“Shouldn’t you stay by my side?”

Yeon-woo’s heart grew heavy with Geon’s sincere and earnest plea.

Unable to bear the guilt and sadness flooding into her heart, she couldn’t look directly at Geon’s face.

She couldn’t deceive him any longer, especially when he was expressing such genuine feelings to her.

Now, she really had to bring this to an end.

Slowly turning her head aside, Yeon-woo, with heavy lips, finally let go of Geon’s hand.

“Even though it was a short time, I appreciate everything.”

After nodding her gratitude to Geon, Yeon-woo turned away and left as if running away.

Yeon-woo felt a warm heat in her eyes.

At that moment, Geon, who had chased after her, grabbed her wrist.

“Nari!”
Even though they might not be the same in size, he was convinced that they must have harbored the same feelings.

But why would she try to avoid him like this?

Geon couldn’t send Yeon-ho away like this.

However, at Yeon-ho’s earnest plea as she turned away, he had no choice but to release her hand.

“Let go, please.”

Moisture glistened in her eyes that had turned red without notice.

He wanted to hug her right away, sensing that she might burst into tears any moment, but it seemed like Yeon-ho wouldn’t want that either.

Thus, Geon had no choice but to let go of her hand as Yeon-ho, distancing herself, walked away.

The sound of the charming fireflies seemed unusually melancholic on that night.

After the final meeting with Yeon-ho, Geon made relentless efforts to forget her.

How sincere he was didn’t matter. Sincere feelings for a lost person had no meaning.

Just having put Yeon-ho in his heart burdened her.

Even blaming himself didn’t bring Yeon-ho back.

Trying to stay busy to forget Yeon-ho, he immersed himself in work.

Even tasks he could delegate to subordinates, he did them himself. He tried to focus on training. However, the effect was minimal.

Gwangho Army Unit’s Gwangho Army Barracks. Geon spent his time buried in work as usual.

“Nari, are you here?”

A familiar voice echoed outside the barracks.

Even the voice resembled his sister’s, making Geon’s heart ache.

“Come in.”

As permission was granted, Yeon-woo entered the barracks.

Geon’s gaze didn’t have time for Yeon-woo; it was fixed on the documents on the desk.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, because you haven’t been visible lately…”

Yeon-woo stammered.

“Maybe something has happened, so…”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Geon replied briefly.

Inside the silent barracks, the only sounds were the rustling of papers.

Before the silence could drag on, Geon, who finally lifted his gaze from the documents, looked at Yeon-woo at the entrance of the barracks.

Then, in a voice that was neither affectionate nor cold, he spoke.

“Just busy with work, so don’t worry.”

“Please take it easy. You might get hurt.”

“Sure.”

Geon briefly responded and then returned his gaze to the documents.

Only after Yeon-woo left the barracks did Geon sigh deeply and put down the document he had been holding.

Since the last meeting with Yeon-ho, Geon came home late every night.

He was afraid that if he encountered Yeon-woo, who looked so much like her, he might lose his carefully maintained composure.

So, to allow himself some time to collect his thoughts, he deliberately returned home as late as possible.

However, every time he faced Yeon-woo like this, his heart shook just as he had expected.

Although he understood in his head that he needed to forget Yeon-ho, his heart was not cooperating.
Understanding that he needed to forget Yeon-ho in his head, his heart was reluctant to comply.

Seeing Yeon-woo, he missed Yeon-ho once again. Missing Yeon-ho made him want to see her again.

When Yeon-ho entered his heart, the moment was so fleeting that he couldn’t tell when it happened, but the process of forgetting felt slow.

No, the day of forgetting became vague.

His heart, with nowhere to go, wandered in the void for a long time.

Yeon-woo stood silently at the entrance of Geon’s barracks for a while.

Since the day he pushed Geon away, Yeon-woo had not had a day of peace.

He worried that Geon might have been hurt, but without a chance to check his condition, Geon did not reveal himself.

Although he clearly came home, he couldn’t see Geon’s face as he came and went without a trace.

Even in the Gwangho Army Unit, he couldn’t find a trace of Geon.

It was certain that he was in the Gwangho Army Unit. Since he couldn’t see him, Geon seemed to stay inside the barracks all day.

Worried, Yeon-woo went to Geon’s barracks.

Confirming his face after a long time brought a sense of relief to Yeon-woo.

Now, if he didn’t see Geon’s face for a day, he felt uneasy.

But after a long time facing each other, Geon seemed too busy with work to spare a glance for Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo felt like he shouldn’t disturb Geon, who seemed busy with work.

So, even though Geon didn’t send him away, Yeon-woo went outside the barracks.

Since they hadn’t had a proper conversation, Yeon-woo couldn’t tell if Geon was okay or not.