Chapter 1.4

Ignoring their ridicule-filled conversation, Seo-hwa quickly turned her back to them. 

This was the worst. 

The soggy, crumpled gift box in her hand felt just like her heart—damp and unpleasant. 

Seo-hwa gripped the wet gift box that Seo Young-hoon wouldn’t even care about and retraced her steps. The sound of their laughter stabbed sharply at her back. 

She didn’t turn around, not even once. Instead, she tightly clutched the gift box and stared only at the ground as she walked. Her hurried steps came to a sudden halt when a voice pierced through the silence. 

“You came back sooner than I thought.” 

Seo-hwa raised her head coldly. 

It was that man again. 

He was still standing in front of the backyard, as if he had predicted she would return, naturally greeting her as she approached. 

“Did you cry?” 

After scanning her face for a few seconds, he stepped closer and asked. His tone was so familiar, as if they had known each other for years, that Seo-hwa suddenly felt a strange irritation rising within her. 

“Why did you… tell me?” 

He must have known. He must have known what Seo Young-hoon and Kim Hee-yeon were doing at the pool. Despite knowing, he had told her where Seo Young-hoon was without any warning. And now, he was waiting for her at the end of the scene he had anticipated. 

Her teeth clenched involuntarily. She felt as though she had been played. 

“Just because.” 

His answer was so brief that it almost made Seo-hwa feel foolish for being so worked up. 

“I was curious about your reaction.” 

With those words, his eyes slowly swept over Seo-hwa’s face. 

“Why did you just leave? You could’ve pulled her hair or something.” 

Seemingly guessing the situation, he raised an eyebrow and smirked. Unlike the dry expression he had worn earlier, his face now carried a playful air. The curve of his lips felt eerily similar to the mocking smiles she had faced earlier. 

Her mood grew increasingly sour. 

“Why would I? It’s not like I’m dating Seo Young-hoon.” 

Her embarrassment turned into a sharp arrow aimed at him. She knew he wasn’t at fault. Yet, she couldn’t suppress the surge of emotions. The very fact that someone she didn’t even know had seen her at her most pathetic was enough to make her feel miserable. 

“You’re engaged, aren’t you?” 

“……” 

“From now on, you should either mark your territory or end it. You have to choose one.” 

He offered unsolicited advice. Advice from someone who didn’t even know her well. 

“…I’ll handle it myself.” 

“You don’t seem capable of handling it.” 

Inwardly, she felt flustered. She hadn’t expected this man, whom she had just met today, to approach her like this, nor had she anticipated him openly mentioning her relationship with Seo Young-hoon. Her twisted feelings of shame and humiliation turned all his words into mockery. 

“Please erase everything you saw and heard today from your mind. I don’t want rumors going around.”

“That’s hard to do.”

“…….”

“Well, I’ll try.”

He shrugged his shoulders as he replied, his tone light and nonchalant. 

“……By the way, why have you been speaking informally to me? This is our first meeting.”

The frustration of having her situation exposed to someone she didn’t know, coupled with his unwelcome meddling, built up inside her. On top of that, his casual use of informal speech, despite them not even exchanging names, irritated her further. 

“This isn’t our first meeting.”

“What?” 

“We lived in the same house.” 

A faint smile spread across his face. The quiet laughter carried a subtle hint of mischief. 

“And we weren’t the kind to use honorifics with each other.” 

As he continued speaking casually, Seo-hwa’s confused expression darted around. 

“Do you want me to use honorifics? I can if you’d like.” 

He smirked. His voice, laced with a mix of teasing and sincerity, stirred chaos in her mind. Her fragmented memories kept slipping away, unable to come together. 

Was he mistaking her for someone else? Or… 

As she tried to piece together her past, Seo-hwa frowned at the low chuckle that reached her ears. 

“That’s disappointing. We used to be pretty close.” 

“…Stop joking around.” 

She swallowed a sigh and shook her head. Judging by his expression, this too seemed like a joke. She felt foolish for being the only one taking things seriously. 

And what good would it do to recall any connection with him? It only made her head hurt. She didn’t have the energy for this right now. She just wanted to be alone. 

“Why did you stop being angry?” 

