Sun Woo’s gaze was perfectly focused on one place. His mind went blank and only the ringing bell sound on the table filled Sun Woo’s world.

Even today, I couldn’t count how many times your face flashed through my mind.

Every time the bell rang, I reflexively turned my head in anticipation, and I couldn’t put my phone down all day.

Is this how I’ve been waiting for your name to appear?

Even in the confusing situation, Sun Woo was bewildered by his nerves instinctively directed towards the woman.

The embarrassment, absurdity, and incredulity he felt just moments ago were long forgotten.

He didn’t know exactly what the root of this emotion extending towards the woman was, but confirmation could wait. The urgent matter now was to hear the woman’s business.

Without further thought, Sun Woo’s hand moved unhesitatingly towards his phone.

Whether it was an affirmative answer or not. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter anymore.

“Answer the phone later.”

Hye Ji took courage for the first time. As Sun Woo tried to pick up his phone, she reached out and blocked his phone.

“Let’s do it, Sun Woo.”

If it had been the usual Yoon Sun Woo, his eyes would have already turned cold.

He should have spat out irritated words like, what are you doing, move your hand.

But Sun Woo’s silent gaze was strangely warm.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Making it impossible to hate, to resent, to cling to.

It felt like she had already heard the answer. Hye Ji held back the tears welling up along with a miserable feeling.

“You’re too sincere for someone complaining about their situation.”

“Why. Is it not allowed if I’m sincere?”

Meanwhile, the loud ringing of the bell subsided. Sun Woo quietly looked down at his phone blocked by Hye Ji’s hand.

“I should go.”

“Where?”

To the woman who will break this insufferable chain of blind dates.

“I thought I’d never see her again, but it seems she’s changed her mind.”

To that woman who will give me love.

“I quite liked her, you know.”

Sun Woo, letting out a faint smile, unfolded the napkin placed in front of him. That napkin fluttered down onto Hye Ji’s hand.

Sun Woo lifted Hye Ji’s hand along with the napkin and picked up his phone underneath.

“If you marry me, you’ll have to live like this for the rest of your life.”

“I don’t care.”

“Go on blind dates. You’re capable and pretty.”

By the way, I have high standards. Seeing Sun Woo adding words with a smirk, Hye Ji bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

“I’m not rejecting your proposal because of this woman. My answer was a rejection from the start.”

Sun Woo wiped his phone slowly but meticulously with the napkin.

As if trying to buy time to talk.

You’re always like this. Usually indifferent and prickly, but occasionally acting kindly like this. As if telling me not to give any answer or rebuttal to what you say.

I’ve been hovering around you for quite a long time. Watching that empty spot beside you that you never gave to anyone, I thought.

Maybe that spot could become mine.

It was a delusion.

It was just that you couldn’t connect with anyone, that’s why.

I was no different from anyone else.

“You and I, it’s been 10 years. I don’t want to lose a capable colleague like this.”

Colleague… The word I never wanted to hear from his mouth flew and stabbed like a dagger.

The bitter smile spreading on my lips was unwelcome.

“It’s been 13 years.”

The time I’ve been in unrequited love with you.

I’ve been burying it for such a long time, wanting to be honest in front of you just once. But even that once is not allowed to me.

“Right, 13 years.”

I’ve never thought of you, Yoon Sun Woo, as just a friend, not even once.

From the moment I first saw you in front of the school gate, from when I found out we were in the same department, from when you casually handed me a canned coffee.

You probably don’t even remember, but I’ve liked you since then.

“You said you wouldn’t have a marriage like your parents.”

“…”

“While knowing full well why I’m trying to have this marriage.”

Hye Ji’s parents had an arranged marriage. There was no affection between them, and shortly after Hye Ji was born, they eventually turned their backs on each other.

That’s why I wanted the person beside me to be you.

I thought that would make me happy.

“I’m not someone who can make you happy.”

Rising without lingering, the sight of Sun Woo’s back gradually moving away from her blurred sadly in Hye Ji’s eyes.

[This is the timeline separator]

The call ended futilely.

