Don't wait for me

Episode 26 - School days

-Past, Yujeong's story-

Yujeong definitely had quite a bit of dating experience.

No, rather, a lot.

Even though she clearly didn't do anything, her friend's boyfriend, or the guy she had a crush on, would end up becoming her boyfriend.

Just by Yujeong smiling,

People would spread rumors like, 'Lee Yujeong is a slut. She has a ton of guys.'

There were endless rumors like that.

In such a situation, the countless confessions she received were poison.

Yujeong had a gentle, timid personality.

Would things have changed if she were strong and didn't get hurt easily?

She'd thought that too, but in the end nothing changed.

Yujeong dropped out of high school because of constant gossip and bullying, and even after becoming an adult she locked herself in her room and looked at the internet all day long.

It was just the same day, always.

Morning. Phone. Noon. Computer. Evening. Phone.

And then…

“Kang Taehyun…?”

It was the name of someone Yujeong had called for the first time in a very long time.

When she first found out about him, she didn't pay him any mind.

A man with a handsome face who got lucky, became an idol, and was doing well in the entertainment industry.

That was all he was.

He had nothing to do with me.

But after she first saw him through a screen, he kept showing up in Yujeong's algorithm.

And the content of those videos was about the effort he had put in and the tears he had shed.

“...”

By the time the video ended, Yujeong was crying too.

For the first time in a very long time.

.

.

.

And so she came to like Taehyun, and for the first time Yujeong felt like she wanted to go outside.

She thought it would be nice to go to his concert and just see him in person.

The day she went to her first concert, even though Yujeong had dressed up carefully, she was so nervous that she lost her ticket.

As she stood there in despair, a group of middle school girls came up and helped her find the ticket before the concert started.

Yujeong, who had always found being with people awkward and scary, thought the help from so many people and the hot, lively energy of the concert venue weren't so bad.

And above all, Taehyun on stage was radiant.

So Yujeong made a wish and thought,

That if she was with Taehyun, anything would be okay.

-Back to the present-

“Yujeong, are you all ready?”

“Yeah! Let's go! You've been waiting a long time, right…?”

“No. Not at all.”

Taehyun gave a faint smile and straightened Yujeong's coat.

 

“You really haven't changed at all… You used to wear your outerwear collar flipped up back then too…”

“How do you remember something like that… Hurry up and let's go!”

 

 

 

+) Actually, at first Yujeong was supposed to be a pretty bright, bubbly, carefree(?) kind of character, but...

As I kept writing the story, I felt like it wouldn't really fit the content, so I changed it!

What I wanted was for Yujeong (sunshine female lead, extreme E), Seolhwa (wistful second female lead), that kind of extremely contrasting feel, but somehow they ended up as friends with similar vibes...

Still, since Yujeong has to be really forlorn at the ending... (Sorry, guys...) I thought this would probably be better...