***
“The rain looks like a shower.”
She was waiting for him while staring at the endless winter rain at the entrance of the restaurant.
The chill air and the cold rushed over, so she covered her face with a red scarf.
With the soft feeling of the scarf, she smiled and stuck out her head to find him.
Then a nice-looking, foreign car stopped in front of her, and she saw Gyeonhui leaving the car.
He was tall and handsome, like a marble figure. The eyes of the women coming and going in the parking lot were all looking at him.
When he opened his umbrella, he walked and stood in front of her with a heartless expression.
“You’re here.”
She smiled as brightly as she could, but he responded with a careless nod.
He was a man who would never apologize even when he was late. As if she were familiar with him doing this, Sun could no longer say anything.
“I told you not to text when I’m in a meeting.”
His voice came through the rain.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sun responded with an awkward smile.
He turned his head coldly while looking back at her as if he were feeling guilty. The headlights of the car that was entering the parking lot were then shot at her.
‘Buaang.’
At one point, she remembered the truck from her past running at her with a loud sound and roar.
She froze up, unable to even blink her eyes as if time had stopped entirely.
It was one of her conditional reflexes after the accident ten years ago.
“Huah…”
When the car had passed, she still couldn’t release her two fists that she was holding tightly.
Although it was a brief moment, her hands were wet with cold sweat.
“What’s wrong?” Watching her, he asked carelessly.
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing.”
“Hmm.” He quickly withdrew his attention from her and tried to take a step.
Then, she slowly started speaking. “Hey…”
He turned his head after hearing her words.
“Have you ever wanted to go back in time?”
“Time?”
He asked her, looking outraged and furrowing his eyebrows.
“I guess you have because you’re asking.”
She nodded slowly after hearing his question.
“I want to go back in time from today to ten years ago….”
“What date was it?”
“… It was my graduation ceremony in high school.”
“Graduation day?”
He looked at her like he couldn’t understand.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Let’s talk about it later. We haven’t seen each other for a long time.”
She struggled to smile to raise the sunken atmosphere.
“Oh, Mr. Woo.”
Then Sun heard a high-pitched voice of a woman behind her.
The woman, who was covered with high-end stuff from her head to toe, approached the two of them in a dazzling step.
“I get to see you in this place.” While talking to Gyeonhui, the woman continuously scanned Sun. “Your girlfriend?”
“Something like that.”
Sun’s shoulders flinched after hearing his response.
His attitude was always consistently cold to her, but it would still stab her heart like a dagger.
“Well, did you get home safely after that night?”
“Sure.” His carelessly answered.
At that moment, when Sun heard the conversation between them, she felt like her heart stopped pounding and fell into the ground.
‘That night… Did you get home safely after that night?’
The woman’s words endlessly echoed in her ear.
The combination of words that sounded mysterious and nuanced shook Sun’s heart uneasily.
“I will see you later.”
The woman once again looked at Sun and entered the restaurant.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Huh? Oh, sure…”
She followed him, walking away while holding the umbrella.
While they were heading to the parking lot, a moment of silence hung between them.
She wanted to ask who she was, but she could only glance at him.
“What?”
“Oh, no. Nothing.”
“I’ll tell you when I get a chance.”
He seemed to have already read her thoughts. After contemplating several times, Sun asked him carefully.
“… The woman… who is she?”
“A woman I met at a bar a few days ago.”
He responded with no hesitation as if it was nothing.
“Huh?”
“I didn’t sleep with her. You don’t need to worry.”
She then reacted, somewhat embarrassed, after hearing his overly confident tone.
Her eyes blushed, but she quickly lowered her head before he noticed.
“Hah…”
She struggled with her wretched feelings, and a shallow sigh of relief came out of her mouth.
He heard the sigh, and he looked at her while furrowing his eyebrows.
“Say it if you have something to say.”
She shook her head silently. She felt like she would cry if she started to speak.
The silence continued between the two.
One could only hear the sound of rain falling under the umbrella. At that moment, he started to speak,
“… I’m tired of everything.”
His sinking words pierced her ears sharply.
“Wait until I contact you again.”
Her eyes shook in shock.
***
Back to the present.
She took a breath for a moment and struggled to start speaking again.
“… It’s all too late for us.”
Her trembling voice was filled with indescribable sorrow.
Did she convey that sadness to him? His eyes shook in shock.
“Like I said last time, I’d like to see you only for business in the future.”
She then walked pass by him at the end of her words and came out into the hallway.
“Hey, Cheonsun!”
She heard his urgent voice, but she did not stop.
She pretended to be calm, but her eyes began to swell with tears instantly.
She looked up to stop her tears from further pouring, but soon, a different batch of tears filled her eyes once more, so much so that she could not see anything.
She rushed into the bathroom, avoiding all the people passing by.
She could no longer hear his voice.
His face was no longer visible.
However, her sadness still flowed endlessly.
She washed her hands with cold water to keep her heart calm, but a pain she could not bear began to crush her once more.