LNMBU 02

Chapter : 02

During the winter vacation of her second year of middle school, Nayeon had once received private tutoring from the older boy who lived upstairs.

Since Jaehyeok was about to enter his senior year of high school, the tutoring couldn’t continue for very long, but that time had remained a fond memory for her.

She still remembered Jaehyeok’s voice as he calmly taught her mathematics in his blunt, matter-of-fact tone, as well as his composed gaze.

Then, a year later, he was accepted without a hitch into Seowoo University Medical School, the school attended by Korea’s highest-achieving students, and promptly left for Seoul.

According to Hwayeon, even after entering university, he practically lived in the school library, devoting himself entirely to his medical studies.

So Nayeon had found it increasingly difficult to see him.

She had heard that he occasionally came back during vacations and stayed at Hwayeon’s house for a few days, but Nayeon had never once run into him.

‘I was busy concentrating on high school and university myself back then, anyway…’

And so, the older boy from upstairs had graduated at the top of his medical school class and was now a second-year orthopedic surgery resident.

‘Does he remember me?’

No. He probably didn’t.

There was no way he would remember some insignificant little girl who lived downstairs, someone as ordinary as her.

Just then—

Click.

Another bedroom door opened.

It was Nayeon’s younger sister, Narin, stepping out of her room.

Even though it was only ten in the morning, she seemed to have an appointment with someone. She appeared glamorous and beautiful, and the strong scent of perfume wafted from her.

With long, wavy, dyed-brown hair, a miniskirt, and makeup following the latest trends, she was obviously dressed to impress.

At twenty-three, Narin was in the prime of her youth, thoroughly enjoying it, practically drenched in the strong scent of expensive perfume.

Nayeon gazed at her younger sister with envy, and her head naturally drooped.

“Oh? Narin came out too.”

“Hello, Auntie!”

Unlike Nayeon’s calm and quiet greeting, Narin greeted Sukjin in a bright, lively voice.

Sukjin looked up at Narin from where she sat on the living-room floor and asked,

“Where are you going this early in the morning?”

“I’m meeting a friend.”

“Dressed like that?”

“Yeah. I have a blind date.”

“All right. Be careful.”

With a coy expression, Narin slung her handbag over her shoulder and confidently walked toward the entrance.

“Mom, I’m heading out. Goodbye, Auntie!”

“Okay.”

Narin took a pair of high heels from the shoe cabinet and put them on, then looked at herself in the full-length mirror attached to the entrance.

She swept her long, wavy hair back with one hand and spun around once to check her appearance.

Nayeon absentmindedly ran her fingers over her own short, bushy-cut wig.

‘It’s depressing. I can’t dress up like that…’

Compared so clearly to her younger sister, Nayeon felt shabby and stood at the entrance with a dejected expression.

“Im Nayeon, where are you going?”

Sukjin looked at her as she headed toward the door.

“I’m just going to the convenience store nearby to buy some snacks.”

She pulled up the hems of her baggy long pants and slipped on her sneakers.

“You’ll come right back, won’t you? You’re not going far, are you?”

“Yes. I’ll be back soon.”

Sukjin scrutinized Nayeon from head to toe with a hawk-like gaze.

It was completely different from the casual farewell she’d given Narin.

And apparently still worried, Sukjin abruptly stood up, approached Nayeon, and whispered so quietly that no one else could hear.

“You brought that too, right?”

“Pardon?”

“The talisman. The talisman. The one that will protect your body.”

Reading the meaning in her mother’s eyes, Nayeon gave a small nod.

“Oh, yes. I brought it.”

“Good. Then go and come back.”

Only then did Sukjin give her permission.

The two sisters stepped out into the hallway.

Narin pressed the elevator button, and they waited quietly.

As Nayeon silently watched the elevator’s indicator panel, Narin suddenly asked her a question.

“Unnie, you bought that luxury-brand lipstick, didn’t you?”

Narin looked into the mirror of her compact as she applied another layer of lip gloss.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. You saw it on my vanity.”

“Mom won’t even let you wear makeup, so why did you buy it? That new one was the one I wanted.”

“Just because… I thought it was pretty. I wanted to have it too. Even if I can’t wear it, just knowing I own it makes me happy.”

“Really? Then can I try it just once sometime? I want to see how the color looks on my lips.”

“Sure. Go ahead. It’s not like I’ll have any use for it anyway.”

“Thanks.”

Narin lightly tapped the puff from her compact against the tip of her nose before continuing.

“But you know, Mom is really too much with you, Unnie.”

“……”

“I mean, you nearly died so many times when you were little, so I do understand how Mom feels, you know? But sometimes I wonder if she really has to go this far.”

Narin continued patting on her makeup with a cynical, haughty expression.

