episode_0013

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

The phone that Mayeonseo gave me had disappeared.

“If you didn’t want to give me your number, you should’ve just said so…”

“What? No way?!”

Thanks to this, I ended up being misunderstood by Hanyerwon.

“Where on earth did I lose it?”

It was in my hand until I left the classroom and even when I left a message for Mayeonseo.

And then, as usual, I put it in my jacket pocket…

It had vanished without a trace.

“Could I have dropped it somewhere?”

It seems like I might have lost it during my escape earlier.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Losing my phone alone was embarrassing, but losing the phone Mayeonseo gave me made the situation even more distressing.

As I let out a heavy sigh in frustration, Hanyerwon, who had been cautiously watching me, offered an apology.

“…I’m sorry… It’s all because of me…”

Hanyerwon sincerely felt sorry for what had happened because of her.

Although it happened while helping her, it was entirely my fault, to be honest.

Putting aside my embarrassed feelings, I tried to comfort her.

“It’s not your fault, so don’t worry about it. If I managed to lose it like this, I probably would have lost it no matter what.”

“Ugh…”

Nevertheless, she still seemed to feel guilty.

“Anyway, help me find the phone.”

“Oh, yes, of course I’ll help!”

We first tried calling using Hanyerwon’s phone.

“The power is off, please leave a voice message…”

Unfortunately, the power was off.

“Maybe the battery died?”

“It had over 50% charge left at the end, so that’s unlikely.”

“Ah, then…”

“…Someone probably found it and turned it off.”

Someone had taken the phone in the meantime.

“Darn it. Luck really isn’t on my side.”

There are good people in this world too.

There are cases where people accidentally lose their precious wallet and find it again years later, right?

I hoped that could happen to me, but it was highly unlikely.

Since someone had picked it up, realistically, getting it back seemed almost impossible.

“…I guess I should be grateful at least for the fact that they didn’t access the photos and contacts….”

Fortunately, the photos and contacts in my phone were backed up on an external cloud.

It was a huge relief that I didn’t lose all the memories I’ve accumulated so far.

“What should I tell Yeonseo? I have to buy a new phone… The cheapest one is at least tens of thousands.”

It was a time when I was feeling frustrated and just letting out a deep sigh.

Hanyeowon, who was beside me, feeling sorry and not knowing what to do, brought up the subject without hesitation.

“Hey. Yoochan. Um, if it’s okay with you, can I use the phone I used for a while…?”

“…Your phone?”

“It’s a pretty good one, you know? I-I used it for quite a while… I even reset it! I took good care of it, so it’s really clean!”

She was offering to let me use the phone she had been using temporarily.

“Is it really okay?”

“Of course! I’m not using it anyway…!”

Hanyeowon, wanting to help in any way she could, sent me a pleading look.

I was definitely supposed to feel very awkward. Yet, somehow, my heart melted at her puppy-like appearance.

“Of course, I should accept this.”

Even though it was secondhand, there was no reason for me, who values every penny, to refuse.

“Then… I’ll ask you a favor.”

“You made a good choice! Hehe.”

“…Are you really that happy about it?”

“Oh. No, that’s… No… Yeah…”

“Just kidding.”

“You scared me…!”

Giving her a sly tease, she shot me a startled look.

Unconsciously, a contented smile spread across my face at her various and changing expressions.

To the extent that I even forgot for a moment that I had lost my phone.

*

After promising to receive the phone, I returned home first and decided to inform Mayeonseo about the loss using the home phone.

“Will she pick up?”

I wondered if she wouldn’t answer because it was an unfamiliar number, but fortunately, she picked up quickly…

“Hello?”

[ Why aren’t you answering your calls? ]

Mayeonseo’s chilly voice came through the receiver.

[ Why is your phone turned off? What have you been doing all this time? ]

It seemed extremely uncomfortable that I hadn’t been in touch for a few hours.

From experience, in these situations, it’s best to get to the point as quickly as possible.

“Um… Sorry… I, I lost my phone….”

[ …What? ]

Having changed locations, near my house, at a café.

“There it is.”

Hastily arriving, Mayeonse had already ordered drinks and taken her seat.

I thought I was coming quickly, but she was much faster than me.

‘Is this the difference between an awakened person and an ordinary person…?’

