As Juwon filled the empty glass with soju, Ina scooped some fish cake soup onto a plate and passed it to him.

“Have some of this too.”

“Okay. You have some too.”

“Okay.”

Ina picked up her spoon and stared at Juwon thoughtfully.

“What?”

“I just… find it so amazing.”

“What is?”

“I was wondering what the chances are of running into a middle school friend on the street after 13 years.”

Instead of answering, Juwon chuckled.

“Isn’t it really amazing? I mean, the circumstances of our meeting weren’t great, but… anyway, the last time we saw each other was winter of 9th grade. So much time has passed. Right?”

“You’re right. 13 years is quite a long time.”

Ina quietly gazed at Juwon for a moment, then smiled and said,

“But how did you become even more handsome and good-looking? Even when I first saw you, you were so good-looking that it was like seeing an idol… You seem to have grown up splendidly.”

“Is it suddenly compliment time?”

As Juwon spoke with a laugh, Ina touched her cheek in embarrassment.

“No, I mean… I was just stating a fact… Actually, even earlier when you took off your hat, I momentarily thought you were really handsome.”

“You did?”

Juwon laughed in amusement.

“Uh… it’s funny, right? Even in that situation, I had the audacity to think you were handsome.”

“No, I’m honored. That you thought I was handsome even in that situation.”

At Juwon’s words, which could have been a joke or sincere, Ina’s cheeks reddened.

Feeling needlessly embarrassed, Ina quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, how tall are you? You weren’t short back then either, but now you seem really tall?”

“185 centimeters.”

“…Wow.”

Ina’s mouth fell open.

“I’m so envious… I stopped at 162 and didn’t grow a single centimeter after that.”

At Ina’s sullen words, Juwon rested his chin on his right hand and gazed intently at her.

“What? I find petite girls cute though.”

“…..”

Ina blinked at Juwon’s unexpected words.

“And Ina, you yourself seem to have grown up beautifully.”

“…Huh?”

“You had fair and pretty skin even back then, but now you’ve become much prettier. Still fair and bright.”

“…..”

At Juwon’s continuous remarks, Ina’s eyes widened.

For a moment, Ina thought she must have misheard.

Is this man in front of me really Lee Juwon?

Juwon from 13 years ago would have never said such things, so Ina felt dazed but also had a tingling feeling in her heart.

As Ina’s cheeks reddened, one corner of Juwon’s mouth quirked up as he watched her.

Ina took a sip of soju to calm her fluttering insides, and Juwon picked up the soju bottle.

As he refilled her glass, Ina glanced at him and was suddenly reminded of when she first met Juwon.

When she first met Juhee, she had marveled at her tall height, slender figure, and doll-like features. But when she saw Juhee’s twin brother Juwon, Ina was doubly surprised as if a celebrity was standing right in front of her.

She remembered being in awe thinking the genes in this family were truly superior.

However, contrary to his admirable appearance, Juwon at that time was a prickly, cold child who was hard to approach.

Ina suddenly recalled how much effort she had put in trying to become friends with Juwon back then.

But now that prickly Juwon had reappeared as this cool, wonderful, full-grown man…

As a mix of emotions welled up inside her and she felt sentimental, Juhee suddenly popped into Ina’s mind.

Swallowing, Ina asked Juwon in an urgent voice,

“What about Juhee? Is she doing well? Where does she live now? Is she in Seoul?”

Juwon was silent for a moment, then picked up the soju bottle and poured it into his own glass.

After quietly swallowing the soju, Juwon slowly began to speak.

“After you left for Yeosu, our family had some issues too. In the winter of my 10th grade, our parents divorced.”

As Ina’s surprised eyes grew wide, Juwon continued in a calm voice.

“After I entered 10th grade, my dad’s business struggled a lot. With debt collector calls, my parents fought every night. Their words became more and more harsh, and one day, they said they were getting divorced. Well… I was shocked too, but Lee Juhee cried a lot.”

Ina couldn’t say anything at Juwon’s matter-of-fact voice.

When Ina was entering 9th grade, her father passed away in an accident. Her mother, unable to overcome the shock, took Ina down to Yeosu in South Jeolla Province in February of the following year to live with her grandmother.

Ina also developed depression due to the changed environment and longing for her father whom she could no longer see. After entering 10th grade, her condition worsened and it became hard to get through each day.

Trapped in her own depression, Ina gradually forgot to contact Juhee. Juhee’s communication also slowly decreased, and by that winter, contact was completely cut off.

But to think Juhee was going through such hardship at that time… Ina felt so sorry.

Her heart ached with guilt for not understanding Juhee’s pain, only thinking about her own struggles.

Watching Ina’s expression rapidly darken, Juwon said softly,

“You don’t need to make that face. It’s already in the past, and we were all young back then. And even though pain can’t be compared… the situation you were in was still more difficult and painful than what we faced.”

At Juwon’s words, Ina suddenly felt choked up inside.

Her heart ached at the memories of those days she didn’t want to recall.

“As soon as our parents divorced that winter, Lee Juhee followed our mom to Japan. I stayed in Korea with our dad.”

Ina’s surprised eyes widened at Juwon’s words, which he said to change the subject.

She remembered that Juhee’s mother was a Korean-Japanese, and as a result, Juhee and Juwon were fluent in Japanese.

