“I’m sorry.”

It had been an eventful day.

As soon as she staggered out of the academy, Hee Won, who was waiting in front, immediately moved her tired body to the hospital.

Since it was a weekend evening, only the emergency room was open, and there she received a light IV drip after being diagnosed with menstrual cramps and body aches.

After being prescribed painkillers and other medications, she safely returned home in Hee Won’s car.

Na Eun, who didn’t even have the strength to climb the stairs and had to be carried on Hee Won’s back, sat at the dining table and quietly apologized to him as he silently took out the porridge he had hurriedly bought from a paper bag.

Hee Won, as if it wasn’t something he particularly wanted to hear from her, didn’t even answer and placed the opened porridge bowl in front of her.

When he put a spoon in her hand and urged her to eat, Na Eun obediently ate the food placed in front of her without resistance.

This was partly due to the doctor’s advice to eat something at home after taking the strong medication at the emergency room, but there was another reason why she was being so compliant now.

It was her fault for ignoring his advice at the academy and acting on her own, provoking Han Jae Kyung.

It was clearly her own oversight not to follow Hee Won’s instructions to protect her safety, so Na Eun thought she should at least follow his words at this moment.

Having no appetite and struggling to swallow, Na Eun barely finished one-third of the large porridge bowl.

When she carefully put down her spoon, glancing around, Hee Won didn’t push her further and handed her warm water.

Na Eun quickly took it with both hands and drank.

He had gotten her a prescription, fed her porridge, and given her water.

He placed his palm on Na Eun’s forehead to check if she still had a fever.

It wasn’t as burning hot as when he had taken her to the emergency room, but there was still some warmth left.

Hee Won spoke to her with an expressionless face.

“I’m leaving now, so just sleep without thinking about anything. You can wash up tomorrow.”

“…I’m really sorry about today.”

Na Eun apologized again. During the commotion at the academy, Hee Won had been listening to the entire situation in real-time through her earrings.

It was Na Eun who had blatantly ignored Hee Won’s advice not to provoke and unnecessarily touch the other party, escalating the situation.

In movie terms, she was like a supporting character who worsens the situation by failing to control momentary emotions.

Moreover, she had even ignored his advice to take some rest, predicting she might fall ill, and caused this trouble. She had no excuse, even with ten mouths.

Hee Won showed no particular reaction to Na Eun’s carefully offered apology again.

“We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Although the words to get better first were quite gentle, she felt strangely scared and glanced at Hee Won’s expression.

“Are you very angry?”

“…”

“I’m really sorry. I’ll try… not to do such things in the future.”

She apologized, saying she would try her best not to endanger herself by being swept up in her emotions and put Hee Won in a difficult position.

Hee Won looked at Na Eun with a bit of resentment, as she still didn’t realize why he was acting this way or who he was really angry at.

But even that was not her responsibility but his own emotions to deal with, so he chose something else instead of blame.

“How about quitting the academy?”

Na Eun slowly blinked at Hee Won’s low suggestion. Hee Won spoke to her with a serious expression.

“Han Jae Kyung’s threats to you are meaningless. That bastard can’t touch your mother, let alone the academy students or anyone involved.”

Han Jae Kyung, who must have already had a stake driven through his heart, would never do anything to be hated more by Yoon Na Eun from now on.

Hee Won, who had been unnecessarily hurt while eavesdropping on the conversation between Jae Kyung and Na Eun at the academy today, could assert this.

Although they stood at opposite ends, they were the same in their feelings for Na Eun, so paradoxically, the only person who could properly understand Han Jae Kyung right now was Seo Hee Won.

Hee Won suggested again that he would block all the scenarios she was worried about, so how about quitting the academy at this point.

Na Eun, who had been listening to his story seriously, thought for a moment and then slowly shook her head.

“He probably approached me because he needed me anyway, so would he give up just because I quit one academy? …If I can’t avoid it one way or another, I’d rather face it head-on.”

“…”

Hee Won closed his mouth. He had advised out of concern, but he wasn’t too surprised as he had expected Na Eun to refuse.

