Chapter 11 (Part 4)

“I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Jinwon lamented, staring into space with his chin propped on his hand.  

Across from him, Jeong-ho was busy cooking in the kitchen.  

“I’ve told you many times you’re perfectly normal.”  

Jinwon sighed deeply, finding no comfort in Jeong-ho’s words.  

“If In-ah knew what I think every time I see her face, she might never want to see me again.”  

Jeong-ho couldn’t suppress his laughter, chuckling.  

“What thoughts are those?”  

Jinwon snapped.  

“Hey! I’m not joking. This is serious!”  

In a short time, his emotions seemed to ride a roller coaster, his expression turning somber.  

“I don’t think I can live without In-ah anymore.”  

“Then why not reveal your side of things now?”  

“No. I told you. I’ll never lose her again.”  

Jeong-ho looked at him curiously and asked,  

“Why do you think you’ll lose her? It’s to protect her. You need power to protect, idiot.”  

“Don’t talk like you know. If I reveal it and get greedy… it’ll ruin her life too.”  

Jeong-ho sighed.  

“True, it’s not an ordinary world. Their world.”  

“It’s better for her not to know. She’s happy enough in just our world.” 

Watching his serious expression, Jeong-ho’s face turned playful again.  

“But aren’t you unhappy now? Because you can’t do what you want when you see her?”  

“Hey!!”  

His face flushed red as he lunged at Jeong-ho.  

Jeong-ho dodged playfully, clearly enjoying himself.  

***  

Late at night. After seeing Jinwon off, Jeong-ho turned back to enter the store.  

“Hey!”  

A woman’s voice called loudly, making him turn.  

A woman, clearly drunk, staggered toward him.  

Though he didn’t recognize her, she was In-kyung.  

As she reached him, she swayed. Startled, he instinctively grabbed her arm.  

She shook his arm off roughly, glaring.  

“Don’t touch me!”  

She threatened him with a menacing tone.  

He quickly let go, raising both hands.  

“I’m not touching you. But you’re stepping on a flower.”  

Blinking in her drunkenness, she looked down at her feet.  

She was stepping on a small yellow dandelion under a street tree.  

Lifting her foot off the dandelion, she turned sharply to glare at him.  

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”  

“Okay.”  

He replied absentmindedly, turning to leave.  

“But haven’t we met before? You look familiar.”  

Her slurred words made him sigh as he turned.  

Just then, she lost her balance, falling toward him. He instinctively reached to catch her.  

“Uh-oh! Don’t touch me!”  

Her shout drew the attention of passersby.  

They all looked at him suspiciously.  

Being a large man, he was used to being misunderstood, so it wasn’t a new reaction.  

To avoid more misunderstandings, he turned decisively. As he opened the store door,  

“Hey! That’s not right. Do you like any woman?”  

His eyes widened in disbelief.  

“Hey.”  

He couldn’t hold back any longer, about to protest, but she was unstoppable. Now tearful, she looked like a melodrama heroine.  

“Isn’t my heart a heart too? You jerk!”  

She lunged, grabbing his collar and shaking him.  

Caught off guard, he quickly scanned the surroundings.  

People were now filming with their phones. This was a misunderstanding waiting to happen.  

Panicking, he pushed her off. She fell back weakly.  

Alarmed, he quickly caught her.  

‘Riiip—’  

Seeing the disaster before him, he realized everything until now was nothing.  

The torn blouse dangled precariously over her chest, fluttering.  

***  

In-ah was surprised to see In-kyung suddenly show up at her place unannounced in the middle of the night.  

But the reason for her surprise was different. It was In-kyung’s outfit.  

“Why are you wearing an apron? Did you get drunk and leave the bar like that?”  

In-kyung wore a red apron with a soju advertisement emblazoned on the chest. The eye-catching apron successfully hid the torn blouse.  

Still tipsy, In-kyung warned in a weary tone,  

“I’m warning you, don’t say anything.”

In-ah stifled a laugh with her lips.  

The next morning.  

She made hangover soup for In-kyung, who would be suffering from a hangover.  

“Come out and eat some hangover soup.”  

In-kyung, looking disheveled, slowly emerged from the room, holding up a flashy piece of underwear.  

“Is this yours? No, right? It’s weird to have someone else’s.”  

In-ah darted over, snatching the underwear from her hand.  

Grinning mischievously, In-kyung teased excitedly.  

“Look at you, being so bold. Don’t you know women shouldn’t be so forward?”  

“What era do we live in? A professor saying such outdated things…”  

Trying to deflect with a counterattack, In-ah clammed up when she met her gaze.  

“I should meet Jinwon.”  

As In-kyung headed out, she quickly blocked her way.

“Calm down and have some hangover soup. Are you going to ignore the breakfast your sister lovingly prepared for you?”  

