“Would you like something to drink? Should I get you a beer? Or tea?”

Yi Soo brought Ji Ho into her home to talk in a quiet place.

Since it wasn’t the first time, it didn’t feel too uncomfortable despite the late hour.

That was just Yi Soo’s thoughts though.

“I’ll have a beer.”

Ji Ho felt tense seeing Yi Soo’s expression, which seemed calmly determined about something.

He wondered if he had unknowingly caused a misunderstanding or made a mistake like last time.

It was his third time coming to Yi Soo’s home, but he had never been able to come with a relaxed mind.

Either Yi Soo was hurt, angry, or had a serious expression like today.

He never had the chance to feel excited about coming to his girlfriend’s home.

Yi Soo handed Ji Ho a beer as they sat side by side on the sofa.

He opened the beer can with a click and first wet his throat with the cold beer.

Yi Soo put her beer down on the table and turned her body completely to face Ji Ho.

She wanted to see Ji Ho’s affectionate gaze once more, which had made her decide to confess.

“Tell me. I’ll listen to anything.”

Ji Ho also turned to face Yi Soo after drinking about half his beer and setting it down.

“Hoo…”

Yi Soo took a deep breath and slowly raised her head.

“What I’m about to say is actually… something I didn’t want to say until the end. So I’ve never told anyone about it myself…”

Yi Soo paused briefly before continuing.

“I felt uncomfortable keeping it from you. I’ll apologize in advance, but I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you until now. I should have said it from the beginning, but I didn’t have the courage to speak, so I kept putting it off and it ended up like this.”

Ji Ho felt extremely anxious as he watched Yi Soo apologize first, not knowing what was going on.

What could she be trying to say that required such a long preamble and made her so nervous?

Yi Soo took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“My mom is in London. The day we first met on the plane, I was coming back from visiting her.”

Ji Ho nodded.

“My parents divorced when I was young. At first I lived with my mom, but when I was in 9th grade, she went to London because my maternal grandmother there was sick. So after that, I lived with my dad.”

Ji Ho tightly held Yi Soo’s hand as she spoke calmly.

“After divorcing my mom, my dad remarried…”

A deep sigh escaped Yi Soo’s lips after saying that much.

Up to here hadn’t been difficult to say, but trying to continue, her throat felt rough as if something was stuck in it.

Taking another deep breath, Yi Soo opened her mouth.

“His new wife has a daughter around my age.”

Yi Soo unknowingly gripped Ji Ho’s hand tightly.

Unable to easily continue speaking, Yi Soo bit her lower lip hard before releasing it.

“That daughter is… Yoo Mi. Jung Yoo Mi. The younger sister you know well.”

Yi Soo opened her eyes tightly after closing them, and uttered the last words in a trembling voice.

It felt like putting down a heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart.

She felt both relieved and dejected.

Why had it been so difficult to say these words?

It wasn’t something she had done wrong, nor was it something to be ashamed of.

“Ah…”

Ji Ho’s low voice was heard, at a loss for words, while Yi Soo felt unburdened.

Then silence fell.

The heavily sinking air seemed to weigh down on both of them.

It felt suffocating.

Ji Ho was at a loss for words at Yi Soo’s unexpected story.

Apart from saying “Ah,” he couldn’t easily continue speaking.

In his mind, all the events since meeting Yi Soo flashed by in a jumble.

Running into Yoo Mi together at the cafe, eating with Yoo Mi at the restaurant recently, photos taken with Yoo Mi, ridiculous rumors, and even Yoo Mi’s birthday.

Then suddenly he remembered the wound on Yi Soo’s face from a while back.

The image of Yi Soo crying endlessly, soaked in rain, looking like she had run out of the house, was vivid.

Yi Soo, who had been happy saying she became independent, had said it was her wish.

“Of course. It was my wish.”

Had it been so difficult that leaving home was her wish?

With a heavy heart, Ji Ho pulled Yi Soo into his arms.

“…Thank you for telling me.”

Ji Ho said, hugging Yi Soo tightly.

He seemed to understand fully why she couldn’t tell him until now.

Thinking of how Yi Soo must have been troubled between him and Yoo Mi, his heart ached.

“It must have been very difficult.”

At those words, all the sorrowful and difficult times flashed through Yi Soo’s mind like a panorama.

Though it wasn’t something to cry about, strangely her eyes began to burn.

Yi Soo bit her lip tightly, trying not to cry while nestled in Ji Ho’s warm, comforting embrace.

After revealing to Ji Ho the secret she had wanted to hide and never tell anyone, her feelings were strange.

‘I must really rely on and like Ji Ho a lot. I ended up telling him this story after all.’

It felt like she had shown her entire self.

Yi Soo straightened up from leaning on Ji Ho.

“It’s okay now. I’ve fulfilled my wish recently.”

Yi Soo said with a faint smile, trying to change the heavy atmosphere.

“Can I ask why you cried so much on the plane?”

The day he first saw Yi Soo.

He had been curious about the woman crying endlessly.

Not knowing that what was just a small curiosity then would grow into this.

“That day I cried because of my mom. Originally, my mom was supposed to come to Seoul this year to live with me. That’s what I thought, but suddenly that day she said she couldn’t come. I had been waiting for the day I could live with my mom again after living with my dad for 5 years… That was my only hope, and I endured all the hardships just for that… When my mom said she couldn’t come, it felt like everything turned to bubbles in an instant.”

Now she could speak calmly about it.

Because it wasn’t as sorrowful and desperate as back then.

Ji Ho just silently caressed Yi Soo’s cheek.

