episode_0049

“Waaah, sob, snivel… Hooo…”

A plaintive sob filled the empty house.

Park Yuna sat on the living room floor, hugging her knees, endlessly shedding tears.

“Waaaah… Aaaah…”

She couldn’t stand how pathetic she felt.

She knew it was wrong to try to exploit Han Jihoon’s wealth, yet she did it.

She had the chance to stop, but she justified it by telling herself she could become the perfect wife for him.

She was the one who volunteered for all of this, and she hated herself for weeping so sorrowfully, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

‘I’m so pathetic. I don’t even know what Jihoon is thinking, and I’m just getting excited all by myself…’

She wanted to tell her past self, who was so engrossed in dreaming up a future with him,

that someone like her could never win his heart.

Not just him, but her mother and everyone else would be the same.

So, she should give up on trying to get anyone’s attention and stop wasting her time.

‘Right… I can’t do it. Let’s just give up. I’ll just have to live lonely like I do now.’

Vrrrm!

Her phone rang, but she knew there was no one to call for her, so she wasn’t excited at all.

She checked the message, and, as expected,

it was just an advertisement text with no human warmth:

[OO Mall wishes Park Yuna a happy birthday! Use this birthday coupon to get yourself a meaningful gift!]

‘Ah… It’s my birthday today, huh.’

She realized it late because there was no one to celebrate with her.

It didn’t really matter since it was no different from last year.

It shouldn’t matter.

“Waaah, sob…”

For some reason, she felt particularly lonely today.

It had only been ten seconds since she resolved to give up everything, but the heart-wrenching sadness hadn’t lessened at all.

“…”

In the end, she picked up the phone she had put down again.

She knew it was pathetic, but she wanted to receive even a small bit of comfort or congratulations from someone.

But the only person in her contact list she had been in frequent contact with recently was Han Jihoon.

However, she couldn’t shamelessly look for him again, so she called her mother with a small hope.

[Oh, Yuna.]

“…Mom.”

[What’s wrong? I’m busy right now.]

“I just… wanted to hear your voice…”

[What’s wrong with your voice? Are you sick? Should I send someone over?]

“No, I’m not sick anywhere…”

[Oh, you scared me. I have to work, so let me hang up now. I’ll call you later.]

Click.

“You’re not going to call me anyway. It’s my birthday today…”

Even if she said it out loud, the call had already ended.

The words she wanted to say to her mother were meaninglessly scattered into the air.

“…”

She purposelessly brought up the advertisement text from earlier on the screen.

Was it really possible that no one other than this text was celebrating the day she was born?

Thinking about it made her feel so lonely that she couldn’t handle it, so she hugged her legs again and buried her face between her knees.

She just wanted to sink to the floor like this and disappear without a trace.

Or wish that all the memories of the past few years had all been a dream and stay still.

Thump, thump, thump!

Someone was knocking on the front door, even though no one should be visiting.

—Yuna!

“Jihoon…?”

===

After reading all of Park Yuna’s circumstances written in the sex wiki, I felt like I had been hit hard in the back of the head.

She retired from being an actress because she wanted to spend more time with her mother?

But in reality, her mother was only interested in her business, and she was bullied at school, causing her to suffer from severe affection deficit disorder?

The reason she tried to marry me wasn’t just to get a lot of money, but to get her mother’s attention back?

Of course, a touching story doesn’t excuse every action.

But she didn’t try to avoid the crisis with lies, and she sincerely apologized to me.

Furthermore, the moment I learned about Park Yuna’s life, I couldn’t see her as just a gold digger anymore.

She had been trapped in loneliness for a long time.

She just seemed like a weak child who made a temporary mistake because she didn’t want to miss the chance that came her way by chance.

And that child was on the verge of tears until she left the house, so she must be crying alone in her house right now.

‘…This won’t do.’

So, I went out into the hallway and ran down the stairs.

Standing in front of her now familiar house, I couldn’t even think of ringing the doorbell and knocked on the door.

“Yuna!”

—….

“Yuna! You’re inside, right?!”

“J, Jihoon…”

Park Yuna’s appearance that came out through the crack in the opened front door was a mess.

Swollen eyes and ruined makeup.

It was clear that she had burst into tears as soon as she returned home.

“Why, why did you come…?”

Seeing her face made me feel guilty.

Honestly, until I knew her story, I didn’t feel this much remorse.

Just like she had deceived me, I had only deceived her, too.

But right now, I was feeling a stuffiness that made one side of my heart ache.

