WWBU - 1

The green light at the crosswalk blinked. Hyun-soo’s hurried sprint through the crowd was desperate.  

It was around 2 p.m. in August, and the already scorching sun seemed ready to melt the entire city. Hyun-soo felt as though the heels of her shoes were sticking to the asphalt. She adjusted her handbag. There were barely two minutes left until the appointed time. The meeting place was now in sight.  

Jingle.  

Breathless, Hyun-soo entered the café and caught her breath. Her side ached from running too hard. Frowning slightly, she pulled out her phone to double-check the text message she had received earlier.  

[‘It’s the window seat on the right.’]  

It was from the person she was meeting, who had arrived before her.  

The right-side window seat, huh? Taking a deep breath, Hyun-soo scanned the interior and soon spotted what appeared to be the back of her appointment. Though partially obscured by a potted plant, there was no one else sitting by the window. It had to be him.  

‘Stay calm, stay calm.’  

Realizing how disheveled she looked, Hyun-soo straightened her clothes and awkwardly forced a smile onto her face.  

‘Hello? Hello... hello, hi.’  

She had practiced various ways to greet him for a good impression, but none of them came out smoothly. Her inability to be warm and friendly was showing again. Chiding herself, Hyun-soo realized she couldn’t delay any longer and took a step forward.  

With each step closer, his back grew larger in her view, and her nervous tension mounted. It felt like her heart might leap out of her throat at any moment.  

‘You’re Kim Hyun-seo today. Don’t act stupid and get caught. Keep your mouth shut, sit quietly, and leave.’  

Just as she approached him, her older sister Hyun-seo’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind. It must have stuck with her because it hadn’t faded even in her tense state.  

Right. If I act foolish and get caught pretending to be Hyun-seo, things could get awkward. This is a meeting between Hyun-seo and the sponsor.  

Ever since their high school days, when they lost their parents, Hyun-seo and Hyun-soo had been supported by an anonymous benefactor. He never revealed himself, so they had never spoken to him—not even over the phone or through letters. Of course, Hyun-soo would send handwritten letters during Christmas and New Year’s, but whether he ever received them was uncertain.  

When she heard that Hyun-seo was finally meeting this mysterious benefactor—someone whose face or voice they had never seen or heard—it made her heart race. Finally, they’d meet him and express their gratitude.  

But he only wanted to meet Hyun-seo, not Hyun-soo. Regrettably, it was decided that only Hyun-seo would attend. However, at the last minute, Hyun-soo was asked to go in her sister’s place.  

Breaking the appointment might feel like deceiving the years of support they had received. And so, reluctantly, Hyun-soo found herself here, attending under Hyun-seo’s name. Since neither of them had ever met or spoken to the benefactor, pretending to be Hyun-seo seemed foolproof.  

But… was this man really the sponsor? He didn’t match her expectations at all.  

Hyun-soo had imagined the sponsor as a quintessential middle-aged gentleman: silver-streaked hair, kind wrinkles, and an average build.  

However, the figure before her had jet-black hair as dark as onyx, broad shoulders straining against his suit, long legs, and large hands resting on his chin. What was this…?  

‘You’ve arrived right on time.’  

Before she even showed her face, the man seemed to sense her presence behind him and spoke first. Startled, Hyun-soo reflexively bowed her head.  

‘A-ah, hello. I’m Kim Hyun-seo.’  

Introducing herself as her sister, as planned, Hyun-soo blinked while keeping her head bowed. All she could see were the man’s sleek, polished shoes.  

‘Kim Hyun-seo, huh…’  

Wow, his voice. Still bowing, Hyun-soo swallowed. His deep, cool voice clung to her ears like autumn morning fog—chilling and heavy.  

Lost in the richness of his low tone, Hyun-soo slowly straightened herself. Her gaze traveled from his immaculate shoe tips, up his perfectly tailored black suit, along his tall silhouette, until it reached his throat—and then, unexpectedly, his face appeared.  

‘You... How could you?’  

Yoon Guk. It was him.

His strikingly handsome face still bore that inscrutable gaze, which seemed to be his trademark. With an indifferent expression, he openly scanned Hyun-soo from head to toe, then smirked.  

‘Your lying has improved quite a bit, Kim Hyun-soo.’  

Hyun-soo’s heart sank. She wanted to slap herself for introducing herself as Kim Hyun-seo. Caught in her lie so easily, her face flushed with panic.  

‘Sit down first.’  

‘Uh... uh...’  

Though told to sit, she obeyed, but facing him felt like sitting on pins and needles. A mountain of questions filled her mind—what to say, or rather, how to even begin asking what was going on.  