Should I call again?

“No, what if he deliberately didn’t answer?”

No, maybe he’s just a bit busy. He might not have been able to answer.

Eun Jae, who had been pacing back and forth in front of the man’s officetel entrance, stopped in one place and nervously bit her nails.

Lost in her own thoughts, she arbitrarily created and erased various situations he might be in.

Complicated thoughts and emotions intertwined. Eun Jae tidied her hair using the spotless glass door as a mirror, then pulled her hat down low, refreshing her thoughts.

Suddenly, her reflection in the glass door looked pitiful.

Why did I come all the way here?

I just need to find the keychain. Should I leave a message? If it’s not there, nothing can be done, but if it is, ask him to leave it at the lobby, and I’ll pick it up myself. Should I say that?

A deep sigh escaped Eun Jae’s lips as she tried to transfer the content she had repeatedly pondered in her head to a text message.

Her hand holding the phone fell limply to the ground without typing anything.

“Hah… Ji Eun Jae, let’s be honest.”

It wasn’t just because of the keychain, was it?

Coming all the way here to find the keychain was just an excuse.

I’m not sure exactly. The mixed feelings were so confusing that it was now difficult to distinguish what was real.

I wanted to find the keychain, and I also wanted to talk more with the man…

“Forget it. Let’s go, go.”

Just one step forward and it was really a cliff. After rejecting with that pathetic pride, what conversation could I have now?

Eun Jae started to move her feet little by little, which seemed reluctant to leave, while shoving her phone into her jacket pocket.

Had she barely taken one step? The phone in her pocket started ringing. Eun Jae stopped and quickly pulled out her phone.

After checking the caller, Eun Jae hurriedly pressed the answer button as if she had been waiting and put it to her ear.

“Hell…”

[Where are you now? I’ll come.]

It was before she could finish the greeting usually given when answering the phone. The man’s voice came through quickly. Then, beep beep, she thought she heard the sound of a car being unlocked.

All the anxious thoughts that had been shaking until just now were erased by the man’s voice.

“Ah, I’m in front of your officetel, sir.”

Laughter comes through the receiver from the man. Probably because she called him ‘sir’. Eun Jae stammered, looking for something to salvage the situation.

“Ah! I mean, I didn’t know what to call you…”

[I think it’ll take about 10 minutes, can you wait that long?]

He’s coming faster than I thought.

She was about to nod and answer when…

[5 minutes, wait for me.]

There was a moment of silence as the car door slammed shut. Gulp, Eun Jae swallowed dryly and answered, seemingly flustered.

“Ah, no. Take your time. I’ll be in the lobby.”

[See you soon.]

After the laughter-laced reply, the sound of the engine starting can be heard. Even after Eun Jae answered “Yes,” the call lingered a bit longer before ending.

Only after hanging up did she realize.

“Ah, what’s this, Ji Eun Jae, why are you smiling?”

That she had been smiling.

“So. Did something good happen?”

Eun Jae’s expression turned cold at the familiar voice. Confirming the three men approaching, Eun Jae stepped back.

A few weeks ago.

They were the men she had encountered at the hospital.

In just two steps, her back touched the wall. A chill ran down her spine, matching the threatening faces of the men.

“Someone said they saw you here. We came just in case, and here you are, showing up.”

Unlike the words delivered with a smile, the man’s gestures and actions were rough. The man’s coarse grip was felt as he suddenly grabbed Eun Jae’s chin and lifted it.

“Thank you, Eun Jae.”

Eun Jae shouted in a trembling voice.

“I tried! If only you hadn’t come to my workplace and caused such a scene!”

The men who had trashed her house caused a disturbance at Eun Jae’s workplace a few days later. It was a small company, but one she had been working at quite contentedly.

Because of that incident, she received a notice of dismissal a few days later without even a chance to explain.

“How long would it take with that measly salary.”

It was night, but it was the entrance where the officetel’s main door was located. Passersby occasionally glanced, but those glances didn’t last long.

“Then what do you want me to do? I need to work to pay back the money!”

“Well, how about waiting for about 10 years?”

