TLR 04

Chapter 4 …

“You’re sitting here, right? Just give us a second and we’ll clear the table for you.”

The owner spoke warmly.

The man tilted his head slightly to the side and silently rubbed his temple with a finger.

“Seol, hurry and lift that side.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

Logically speaking, the simplest and most sensible solution was for the man to just take a different seat.

Yet, sensing an indescribable irritability beneath his expressionless face, Seol bent down to follow the owner’s instructions.

“No need for that.”

Just as they pulled the woman halfway up, Seol and the owner froze at the same time and looked at him.

“Could you bring me a glass of ice water?” the man asked, addressing the owner.

The owner immediately let go of the woman. For a split second, the sudden shift in weight made Seol stumble.

“Here’s your ice water.”

The owner held out a glass filled to the brim with ice water.

“Step aside.”

Holding the glass in one hand, the man looked at Seol this time.

“Pardon?”

“Is it really that hard to understand?”

The man even pointed a forefinger to show her where to go.

Seol, who had been holding onto one of the woman’s arms, let go and took a step back.

Looking at the man again, a surreal feeling washed over her.

She knew what he was about to do. Even so, instead of stopping him, she was doing exactly as he said—and that felt completely bizarre.

“Wait, hold on a second…”

No matter the situation, she couldn’t just stand by and let someone get drenched in cold water. Seol took a step toward him and opened her mouth.

In that very instant, a stream of clear water mixed with glittering ice cascaded over the woman’s face.

“Agh! What—what the!”

Waking up with a jolt, the woman gasped repeatedly as if she had just fallen into a lake.

“Wait, what?”

The man asked casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Seol stared at him, her mouth hanging wide open.

“What the hell is this!”

At her harsh shout, the man turned his head toward the woman.

Now all hell is going to break loose, everyone inside the café thought.

“…Oppa?”

To everyone’s surprise, the woman squinted her eyes and asked.

“Don’t say a word. Get up, walk, and get out.”

“Ah, wait a second, hold on! I’m completely soaked right now! Why would you do—”

SLAM!

The man slammed the empty glass onto the table. It was a miracle the glass didn’t shatter into pieces.

A heavy, mud-like silence radiated outward from the man.

“You can’t do a single thing right, can you?”

“……”

“And after I begged you so desperately.”

The woman pushed off the armrests to force herself up.

Whether she was still drunk or simply shaken by the sudden sequence of events, she swayed heavily. Seol instinctively reached out a hand to steady her.

“Leave her alone.”

Once again, her body felt inclined to move according to his command. Still, Seol caught herself and used her hand to support the woman anyway.

Seeing this, the man spoke again.

“Hyemi. Can’t you walk on your own?”

“……”

“Then you shouldn’t have been wandering around by yourself in the first place.”

“Let go,” the woman whispered in a barely audible voice, brushing Seol’s hand away. Then she stumbled toward the door.

The door bell chimed softly. Seol stared blankly at the glass door before turning her head back.

She didn’t even care if it was rude. She stared directly at the man.

The man let out a dry chuckle, lowered his gaze, and then looked back up.

“Are you aware that you’re looking at me like I’m a lunatic right now?”

“……”

“Ah, so you really do think I’m crazy. I wasted my breath.”

“…Should you really let her leave like that?”

“Let what?”

“Leaving a drunk woman all by herself…”

Instead of standing here arguing, she needed to run outside after her. Seol hurriedly turned on her heel.

She opened the door and looked left and right. The woman was nowhere to be seen, having vanished in that short span of time.

“Excuse me! Hey, miss!”

Even as she paced along both sides of the street and called out, there was no sign of her.

Seol looked around frantically before finally giving up and heading back into the café.

The owner was back behind the counter, while the man stood across from her.

Sensing a strange prickle of unease, Seol frowned slightly and stood a short distance away from the owner.

“The chair got wet, so I’ll compensate you for it.”

“It’s just water. It’ll dry right out. It’s totally fine.”

“I don’t have cash on me right now, so if you give me your account number… Ah, it’s written right here.”

The man pulled out his phone and asked, his fingers already moving across the screen:

“How much for the chair?”

“The cushion cover is removable, so it’s really fine. We wash them regularly anyway.”

“Then let’s call it 300,000 won to cover the laundry fees.”

The man resumed tapping on his phone.

“Oh my, that’s really not necessary… But do you mind if I ask something? What’s your relationship with that young lady who just left?”

“She’s my younger sister.”

“Ah, your sister. Full siblings?”

“Yes. More or less.”

“Do you live around here? Having both siblings visit us… Anyway, you must go through a lot because of her.”

“That’s how family is.”

