41 – 41.

It was after Hanryewon and I had truly reconciled.

After waking up naturally from a rare peaceful sleep, I met Hanryewon’s eyes, who was already awake.

“…Hmm… When did you wake up…?”

“Just a little while ago.”

She had a tender gaze in her eyes, and she gently brushed my hair with a kind touch.

“…Is it because of the mood?”

I felt a strange sensation, but regardless, I felt good.

“Hanryewon, haven’t you had breakfast?”

“Do you want to eat something?”

“Let’s go out and have some soup.”

“Should we?”

Having woken up early, we decided to check out and find a nearby soup restaurant for our hangover cure.

“Spicy food is good for women. It’s good for your body.”

“Isn’t it good for men too?”

“Hmm, really? Well… I should ask for more green onions.”

“You’ll be fine even if you don’t have any.”

“To be honest, I’m not the type to get drunk easily.”

“He says that?”

“What?”

Hanryeowon’s attitude, which had been cold and distant the day before, had disappeared, and he treated me like a comfortable friend as we used to.

He did try to avoid being too close, in case someone recognized us.

But just the fact that he didn’t treat me coldly made me feel very comfortable.

“This is life.”

When I’m with Mayeonseo, I often get excited or nervous, and it’s mentally exhausting.

It’s like riding an extreme roller coaster with high heights and speeds.

Every night, out of ten times, I would fall asleep like I’m fainting eight times.

But it wasn’t like that when I was with Hanryeowon.

To put it metaphorically, it felt like riding a spinning teacup ride that even children can ride.

I can control the speed as I want, and even if it’s fast, it’s not as overwhelming as a roller coaster.

…It’s not as exciting as a roller coaster.

Anyway.

We had plenty of time until the train departure, so we decided to enjoy our short trip to Busan.

“Oh, they sell bread in the shape of seagulls here. It has cream inside.”

“They look really cute. …Buy me one.”

“Huh? All of a sudden?”

“She would like it if you bought her a gift.”

“Well… I guess I should. Should I buy something for my little brother too while I’m at it?”

“I’ll buy that for you and give it to him. It’ll be recorded on your card.”

“…!”

Hanryeowon gave me advice throughout the trip, pointing out points I hadn’t even thought of.

Honestly, it was so meticulous that I wondered if she had learned secrets from some veteran married woman.

“You’re amazing, Hanryeowon. Your talent is amazing.”

We spent time until we were almost desperate with regret and finally boarded the train.

“Lucky for us” we had plenty of time for the train, so it felt like we had a fulfilling time.

“It’s surprising that we can come nine more times in the future.”

With this kind of reward, I was willing to go through that embarrassing examination multiple times.

“Where should we go next week?”

“Do you have a place you want to go?”

“Now that it’s summer. The beach?”

“There are too many people at the beach, so I’ll try to book a room with a swimming pool!”

“Sounds good. Check the reviews and find a place with good soundproofing.”

“…Let me think about that.”

As they anticipated their next visit, they engaged in various conversations.

“Oh, by the way.”

Suddenly, the topic of communication came up.

For some reason, she had always emphasized using her work phone, and only for strictly business-related conversations.

“I’ll get a separate phone for you to use, so let’s only communicate through that from now on.”

It was to distinguish between her work phone and personal phone.

“A phone? Do we really need to go that far…?”

I couldn’t fully grasp the necessity of it.

But Hanyeo won me over with her perfect logic.

“A phone keeps records. If we set our minds to it, we can find out anything.”

“Well, that’s true, but… there’s nowhere suitable to keep it…”

“Why not get a membership at a gym near your house? They usually have personal lockers there. And they wouldn’t stop you from working out either.”

“Uh… yeah, I guess so.”

When she suggested using the gym as an alibi, I couldn’t help but shiver.

From Noble mtl dot com

“…Did you plan this from the beginning?”

Of course, that couldn’t possibly be the case.

It happened after I arrived at Seoul Station, around the time of evening.

After parting ways with Hanyeo-won, I joined Mayeonseo, who was waiting at the station, offering to give me a ride.

“You went through a lot with the investigation.”

“Uh, yeah.”

But as soon as I faced Mayeonseo, who greeted me with a smile, a strange feeling overwhelmed my heart.

My heart raced as if I had committed a crime, and I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at her face.

It was guilt.

“You didn’t eat anything after lunch, right? You must be hungry.”

“Well, I’m okay…”

“I made a reservation at a nice pasta place. Let’s eat there and go in.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

Whether she knew about my feelings or not, Mayeonseo casually engaged in skinship, even though Ye-na was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“It’s nice to hug after such a long time.”

“Hey, Ye-na is in front, you know.”

“It’s okay.”

Maybe it’s because it’s Ye-na.

Even though we had only been apart for a day, she said she missed me so much and clung to me with aegyo.

…It seemed like I did the right thing by spraying the perfume as Hanyeo-won had instructed.

“Yeonso, wait a minute, I have something for you.”

“For me?”

Feeling a bit hesitant about physical contact today, I subtly diverted the topic by presenting her with a gift that Hanyeo-won had recommended.

“It’s nothing special, just a bread. I bought it because it reminded me of you.”

