MWFL 28

Chapter 28

I Came Because I Wanted to See You

The breath that had scattered from between her lips had briefly blurred her vision, but it soon cleared again.

Snowflakes, glistening as though they held tiny droplets of water, were turning the entire world white.

I’m coming to you now.

And my world was completely filled with the sound of your voice.

‘Harin. Wait there.’

On a day when rain—not snow—had fallen.

‘I’m coming now.’

On that day when it was not her body but her heart that had stumbled.

You, who had run to her breathlessly and frantically.

‘I came because I wanted to see you.’

The sight of you smiling brightly at her, enough to make her forget for a moment all the wounds the world had left behind, flashed through her mind like an afterimage.

Had the snowflakes that landed lightly on her body melted and seeped deep into her chest?

Her heart sank heavily, like wet cotton.

The sound of tires scraping across the snow cut through the quiet winter air.

Harin lowered her phone and slowly turned her gaze to the right.

Headlights brightly illuminated the swirling snowflakes.

Her eyes, transparently reflecting that light, settled on the man getting out of the stopped car.

Cha Shinwoo strode toward her as though he did not care that his feet sank deeply into the snow.

He stopped right in front of her, close enough that their toes could almost touch. A large umbrella opened above their heads.

Harin tightly curled her fingertips.

They were merely standing beneath a small circle of shadow, yet it felt as though the two of them were the only people in a space completely separated from the rest of the world.

Just like that moment long ago, when they had stood facing each other in their school uniforms.

The man’s lips, which had been quietly watching her with their gazes intertwined, curved into a languid smile.

“What? What’s with that expression? Did you see a ghost?”

“Why did you come here?”

Harin shook off her thoughts and asked in a quiet voice.

As though considering his answer, Shinwoo’s eyes lifted slightly. Soon their gazes met again, and his smile deepened.

“Because I wanted to see you.”

Just as Harin bit down gently on the tender flesh inside her mouth—

“Would you believe me if I said that like this?”

His voice clearly carried a teasing note.

Harin slowly pushed the breath she had unconsciously been holding back into her lungs.

Shinwoo’s rounded eyes gradually narrowed.

“If someone saw you, they’d think I’d just sworn at you or something. What’s with that expression? Why are you frowning?”

She had only been trying to hide the emotions stirring inside her, but apparently she had ended up frowning.

“Were you telling me to smile?”

“Not exactly, but you didn’t have to frown either.”

“But I asked why you came here.”

Shinwoo calmly smoothed out his frown.

“Get in first. It’s snowing too much.”

The umbrella, which had been tilted more toward Harin, was straightened.

Her gaze landed on Shinwoo’s shoulders, already damp with snow.

“Yes.”

As soon as she answered, she carefully took a step toward the car.

Worried that Harin might get hit by the snow, he tilted the umbrella toward her, keeping it over her completely without leaving even half a step of distance between them.

When they reached the passenger side, Shinwoo opened the door for her and stepped back.

“Thank you.”

She whispered the words softly as she climbed into the car.

After closing the door for her himself, Shinwoo folded the umbrella and tossed it onto the floor of the back seat. Then he walked around the hood and got into the driver’s seat.

“Why did it suddenly snow this much?”

The man muttered in annoyance as he brushed the snow from his shoulders and hair.

Harin quietly watched him, her eyes widening slightly.

The man had suddenly turned his upper body toward her, and their eyes met in an instant.

“I had plans around here. When it suddenly started snowing, I thought I’d take you home if you were still at the office. And then I happened to see you coming out.”

He answered Harin’s question a little late, and an inexplicable look of satisfaction gradually spread across his face.

“But why did you come from the parking lot?”

“Huh? Ah… The car! The car! I had to turn it around. I was going to call you afterward.”

His voice suddenly grew louder, and he gave her an awkward little smile.

“Oh. I see.”

Harin gave a short answer. At that moment, Shinwoo quickly shifted his gaze to the navigation screen and lightly tapped it with his long finger.

“Tell me your home address.”

“Yes.”

A short while later, the car began moving slowly through the snowy streets.

Silence settled over the space.

Shinwoo subtly shifted his gaze, the red glow of the taillights reflected deep within his eyes, and looked at Harin.

Come to think of it, there had been only a handful of times when Joo Harin had spoken to him first about anything other than work.

