TLR 13

Chapter 13 …

The way she hunched her shoulders in embarrassment made her look as lovely as a night-blooming white gourd flower drenched in dew.

“Well, my eyesight is perfectly fine, too.”

“Look, these days, plenty of couples do that.”

“And now you’re treating me like some ancient old timer.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that we were both students back then… Though, to be fair, we didn’t split everything down to the exact cent.”

“So how did you do it then?”

“If he paid one time, I’d get it the next time. It was more like that.”

“And how are those two things any different?”

Seol blinked, lost in thought for a second. “…I guess they’re not all that different.”

“See?”

At Junhyuk’s tone—which sounded like an adult lecturing a little kid—Seol pouted slightly and reached for her juice.

“I think today might be the most shocked I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Junhyuk muttered, leaning back against his chair.

Seol looked up at him, her eyes darting sideways.

He made a fair point, but she didn’t love the feeling of having her past laid bare while he revealed nothing. It made her feel a bit like an idiot.

She wanted to make things fair and ask him something in return. But she didn’t want to ask about silly little things like his hobbies. She didn’t want a boring response like, ‘Oh, I like reading.’ She wanted him to feel at least as flustered as she did.

“Can I ask you something too?”

“Of course,” Junhyuk replied, straightening his posture.

“Why is your relationship with your father so bad?”

“Because he’s a piece of trash.”

The answer came less than a second after her question, making Seol’s pupils dilate in shock.

Taking in her stunned expression, Junhyuk added, “My father, I mean. Not me.”

“…Right.”

“To give you a bit more detail, he was extraordinarily promiscuous. Because of that whole situation, I haven’t seen my biological mother since I was three years old.”

I should have just asked why he orders coffee and never drinks it. Seol stared at him, looking completely lost for words.

Junhyuk carried on casually, as if it were no big deal. “Then, when I was seven, he remarried. And that stepmother of mine was quite something in her own right.”

“Ah… In what way?”

“There are plenty of examples… but once, when I was fourteen, I came home early from school and found a full exorcism ritual going on in our front garden.”

“…A shamanic ritual in your front garden?” Seol’s eyes flickered with utter disbelief.

Junhyuk stared at her for a moment before continuing. “It felt so surreal that I forgot I was sick and just stood there watching from the corner of the garden.”

“Yeah… that does sound surreal.”

“My stepmother was on her knees, praying non-stop, while the shaman jumped around chanting all sorts of things. And what she was actually saying was…”

“What was she saying?”

“‘May he trip over his own feet, may everything he touches fail, may he never be loved by a single soul, and may he die a miserable death tomorrow.’ She just kept chanting lines like that without taking a breath.”

Junhyuk gave a dry, light laugh. “I thought the subject of those curses was my father, since my stepmother suffered a lot over his endless affairs.”

“…”

“Turns out, the subject was me.”

Silence fell over the table. The background noise of passing cars seemed to vanish in an instant.

Seol frantically searched her mind for something—anything—to say. Ah, why is this the only thought popping into my head?

As she struggled in agony to erase the ridiculous thought from her mind, Junhyuk casually raised his chin.

“…I know this really isn’t the right thing to say at a time like this.”

“Go ahead. Say whatever you want.”

“After going through something like that, you’re telling me today was the most shocked you’ve ever been in your life?”

“Compared to hearing that you split the bill fifty-fifty with your ex, my story is practically mundane.”

“No way. No matter how you slice it, yours is definitely… Anyway, putting that aside, did things get resolved okay after that?”

“I told my father about it, and he sent me abroad to study in the States the very next week.”

“Did your father and stepmother get a divorce then?”

“They maintained the facade of a happy marriage until they both passed away.”

Seeing Seol’s confused look, Junhyuk offered a bit more context. “I never actually told my father what happened. Telling him would have just dragged out the conversation, and I didn’t want to talk to him at all.”

“Ah, I see…” Seol nodded slowly, looking at the man across from her.

He had just dropped a heavy, life-altering trauma with the same casual tone someone might use to say, ‘The weather was nice today.’

Stripping away the shocking details, the core of his story was simple: he hadn’t seen his birth mother since he was three, and he had been separated from his family since he was fourteen.

A house with a grand garden, studying abroad in the US—his family was undeniably wealthy. He was handsome, young, and smart, born with so many things that others could only envy. Yet, the sheer weight of what he never had was immense.

A mother’s warm smile, her unconditional love, a hot meal shared around a family table…

Hearing that Junhyuk had never once experienced the very things so many people take for granted made Seol’s heart ache.

Fearing that a careless word of comfort might come off as pity, she hesitated before speaking.

“Um, Mr. Junhyuk.”

“Yes?”

“It must have hurt so much, carrying all that alone all this time.”

Not really.

His heart hadn’t hurt at all—his stomach had just twisted in pure rage. But Junhyuk didn’t bother saying that out loud.

Seol was looking at him with a face so full of pity it was practically painful to watch—much like someone staring at a seabird covered in an oil spill, unable to fly.

