell everyone I know.”

“Thank you, these are the boxes to keep,” I said as I gave over the three boxes I’d taken extra care of, and she clapped her hands in excitement.

As the three returned, the workshop was filled with sighs.

“Ha…ah.”

They hadn’t seen him since that rainy day. It was already the third day.

When Yun-seol looked around, she noticed the cup he had used that day. She let out a deep sigh.

Something was amiss when a single day transformed into two. No, she had a strange thought.

Yun-seol turned on her phone after toying with it on the table for a long. She pressed the call button with a determined expression on her face.

Over the receiver, a beep was heard. She wonders if she’s going too far. Yun-seol bit her lip, thinking she was overdoing it, and sought to push the stop button.

-Hello? Yunseul’s shoulders shook as she attempted to hang up the phone.

-Hello? Please speak. “Ah…. hello. It’s me, Yun-seol.”

-Hello, Ms. Yunseul! ” Lawyer Choi Hyun showed his delight as if he had been waiting for you.

-“Hey…. I have a question for you.” 

-You are welcome to ask me anything. I’m ready to respond to anything.

Yunseul smiled when she heard the cheerful voice.

“…That guy…” 

I called him to ask but I suddenly hesitated.

-“Ji-hyuk?”

“Yes……. Hey…. We usually meet at Bongandang, but I haven’t seen him in a few days. I wonder if he’s busy…….” 

-“Ah, that?”

Choi Hyun seemed to know why he wasn’t coming to Bongandang.

-“Ji-hyuk is now sick and is unable to leave the office.”

“What?” Yun-seol rushed to her feet and banged her hand on the chair, startled.

“Does he get sick a lot?” She rubbed her brow in anguish while listening to Choi Hyun’s voice over the phone.

-“He passed out.”

-“He’s probably not going to visit a doctor, he’s simply holding it together on his own, since he won’t even open the door for me this time… I guess he wants to feel the pain completely, silly as$hole.”

Choi Hyun said with clenched teeth.

-“He’s not that stupid. Maybe he takes some pain medication if he is in pain. What should I do with that man”

“Where are he staying?”

-“What?”

“I mean, where is he staying now?”

There was a moment of silence before Choi Hyun’s voice pierced my ears.

-An hotel.

Hotel? Yun-seol was taken aback. – “He’s staying where you both first met” that’s what he stated.

“Hmm…” It’s not that he doesn’t have money or a place to live, so why is he staying at a hotel?

– “If you need anything, just call. I want to know if that guy is okay,” he went on to say, “so text me at least.”

“OK,” Yun-seol said, hanging up the phone and turning off the workshop lights, thinking, “I’ll clean up later.” Fortunately, one of my arrangements was canceled.’

Yun-seol flagged down a passing cab after swiftly closing the door. She soon found herself standing outside the hotel room Choi Hyun had given her. “I guess he wants to feel the pain fully,” Choi Hyun’s voice rang in her mind.

Yun-seol rang the doorbell without hesitation, chewing on her lower lip. Why is he staying in such a place like this? Why is he sick yet refusing to go to the hospital? If he does not want to go to the hospital, he should at the very least take medication. Why is he refusing to take medicine? Why didn’t he allow Mr. Choi Hyun to pay him a visit? She had so many questions she wanted to ask.

She rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Yun-seol rang the bell several times. Her ringing became increasingly frantic. She was curious if he had fallen. “Mr. Ji-hyuk? Mr. Ji-hyuk, please open the door!” she pounded on the door.

Yun-seol drew her hand back as she heard the door open. The door opened slowly and annoyingly, showing him. “Yunseol?” His eyes welled up with tears as if he hadn’t expected to see her here.

 Terrible. Dreadful.

In disbelief, his eyes narrowed and he blinked slowly. He raised his neck as if confirming that Yun-seol was truly there in front of him. Yun-seol bit her lower lip.

He remained there, taking note of her irregular breathing, wet hair, and flushed cheeks. “…Are you upset? Are you really….” I’m not sure why hearing his voice crack and gurgle in his throat upsets me so much. I rubbed my eyes as if I’d seen something strange, and I was going to say something when his body shifted to the side.

“Ji-hyuk!” I called out to him as he swayed around dizzily. As I put my arm around him, I was surprised by how hot his body felt, and my hair was drenched in sweat. If he was this sick, I wondered why he hadn’t gone to the hospital, and why he hadn’t opened the door to Mr. Choi.

Take some medicine instead.

