CH 9.4

In the car driven by Jae Hyun, he and Shin Hee were both lost in thought. Yoo Shin Hee who is usually cheerful and likes to act like a child now does not say a word. Unable to bear the silence, Jae Hyun turned on the radio in his car. One of the songs from the movie Phantom of the Opera, which was heavy but beautiful, filled the car. At once Shin Hee looked at him sharply.

“I don’t like hearing this song. Does this song fit this situation?”

“It suits me.”

“I’m struggling with jealousy and envy. Are you the same?”

Shin Hee asked sharply as if she had found an interlocutor to pour out her frustration, while Jae Hyun just sighed and turned off the music.

Jealousy and envy. Jae Hyun and Jung Won initially only greeted each other for about a week or two and slowly started chatting little by little. Their relationship clearly hadn’t gotten that far. Despite that, Jae Hyun didn’t feel happy in this situation either. He doesn’t know why.

“Do you want a drink?”

“Yes? Ah, no, I…”

“Take it easy. I’m not hitting on you. I just really want a drink right now.”

Hearing Shin Hee’s insistent answer before the other person could refuse, Jae Hyun finally nodded slowly. Not because of Shin Hee, but because he suddenly wanted to drink at this time. Maybe alcohol could help him confirm his own feelings that made him confused.

The late-night bar was still quite crowded. The European-style bar room looked neat with a mix of red wood and iron furniture. Shin Hee sat in one corner of the room staring at her cell phone and muttering under her breath.

“That guy. How could he not call me to ask if I’m home yet?”

Shin Hee, who was still feeling hot in the bar room, quickly gulped down the cold water that the barman placed on her table. The summer night was indeed quite humid and sultry. After ordering their drinks and making sure that the waiter had gone away, Shin Hee started to vent to Jae Hyun.

“I dated him for more than 10 years. But now he likes another woman he’s only known for 3 months? Is that possible?”

“I don’t know.”

It doesn’t take long to fall for someone else. In fact, many people can fall head over heels at first sight.

“Kim Jae Hyun, do you want to keep acting like this isn’t your problem?”

Shin Hee looked at him sharply as if she was really annoyed with Jae Hyun’s half-hearted reaction. At times like this, Geon Hyeong was usually always willing to be on her side. Before that day, the day when Shin Hee declared that she would part with Geon Hyeong, the day when even Geon Hyeong did not try to hold her back.

If only Geon Hyeong had asked her not to leave, Shin Hee would still be in his arms right now. But in fact, Geon Hyeong did not do that. He didn’t do something that Shin Hee had been waiting for. Something that she thought would definitely happen.

“This is not my problem.”

“It’s also your problem.”

Shin Hee gave him another sharp look, but Jae Hyun didn’t look too discouraged. He was now dizzy thinking about his own problems. After all, he was not Kim Geon Hyeong who could obey everything Shin Hee said.

“It’s not my problem. Anyway…”

“What is it anyway?”

“Hyung won’t change his mind if he’s determined about something,” Jae Hyun said slowly and confidently while looking at Shin Hee blankly.

Of course Shin Hee knew that too. That’s why she couldn’t stand it anymore. At times like that, she was sure that it was the Kim Geon Hyeong she knew. However, the Geon Hyeong she was with Jung Won really looked like someone else.

Geon Hyeong looked so comfortable that he didn’t seem upset at all when the cats and parrots in the house approached him. Plus, the woman knows Geon Hyeong’s taste in coffee. Then, one thing that surprised Shin Hee the most was the yellow color of the flowers on Geon Hyeong’s fingers.

The Geon Hyeong that Shin Hee had known all along was a man who would absolutely not do things that he did not like. Therefore, Shin Hee was very surprised when he just gave in to having his nails colored yellow like that. Geon Hyeong used to be her man. But now he was slowly turning into someone else’s.

“You, you like me, right? Do you have the heart to be this cruel to me?”

“Ten years ago, I did like you. But not now.”

Hearing Shin Hee’s insistence, Jae Hyun shook his head slowly while putting a faint smile on his face, a smile that Jung Won said was the smile of a prince.

Ten years ago, Shin Hee was a woman who could make his surroundings feel fresher and brighter. It would be strange if there was anyone who wasn’t fascinated by her. However, the once princess-like Yoo Shin Hee was most kind to Kim Geon Hyeong, whether out of sympathy or what.

