In the library’s audiovisual room, the DVD player vividly displayed the opening scene of the film shot by Jun.
The camera lingered on a scene where Jun, in a uniform missing its second button, tightly grasped a button in his right hand. Then, the scene shifted.
Filling the screen was a lush green forest path flanked by trees stretching out on both sides. There, at the start of the path, was my back, gently shaking my head as if tickled by sunbeams carried by the wind.
Intentionally or not, the film had no sound.
Whether Jun called out to me from behind or not, the camera captured my startled twenty-year-old self, shrugging my shoulders and turning around.
The camera slowly zoomed in on my face. My eyes rolled to the left, and my lips moved as if mumbling. The freshness of summer seemed to echo in the background like a light, serene melody.
The next scene transitioned to an interior bathed in orange sunlight streaming through slightly open sliding doors. There, I was dozing off on my beloved beige sofa.
Again, startled by Jun’s call, I woke up with half-closed eyes, looking around in confusion.
The room, filled with a sunset hue, seemed to emit a sweet orange scent.
The following cut displayed a clock tower, a lawn, and the vast sea embracing them.
I, frolicking on the lawn, stopped abruptly at Jun’s call, catching myself as I nearly stumbled, facing the wind blowing in from the sea. My hair, tousled like my tumultuous feelings, seemed to speak through my eyes.
The strong breeze carried the scent of the distant blue sea through the screen.
As the scene changed, Jun’s familiar voice unexpectedly rang out. Despite nine years having passed, my body still reacted sensitively to his voice. Goosebumps rose all over me; I wasn’t emotionally prepared.
“Iharu.”
Without turning around, I continued to wiggle my small feet in the footbath and walked forward.
“Yeah.”
My voice sounded faint.
“Who are you going to have that love with?”
On screen, I stopped in my tracks upon hearing Jun’s words. A few seconds of tense silence followed.
I turned around. The screen showed me beaming brightly, as if having collected all the surrounding sunlight. Holding that smile, I was about to speak when suddenly the scene shifted.
My response was never revealed in the film. The screen returned to the initial scene of Jun in his uniform, clutching the button. He was staring blankly at the sea.
A male voice, presumably Jun’s friend, could be heard, with Korean subtitles appearing below the video.
[Hey, Jun. Let’s go. What are you doing? Waiting for someone?] […Waiting for spring (Haru).] [Huh?] [Waiting for spring (Haru).] [Ha, whatever. It’s midwinter now. Spring’s a long way off.]But Jun said nothing more. He didn’t turn around. That was the film’s final scene.
For him, spring never came. Spring, Haru, never returned to meet him again.
Jun held the button in his hand, waiting for spring. And I, against the natural order, turned the end of his waiting from spring back into winter.
And now, nine years later, Jun introduced himself as a director who deals with the bitter aspects of first love, suggesting that the season of first love is winter.
That there is no spring in first love.
Even though the movie had ended, an indefinable sorrow and heaviness washed over me. I wiped away tears that had just rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t understand the meaning of these tears.
At this moment, I knew only one thing: that the weight of these tears I just shed was the only relief I could get from the overwhelming guilt crushing me.
“Blub, blub, bubbling[Dash].”
I was caught off guard. Unconsciously, I had puffed up my cheeks with air and was blowing bubbles through the straw in my lemonade, lost in thought.
The sound of the bubbles bursting brought me back to reality. I hurriedly lifted my head, scanning the area in case the noise had disturbed anyone. Luckily, apart from a couple at a distant table, there was no one else.
I was sitting in a tranquil cafe overlooking the wide sea, where the boundary between the sky-blue sky and the sea seemed blurred, as if smeared by someone’s palm. The view through the cafe’s large windows undulated in shades of blue.
But I had deliberately chosen to sit with my back to the sea. I didn’t want to see it.
Because this flowing sea at this moment reminded me of someone.
“I’m a bit late…”
I shifted the cup aside, resting my chin in my hand, gazing not at the sea but inside the cafe. A waiter caught my eye, brewing coffee that was just ordered. The air, already saturated with the deep aroma of coffee, grew denser.
Jeong-eun and Hyun-su had left me here and gone to the old wooden house where I had homestayed nine years ago.
Apparently, they sensed something was off about my state after watching the short film Jun and I made nine years ago.
It wasn’t my intention to hide the fact that Jun was Director Mats. I too learned this only after coming here.
Top Celebrity Younger Brother Bears Her Child (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Forced to live stream romance with a top celebrity in a female-dominant world.
Yan Jin transmigrated into a brothel, with a fellow transmigrated junior beside her.
Hearing the obscene words coming from outside, the unfortunate junior covered his ears tightly, his cheeks flushed red, and whispered to comfort her, “Don’t worry, I will definitely help you escape.”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely defend your chastity.” Yan Jin looked at the flawless and delicate features of the unfortunate junior and gently comforted, “Because we have transmigrated into a female-dominant world.”
※※※
Top celebrity Yu Shu suddenly fell into a coma during a concert.
Research scientist Yan Jin fainted in the lab after working overtime.
Two people with no connection were rushed to the same hospital.
Three days later, neither of them had woken up.
Suddenly, the entire nation discovered that a live streaming app had been forcibly installed on their phones.
Upon opening it, they heard the two discussing how to escape from the brothel.
The entire internet was in an uproar.
After the two successfully escaped from the brothel, Yu Shu’s fan group rushed to make a banner and sent it to the hospital overnight.
“Big sister bravely took action to defend the chastity of our idol!”
※※※
When Yu Shu was diagnosed with pregnancy, Yan Jin stared at his belly for a long time.
Covering his stomach, he muttered gloomily, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go get an abortion.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” Yan Jin hugged Yu Shu and said softly, “I just feel like I’m not human.”
Yu Shu comforted Yan Jin, “I was already an adult when we got together.”
Yan Jin hesitated, “But you won’t be of legal marriageable age even after giving birth to the child.”
At the same time, a flood of bullet comments appeared in the live streaming room that the two couldn’t see.
[Although it’s inappropriate, I also want a young and handsome boyfriend to have my child.]
①Male pregnancy (highlighted)
The female lead is five years older than the male lead, and the male lead is already an adult when he appears.
