“What were you thinking about so hard that you couldn’t hear me calling you?”

“Oh, Ms. Yunjoo.”

“Today’s work is all done, right?”

“Yes, I’m all finished.”

“Then give me the rest of your time.”

“You’re busy, Ms. Yunjoo.”

“Today we’re just matching up the blocking and checking the shadows under the lighting, and that’s it. Shall we head out?”

“Mr. Sihyeong.”

Yunjoo’s expression darkened as she watched Sihyeong walk out without waiting for an answer. She had been too busy to see him, and on top of that, she had been avoiding him ever since that day Kangwook had run into them. Fortunately, Sihyeong had seemed caught up in final rehearsals and hadn’t come looking for her either.

Then again, avoiding him wasn’t going to solve anything. She needed to talk to him. She followed Sihyeong out of the theater company as he walked ahead of her. She wanted to share at least a little of her situation with him, even if not all of it, and stop him from drawing any closer. Sihyeong’s car headed out toward the outskirts of the city.

“Let’s get some fresh air and go out to the countryside.”

“Sure. Though I wonder if there’s anywhere people won’t recognize you, Mr. Sihyeong.”

“Does that bother you that much, Ms. Yunjoo?”

“Of course. I want to live like an ordinary person.”

“I’m just an ordinary person to you, aren’t I?”

“You? No, you’re not. You’re a star to me too, Mr. Sihyeong.”

“I don’t want to be a star to you, Ms. Yunjoo.”

“Then what do you want to be? A star up in the sky, or a pebble getting kicked around underfoot?”

“If that’s easier for you, I can be the pebble.”

“Oh, that’s actually tempting.”

Their words were light, but the feelings underneath were not. They tucked their true feelings inside the jokes. Yunjoo joked because she couldn’t accept what he felt, and Sihyeong felt a growing urgency because of it.

“I really could treat you carelessly. You’ll regret it later.”

“Am I really a star to you?”

“Of course. That’s exactly why I’m not joining the line of people waiting for you, Mr. Sihyeong. There are plenty of others who will.”

Sihyeong turned a gaze full of meaning toward her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You call me a star, but you don’t look up to me at all. If anything, you’re the one who acts like a star, Ms. Yunjoo. You make me chase after you every time.”

“Me?”

“That’s right. Every time, I’m the one who comes looking, who suggests we eat or grab coffee. When have you ever done that? I’m starting to think you might be the famous one.”

“Is that so? It’s because we’re friends.”

He hadn’t known the word friend could create this much distance. Sihyeong parked the car and looked at Yunjoo after she said it.

“Being friends is a good thing, so I don’t understand why I hate hearing it from you, Ms. Yunjoo.”

“Do I come across as the type with no loyalty?”

“What?”

“Being friends means loyalty, doesn’t it?”

Sihyeong burst out laughing at that. The serious thing he had been trying to say dissolved into laughter.

“You come across as the type with no love.”

Yunjoo burst out laughing at Sihyeong’s playful reply. She found it both burdensome and funny that he kept pushing the word love on someone who defined things in terms of loyalty. She had thought that by now, with all the hints she had dropped and how firmly she had said no, he would have given up. But Sihyeong hadn’t budged.

The car had turned onto the expressway and cruised along a quiet road before arriving at a small arboretum. They got out of the parking lot and walked in, and Yunjoo looked around. The modest, peaceful arboretum had a familiar look to it from the very entrance.

“Mr. Sihyeong, this place looks familiar even from the entrance. How did you know about it?”

“I filmed here once. On weekdays it’s quiet, so there aren’t many of the eyes you’re so afraid of, Ms. Yunjoo.”

Sihyeong strolled slowly through the arboretum with Yunjoo. A cool, sweet fragrance drifted through the breeze among the green trees and flowers. Yunjoo kept breaking into a childlike smile, exclaiming how pretty everything was, completely absorbed in taking in the scenery.

“You must have had a lot of girlfriends, Mr. Sihyeong. Isn’t this more of a date spot than a filming location?”

“Do I seem that way to you?”

“Yes. Someone as cool and handsome and thoughtful as you not being popular would be strange. Have you ever had feelings for any of the pretty actresses you’ve worked with?”