Realizing the difference once again, I quietly tried to sit across from Mayeonse, acknowledging my wrongdoing.

At that moment.

Tap, tap. She, who had been bowing her head and touching her phone, silently tapped the seat next to me.

It was a wordless invitation to sit beside her.

“……”

Unable to ignore her, I quietly sat down next to her…

“You lost your phone…?”

Instead of a greeting, she asked in a somewhat chilly tone.

With nothing to say in response, I quickly explained the situation, conveniently omitting any mention of Hanryeowon.

“I sent you a message last, right? After sending it, I definitely put it in my outer pocket. But later, when I checked, it wasn’t there…”

If I mentioned losing her phone while helping her, I would certainly not hear anything good in return.

“…Really?”

“I-I’m serious! You gave it to me, and then I carelessly lost it… I’m really sorry…”

Thinking it best to take the hit first, I sincerely apologized once again.

Regardless, losing the precious gift my girlfriend had given me was undeniably my fault.

“……”

In the end, she stared at me in silence for a while, then let out a deep sigh, expressing her dissatisfaction.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“……”

“Suddenly, no contact, your phone turned off.”

“……”

“It’s not because you lost some trivial phone. I thought something happened to you, and I…!”

“…I’m sorry…”

Sighing once again, she wordlessly extended her palm.

It meant I should comfort her understandingly, as she was feeling very uncomfortable right now.

Thankfully, I quickly understood and wrapped my arm around hers, intertwining our fingers.

Now that I’ve faced the music, it was time to act cute until she calmed down.

“I really messed up. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”

“……”

“I should have contacted you first, but I was so scatterbrained…”

“I wasn’t even on your mind?”

“Hey. That’s not what I meant….”

I subtly buried my face into her neck, offering an apology.

The scent of my favorite cologne wafted strongly around the tip of my nose.

“How can I solve this?”

“……”

“You know I’m clueless. Just tell me. Please? Pretty please?”

Subtly, I nuzzled her offered neck with the tip of my lips, prompting her to squirm slightly.

Sensing her slight yielding, I turned her body towards me and gently kissed her lips while softly pleading, “Just once. I’ll do better from now on.”

“Are you trying to smoothly transition with aegyo like this?”

“It’s not that… I’m just so grateful that you worried about me.”

Peck. Peck. As our lips continued to meet, her firmly closed mouth gradually opened.

Not missing a beat, I firmly held the back of her head and delved deeply into her taste, tailored to her preference.

In response, she placed her hand on my chest, quietly accepting the affection.

It was evidence that her heart had softened somewhat.

“It feels like I’m skirting around something.”

I felt a tinge of guilt for my sly maneuver, but there seemed to be no other way.

With nothing else to offer, I could only press upon her the thing she loved most in the world.

Kang Yoo-chan. That’s me.

“…Feeling better now?”

“…A little.”

“Sorry.”

“…Don’t do it again.”

After clinging together for a while, I finally managed to secure forgiveness.

As we chatted about this and that, she sipped her drink and spoke up.

“I guess I should just get a new phone at this point. Any preferences?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Sure enough, she was thinking of buying me a new phone again.

“Well, if that’s the case.”

Suddenly, a recent internet article came to mind.

The company that Ma Yeon-seo had bought the phone from had raised the prices of the latest models by about 20-30%.

It was already a company dealing with high-end equipment, so the further increase felt like a burden on my conscience.

“No, that’s a bit… It’s too expensive and…”

“…You don’t want it?”

Ma Yeon-seo’s expression suddenly vanished from her face.

It was a face of coercion.

‘Here we go again.’

Every time, she received expensive gifts not as a gesture of goodwill, but as a form of coercion.

Honestly, one should be happy to receive gifts in moderation. From the recipient’s perspective, it’s not always something to rejoice about.

Each gift cost at least hundreds of dollars, and the wallet she had bought from the United States previously nearly approached ten million won.

Since realizing this fact, she couldn’t comfortably keep them and could only store them away.

How would my accumulating feelings of being unable to properly reciprocate these gifts be?

I have my own pride too.

“This time, I absolutely can’t back down.”

With firm determination, I cautiously took a deep breath and attempted to persuade her.

“Yeonseo, are you acting like this because you don’t like the gifts I give?”