However, that’s not important. The two of them really looked good together. They really looked happy. Even their other male peers at that time did not dare to disturb the two of them.

“So, you don’t like me now?”

“Not really. Noona is creepy sometimes, but it’s not like I don’t like you.”

Hearing that honest answer, Shin Hee raised both of her beautiful eyebrows. Jae Hyun who saw her attitude tried to hold back his laughter. Actually, is it taboo for Noona that her attitude just now often makes men scared?

“So, you love Jung Won now?”

“No, I don’t. I’m attracted to her, but not to the point of loving her.”

Hearing Jae Hyun’s hesitant answer, Shin Hee took Jae Hyun’s glass of alcohol and looked at him earnestly.

“Oh yeah? I’m warning you, if you really love Jung Won, you better go after her right now because there won’t be any time for you.”

Shin Hee knew why she was feeling so uneasy and upset like this. It wasn’t just because Geon Hyeong went home with that woman and not with her.

The look in Geon Hyeong’s eyes when he looked at Jung Won was not like the Geon Hyeong she knew.

The Geon Hyeong who was angry at Jung Won was not the Geon Hyeong she knew.

There was something different flowing between the two people and Shin Hee didn’t like that.

“I’m not someone who can marry a woman I choose at will. You know that.”

“That’s right. We’re not the kind of people who can marry the person we choose at will.”

“But, hyung can definitely marry the woman he chooses.”

Of course. Kim Geon Hyeong was not a person who could move at the behest of others. Shin Hee then drank the contents of Jae Hyun’s glass of alcohol that she had been holding.

“What kind of woman is Kang Jung Won?”

“I’m not sure, but she seems like a nice woman.”

No, she was definitely a good woman. Kind and loving. That was Jae Hyun’s assessment of Jung Won.

“I already knew that too. Tell me something else I don’t know. How did you get to know Jung Won?”

“She’s the nutritionist on campus. Whenever I see her, she always smiles and greets me. That’s why she has the nickname ‘the smiling one’. She also listens to my lectures.”

Last semester, when Jung Won first carefully asked if she could listen to his lecture, Jae Hyun just nodded his head without getting a good look at her face. After that, she was the most diligent and serious of all the students when listening to him in class. Her gaze shone with enthusiasm. That’s what made Jae Hyun start paying attention to her.

“Listening to your lecture?”

“Yes. She’s very interested in horticulture and fruit trees.”

“No wonder her house is like a forest. Is that all?”

Shin Hee recalled Jung Won’s house which was full of greenery.

“She loved working in the greenhouse and never missed an event at the fruit trees department. Then, sometimes she also volunteered at nursing homes and…”

“You like her, right?”

“Noona.”

Jae Hyun frowned and shook his head at Shin Hee’s sudden question.

“Otherwise, why would you know that much? Then you’re familiar with her.”

“That…”

“That’s what?”

“Because she stands out compared to the others. I often meet her at meals, in class, and sometimes in the greenhouse. Then sometimes…”

Jae Hyun had also seen a woman who seemed to be in love with the wild flowers in the meadow at Hwaniwon. Sometimes, he also saw her greet him with a smile on her face because she suddenly saw him while he was busy working in the middle of a sea of flowers. In Jae Hyun’s eyes, that smile really looked beautiful. If he thought about Hwaniwon, she would also come to mind.

“Sometimes what?”

“I crossed paths with her quite often because I was in the same college. That’s all. Therefore, now Noona, do not tell me to flirt with that hyung’s girlfriend.”

That was all he could tell. However, he still couldn’t believe that Kang Jung Won was his brother’s lover. He was very surprised when he found out about this. However, for some reason he felt a bit sad seeing Jung Won who was standing side by side with Geon Hyeong and waving her hand.

That woman was a woman who always smiled at everyone. She also always did good to everyone. She also always smiled and took care of herself. Jae Hyun now seemed to know why his heart felt sad like this: Because this woman is now paying attention to others, not him.

I see. I’ve let her gaze shift to someone else. Jae Hyun who realized this then poured alcohol into his own glass and gulped it down all at once. Even though he wasn’t in love with the woman, he somehow felt heartbroken.