The feeling that parents who had overly scolded a child who had done wrong might have felt when they saw the child disheartened because of them.

“Um… Can I come in first?”

I actually went inside, but I couldn’t think of how to say it.

I wanted to apologize, but I was frustrated because I had no way to explain how I knew her circumstances.

Still, I opened my mouth at random, thinking that I couldn’t go back like this.

“Yuna. I’m not going to report you. I don’t even know if I can report you in the first place.”

“…? Really?”

I nodded and replied to the person who looked like she couldn’t believe it without hesitation.

“Yes. What I was going to say earlier was that as long as you reflect, it’s okay to continue living like now.”

“R, really?”

I nodded without hesitation and gave a reply to the other person, who had an expression that said they couldn’t believe it.

“Yes. And I’ll apologize too. I wanted you to repent for your wrongdoings, so… I think I went too far. I’m sorry.”

“No! You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s because I tried to trick you… It’s all my fault.”

I said what came to mind and listened to her answer, but I didn’t know what to say or how to say it now.

Then, I found her phone that had fallen on the living room floor.

“Yuna, this…”

I picked up the phone to return it to her.

I was checking something when she opened the front door, so the screen hadn’t turned off yet.

What was shown through that screen was an advertisement text congratulating her on her birthday.

“It’s your birthday today?”

“Yes… That’s right.”

The contents I had read in the app before running over here came to mind.

Because her mother was immersed in work and she couldn’t make friends at school, Park Yuna always had to suffer from loneliness at home.

Then, could it be that she didn’t hear anyone say happy birthday other than this advertisement text today?

If that was the case, I felt like I had to say those words, at least.

“Yuna.”

“Yes?”

“Happy birthday.”

“Ah…”

Park Yuna didn’t say anything.

She just stared blankly at me with her originally large eyes even more rounded.

Like that, she was frozen as if she was possessed by something for a while, then she moved her parted lips and said.

“…Actually, there’s something I couldn’t say to you earlier. I’m serious about wanting to date you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or not. I like you for who you are.”

“…”

“I feel a lot of loneliness, but when I’m with you, I don’t feel it at all. I was so happy that I wanted to meet you again and again.”

She poured out her words without resting, and she continued to speak as if she wasn’t finished yet.

“I’m sincerely repenting. If you don’t believe me, I’ll do anything you tell me to do. I don’t mean to ask you to date me right away. Just by staying like this for now… Can you give me more chances?”

Her desperate gaze toward me shook.

The trembling came from the fear that she might be rejected by me again.

I couldn’t help but fall into agony from receiving that gaze.

I already had someone I had in mind, and the feelings I was feeling for Park Yuna right now were a bit different from affection.

‘Should I say it honestly? But I might hurt her again.’

No. If I deceived her again, saying that I was considerate of her, I would end up hurting her even more in the end.

So, I had to tell the truth here, too.

“I’m sorry, Yuna. To be honest… There’s someone else I like. We’re not dating yet, but we’re in a relationship where we sleep together like I did with you.”

“Yes? Ah. Aaaah… I, I see. Then, I guess there’s no helping it.”

Park Yuna was trying to pretend to be calm.

But tears had already formed in her eyes.

“Ah, I shouldn’t cry. I’m sorry, Jihoon. I’ll only make things difficult for you if I do this… I’m okay, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

She kept wiping away the tears that kept welling up and forced a smile.

I thought after seeing that appearance.

I couldn’t leave this woman alone, no matter what the sex wiki was or anything else.

“Yuna. Like I said just now, I want to maintain our current relationship if you’re okay with it.”

“You do? But you already have someone you like…”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can accept your feelings. I can’t make that person sad. But I can’t stand seeing you sad either.”

“…”

“I’ll somehow try to persuade that person. I feel like a playboy and trash for even saying these words…”

My head was about to burst from worrying about how to say it well.

Even so, I didn’t give up and continued to speak.

“Still, I want to talk and spend time together like we’ve been doing so far. This is all only if you’re okay with it, though.”

“…”

I was nervous about what kind of answer would come back.

Thanks to that, my heart was beating so loudly that it drowned out my hearing, to the point where the silence around me felt meaningless.

Just when I felt like the one second I was waiting for an answer felt like one minute, I finally heard her voice instead of my heartbeat.

“Really? It’s okay to stay like we’ve been doing so far?”

“…Yes. Only if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m… I’m okay with it. If I don’t have to become strangers with you, I’ll do that. But can I ask you for one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Since I can’t marry another man anyway, and I don’t plan to, please let me keep liking you. And even if you have someone you like, your heart might change someday, so…”

“…”

“I won’t do things that will make you uncomfortable or ask you to date me. Just don’t tell me not to like you.”