“I’m saying I don’t want to receive them.”

“It’s because it seems like you’re just receiving without giving anything in return.”

Sincerity tends to get through.

I grabbed her hand and earnestly spoke.

“I understand if it’s hard to comprehend, but I can’t just keep receiving.”

“…Am I burdensome to you?”

“No. It’s that I get angry at myself for not being able to reciprocate what I receive.”

At that, Ma Yeonseo also responded seriously.

“You don’t have to reciprocate to me. We’re going to get married anyway, why does that matter?”

“M-Marriage is…”

“A married couple is one entity. So, what’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine.”

I was momentarily speechless but then snapped back to reality.

“T-This won’t do!”

At this rate, I felt like I’d spend my whole life just receiving and eventually die.

I needed to find another way.

“…Still, I can’t.”

“What?”

“My pride won’t allow it.”

So, I decided to force the issue.

“I don’t want to take receiving for granted. Is that what you want me to become, a pitiful person?”

Ma Yeonseo looked at me in silence.

It seemed like she hoped for that, but I deliberately ignored it.

“Just understand this once. I can’t let it be my phone. I lost it this time, so I should be the one to deal with it.”

Without any response, Ma Yeonseo sent a gaze my way.

Lost in deep contemplation, she gazed for a while before finally exhaling deeply, as if resigned, and spoke.

“…Do as you wish.”

She had ultimately resolved to support me.

“Alright!”

For the first time since we started dating, I managed to break her stubbornness. Internally, I clenched my fist with gratitude.

“Thank you for believing in me. I’ll do better from now on.”

Relationships are a two-way street.

Feeling that we had become even more equal in that sense, I showered Mayeonseo with kisses.

“I love you!”

In response, she uncommonly pushed my face away and said,

“…Do it at home.”

And so, we reconciled, sharing plenty of affectionate gestures.

*

The next day,

As expected, rumors about Hanyeo-won had spread like wildfire.

Unexpectedly, many students readily stepped forward to comfort Hanyeo-won.

“Are you okay, Ryewon?”

“This is really too much. How can parents do that?”

“It must be so difficult….”

It seems that as high school students, they had matured somewhat and sympathized with her situation.

Of course, not a single person among them praised me.

“Hello, Yoochan!”

“Good morning.”

Having gone through a series of events and inadvertently learned about each other’s darker sides, Ryewon and I became much closer than before.

“Yoochan, have you finished your meal?”

As evidence, recently we started going to the library together for lunch.

Am I the only one among my close friends who likes books?

“I’ve almost finished.”

“Really? I’ll have to wait a bit.”

“Huh? No, go ahead.”

“I’m already sitting.”

“Just go ahead….”

“Hehe. It’s okay, take your time eating.”

“…How can I eat slowly when you’re staring at me like that?”

“Should I feed you?”

“Enough already.”

As a result, our time spent together gradually increased, and I couldn’t help but notice.

“Hmm. Is this okay?”

Most likely, it would be fine, but especially my girlfriend absolutely does not tolerate the presence of “female friends.”

At the moment, it’s fine because I’m hiding Hanyeo-won’s true identity, but I can’t keep hiding it forever.

Unfortunately, it was the right choice to keep a certain distance from Hanyeorwon.

​

‘But she’s my only high school friend….’

​

However, the truth is, I didn’t want to push away the friend who had come to me.

​

My dull high school life became much richer as I got closer to Hanyeorwon.

​

It was so lonely and desolate at the beginning of the semester that it was almost pitiful.

​

Above all else, we had a lot in common, so spending time together was enjoyable.

​

“Wow! You’re into rock music too?!”

“Rock music, really? Isn’t that too intense?”

“I love rock music too! Especially alternative!”

“…Really?”

“Yeah! That’s why I learned to play the guitar.”

​

From rare music tastes to minor food preferences.

​

Even in matters where tastes could differ, our inclinations were mostly the same.

​

To exaggerate, one might say we were inevitably drawn to each other.

​

But if I grew distant from her, I would return to the uninteresting times at the beginning of the semester.

​

Frankly, I didn’t have the confidence to go back to those days now.

​

‘…Anyway, once we move up to the second year, we’ll naturally grow apart….’

​

As she aimed for the natural sciences and I aimed for the humanities, from the second year on, we would naturally drift apart.

