She was walking toward them from the opposite direction. Taeseop’s eyes widened. He was right. That woman from earlier was indeed Jang Soyu. When Taeseop stopped, Hyunwook and Jinwook stopped too.

“What’s wrong?”

Hyunwook and Jinwook followed Taeseop’s gaze and their eyes widened in surprise. Shocked, Hyunwook stammered.

“J-Jang Soyu?”

Jinwook’s eyes fell on the child holding Soyu’s hand. His heart sank. At that moment, Soyu recognized the three men and stopped walking. Compared to the surprised men, Soyu remained very calm. Their gazes intertwined. It had been five years since they last met. The three men simultaneously let go of their bicycles and rushed toward Soyu. Hyunwook was the most frantic.

“Jang Soyu? Is that really you? Am I seeing things?”

“Soyu! It really is you! Where have you been all this time?”

Taeseop was relatively calmer, but he was just as excited. Meanwhile, Jinwook simply stared at Soyu with deepened eyes. She smiled faintly.

“You guys haven’t changed. Still hanging out together?”

Everyone was stunned by Soyu’s attitude, speaking as if she had seen them just yesterday. Hyunwook raised his voice.

“You! We’re meeting after five years and that’s all you have to say!”

“Should I cry instead?”

Soyu looked at Jinwook.

“It’s been a while, Kim Jinwook.”

Jinwook looked at Yeoul hiding behind Soyu’s legs and asked.

“Is this your child?”

“Yes.”

“Did you… get married?”

“No.”

The three men’s eyes widened. Not married but has a child? At that moment, Jeongeun stepped forward and greeted them warmly.

“It’s you guys. It’s been a while.”

The three men bowed their heads in greeting.

“Auntie. It’s been a long time.”¹T/N: the three actually call her “mother” but i thought that would be confusing so i mostly changed it to auntie

“Have you been well?”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t attend your husband’s funeral. Soyu cut off contact, so even our classmates found out later.”

“We were all in disarray back then. Have you all been well?”

“Yes.”

“Since we’ve met by chance, shall we go somewhere for a drink?”

Jeongeun glanced at her daughter, and so did the men. Soyu nodded without hesitation.

“Let’s go. I’m not sure if there’s a café nearby.”

At her words, all three men simultaneously pulled out their phones and quickly began searching. Taeseop shouted.

“Found one!”

“I found one too.”

“Me too!”

The three men looked at each other and chuckled.

“We really haven’t changed at all, have we?”

“Right. Anyway, good to see you, Jang Soyu.”

“Let’s go here. It’s the closest.”

While sharing the location, Jinwook bluntly asked Soyu.

“Give me your phone number.”

Soyu gave her number without hesitation. As Jinwook entered the number, he looked at her resentfully. Soyu asked.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Even if you didn’t contact the others, shouldn’t you have at least contacted me?”

“I was busy.”

Jinwook sighed and shared the café location with Soyu, then looked at Yeoul. The child was still hiding behind his mother, only his eyes visible. Jinwook bent down and spoke to the child.

“Hello. We’re your mom’s friends. What’s your name?”

Yeoul emerged from behind his mother, bowed with a belly greeting, and lowered his head.

“Saebom Kindergarten, Sun Class, four-year-old Jang Yeoul!”

The child was adorable. Taeseop asked with a smile.

“A girl?”

“I’m a boy.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Everyone thinks I’m a girl.”

While everyone else seemed pleased, Jinwook couldn’t hide his emotions. He looked at Soyu with trembling eyes. Yeoul asked.

“Are you Mom’s friends?”

“Yes. Friends since high school.”

“This is the first time I’ve met Mom’s friends.”

Yeoul looked up at the adults and asked.

“You’re so tall.”

All of them were over 180cm, so it must have seemed amazing to a child.

“Yeoul, you said you’re four? Aren’t you tall too?”

“I’m the tallest in my kindergarten. Taller than the older boys.”

Hyunwook and Taeseop were completely charmed by the articulate and adorable child. Soyu summarized the situation.

“Let’s go. Let’s not stand around here.”

Everyone nodded and followed her.

Soyu arrived first at a café not far from Grand Park. After entering, she seated her mother and Yeoul at a separate table and asked.

“Mom, hibiscus tea?”

“Yes.”

“Yeoul, they have peach smoothies.”

“I want that.”

“Okay.”

Soyu went to the kiosk, placed the order, and then went to Yeoul and said.

“Yeoul, Mom is meeting friends after a long time.”

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if I sit separately for a while?”

“You won’t sit with me?”

“Yes. We have a lot to talk about. Is that okay?”

“Did you order the peach smoothie?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s okay.”

