WWBU - 91

As she was wiping away her tears, a scene from the accident site suddenly flashed in her mind. A car so wrecked it was crumpled all over, and a puddle of some unknown liquid on the ground...

Please, let it not be what I’m thinking. It can’t be, Hyun-soo pleaded over and over.

After much deliberation, Hyun-soo finally decided to rely on the landlady.

Her finely trembling fingers kept slipping on the screen. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Hyun-soo finally tried to find the landlady’s number and dial it. And then.

Ring-ring. The bell rang.

“...Hello?”

Could this be what it means to feel like your breath is caught in your throat?

“Hello? Hello, say something...!”

-Yeah. It’s me. Why did you answer the phone so urgently?

Hearing his clear voice, only then did a sigh of relief pour out of her. The person asking, oblivious to her feelings, was none other than Guk. The very person she had been searching so desperately for.

“You... you! Where are you right now!”

-Where else? I’m almost home.

“Haa... I’m really... because of you...!”

-What’s wrong? What happened?

His tone was truly as if he knew nothing. For a moment, Hyun-soo almost felt a bit wronged, but she quickly swallowed that feeling. How much had she wished to just reach him, for him to be safe? She should probably just be satisfied with the fact that she had confirmed he was unharmed and well.

“No, nothing. Nothing happened, right?”

-Nope.

“Then that’s good. Really good. Thank goodness.”

-Are you trying to make me curious?

“No, you don’t have to worry. It’s just me, a little...”

-A little what?

“Lost in thought. I was mistaken.”

-Mistaken?

“Yeah. A terrible mistake.”

Soon after, the sound of a car door closing came from the other end of the line. It seemed he had arrived home as he said. Indeed, so much time had already passed, he should have arrived in Seoul a while ago.

“Go in. Rest.”

-You won’t answer if I ask, will you, Kim Hyun-soo.

“Yeah.”

-Why.

Because... I don’t know myself either. Because I couldn’t understand why such despair, sadness, and pain had washed over me like a raging tide in that moment.

Hyun-soo wasn’t hiding it from him; she just couldn’t explain it.

-Looks like you stayed up all night too. Get some sleep.

“Yeah.”

-Don’t just answer.

“I’ll take care of it.”

-Just know that’s my least favorite thing to hear, that phrase.

“...’I’ll take care of it,’ that phrase?”

-Yeah. From now on, do things you’d do alone with me.

At his sudden desire and demand, Hyun-soo just blinked. She didn’t know what answer would be wise. Right now, her heart was just pounding because he was safe...

-If there’s no answer, I’ll take it as a yes.

“You’re so arbitrary, Yoon Guk.”

-You came to me knowing that.

And then I ran away again. She didn’t bother to say the last part out loud. She didn’t want to end the call with them embroiled in an argument or conflict.

“I’m going to hang up. I think Wan woke up.”

-Tell him. Tell him his dad was very worried.

“......”

-Aren’t you going to tell him?

“I’ll tell him.”

-Thanks.

The call soon ended. Slowly lowering her hand, Hyun-soo stared at the phone screen and silently bit her lip.

‘Dad,’ Yoon Guk had said. Naturally and matter-of-factly. What about Wan? If he knew he had a dad, not just a mom, another person on his side, would he feel secure?

Lost in thought for a moment, Hyun-soo placed her hand in the middle of her chest. Her heart was pounding so much that she couldn’t calm down at all, even to herself.

Why had she felt so terrible earlier?

At the sudden question that flashed through her mind, Hyun-soo put her phone down on the table and stood by the window. She couldn’t see the sun directly, but it was already bright.

Just the thought of him disappearing from her side, of him perhaps no longer being in the world, made her feel like her soul was shattering. Even though she had lived well without Yoon Guk for the past year.

It had only been a few hours, a few days. Hyun-soo’s feelings became strange as she wondered if she was already relying on him.

What on earth is wrong with me? I ran away all the way here, trying to live well on my own. Wan is my family, and Wan is enough. But why?

Yoon Guk had told her many lies and was also the older brother of the arsonist Yoon Han. There were enough reasons not to accept him to count on both hands.

And yet. And yet, the mere thought of him disappearing felt like the world was collapsing. What an irony.

Hyun-soo, who had slowly sunk back to the floor, looked at the scenery of the yard.

Wildflowers mixed with weeds in the small flower bed were budding and blooming in full. Looking at the small flowers swaying in the gentle breeze, Hyun-soo pressed her forehead against her raised knees and buried her face.

“……”

Perhaps she had known it herself. She had realized that such a moment would come quite a long time ago. Then one might wonder why she hadn’t preemptively run away.

