Chapter 19

“You can come out now.”

Ijun’s voice was noticeably gentler than before.

Seoyun was still frightened, and just as she hesitated and was about to take a step forward, someone came rushing in through the entrance Seoyun had used.

Quick on her feet, Seoyun immediately pressed herself flat against the wall again.

“Oppa, Ijun oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you enlisting? Next week?”

“Yeah. It’s about time.”

Seoyun’s ears perked up.

This voice too was familiar.

It was Seo Harin, the student council president who had been exhaling long streams of cigarette smoke earlier.

It was all surprising, that Harin, who always looked like a mature model student at school, was a smoker, and that she could speak in such a whining voice like this.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“What do you mean, what are you supposed to do?”

“Weren’t we supposed to have our engagement ceremony when I start college next year?”

“What does the engagement ceremony have to do with military service?”

Ijun’s voice was full of unmistakable annoyance, but Harin paid it no mind.

“Then are you saying I’m supposed to have an engagement ceremony all by myself, without my fiancé there?”

“Why is the engagement ceremony so important? The result is the same anyway. Just say we had it.”

“No. I’m definitely having the engagement ceremony with you. Do it when you come out on leave.”

“Do whatever you want. Now go. Don’t leave your seat empty too long. I’ll be out soon too.”

“Okay. Oppa, come quickly too.”

With the soft rustle of brushing clothes, the sound of her heels faded away.

In the dark shadows, Seoyun listened to their conversation.

She learned that Ijun would be enlisting soon, and that he and Harin were to be engaged.

Perhaps it was because she had gone through one nerve-racking situation after another and all her strength had drained away.

For some reason, it felt as though one corner of her heart had shattered with a sharp crack.

It also felt empty, as if something were slipping out through that broken place.

“You should be able to come out now.”

At Ijun’s words, Seoyun hesitantly stepped out of the darkness.

“What’s your name?”

“Song… Seoyun.”

“Is your family one of Daejeong Electronics’ partner companies?”

“Yes. It’s K-Cell.”

“Ah……”

It seemed Ijun had heard everything Hyeseong had been babbling about earlier too.

For no reason, Seoyun’s face turned red.

Even though he had asked her name, Ijun’s eyes were still indifferent.

Then again, why would he have any reason to take interest in her?

Leaving behind that inexplicable sense of disappointment, Seoyun lowered her head in a bow.

“I’ll be going now. Thank you.”

“There’s nothing good that comes from being here, so don’t follow someone to a place like this again.”

At the words that came from behind her back, this time even the tips of Seoyun’s ears turned red.

It seemed he thought she had begged her father to bring her to a place like this.

It was so humiliating and unfair she felt like crying.

So much so that in an instant she forgot the unfamiliar fear that had overwhelmed her just moments before.

That day had been her first meeting with him.

***

Was it because she had made up her mind to make a decision that would change her life?

She had never imagined she would dream again of the day she first met Ijun.

Even after waking, Seoyun remained absentmindedly lost in those old memories for a long while.

That was how she came to know Ijun, and she had thought she would never see him again.

But whenever she thought of that man who had only brushed past her life for a moment, she found herself short of breath, with an ache around her heart.

After Harin graduated.

At school, rumors spread that Seo Harin, who had gone on to Korea University, and Cha Ijun, the eldest son of the Daejeong Group who was serving in the military, had held their engagement ceremony.

Even as she told herself they were people who had nothing whatsoever to do with her, why did her chest hurt as though it were being crushed?

At night, she would secretly pull the blankets over her head and cry more than once.

And then one day, as if by fate, after entering Korea University herself, Seoyun was able to see Cha Ijun again from afar, now back in school after returning from military service.

Whenever she passed by and caught his gaze resting on her for a brief moment, it seemed that he recognized her too.

If they happened to run into each other in the library, she would greet him in a small voice.

He would simply give an indifferent nod and pass by, but on days like that, Seoyun would often lose sleep that night.

Was it because of the dream?

Sitting on the edge of her bed with her phone in hand, Seoyun’s heart was in turmoil.

