Chapter 24.1

As Yoo-hwa looked troubled, Woo-hyun approached her in big strides and reached out his hand. Even so, she hesitated, and Woo-hyun crouched and sat face to face, grabbing Yoo-hwa’s hand. Yoo-hwa’s vision turned blurry as she looked at the large, wounded hand that covered hers in an instant.

The blood seemed to drain from her head to her toes, and then heat quickly rose. It felt distant, perhaps because of that disparity.

“Your hands are cold.”

“…”

“You’ll catch a cold like this.”

Woo-hyun, who grabbed her cold, frozen fingers, pulled Yoo-hwa up. Easily pulling her up, Woo-hyun took Yoo-hwa to his house. She could refuse, but Yoo-hwa followed him obediently. She wasn’t confident enough to shake off his warm hands. However, she didn’t want Woo-hyun to feel the pulse that was beating all over her body.

Woo-hyun’s house was as neat as ever. It had only the essentials. She carefully took off her shoes and walked inside, but Woo-hyun didn’t follow her and was looking at the floor with his head down.

“The knot on your shoe, is it the same?”

Woo-hyun stared at the left shoe and asked. Yoo-hwa, who was so sensitive that she got startled, quickly nodded with a calm expression.

“Yeah. It didn’t come loose.”

“If you take the shoe off carefully like that, it won’t come loose until next year.”

Woo-hyun said, with a light smile. Woo-hyun saw Yoo-hwa taking off her left shoe particularly carefully, as opposed to easily taking off her right shoe, before stepping inside the house.

When he said that, Yoo-hwa’s expression showed signs of embarrassment. Like a person who wanted to hide something and was caught.

“It’s a pity if it gets loose.”

Yoo-hwa finally replied.

“You can tie it up again.”

“Your knot is difficult.”

“I’ll teach you.”

Woo-hyun said, anticipating the answer that Yoo-hwa would give him.

‘All right.’, or, ‘It’s okay, I’ll take care of it.’

He assumed that such an answer would come. Kim Yoo-hwa was predictable for the most part.

“… But then it won’t be tied by you.”

But at a crucial moment, she gave an unexpected answer.

Like now.

Holding his breath, Woo-hyun looked up and saw Yoo-hwa. Those words echoed within him.

Sin Woo-hyun

At the same time, the name that was firmly written as if it was being branded flashed in front of his eyes.

“I… like the way you tied it up.”

“…”

“What I mean is, I don’t think I can tie it up as pretty as you did.”

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Yoo-hwa washed her hands of it, but they both knew it was a lie. Woo-hyun stared silently at the back of the fleeing Yoo-hwa.

***

If it was cold and lonely outside, inside Woo-hyun’s house was warm and suffocating. Because there were two people inside a house that was perfect for someone to be alone, it was cramped and there was no place to lay one’s eyes on.

Woo-hyun sat against the wall and looked at the window. Yoo-hwa read and re-read the job search newspaper she had brought with her. It was when Yoo-hwa had read the newspaper about three times that Woo-hyun spoke to her.

“Are you memorizing the newspaper?”

Yoo-hwa, who felt guilty even though she was glad for Woo-hyun’s joke, closed the newspaper, saying, ‘I’ve read it all.’

“Do you want to read it too?”

She held out the closed newspaper to Woo-hyun as if it had occurred to her belatedly.

“No.”

Woo-hyun replied lightly and smiled. Yoo-hwa folded the newspaper, put it in a corner, and stared at the floor. It was suffocatingly quiet.

Although she had been with Woo-hyun for quite some time, it had never been this awkward. She thought she should just go home, but her body didn’t move.

The boiler in Woo-hyun’s house was working, so it was warm, and Woo-hyun’s occasional gaze at her was also good, so she didn’t move.

It had been a long time since she saw a calm gaze that did not feel sticky and insidious but instead contained interest and warmth.

Pit-pat, pit-pat.

Suddenly, rain started pouring. Yoo-hwa was even more at a loss at the unannounced rain. When it rained in the winter, the house became more humid and colder. She didn’t know how she was going to spend the night.

“It’s raining.”

Woo-hyun, who was looking out the window, said.

“Yeah.”

The sound of the rain knocking on the roof rang inside the house.

“It’s early, but… can you drink?”

Yoo-hwa was troubled by Woo-hyun’s unexpected question. She once relied on alcohol in a madly distressing moment.

She gave up drinking after suffering from even greater pain the next day.

“Yeah.”

Nevertheless, Yoo-hwa did not reject Woo-hyun’s drinking proposal. If alcohol could fill this silence, if it could lengthen the time they spend together, if it could become another memory.

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“Do you want soju or beer?”

“I… want beer. And you?”

“The same as you.”

Woo-hyun, who went out, came back with four cans of beer. He also brought two packets of ramyeon, saying it was the only thing he could settle for.

It was a simple table of drinks and snacks. The small sound of opening the beer cans and ripping off the bags of ramyeon briefly filled the silence, and then it became quiet. Even when drinking, the atmosphere was equally awkward, and Yoo-hwa only sipped on her drink to no avail.