​

Whether I liked it or not, it was certain that we would grow apart the following year.

​

‘Just until this year.’

​

That was when I made a resolution to keep Hanyeorwon’s identity hidden for just one year and continued with my school life.

​

Passing the middle of the semester, as we transitioned into the hot summer.

​

“Yesterday, our aunt brought chicken at night.”

“Oh. Chicken.”

“She happened to bring the one I really like! But it was so late….”

​

It was a typical conversation with Hanyeorwon as we walked to the store.

​

Ring ring─. Ring ring─.

​

Suddenly, the phone I had put in my pocket started to ring.

​

“Oh. Just a moment.”

​

[ Gyeonseo♥ ]

​

It was none other than a call from Mae Yeonseo.

​

“…Your girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

I have a girlfriend, and she knew about it all along.

From the beginning, my messenger profile was adorned with a couple’s photo, so there was no way she wouldn’t know.

“Sorry, I need to take this call for a moment.”

“…Sure.”

I took the call without leaving the spot, feeling comfortable.

“Hey, honey….”

[Why aren’t you replying to my messages?]

Then I was confronted with a very cold voice coming through the speaker.

“Ah… sorry. I went to the store for a bit.”

[…But why aren’t you looking at your phone? Is someone next to you?]

I casually glanced at Hanyerwon in response to Ma-yeonseo’s sharp question.

“?”

She, knowing nothing, met my gaze with a puzzled look.

In many ways, my conscience pricked me.

“I went alone. Yeah. Yeah yeah. Okay then. Got it. Yeah. I’ll text you. Yeah. Love you.”

After being thoroughly grilled for a while, I finally managed to end the call.

“Sigh….”

Unintentionally releasing a heavy sigh, Hanyerwon, who had been quietly waiting beside me, cautiously spoke.

“It seems like your girlfriend is quite possessive, huh…?”

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

“Poor you…. That girl from your profile picture, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I saw her before, she looked really pretty. Is she a model or something?”

“She went to a sports high school. She awakened in the 9th grade.”

“Wow. An Awakener? What’s her rank?”

“She’s probably still C-rank.”

“She’s only been an Awakener for less than a year and she’s already C-rank? Impressive…!”

Somehow, we naturally continued discussing Ma-yeonseo.

Perhaps because Hanyerwon was the type to listen well, my pent-up worries flowed out effortlessly.

“Everything’s fine, but umm, how should I put it… Should I say she likes me too much?”

“Is she a bit clingy?”

“A bit… more like, quite a lot.”

“Wow. In what way?”

“She doesn’t act that way when she’s with me, but when we’re apart, she gets extremely anxious.”

“Oh. Afraid someone else will snatch you away?”

“That’s what she says, but honestly, am I not like that to some extent?”

Seeking empathy without much thought, I glanced at Hanyerwon.

However, she didn’t offer a satisfying response.

“Um…. I can somewhat understand how your girlfriend feels.”

“What?”

Instead, Han Yeowon took Ma Yeonseo’s side.

“Hey. What will you become if you keep saying that?”

“But I can’t just agree when it’s not true! Surely you don’t seriously think you’re not good enough, right?”

Han Yeowon looked at her with a truly dumbfounded expression.

It felt awkward to hear such things from someone other than Ma Yeonseo.

“Ugh, listen!”

Sitting on the bench, Han Yeowon launched into a lengthy speech.

Indeed, only a woman could understand a woman’s heart.

There was no separate degree for being an expert in love.

“Then would a woman worry or not worry?”

“She would…right?”

“Exactly! So what should you do? Should you be careful with women or not?”

“I…should be careful.”

“Should be?”

“You’re a woman too.”

“Oh.”

Han Yeowon belatedly realized his flawed argument.

“Yes, there are exceptions!”

“You said earlier that all women are the same.”

“Am I a woman?!”

“Are you a man then?”

“Are you… doing this on purpose? You just don’t want to hang out with me, right?”

“If you didn’t want to, you wouldn’t have told your girlfriend that you were alone earlier.”

“…!!”

She couldn’t retort and simply bit her lip, her ears turning red.

“She has a subtly cute side.”

Gradually, as we relied on each other, we continued our peaceful days, unaware of what might happen in the future, not even in our dreams.