The finger pressing the button trembled faintly.

She did not have his number saved separately, so she found the phone number Ijun had used to contact her last time and pressed call.

With each repeated ring, her heart throbbed and beat faster.

―Song Seoyun.

The moment he answered, Ijun called her name as though he had been waiting.

She had already worried over it day and night, and in the end, this was the decision she had made.

There was no need to hesitate anymore.

Taking in a deep breath, she let the words out all at once.

“I’ll do it.”

―… Where are you right now? Should I come to you?

“No. It’s okay. Even if you came, there wouldn’t be anything more to talk about today. I’m only telling you my decision.”

Even without Hana’s words, Seoyun would have made the same decision.

But thanks to Hana, her answer came faster and with greater certainty.

There was no emotion she could read in Ijun’s voice coming through the receiver.

He did not sound pleased, nor did he seem to feel any satisfaction at having obtained what he wanted.

―Is there some kind of problem?

Even though she had answered that she would marry Ijun, she still did not want things to move into anything more concrete just yet.

Before that, there was something Seoyun absolutely had to do first.

“Well…. I need to tell my younger brother first.”

―Your younger brother. You need to get your brother’s permission or something?

“He’s my only family. I want to tell him first.”

―And when would that be?

“My brother says he’s working on an important project with one of his professors at school. Maybe security is strict, because it’s hard to get in touch with him. So I’m sorry, but I hope you can wait a little.”

Was it her imagination?

It sounded as though she heard the faintest scoff.

―An important project. I see.

“……”

―Will you let me know when you reach him? Now that I’ve heard your answer, I’d like to move quickly.

What was so urgent?

Shouldn’t they actually meet more and get to know each other first?

As if he had read Seoyun’s thoughts, Ijun added in a low voice,

―Before you change your mind.

That would never happen, but Seoyun did not answer.

Because there was no other way for her to escape this mud-soaked reality that clung to her ankles and dragged her down.

But deep in her heart, questions swirled.

Why on earth would Ijun have any reason to worry that her mind might change?

What feeling could possibly be driving him?

Even after Seoyun made up her mind, she still could not get through to Jiho.

She had even gone to his school and heard explanations from his friends, but she was worried.

Had there ever been a time when she had been apart from Jiho for this long?

And of all times, it had to happen during a period like this, when everything already felt so uncertain.

Jiho. Are you still very busy? There’s something I really need to tell you, so please call me, even if only for a moment.

After several missed calls, she left him that message.

***

It was Saturday.

Jiho, lying sprawled on the bed, dropped the book he had been reading beside him with a sharp thud.

He was bored out of his mind.

It had already been two months since he had been allowed to touch a computer.

It truly felt as though he was barely breathing, dying a little more with each passing day.

How long was this life going to continue?

They said they were sending him abroad to study, but everyone knew that, whatever they called it, it would be no different from exile.

Would an opportunity to escape this situation ever come?

It was then.

There came a polite knock.

The security team leader and Chief Hyeon always knocked too, but this felt different somehow.

A moment later, the door slowly opened.

The instant Jiho saw the person who appeared beyond it, he sat upright on the bed without realizing it.

It was Cha Ijun.

The black suit fit his body perfectly, his black hair was neatly swept back, and even his dark eyes were calm and sunken.

He looked like a black pillar standing there.

He was utterly different from the first time Jiho had seen him, disheveled in an open shirt and drinking.

Ijun gazed steadily at Jiho with an unreadable look in his eyes.

With the sensation of his throat tightening, Jiho swallowed hard.

The air had suddenly become so heavy that it seemed to press down on his whole body, and no words came out.

It was the first time in his life he had ever felt such tension and fear.

Jiho too had always lived with confidence in his own brilliance, but this man was different from everyone else.

A man born perfect in every way, someone for whom it was only natural to stand at the very summit and reign over and command all things.

A man like a towering, unshakable fortress wall.

Ijun walked over in a slow, relaxed stride and stopped in front of Jiho.

Then he took out the phone he had confiscated from Jiho and held it out.

“Call.”