Chapter 21

Crunch, crunch.

“Ah, it’s sweet.”

The fork that had held the fruit remained suspended in the air, now empty.

Ha Yun-sang, who had somehow ended up feeding someone, asked with his eyes what she was trying to pull. But the person in question merely wiped away the moisture, split the apple in half, and casually handed one piece to the side.

To break the awkward atmosphere, Woojung let out a bleat-like laugh.

“Ahahaha.”

Besides, she couldn’t eat Korean melon anyway because of her allergy.

“Ju-shin, you must really like Korean melon.”

It wasn’t as if the guy could have done it on purpose, though.

After that, their conversation continued with one trivial topic after another. Their summer vacation plans, their thoughts on the TF team that would soon be launched, and whether the chairman’s son was really who he claimed to be.

As expected, the conversation eventually shifted to their personal lives.

“Ju-shin, you said you studied abroad for a long time, right? Is Seoul your hometown?”

At Department Head Go’s question, Ju-shin merely nodded. His attention was occupied with observing Jung Woojung’s neatly aligned toes.

Her left foot rested on top of her right instep, with her knee raised. It was amazing enough that she could walk around on such tiny feet, but her toenails were ridiculously small, too. He wanted to touch them. He also wanted to see her jump and recoil in disgust.

Woojung sensed him snickering behind her head and whipped around. Ju-shin erased his expression and casually raised an eyebrow, as if asking whether something was wrong. Watching her suspicious face tilt to one side before turning away again, he let a mischievous smile curl at the corners of his lips.

Was it the summer when Jung Woojung was sixteen?

It had rained so much on the day he worried about being assassinated with Korean melon. The rain had continued for days without stopping, so it must have been the monsoon season.

The sky, trapped beneath dark clouds, was so gloomy that even daytime looked like night.

In a room with the lights off, fifteen-year-old Kim Ju-shin sat leaning against the side of his bed, earphones in, staring out the window. The streaks of rain resembled the dark red whip marks etched across his slender calves. Perhaps that was why the sound of the rain striking the glass felt especially sharp.

-Have you ever been to the emergency room? Have you ever fainted? Have you tried it?

Ju-shin stared at his bruised arm. When he answered no, Woojung immediately launched into her story as if she had been waiting for him to ask.

She had collapsed after eating school lunch, and the culprit had turned out to be Korean melon in the dressing. Her voice, full of dismay at realizing how frightening allergies could be, was surprisingly lively.

She’d said it hurt a lot. It was a relief that she seemed fine now.

-What if someone threatens me or something? What if someone who knows about this tries to assassinate me with Korean melon?

“So? You’d die.”

-…….

“…….”

-Hey.

“Yeah.”

-Be honest with me. You don’t have any friends, do you? No, wait. I’m your only friend, aren’t I?

“Yeah.”

Perhaps pleased with his easy answer, the simple-minded Jung Woojung burst into laughter.

The corners of his mouth ached as he smiled along. The inside of his split lip tasted faintly of blood. His frail body had hardly a single spot left uninjured, but at this moment, none of that mattered.

“You’re all I’ve got.”

Kim Ju-shin’s only comfort. The moments he spent connected to Jung Woojung.

Their call was shorter than usual. He’d been forbidden from going out, so he couldn’t use the public phone and had to borrow someone else’s instead. There was no helping it.

He gently rubbed the darkened phone screen as if cradling something precious, then slowly rose to his feet. He slipped the phone through the narrow gap in the door.

“You can keep it a little longer.”

There was no answer.

Kwon Seon-o, now twenty-three, stared at the firmly shut door and sighed. As he walked down the corridor, he checked the call history on his phone. Soon, his brows furrowed.

He dialed the unusual number exactly as it was written, and a campaign message played moments later.

-You are no longer alone. 1393 is here for you.

It was the number for a suicide prevention counseling center.

Seon-o pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a low groan.

It was a warning. A threat and a warning not to report to his father, Kim Sangho, that he’d spoken to someone outside the family.

“Ju-shin.”

It was almost midnight by the time everyone finally dispersed and returned to their respective rooms. Woojung was on her way back from the bathroom.

“Hm? Why are you out here? Can’t sleep?”

Woojung approached Ju-shin, who was sitting alone on the wooden porch bench, and sat beside him. A magnificent full moon illuminated the courtyard.

“Are you curious?”

Curious? The question came out of nowhere, making her tousled head tilt in confusion.

“The taste of Korean melon.”

“Ohhh.”

She drew out the sound, a faint, amused laugh trailing behind it. Then her eyes suddenly widened, and she whipped her head toward him.

“……Y-You know?”

“You know?”

“What do you……?”

“Hmm. The taste of Korean melon?”

His long, narrow eyes curved into crescent moons. His smile was suspiciously enigmatic. Ju-shin quietly studied her pale face, which had tightened at the inner ends of her eyebrows as she grew wary. Then he turned his gaze toward the empty air and spoke casually.

“Just a guess. You eat pretty much everything else, but you don’t even touch that. I thought maybe that was the reason, you know?”

So Korean melons could cause allergies, too. How fascinating.

Her voice as she added that remark was so genuinely innocent that there was no reason to suspect anything. Even if he found her suspicious, he wouldn’t have known where or how to begin questioning her.

“Ah.”

“……?”

