CH 55.1

“I was ordered to take you home.”

As soon as she got out of the building, someone blocked her way. As she raised her head, Woo-nam, who had brought her here, was stubbornly standing in front of her.

“I can go alone. It’s not a difficult path.”

“I’ll take you home.”

Despite Yoo-hwa’s rejection, Woo-nam waited with the back door of the car opened. The door was already getting wet with the rain that was pouring. Yoo-hwa looked alternately between the door and Woo-nam. At a glance, both the exterior and interior of the car were luxurious. Even to her, who lived without anything, its value seemed to be considerable.

“This car, does your superior ride it?”

Even though Yoo-hwa called him superior, she thought that word didn’t suit him in the slightest. Even so, it was difficult to say the word ‘boss’ in the middle of the street.

“He does, right?”

“…”

Woo-nam was silent despite Yoo-hwa’s pressing. Even if Woo-nam didn’t answer, the high-end foreign car seemed to be Woo-hyun’s. Everything resembled Woo-hyun, including the gloss, and even the absence of noise when the engine was turned on.

“That’s why I want to ride it even less.”

She thought that when she got in the car, it would be filled with Woo-hyun’s scent. She thought she would cry unsightly if she inhaled Woo-hyun’s scent in this state.

Woo-hyun’s gaze, looking at her painfully, came to her mind.

Yoo-hwa raised her head and turned her gaze to the neon signs, which deliberately began to turn on one by one. She stared blankly at the light for a moment. The sky was darkening, and the land underneath it was lighting up. It was as if another sun was rising.

Yoo-hwa, who had been staring blankly at the sight, forgetting that there were people next to her, came to her senses and walked slowly.

“I’ll go on my own. Don’t worry about it.”

Woo-nam blocked her.

“I was told to take you unconditionally.”

“Is it because of safety?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of those people, if he is so worried?”

“…”

“It must be troublesome.”

“…”

It seemed like something more complicated than she thought had happened. It seemed that it was a matter that you couldn’t react to emotionally and endure, as Woo-hyun said. Even so, she couldn’t just go to Woo-hyun’s house and live there. It would just prove that she was indeed Woo-hyun’s person. In that case… She didn’t have the confidence that she would be really fine this time. Because he was intolerant of Woo-hyun.

“I’ll take the bus home. Don’t tell me that I can’t. I’ll scream if you force me to get in the car. Calling Sin Woo-hyun’s name.”

While speaking, she was wondering since when she had been able to do this kind of thing. Until she met Woo-hyun, everything in the world was so scary that she was always hiding, but after breaking up with Woo-hyun, nothing was scary anymore. Since she had no thoughts, no worries, and no fears, her actions became unhindered.

She thought that something somewhere had broken down on its own, but even so, she didn’t feel like fixing it.

“I’m serious.”

Whether he felt Yoo-hwa’s sincerity as she said that, Woo-nam had an embarrassed face. Although he was enduring because of Woo-hyun, he also let out a short sigh as if this situation was extremely ridiculous.

“Then, at least a taxi…”

“Taxis are even more inconvenient.”

She also had to ride that with someone else. She was uncomfortable just thinking about being in the same space with a driver she didn’t know.

Yoo-hwa turned around, turning her back to Woo-nam, as if she was not going to say anything else. Contrary to her concern that Woo-nam might force her into the car, that kind of thing didn’t happen.

While taking the bus, she saw a car following closely through the window. She pretended not to see it and threw her gaze to somewhere far away.

The night grew darker, and soon it became completely dark. The neon signs that were filling the city were seen sparsely.

“Why did you have to be Kim Yi-woon’s sister?”

Woo-hyun’s voice overlapped above that.

“Why did we have to meet again like this?”

A painful voice followed.

It was just a question, but the weight those words had was not light. Long periods of worry and regret definitely underlay the voice that painfully asked why they were Sin Woo-hyun and Kim Yoo-hwa, why they had to meet like that, and why they became like this.

But why was he now having something like regret?

Why was she thinking about him again?

What was the difference, now that she couldn’t do anything?

Yoo-hwa cast her gaze into the deep darkness. The bus was entering a more and more deserted road with no street lamps. The focus she had barely grabbed was quickly blurred.

***

“Ugh.”

Yoo-hwa pressed her temples with one hand at the strong headache that rushed in as soon as she opened her eyes. When she looked at the clock, it was past 4 pm. She couldn’t sleep all night, but she seemed to have fallen asleep after seeing the sun rising and slept until now. Barely raising her wobbling body, Yoo-hwa stared forward, blankly.

She had to get a new job, check if her salary had come in, make food and eat…

She had a pile of things that had to be done, but her body didn’t move at all.