The Season I Loved You Without You - Chapter 66

CHAPTER 66

Quietly, Go-yeo glanced at Ji-hyuk sitting comfortably on the chair. He was neatly dressed, but his face seemed troubled. Ji-hyuk got up with a faint smile.

“Welcome.”

Go-yeo furrowed her brows at his voice, which sounded split. Ignoring it, Ji-hyuk pulled out her chair. Though she couldn’t understand why he was acting this way, she decided to go along with his rhythm for now.

Go-yeo sat straight, facing Ji-hyuk who sat across from her. Ji-hyuk glanced at Go-yeo’s neatly folded hands on the table and smirked slightly.

“I told you to wear the ring.”

Ignoring his question, Go-yeo took out the ring case from her bag and pushed it towards Ji-hyuk. Ji-hyuk glanced at the case briefly, then looked at Go-yeo silently.

“Why? Don’t you like the design?”

Ji-hyuk asked, tilting his head with genuine curiosity. Go-yeo chuckled knowingly at his question.

“No. It’s beautiful, and it’s my style.”

“But?”

“Because it’s from you.”

Ji-hyuk chuckled, tousling his neatly combed hair, and nodded as if he couldn’t fathom the situation. He couldn’t comprehend this situation. Looking at Go-yeo expressionlessly, he asked.

“Is that true?”

“I’ve always said it. My feelings remain the same.”

“Why on earth?”

Suppressing the rising emotions, Ji-hyuk struggled to calm himself down. When he asked Go-yeo why, his mind was on someone else. The guy who came to MMK Construction Headquarters a few days ago handed over a check to the secretary. That lad calmly expressed his sincerity, erecting useless pride despite having nothing. Trying to take Go-yeo’s heart with such a topic. What could he possibly do with such a guy?

If she abandons him like that.

What about him?

Ji-hyuk pressed his temples as if trying to split his head even after taking painkillers, feeling a piercing pain. Go-yeo glanced at him briefly and took a sip of the coffee in front of her. It was the coffee that suited her taste.

Moon Ji-hyuk was delicate; he often adjusted such things effortlessly. It was trivial to his standards, but Go-yeo didn’t mind. However, she couldn’t tolerate deviating from his standards in the broader sense.

“Do you remember that? Why did we first break up?”

At the sudden remark, Ji-hyuk looked at Go-yeo as if it didn’t sit well with him.

“To be honest, I don’t remember well either. But I remember how hard it was that day. I cried all day at school.”

Ji-hyuk felt a sense of unease in Go-yeo’s calm voice as if some part of her body was trembling less than usual. It was like an animalistic instinct sensing danger.

“Even after that, it was much harder to accept that we were repeating our breakup than to try to resolve the reasons.”

Her words now meant she had accepted their breakup and it wasn’t as hard as it used to be. Ji-hyuk seemed to understand her meaning, his expression firm.

Countless reasons for breaking up meant nothing in the face of love, and Go-yeo didn’t care how Ji-hyuk treated her. That’s how blindly devoted Go-yeo was to Moon Ji-hyuk. She knew he was the same way.

If it weren’t for Yun Seung-ok’s crazy antics, Go-yeo would have convinced herself it was love and lived her whole life like that. Adapting to Ji-hyuk’s mold, thinking it was love for Go-yeo. Living snugly, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, under the guise of consideration, veiled in control.

Just like when they broke up, Go-yeo might have wanted to stop abruptly, but within the confines of marriage, she would have gritted her teeth till the end. He was so sweet that she couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

“We might have lived well, but we weren’t happy.”

Although everything seemed fine on the surface, Go-yeo must have withered away. The conclusion was that they weren’t meant to be.

“You needed someone next to you. Not necessarily Go-yeo. I couldn’t completely quench your thirst.”

Ji-hyuk merely needed tools to alleviate his anxiety and loneliness. Blindly clinging might have seemed like profound love to him, but whether it was genuine love remained uncertain.

This is as far as they go. At Go-yeo’s subdued final words, Ji-hyuk closed his eyes.

“…”

Now Ji-hyuk fully understood Go-yeo’s state and recognized their relationship. Seeing Go-yeo’s serene expression, Ji-hyuk didn’t know what else to say, so he remained silent.