Normally, if anyone looked at him with those eyes, he’d ask if they wanted their eyes gouged out. But strangely enough, right now, it didn’t bother him at all.

“Just seeing how well you’re living today proves that shaman was dead wrong about everything. You’re going to keep living a great life, loved by so many people, all the way until you’re a hundred—no, a hundred and twenty!” Seol rambled out her comfort, her face flushing red with embarrassment.

Junhyuk stared at her for a moment. So this is why washed-up or disgraced celebrities go on TV to sob through their tragic backstories, he realized.

“Ms. Seol.”

“Yes? Oh, yes.”

“I think a hundred and twenty is a bit much, but setting that aside for a second…”

“Okay.”

Junhyuk extended his hand across the table, resting it close to her. “Could you hold my hand and say what you just said one more time?”

“What?” Seol blinked, looking completely bewildered.

Junhyuk flipped his hand over, palm up, with his long fingers slightly curled toward her.

“I was only fourteen back then.”

“…Right.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Seol gave a firm nod. She reached out and gently took his fingertips.

“It… it must have hurt so much back then.”

“Yes. It hurt a lot.”

Lying through his teeth without a second thought, Junhyuk pulled her small, fair hand into his grip.

Feeling the soft skin and delicate joints of her hand, he slid his fingers between hers and entwined them together. Their bone structures were so different it was hard to believe they belonged to the same species.

He had never shared this story with anyone else in his life. He had no idea why this woman had become his first audience.

“You’re doing so well now, so that shaman was… Oh, wait, you’re distracting me!”

“Try to focus. I’m listening carefully.”

“…You’re going to keep living a great life, loved by so many people, all the way until you’re a hundred!”

As her words picked up speed, Seol blurted out the rest of the sentence and yanked her hand back.

He wanted to hold on a little longer, but he was genuinely afraid that applying any more force might break her fragile bones.

As he slowly loosened his grip, Seol quickly hid her hand under the table.

Junhyuk lowered his gaze to look at his own palm. The warmth that had belonged to him for just a fleeting second was already gone.

“Thank you for the chocolates. I’ll enjoy them. I really have to head home now.” Seol called an end to the night, her face burning bright red.

Why do you get to decide when it ends when I still want to spend more time with you? A petty thought reared its head, but Junhyuk forced a gentle expression onto his face.

“I’ll walk you home.”

“No, it’s fine—actually, okay. Please walk me home.”

Realizing she wasn’t going to win an argument against him, Seol changed her tune and stood up.

She turned around first, but after taking only a few steps, she looked back over her shoulder, tilting her head as if asking why he wasn’t coming.

“Let’s go.” Junhyuk took a slow step forward.

He knew Seol had to be at the bakery super early in the morning. He also knew that even if she went to sleep right this second, she wouldn’t get much rest.

Should I suggest taking the car? That would take five minutes. Walking would take twenty. Without a shred of lingering regret, Junhyuk erased the first option from his mind.

“Give me the bag.”

“I’m okay. Yours is way heavier.”

Junhyuk stopped dead in his tracks. Seol knitted her brows and held out the shopping bag. “Fine. Please carry it.”

Junhyuk let out a dry chuckle as he took the bag from her hand. It was almost cute how she acted like even wasting time arguing was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

They walked side by side down the street as the early hours of the morning began to break. As if she wasn’t tired at all, Seol’s pace picked up the closer they got to her destination.

“Thank you for walking me home.”

“Get home safely.”

The second the words left his mouth, Seol turned on her heel and practically flew up the sloping hill, her arms swinging vigorously.

Junhyuk set the heavy plastic bag full of drinks down on the asphalt and placed a cigarette between his lips. He looked down for a second to strike a light, and by the time he looked back up, she had already vanished from sight.

He now knew Seol hadn’t contacted him simply because she lost his card. He had gotten to see her again for the first time in a while, chatted with her, and even held her hand.

Yet, with a completely blank expression, Junhyuk scratched the skin beneath his eye with the hand holding his cigarette. The good mood he’d been in dissolved without a trace.

Taking a deep drag until his cheeks hollowed out, he exhaled a long trail of smoke into the air.

What on earth am I supposed to do about this now?

‘I’m really not in a position to be dating anyone right now.’

Was that kind of situation something that could be easily fixed? There were things in life you could change with effort, and things you couldn’t.

Junhyuk exhaled another thick cloud of smoke. His gaze turned deeply serious as he watched the white trail linger in the air before vanishing into nothingness.

He really hadn’t wanted to do this, but he was left with no other choice.

What else could he do? A capable guy like him would just have to fix Han Seol’s situation for her.

Well, that would solve everything anyway. It wasn’t as if she’d still go for a battered eggplant over him once her life got better, right?

“Am I going crazy?”

At least a tiny shred of his sanity remained. Junhyuk let out a faint chuckle and flicked the ash off his cigarette with his finger.