Now that she knew Han Jae Kyung was alive, she wouldn’t want to just avoid or run away blindly.

That was Yoon Na Eun’s personality. Knowing this, suggesting she quit the academy was Hee Won’s own desire.

A somewhat petty desire not to let her clash with Han Jae Kyung anymore.

But Han Jae Kyung, who was hovering around her for something other than necessity, would surely find another way to approach her even if she quit the academy.

When a madman harbors love, lingering feelings, and all sorts of emotions, he can do such crazy things.

Hee Won silently scanned her reddened eyes and pale complexion with his gaze as her fever rose.

He closed his eyes for a moment to calm the rising wave of emotions, then opened his mouth to end the conversation he had been trying to postpone for the sake of her health.

“As you probably already know, there shouldn’t be any more incidents like today.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Na Eun nodded as if she was sufficiently repentant. Hee Won looked at Na Eun with complex eyes.

He had always seen only the goodness in Yoon Na Eun.

He knew her unwavering uprightness, her kindness in considering others, and her strength in not losing her way even in the face of trials that swept over her.

Looking back now, he had fallen for everything that made her who she was, and felt love for all of it.

But as he glimpsed her deliberately being cruel to someone, he was starting to feel a little afraid of Yoon Na Eun.

Goodness is not something one is born with, but the result of choice.

Na Eun had always been a person who chose goodness, someone with a character that others might ridicule as foolish, who would rather be hurt herself than hurt others.

But Hee Won belatedly realized that if such a person harbored firm malice towards someone, it could be scarier than steadfast goodness.

Yoon Na Eun’s kindness was a choice, not a necessity.

So if she wanted to be cruel, she could be as harsh as she wanted towards others.

Na Eun was such a terrifying person.

A heavy silence fell over her small rented room for a moment.

Na Eun, realizing that her answer wasn’t what Hee Won wanted, kept her head down and fidgeted with her hands, while Hee Won was lost in many thoughts for a brief moment.

Should I tell her? At least not now? Should I talk when she feels a bit better?

…No, even then, is it a truth she can handle?

Hee Won experienced numerous conflicts in an instant, and finally carefully opened his mouth to ask.

Yoon Na Eun−.

“…What would you do if Han Jae Kyung was sincere about you?”

Despite Hee Won’s very cautious tone, Na Eun let out a small laugh as soon as she heard his question. She was clearly dumbfounded.

“Jae Kyung must be a good actor. Even you were fooled.”

“…”

Hee Won was at a loss for words. Na Eun had no idea what feelings Han Jae Kyung harbored for her.

It wasn’t that she lacked perception.

It was partly due to her common sense algorithm that someone who was sincere about her couldn’t possibly do such things.

When Hee Won couldn’t say anything, Na Eun rolled her eyes for a moment as if trying to answer his question sincerely.

Then she laughed and said,

“If he really likes me, he should ask.”

“…”

“‘Please disappear because you’re annoying.'”

She smiled, saying if he really loved her, wouldn’t he do at least that much?

Hee Won had to try hard not to keep hurting himself over words that weren’t even directed at him.

“…What if Han Jae Kyung had unavoidable circumstances?”

Na Eun’s expression disappeared at Hee Won’s repeated question. Hee Won was momentarily afraid, but he carefully asked while calming his trembling insides.

“If that bastard had a reason why he had to do that to you.”

“…”

“Then…”

“−Seo Hee Won.”

A low voice cut him sharply. Hee Won closed his mouth midway and had to endure her chilling gaze.

Na Eun placed both hands on her knees and her shoulders trembled slightly.

Trying hard to prevent her vision from turning white with anger, she said,

“Why should I consider the circumstances of the perpetrator?”

She bit her slightly trembling lips.

“Unavoidable circumstances? I told you before. I’m not curious about such things.”

“…”

“I’m busy hurting over what I’ve lost. I’m busy struggling to overcome it again. While I’m desperately trying not to lose what I have left, should I worry about Han Jae Kyung’s unavoidable circumstances? Why should I?”

Hee Won was momentarily at a loss for words in front of Na Eun’s piercingly cold eyes.