“Take yourself together,” I instructed.

“Oh, it’s okay, I was just dizzy for a second,” he said as he straightened himself again. Despite his words, Yun-seol couldn’t take his hand off her arm. She couldn’t believe what he said. She hugged his arm even tighter because he appeared to be on the verge of collapsing at any minute.

Because of the size differences, it was difficult to support him, but I managed to direct him to the bed. I think I told him to stay quiet since he insisted on being OK. He was out of it.

“Get in bed.”

I told him to make himself comfortable as I sat on the edge of the bed, but he refused. He shook his head, his face pale.

“Lie down?” I saw beads of sweat on his brow and something uncomfortable beneath his chest.

“…I’m okay. I’m really, really okay.”

“You’re okay? You look like you’re going to collapse. Look at your fever.” He kept claiming he was okay, and that made me so angry, so inexplicably angry, that I placed my palm on his forehead.

At the same time, he grasped her wrist. Yun-seol took a deep breath as everything happened so quickly. Yun-seol’s eyes opened.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes stuck on the back of her hand.

“Ah…….” Yun-seol lowered her head as she followed his gaze. She had no idea why he was staring at her, but there was a bruise on the back of her hand.

“I’m just bumped into something.”

While on the phone with Choi Hyun, she jumped up and accidentally hit a chair  That’s when the bruise appeared.

“…….”

His hand on his wrist was shaking.

“I’ll put something on it.” I glanced at him, swallowing hard to clear my hot throat.

“I need to take my medicine,” he said, releasing her wrist and getting out of bed to get it. Yun-seol was standing in his way.

Her breathing became irregular. She grimaced as she looked at him. “…Is medicine important right now?” He grasped his shoulder, squeezing down hard as he tried to stand up. Yun-seol furrowed his brow as he pushed against his weakness and returned to his bed.

He looked to be on the edge of collapsing, and he wanted to treat a bruise. He wasn’t even taking his medication? It was frustrating. It’s quite frustrating. Yun-seol bit her lower lip.

“Lie down now.”

“……Seol.”

“Lie still; I’ll be angry if you get up.”

His voice was firm, and he sat down hesitantly. “…Don’t be upset. I’m sorry.”

Yun-seol sighed and reached for the bag that had been placed at the door. She took the pain reliever medication from her bag. She went to his room after getting some water from the fridge.

When he heard footsteps, he kept his eyes closed to avoid dizziness and slowly lifted his eyelids. His eyes shone with confidence. “…Take your medicine.”

I helped him to his feet and supported his dizzy head. I placed the pills in his palm as he leaned back on the bed.

“Hurry up and take it. If you’re sick, you’re supposed to take your medicine” It’s irritating that he purposefully prolongs his condition by refusing to take something that could help him feel better. It’s quite frustrating.

I offered him a water bottle after ensuring he was swallowing the medicines. He took the bottle and drank the water. Water ran down the sides of his mouth, indicating that he was thirsty. My fingers tingled with the want to wipe it away.

“Lie back down.” 

“Yeah……. I will.”

He sat back on the bed like a well-behaved child. I walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed, my eyelids trying to open.

“Do you want me to call a doctor?” 

“No, thank you.”

To ease the dizziness, I shake my head and clamp my eyes shut. Yun-seol lets out a deep sigh.

He shakes his shoulders as he hears the sigh. He struggles to open his eyes and runs his tongue across his parched lips. He seems to have something to say.

“…Did you enjoy watching a movie?”

“The movie?” Yun-seol’s eyes narrow, unsure of what he’s talking about. Then she realizes what he’s saying. He’d received a call on the day it was pouring heavily. He asked as to whether she remembered the movie date. Ji-Hyuk didn’t seem to hear it, but he did.

“…Yes, a movie.”

His dry smile seemed to shatter to dust at the least touch.

“I didn’t go.”

There is a brief hush.

“Why?” he asks, his eyes wide with genuine curiosity.

“I didn’t go to see my baby moon.” but you didn’t show up.

“Oh……. I see.”

He seemed relieved. I wanted to hide it from him but couldn’t. To prevent the dizziness, she closes her eyes and forces her eyelids open.

“Take a breath.” He’d taken the medication, and a good night’s sleep would probably help him feel better, but he didn’t bother closing his eyes since he was confident. Each breath he took was warm, so much so that he touched her hand briefly before pulling it away.

Yun-seol put her hand on top of his head. His eyeballs were twitching in his palm, she could feel it. “Go to sleep, I’ll be right here with you,” she whispered, relaxing her breathing.

