The moment I returned to work and sat down, I felt something snap inside my head. My heart started beating faster. I dismissed it as nothing serious and looked back at the computer screen, but my vision was so blurry that I couldn't read the text.
I closed my eyes and opened them, shook my head, but I couldn't read the words, and then my ears started to hurt so much that I thought they were going to burst.
I got up from my seat and went to the team leader's seat.
"I... I think... I should go to the hospital..."
He collapsed on the floor before he could finish saying that he had to go to the hospital.
Squeak-
The sound of a car skidding on a rainy road.
"Hey lady!!"
A voice calling my name urgently.
thud-!
A loud noise of something hitting something.
And then I saw Ui-geon. He was lying on the floor with me, looking at me. It was a rainy night. Ui-geon's blood looked black.
"no...!!"
Everything that happened that day two years ago flashed back to me. I woke up in a hospital, breathing heavily. And on the blanket I was covered with was a bouquet of flowers and a letter I'd never seen before.
I carefully opened the letter that only had my name written on it, and I didn't know who sent it.
It was a letter from Ui-geon.
'I've never regretted a single moment I spent with you. So... I hope you don't have too much trouble.
Please live your life so that my choice doesn't turn out to be the wrong choice.
I love you, heroine.'
At that moment, the last face I saw flashed through my mind.
You were looking only at me, smiling faintly. That smile, though obscured by my tears, was vivid in my memory.
I thought I'd feel so sorry and miserable if I found out the truth. But strangely enough, no tears came.
Tiring-
A text message arrived.
"I'll pick you up after work. You're resting comfortably at the hospital."
***
Her wounds were so deep and profound that I couldn't dare do anything about them. How did I fall for her so deeply? How did I come to care about someone with such a devastating wound? I have no way of knowing, but one thing I know for sure is that she will wait and wait for the day when she can smile brightly before me.
I never thought it would be that hard, and I was confident I could wait, no matter how late it was. I really want to make her smile again.
I ran to pick up the female protagonist who suddenly collapsed in front of my eyes without a moment's hesitation.
I kept pressing the button for the elevator that didn't come quickly, but I couldn't wait and went down the stairs.
He reclined the passenger seat as much as possible so that the woman could lean against it, then went to the driver's seat and started the car.
While running to the hospital, I honked my car horn so loudly that I would normally only use it once or twice.
Bang bang bang bang—!
“Mr. Ha...”
My heart was racing so fast I thought I was going crazy. After driving through the rough roads, I arrived at the hospital, parked the car carelessly, and ran into the hospital, carrying Yeoju in my arms.
Only after laying Yeoju in her single room did I finally catch my breath. It was only later that I noticed the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and running down her spine.
"....under...."
He sat in front of the female protagonist, who had her eyes closed, and exhaled heavily.
During that time, he never took his eyes off Yeoju.
What could have hurt so much that a person collapsed so helplessly?
The doctor said there was nothing wrong with my body and that he wanted to see me wake up. But I felt so depressed.
“...I wish you’d wake up soon...”
I wanted to see Yeoju wake up for a moment and then go, but since I was out in the middle of work, I couldn't delay for too long, so I had no choice but to caress Yeoju's hand, whose eyes were still closed, and then leave the hospital room.
As I left the hospital room and walked out of the hospital, I saw a familiar face.
The old lady that Yeoju was chasing so hurriedly.
“..Uh, I..”
The old woman looked back at me, smiled incomprehensibly, and then went on her way.
I returned to work, checking the time, but the old woman's smile kept coming to mind and bothering me.
As soon as I arrived at the company, I heard people chatting.
When the company staff asked if she was okay, Yeoju just nodded without saying anything.
And left a text message.
"I'll pick you up after work. You're resting comfortably at the hospital."
I couldn't focus on work, so I kept checking my watch while waiting for it to be time to leave work.
And the moment the long hand of the 6 o'clock clock reached the top, I got up from my seat and packed my bags.
“Thank you all for your hard work. See you tomorrow.”
“Team Leader? Tomorrow’s the weekend???”
And then he went out without looking back.
I didn't know if Yeoju was awake, so I couldn't even call her and rushed to the hospital.
When I arrived at the hospital room and opened the door, the bed was empty.
“....Where did you go...”
At that moment, I heard Yeoju's voice behind me.
“I’m here...”