At Kwon Seung Chul’s words, the laughter of the two men standing behind grew louder. It was mockery.

I know too. That 200 million won isn’t an amount that can be easily repaid.

Just then, she felt a vibration from the phone she was tightly gripping. She didn’t need to check to know who it was.

As the phone lit up brightly in the darkness, Kwon Seung Chul’s gaze, which had been holding Eun Jae’s chin, turned to her hand.

“Who is it?”

“Mind your own business.”

Eun Jae desperately covered the man’s name displayed on the screen.

Kwon Seung Chul tried to connect Eun Jae’s acquaintances to money in any way possible. He was like a hyena, always on the lookout for any source of money.

Although he harassed her, coming and going while talking about favors, the man was very grateful to Eun Jae.

Even though it was a situation where he could have been in danger himself, he didn’t just pass by.

If you keep hovering around me like this, you’ll also fall into this swamp.

So let’s end it here.

Eun Jae opened her eyes after closing them tightly and spoke in a resolute voice.

“Shall we move from here? There are many people passing by, and it would be very troublesome if the police came.”

“Ha, what should I really do with you?”

As Kwon Seung Chul’s other hand slowly stroked her shoulder, Eun Jae roughly struck his hand away.

“Take your hand off.”

“I didn’t notice from afar, but you’re prettier than I thought. We’ve never faced each other like this before, have we?”

The man holding Eun Jae’s chin raised the corner of his mouth and smiled cunningly. An unpleasant and dirty gaze clung to various parts of Eun Jae.

Blood was about to seep from her tightly closed lips. It would have been better if he had just yelled and threatened.

At that moment, quite selfishly, the man’s face came to mind.

I was just pretending not to be, but in fact, I’m scared. I wasn’t brave enough to handle all this alone.

Just as she was about to tightly close her eyes, which had swollen red…

“Take that hand off.”

A voice slightly out of breath, a voice slightly angry.

A familiar and low baritone tickled Eun Jae’s ear.

“Ah… sir.”

As soon as she saw the man, Eun Jae’s eyes filled with tears of relief.

“What are you doing here?”

“We weren’t doing anything, but we were about to.”

As Sun Woo gradually approached Seung Chul, two men blocked Sun Woo’s path.

Meanwhile, one of the men recognized Sun Woo and rolled his eyes. The man’s pointing hand trembled.

“Y… you, you bastard. Aren’t you that bastard from back then!”

“You saw correctly.”

Sun Woo looked down at the two men hovering in front of him with a cold gaze.

“That’s right. That bastard from back then.”

The man, somehow intimidated by Sun Woo’s chilling gaze, even stammered his words.

“Th… this! This bastard. You’ve completely lost your mind?”

“How many times are you going to say ‘bastard’, you bastard.”

While lightly tapping their shoulders with his palm and narrowing the distance to Eun Jae, neither of them could stop Sun Woo.

Sun Woo approached Eun Jae in one breath without much effort. He effortlessly removed Kwon Seung Chul’s hand that was holding Eun Jae’s chin with his bare hand.

Eun Jae’s eyes widened as she watched this. She alternately looked at Sun Woo’s hand and face with rounded eyes.

Sun Woo pushed Kwon Seung Chul’s chest with his palm, widening the distance, and stood protectively in front of Eun Jae.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Kwon Seung Chul, who had unexpectedly been hit in the solar plexus, took a step back at the unexpected force and glared at Sun Woo.

“Are you something to her?”

Sun Woo’s hand gently gripped Eun Jae’s shoulder.

“What if I am?”

With that, he pulled her in, and Eun Jae fell into Sun Woo’s arms.

Surprised, Eun Jae looked up at Sun Woo with wide eyes. Sun Woo quietly looked down at Eun Jae, then smiled as he wiped her damp eyes with his thumb.

An infinitely affectionate gaze persistently followed Eun Jae. The man’s face, bending at the waist, drew closer and closer.

Finally, the man’s lips settled near her ear and whispered softly.

“Why didn’t you answer the phone, honey.”

“…”

“I was worried.”