“…Thank you.” His throat bobbed up and down. The heat spread across her palm. She flexed her fingers slightly because they itched.

It was for the best. His eyes were covered.

He might have noticed her face flush as a result of the heat transfer.

He quickly fell asleep.

Mr. Choi was correct when he stated that he couldn’t sleep.

Yun-seol observed that his eyes were tightly closed when she gently removed her hand. Yun-seol remained seated and studied his expression.

If not at a time like this, when would she see him asleep?

For the first time in a long while, I observed his face. He didn’t seem to have changed much, except for losing a little weight, but Seo Ji-hyuk from Heaven was clearly sick…. I felt bad for him.

“I don’t know……. I shouldn’t even care if he’s sick or not, so why did I come all the way here and give him medicine? I stared at him as he slept without knowing anything. I wanted to punch his face for looking so relaxed, unlike my complicated self.”

She slumped onto the bed, she longed to punch Ji Hyuk in the chest.

She made the decision to change her sweaty clothes.

I looked around the hotel room for a change of clothes and came across the dressing room. It was a four-room suite with two bathrooms and a study. There was a couch and a dining table, and the dressing room was, to put it bluntly, a gym area.

I entered the changing room and changed into the most comfy t-shirt and slacks I could find. I considered bringing underwear, but I didn’t have the confidence to change, so I just changed my clothes and walked to his room.

He is, in fact, staying in a hotel. Why would he want to stay here, when they have so many buildings and houses? “You said you were going abroad.”

Yun-seol approached him, wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel, and removed his T-shirt. His sagging frame made it difficult to take off his clothes, yet sleeping in damp clothes would be far worse for his health.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doing anything weird. I’m just taking it off because you shouldn’t be sleeping in wet clothes.” I whispered.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Yun-seol said as she fought to pull off her T-shirt.

“…What is this?” his huge eyes flew around in a frenzy. …His chest was covered with terrible bruises, clearly the result of a beating.

He had offered to treat a small bruise on the back of her hand with medicine, yet he had many more bruises on his own body. Yun-seol found it hard to breathe. How many bruises were hidden inside him if he looked like this on the outside? It seemed they are in a similar situation.

Yun-seol’s expression distorted as he said “I’ll be nice… I did.”

“You said you’d regret it……. Why did you do that, what the hell…….”

As he spoke about his mother, I could feel the pain in his eyes.

“Not everyone who’s been through that has to be as cranky as you.”

I first changed his T-shirt and then his jeans.

His entire body glistened with sweat as he sucked in a strained breath. I grabbed a damp washcloth and washed his brow and neck, and his face was more relaxed than it had been a moment ago.

I yawned repeatedly, my first sleep in days.

Yun-seol began to nod off as she grabbed a towel.

 

* * *

 

Yun-seol was on the bed when she walked up. She turned to check for him, but he was nowhere to be found, leaving only the lingering aroma of his body odor to tell her that he had been here just a moment earlier.

She opened the bedroom door while running her fingers over her glossy hair.

He was dozing off on the couch in the living room.

“Well, you have plenty of rooms, but you’re sleeping in the couch.”

I pouted my lips and moved closer, but the bowl was clean and empty. When he fell asleep, I called the staff and asked them to prepare some porridge for him. I left it on the table, and maybe he must have found it and finished it.

“…That’s good.” I was afraid he wouldn’t eat it, but I was mistaken.

I reached out to touch his brow, curious whether his fever had subsided, but he grasped my wrist.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” I said as I jerked my hand away from his brow and stood up.

“I’ll take you home.”

“No thanks, I can take a cab.”

I couldn’t touch his forehead, but I could clearly feel a little heat on my wrist where he’d held it.

“Let me take you.”

“I can go alone….”

“Please……. Huh?” Yun-seol closed her mouth. He’s acting as if he’s running out of time, and my annoyance is rising.

She would tell him to stay by her side like he can’t win if she asked him to stick by him since he’s bad and should die.

…to take firm action for my own happiness.

My heart grows heavy in my chest.

“Tomorrow…. What are you doing?” he asked.

“…Huh?”

“Do you want to go to the movies tomorrow?” I don’t know why those words came out of his mouth.

I simply… All I wanted to do was give it a try. With caution, Yun-seol asked, “Movies, do you hate watching movies?”.

His pallid face brightened up and he said, “Oh, no! I love them, I love watching movies so much.”