His gaze landed on her lips.

“Then does that mean you can’t kiss someone who’s eaten one, either?”

His gaze was just as blatant as his question, lingering for quite some time. Her stiffened lips felt as though they might cramp up.

Woojung felt the back of her neck inexplicably grow warm. “Probably not,” she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

Kim Ju-shin simply curled up the corners of his mouth and let out a quiet chuckle.

She realized something all over again. He really was incredibly handsome.

Eyes so deep they looked like a universe capable of holding the stars themselves. Moonlight spilling over his beautiful face. Captivated by the dreamlike aura he exuded, caught somewhere between boyhood and adulthood, Woojung couldn’t take her eyes off him for a while.

“If you’re not tired, want to go for a walk? Somewhere without any bullies.”

After casually making the suggestion, he stood up and rubbed his sturdy forearms. He was acting all frail and leaning on her, claiming that bullies were just too scary. Woojung couldn’t help but giggle.

The moderately cool night breeze brushed against the back of her neck before drifting away. The Korean melon hadn’t even touched her, yet an itch began stirring inside her, much like an allergic reaction.

Woojung clenched both fists.

“Just trust me. I’ll protect you.”

“Ah, how reassuring.”

The guy snickered in a tone that conveyed absolutely no sincerity. Woojung shot him a glare and strode ahead, only for his imposing presence to catch up with her before long. He matched her pace, and they walked side by side.

Strolling through an unfamiliar neighborhood while everyone else slept felt like a dream, as though everything were perfect.

It was a strange night when Ha Yun-sang, her unrequited love who was right within reach, didn’t cross her mind even once.

She spent what would probably become a long-remembered moment walking with Kim Ju-shin.

How long had she been asleep?

“Hey! Ja-young’s mama! Get your tail out here for a minute!”

An angry voice shattered the silence and woke everyone in the house. It was still early morning.

Woojung had come inside after watching the sky begin to brighten. She rubbed her heavy eyelids furiously, trying to force them open. The room was empty except for the scattered bedding.

“I’m telling you, come on out!”

Staggering onto the wooden veranda, she found the others standing around, looking equally disheveled and staring awkwardly in one direction.

An elderly woman with white hair, absolutely livid, stood there with a boy who looked about elementary school age.

“Ma’am, what’s wrong?”

Department Head Go Ja-young went down into the courtyard and greeted the woman warmly as she asked. The old woman seemed to calm down a little and took several rough, wheezing breaths.

“Listen here! Someone went and snapped off all the flowers along my wall, and now they’re saying it was the guests staying in this house!”

“Excuse me……? No……, that can’t be…….”

Scratching the back of her neck, Department Head Go turned around and met everyone’s eyes one by one. Given the victim’s accusation, she had no choice but to question them.

Now fully awake, the team members each defended their innocence in their own way.

“Ah, property damage is a no-go.”

Murmuring under his breath, Ju-shin smiled sweetly at the little boy who was staring straight at him.

Department Head Go hadn’t suspected the team members in the first place. She was just about to send the old woman on her way, suggesting there must have been some misunderstanding, when—

“That uncle did it.”

The little boy, clutching a soccer ball, pointed at the culprit with his short finger.

“E-Excuse me……? What? Me? You’re talking about me?”

Ha Yun-sang, suddenly turned into a suspect, pressed a hand against his chest. He looked around in both directions, repeating the same words in disbelief.

Department Head Go’s eyes widened as she glanced at Yun-sang, silently asking whether he’d really done it.

“I…… really didn’t.”

There was a reason his voice lacked conviction. He hadn’t destroyed all the flowers along the wall, but he had snapped off one.

Could this whole commotion be because of that? It had only been one flower. Had she noticed that one and exaggerated the whole thing? Questions collided in his head, slowing even the normally quick-witted Ha Yun-sang down.

The furious old woman planted both hands firmly on her hips.

“What do you mean? Are you saying my little boy is lying?”

Her voice rang out with authority as she declared that someone else had also seen a guest from this house picking the flowers. If he tried to deny it, he would find himself in serious trouble.

The team members turned their eyes toward Yun-sang, their expressions asking what on earth was going on.

He lowered his head, let out a long sigh, and rubbed his face with his dry palms.

Soon, he stepped down from the veranda and bowed deeply to the old woman. He’d decided that apologizing would be faster than explaining the whole story.

“I’m sorry. I’ll compensate you……”

“Forget compensation! Now, come over here and put those muscles to use!”

The sentence was swift and decisive: weed duty.

After seeking Department Head Go’s permission with a glance, he accepted his punishment and saw the old woman off.

“What on earth happened here? Assistant Manager Ha, is it true? Did you really do it?”

“Apparently so…… Haha.”

Questions came pouring in, but Ha Yun-sang didn’t argue his case. They could just consider it community service, he said, offering nothing more than a good-natured smile.

Behind their noisy group—

Kim Ju-shin’s gaze, which had been watching the backs of several heads, discreetly shifted toward the front gate. Just as if they’d planned it, his eyes met the little boy’s as the child looked back.

Ju-shin gave him a quick wink.

The old woman’s grandson had carried out his part of the bargain splendidly. He skipped away cheerfully, crossing his legs with each step.

Ah. The air is nice.

Even in the morning, his face remained free of humiliation. At last, a satisfied smile spread across it.