“Because we won’t have any reason to see each other again.” 

“That’s not necessarily true. I think we’ll be seeing each other quite often from now on.” 

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked. For some reason, his sly smile irritated her nerves. 

“Are you done smoking? Then I’d appreciate it if you left.”

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, she replied curtly. She glanced at him briefly, but he didn’t seem bothered by her blunt remark. 

“I just wanted some air by myself.”  

The emotions Seo-hwa had been suppressing were on the verge of bursting. She worried that she might end up venting her anger on the wrong person. 

Normally, she would have ignored him and walked away, but the fact that she was snapping at this man revealed just how unstable her emotions were at the moment. The damp feelings kept rising to the surface. 

“What should I do? I want some fresh air too.” 

“Then I’ll leave…” 

“Right next to you.” 

The man didn’t move, whether he was oblivious to Seo-hwa’s irritation or deliberately trying to provoke her. He even made the absurd statement that he wanted to stay beside her for fresh air. 

“This tastes awful.” 

He flicked the cigarette held between his fingers and shook his head lightly. 

“I tried it for the first time today.” 

“What?” 

“I wanted to talk to you.” 

“……” 

“To catch your attention, even just once.” 

The man continued to baffle her. Seo-hwa frowned and took a step back. 

“…Did you deliberately stand next to me?” 

His gaze swept over her bloodshot eyes and slowly moved down to her hand. Realizing where his eyes had landed, Seo-hwa quickly hid the gift box behind her. 

“Should I deliver it for you?” 

But the man had already figured out what she was hiding. His innocent question was the last straw for Seo-hwa, and her suppressed emotions finally broke free. 

Why did he keep meddling? Who did he think he was? He was just another errand boy for Seo Young-hoon, wasn’t he? 

Seo-hwa glared at him but swallowed her words. She didn’t know his intentions, but right now, everything he said sounded grating to her ears. 

“Are you close with Seo Young-hoon?” 

“Well… getting closer, I suppose.” 

“By running errands for him?” 

And just like that, the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. 

“……”

“……” 

In the silence that followed, Seo-hwa replayed her own words and realized her mistake. She felt her neck stiffen as regret washed over her. 

Ah. 

He was someone who was treated as an errand boy by Seo Young-hoon, someone who hadn’t even appeared at gatherings before. He couldn’t be from a good family. Surely, he was someone she could say such things to. That was what she had thought, without even realizing it. 

She had said something she would never dare say in front of the others… 

The moment she realized this, Seo-hwa felt a deep disgust toward herself. She had always criticized those who divided people into ranks, yet here she was, subconsciously doing the same. 

She sneaked a glance at the man’s face. As expected, his expression had hardened considerably. 

“…I’m sorry.” 

After a suffocating silence, Seo-hwa muttered in a small voice. Perhaps because of the alcohol, controlling her emotions was difficult. She rubbed her face dry and tried to calm herself before apologizing again. 

“I know who I should be angry at… but I took it out on you. I’m sorry.” 

The people she wanted to lash out at were Seo Young-hoon and her father. They were the reason for her headache, the reason her eyes kept turning red. Yet, she had vented her frustration on an innocent person, mocking him for running errands and trying to get close to Seo Young-hoon. 

‘Why am I like this? Why am I so pathetic?’

Seo-hwa lowered her gaze helplessly. 

“You can vent your anger on me.” 

“….” 

“Want to do more?” 

The man’s response only made Seo-hwa feel more ashamed. Whether he was teasing her or being sincere, his words left her flustered. 

Her reddened eyes slowly lifted to meet his gaze. 

“Or, you can get revenge.” 

“Revenge? How…?” 

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, right?” 

When Seo-hwa realized where his gaze had landed, her shoulders flinched involuntarily. 

“If you want, I’ll lend you mine.” 

There was no mistaking the implication behind his words. His eyes, fixed on her lips, were so clear and unwavering that it was hard to tell if he was joking or serious. 

From the pool to now, the man’s inexplicable interest in her felt both puzzling and uncomfortable. 

Was he trying to mock her? The thought briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly shook it off. Maybe he was just trying to cheer her up with a joke. She didn’t want to twist his intentions unnecessarily.