Ch.171Side Story) Dream of China (5)

“Your expression looks a bit better now? You seemed gloomy earlier.”

Having reached a brief rest period after practice, Irene gazed at Soo-hyun thoughtfully.

He had seemed somewhat sullen until just a while ago, but now his expression appeared quite relaxed, as if something had satisfied him. When Irene asked, Soo-hyun shrugged and answered.

“The performance was quite good. Playing together like this is definitely better than teaching students.”

“…Ah, I think I understand what you mean. I’ve seen many pianists, but few who could accompany so satisfyingly.”

Come to think of it, didn’t he mention teaching students? Understanding his sentiment a bit, Irene nodded once before collapsing onto the sofa.

Though it was just a performance that took a few minutes, repeating it a couple of times was naturally tiring. It was an activity that required pouring everything into each breath and movement.

As she wiped away her sweat and closed her eyes, Irene’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sudden cool sensation on her forehead.

Seeing it was a water bottle through her blurry vision, she chuckled softly and took it, sitting up.

“That’s thoughtful of you?”

“I always carry one. Hydration is important in many ways.”

He seemed quite detail-oriented, and unlike when they started practicing, his composure remained unshaken, appearing quite natural.

Was he not tired, or was performing like this just natural for him? Moreover, the way he accompanied without interfering with the performance revealed glimpses of his skill even in such small details.

Sensing her gaze, Soo-hyun cleared his throat softly, making Irene flinch.

“Are you going to keep staring?”

“Ah… sorry. I’m just a bit amazed. Don’t you get tired? How much have you practiced?”

At the question about not getting tired, Soo-hyun smiled slightly, recalling old memories. They were memories that used to make him angry just thinking about them.

He hadn’t wanted to remember them, and whenever he did, his chest would tighten, making it difficult to breathe.

But now… he had let it all go. He was no longer afraid, and there were no future threats looming over him.

His sister, now recovered, was directly in his care. Finding his own calmness surprising, Soo-hyun, sitting quietly in the chair, spoke.

“I had no choice but to practice a lot. Otherwise, I would get in trouble one way or another.”

When he rolled up his sleeve, it revealed bruise marks that hadn’t yet faded. Were these from when he said he would bring Soo-jin?

Thanks to that, he had toughened up, and now such injuries didn’t hurt at all. If he hadn’t been able to see Soo-jin in time and she had died, that would have hurt much more.

Irene fell silent at the sight of the bruises. There wasn’t just one bruise on his arm, but several.

Despite Soo-hyun’s calm expression, she couldn’t find words to say.

If what she was thinking was correct, what those bruises indicated was probably just one thing.

“…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. I’ve forgotten it all now. And it won’t happen again in the future.”

Though he tried to lighten the mood with those words, it wasn’t easy to restore the atmosphere to what it had been before.

Wondering what to do and regretting bringing up such a strange topic, Irene fidgeted with her fingers while observing Soo-hyun’s expression.

Though he seemed fine on the surface, his expression suggested he was deep in thought. Unable to bear this atmosphere,

Irene glanced at Soo-hyun and stared into space with her lips tightly sealed.

She had simply thought he practiced a lot, never imagining there would be such a story behind it.

Still, they couldn’t stay like this forever, so Irene got up from her seat and approached Soo-hyun, pulling his arm.

They could practice later, but today… they needed to do something about this atmosphere first.

However, no one in the room knew how to break this mood. Not even Irene.

#

In truth, Soo-hyun hadn’t thought much about what Irene had just said.

It was all in the past anyway, and how could he meet people if he got upset over every little thing?

Since Irene had been looking at him with anxious eyes, he thought there seemed to be various misunderstandings about this.

“Um… I’m fine. It was all something I had forgotten about.”

“I’m not fine. I don’t want to stay in such an awkward atmosphere.”

Irene’s mind was simply complicated as she gripped the steering wheel. Though she had acted this way, she had no idea what to do.

It was too early for a meal, and for the two of them to go somewhere together…

‘We’re not that close.’

There was a difference between wanting to become close and actually being close.

They had only met a few days ago, and unlike her desire to be friendly, Soo-hyun tended to maintain some distance from her.

“Where are we going, by the way?”

“…I don’t know.”

“…Excuse me?”

Soo-hyun asked in disbelief, but Irene couldn’t say anything.

She really didn’t know the destination. She had left in the heat of the moment and was thinking about where to go while driving.

“Are you kidnapping me?”

“Do I look like such a bad person to you? Don’t worry, I’ll get you home safely.”

Irene frowned, seemingly a bit annoyed at his words, and Soo-hyun let out a small laugh.

Despite what she said, he quite liked this. Not just going out, but being with this person named Irene.

The reason… he didn’t know, but wasn’t it enough that he felt that way?

Come to think of it, it was quite rare for him to go out like this. The people visible through the window all looked relaxed,

and just watching them made him feel at ease.

In the spring as winter was ending, ice still floated on puddles of water, but new buds were beginning to sprout on the once bare trees.

It was the first scenery he had seen this year. He hadn’t seen such things because he was busy taking care of his sister and finding his own place.

The feeling he had in that moment was leisure. Leisurely, not worrying about anything, in such a peaceful atmosphere.

‘This isn’t bad either.’

With that sentiment, Soo-hyun closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the moving car.

He felt strangely comfortable when he was with this person named Irene Yuris.

It was familiar, intimate. Why did he feel this way about someone he had met for the first time this year?

As drowsiness overcame him in the unusually soft car seat, Soo-hyun quietly drifted off to sleep.

After some time had passed, he was startled awake by someone tapping his shoulder, opening his eyes to find Irene’s face right in front of him.

“Wake up. We’ve arrived.”

Staring blankly at the now darkened sky, Soo-hyun finally realized it was night and hurriedly checked his phone.

His sister’s accumulated messages, and Chris’s seemingly angry texts. Looking at them blankly, he slowly turned to Irene and spoke.

“…What is this?”

“The Han River. Is this your first time at the Han River?”

Under the starry Han River, the sloped grassy field in front of the river was filled with people sitting on mats.

How did they end up here while he was asleep?

But lacking a proper means to return, he sighed deeply and shrugged. It might be easier to just think of it as being kidnapped once.

“What’s in that bag?”

“This? You can probably tell just by the sound.”

Irene, who had locked the car, lightly lifted the bag in her hand. At the clinking sound of glass bottles, Soo-hyun frowned.

“Alcohol?”

“Soju. I lived in America, so I’ve never tried this before.”

“Why are we suddenly drinking?”

“I just felt like it. You’re not weak with alcohol, are you?”

He smiled bitterly at the distinctly Korean alcohol, then nodded and accepted the soju. It wasn’t bad.

They were still awkward with each other, weren’t they? Perhaps drinking together would naturally bring them closer.

Irene spread out a mat on the grass, and Soo-hyun watched her intently.

…He was a bit worried about how well she could handle her alcohol.

#

“Heuuuk.”

Soo-hyun could only look embarrassed as Irene suddenly burst into tears.

A few bottles of soju, no… it wasn’t even a few glasses.

They had only had a couple of shots. He had planned to drink slowly while chatting,

but Irene’s face had quickly turned red, and she was showing a much more emotional side than usual.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this before.’

He felt like he had seen someone drunk on wine before, but pushing that thought aside, he hoisted Irene onto his back.

Though she mumbled something while on his back, Soo-hyun just sighed and headed toward the car.

“Where should I go?”

With the time now approaching midnight, even asking her about her home yielded no proper response…

There seemed to be only one place that came to mind, and his already pale face grew even paler.