Perhaps because there weren’t many customers, the drinks came out quickly. Soyu carried the tray, gave the drinks to her mother and son, and sat at a table some distance away. On the tray were three iced Americanos and a peach smoothie. After waiting briefly, the three men parked their bicycles and entered the café. The three who hurriedly sat across from Soyu didn’t speak, just watched her cautiously despite their rush to get there. Soyu said.

“Drink. It’s coffee, right?”

“Yes. Whose is this?”

When Taeseop pointed to the peach smoothie, Soyu said.

“Jinwook’s.”

Taeseop waved to Yeoul at the other table and said.

“Your son is really cute.”

Soyu smiled faintly, and Hyunwook asked.

“So where have you been? How could you completely cut off contact even with us?”

“That’s just how it happened. I was in a daze.”

“Are you living well?”

“I’m doing fine.”

“What do you do? Did you not finish your studies?”

“Right.”

As Soyu continued giving short answers, Hyunwook pounded his chest.

“Ugh. This is frustrating. Say something more!”

“What difference would it make?”

Taeseop asked with a smile.

“Are you healthy? You’ve gained some weight since before.”

“Yes. I’ve become healthier, thanks.”

Jinwook, who had been just listening to the three of them talk, finally spoke.

“If you’re not married, how did Yeoul happen?”

“Is marriage required to have a child?”

“Don’t dodge the question.”

Jinwook asked with a stern expression.

“Who’s the father? Someone we know?”

Soyu just smiled and sipped her coffee. The men’s intense gazes followed her slow movement.

“You all seem to be doing well. What do you do, Taeseop?”

The men were disappointed, expecting some kind of answer. Taeseop smiled awkwardly and said.

“I joined my father’s company.”

“AM Engineering?”

“You remember?”

“Am I an idiot? What about you, Hyunwook?”

“I also joined my father’s law firm.”

“Everyone’s doing well.”

At that moment, Jinwook asked indignantly.

“What about me? Why aren’t you asking about me?”

“Is there anyone in Korea who doesn’t know about you?”

Jinwook was momentarily stunned.

“Huh?”

“Congratulations on winning the Grand Prize.”

Only then did Jinwook’s lips stretch into a smile.

“So you knew?”

“Of course. With all that TV coverage, it would be stranger not to know.”

Taeseop asked.

“What about you? When did you come back after quitting your studies?”

“I came back immediately when Father passed away. Now I run a small company.”

“A company?”

“Yes. A computer security firm.”

The three men fell silent for a moment. Jang Soyu, who wanted to become a physics professor, running a computer security firm? It didn’t seem to fit. But Hyunwook casually said.

“We were really worried about you. You suddenly disappeared, and later we heard your father passed away and the company was taken over.”

Taeseop looked at Jeongeun and said.

“But you look well, Auntie.”

“That’s because of Yeoul.”

This time Jinwook asked.

“Even if not others, shouldn’t you have contacted us? How could you change your number and completely disappear?”

“You weren’t even in Korea anyway.”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t been back from America for long, right?”

Jinwook’s expression wavered.

“You knew about me?”

“How could I not know when the media shows your every move?”

Jinwook, who had been touched that she knew about him, was disappointed. Taeseop asked next.

“Where do you live?”

“Gwacheon.”

Hyunwook got excited.

“Where in Gwacheon? We live in Gwacheon too.”

At this, Soyu slightly frowned. She didn’t tell them exactly where, just asked, “Really?” and left it at that. Jinwook kept glancing at Yeoul. The child had drunk about half of his peach smoothie and was blinking sleepily.

“The child is really pretty.”

Looking at her son, Soyu said.

“Yeoul seems sleepy. Let’s part ways for today.”

“Already?”

“We just sat down.”

“I’ll call you.”

Taeseop and Hyunwook urged.

“Enter our numbers.”

“Did you change your phone?”

“No.”

“Then I already have it. I’ll call you.”

The three men were momentarily stunned. While they exchanged confused glances, Soyu got up and went to her son and mother. Taeseop muttered.

“She really was hiding from us.”

“Yeah… seeing how she knew our numbers but didn’t contact us…”

As Soyu tried to pick up the drowsy child, Jinwook suddenly rushed over.

“Let me do it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Let me. You said he’s four. He must be heavy.”

Jinwook’s expression became strange and complicated as he held the limp Yeoul. He looked at Soyu with resentful eyes but didn’t say anything specific.

“Let’s go.”

The two friends also approached and greeted Jeongeun.

“Take care, Auntie.”

“Yes. It was nice to see you today.”

“Let’s meet again sometime. We’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Yes, let’s do that. Keep in touch from now on. Soyu has been lonely all this time.”

Jinwook said.

“We’ve been looking for her. She’s the one who cut contact.”

“That’s right. My child can be a bit cold. You should start keeping in touch with your friends now.”