Chapter 7
It was nearly 10 a.m.
The large living-room windows overlooking the reservoir were covered with thin white curtains that softened the sunlight. Thanks to the air conditioner, the house was cool and comfortable.
The two of them sat facing each other in the quiet kitchen.
Unable to answer his question, Jisoo simply ate the meal he had prepared for her. She couldnât tell whether she was eating food or sand, or even whether anything was actually making it into her mouth. Feeling awkward and embarrassed, she couldnât even meet his eyes and was instead taking out her discomfort on the scrambled eggs when a persistent vibrating sound began to grate on her nerves.
âLooks like youâre getting a call.â
Jaegyeom handed Jisoo her phone, explaining that he had plugged it in to charge because the battery was almost dead.
The screen of her phone, which was noisily vibrating against the table, clearly displayed four words:
Youngbaek Oppa.
âYouâre not going to answer?â
âNo.â
Jaegyeom nodded.
Just as Jisoo was about to poke another piece of egg and put it into her mouth, another call came in.
This time, it was from someone else.
Youngbaek Oppaâs Mother.
Jisoo simply turned the phone over so the screen faced the table.
âLim Jisoo. When you go back to Seoul, youâre going to stop answering my calls too, arenât you?â
ââŠâŠâ
âThis is unbelievable. I guess you were planning to use me and throw me away.â
âNo, wait, thatâs not what Iââ
âYou have no conscience. Are you really in a position to get angry right now?â
Being beaten down with nothing but facts, Jisoo could no longer argue. She lowered her lips to her glass of juice.
Jaegyeom was still looking at her with a smile, so she smiled along with him.
The problem was that she wasnât shameless enough to make any other expression.
Jaegyeom seemed to give up on interrogating her as well.
âSo, where should I have the car sent? Iâll try to get it fixed as quickly as possible.â
And just like that, Jisooâs contact information and address were inevitably handed over to Yoon Jaegyeom in full.
The two of them left the house together and headed toward Gyechon Station.
Even inside the car, they remained silent.
Jaegyeom didnât bring up things like, Donât avoid my calls from now on and make sure you answer them, or What exactly are we from today onward?
Before Jisoo got out, he merely gave her a simple goodbye.
âLetâs meet again soon.â
After boarding the train to Seoul, Jisoo sent a message to Eunmi, her classmate and closest friend.
[Eunmi, are you busy? Thereâs something Iâm curious about. Do you happen to know a guy named Yoon Jaegyeom among our classmates?]
[Eunmi: Our classmates? From Gyechon? Yoon Jaegyeom? Iâve never heard of him. I donât know.]
[You donât? He was incredibly handsome.]
[Sorry for bothering you with something pointless when youâre probably busy.]
Eunmi was a reporter for one of the countryâs three major daily newspapers.
Apparently, she happened to have some free time and said a phone call would be easier, so she called Jisoo.
âYou didnât have to call me over this.â
â But Iâm curious. Youâve never asked me about someone else before, and now youâre asking about a guy. And if heâs handsome, Iâm even more curious.
âBut⊠you said you donât know him either.â
â Ah! Come to think of it, I remember this guy who was insanely handsome. He was tall and looked like heâd been carved out of a sculpture.
âThere was someone like that at our school?â
â Yeah. And his name was kind of similar, too.
âWhat was his name?â
The name of the most handsome guy in Gyechon High School, according to Eunmi, was Kim Jaegyeom.
â Kim Jaegyeom was a year below us. And he doesnât live in Gyechon. Heâs originally from Seoul.
âYou really do know everything about even the younger students. How did you even know he was from Seoul? Anyway, I guess heâs someone else. He was the same age as me.â
â But didnât you say you were taking that crappy boyfriend of yours to meet your mother? Was he so crappy that your mother collapsed again? If I were your mom, I wouldâve been bedridden. Wait, now that I think about it, whatâs with you suddenly talking about some strange man after going to introduce your boyfriend to your mother?!
Jisoo wondered where she should even begin correcting her.
Should she point out that calling Youngbaek a crappy boyfriend was a little harsh?
Or should she tell her that he was no longer her boyfriend?
She had introduced a strange man she had been absolutely convinced was a classmate to her mother, and then she had slept with him.
Where was she supposed to start?
After thinking for a moment, Jisoo decided to start with something that would be easier to say while sitting on a train.
âEunmi. Iâm going to break up with him.â
â Aaaah!
It sounded like a scream, but Jisoo knew better.
It was a cheer.
â Holy shit. I just gave you a standing ovation.
âYouâre at work. Watch your language.â
â Watch what? Oh my God. Our Jisoo finally came to her senses. I canât believe this day has finally come.
âCame to my sensesâŠâ
â Hey. I was so happy I almost cursed. No, wait, I already did. Anyway, my friend, this time letâs really end it properly. Okay? Iâm begging you.
