*This episode's story unfolds from the female protagonist's point of view.
‘Choi Yeonjun… It’s Choi Yeonjun…’
‘How did you get here…?’
For some reason, my memories from this point on are not clear.
As my eyes were starting to close, Choi Yeonjun ran towards me, sweating profusely, and threw a punch at the man in front of me.
And as the argument with the man grew, the police came and subdued them.
I remember that at that moment, my legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground, and Yeonjun came up to me and wrapped his arms around me.
Choi Yeonjun was looking at me and saying something-
I didn't hear it at all. No, I don't think I heard it.
I don't remember anything else. And then I collapsed in Yeonjun's arms.
When I opened my eyes, I smelled a familiar scent.
I was going somewhere while lying on Yeonjun's back.
Yeonjun must have sensed my tossing and turning and spoke to me.
“Im Yeo-ju.”
“Are you okay?”
"...."
There was silence for a moment,
"Thank you for holding on."
That's what I really wanted to hear.
I cried endlessly at those words.
My head is infinitely complicated, but all I can do now is cry.
Yeonjun patted me on the back without saying anything.
My mother killed a person.
My mother is a murderer.
A person died because of my mother.
A person committed suicide because of my mother.
Because of my mom.
Because of mom. Because of mom. Because of mom. Because of mom. Because of mom. Because of mom.
.....
Because of me…?
I cried my eyes out in Yeonjun's arms and fell asleep.
Then I woke up and found myself in a place that felt somehow familiar.
This is Yeonjun's room.
‘What, when did you fall asleep..’
As I was looking around and gradually waking up, the door suddenly opened.
“Are you awake?”
Yeonjun looked at me as I sat on the bed and smiled.
“What time is it now?”
“I think I slept a bit too much.”
“It’s only 3 o’clock.”
“He was sleeping soundly, so I couldn’t wake him up.”
"…ah.."
Yeonjun suddenly grabbed my hand and said this.
“I went too late.”
“Sorry.”
Then he stroked my neck.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
It seemed like the scar was caused by that man's strong force earlier.
“Oh, I’m fine..”
"..even though you were hurt too."
Yeonjun's lips were cracked and bloody, and his fists were also visible as wounds.
"I'm okay."
"lie-.."
“But… how did you get here?”
“I think you turned on location sharing on Instagram.”
“Your current location has been sent to me.”
"..I see."
“I was very scared.”
“He was crying a lot.”
“I’m not crying because I’m scared.”
"then?"
“Because I’m mentally exhausted.”
“…”
"What are you talking about?"
“…..“
”My mom killed someone.“
Yeonjun's pupils dilated when he heard what I said.
"What is that.."
I was almost out of my mind when I told Yeonjun the story.
I don't remember what I said or how I said it.
“That’s not murder.”
“I know, I know…”
“It keeps going around in my head…”
After hearing that, Yeonjun hugged me tightly.
"It's not your fault."
"It could be a lie, or it could be something manipulated."
"Don't trust any man except me."
Meanwhile, I found Yeonjun trying to cheer me up cute and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Phew..."
"My dad too?"
"...except for father."
"What about you?"
"Brother-in-law too..."
I was so happy to be in this situation where Choi Yeonjun and I were laughing so brightly together.
If I had died earlier,
If the Fed had been 10 seconds late, or even 5 seconds late,
If Lee Jeong-hyeok and Lee Si-yeon hadn't called the police,
And if I had just lost consciousness and died, this situation would not have happened.
"It was good that you made the phone call in the car earlier,
Even though you must have been out of your mind, you did a good job replying to my KakaoTalk messages.
It was a good thing that location sharing was turned on,
I'm just grateful that you're alive."
"If you had arrived just a little later, I would have died."
"Just as I was losing consciousness, you showed up."
"I was so worried... I thought I was going to die."
"Lee Si-yeon cried so much she almost collapsed after receiving your call, and Lee Jeong-hyeok was just sleeping. He was so mentally devastated."
"...."
"Thank you for saving me..."
Yeonjun smiled as he watched that day.
"Lee Si-yeon must be worried about me a lot..?"
"Yeah, give me a call."
"I guess so."
"I'll call you in a minute."
"huh."
Actually, I... came out to call Lee Si-yeon,
I wanted to call my mom first.
What's going on? What's the situation? Why didn't you tell me anything?
I wanted to ask, question, and scream.
'But I guess I should approach Lee Si-yeon first...?'
-"hello..."
-"?!hello!"
“Im Yeo-ju, are you okay?!”