“I’m not as good a person as you think I am, Ms. Yunjoo.”

Sihyeong had been walking quietly and listening to her, but he stopped and looked straight at her as he said it. The words made him smile silently at his own awkwardness.

“Haha. Come on, that’s ridiculous. There’s no way I can believe you’re not a good person, Mr. Sihyeong.”

“You don’t know me very well, Ms. Yunjoo.”

“I guess I’m not the best judge of people. But that’s fine. You’re a good friend to me.”

“Ms. Yunjoo…”

Friend. He nearly told her to stop using that word. She was still standing there looking at him, so he picked up his pace and raised his voice as he walked ahead.

“Mr. Sihyeong, let’s go over there. That rounded bridge is pretty.”

Just as Sihyeong was about to say something, Yunjoo walked quickly ahead and called out to him. Sihyeong kept a smile on his face and swallowed his words again as he watched her light up with excitement.

‘Right. She’s happy now, so I can say it before we leave.’

“Let’s go together, Ms. Yunjoo.”

He followed after Yunjoo as she moved further ahead. There was no rush. He had come here with something in mind, and as long as he said it before the day was over, that was enough. It wasn’t bad at all to enjoy themselves like people on a real date. Yunjoo had already made it onto the bridge and waved him over.

“Come quick. This bridge is called Musimgyo. No thoughts, no worries, a bridge where the present moment disappears. It feels like you’re supposed to just stand here with nothing on your mind.”

After saying that, Yunjoo fell quiet. She closed her eyes in the stillness. She felt the wind, and she realized she had never really allowed herself to simply feel at peace, even when she was alone. It struck her then that she had been living a rather exhausting life.

When she was alone at home, she would sketch or sit in a daze. Without fail, a tangle of thoughts would fill her head, and she would sigh and make herself get up and move. But this place was different. This place was good.

“Is there time you’ve lost, Ms. Yunjoo?”

“…There is.”

Her gaze drifted somewhere without a clear destination, and her thoughts wandered to Kangwook. The man who had lived inside her lost time. There wasn’t much time left with him now either. They were together, yet Yunjoo kept drifting further away.

“Ms. Yunjoo.”

“Yes.”

She answered, but she wasn’t really there. Sihyeong reached out and took hold of her arm. Only then did Yunjoo startle and turn around.

“Mr. Sihyeong!”

Seeing the look in his eyes, Yunjoo felt her expression grow awkward. She felt sorry for having sunk so deep into her own thoughts that she had forgotten someone was standing right beside her. She gave an uneasy smile and pointed to one side.

“Let’s go to that pavilion over there, by the weeping willows.”

“Ms. Yunjoo, we came together. Can we at least walk together?”

“Haha, alright.”

Sihyeong’s expression grew subdued as he watched Yunjoo, who had been alone in her own world even with someone right beside her. None of her usual bright, easygoing energy was there. She was smiling, but the smile didn’t quite reach.

Yunjoo stood with Sihyeong in the pavilion, looking out at the lush, vivid lotus leaves growing across the water. He had been right that there were no people around. The whole place carried a quiet, unhurried stillness no matter where you stood.

“Mr. Sihyeong, it must be beautiful when the lotus flowers bloom.”

“Then we can come back when they do.”

“Come back again…”

Could she really come back here with Sihyeong? She wasn’t even planning to stay in this country, let alone this place. For her, this could be a first and final time, both with this person and this place.

Sihyeong felt a sudden jolt of fear as he watched a low shadow fall over Yunjoo’s expression. She felt like someone about to leave for somewhere very far away.

“Ms. Yunjoo, why do you say it with that look on your face? What’s so hard about coming back? I’ll make sure to bring you here again.”

Sihyeong, his heart suddenly anxious because of her expression, rushed to speak, but Yunjoo’s gaze had turned toward the pond.

“Mr. Sihyeong, do you know how lotus flowers fall?”

“How do they fall?”

“When they’re in full bloom and ready to go, the whole flower sinks back into the mud it came from. Without a trace.”

“Is that so?”

“Cherry blossoms drift like snow and show everyone the moment they fall, disappearing in a blaze of beauty. But this flower just quietly erases itself. Maybe that’s why it always looks so sorrowful to me.”