‘Would you like to order something?’  

The server’s timely question made Hyun-soo snap her head up. She hadn’t realized she’d been bowing her head unconsciously, as if guilty of something.  

‘I already have something to drink. What about you?’  

‘Um... I’ll have orange juice.’  

Had it been ten years since they last met? His already deep voice seemed even lower now, almost blending into the double bass melody playing softly in the café’s background music.  

‘You’ve got a face full of questions.’  

‘Y-yeah.’  

And then there was the atmosphere. Even back in school, he had always seemed more mature than his peers, but now he exuded an untouchable aura—an elegant, weighty presence of adulthood.  

‘Do you understand why you’re here?’  

Had Yoon Guk always been this tall? This broad-shouldered? She didn’t remember his presence being so subtly overwhelming back then…  

‘We had an agreement. To meet today.’  

As if stating the obvious, Guk took a sip from his glass, his neatly trimmed nails catching her attention. Everything about him—from his immaculate posture to his tidy appearance—was flawless, making Hyun-soo even more nervous.  

‘What do you mean? The person I was supposed to meet today was...’  

‘The sponsor. But instead of some old man, it’s me, Yoon Guk, sitting here. So, what you’re saying is...’  

‘Are you seriously the sponsor?’  

‘Are you just realizing that now?’  

Instead of answering, his rhetorical question made her laugh nervously. A strange wave of emotions surged within her, her heart pounding loudly.  

After taking a deep breath, Hyun-soo asked again: Was he really the sponsor? Guk’s answer remained unchanged.  

‘It doesn’t make sense.’  

How could she describe this feeling? It was incomprehensible. The person she had genuinely respected and been grateful to all these years was none other than Yoon Guk.  

She suddenly remembered the handwritten letters she had sent every Christmas and New Year, pouring her heart into each word.  

Hyun-soo looked up at Guk. His face was breathtakingly beautiful, yet his eyes were cold enough to send chills down anyone’s spine. Had he even read those letters? She couldn’t help but wonder if he had mocked her insignificant offerings.  

‘You seem disappointed that I showed up instead of some old geezer.’  

‘It’s not that, I just...’  

‘Speak.’  

‘I want to ask... why did you do it?’  

‘You’re asking why I sponsored you?’  

‘Yes. Why did you go so far as to use someone else’s identity to support my sister and me?’  

At that, Guk chuckled. Hyun-soo couldn’t tell what part of her question amused him. After a brief pause, she continued.  

‘And also...’

‘What else?’  

‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I’m curious how you were able to support us for such a long period.’  

‘Ahh.’  

Though Hyun-soo had stopped receiving support after graduating from university, her older sister Hyun-seo, who was studying art, still relied on his help to this day. It had been an incredibly long time. But as far as Hyun-soo knew, Guk hadn’t been in a position to provide that kind of financial backing. Back in school, he had even lived as a dependent in her family’s annex. And then there was the matter of his parents…  

‘So what you’re saying is, ‘Where did someone like me, who had nothing, get the money to do all that?’ Right?’  

‘I never said it like that! That’s not what I meant!’  

‘This is quite an overstepping question.’  

‘What?’  

Guk unfolded his crossed legs and leaned forward, locking eyes with Hyun-soo. Startled by the sudden closeness, she flinched and tensed her shoulders.  

‘Just because I lived off your family for a while doesn’t mean I was destined to stay at rock bottom forever. Right?’  

‘...You’re right. I think I misspoke earlier. That’s not what I meant…’  

‘You asked why I supported you two sisters.’  

As if nothing had happened, Guk relaxed again, softening his lips into a faint smile.  

‘There’s no particular reason.’  

‘…’  

‘The one who ruins you should be me, not some petty poverty.’  

What? Before she could even ask him to repeat himself, the server returned with their drinks. Hyun-soo’s face turned pale, her heart sinking as she questioned whether she’d heard him correctly.  

On the other hand, Guk exhaled deeply and leaned back into his chair, exuding a languid, composed aura—completely contrasting with Hyun-soo, who sat fidgeting anxiously.  

‘Now, shall I ask my question?’  

Unsure of what he might say next, sweat began to bead on Hyun-soo’s palms.  

‘Why did you come instead of Kim Hyun-seo?’  

The topic she thought was over had circled back. What excuse could she possibly give? If she told him that she came because her sister didn’t want to, or that she had planned to pretend to be Kim Hyun-seo from the start, how would he react? Her whole body trembled at the thought.  

After a moment of biting her lip in hesitation, Hyun-soo slowly raised her head.  

‘My sister was sick, so I came in her place.’  

A lie. The beginning of the lie, and its continuation, were nothing but lies.