Side Story 5

“…Ugh.”

Gasping and writhing in agony, Ijun blinked and sat up in bed. Breathing heavily, he looked around with bloodshot eyes. His fist clenched the bedsheet tightly, trembling.

Though he knew he was in his own bedroom, the intense emotions lingered. Despite waking up from the dream, his chest still ached terribly, and he had to gasp for air with his right hand pressed against his left chest for a while.  

Then, suddenly coming to his senses, he quickly turned to look beside him. Seeing Siyeon sleeping soundly next to him, tears welled up and streamed down his cheeks. 

“…What is this?”

After wiping away his tears slowly, he muttered to himself with a disheartened expression. Even after waking up from such a vivid dream, it didn’t let him go easily. The agonizing pain in his chest felt too real, and he never wanted to experience that unbearable torment again.  

“Siyeon.” 

Ijun reached out and instinctively twirled Siyeon’s hair around his fingers, out of habit. Normally, he wouldn’t have woken her up, but right now, he desperately wanted to hear her voice and see her face.

“…Hmm.” 

As Siyeon furrowed her brow, she wrapped her arm around his waist. Seeing her reaction, he choked up again, feeling a dull ache in his chest.

“Get up and play with me.” 

“…But it’s Sunday. Go over there and play the password game.”

She murmured in a sleepy voice. At that moment, tears filled Ijun’s eyes at the sound of her voice. As if in harmony with some unknown force, tears welled up as soon as he heard Siyeon’s voice. Finding it strange that he didn’t respond, she blinked and looked up at him, his eyes moistened with tears.

“Ijun?”

Suddenly, Siyeon blinked her eyes open and sat up. Seeing Ijun with his eyes red, all traces of sleepiness vanished in an instant. 

“Are you crying because I didn’t play with you just now?” 

“…Yeah. It’s because of you.” 

His voice was barely above a whisper. 

“Don’t joke around. Tell me what’s really going on.” 

“I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just midlife crisis symptoms.” 

Wiping away his tears with the back of his hand, Ijun had a melancholic expression. Siyeon was just bewildered. 

“You’re only thirty now. How could you already be going through a midlife crisis?” 

“If it is. Will you leave me?” 

“Why would you say something like that? I’m worried about you.” 

“If you’re worried, then hug me quickly.” 

Saying that, Ijun pulled Siyeon into a tight embrace. Through their touching chests, Siyeon could feel Ijun’s heartbeat pounding rapidly with anxiety. 

She wondered what could have put him in such a low mood on a Sunday morning, but she didn’t think she would get an answer from Ijun. For now, she resolved to comfort him. 

“Should I tell you the password?” 

“No… I’ll figure it out.” 

“Then, should we have breakfast and go to Eunkyung’s cafe? We can have coffee there.” 

“Do you want to go?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Alright. Let’s do that then.” 

He said as he swept her back. His voice was still low, so Siyeon hugged him with both arms. For some reason, Ijun looked sad and she felt like she should comfort him. Then Ijun rested his chin on her forehead. 

“…Live a long, healthy life.” 

“…Did something happen while I was sleeping?”

 “I’m just rambling.” 

“Don’t worry. I’m going to live a very long life.” 

“I love you, Siyeon.”

 “….” 

With a soft sigh, he spoke with a lonely tone. It was truly a strange morning.

***

When Siyeon opened the cafe’s glass door and went in, Eunkyung was organizing the glass display next to the counter. Upon hearing the sounds of someone entering, Eunkyung looked up, spotted Siyeon, and waved enthusiastically. 

“Siyeon!”

“Eunkyung.”

Hurrying out from behind the counter, Eunkyung stopped short when she saw Ijun entering behind Siyeon, but quickly composed herself. 

“Vice President, hello.”

Eunkyung greeted Ijun politely with a professional demeanor. Siyeon blinked in surprise at Eunkyung’s sudden change in attitude. 

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” 

“All of a sudden? I’ve always deeply respected the Vice president, I just haven’t said it before. Mr. Ijun, would you like an espresso dopio?” 

Eunkyung looked up at Ijun and smiled slightly as she spoke in a bookish tone. Siyeon, who wondered why Eunkyung was acting differently all of a sudden, thought back to what happened on her birthday and glanced at her. Just thinking about that unpleasant memory from her birthday after Eunhye behaved rudely, made her uneasy. 

“Cut it out.”

“Was she playing around?”

When Ijun asked Siyeon, Eunkyung, who had been smiling brightly until then, was startled and waved her hands forcefully. 

“No! Why would I tease the Vice President?” 

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.” 

With his hands in his coat pockets, Ijun tilted his head slightly as he looked down at Eunkyung. Feeling intimidated by his cold gaze, Eunkyung quickly reached out and hooked her arm with Siyeon’s. 

