NSTAR - 41

Joo-eun slowly turned around.

Jae-hoon was wearing a neat suit, as if he had come straight from work.

“I was wondering which exit to wait at. I timed it perfectly.”

He approached with a smile, but Joo-eun couldn’t smile back.

One surprise meeting was enough.

Meeting twice without any contact was enough to feel burdensome, beyond just being pleasant.

“Do you… know my home address?”

“Not your address yet.”

Even the word “yet” grated on her nerves now.

“I really wanted to ask your mother, but I held back. I heard which neighborhood you lived in when we were introduced, so I just waited in front of the subway station.”

[Who is it? Is it Park Jae-hoon?]

Seyoung’s voice leaked from the phone she was still holding, startled.

“Yeah? Uh… I met Jae-hoon.”

[Hey. Tell him to back off. You have a potential boyfriend, why is he doing this?]

Joo-eun regretted not being clear that it wasn’t a “potential boyfriend,” wondering if she had given Jae-hoon false hope.

She needed to make it clear now. Tell him to stop showing up like this.

“Seyoung, I’ll call you later. I’m hanging up.”

[Okay. Call me right away if you sense anything weird.]

Anything weird…

She wondered if she had been too careless.

Joo-eun finished the call and sighed softly.

“Jae-hoon… it’s really nice to see you after so long, but if you keep doing this, I’m going to feel really burdened…”

“Where’s your house? I’ll walk you home. Let’s walk a bit.”

“No. Let’s just talk here.”

“You don’t want to tell me your address, huh? Well, you shouldn’t just give that out these days. You’re doing the right thing.”

He could be upset, but he just smiled, saying it was okay. He was just like the innocent Park Jae-hoon from their childhood.

Was she being too sensitive?

Just as she was about to feel a moment of regret, Jae-hoon looked around.

“Where should we go to talk? If you haven’t had dinner, let’s eat.”

“Sorry. My mom’s waiting for me.”

“Oh, okay… is your mother doing well?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…”

A brief silence fell.

The awkward atmosphere between them seemed to be felt by those around them, as passersby glanced at them.

Joo-eun didn’t want to drag this out any longer.

“You came to say something, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… but I didn’t expect to talk on the street. Haha…”

What could he be saying? Joo-eun’s face tensed.

“Actually… I’ve liked you a lot. For a long time.”

Ah, just as she thought.

Her lips moved silently a few times before she finally managed to answer.

“Oh, really… I didn’t know. Not even a little.”

“When I heard you were working at DK Media after I came back from studying abroad, I felt a bit intimidated. I was unemployed. I wanted to contact you when I was working at a company that wouldn’t make me feel inferior next to you, so I held back… I really regret not rushing things more.”

She had only thought of him as a childhood friend.

She felt a mix of guilt and burden towards Jae-hoon, who had been longing for her for longer than she thought.

“I’m really pathetic. I keep making you uncomfortable.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it was okay.

If she said it was okay, it felt like he would keep showing up like this.

“I’m not asking you to decide anything right now. I can wait. So, could you at least give me a chance to show you that I can be good to you?”

“Jae-hoon…”

“Just a chance. Just watch me. Okay?”

A sudden chill ran down her spine. It was because of Jae-hoon’s changed gaze.

This wouldn’t do. She had to draw a clear line here.

Joo-eun slowly parted her lips.

“…I’m sorry. I don’t have the time or space to date anyone right now. I have debts to pay, and I need to focus on my mother’s treatment…”

“Then why are you seeing that bastard?”

Joo-eun was speechless at the sudden growl.

“That bastard…? Are you talking about the director?”

“Yes. He’s a rich chaebol’s son, so he’s okay? But I’m just a nobody who clawed his way up, so I’m not?”

She couldn’t find the Jae-hoon she knew in his hardened eyes.

“Park Jae-hoon. How could you say such things?”

“I looked into everything. He changes women every day of the week. He’s a total scoundrel. But you’re still clinging to him, so you’re no different from the other women. You don’t want to let go of a rich guy.”

Joo-eun’s body trembled.

‘So that’s all I am to you…’

The hurt from a friend who shared childhood memories, not just anyone, was more painful than she expected.

Her eyes reddened as she held back tears.

“Ha… Let’s pretend we never met after we grew up. I’m leaving.”

“Why pretend we never met when we did meet! Now that you’re meeting a big shot, I’m not even a person to you?”

“Ah… let go, this!”

Her wrist was painfully twisted as he roughly pulled her.

