Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A brutally dark night, rain poured down relentlessly.

Below the bridge, the swollen river surged menacingly. She stood, body drenched without an umbrella, gazing at the surging surface for a long time, until her heavy eyelids slowly began to close.

Despite the burning fever, the dull ringing in her ears, and the pain that felt like her body was shattering, a strange laugh kept bubbling up within her. She had only wished for an end to these hellish days, when a sudden thought occurred to her.

Couldn’t she just end it herself?

She had known the method for a long time, having hesitated for three years while walking across this very bridge.

The end she had put off for so long, she somehow felt she could bring it about today.

Kang Heejae shuffled forward, her sodden sneakers squishing with water. Soon, a low railing bumped against her knees. The fierce roar of the water rushing just beneath her feet made her gasp.

That current would sweep someone like her away so easily. Not even a trace would be left. It would only hurt for a very brief moment.

“You goddamn bitch, can’t you open your eyes properly? What kind of girl talks back to her father like that!”

It would surely be better than her father’s violence, which she had to endure simply because she was his daughter.

“Heejae, your dad’s just drunk, so just be still. Don’t talk back, okay?”

She no longer wanted to worry about her mother, who would frantically try to restrain her already battered self, instead of the father who chased her with a kitchen knife.

She was tired. She just wanted it all to stop.

Swallowing the coppery tang of blood that filled her throat, Kang Heejae leaned her body over the railing. Just then, as if time had momentarily stopped, someone roughly yanked her arm.

“Are you crazy…?!”

The raindrops that had been lashing her body suddenly ceased, and a hot warmth spread through her chilled form. An umbrella shielded her head, and before her eyes was a man’s embrace.

Water droplets slid down his tightly pressed lips, past his sharply defined jawline, and dropped onto his familiar school uniform. His somewhat dated, dark blue uniform jacket was identical to her own. Even the color of the neatly pinned name tag on his left chest was the same green as hers…

If he was a classmate from her school, he surely knew who she was.

By tomorrow, there would probably be another sordid rumor. Would he be gloating, telling everyone he’d saved the girl who’d been beaten by her father and tried to die?

What should she do? She wasn’t grateful in the slightest. On the contrary, she resented him for so casually trampling on her resolve.

It hadn’t been easy for her to come this far, either…

“Who are you to grab me like this? Why are you holding me? Let go!”

Screaming, her emotions surging, Kang Heejae spun her body, blindly pushing at the man’s chest.

His grip on her arm made her suddenly fear he might change the difficult decision she had made. This was especially true because the only place she could return to was the home she had desperately fled.

Kang Heejae threw herself over the railing without hesitation.

She had to fall. She had to. But in reality, her arm, caught by the man, was only pulled even tauter. The green umbrella he had dropped while trying to grab her with both arms slowly fell below the bridge in her stead.

The current mercilessly swallowed the umbrella as it fluttered, then hit the water. Its sturdy waterproof fabric was ripped to shreds, its frame shattered, and it was soon swept away by the muddy water.

Kang Heejae felt as if she had just witnessed her own death. Her body trembled, and a belated chill swept over her.

“Hey, snap out of it!”

The man roughly spun Kang Heejae around, her still dazed. At his intimidating demeanor, as if he were about to scold her right then and there, Kang Heejae instinctively hunched her shoulders. Sure enough, a low curse word reached her ears from above.

However, after a brief silence, what reached her ear was, unexpectedly, not a shout, but a warm touch.

“…Look at me, Kang Heejae.”

Kang Heejae meekly followed the man’s hand as he lifted her chin. Perhaps because of the dark night, or the relentlessly pouring rain, the man’s face had remained blurry until now, and she was suddenly curious.

Just as the man’s mouth came into view again in her trembling eyes—

“What the hell, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What was that?!”

Bongsoon’s shout snapped Kang Heejae awake.

Kang Heejae, hastily covering her mouth, let out the breath she’d been holding. Had she forgotten to breathe in the sudden onslaught of memories? Her heart began to pound like mad.

Into her ears, which had grown dull with the shock, the voice of the man standing beside her suddenly cut through.

“Did you drop a kid?”

“You rotten scoundrel!”

Bongsoon, snatching up a fly swatter from the counter, swung it at Sewon, who was sneering annoyingly.

“Ugh, what a temper.”

Sewon, barely dodging by leaning his upper body back, pulled two 10,000-won bills from his pocket.

“Bohem Cigar Master, one pack.”

He tossed the bills onto the counter, and Bongsoon, glaring, grumbled as she started to open a carton of cigarettes.

Only then did Sewon let his gaze fall on Kang Heejae, who was standing right beside him.

Kang Heejae also felt his gaze but made no effort to lift her head. No, it might be more accurate to say she couldn’t. She feared that if she met his eyes, other memories would overwhelm her.

Kang Heejae pressed her lips together, almost punishing them, and simply waited for Bongsoon to hand over the cigarettes.