“Our Wan…”

Yoon Wan. She couldn’t keep running away from him, wandering all over the country with this young baby forever. Besides, even though it had only been a year, Hyun-soo had established her entire life here. Her small, cozy home and her job were all thanks to this place.

But all of this was only the second reason. Hyun-soo, feeling like she was hiding something even from herself, tried to be honest.

She bit her lip hard enough to hurt and closed her eyes. Facing the emotions that surged up from the depths of her soul like a raging tide, she stood firm.

Be honest, Kim Hyun-soo. Be honest.

Kim Hyun-soo needs Yoon Guk.

Kim Hyun-soo needs Yoon Guk.

The reason her heart had pounded as if it would burst and she felt like her soul was shattering was one thing. Deep down, she needed Guk.

She had desperately avoided his gaze, afraid that her relief would be noticed by Guk, and that the past year would all scatter like mist and become meaningless. But seeing him constantly approach, she felt like even that had been discovered in the end.

She felt utterly defeated. It was like sinking into a swamp and just being swallowed whole.

Lifting her head, Hyun-soo pushed back her fallen hair and touched her hot forehead. She had too many thoughts.

Acknowledging her feelings didn’t solve everything. The things his brother had done to her were still vivid, so she couldn’t just accept things as they were.

So even if her hand was completely read in the other person’s eyes. Even if her acting looked like a ridiculous clown show.

Hyun-soo steeled herself again. Just because she needed Guk didn’t mean she would readily take his hand.

Hyun-soo got up from her spot and opened the door to the room where Wan was sleeping. The warm, soft scent of baby skin and powder tickled her nose. A moment of relief washed over her, and Hyun-soo smiled.

This was enough. If she had these small moments of joy, even without taking his hand...

Hyun-soo closed the door and lay down next to Wan.

“Mommy only needs Wan. Only our Wan...”

The smallest universe in the world nestled in Hyun-soo’s arms.

Had it been just a day?

Men she had never seen before came to her house. Hyun-soo, bewildered, opened the door and was soon taken aback. Behind them, all sorts of things were piled up like a mountain.

Everything from daily necessities to fresh food, fruits, and even drinking water. The men passed by the stammering Hyun-soo and began to move the goods tightly into the house.

“What is this! Who, who sent this, huh?”

“We’re just doing what we’re paid for, so we don’t know who ordered what.”

“No, there must be someone who paid for this. Who was it!”

Hyun-soo had just grabbed one of the men who was coming out after moving a box of bottled water into the storage room. The man wiped the sweat from his brow and frowned, looking troubled.

“Well... Director Park.”

“Director Park? Who’s that?”

The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly and then took out a business card from his pocket with a helpless expression. The business card had the information ‘Taeshin Enterprise’ and ‘Park Young-hoon’.

“I knew it.”

She had been unsure when he said Director Park, but when he said Young-hoon, she seemed to know instantly who it was. That man who had been Guk’s chauffeur.

From the start, Yoon Guk was the only man who would pour out what he had like this. Hyun-soo had just wanted to confirm. If it was really something he had ordered.

Hyun-soo immediately hardened her face and shouted loudly at the people who were busy moving things.

“Everyone, get out now. Or I’ll really call the police!”

“We’ll just roughly organize the luggage and leave...”

“I said just get out!”

“Ah, for crying out loud...!”

Finally, pushed by Hyun-soo’s almost forceful urging, the men dropped the luggage where it was and were kicked out. The house, which had been so noisy with the commotion, became quiet in an instant, as if submerged in water.

“Please answer your phone.”

“Yes?”

Just as Hyun-soo was wondering what to do with all the luggage, she heard a voice from behind. Turning around with a frown, she saw a middle-aged man in a neat suit. When she asked who he was, he replied that he was one of Guk’s executive secretaries.

“What phone...”

She couldn’t let an older gentleman get scolded because of her. Forcing a smile, she asked again, and immediately a phone was held up in front of her face. A video call was already connected.

-I’ll have to stay in Seoul for one more day. Even if you miss me, bear with it.

“Are you serious? Do you think I miss you?”

-Don’t you?

“Would I?”

Guk chuckled. She couldn’t deny that the upward curve of his lips was attractive.

“Anyway, what is all this? When did I ever say I needed this...”

-Sounds like you’re saying something’s lacking. Do you need more?

This was really something. A tactic to crush her so she couldn’t even utter a word of dislike.

-I’ll call you before I go to bed, so answer. Or I’ll come down there right away, work or no work.

Should she just run away? But if she did, it was clear that this middle-aged secretary would be in trouble, so she couldn’t do that recklessly. Besides, where could she go to settle down again with young Wan? Just imagining it made her vision go dark.