“Give me the address. I need to restore that house of yours to its original condition right away.”
“If you come to that house, I want to welcome you with open hands.”
“Nope, let me send my staff there. I don’t want to get entangled with you again.”
“Didn’t you hear anything from Arum?”
When Soran mentioned Arum’s name, Hojoon looked at her sharply.
She continued, “I asked her a favor. In other words, I requested her to ask you if I could receive your coaching on geomancy.”
“Do you think divorce is so trivial? Are you joking right now?”
“Nope. It’s an important matter that affects my life. Don’t you think my situation miserable since get divorced my way?”
Soran wanted to draw comfort from him.
“I, too, want to love and be loved.”
“Just do it. Nobody told you not to love!”
“I want to love you.”
“I know you can love anybody no matter who he is.”
Having said that, he turned back.
Soran had no choice but to laugh it off since nobody wanted to hear what she really wanted to say.
She just felt that she looked shabby even under the colorful lamp.
In the meantime, Arum, completely forgetting to call Hojoon, was absentmindedly chatting with Konsu about their past.
“Do you remember Green Beer in front of our university? The fish cake soup there was really delicious. Shall we go there sooner or later?” said Arum.
Konsu chuckled.
“Hey, that sucks! I remember that we poured water into the soup, and later, only water was left boiling there with no fish cake. Let’s go to Izakaya near Hongik Univ. for fish cake soup. It tastes really delicious there.”
She was a bit hurt by his remarks.
“Do you really not know why I want to visit Green Beer in front of our university?”
“Why?”
“That’s where we first kissed.”
“Oh, you’re right!”
It was really a distant memory to him, as if it were a thing of the past century.
How many times did they kiss after that first instance?
They were close to each other enough to think they were united in one body.
When the word kiss came up, Arum and Konsu felt awkward, so they kept emptying glasses of beer in silence.
Konsu broke the silence. “When did you move out?”
“Six months after you left.”
He just nodded.
At that moment, something crossed her mind. “Did you come to my place at that time?”
“….”
Though he didn’t answer, she could presume he did.
“Oh, you did,” she said, but didn’t ask further.
Both knew how much distress each of them suffered after they cancelled off their marriage.
“By the way, that guy!” Konsu suddenly said, with a wary look in his eyes.
Obviously, Konsu seemed to think of Hojoon not just as a man, but as his rival.
“Is he a good geomancy consultant? I wonder if he can evaluate the merits of my house in terms of geomancy,” he said.
“I have no idea. He’s quite busy,” she said, defending Hojoon in spite of herself. A bit embarrassed, she continued, “What I mean is that he is not that competent.”
“I guess so. I don’t believe in geomancy, to be honest with you. Who is going to believe it these days? As a young man, he’s so pathetic,” Konsu said.
Though she got annoyed by his comment, she didn’t want to get on his nerves.
‘You’ve got to appreciate him because it’s thanks to his geomancy advice that you and I could meet like this!’ she wanted to scream at him.
But she pretended not to believe in geomancy after reading his mind. She just kept drinking.
And she faintly realized that she was near her house when she came to her senses.
“Oh, how come you got so easily drunk, Arum?”
She came back home, almost wrapped in his arms.
“Wake up! Were you drunk like this when you were alone here?”
“No, no. Please don’t go away today, Konsu,” he stopped him when he went to leave.
As if he was waiting for those words, he immediately turned back.
Both hugged each other tightly, looking as if they wanted to make up for their long separation.
Now, they were on the same bed, as if they would never break up.
She felt like she was dreaming now.
When was the last time she slept with him on the same bed?
Was it because of the new bedspread she bought?
Tossing and turning in bed, she touched him by accident, which was comfortable.
She could feel his warmth on the bed.
She wished that the night would never end.
Though she drank too much that night, she was pretty much sober.
It looked as if she went back three years ago.
If she could reconnect the lost time, she wanted to cut the periods when she was separated from him and past this moment.
She leaned on his back and listened for his heartbeat.
And she fell asleep like that.
The next morning, Konsu was already up and ready to report to work.
He kissed her the first thing in the morning, just like he used to.
“I’ll see you later after work.”
Even before she opened her eyes, he got out. But she didn’t feel sad or hurt.
She felt like even her soul was nourished by his warm love.
***
From early in the morning, Manager Kyong didn’t leave Arum’s desk for some reason.
“I smell a rat,” she said, sniffing around her desk.
“You are dating a guy, right?” she asked.
“No way,” Arum answered.
Though she answered in the negative, she turned her mouth up slightly, which suggested that she got a date.
“Are you going to lead me on?”
“No, no,” Arum tried to deny.
But she couldn’t hide her smile even though she pretended to deny.
“I’m going to visit Yuyoung Choi’s house for the geomancy interior project this afternoon. Are you going to come with me?” asked Arum.
“Why should I go there? I’m supposed to have an interview with the Top of Top guys.”
“What? Aren’t you doing the interview tomorrow?”
“Well, I changed the interview date to leave you here,” Manager Kyong said teasingly.
Top of Top, which was a group composed of only boys, was a famous idol group created through public auditions.
“Anyway, go there alone today. And don’t fail to show me your boyfriend, okay?”
“Well, let me see.”
Manager Kyong was more excited to hear her reply.
“Yeah, I was right. You have a boyfriend!”
Arum didn’t deny it anymore because it was true that she had a boyfriend.
“Have you decided on the concept of that geomancy interior project?”
“Well, how about a surprise interior in which a bride gives a gift to a groom?”
“That sounds good. By the way, what are the guys from Sola Electronics going to do?”
“They have just released a wireless cleaner and dishwasher, so I asked them to showcase the new products, along with the bride using them in person.”
“Nice concept. She’s getting married and receiving gifts.”
“Plus, she is receiving her spouse’s love, too.”
“Wow! She’s really lucky. When is she getting married?”
“Two months later. Our magazine comes out on her wedding day, so I’m going to give her a copy of our magazine.”
“Yeah, she deserves it as a gift.”
Gently tapping Arum on the shoulder, she went back to her desk.
Arum knew exactly what she meant by that.
In fact, she used to feel uncomfortable whenever she heard the word ‘newlywed.’ At least before she met Konsu again, she felt uneasy about it.
‘I now feel okay about it, Manager Kyong.’
She could focus on her work after a long time of being distracted.
She filed the documents, edited junior reporters’ articles, and cracked jokes with a professional photographer about the shooting concept of geomancy interior.
While she was in the thick of it, she received text messages from Konsu.
It looked like he could come if she agreed.
She felt good when she imagined him running to her.
She wanted to refuse just once.
She sent him a text message implying she was busy, but she got nervous when he didn’t reply.
‘What did I do wrong?’
What a terrible habit it was. She tried to find the source of blame in herself. She was always in a vulnerable position because she liked him more than he did her.
At that moment, he sent her a map through a text message.