“Then let’s go see a movie after visiting our baby moon.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Though I wasn’t sure if I was doing it appropriately, I chose to go along with him since he seemed excited.

 

* * *

 

Yun-seol’s head jumped up from engraving the ring, “Isn’t that a thumb?”

“Thumb?”

“Yes, thumb.” Ji-sool furrowed her brow as she watched the corners of Yun-seol’s mouth twitch.

“What’s a thumb?”

Yun-seul bowed her head once again. “It’s just a thumb. Just grab a passerby and ask them. Who watches movies with their ex-husband?” she said. She was afraid Jin-Sool would see her flushed cheeks.

“Seol, that’s called a thumb.”

“…Okay, stop teasing me,” she said, her voice unmistakably teasing. Her ears perked up. She must have said something wrong. She told her because she was the only one she could talk to, but somehow she seemed more excited.

“Did you book the movie?”

“Yes, I booked it online earlier.”

“Seats?”

“Of course I booked them.” When I raised my eyes to see why she was asking, she squinted at me.

“Why?”

“You didn’t reserve a regular seat, did you?” Yun-seol blinked.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

seats for a couple? Yun-seol’s face darkened from red. She stumbled to her feet, reached for the remote control for the air conditioner, and lowered the temperature.

“What did you say, change seats?”

“Forget it, we’re not a couple.”

“Oh that were the only seats available.”

Yun-seol put down the air conditioner remote and paused.

“Why would you go to a movie theater? You have to sit there. You said you’ve never been on a date.”

“…That’s true.”

“You said you want to follow your heart.”

“…Yeah.”

“So what should I do?”

Yun-seol took her phone from the table. Just as Ji-Sool had advised, she moved to a couple’s seat and pressed her palms to her warm cheeks.

“So are you dressed so pretty for a date tonight?”

She must have decided to tease her today.

“I’m just wearing my usual outfit.”

“Oh no! You’re not really, really, really dressed up?”

Even though I generally feel at ease in my clothes, I made a big effort to get ready for the day. I let my hair grow out of the tight dress I was wearing and pulled it back into a ponytail. My makeup was heavy.

“You made good use of your big boobs.”

I looked at my new friend, who was laughing and applauding.

“Sis!”

“Why” “It’s a compliment” “A complement?” 

“ You dressed like that because you knew you had big boobs. Your ex-husband is going to die.”

I wonder, “Why is he going to die?” while I put my accessories in order. I have no idea why he is going to die.

“He’s not dead yet. We’re not… It’s still far away.” I looked away from Ji-sool, who started the car again and teased me again.

“My ex-husband must have touched it a lot! If he never touched it, I already know how it feels, smells, and tastes….”

“Sister!” Yun-seol yelled, her expression enraged. She yelled at Jin-sol to leave immediately, but she didn’t even blink.

“Enjoy the movie!” Yun-seol said as she watched Jin-sool depart the workshop with the engraved ring and a tear in her eye.

I truly cannot stop her. It’s not a date, but she’d believe It was. After Jin-sool left, the workshop fell silent. I sighed quietly as I stood in the empty workshop. …Thumb? Is that Thumb truly there? Do I believe it as well?

I straightened my hair in front of the mirror. I put on lipstick. My heart began to race as the time for pickup neared. I tried biting on an ice cube to stop it from racing, but it didn’t work.

A rattling.

Yun-seol turned when the sound of the door opening reached her ears.

“…Are you ready?”

“Yeah, shall we?” I asked, nodding as he surveyed the workspace.

He was a little lighter than he used to be, but he was still attractive enough to draw attention from passersby. 

“Yeah, just turn off the lights.” Regardless of gender, they would hold him in high regard.

That was the kind of man he was.

She knew his eyes were quickly scanning her from head to toe, but Yun-seol pretended not to notice. This is all because of Jin-sool. She’s getting on my nerves by saying strange things.

“I’m going to go see Dal-i.”

“Yeah.”

“I booked the movie theater.”

“Oh…. I booked it too.”

Pause.

Yun-seol stopped checking her bag. He hadn’t expected her to make a reservation.

“My…. Let’s go to the one I book.”

“Really?” She breathed a sneaky sigh of relief that he’d finally gotten the memo.

No, why am I relieved?

Yun-seol’s eyes fluttered.

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

Yunsul closed the workshop door and hopped into the car’s passenger seat. As she buckled her seatbelt, she felt his stare on her.

She turned around to face him.

Was it an illusion?

“…….”

