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The memorial hall, nestled against the lush green mountains, was fully lit as the day had grown dim. Guk, who had arrived first, stood at the entrance bathed in its glow.
“...”
Hyun-soo found herself unable to meet his gaze directly. Seeing him there in the lobby, dressed in a black suit, reminded her all too vividly of what her father must have done to him.
Pretending to shake off rainwater, Hyun-soo deliberately avoided looking at him as she folded her umbrella.
“We need to go right. What about you?”
“Huh? I’m going left.”
“We’ll meet up again after paying our respects separately then.”
“That works.”
The brothers had to head to the special section on the right side of the first floor, while Hyun-soo needed to visit the general area on the left. After placing her umbrella in the stand, she averted her eyes and turned toward the left corridor.
That’s when it happened.
“Kim Hyun-soo.”
A voice—always the one that dragged her into turmoil. It was Guk.
Unable to face him fully, Hyun-soo turned only slightly and replied.
“Yeah, what is it?”
But no answer came back. For a moment, the world was filled only with the sound of falling rain. Then, heavy footsteps approached. A towering shadow loomed beside her.
“What are you trying to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean?”
“...”
“Why won’t you look me in the eye?”
“...”
“Why won’t you look at me?”
If he were an animal, the next move might have been to sink his teeth into her nape. His voice was laced with barely contained emotion.
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s your reason?”
“It’s just... I couldn’t bear to look at you. It was hard for me to face you.”
“And now?”
He let out a short, mocking laugh. There was no mistaking the sarcasm.
“You’ve managed to face me perfectly fine until now. Isn’t that statement a bit ridiculous?”
She had nothing to say. He was right. She had faced him, spoken to him, and even harbored expectations before.
Leaning down slightly, he brought his lips close to her ear and whispered.
“Look at me.”
His voice was dangerously sweet, sending shivers down her spine. Trembling, Hyun-soo cautiously turned to face him. So close their lips could almost touch, Guk stared deeply into her eyes.
“If you deceive me even once more...”
“...”
“I’ll kill you.”
Without another word, Guk stepped back and looked at her. His gaze was so calm and composed it sent chills through her body. Was this really the same person who had just threatened to kill her?
“Don’t forget the conditions I set.”
Conditions? That’s when it hit her. Hyun-soo rummaged through her memories, piecing together his words. Now she understood why he was so upset with her.
One of the conditions he had set was that she obey him. Yet here she was, daring to turn away first.
While it seemed excessive for him to explode over something as trivial as avoiding his gaze, she began to see the logic behind it. Guk couldn’t tolerate her stepping outside the boundaries he had set—escaping from the palm of his hand where she was supposed to remain.
Should she apologize? Just as she moistened her parched lips to speak, Guk turned around without hesitation and walked away, his steps light as if nothing had happened.
Han, watching them from afar, frowned but didn’t press further.
“See you later. I’ll contact you.”
Han spoke to Hyun-soo, who remained rooted in place. Then, following the direction Guk had disappeared in, he too moved forward.
Left alone in the empty lobby, Hyun-soo could only stand there dazed for a moment.
‘If you deceive me even once more, I’ll kill you.’
His voice, devoid of emotion yet layered with suppressed intensity, echoed in her mind. More than the shock of hearing such words from Guk, she wondered how she could avoid deceiving him altogether.
Don’t harbor unnecessary expectations. Don’t dare treat the current Guk as the Yoon Guk from before. Bear whatever burden she must. All she had tried to do was abide by those rules.
When did it start? When had those unexpressed emotions begun festering within him, pricking at her like thorns? Realizing how foolish her own questions were, Hyun-soo sighed heavily.
All those cold, hot, sharp emotions he harbored toward her likely stemmed from that fateful fire. Or perhaps it began earlier—when he witnessed her father attempting to assault Mrs. Ah-san. Or maybe it started on some ordinary day when things simply felt wrong...
Her head throbbed. She wanted to cry.
“Mom… is my very existence deception? No matter what I do, is everything about me inherently deceitful...?”
Murmuring softly, Hyun-soo gazed at her mother’s urn and the photographs capturing happier times. In the framed pictures, adorned with eternally fresh artificial flowers, her entire family smiled joyfully.