“Ijun, stop it too.” 

“Yeah.” 

Looking through Eunkyung, Ijun nodded immediately at Siyeon’s words and turned his gaze to an empty table.

As his rigid neck moved slowly, he recalled the woman he had seen crying and beating her chest in his dream last night. The moment he saw Eunkyung, he was sure she was the same woman he had seen in his dream.

“Hey. Your husband is so scary. Why does he glare at me like that when I’m just joking?”

Eunkyung linked arms with Siyeon and walked towards the table, murmuring softly. he vowed silently not to tease him again. JJust imagining being grabbed by the collar and dangling in the air made her spine tingle and her hair stand on end. Ijun wouldn’t take it lightly just because he was Siyeon’s friend. 

Siyeon and Eunkyung sat facing each other at the table, chatting, while Ijun sat next to Siyeon, drinking coffee and listening to their conversation, not finding it boring but rather engaging with an interested expression on his face.

“If you’re not busy today, want to grab lunch? Manager Park is coming later.” 

“Yoonsu oppa is coming here?” 

“Yeah, he was here yesterday too. He often comes to Seoul for some business nearby.” 

Ijun chuckled at Eunkyung’s response, setting his coffee aside. When Ijun laughed, Eunkyung nervously glanced at him, unsure why he was smiling. Since earlier, he had been sending her sharp glances, and she felt like he might drag her out of the cafe if she did something wrong to Siyeon. 

“He got promoted to manager, but is he working until the weekend now? It doesn’t seem like it… If not, then maybe…” 

“Nah, it’s not like that. So, I hope you’ll stop entertaining such delusions.”

Before Siyeon could fully speak, Eunkyung stood up with her right hand raised like taking an oath and said solemnly. 

“How do you know if it’s a delusion or not?” 

“I just do. He comes to the cafe often, so last time, I asked if he liked me. The part-timers told me to ask.” 

“And then?”

Siyeon leaned towards Eunkyung with a twinkle in her eyes. 

“The next part of the story is paid. How about paying and listening more?” 

“Are you really going to be like this?” 

Siyeon, who was deeply focused on the conversation, placed her hands on her hips with an angry expression, so Ijun quickly took out a black card from his wallet and handed it to Eunkyung. 

“Here, I’ll pay.” 

“What?” 

Surprised, Eunkyung leaned back slightly. 

“Take it and pay.” 

“No, Vice president. Why do you take it with all seriousness every time I joke?  How am I supposed to react?”

“I’m just trying to pay for the coffee.”

 Ijun’s face showed no expressionas he slid the card between his index and middle fingers.

If it’s about the coffee, he should have said so in advance instead of making people misunderstand. 

With an uncomfortable expression, Eunkyung reluctantly took Ijun’s card. 

“I don’t want to take it, but I will. It’ll put Siyeon’s mind at ease.”

“Since we’re at it, let’s be generous with the payment.”

“How generous? About 50,000 won?” 

When Ijun narrowed his eyes as if he misheard something, Eunkyung quickly corrected herself. 

“Let’s make it 100,000 won.” 

“Add two more zeroes. So Siyeon can come anytime and have a drink.” 

“…”.

10 million won for coffee. How much will Siyeon drink when she comes? 

Eunkyung froze, holding the card in both hands. After a few seconds, she managed to regain her composure and asked with wide eyes. 

“Do you really want me to swipe 10 million won?” 

“Haven’t you gone to pay yet?” 

“No, how can someone not distinguish between joking and being serious like this…” 

Eunkyung stood up abruptly and, as her gaze met Ijun’s, she trailed her words and held the card preciously as she headed towards the counter. Watching her with a smile, Siyeon finally spoke.

“To fill up that amount, I guess I’ll have to bring friends here often.” 

“Come often. Come and have pleasant conversations and change your mood. I like it when you smile like this.” 

“Thank you.” 

“For what?” 

“I already have a lot to thank Eunkyung for, but thank you for expressing it for me, Ijun.” 

Eunkyung had been the closest friend Siyeon could rely on in both past and present lives. Feeling like Ijun understood her feelings towards Eunkyung, Siyeon’s heart swelled with emotion. 

“…Eunkyung is the closest person to you, isn’t she?” 

“Yes. Eunkyung has always been there for me when I was having a hard time. Even in the past, when I was financially struggling, I received a lot of help from Eunkyung, who was working at the cafe.”

“…”. 

Ijun, with a smile on his face, glanced at Siyeon, who was wearing a subtle smile.

If last night’s scene of being plunged into terrible agony wasn’t a dream, was it an impending future or a past already gone by? 

“Should we have a child?” 

Eventually, he slowly moved his lips.