When I looked back and saw the heroine, I hugged her tightly without realizing it.
“...Ha... I'm surprised. Are you feeling okay..?”
“..Yes. I’m fine. I waited because you told me to.. Why are you so surprised..”
“Since when have you been listening to me so well?”
“....I’m going to listen carefully from now on...”
At the unexpected answer from the heroine, he relaxed his arms around her and looked straight into her eyes.
“....Is it okay..?”
The female protagonist smiled and nodded at my words.
It wasn't the kind of ecstatic laughter I'd been waiting for, but seeing her face, faintly but surely smiling, made me feel a strange stirring in my heart once again.
“I’m going to be discharged from the hospital now.”
“Why? You could rest a little more..”
"I don't want to wear these hospital gowns. I want to be discharged. Team leader, please take me home."
The heroine's voice, which had softened noticeably, was pleasant but unfamiliar.
There was a slight sense of unease, enough to make me wonder if something was really going on.
“No..?”
The way she looked at me changed completely.
“No, of course. I’m changing clothes..”
I turned my back on the hospital room door and lost myself in thought.
What happened to Yeoju? Why did she suddenly run away like this? Is she really okay?
I went to the counter to complete the discharge process and went back to the hospital room, where I met Ms. Yeoju on the way.
“Did you get everything?”
“Yes. Let’s go now.”
Again. She smiles at me.
I felt a pounding in my heart, but I tried not to let the heroine know.
I used to think that just liking her would be a burden. I was so careful about how I expressed my feelings and what I said in front of her, for fear of further aggravating her wounds.
I started driving, snickering at the woman who was sitting in the passenger seat of my car.
“Team leader.”
"...why?"
“Thank you. For your concern.”
As she said thank you, her eyes were filled with something. It seemed sad, or lonely, but also happy.
“You don’t need to be thankful. It’s something that’s expected.”
My heart kept pounding and I thought I was going crazy.
Her complex eyes decided to be filled with joy today.
“If you feel unwell again, please contact me.”
“...Will you come..?”
I answered her unexpected question with a no-brainer.
After hearing my answer, Yeoju smiled a little brighter than the smile I saw at the hospital earlier.
“...Yes. I’ll call you right away.”
The woman who would normally have declined my offer, saying, "It's okay, it'll be okay," immediately replied that she would call me.
Even after I confirmed that Yeoju had gotten out of the car and gone into the house, I stayed in front of her house for a long time.
It's so good. It's that beautiful smile I've been waiting for so long. It feels like the day I've been waiting for is getting closer, almost to the point where I can see it right before my eyes. Everything is so good... But on the other hand, I'm worried if I can really be this happy.
I was always unable to do anything to help her, but when I felt the urge to heal her wounds, I was already inside her wounds. Entering them, I didn't know whether they would become poison or medicine.
When Yeoju arrived home, she opened the bouquet of flowers she had received from the hospital and placed them in a glass bottle filled with water.
And I looked out the window, and Daniel's car wasn't going and was still in front of the woman's house.
“...Why don’t you go...”
The heroine took out her cell phone and called Daniel.
"hello?"
“I’m fine. You can go.”
"...ah..."
There was no answer over the phone.
The heroine tilted her head and blew on Daniel.
“I... Team Leader...?”
“I... Miss Yeoju..”
“..Yes. Go ahead.”
“Do you remember what I said a month ago..?”
Of course, Yeoju remembered. That day was one she could never forget.
“That day... because I said that...
“Miss Yeoju, are you sick...?”
Daniel's trembling voice, as he struggled to speak his difficult words, was conveyed so well over the phone.
“....Those words... are still valid..?”
“...”
“If it’s not valid... I think it hurt a little... If it’s valid... I don’t think it hurt at all...”
Daniel was just letting time pass by without saying anything after hearing the heroine's answer.
“...Get a good night's sleep and rest comfortably. If anything comes up...you can call me..”
The heroine watched Daniel's car depart while listening to what he was saying.
"...yes."
The heroine, who had been staring at the disconnected call for a long time, smiled faintly. It was an expression Daniel would have been thrilled to see.
I threw my phone on the sofa, went into the bathroom, and took a shower.
After I finished changing my clothes and came out, the doorbell at Yeoju's house rang.
"who are you?"
Daniel was standing behind the door.
“It’s still valid. So… you weren’t sick at all, were you?