It was a request that made me think a lot in many ways, but I couldn’t control the other person’s feelings as I pleased.

I nodded my head in agreement.

“Okay. I won’t tell you not to like me.”

“Thank you, Jihoon!”

Finally, a real smile spread across her face.

A beautiful and pure smile that made the person watching feel comfortable.

Thanks to that, I also put down the heavy heart I had and was able to smile brightly.

===

“Hoo…”

Park Yuna, who had just finished washing off her makeup in the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror and sighed.

It was a sigh filled with relief and happiness, different from what she had been releasing in the living room until just now.

‘I’m so glad that I can still contact Jihoon in the future…’

Although she didn’t become lovers with him, she was happy just by the fact that they didn’t become strangers.

Park Yuna was deciding to be grateful for the current situation since she didn’t want a situation where the person who was concerned about her would become troubled.

Of course, she didn’t intend to give up her affection for him.

Han Jihoon was the first man who had taken her body and mind, and he would be the last man.

She was planning to act faithfully to her own heart to the extent that it didn’t cause him any trouble.

‘What kind of face should I go out with…? If I cry and then laugh, wouldn’t Jihoon think it’s strange?’

She was conflicted, but she couldn’t keep Han Jihoon, who was in the living room, alone any longer.

She wiped her face, which was dripping with water, with a towel and hurriedly came out of the bathroom.

===

A little later.

Park Yuna, who had gone into the bathroom, came out with a clean face.

She came to the sofa where I was sitting and sat quietly next to me.

Was it because of the fact that she could continue to be with me in the future?

The smile on her face wasn’t fading away easily.

“I was so surprised earlier. I never thought you would come. Hehe.”

“How could I not come when you left with that face.”

The other person smiled again at my words.

“Me? It’s been a really long time since I’ve been with someone on my birthday. Last year and the year before, I just passed by without anything happening. I’m glad I was born!”

“Didn’t you get any congratulations from your viewers, either?”

“Yes…. If my mom found out that I was doing Internet broadcasting, she might hate me, so I barely talked about information about me on the broadcast.”

“I see.”

“Huh? But did you know that I do Internet broadcasting?”

“Yes?”

I was flustered for a moment.

Now that I think about it, I had learned that she was the same person as streamer Nayoung through the sex wiki.

“Ah… Your voice is too similar. At first, I was confused, but the more I listened, the more certain I became.”

“Aha.”

Even after I safely brushed it off, our conversation continued.

Yuna was happy because this moment with me was enjoyable.

I liked seeing her happy, so I gave and received stories without realizing how much time had passed.

I also naturally got to hear her story.

Even though I knew through the sex wiki, I wanted to listen to everything she said from start to finish, so I listened hard.

“I’m sorry, I only talked about my story too much, right? I’ve never talked about this to anyone before, so without me realizing it…”

“I was curious about you too, so it’s okay.”

“I still can’t believe that I’ve made a friend. Um… Can I even call you a friend? Friends don’t do anything sexual, right…?”

I said it jokingly, helping with the other person’s concern.

“Wouldn’t you say we’re sex buddies, if I had to say it?”

“Sex buddies? Ah! I saw it on the Internet! You mean a friend who does that? Friend means friend, so it’s a perfect fit? Then, we’re sex buddies from now on! Of course, I’ll accept you at any time if your heart changes!”

The word “sex buddy” wasn’t originally a nuance that would make you that happy, but she was beaming just because it had the meaning of friend.

If the person herself liked it, there was no need to correct her, so I smiled and replied, too.

“That’s right. Oh, is there anything you want as a gift? It’s your birthday, so tell me.”

“A gift? Hmm…”

Park Yuna, who was poking her cheek with her finger and worrying, said.

“There’s nothing I want in particular, but there’s something I want you to do!”

“What is it?”

“Since we’re sex buddies, please do something sexual to me!”

I didn’t know she would make such a lewd request in this heartwarming atmosphere.

“You’re really unpredictable, Yuna.”

“Can’t I…?”

“No. What kind of feeling do you like? I’ll do whatever you want.”

Wouldn’t she ask me to be gentle?

It hadn’t been long since she confessed that she liked me.

“Then…”

As if sending a signal that my expectations were right, Park Yuna replied with a shy, girlish face.

“Please punish your thing over there. More strongly than before…”

…I guess this woman really is unpredictable.