“You’re Sehyun’s friend, right?”
It was only after hearing the cautious voice once more that I came to my senses.
Ah. To other people, we were just friends.
If that was the case, there was absolutely no reason for me to be troubled here. It might be a bit flustering to unexpectedly run into a friend’s ex-girlfriend while visiting that friend, but it was definitely nothing to be troubled about.
I belatedly offered a greeting as well.
“Hello.”
I was confident in pretending to be fine, but I immediately watched the other person’s reaction after greeting them, worried my voice might have trembled. Fortunately, there was no change in the other person’s expression.
I was hesitating about what to say next when suddenly the other person bowed their head.
“Back then, I’m really sorry.”
It was such a sincere apology. It was an honest and proper apology, hard to believe it came from the same person who’d glared at me venomously. From her mouth, where I’d naturally expected casual speech, came polite formal language.
“I wasn’t in my right mind that day…… I was a nuisance, wasn’t I? It wasn’t proper from the start to visit so suddenly, and then I caused trouble for someone who had a prior appointment and left without even saying goodbye.”
“……It’s okay.”
Even though it wasn’t okay, I said that. Right now was worse than that situation back then.
Thinking back to that day, I was right to receive an apology. It was as if I’d been cursed at despite helping her. But I didn’t know why receiving an apology made me feel more bitter than before.
It would have been better if that last time I saw her had been the end. Rather than this polite appearance now, clear enough to recognize her as the granddaughter of Sejin Group’s chairman, it would have been better to remember her as rude, bold, and self-centered. Because the better a person she became, the smaller I felt.
Kang Sehyun, who talked about himself as little as I did, rarely brought up his girlfriend first even while we were friends. I didn’t ask much either, but there was one time I asked at a pretty drunk drinking session.
‘How did you end up dating?’
‘We were friends.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. We were close. Quite close too.’
Back then, Kang Sehyun had said this about why they kept dating even though they fought all the time.
‘She’s a decent person except when she’s angry.’
Only now could I understand those words.
When our eyes met, her thin eye corners curved prettily. Although she was dressed much more casually than before, her neat appearance remained pristine.
“Of all times to meet, you only saw my ugly side.”
“No.”
“It was a situation where even thanking you wouldn’t have been enough, but I think my pride was hurt by the thought of showing an embarrassing side. Still, I shouldn’t have acted that way. I’m sorry.”
I don’t know what’s with these days.
First Kang Sehyun, and now even Kang Sehyun’s ex-girlfriend. Whenever I just heard the words “I’m sorry,” my heart grew heavy instead. I hadn’t done anything wrong to them, and I deserved to receive apologies, but why. The more the apologies repeated, it felt like the gears turning inside me were stuttering to a stop.
“Actually, Sehyun doesn’t keep anyone close as a friend, so I was always curious.”
I should say I was curious too. But my mouth wouldn’t open.
“Before, even when we were together he never contacted anyone, but from one day on he started calling and texting…… Still, I had no idea you were that close.”
“Ah……”
“If I’d known, I would have made you an ally beforehand. That’s unfortunate. We could have become close too.”
What could I possibly say to her, having become an enemy rather than an ally?
I prayed inwardly. For Kang Sehyun to arrive as soon as possible. The passing seconds felt painfully slow. Why wasn’t that guy arriving when he said he’d be here soon? I needed someone to stop this absurd situation.
It would be nice if at times like this I could smile leisurely and agree with her lies, but instead my face was stiffening rigidly. Noticing my delayed response, she changed the subject.
“Sehyun doesn’t seem to be here yet.”
“No. But he said he was almost here.”
“Go on in first. You know the passcode, right?”
“Uh…… Should I wait here?”
At my question, she pressed her closed lips together firmly.
“I think that would be better. I came without contacting him today too, so he’ll probably be angry.”
“……”
No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find an answer for what to do in this situation. I couldn’t let her in, and standing here with her waiting for Kang Sehyun seemed even more ridiculous. There was the option of going back to the car, but that seemed the most absurd of all, so I could neither do this nor that.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the awkwardness didn’t last long.
“Why aren’t you going in?”
A low voice, no different from usual, pierced my ears.
When I turned around, a familiar figure was walking over. Kang Sehyun’s gaze was fixed solely on me. Surely if he’d come this far, he couldn’t miss the person behind me, yet there was no sign of confusion.