"You came back alive???"
-"Haha, as you can see."
-"Hey you crazy bitch!!"
“Do you know how worried I was about you?!”
“From now on, don’t walk to school alone, you rascal!!!”
-"I'm okay-"
“There are no injuries.”
-"Ha... Really."
"Where are you now..?"
-"This is Yeonjun's house."
"School's over, want to come?"
-"Even if you tell me not to come, I'll still go?!"
"Go and see-"
-"Hey~"
Lee Jeong-hyeok's voice could also be heard on the other end of the phone.
I heard things like, "Im Yeo-ju?" and "Is she okay?" If it had been normal, I wouldn't have liked to hear them, but since it had been a while, maybe because it was a voice I was hearing, it wasn't uncomfortable to hear.
(Rrrrr....)
-"Hey, lady~"
“What’s going on? You called first, haha.”
When I heard my mother's soft and sweet voice, I felt like I was going to cry.
-"mom."
“Hey, have you eaten?”
-"Okay~"
"What about the female protagonist?"
“Did you have a good time at school?”
"Are you still dating Yeonjun? Haha"
-"mom.."
-"huh?"
“What’s wrong?”
“You, heroine, have run out of pocket money again.”
-"Why did you do that?"
-"..."
"huh?"
“What is it..~?”
-"Why, why didn't you tell me..?"
“Why didn’t you tell me and create this situation? Why..”
-"My lady."
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong with you..?”
“What didn’t Mom say?”
-"He died because of his mother!!"
“Mom...Mom killed the manager of that company!!”
Since I was little, I always listened to my mother and rarely had conflicts with her.
So, this is also the first time I've ever screamed like this.
The more I talked to my mom, the more excited I became.
That wouldn't have happened-
-"Lady, what are you talking about..?"
"How did you do that..."
-"Why did you do that? Why!!!"
“Because of Mom, I got hurt and Yeonjun got hurt too!!!”
“Why, why on earth is it so wrong that you’re lending money to that guy..?!!”
Yeonjun must have heard me screaming and swearing outside, so he came out of the room and stopped me.
"Lady, calm down."
-"Mom, I told you again."
“You didn’t tell me again?”
-"...."
“I’m sorry, lady.”
-"Why don't you tell me?"
-"I thought you were still young and would have a hard time accepting this situation."
“And this situation was already decided in court months ago, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
-"You don't have to worry about it...?"
“A person died...?”
“A person died because of my mom?!”
-"..."
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“But there’s a reason for everything like that.”
-"Mom is always like this!!"
“Don’t tell me, and I’ll have to find out in a bad way.”
“Because of Mom, many people were harmed!!!”
At that time, Yeonjun intercepted my phone while I was talking on the phone.
-"Oh, hello, mother-"
"I'm Yeonjun."
“I think the female protagonist is not in a good condition right now...”
"What are you doing now?"
"Give me my phone!"
-"I'll get back to you shortly."
"all right."
"What are you doing now?"
"I'm talking to my mom."
"What's that habit you have with your mother, Yeoju?"
"You must observe the manners that must be observed."
"...."
I was so angry.
I thought Yeonjun would take my side.
Just then, someone rang the doorbell at just the right moment.
"Hey, open the door quickly!"
It seemed like a demonstration.
As soon as Yeonjun opened the door, Lee Siyeon quickly ran over and grabbed me.
"Im Yeo-ju, you crazy bastard!!"
"Are you okay?"
"You're not hurt, are you?"
"Oh, no-"
"Isn't this crazy?"
"Hey, whoever kidnapped you should have screamed really loudly!"
"How can I scream when they've covered my eyes and mouth, huh?"
"Get away from me now, it's disgusting;"
I was angry and yelling just a moment ago, but I felt pathetic because my attitude and mood changed in an instant when Lee Si-yeon came.
It's been a while since the four of us got together to eat, and although things have gotten a little awkward with Yeonjun since earlier, it's nice just having the four of us together.
"Hey Choi Yeonjun, your phone is going off like crazy."
"Please check for real."
Only then did Yeonjun turn on his phone and check it.
“Why, who are you?”
“Oh, no, just the volleyball club group chat.”
“Are you complaining about skipping practice again?”
“That’s not it lol”
“That’s right.”
“My girlfriend was kidnapped, and I fell in while trying to save her~”
“I believe it very much.”
I felt a bit guilty.
The competition, which is currently only about a week away,
Yeonjun really wanted to win, so he practiced hard since last month.
Because of me, I can't practice anymore.
Because of me again…