In-kyung looked at In-ah with bleary eyes and grinned.  

“Yeah, I should eat it. It’s the breakfast my sister made for me.”  

Sitting across from each other at the table, In-ah tried to change the subject.  

“Do you remember the boy who used to play with us all the time when mom and dad had the shop in the market?”  

“Of course~ I remember. He was really cute.”  

In-kyung gazed into the distance, as if recalling old memories. She continued speaking.  

“That little guy seemed to carry the weight of the world… But why bring him up suddenly?”  

“Turns out, he was Jinwon oppa.”  

“What?”  

Shocked, In-kyung dropped her spoon.  

“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!”  

Excited, she kept patting In-ah’s shoulder, repeating “Oh my goodness,” ignoring her sister’s reaction to the pain.  

***  

In-ah and Jinwon were walking together along the night streets.  

“Why did you suddenly want to go for a night walk?”  

Jinwon asked as she linked her arm with his and gently leaned her head on his shoulder.  

“It’s nice. We can look at the moon together.”  

“The moon isn’t visible.”  

He murmured, looking up at the night sky. Then, not stopping there, he added,  

“Too bad. I can’t see the stars either.”  

Sensing the chilly atmosphere, he glanced at her. Realizing the mood, he quickly added,  

“But it’s nice to people-watch. Haha.”  

Seeing her expressionless face, he quickly stopped laughing. Feeling embarrassed, he cleared his throat, making her chuckle.  

Relieved, he asked,  

“Do you have something to say to me? Is that why you wanted to come out?”  

“Yeah, I have something to say.”  

Her answer made him look at her with a tense expression.  

“Do you remember when we first met? When we were kids?”  

“Of course, I remember.”  

“I don’t remember.”  

“That’s a bit sad.”  

He feigned a sad expression, playfully.  

***  

When they first met, Jinwon was seven years old.  

At that time, his mother had just started a street stall in the market.  

She suffered from the jealousy and bullying of other market vendors due to her good looks.  

Eventually, that day, things escalated.  

“You flirted with my husband! I saw it with my own eyes!”  

“I told you it wasn’t true, how many times do I have to say it?”  

“Still!”  

Jinwon’s mother was grabbed by the hair by a rough vendor, and the market quickly turned into a scene of chaos.  

A little away from the commotion, young Jinwon was hiding.  

His mother had always told him not to come to the market, so he couldn’t run to her.  

He was crying, covering his mouth with his small hands.  

Then, he noticed a girl squatting next to him, staring intently at him.  

She wore mismatched slippers and was eating an ice cream bar. It was five-year-old In-ah.  

Suddenly, she reached out and wiped away his tears with her hand.  

Startled, he opened his mouth, and she popped the ice cream bar she was eating into his mouth.  

“Eat this and stop crying.”  

But young Jinwon, with the ice cream in his mouth, started crying again.  

Seeing this, young In-ah’s face crumpled, and she began to cry too.  

Then, appearing from nowhere, her uncle—who is now her father—came running.  

“You rascal! You can’t take someone else’s ice cream.”  

Hearing this, Jinwon cried even louder. Seeing this, she cried even more.  

Her uncle was at a loss for what to do.  

She, still crying, hugged him tightly.  

***  

“I felt so sad not having a dad, and then your dad said that, so I couldn’t help but cry.”  

Jinwon was startled to see tears welling up in her eyes.  

“Why are you crying, In-ah? Why are you crying?”  

“It must have been sad. Why did my dad say that? He didn’t even know you.”  

He gently wiped away her tears with his finger.  

“I cried, but I wasn’t sad. Because of the ice cream you gave me.”  

“Really?”  

“Yeah. I wasn’t sad anymore.”  

She brightened up and smiled at him.  

To him, she overlapped with the image of little In-ah, squatting in the market, looking only at him.  

He vividly remembered how warm her embrace was back then. It was a moment when he forgot all resentment toward his mother being grabbed by the hair and the sorrow of not having a father.  

Yes, she was the first person young Jinwon wanted to be with for a long time. His first love.  

He gently brushed her hair aside.  

How did I think I could live without you? I’m such a fool.  

As a subtle atmosphere flowed between them, she tried to change the mood by laughing.  

“I remember playing in the market, but I can’t recall our first meeting.”  

“It’s okay. As long as I remember.”  

His last words made her feel like she was melting. He leaned in close, whispering sweetly in her ear.  

In that moment, she unconsciously inhaled sharply and met his gaze.  

But his eyes weren’t on hers; they were fixed on her lips.  

She felt her mouth go dry.  

As he slowly approached, she watched him with wide eyes and then, as if making a decision, spoke with determination.  

“Come to Jeju Island with me.”