“If I had to characterize them, Lee Juhee got along better with our mom. As for me, it wasn’t that I particularly got along better with our dad, I just didn’t want to go to Japan. Juhee studied there again, went to college, and got a job. She married a Japanese man she met there 2 years ago and is pregnant now.”

Hearing the panoramic story of Juhee’s life during the 13 years they hadn’t met, Ina felt dazed.

Along with the thought that Juhee had accomplished so much during the time they were apart, Ina felt her heart swell.

With tears slightly welling up in her eyes as she thought of Juhee, Ina smiled and looked at Juwon.

“She’s pregnant, that’s great news. When is she due?”

“Early April next year.”

“Wow. Even the due date is great. Can you give me Juhee’s number? I really want to hear her voice.”

Juwon stared intently at Ina for a moment, then took her cell phone and entered the number.

“I’ll give it to you, but I think it’s better to call tomorrow. You’re in a pretty down mood right now and it’s really late. Juhee is probably asleep.”

“Ah, you’re right. It is very late. I should call her tomorrow.”

“Yeah, do that. She’ll probably cry a lot from happiness to get your call. I heard she’s become more tearful since getting pregnant.”

“I think I’ll cry a lot too when I hear Juhee’s voice.”

At those words, Juwon quietly gazed at Ina.

“Your eyes swell quickly when you cry. Your nose turns red too.”

Ina was startled by Juwon’s words, her eyes widening.

“Huh? How do you remember that?”

Juwon quietly laughed as he fiddled with his soju glass.

“How could I forget how you turn into a swollen-eyed Rudolph when you cry?”

Embarrassed by his words, Ina scratched her cheek.

“Haha. Did I really do that?”

“Do you still change like that when you cry now?”

“Well… if I cry a lot, that still happens. But after becoming an adult, I try hard to hold back from crying.”

At those words, Juwon stared intently at Ina.

“…Did you have a lot to cry about?”

Surprised by his heavy question, Ina looked at Juwon and said, “Huh?”

Juwon’s eyes were flickering with a sympathetic heart.

Smiling slightly, Ina shook her head.

“No, I mean, it’s just a figure of speech. When you watch a sad movie, you tear up, right? So I try not to watch sad movies if I can help it. So I don’t turn into Rudolph.”

As Ina spoke with a laugh, Juwon finally chuckled as well.

“By the way, where do you live?”

Ina asked as she poured soju into Juwon’s glass.

“Jamsil.”

“Oh my. Really?”

Ina looked at Juwon with surprised eyes.

“I live near Konkuk University Station. Wow… we live really close to each other too. What are the odds?”

“You’re right. We’re very close.”

“So you’ve lived in Seoul this whole time?”

“Yeah.”

“I came back up to Seoul when I was twenty for university. But how have we never run into each other even once?”

“Well, Seoul has a huge population, so the chances of running into each other aren’t that high.”

“That’s true… Even if we had run into each other, I probably wouldn’t have recognized you like earlier. I would’ve just passed by thinking, wow, what a handsome man.”

Juwon laughed.

“Why do you keep trying to flatter me unnecessarily?”

“It’s not flattery. I’m just saying it like it is.”

Just then, Ina’s cell phone rang.

It was a call from Hyunju, Ina’s best friend.

“Juwon, I’m going to take this call real quick. I’ll be right back.”

Juwon nodded, and Ina picked up her phone and headed to the restroom.

As Ina went to the restroom, Juwon picked up his soju glass and downed it in one shot.

Setting the glass down, Juwon let out a long sigh.

This situation of sitting across from Ina and talking with her didn’t feel quite real.

It felt a bit hazy, as if he was dreaming.

For a few months after Ina went down to Yeosu 13 years ago, Juhee had kept in steady contact with her.

And although Juwon never directly asked, Juhee would sometimes tell him how Ina was doing.

On nights after hearing about Ina, Juwon would lie in bed thinking about her until he fell asleep.

He remembered when they first met, how Ina had declared she would definitely become close with the prickly Juwon, saying a tree doesn’t fall even after ten strikes.

And thinking about what Ina said and did after that to achieve her ambition made him want to laugh.

Then Juwon’s father’s business struggled and as divorce talks began, Juhee rapidly became gloomy.

And at some point, she stopped talking about Ina altogether. As soon as their parents divorced, Juhee left for Japan with their mother.

In the 13 years that passed since then, Juwon would think of Ina from time to time.

Where could she be living and what could she be doing?

Was she doing well?

Were her large, chestnut-colored eyes still the same?

A feeling he couldn’t describe as longing remained, not erased. And today, he unexpectedly ran into Ina.

After 13 years, like something out of a drama.

When a woman walked out of the bar as he was on the phone, their eyes met by chance and Juwon’s eyes widened.

This face… these large chestnut-colored eyes… could it be?

But the woman hurriedly avoided Juwon’s gaze as if embarrassed and walked away. Juwon found himself chasing after her retreating back without realizing it.

But soon, some drunk man came out of the bar, mumbling as he followed the woman.

Juwon furrowed his brow at the sight, quickly ended his call, and followed after the man.

A moment later, when he saw the man grab the woman’s hand and pull, an inexplicable anger boiled up in Juwon’s heart.

After stopping the jerk of a man and sending him away, when it was just the two of them, Juwon looked down into the woman’s eyes staring up at him and was certain.

These round, beautifully shining chestnut-colored eyes were…

That’s right. Seo Ina.

Mixed with gladness, an odd fluttering feeling made the corners of Juwon’s mouth quirk up.