I could definitely feel his gaze, and he was looking straight ahead. Yun-seol shook her head, and soon the car he was driving was on the road.

They chatted and sang nursery rhymes to Dal-i, then drove straight to the movie theater.

Yun-seol wiggled her butt as the traffic seemed to be worse than expected. That wasn’t the only thing that bothered her.

I wore a new dress today, but the more time passed, the more my cleavage stood out. He pulled into the movie theater parking lot and stopped the car. Instead of getting out, he buried his face in the steering wheel. “What’s wrong?” She asked, trying to see if he was sick.

“Wait…. Get out first.” His knuckles were pale from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

“What?”

“Just a second. Get off first.”

“Oh……. Yeah.” She wasn’t sure what to think, but she decided to grant his request. She got out of the car first, and Yun-seol waited for him a few steps away from the car.

Before she got out of the car, she caught a glimpse of his face, and he was definitely flushed.

It looked like he hadn’t been feeling well and had been forced to come to the movie because of her. She figured that was fair enough, so she walked up to the car to tell him to just go home, but the driver’s door opened.

“Sorry I kept you waiting.”

“…….”

“Sorry.”

Yun-seol narrowed her eyes and scanned his face, but unlike before, he looked fine again.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“No, I’m fine now. Let’s go.”

“If you’re not feeling well, tell me right away. Don’t hold it in.”

“Yeah, let’s go up. We’re going to be late.”

Together, they rode the elevator to the seventh floor, where the movie theater was located. They had already bought tickets, so they bought popcorn and drinks and went straight to the theater.

“It was a close call.”

“Yeah.”

Luckily, they were able to get in before the movie started.

“…Over here.”

Yun-seol pointed to the couple’s seat. Sure enough, he paused. Yun-seol sat down with a deliberate air of shamelessness and fiddled with her popcorn.

She’d never seen a couple’s seat before, but it lacked armrests. They must want us to sit together because that is where couples sit.

She reddened unduly but was relieved that the theater was dark.

He took a seat next to her, and she craned her neck to speak to him.

“These were the only seats available.”

He didn’t say anything. She avoided his gaze, pretending to straighten her rising skirt.

The movie started with a loud bang. You didn’t notice, did you? Even as she watched the screen, her attention was drawn to the man sitting next to her. “But Seol……” he whispered in her ear, causing her shoulders to stiffen.

“…Why?” she asked, her voice trembling as she pretended to be casual. He leaned in closer as she stared at him. They were so close that their shoulders touched.

“That…. I see…….”

My toes are tickling, and my heart is racing as the voice whispers.

“…There are plenty of seats available….”

Hmph.

Yun-seol quickly looked around.

Ah…….

The seats around him were empty. She felt like biting her tongue in shame. She raised her hand to cover her face. The sound of her low laugh pierced her ears. His face turned bright red, and she shook his head to stop laughing.

“They must have canceled. Something must have happened.”

“…….”

“Something urgent.”

“…Don’t tease me.”

She wanted to cry, she really did. The movie was supposed to be fun, so why was it so empty? At this point, she was starting to hate Jin-sool. She kept feeling her gaze on her, so Yun-seol gave him a command with a serious face.

“Watch the movie. Hurry up.”

“Okay.”

Like a good listener, he turned his head to face the screen. Yun-seol’s shoulders slumped helplessly.

But.

Sometimes I could feel his gaze on my sternum. If I turned my head, like in a car, he was looking straight ahead, and if I felt his gaze and looked at him, he was looking at the screen.

As we ate our popcorn and drinks, our arms would touch, our thighs would touch. One second he’s crossing his legs and sighing. Then he takes off his jacket and wraps it around his neck.

“What are you doing?”

“…You look cold.”

It’s not like he’s wearing a bib. Yun-seol’s eyebrows knit together.

“I didn’t put it on for this.”

“I put it on to look pretty.”

In the past, I would have kept these words to myself, but now I realized I didn’t need to, and I wanted to express them.

“Not cold…….”

“Pretty.”

Yun-seol closed her mouth to say she wasn’t cold.

“You’re pretty even without these clothes.”

“Don’t wear them.”

“Why? Why I will not wear this kind of dress…….”

He wiped his face with his palms as he crossed his knees in front of him. With wide eyes, I looked at him. I was curious as to why.

“Ha…ah…… There is such a thing,” he said, but he didn’t appear to want to answer.

“My ex-husband is killing me.” I’m not sure why Jin-sool’s words are echoing in my ears right now.