“Then that rainy day…”

The day his heart sank seeing Yi Soo’s cheek.

Even when asked who did it, Yi Soo just said it was an accident.

“That day.”

Yi Soo looked up at Ji Ho.

Where should she start the story?

“I wasn’t feeling well so I took medicine and went to bed early, but Yoo Mi came into my room drunk. And that perfume… She was holding the perfume you gave me and demanding if you really gave it to me, then we got into an argument, the perfume fell and broke on the floor, and then Yoo Mi’s mom appeared… That’s what happened.”

“…Aunt Soo Min?”

Yi Soo nodded at Ji Ho, who had an expression of disbelief.

It would be hard to imagine such behavior from Soo Min, who gave off an elegant and virtuous impression.

“Well, going through that was terrible, but thanks to that I was able to become independent. If not for that, I still wouldn’t have fulfilled my wish.”

“Hoo…”

Ji Ho pulled Yi Soo into his arms again.

He was continually surprised every time he heard an unknown story about Yi Soo.

Moreover, it was a story about Soo Min and Yoo Mi, whom Ji Ho had known for a long time.

The two people Ji Ho knew and those in Yi Soo’s story seemed like completely different people.

“…It seems Yoo Mi likes you a lot. The day you first took me home, Yoo Mi must have seen it by chance. She ran into my room with a pale face and talked about you. At that time, I thought I shouldn’t get involved with you. I felt that if I got close to you, I would end up telling you all of this someday.”

Yi Soo smiled faintly.

“In the end, I’ve told you everything now.”

Ji Ho seemed to understand why Yi Soo had been so angry on Yoo Mi’s birthday.

While it was a situation that could easily lead to misunderstandings, if the two had this kind of relationship, there seemed to be more behind-the-scenes that Ji Ho didn’t know.

“I see. I’ve really never thought of Yoo Mi as a woman, not even once. I can’t control Yoo Mi’s feelings, but I’ll be more careful from now on. I’m sorry I was so thoughtless until now. I just thought of her as a younger sister, so I didn’t think much of it.”

He would be even more surprised if he knew Soo Min was thinking of Ji Ho as a potential husband for Yoo Mi.

It didn’t seem like Yoo Mi would give up easily either.

What would happen from now on?

“Yoo Mi doesn’t know about us. I’ll have to tell her someday, but I’m planning to talk about it at an appropriate time later.”

Yi Soo wanted to wait until Yoo Mi sorted out her feelings for Ji Ho on her own.

It was consideration for Yoo Mi, and Yi Soo also thought it was the best option to avoid discomfort between them.

She didn’t know how long it would take, but she hoped Yoo Mi would sort things out as soon as possible.

“Okay.”

“That’s all I wanted to say. I thought you would be very surprised, so I couldn’t say it easily.”

“It must have been hard to talk about. Thank you for telling me.”

Ji Ho’s heart ached at Yi Soo’s painful story.

He was also moved by the fact that she had confided in him first about a story she couldn’t tell anyone.

To be more honest, he was happy to have become such a meaningful person to Yi Soo.

**

Wednesday evening.

On her way home, Yoo Mi noticed a man lingering in front of the house.

The man was standing a little away from the front gate, occasionally lifting his head to look up at the house.

More precisely, he was looking at the second floor where Yi Soo’s room was.

He seemed to have no intention of ringing the doorbell, with both hands in his pants pockets.

Yoo Mi’s eyes blinked rapidly.

Even from a distance, the man was tall and well-built, appearing to be around Yoo Mi’s age.

Yoo Mi walked slowly, observing the man.

‘If he’s standing there, he must have business at our house. He’s not someone I know, so…’

Is he here to see Yi Soo?

“Excuse me… Are you looking for someone?”

Yoo Mi tried to recall her memory while closely examining the man’s face.

He definitely looked familiar.

Seen up close, he had a handsome appearance that would be hard to forget once seen.

Where had she seen this man?

The man, startled, flinched slightly but soon composed his expression and said,

“Ah, no.”

“Are you here to see elder sister Yi Soo?”

Yoo Mi called out to the man’s back as he turned to leave.

At those words, the man stopped in his tracks and turned back.

“Yes, but…”

He looked at Yoo Mi with a questioning gaze before nodding.

“I’m her younger sister. Elder sister moved out recently, so she’s not here. You didn’t know?”

Yoo Mi asked cautiously while studying the man’s expression.

“Ah, I see.”

The man slowly nodded.

Yoo Mi, who had been staring intently at the man’s face, suddenly had a thought and her eyes sparkled.

‘Ah! Now I remember. Yi Soo’s boyfriend from high school?’

When Yi Soo was in 12th grade, this man had waited for hours in front of the house for her.

Yoo Mi, who had been watching, remembered urging Yi Soo several times to go out to him, feeling sorry for him.

What mistake could he have made to be doing that?

She remembered his handsome face had been very impressive even back then.

“You came without contacting elder sister, I guess?”

“Her contact information changed.”

Yi Soo’s number changed so long ago, yet he still doesn’t know – that means they completely cut off contact.

Well, she treated him so coldly, it’s understandable they lost touch.

The fact that he came to the house shows this man probably still has lingering feelings for Yi Soo.

“Ah, let me see your phone. I’ll enter elder sister’s number for you.”

Yoo Mi, who had been bothered by Yi Soo getting entangled with Ji Ho, thought she would feel reassured if Yi Soo had a boyfriend like this man.

While entering Yi Soo’s number into the phone, Yoo Mi added that he should keep it a secret from Yi Soo that she gave him the number.

“Still, I think I should know your name…”

“Ah, I’m Kim Min Jae.”