Her dry fingers traced the thick glass covering the photo. Cold and hard, it mirrored the reality she faced—and perhaps Guk’s heart.
[Where are you?]
[I’m coming out now.]
After bidding her final farewell to her mother, Hyun-soo exited the general hall to a cacophony of noise. Emerging into the lobby, the sound grew louder. The source? A torrential downpour. What had been a light drizzle earlier had escalated into a deluge, obscuring visibility.
“The rain is coming down so hard.”
“You’re here? This weather is insane.”
Han looked worriedly at the sky, completely obscured by dark storm clouds.
“I’ll bring the car to the front. Wait here.”
“Are you going out in this?”
“Is there another option?”
As Han and Guk conversed, Hyun-soo chimed in hesitantly.
“Hey, remember the umbrella you gave me earlier? We can use that...”
“Right. Take it to the car.”
“...”
With Han agreeing, Hyun-soo retrieved the umbrella from the stand and approached Guk. Though his warning about not deceiving him still rang in her ears, she pretended to forget and extended the umbrella toward him, meeting his gaze as instructed.
“I don’t need it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just running will do.”
“But we have an umbrella. Why get soaked?”
“Use it later when returning to the car.”
“Huh?”
“Even parking the car nearby requires walking down the stairs in the rain. Use the umbrella then.”
Hyun-soo stared blankly at Guk, who met her gaze calmly before turning toward the pouring rain.
“Got it?”
Snapping out of her daze, Hyun-soo offered the umbrella again.
“No, seriously, take it...”
But she couldn’t finish. Guk bolted straight into the downpour.
The rain fell so fiercely that everything ahead turned white. His silhouette soon faded into the mist-like haze.
“Why is he doing that? He has an umbrella!”
“He told me to use it.”
“Huh?”
“He said I should use it...”
Muttering under her breath, Hyun-soo caught Han tilting his head in confusion. None of this made sense. Why was one person charging into the rain like a madman, while the other stood frozen? One thing was certain—it felt unsettling.
“You two keep exchanging secret messages. Knock it off.”
“What?”
“When three people gather, one always ends up looking like an idiot.”
Hyun-soo tried to reassure Han, insisting it wasn’t like that. But her gaze drifted back to the rain. In the distance, she thought she saw Guk climbing into the car.
“He got in! He’s in!”
“I saw it too.”
“What a relief.”
“At this rate, someone might think he saved the world.”
Not long after, Guk pulled the car up to the memorial hall steps. With a honk of the horn, the two prepared to dash into the rain.
“Let’s share the umbrella.”
“...”
Only then did Han realize why Guk had left the umbrella behind and charged into the rain alone. He burst into laughter.
“Go ahead and use it yourself.”
“Why not share? You shouldn’t get soaked unnecessarily.”
“Stay dry, okay? If we share and both end up wet, I might get blamed.”
“...”
“I don’t want to use something he left behind intentionally anyway.”
Declining Hyun-soo’s offer, Han sprinted into the rain without looking back. With long strides, he quickly reached the car.
Watching Han run, Hyun-soo snapped back to reality, realizing she was now alone. Opening the umbrella, the relentless patter of rain filled the air.
Not wasting time, Hyun-soo stepped outside. Though she used the umbrella, the wind blew from all directions, soaking her clothes instantly. Moreover, the fierce rain splashed off the ground, drenching her legs up to her shins.
“Ugh...!”
Opening the car door, Hyun-soo hurriedly folded the umbrella and climbed inside.
“Sister.”
“Huh?”
“You used the umbrella, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“How are you any different from me or Hyung?”
Indeed, Hyun-soo was completely soaked. Despite using the umbrella, she’d gotten drenched during the walk and while folding it.
Guk glanced back at her from the driver’s seat. Though he said nothing, his silence felt like a reproach. Even after leaving his umbrella behind, she still ended up looking foolish.
“Shall we head out?”
At Hyun-soo’s words, Han chuckled softly. Guk refocused on the road and slowly began driving.
“I wonder if we’ll make it home safely today.”
Though no one responded to Han’s comment, the others likely shared similar thoughts. The rain had intensified, now pouring down as if buckets were being emptied from the sky.
Fortunately, the car safely navigated the mountain roads leading away from the memorial hall. But the real challenge lay ahead—many roads leading home were flooded and closed due to the heavy rain.
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