In the awkward atmosphere, only the old fan whirred diligently, squeaking softly. Whether from the heat or the man’s persistent gaze, Kang Heejae’s mouth kept going dry.

As Bongsoon’s exasperated sigh—wondering why the carton wouldn’t open—broke the silence, she finally turned to leave.

She intended to walk past the man. But in the cramped corner store, their shoulders, standing side by side, inevitably brushed.

Kang Heejae hesitated, then lifted her head, and finally had to meet the eyes she had so desperately avoided. Fortunately, no more memories surfaced.

Only the man before her was vividly clear.

Unlike his sharply angled eyes, the man’s downcast gaze felt incredibly bored. The deep-set eye sockets beneath his upward-sweeping brows also added to his languid air.

His handsomely high nose, full lips, and distinctly masculine jawline—it was a face that was hard to look away from for many reasons, but more than that, there was something else.

In the dangerously aloof aura he exuded, Kang Heejae felt a strange sense of unease. As she unconsciously furrowed her brows slightly, he chuckled softly.

Then, still holding her gaze, he added,

“And a condom.”

His detached tone, the same as when he ordered the cigarettes, was directed at Bongsoon. Bongsoon seemed to retort something, but Kang Heejae missed it, too busy trying to figure out why he would specifically order a condom while staring at her.

His eyes curved faintly at the corners, suggesting it wasn’t entirely without intent. Yet, the situation was too ambiguous to question him. Besides, her head had been aching terribly for a while now.

Kang Heejae was the first to look away, quickly turning her head.

“I’ll pay for the water next time.”

She then grabbed the bag containing her water bottles and left the store.

“Oh dear, Heejae. Wait a moment!”

Bongsoon, who had casually thrown the condom box on top of the black cigarette pack, hurriedly chased after her.

That nasty girl.

Sewon glared at Kang Heejae as she ignored the calls of the old woman, who was over sixty, and got into the driver’s seat.

The car started, then drove away without so much as a glance back. Bongsoon, left standing alone, watched its taillights for a long time, before dejectedly trudging back with a regretful expression.

“Her head’s still not right, it seems. Since she didn’t even recognize you.”

Sewon tucked the cigarette pack and condom into his inner jacket pocket and asked,

“Why did she come?”

“How would I know that?”

“You must have asked her, given your nosy nature.”

“I was going to, but then you showed up!”

Bongsoon, answering resentfully as if she herself had a mountain of questions, glared fiercely at Sewon, who was nothing but a hindrance.

Before she could swing the fly swatter again, Sewon took a step outside the door and shoved both hands into his pants pockets.

Then, he stared intently in the direction Kang Heejae had vanished and murmured,

“Nice car.”

“She was always smart and good at studying, so she was bound to succeed at something.”

“I wonder what our school’s top student became.”

A wry smile twisted Sewon’s lips.

As if eleven years had passed meaninglessly, Kang Heejae hadn’t changed much from her school uniform days.

Her hair, which used to reach her collarbones, now fell to her waist; that was about it. Perhaps her baby fat had vanished, giving her a slightly more mature aura.

In any case, she was recognizable even from across the street, even though she had looked at him like a complete stranger.

Does she really not remember anything…?

Sewon glanced down at the few thousand-won bills Bongsoon had given him as change, then spoke.

“Keep the change; it’ll help your meager finances.”

“You’re full of it! This isn’t even enough to cover your tab!”

He waved one hand dismissively and turned to leave.

She must have just stopped by, passing through. It was her old neighborhood, after all; she might visit once in a while. Judging by her casual t-shirt and the lack of luggage visible through the open passenger window, she probably wouldn’t be staying long.

So, just leave her be. He was busy enough; there was no need to create more work. Besides, she was still the same, wasn’t she? That empty head.

Sewon, crossing the road with long strides, headed straight for the car door that Hakju held wide open.

“Is something wrong?”

Hakju asked from beside him, just as he was about to get into the back seat.

Sewon, holding the car door, straightened his back and cast a sideways glance at Hakju.

Hakju, wondering if he had made some mistake, hastily added,

“Your expression didn’t look good, so…”

“Did I put out my cigarette earlier?”

“…Excuse me?”

What did he mean by that, all of a sudden? Sewon was already an inscrutable person, but to be worrying about a cigarette butt with such a serious expression left Hakju quite flustered.

Still, he wasn’t in a position to pry, so he answered respectfully.

“I’ll go check.”

Sewon, silent for a moment, spoke again.

“The woman who just came out of the store, find out why she came, as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, understood.”

As Sewon got into the car, Hakju slammed the back passenger door shut.

He immediately knelt down, picked up the cigarette butt from the dirt ground, and checked for embers.

Sewon, resting an elbow on the window frame, watched him and covered his tightly closed mouth with a large hand.

Yes, Kang Heejae was just like that cigarette ember.

Just in case—because it felt off—that’s the only reason why he was checking.