Thinking more wouldn’t lead to answers, so Su Hee tried to sleep.
“‘You will find out when you are with Mr. Han Seung Jo.’
Would she truly experience a heartwrenching love like those in dramas?
She could not even fathom how quickly this tiny sentiment would inflate.
((()))((()))((()))
After Su Hee had left, Seung Jo came out after washing his body covered in cold sweat.
He checked the piledup email alerts and messages on his mobile phone, but laid on the bed without replying to them.
“Haah.”
Seung Jo, who had placed his wrist on his forehead, let out a long sigh.
It was the first time since middle school that he felt trapped somewhere.
If it had not been for Su Hee, he might have passed out in the elevator.
For the past few years, his symptoms had improved and he had not carried any medicine with him, but he had never expected such an unfortunate event to occur.
“Holding hands might help, don’t you think?”
You were still the same, Oh Su Hee.
When I was fifteen, you tried to soothe me as I shivered from fear.
If anything had changed from 16 years ago, it would be my much larger hands.
Still, the hand that came into my grasp was as soft and small as ever.
I had been comforted and endured difficult times because of that hand.
The day you held my hand in the elevator, I vividly recalled the day we were trapped in the warehouse.
Back then, everything that happened to me was terrifying. But now, I can only laugh at the thought of you.
Even my dark past seems to lighten up because you exist.
((()))((()))((()))
“From today, these are the people who will be looking after you.”
The first time Seung Jo saw his paternal grandparents was at the beginning of his fourteenth year.
When Byung Ho, standing behind him, nudged Seung Jo’s back, Seung Jo lifted his feet that had been stuck to the floor.
Hesitant Seung Jo bowed his head and greeted the two people.
“Hello.”
He had said he grew up in his relatives’ house until he was three, but the two people did not exist in Seung Jo’s memory.
His grandfather, Han Chung Seop, held Seung Jo’s shoulder with his callused hand and pulled him into his arms.
In Chung Seop’s hand on Seung Jo’s shoulder, there was a salty smell of the sea.
Before coming down to his relatives in Busan, he had heard from Byung Ho that Chung Seop was a fisherman.
“I look forward to your care, mother, father.”
Byung Ho brought the suitcase that had been behind him and placed it next to Seung Jo.
Byung Ho said a word to Seung Jo, who was awkwardly in Chung Seop’s arms.
“Listen to your grandparents’ words.”
Perhaps at the indifferent, dry words, Seung Jo felt like tears were about to well up.
Seung Jo, who had quickly gotten out of Chung Seop’s arms, grabbed Byung Ho’s hand.
Seung Jo, glancing at the grandparents behind him, spoke to Byung Ho.
“Dad, can’t I be with you? All my friends are in Seoul. I want to stay in Seoul.”
Byung Ho’s voice was devoid of energy as he had already explained to Seung Jo.
“Dad told you that I’m going on a long business trip to China from tomorrow, right? Dad can’t see you living alone in Seoul.”
“Then can’t I live with mom?”
Upon Seung Jo’s remark, the atmosphere abruptly turned quiet, as if cold water had been poured on it.
“You, didn’t you tell the kid?”
The one who broke the silence was Young Soon, the grandmother who had been watching the two.
“Hoo.”
Not knowing what had upset him, Byung Ho let out a heavy sigh and replied to Young Soon.
“I will explain later, so mother, don’t make unnecessary comments to the kid.”
“When do you plan to talk? When it’s convenient for you? The kid also needs to prepare.”
Despite Young Soon’s sharp advice, Byung Ho did not yield.
“I will handle everything.”
Young Soon was dissatisfied, but as Byung Ho was her son, she couldn’t interfere further.
Seung Jo, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, could guess what was going on.
It had been almost two years since his father and mother separated.
He had been meeting his mother once a month, but there had been no contact for half a year now.
Still, Seung Jo didn’t want to believe that his mother and father were divorced.
Because he was still in a stage where he needed his mother.
“Dad will contact you often.”
He didn’t promise to contact every day, he said ‘often’.
Byung Ho was not one to make promises he couldn’t keep.
Seung Jo might have looked like a brave child in Byung Ho’s eyes, but he had just graduated from elementary school.
Regretfully, Seung Jo held Byung Ho’s hand for a long time before he finally had to let go.
“It’s already 10 o’clock, you should stay and go tomorrow. The kid also wants to be with his dad.”
Chung Seop suggested, perhaps worried about Seung Jo parting from his father.
Byung Ho, who had been momentarily lost for words, opened his mouth.
“No, I’ll go up. Staying one more day won’t make the kid feel any less lonely.”
Seung Jo had hoped in his heart that Byung Ho would stay for at least one more night.
But he swallowed his longing, not wanting to throw a tantrum like a young child.
Byung Ho glanced at Seung Jo one last time, then opened the front door and left.
The chilly wind that entered through the briefly opened door seemed to seep into Seung Jo’s chest.
The smell of the elderly permeating the house, the wallpaper stained with old traces, the thin orange floor mat.
All of these were unfamiliar to Seung Jo.
“Make yourself at home now, this is your home.”
Despite Young Soon’s kind words, Seung Jo had a feeling of defiance.
To me, home was only where mom and dad used to live together.
Thus, a year passed in a place that had never once felt like home.
Chung Seop approached Seung Jo, who was sitting at the entrance tying his sneakers.
“Your grandma has prepared breakfast, eat before you go.”
“I have duty today.”
Despite the long year, Seung Jo kept his distance from his grandparents as if he would leave soon.
“At least have a spoonful before you go.”
Young Soon placed a pot of Doenjang stew she had cooked on the round table.
“Come here, don’t bother the child.”
“He’s growing up, that’s why I worry.”
Despite the couple fussing over him, Seung Jo didn’t even pay them any mind.
Seung Jo tied his sneakers tight, so they wouldn’t come undone, and stood up from his place.
“I will be back.”
Just as Seung Jo was about to push the hefty door to leave, he heard Chung Seop call from behind.
“Seung Jo, wait a moment.”
Chung Seop opened an old foldable phone as it rang.
“It’s a call from your father.”
At the mention of his father, Seung Jo abruptly stopped and turned towards Chung Seop.
Chung Seop pressed the call button with his thick finger and brought the phone close to his ear.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Seung Jo swelled with hope that perhaps Byung Ho might come to take him back.
Chung Seop’s wrinkled eyes, which had been silently listening to Byung Ho, turned towards Seung Jo.
lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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