“Why are you standing here when it’s cold?”
Do you really not know?
The words “Can’t you see what situation this is in your eyes?” rose to the tip of my tongue. But Kang Sehyun, who’d stridden right up in front of me, casually pressed the entrance passcode. Since he couldn’t really not see, he was clearly one hundred percent pretending not to notice.
I forced myself to speak.
“Um,”
“Don’t address me like I’m a stranger.”
“Listen,”
“And don’t address me like we’re not close either.”
Is that really what’s important right now?
I grabbed the arm pressing the keypad. Only then did Kang Sehyun turn his head and slowly look down at me.
I thought he might be angry, but he wasn’t at all. Surprisingly, Kang Sehyun’s face showed no emotion whatsoever. It was definitely expressionless.
While standing alone with her just moments ago, I’d briefly thought about what Kang Sehyun would say if he saw this. I thought he might show irritation or sigh as soon as he saw us, or at worst, get angry.
But I was completely wrong again. They say people constantly learn, but even after seeing so much, I still didn’t know Kang Sehyun well.
The answer was ‘ignoring.’
“Someone came……”
Only when I said that did his straight gaze finally shift. The dark brown eyes that had been directed at me turned toward behind me.
“So.”
“……Huh?”
“So what should I do this time? Should we all go in together?”
It was a question, but the tone was firm. As if warning about something. The atmosphere that had merely been awkward instantly turned cold.
“……”
“……”
It would be better if the person who actually had business would speak up, but Kang Sehyun’s ex-girlfriend, who’d talked so well when she was with me, froze even more at the appearance of the person she’d been waiting for. Inevitably, it was me who spoke again.
“How can you ask me that, man? You know I’m the most awkward person here right now, don’t you?”
So do something about it.
Reading my expression, Kang Sehyun predictably sighed first. Then he stared at me for several seconds before opening the door.
“Wait inside. I’ll be right up.”
And he reluctantly addressed her.
“……Let’s go down for now.”
The situation of me being left behind while Kang Sehyun and she left was similar to that time, but a few things were different.
Back then it was inside this entrance, and now it was outside.
Back then it was dawn, and now it was evening.
But what was most different was, of course, our relationship.
Back then I was a friend trying to persuade Kang Sehyun to leave, and now I was the lover who should instead hold Kang Sehyun back.
I hurriedly closed the door. Because I didn’t want to see the backs of two people walking side by side. Contradictory emotions arose. After wanting him to do something about it, now I wanted to hold him back.
But naturally, I couldn’t step forward.
All I could do was wait for Kang Sehyun inside the firmly closed door.
* * *
Beep- beep- beep-.
Piercing the long silence, short mechanical sounds rang several times. And a few seconds later, the door opened.
Kang Sehyun returned sooner than expected. Before the clock had even made a full rotation.
“Did she leave?”
At my question asked out of pure curiosity, his smooth forehead wrinkled. Only then did I realize I should have said “you’re back” before asking if she left.
“Kwon Sungha.”
The tone, neither high nor low, felt somehow threatening. Or rather, was the problem the name? Kang Sehyun only called me like that when something always displeased him.
At times like this, I always……
“I couldn’t ignore her.”
I struck first before Kang Sehyun could speak.
“She spoke to me first.”
“What did she say?”
“Asked if I was your friend.”
The conversation I thought would continue going back and forth like ping-pong cut off early. Kang Sehyun was probably thinking exactly the same thing I was thinking in that moment. That even if we weren’t friends, he’d know we absolutely couldn’t answer no.
“And before that, she apologized for what happened. Said she was sorry about that day.”
I didn’t add any lies at all. I didn’t mention what she said about wishing she’d made me an ally if she’d known I was this close with Kang Sehyun.
“If you received an apology, why were you standing there instead of going in?”
“I wasn’t standing there on purpose. I was debating whether to go in or wait when you happened to arrive.”
“Why would you even debate that from the start? You should have just ignored her and gone in.”
“Is that so easy?”
I almost added not to think everything by your standards. I knew that saying one more word here would only stoke his anger and wouldn’t improve Kang Sehyun’s dissatisfied mood one bit.
“It seems easier than having a conversation with your lover’s ex-girlfriend.”
As expected, nothing I said would help.
