“I like you, Nuna.”

Eunseo closed her eyes. Honestly, she didn’t want to hear just this phrase.

“It’s sincere. I…”

Eunseo interrupted Seungju’s words midway.

“Stop there. Pretend I didn’t hear it.”

“How can you pretend you didn’t hear what you’ve already heard?”

“How can I live with you after hearing such words?”

As Eunseo raised her voice, Seungju wore a pitiful expression.

“That day, inside the train returning from Yangju, you said so, Nuna. You wanted to meet a man like everyone else. Why can’t I?”

Eunseo was momentarily speechless. Not because there was no reason, but because there were too many. It was challenging to pick just one.

“You’re eighteen.”

“No, I’m thirty-three.”

Seungju interrupted and asked, “Suppose Nuna lost her memories of the past year. Does that mean she suddenly became twenty-six?”

Eunseo hesitated. It felt like losing a year’s worth of memories didn’t make her twenty-six; it just made her forget a year.

“So, I’m just thirty-three now. I’ve just lost memories after turning eighteen.”

Although it sounded like a wordplay, it felt distinctly different. If she were merely thirty-three but had lost memories, wouldn’t it be hard to consider her eighteen?

“Do you think Nuna looks as immature as eighteen?”

Seungju asked.

Again, Eunseo couldn’t answer. Seungju always seemed too mature, making her heart ache when looking at her. But what if it wasn’t because she matured early but because she lost her memories and remained thirty-three?

“If I initially said I wasn’t eighteen but twenty, what if I said I was twenty-five? Even if I said I was twenty-five, would you have believed me?”

She probably wouldn’t have. Seungju was so mature that it would be hard to believe her regardless of her age.

“So, my current age is just a matter of perception. You don’t have to be obsessed with age like that.”

She was becoming more convinced by the plausible persuasion. Eunseo bit her lower lip.

“Even if you were thirty-three, we still wouldn’t be suitable for each other.”

“Who decides that?”

“You are the CEO of our company, and I’m the one who receives a salary from you. You’re the landlord, and I’m the person living in your house. Need more explanation?”

“That doesn’t mean there’s a reason not to like you.”

“What will you think if your memories return? That you want to love me!”

Seungju shouted.

“I must have liked you even before I lost my memories. What if I say it wasn’t a car accident but that I was hit because I took your place?”

“I’ve told you several times that’s not true!”

Seungju didn’t know. When she went to explain her situation and heard cold words, she felt like she was being chased out. The cold expression and scornful tone seemed visible and audible.

‘Did I take advantage of losing my memory to seduce a child?’
“I’d rather die than hear such words from Kwon Seungju.”

“I told you. Even when I went to you and begged, you just laughed. You even tried to chase me away as if you were proud!”

As Eunseo raised her voice like an interrogation, Seungju flinched.

“Who treats someone who likes them like that?”

“…….”

“Anyway, even if you liked me, I don’t. I never did, and especially now, I don’t.”

Staring straight at Seungju’s face, which was gradually turning pale like a piece of porcelain, Eunseo declared as if passing judgment.

“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear what you just said, so don’t do this again.”

Originally, Seungju woke up earlier in the morning than Eunseo, who commuted to work. Although the main purpose was to make sure Eunseo, who didn’t like eating breakfast, ate, it seemed like Seungju needed to say goodbye and send her off properly to feel relieved.

However, on the morning after rejecting the confession, Seungju did not come out of her room.

In front of the firmly closed door, Eunseo sighed deeply.

‘Was I too harsh…’

Why did Eunseo feel no emotions, even though it was her?

After saying that yesterday, she found herself immersed in various thoughts during the night.

Because it was a lie.

Ever since she first saw him two years ago, that man’s face, whose identity she didn’t even know, kept coming to mind. And he had to get a job at the company where he was the CEO. Just hearing his name from someone else’s mouth made her face flush.

Her heart pounded, making it challenging to look him in the eye directly. Was it so easy for Eunseo, facing that face, to reject the confession?

Even with her eyes closed, those sincere eyes kept coming to mind, making it hard for her to calm down. Closing her eyes and letting her heart lead… the thought didn’t entirely escape her.

But people couldn’t do everything they wanted. Fortunately, Eunseo was accustomed to enduring and holding back throughout her life, and this time was no exception. What couldn’t be done couldn’t be done.

‘Take care, Nuna!’

Not hearing the usual affectionate farewell, Eunseo sadly walked out of the front door and headed to work.