Her eyes, which had held a faint warmth even for him whom she disliked, were now sparkling, buried in cold hatred.

“I told you before. If I were to be dragged away and used by those bastards again, just kill me. I hate Han Jae Kyung so much that I’d be willing to die if I could somehow get back at him. I hate him as much as I miss my father. So why should I think about that bastard’s circumstances? Why should I worry about what unavoidable situation he might have had!”

Her voice, which was small at first, gradually filled with resentment and turned into a shout.

Her eyes, which were increasingly wavering, filled with tears, and her voice, which was like a scream, turned into crying.

Hee Won approached her quickly and embraced her. It was a mere impulse, something he would never have done normally, deliberately keeping his distance.

Hee Won once again uttered the words he had rarely given to anyone else, but which came as naturally as breathing to Yoon Na Eun.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

Na Eun quietly swallowed her tears, obediently nestled in Hee Won’s embrace.

Hearing her sniffling sounds right next to him, Hee Won said,

“So don’t talk about dying.”

He tightly closed his eyes at the agonizing thought that he might die every time he heard it.

“I told you I’d make it a happy ending. Please believe me just once.”

“…I hate Han Jae Kyung so much.”

She sobbed lowly, her face buried in Hee Won’s chest.

“I really, really hate him…”

That’s why I did it. I wanted to shake him up somehow. I wanted to upset him. Hee Won hugged Na Eun even tighter as she clumsily excused her antics at the academy.

“…I know. You can feel that way.”

Though his feelings were complicated, he enveloped Na Eun. He could understand her current psychologically unstable state.

And in reality, Han Jae Kyung was probably walking through hell now, beyond what she had intended.

Her actions today were enough to tear Han Jae Kyung apart.

“I think I understand you a little now.”

After calming her down as she cried for a while and carefully detaching her from his embrace, Na Eun muttered while rubbing her wet eyes.

Hee Won looked down at her a bit nervously.

She was sitting in the chair in front of the table, and he was standing, inevitably looking down at her, but that no longer mattered.

At some point, Na Eun was no longer afraid of how Hee Won stood in front of her.

She mumbled in a hoarse voice.

“It’s strange how everything becomes easier the less sincere it is.”

She laughed, saying that thanks to this, she was able to easily do things she couldn’t have imagined before.

“I don’t know what came over me to do that with Jae Kyung.”

And on the emergency staircase of the academy, no less. What if someone had come in? It was truly a crazy act, but she didn’t particularly regret it.

Thanks to that, she had seen Han Jae Kyung lose his composure, so her goal was achieved.

It was her first intense kiss with someone in her life, but for her current self, the act at that time was nothing more or less than venting her anger.

It was possible because it wasn’t sincerity, affection, or love.

Na Eun, sitting in the chair and staring into space while lightly recalling the series of events that had happened today, gazed at Hee Won, who was now standing in front of her, looking down at her with a complicated gaze.

She suddenly remembered that no matter how much Hee Won looked down on her, it wasn’t at all burdensome.

And she realized that even though she had clung to Han Jae Kyung and rubbed lips like that, after the initial difficulty, the same physical anomalies as before didn’t appear.

Have I really overcome it?

Suddenly, she wanted to test it.

She felt a momentary odd curiosity. It was partly because she was still not in her right mind due to the fever.

Na Eun grabbed both ends of the chair she was sitting on with her hands and pondered for a moment, then decided to try to muster up courage.

The less sincere it is, the easier everything becomes. And Seo Hee Won was someone who wouldn’t be hurt no matter what she did.

“Seo Hee Won.”

Hee Won, who had been silent, worried that her fever might have risen again, was checking her forehead with his hand when his gaze lowered to her face.

Na Eun quietly took in the handsome face looking at her. Maybe it was possible.

Touching someone, connecting with someone. Since even light contact was this okay now, maybe she had really overcome it.

Moreover, to be honest, there was an underlying desire to cover up what had happened with Han Jae Kyung today with a different act.

Na Eun hesitated for a very brief moment, then trusting him who had always indulged her whims, she asked.

“How far can you go with someone you don’t have feelings for?”