He didn’t particularly think there was anything strange about her attitude.

After all, Shinwoo himself was absolutely not the type to initiate conversations with others.

‘Hyung. You should try talking to people first sometimes. People find you intimidating because you always act like that.’

Donggu had told him that several times.

Why couldn’t people simply sit together quietly without talking? What was so difficult about that?

That had always been his thought, and he had never paid much attention to it.

But whenever he was with Joo Harin, the silence that normally never bothered him felt strangely suffocating.

Cha Shinwoo. You’re not normally this easy of a man.

Don’t ever speak first to someone who has no intention of talking to you.

Shinwoo began another battle of pride with himself.

That battle ended in exactly ten seconds.

“Why did you leave work so late?”

Sometimes a man could be a little easy.

“Do you normally leave this late?”

You couldn’t be consistent your whole life, could you?

“Do the other employees work like this too? Or is it just you?”

Throwing away his resolve from moments ago, he suddenly started talking with surprising enthusiasm.

Harin froze slightly, then narrowed her eyes and stared at the man who was bombarding her with questions.

A short laugh escaped her lips.

Shinwoo’s gaze, which had been fixed ahead, moved back toward her.

“……”

His eyes trembled as they captured her small face.

Her eyes had narrowed slightly from laughing, her soft lips had curved gently upward, and her round cheeks had puffed up ever so slightly.

Her beautiful smile was one she had never shown him before.

His heart began to pound.

He swallowed hard and quickly turned his head toward the road.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It can’t be nothing. You must have had a reason.”

He asked in a deliberately curt voice because he didn’t want her to notice the unfamiliar change of emotion that had come over him without warning.

“You kept asking questions without even stopping to breathe. I thought it was funny. That’s all.”

Harin explained in her usual calm voice, without a trace of laughter.

“As you probably know, this is usually the period when players are negotiating contract renewals and salaries, so everyone has a lot of work. You can assume that leaving work on time won’t be possible for a while.”

Her belated answer was excessively businesslike.

And yet, the sensation in his chest grew stronger.

He was bewildered by it, but he didn’t dislike this unfamiliar emotion.

No.

He almost liked it enough to wish it would last for a long time.

He absolutely hated being stuck in traffic, yet he even found himself wishing that the already crawling car would move even more slowly.

But once they entered the main road, the cars began speeding along.

It’s cold out. Why is the snow melting so quickly?

His slightly disgruntled gaze landed on the navigation screen.

Only five minutes remained until they reached Harin’s home.

He subtly shifted his eyes toward her.

“Manager Joo. Did you eat?”

“Yes, I did.”

Harin turned to meet his gaze and answered briefly before looking straight ahead again.

A faint crease appeared between Shinwoo’s brows as he stared at the road.

Normally, wouldn’t you ask whether I had eaten too?

When he thought about it, she really was rather lacking in warmth.

He stared ahead with displeasure before speaking again.

“There’s a really famous cheese chicken-feet place right next to that fire station over there. On a snowy day like today, it’s perfect for a simple late-night meal with some beer.”

“Really? I’ll go there sometime.”

…Hey. Do you think I was telling you about it so you could go alone?

No warmth, no sense of what he was getting at.

How was she going to survive in this harsh world?

Clicking his tongue inwardly, Shinwoo turned his sharp gaze back toward Harin.

Wait.

Is she pretending not to understand because she doesn’t want to eat with me?

His thoughts suddenly went in another direction.

He turned his gaze back to the road and gradually tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Once the suspicion took root, his nerves began to fray.

The car quickly arrived at the entrance of the mixed-use apartment complex where Harin lived.

“Just let me off at the main entrance.”

“No. Get out in the parking lot.”

His voice had suddenly become extremely curt.

Harin looked at his profile with slightly widened eyes.

His expression was no different from his voice.

Without arguing any further, she quietly remained in her seat until the car stopped.

“Thank you for bringing me home.”

After the car stopped, Harin thanked him in a calm voice and unfastened her seat belt.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

She even bowed her head slightly before turning toward the door.

“Manager Joo.”

Shinwoo’s still-gruff voice stopped her.

“Yes. What is it?”

She immediately answered, turning back to face him as before.

For some reason, the man looked at her somewhat sideways as he slowly opened his mouth.

“Do you happen to have ramen at home?”