Yes. It must feel this empty and hollow. There is no beauty in parting.

Trying to calm the still burning anger, Yeon-woo’s shoulders shook greatly. Then, slowly, she slowed down her breath. She cautiously released her tightly clenched fist.

Sitting down, she looked at the empty chair where he had been. The throbbing in her head unexpectedly cleared all at once, and the simmering emotions gradually cooled again.

“…”

If breaking up with him was like this, she thought she wouldn’t be able to breathe properly. She thought the sky would spin yellow, and it would be like falling from a cliff, all battered and bruised.

But it’s not like that. It’s fine, really.

This should be bearable.
Thinking that time is the medicine for parting, Yeon-woo, echoing some heard saying, picked up her handbag and left the restaurant.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sunday after a good night’s sleep.

Yeon-woo pulled the blanket up to her chin again and blinked.

“I want to sleep a bit more…”

The bed was warm, so she didn’t want to get out. Yeon-woo wriggled in the blanket and dozed off for a while.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already past morning. Giving up on preparing a decent meal, she had a late breakfast, peeling and thinly slicing an apple.

On the TV channel she mindlessly flipped through while eating apples, a healing variety show set in Jeju Island was in full swing.

As blue as the sky, the sea spread out. An exotic coastal road lined with black rocks and palm trees.

People on TV spent their day surrounded by the beautiful scenery, only worrying about “What should we cook today?”

Living a slow daily routine following the sunrise and sunset, even though Yeon-woo knew it was a staged scene, she envied them deeply.

“Should I go to Jeju Island?”

Come to think of it, it seemed like more than five years since she last went to Jeju Island.

Yeon-woo impulsively tapped her phone and made a reservation for the fastest flight to Jeju Island.

When they were hiding their office romance, when Jun-hwi suggested going, she was too busy to refuse. Laughing off the awkward memories, Yeon-woo pressed the reservation and payment without hesitation.

Anyway, she had year-end vacation days saved in advance for their honeymoon to Paris. Since they weren’t going on a honeymoon, she could change the schedule, right?

Yeon-woo praised her bold decision and enjoyed the remaining apple.

“I don’t know. Someone else will handle the work at the company.”

A small escapade occurred in her usually diligent and planned daily life. It was a refreshing feeling of vitality.

She must have booked the flight, now she had to plan. Yeon-woo busied herself exploring the latest cafes and restaurants in Jeju Island, becoming one with the sofa.

Yawning, she left the sofa when the short early winter sun had already started tilting.

“If people spread out too much, they end up more droopy.”

Shall I do a big cleaning like on weekends? Leaning her arms on her waist, Yeon-woo looked around the living room, and she saw a stack of boxes piled up in the corner.

Things she planned to take when entering Jun-hwi’s house after marriage.

“…”

Let’s either clean up or throw away today.

Opening the living room window, Yeon-woo breathed in the cold air and began unpacking the boxes in earnest.

“Oh, it was here.”

Bags, a graduation album from school days, and CDs collected in one place, among them, a CD surrounded by several layers of cushioning material was taken in her hands.

A CD signed by the main vocalist of the British band C Play. He gave it to Yeon-woo.

“Main vocalist’s autograph? Did you get an autograph too?”

“I’m really jealous, Lawyer.”
Last fall, on the day I first rode in his car on the way to the party, my excited voice faintly echoed. Yeon-woo hunched her shoulders.

“Do you want a signed CD?”

How was he when he said that?

Under smoothly combed hair, a neatly shaped forehead. A firm gaze that shone black under thick eyebrows. Passing through a moderately prominent nose to lightly meeting lips. In Yeon-woo’s memory, he was exquisite.

On that day, Yeon-woo closely examined Jun-hwi’s side profile as he drove for the first time. And perhaps from that day on… whether he was a superior or a man, she started to get confused.

Should I return this CD?

“You might want to give it back; he might throw it in the trash right in front of you. That’s his personality.”

Yeon-woo, with a shudder, delicately placed the CD, carefully wrapped in the roadside, into the box.

Yeah, he’s that kind of person. A cold and indifferent man, free from any lingering feelings or looking back.

Like dusting off pieces of memories, Yeon-woo shook her dusty hands. Then she opened the rectangular box next to her.

“Oh, I put this in too.”

Inside were glossy black neat flats. It was the shoes he went to the closed department store to get for Yeon-woo, who twisted her leg at the party.

At that time, she thought he easily got them because he was a well-known lawyer. Later, she found out he could do that because he was an owner family who could reopen the closed Jusung Department Store.

Yeon-woo carefully wiped the shoes with her slender hand. As her hand touched the smooth surface, the moment the flats snugly fit on her foot and the thrill of that moment was vivid.

Trying to forget that sensation, Yeon-woo closed her eyes tightly and opened them.

A bit better.

Unexpectedly, she liked her calm self in the vivid memories from yesterday. When Yeon-woo stood up to close the box and move it to the veranda, it happened.

“Why is this happening?”

Thud, thump. Tears falling onto the box drew black dots.

“…”

Yeon-woo wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand and raised her head. Unbeknownst to herself, the tears that started to fall covered her eyes, and it took a while to finally calm down.

I should just clean it up next time.

She simply couldn’t muster the courage to move the boxes. The fragments of memories inside felt too heavy.

“It’s because it hasn’t been long since we broke up. It will get better over time.”

It takes time. Hold on. It will fade with time.

Trying to console herself, Yeon-woo gave up organizing and turned on the TV. She turned up the volume, then rushed into the bathroom to start a shower.

It was time to soothe her tear-streaked hair with hot water.