âI will.â
Every time Jisoo announced that she was breaking up with Youngbaek, his mother had been eager to smooth things over for her son.
Under the pretext of giving something to Jisoo, who lived alone, she would bring her side dishes, nutritional supplements, skincare products, and all sorts of other things, gently persuading her not to break up with him.
The underlying idea of âYou owe him because youâve been dating for six yearsâ was something Eunmi hated most.
â That woman is so annoying. Seriously, what power does a relationship that didnât even involve sex have that she keeps using those six years to put you down? If those six years were really so beautiful, then her son should have waited faithfully for you all that time. Instead, he kept hitting on every woman in the neighborhood and did every disgusting thing imaginable, that bastard!
âIâm sorry. Calm down a little.â
â Calm down? Why should I calm down? Honestly, that Youngbaekâor whatever his name isâcrazy bastard keeps acting like he deserves a medal just because he supposedly never slept with another woman. But seriously, do you think he didnât sleep with anyone? He probably couldnât!
ââŠâŠEunmi. I get it, so please watch what you say at workâŠâ
â Ahem. Right. I guess I got too worked up.
Eunmi said she should get back into the office and once again warned Jisoo not to back out of her decision.
As though reflecting Eunmiâs feelings, which had been heated on Jisooâs behalf, Jisoo stared down at her phone, which had grown warm in her hand, and firmly resolved herself.
The following Friday, Jisooâs car arrived.
She had been worried that Jaegyeom might drive the car himself all the way to Seoul, but it had been transported on a vehicle specifically designed for car delivery.
The driver even carefully parked it in the piloti parking area on the first floor of the one-room apartment building where Jisoo lived before leaving.
âWow. It came back looking so beautiful.â
The car was registered under Youngbaekâs motherâs name.
Even when Jisoo had received it as a gift, it had already had quite a few minor scratches and several rust stains where the paint had peeled off along the bottom of the doors.
But now every single one of those defects had been repaired cleanly.
For the past week, Jaegyeom had been the only one initiating contact with Jisoo.
Yet his messages werenât particularly burdensome or unpleasant.
They were simply brief glimpses into his everyday life.
[Photo]
[Yoon Jaegyeom: I was running around the reservoir and it was pretty, so I came to watch the sunrise.]
[Photo]
[Yoon Jaegyeom: Gyechon Martâs mascot dog. It kind of looks like the white dog at your house. It might look a little like Lim Jisoo too.]
[Photo]
[Yoon Jaegyeom: The resident registration card you gave me and then left behind.]
[It would be weird to bring that all the way here too. How much is the repair bill? Where should I send it? Can you give me your account number?]
Whenever Jisoo asked about the repair cost, his replies stopped.
âThis man, seriouslyâŠâ
Now that she had even gotten her car back, there was no way she could avoid paying him.
Considering all the kindness he had shown her, not paying him would be completely unreasonable.
Jisoo searched online for the used-car market price of the same model and the repair costs.
Her mouth fell open.
The car was worth one million won if sold used, while repairing the major engine components had cost 800,000 won.
And considering that he had even repaired all the exterior damageâŠ
âSo thatâs why he told me to throw it away.â
Jisoo gave a bitter smile.
Even Youngbaekâs mother, who had given her this kind of gift while saying, âWeâre the only ones who think about you,â had become too much for her to bear.
Jisoo pressed and held Yoon Jaegyeomâs name in her messenger app.
Fortunately, the transfer button was active.
She entered one million wonâthe used-car market valueâas the amount, deciding that this was the best way she could show her sincerity.
âThank you, Yoon Jaegyeom.â
The moment she pressed the transfer button, she deleted his contact information and blocked him on the messenger app as well.
The following day, Jisoo contacted Kim Youngbaek first and arranged to meet him.
She ordered an Americano at a large franchise café and stared outside.
The convenience store across the street had renovated its outdoor display and was preparing Chuseok gift sets.
Chuseok already.
It really did feel like autumn had suddenly arrived.
That was whenâ
âHey. My mom told you so many times that places like this are expensive for no reason. Didnât you know thereâs a cheap and decent place just a little farther down? An unmanned cafĂ© where we donât have to worry about what other people think.â
ââŠâŠâ
âAnd you know I like iced cafĂ© mochas. Did you order it with a mountain of whipped cream like I asked? You already ordered it, right? It just hasnât come out yet?â
Kim Youngbaek had barely arrived before saying things like that.
It had never been pleasant to listen to him, but Jisoo had always thought of it as him simply being frugal and having strong preferences.
He was an only child who had been spoiled by his parents, after all.
She had believed that, despite the way he spoke, he was actually a gentle person underneath.
But Jisoo no longer had any reason to endure it.
Instead of a drink, what she placed in front of him was a set of car keys.