Is it over between them?

Ji-hyuk was good at facing reality, but when it came to Go-yeo, he was clueless. Go-yeo was always in Ji-hyuk’s embrace. He had been denying reality all along. The ringing in his ears made his mind even more dizzy.

He believed that even if she momentarily faltered, she would eventually come back to him. She always did. Because it was right.

The little bird that he always thought would stay in his embrace flew away. Was Go-yeo just the bird? Or was Moon Ji-hyuk himself the bird in the world called Go-yeo?

Can Ji-hyuk exist without Go-yeo? As he looked at the space she left behind, the reality that struck him made it hard to breathe. It felt like someone was strangling his neck no matter how hard he tried to breathe.

“Hah.”

He gasped as he breathed heavily and quickly loosened his tie. It felt like everything went dark before his eyes, and his blood drained from his body. Ji-hyuk staggered, gripping the table.

Go-yeo received the details exchanged between lawyers regarding this incident. Since Ji-hyuk’s side provided the potential for trouble, he decided to transfer his real estate capital to Go-yeo. Currently, it amounted to nearly 20 billion when liquidated.

Go-yeo conveyed that there was no need for it, but in the face of his stubborn decision, she decided it was better to cleanly accept the transfer and end things. Her steps out of the hotel, leaving Ji-hyuk behind, felt light. She usually felt dragged down when she thought of him, but somehow, not as much today.

* * *

They were dating, but it felt awkward to directly call themselves lovers. Go-yeo still hadn’t labeled her relationship with Ga-eul, but it felt different from when there wasn’t a name before. She tried to express herself somewhat honestly to match his forwardness in trying to balance things.

Waiting in front of his college building, she felt the slightly warmer weather. At the boundary between spring and summer, the sun felt warmer, closer.

The supercar she received as a birthday present from Sang-moon wasn’t very comfortable. Since Go-yeo wasn’t interested in cars and saw them merely as a means of transportation, she thought she should dispose of them after riding them a few times as a gesture. Not long after waiting in the car, people started pouring out of a building.

Some were blatantly staring, perhaps because the car had tinted windows, making it impossible to see inside. Go-yeo realized then that bringing such a flashy car wasn’t a good idea.

Judging it wasn’t a good idea to meet him here, she quickly changed the location. As she parked in the shade away from the building, she received a message. When she roughly indicated her location to him, she saw Ga-eul running from afar.

‘Why is he running in this heat?’

She was about to mock his unnecessary enthusiasm, but she couldn’t help but smile softly at his pure boyish smile. When Ga-eul arrived nearby, Go-yeo got out of the car.

Their gazes met in the air. Go-yeo looked at the approaching Ga-eul. The breaking sunlight through the tree shadows illuminated Ga-eul. Even the gentle breeze playing with his hair felt like it was all for him.

Ga-eul often felt awkward in front of Go-yeo, but today, he seemed even more so. He cautiously held her fingertips.

“I like you. A lot. I’ve been wanting to say this.”

His gentle voice tickled her ears. Go-yeo quietly observed his face, which alternated between making and breaking shadows with the swaying leaves. Under Go-yeo’s piercing gaze, Ga-eul bit his lip, then gathered the courage to continue.

“…I’m glad I can say it now.”

Go-yeo could understand his words. She had always been aware of what he was saying, both with his eyes and his entire being, pretending not to know. He seemed to be thanking her for allowing him to express his overflowing feelings now.

Go-yeo didn’t know how to respond to Ga-eul’s words, so she stayed silent. His confession felt like a hot lump in her throat, weighing heavily on her chest. Despite Go-yeo’s silent reaction, Ga-eul simply smiled innocently and held her hand tighter.

Ga-eul hesitated about where to go for Go-yeo’s sudden visit, but Go-yeo chose Ga-eul’s house without much thought. Despite feeling awkward again, Ga-eul liked it.

As they entered his house, the scent of sun-dried blankets greeted them. It seemed like he had diligently cleaned and done laundry alone. Sitting at his desk, Go-yeo noticed two thriving red bean plants. Their leaves were dust-free and gleaming. Seeing the two plants still growing well made her feel happy. As she lightly tapped one with her finger, she felt the familiar healthy resilience of the plant.