“You put on makeup at home that one time, remember? When I saw you then, you were prettier than most celebrities. I guess that’s why Mom won’t even let you wear makeup. Since even your bare face is so noticeable, I suppose she thinks it’s reasonable to force you to wear a wig, glasses, and even something to hide your chest whenever you go out. If you weren’t covering your face, Unnie, you definitely would’ve gotten offers from idol agencies. Ah, just look at those breasts. I’m so jealous of yours because I’m completely flat…”

Narin lifted the loose part of Nayeon’s T-shirt around her chest and peeked inside as she chattered.

“Hey! Someone might see! What are you doing?”

Nayeon’s face turned red because Narin was actually jealous of her.

She quickly pushed her glasses back up her nose and hurriedly straightened her clothes.

“Anyway, you have it rough, Unnie. You have to hide such a beautiful face and live like you’re in hiding. Isn’t it exhausting having to cover yourself from head to toe every time you go outside?”

With her usual haughty expression, Narin snapped her compact shut.

Ding.

At that moment, the elevator that had stopped at the eighth floor before descending to the seventh slowly opened its doors with an alert chime.

Just as Nayeon raised her head to step inside—

“……!”

Ah.

She was so startled that her heart seemed to drop straight into her stomach.

Unexpectedly, standing inside the elevator was the older boy from upstairs she’d heard had returned—Ki Jaehyeok.

Their eyes met directly.

“……”

Startled, Nayeon’s eyes widened, her pupils trembling slightly.

Hwayeon had told her to greet Jaehyeok if she ever ran into him. She hadn’t expected that she would encounter him so soon after hearing those words.

Even after ten years, his overwhelming handsomeness remained unchanged.

The intelligent gaze looking down at her, his high nose bridge, sharp jawline, and thick, masculine neck.

Even dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, his handsome appearance was dazzling enough to seem surrounded by a halo.

‘Wow… He’s still so handsome…’

Ever since she was fifteen, back when she had received tutoring from him, Nayeon had admired his face up close and thought he was incredibly handsome. To her, he had been a man she could never dream of having, someone far beyond her reach.

Ten years had passed, yet where had that youthful nineteen-year-old boy gone?

Now twenty-nine, he had grown even more masculine, carrying an aura that made everyone around him instinctively tense.

Unlike Nayeon, whose lips seemed frozen shut from nervousness, Narin appeared delighted to reunite with Jaehyeok and greeted him in a confident voice.

“Oh? Oppa! Wow, it’s been so long. Do you remember me? I’m Im Narin, the girl who lived downstairs! I was in elementary school back then!”

Jaehyeok answered quietly in a much deeper voice than before.

“Yeah. I remember.”

His low, rich voice was enough to make her ears melt.

The elevator doors closed, and they soon began descending toward the first floor.

Looking down at the crown of Narin’s head, Jaehyeok spoke again in his calm tone.

“You were just a little kid back then. You’ve grown a lot.”

“Haha. You remember me! I grew really tall, didn’t I? I remember you too, Oppa. You were the guy who lived upstairs and was really good at studying! The lady upstairs told us all about how you went to medical school. You’ll be a doctor soon. But you’re still incredibly handsome, aren’t you?!”

At the compliment, Jaehyeok didn’t answer. He merely lifted the corners of his lips slightly before letting them fall again.

“What about me? I’ve gotten much prettier, right? I’m not that elementary school kid anymore.”

“How old are you now?”

“Twenty-three!”

“……”

“I’ve changed a lot, haven’t I? Am I pretty or not?!”

“Pretty.”

Overflowing with confidence, Narin boldly continued talking to him, even going so far as to directly ask whether he thought she was pretty.

Nayeon lowered her head and glanced at her own clothes.

Short hair, thick glasses, an absurdly oversized short-sleeved shirt that reached her wrists, and long pants dragging on the floor—her entire body was deliberately hidden beneath layers of clothing.

Then she looked at Narin standing beside her.

Her smooth, shapely legs stretched out above high heels. Her skirt fluttered gently in the early-summer breeze, and her lovely outfit highlighted her beautiful figure, while her face was perfectly made up.

The contrast between them was striking.

Standing next to the radiant Narin, Nayeon’s own appearance suddenly felt even more shabby.

Self-conscious, Nayeon hunched her shoulders and upper body even further.

Jaehyeok slowly turned his head and looked at Nayeon.

The moment she felt his gaze, she instinctively tensed.

Then his deep, resonant voice, seemingly echoing from within a cave, reached her ears.

“You.”

Startled, Nayeon raised her head and looked at Jaehyeok standing beside her.

“Yes?”

When her eyes met his deep, captivating gaze, her heart inexplicably began to pound.

“You been doing well?”