Chapter 13.2

When it rained hard, the dry rain marks on the ceiling spread even more. Thinking that it was a relief that there was no mold, Yoo-hwa looked at the wall silently.

Through the thin wall, the sound of luggage moving was loud. Seeing that the old lady, who said she lives day by day, called a moving company to move the luggage, she must have gotten money from somewhere.

What will happen to the grandma? When the old lady goes to work, Granny will be left alone…

Even though she knew she was not in a position to worry about anyone, her foolish heart kept raising concerns.

No, it could be that she was holding on to other worries in order to forget the fact that she was left alone.

Humans are so selfish.

Is she more worried about her own loneliness than the grandma’s well-being?

Yoo-hwa’s face darkened.

Knock, knock.

Yoo-hwa got up at the knock on the door she heard amid the commotion of moving luggage. When she opened the door, the old lady had a dissatisfied expression on her face.

“Hello.”

“Here.”

As if she couldn’t afford to greet her, the old lady gave her money. Yoo-hwa looked alternately between the money and the woman’s face.

“For the work you did until now.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to take it? My arm will fall off.”

When Yoo-hwa held out her hand, the old lady tossed her the money out of fear that her fingertips might touch her hand. Rubbing her fingers as if she had gotten something on them, the old lady scanned Yoo-hwa up and down.

“This is all I have to pay, right? Don’t come saying anything later!”

Yoo-hwa looked at the 50,000 won in her hand. She didn’t know the old lady would look after her due to her personality. It was surprising.

“Excuse me…”

The old lady’s face wrinkled as if she didn’t know that Yoo-hwa would talk to her. Normally, she would ignore it; but she looked at her as if she wanted to say something, despite her uncomfortable expression. Seeing that, the way she stared at her was also strangely different. The expression on the woman’s face, which was usually close to contempt, was closer to fear today. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, it was clear she was uncomfortable.

However, thinking that she must have been mistaken because there was no way the old lady was afraid of her, Yoo-hwa asked cautiously.

“What will happen to Granny? Did you find someone to look after her while you go to work?”

“I’ll take care of that. A caregiver will come during the day to the place we’re moving to. I haven’t been able to get support until now because no one wants to come here, but it’s much better there. Why? Don’t tell me… you want to come?”

The woman’s expression wrinkled as if she was displeased just thinking about it.

“No. I asked because I was curious.”

“…”

“Take care.”

The old lady turned around at Yoo-hwa’s goodbye, and then stopped.

“You unlucky girl. No matter where you go, this crazy… Gosh.”

The old lady, who was half talking to herself and half talking in a way she could hear, turned around coldly. Yoo-hwa stared blankly at the woman who turned her back on the house and walked away.

Shortly after hearing the gate open, there was the sound of a car moving away in the distance. The silence that came after that was like death.

As if to prove that now, there was no one she would meet every day and no one that would make noise around her.

Yoo-hwa’s gaze slowly turned towards the stone steps. In the empty eyes that contained the gray floor, the only living thing were the weeds growing through the cracks in the cement.

She had to go home.

But contrary to her thoughts, her body did not move. She knew that on a windy day like today, the house would be even quieter than this.

Yoo-hwa rubbed the palms of her dry hands against her knees, to no avail. She wanted to eat ramyeon. Then, when Yoo-hwa’s gaze turned to Woo-hyun’s house. With the creaking sound of the gate opening, Woo-hyun appeared.

“You’re here.”

Yoo-hwa, who felt like she was dreaming at Woo-hyun’s friendly greeting, couldn’t answer easily. She couldn’t just open her mouth and wake up from her dream.

“What is it?”

Woo-hyun, who walked in stride and stopped in front of her, tilted his head as if asking why she was looking at him like that. Yoo-hwa looked down without looking at Woo-hyun. His pants were full of dirt, probably because he had been doing a part-time job.

“… Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Yoo-hwa, who couldn’t say that it was because it was strange to see him appearing, kept her mouth shut.

“Seems like they moved.”

With his chin, Woo-hyun pointed to the old lady’s house with the door open.

“Yeah. Just now.”

Yoo-hwa replied calmly.

“It’s just the two of us now.”

“…”

Contrary to his light tone, his words pierced her like thorns.

“We should get along well.”

The words that followed pierced her a little deeper.

We.

It was the first time since her mother passed away that she heard the word that can only be used when someone and someone else exist within the same frame.

Yoo-hwa’s expression was indistinct. As he had been staring at her with calm eyes, Woo-hyun’s lips twisted. However, he quickly changed to a lighter expression and opened his mouth.

“Why are you here?”

“Just… The house is suffocating.”

Yoo-hwa replied casually.

“Is there a convenience store, a mart, or a market here?”

“The market is gone, and the nearest mart is a 10-minute walk away. It’s hard to explain the way…”

“Let’s go together.”

“…”

Yoo-hwa raised her head.