No matter how hard she tried to pull away, his large hand wouldn’t budge.

“If I let you go, you won’t even see me again. How can you ignore me so easily when I’m saying all this… Ugh!”

Jae-hoon’s hand, which was holding Joo-eun, was twisted backwards.

“What kind of person pretends they don’t understand when someone says this much? She said no. So, just get lost.”

It was Min-hyuk.

His sharp eyes and voice threatened to tear Jae-hoon’s arm off.

Startled, Joo-eun covered her mouth with her hand.

Every day was so eventful, she thought there couldn’t be any more surprises, but lately, surprises kept happening.

“Ugh… won’t you… let go?”

“How should I let go? Another twist?”

“Ugh!”

“D, Director…”

Joo-eun lightly grabbed his wrist.

Min-hyuk’s anger flared even more when he saw her small, white hand trembling.

Most of all, the red mark on her wrist was unbearable.

“She’s a woman who doesn’t care about a man’s money, looks, or even his body. She’s desperately clinging because she has nothing left to appeal with, and you dare call her a gold digger?”

“Aah…!”

He wanted to break and tear off his arm, but he had to hold back for her sake.

Min-hyuk warned him, barely suppressing his anger.

“Try to bother her one more time. I’ll use every means at my disposal to pay you back. You seem to have done some background checks on me, so you know. As a rich chaebol’s son, putting a nobody in jail is nothing.”

“Ugh… let go. Let go of my arm…”

Min-hyuk released him with a shove, and he staggered and fell to the ground.

“Get lost.”

Jae-hoon couldn’t get up right away because of the pain. More than anything, he was too ashamed to face Joo-eun.

“Let’s go.”

Min-hyuk warmly put his arm around her trembling shoulder.

Joo-eun quickly lowered her gaze, afraid he would see her teary eyes.

“Don’t cry. He’s not worth it.”

Min-hyuk pulled her closer, and Joo-eun bit her lip and walked away.

Inside the car, lit only by the distant streetlights.

Min-hyuk kept silent until Joo-eun calmed down.

After a while, Joo-eun, who had regained her composure, slowly spoke.

“Thank you for helping me…”

“I should have half-killed him. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep. From tomorrow, I’ll have bodyguards posted in front of your house. Be aware of that.”

Who are you going to post?

“No, let’s just commute together. That would be more reassuring.”

Suddenly, what was this…?

“First, we should set up location sharing.”

“St, stop…!”

Joo-eun held out her palm and shouted stop, causing Min-hyuk to furrow his brow.

“With a maniac knowing your neighborhood, you’re going to refuse?”

“I’ll be careful. Besides, my mom exercises in the evening, so I can ask her to meet me at the subway station. So, there’s no need to…”

“Concerning your mother’s worries…”

He wasn’t wrong.

If her mom found out about today’s incident, she would not only worry but might also go to Park Jae-hoon’s parents and turn everything upside down.

Then things would really escalate.

Just thinking about it made her dizzy.

“Then… could you please just give me a ride home when you have time? Please reconsider the bodyguards and location sharing.”

“Ha. I want to put ten or so people on you.”

She really thought he would do that, so Joo-eun swallowed hard.

“Okay. Let’s just do the ride home. That’s the most reassuring thing for me.”

“…That’s a relief.”

Joo-eun sighed and smiled faintly, but Min-hyuk furrowed his brow.

“What’s so relieving?”

“It feels like I’ve regained my stolen freedom.”

“I see. Well, actually, I’m… glad too. Even in this situation.”

Even though he felt uneasy, he couldn’t help but be happy to have an excuse to go home with her every day.

Joo-eun, slightly relaxed, unconsciously rubbed her wrist.

“Your wrist. Does it hurt?”

It had been throbbing since earlier. She had been trying to endure it, but she had forgotten and started rubbing it.

If she told him her wrist hurt on top of everything else, after he had barely calmed down, he would go ballistic, so Joo-eun shook her head.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“It’s red, though.”

He grabbed her wrist and pulled it towards him.

“It’s, it’s fine…”

“Just stay still.”

His large hand slowly massaged her wrist.

It was definitely a very gentle pressure, but it strangely made her tense.

As he loosened her wrist with his thumb, drawing small circles, he asked in a low voice.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Huh…?”

“That you’re in no position to meet anyone because of your debt and your mother’s treatment.”

Joo-eun’s eyes slightly trembled at the unexpected question.

“Does that include me?”