“Seagull bread, huh?”

Ma Yeon-seo reacted with great delight, as she always did even with small gifts.

It’s just a cheap tourist souvenir worth only 5,000 won, why is she so happy about it?

“Thank you. I’ll cherish it and eat it.”

Unable to hide her joy, she pouted her lips and started taking pictures, saying she would brag about it on social media.

“…It’s not that big of a deal.”

Somehow, it made my heart feel even more suffocated.

“Would you like to take a shower first? Or should I help you wash?”

“It’s fine.”

After finishing our meal and returning to the hotel, there was a brief moment when I sat down on the chair and sighed.

“Home is still the best… Huh?”

Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of a small bottle placed on the bedside table.

“This is…”

Without a doubt, it was the sleeping pill that Ma Yeon-seo had been taking.

The sleeping pill that she had forcibly taken to fall asleep while sober after we broke up.

“…Yeonso, did you happen to take the sleeping pill again?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Ma Yeon-seo, who was in the dressing room, casually took off her earrings and sighed.

Even her usual appearance felt pitiful.

“This is driving me crazy.”

The guilt wouldn’t go away.

“…Let’s just take a shower together today.”

“…Huh?”

I barged into the dressing room and forcefully started undressing her, as if trying to alleviate the guilt.

“….”

She followed along as if my touch wasn’t so bad.

“I’ll dry your hair. Stand in front.”

“…Mm.”

After washing each other in the bathroom, our eyes met. We had a more affectionate relationship than usual.

For just one day, she wanted to see me so much that she couldn’t sleep.

And for me, it was to shake off the guilt that wouldn’t go away no matter how much I washed.

But still, I couldn’t shake off the guilt.

It was an emotion that even I, the person involved, couldn’t understand.

“Why on earth…”

Ever since she was summoned, the only thing in my heart was Hanyeo-won.

In fact, it was a rare moment of happiness to be with her after a long time.

Once again, she was able to be certain that she was my destiny.

However.

Had I fallen in love with her during that time?

“Why are you like this?”

“…Just because, you’re beautiful.”

“I’m beautiful?”

“…Yes. Very beautiful.”

“I’m glad. Because I’m beautiful in your eyes.”

As I faced the sight of Mayeonseo, who was colliding with love head-on, my heart felt uncomfortable.

Even to myself, it felt like a strange and unfamiliar emotion.

“It’s not something just anyone can do, this trashy act.”

All I could do in this situation was to treat her better than usual.

“I love you.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. I love you.”

I loved her wholeheartedly, making sure she never felt lacking in any way.

That was my best effort.

*

“I’ll be back. Take a rest.”

“Come back safely.”

Page. With a light peck on the lips, Mayeonseo bid farewell to Yoochan and walked out of the room, sweeping her long hair aside with a flick.

And as the door clicked shut, a sudden chill washed over her face.

“….”

Yeonseo had been feeling that something was off with Yoochan ever since his trip to Busan.

He was not skilled at lying, and his face showed all his emotions.

There were other suspicious signs as well.

His actions were unusually kind, and the frequency of his expressions of love had increased.

To others, these actions might seem no different, but Yeonseo, who had experienced true love from Yoochan, could tell right away.

His love still lacked sincerity.

“There must have been something in Busan.”

Yeonseo suspected Ryeowon.

A woman who wore a gentle sheep’s disguise and slyly waited for the perfect opportunity, like a fox.

From the letter she wrote, pretending to be pitiful and saying she would break up, to suddenly appearing as Yoochan’s partner.

There was a high possibility that she had followed them to Busan by using some means.

And Yoochan probably fell for it without knowing anything.

“…a suspicious woman.”

At that moment, Yeonseo felt an anger that wanted to tear Ryeowon apart, but when she looked into the future, she realized it was actually a good opportunity.

A perfect chance to tighten the noose around Kang Yoochan once and for all.

“It’s already been stained once, so it doesn’t make a difference if it gets stained twice.”

If it were the old Mayeonseo, she would have recklessly charged in without thinking, but the Mayeonseo who had experienced the pain of loss was different.

It was definitely different from before.

“Good morning.”

Yeonseo, who got into the car driven by Iyena, greeted her lightly and asked.

“What happened to what we talked about the other day?”

In response, Iyena replied as if she had been waiting.

“I decided to contact Kim Sunghwan.”

It was about the acquisition of a high-ranking official in the association.

“He has high access rights and he is quite close to the current director of the Busan Research Institute.”

“What about Im Mi-yoon?”

“We are alumni from the same university, but we are not that close.”

“Good. Keep going.”

“Understood.”

“What about the dress?”

“After lunch, I can try on two outfits.”

“Two outfits… Can we postpone the strategy meeting a bit?”

“I will check.”

After giving instructions, Yeonseo immediately took out the tablet that was prepared in the car.

On the tablet screen, there were rows of dazzlingly designed white dresses.

It was the dress she would wear soon.

“Not much time left.”

Yeonsoe smiled proudly, imagining the feast that would leave everyone speechless.

She immediately began to choose a dress that would suit Yuchan’s taste.

“What would be good?”

Her joy in choosing a dress was evident.

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