We decided not to cross the line.

Episode 88. Pleading

While I was driving,

unlike usual today

he kept talking without stopping.





What happened during the shoot,

the dating histories of other actors,

even his next project...




as if he wanted to tell me everything that had happened

without leaving a single thing out,

he kept speaking nonstop.





It was unlike him.





At some point,

he stopped talking for a moment and asked me.




 
"Have you booked the plane tickets?"





"Yes..."





"When are you leaving?"





"It's a flight tomorrow night."





"Are you going straight to Paris?"





"Yes, I'm going straight to Paris."





"Why are you meeting that person's parents?"





"Hunji...

our... let's not talk about that."





"Are you really even going to marry that person?"





"It's not like that.

that person's parents want to see me.

They said they're coming from Korea,

so it's only polite to go greet them.

And...Julie wants that too."





"When did you meet that person?

Could it have been... when you met me in Paris? Was it then?"




I hesitated for a moment.




"...Yes.

The day I left Paris a day early,

I met them at the train station.

Then we ended up traveling together to the second city by chance."





"And then that person asked you to date them,

and you said okay?"




"...Yes.

They said they'd help me forget Hunji...

and help me... so it could become... that way..."





"That's an obvious ploy.

You really don't know that?"





"No, Hunji.

Julie isn't that kind of person.

They're a really good person."





"So you're taking that person's side in front of me now?"





"No..that's not it...

you're misunderstanding that person too much, Hunji."





"Pull over for a second."





"If we go a little farther, we'll find a quiet place.

Hunji...

can't we just stop talking about this now?"





He said nothing.

The him who, just moments ago, had kept talking without stopping...

was staring coldly out the window, as if he were someone else.





We drove on for another ten or so minutes

and stopped the car by a quiet lakeside.





After staring silently out the window for a long time,

he slowly opened his mouth.





"If you leave tomorrow...

when will we be able to see each other again?"


"When will you come back to Korea?"





"I still... don't really know."



'Just looking at you

I can't believe how much I'm still shaken like this.'



I couldn't bring myself to say that out loud.





He, who had been looking out the window, slowly turned to look at me.





"Promise me just one thing.

That you won't marry that person..."





"...."





"You're not going to promise?"





"I don't know."





"You don't even love that person...

so why can't you say you won't?"





"Stop it. This... Hunji.

We only have one day left now.

At the end... let's part after only happy stories."


 


Before I knew it, his eyes were brimming with tears.




"I could wait forever...

but what if you're in a state where there's nothing I can do even if I wait?

Then it would all be pointless."

When his last words ended,





the tears I'd been holding back quietly slid down my cheeks.

Without a word, I wiped away his tears.




"If that's the case...




then we're not meant to be.

Then you can meet someone who suits you better, Hunji.

But...I don't think I can truly congratulate you.

I'm a jealousy demon too, just like you, Hunji."

I smiled through my tears.




The three days I spent with him

 



passed far too quickly, like three hours.

The next evening,





Hunji took me to the airport,

and before I got out of the car,

I gave him one last hug.

His warmth and scent of skin...





I didn't want to forget them for a long time.

"Your ex-boyfriend...





could he be the actor Park Hunji?"