Having finished whatever he was doing, the man paused his fingers and raised his head.

Even though the owner was the one engaged in the conversation, the man’s eyes were fixed entirely on Seol. Seol didn’t look away either, meeting his gaze directly.

“It’s not like I asked for it, either. It’s absolutely dreadful.”

His smooth, low voice sounded kinder than anything that had ever come out of his vocal cords before.

Yet, perhaps because of the heavy words themselves, Seol felt a sudden chill, as if the sharp sound of clashing metal had just echoed in her ears.

A heavy silence fell over the counter. The man wore a cryptic smile—a surprisingly gentle and warm expression that matched his voice.

The quiet was broken by the vibration of the owner’s phone. It was the usual evening message from her spouse: ‘I’m hungry, haven’t you left yet?’

“Sounds like you haven’t found the family you actually wanted yet. Now that’s even more dreadful.”

The owner grumbled under her breath as she unlinked her apron.

Only then did Seol pull her gaze away from the man and turn around.

“Are you heading out?”

“Yeah, time for me to go. Seol, please wrap things up nicely for me.”

“Sure thing. Get home safely.”

After the owner left, Seol stepped to the center of the counter. When she didn’t offer the usual ‘Are you ready to order?’, the man spoke up first.

“An Americano. A hot one.”

“…That’ll be 4,900 won.”

Even though she had spoken just a few dozen seconds ago, her voice felt suddenly choked up. Seol spoke in a muffled tone as she punched the numbers into the POS terminal.

“Did my sister say something to you?”

Seol raised her head. Unsure why he was asking such a thing, she stared at him, prompting him to elaborate.

“Her drunk habit is spouting nonsense. I was worried she might have caused trouble for you.”

“No. Nothing at all… Ah, more importantly, you should call her to check if she made it home safely.”

“Right, I’ll do that.”

The man wrapped up the conversation in a light tone.

He definitely isn’t going to call her, Seol had a strong hunch, but she couldn’t exactly pressure him to dial right in front of her. She finished processing the payment and turned her back to him.

The next day, Junhyuk quietly observed Hyemi, who was sitting across from him.

Yesterday she had a black bowl-cut wig; today she wore long, wavy blonde hair down to her hips. At the very least, her top covered her belly button today, which earned her a tiny bit of extra credit—though her score was still firmly in the negative.

“Why are you staring at me like that…?”

Hyemi whined, putting on a pitiful act.

Junhyuk rubbed his temples a few times with his fingers.

He had summoned Hyemi to the office a little earlier than lunchtime, intending to grab a meal with her and have a talk along the lines of ‘What are you planning to do with your life?’

However, looking at the state of her hair made him feel like he wouldn’t be able to stomach a single bite.

Fine. She’ll become something eventually. Don’t people say human potential is infinite? The phase where I unconditionally wrap her in love has clearly passed, so I’ll just go back to ignoring her like I usually do.

Junhyuk lowered the hand resting against his forehead.

“Don’t wander around Han Seol anymore.”

“Come to think of it…”

Hyemi, who had been slumping lazily on the sofa, shifted her weight and bounced closer.

“Why were you there, Oppa?”

“Answer me.”

“Answer you?”

“Answer what I just said.”

“Ah…”

Seeming as though she still wanted to linger around Han Seol in the future, Hyemi hesitated and looked away.

“Do you want me to attach a 24-hour tail on you again?”

“What? You agreed not to do that anymore!”

“Right. On the condition that our Hyemi listens to what I say.”

In truth, he still had people monitoring her 24 hours a day. They just didn’t follow right next to her like they used to.

Junhyuk stared at his younger sister in silence.

Was there truly no chance of rehabilitating her? If left like this, she’d either end up in prison or die a sudden, violent death on the streets—it was bound to be one or the other.

Would I just stand by and watch if she were my full sister? Or did your mother do this to me…

“Ah! Han Seol belongs to you, is that it!”

Twisting her body uncomfortably in the awkward silence, Hyemi suddenly raised her voice.

Yeah, she’s mine. Junhyuk nodded half-heartedly, brushing off his sister’s words. The unpleasant memory that had flickered in his mind a moment ago was ruining his focus.

“Fine! You’ll do a much better job than me anyway!”

“At what?”

“Huh? Well… revenge?”

For the first time in his life, Junhyuk stared at Hyemi as if he were a person who had just gained the ability to hear.

“Why are you looking at me so scarily again…?”

“Revenge, huh?”

Not because it was Han Seol, but even if it were anyone else, there was no way he would waste his time on something as petty as revenge. What kind of amazing parents did he have that he’d pour that kind of passion into them?

Then why did I go to see that woman? What was my motive?

The question struck him anew.