Ch.177Side Story) Dream of China (10)

Everything always comes unexpectedly.

Whether it’s something surprising, something unimaginable, or something you’ve already been harboring in your heart.

“I like you.”

When Suhyun disappeared between the crossing carousels, Irene thought the voice buzzing in her ears was a lie.

They had been talking about the past, and the atmosphere had momentarily darkened because of that story.

The voice that came when the carousel lights went out, startling her for a moment,

was enough to shatter Irene’s thoughts and bring her back to reality in an instant.

“…What?”

In the darkened world, when she came to her senses, what she saw was the light of the creaking, rotating ride.

Like stars, the only thing sparkling in this dark amusement park was this carousel alone.

When the moving horses crossed and finally met, Suhyun, who had switched to the moving horse next to Irene, just smiled without saying anything.

He hadn’t expected an answer when he said it.

He just blurted it out because he felt he wouldn’t be able to say it if not now.

If she accepted his confession, that would be great, and if she rejected it… what could he do?

He’d just go home and cry alone a few times. He might have regrets, but

Suhyun didn’t yet have the courage to confess again to someone who said no.

“What did I just… hear?”

“Did you really not hear it?”

“You didn’t say it like that just now! Geez, you said we’d talk comfortably.”

“You heard it all.”

If she heard that much, she obviously heard everything else he said afterward.

When Suhyun slightly furrowed his brow, Irene, who was glancing at him nervously, bit her lip gently.

She didn’t know how to respond to those words of affection, or if he even wanted an answer right now.

If asked whether she disliked him, she didn’t, but if she thought about accepting his confession right now…

She couldn’t readily answer that either. As Irene’s silence lengthened,

Suhyun took a deep breath and nodded, lightly landing beneath the now-stopped carousel.

Although he hadn’t made the confession expecting an answer, now that it came to this, he couldn’t hide his slight disappointment.

“…I’m sorry-“

“It’s okay.”

He wondered what it would have been like if he had said it when the mood was a bit lighter.

The thought suddenly occurred to him, but he already knew well that saying such things now wouldn’t make much difference.

It was rather Irene who was surprised by Suhyun’s gloomy expression.

She hadn’t answered simply because she had a lot to think about, but what if he misunderstood it as rejection?

With that thought, she raised her hand to grab his shoulder, but in the end, she could only blankly watch Suhyun leave alone.

#

“I’ll probably just be gone for a short while. I have a lot to prepare, you know.”

When Irene left for Korea, she thought she wouldn’t stay there for long.

After all, she was just going to see someone she had always respected, and since it was just a personal meeting, she thought a week would be enough.

A week, and with only one day left of that time, Irene let out a small sigh.

Suhyun was beside her, looking out the window, but unlike when she first arrived here, the atmosphere was gloomy and cold.

If she thought about the reason… it was probably because of her. Who would have thought it would turn out like this?

She thought it would be a relationship that would end after just having some conversation, but the Suhyun she actually met was a much more charming person.

Setting aside his human appeal, what was she supposed to do when she started seeing him as a romantic interest at some point?

He was more sophisticated than she had thought, more mannerly than she had thought, and more… attractive than she had thought.

She wasn’t going to completely deny that it stemmed from his appearance.

But rather than his looks, what drew her heart was the person himself, so she just wanted to stay here a little longer.

‘…What am I supposed to say now?’

The “I like you” from earlier lingered in her ears, but she couldn’t answer it now. She only regretted not answering earlier. Maybe she should have just accepted it and then worried about it afterward. But it wasn’t easy for someone who was leaving tomorrow to accept a confession.

“Irene.”

“…What?”

“You know we’re going in the opposite direction, right?”

At Suhyun’s words, Irene finally realized they were going in a different direction.

Her face reddened with embarrassment, and her eyes darted toward Suhyun’s expressionless face.

It would be better if he just got angry, but seeing his expression unchanged from when she first came here, Irene also shrank back.

Contact… he probably wouldn’t reach out to her. Once she returned to America, it would take a long time until she came back to Korea.

She wanted to keep in touch. There were too many regrets to end it like this, but

she didn’t have the nerve to continue seeing Suhyun because she couldn’t answer his confession earlier.

On the dark road, with only streetlights flickering, as they drove endlessly, Irene bit her lip slightly and then let out a deep sigh.

“I have something to tell you.”

Suhyun’s gaze, still showing no reaction, remained fixed outside the window.

What he was thinking, his face deep in thought with those white, slender fingers touching his cheek, was reflected transparently in the window.

Whether he would respond to these words was uncertain, but thinking it was better than hiding it, Irene moved her lips.

“I’m going back to America tomorrow. The flight is at 4 PM. You don’t have to… see me off. I’m just saying it.”

“…Why are you telling me only now?”

Suddenly turning to look beside her, Irene’s eyes widened when she saw Suhyun’s expression.

Unlike before, he looked almost angry, and she couldn’t continue speaking as her words caught in her throat.

“You weren’t… going to stay here all along?”

“I just came for a short while. I told you, I came to see you.”

“Then can’t you stay here to see me?”

She still couldn’t adapt to these direct approaches, so Irene, with her reddened ears, slightly furrowed her brow.

She wanted to do that too, but was it really that easy? What she was preparing to return to in America was a concert.

Although she had asked Suhyun to perform together before, that was for something happening after this one.

Only then did she have hope that they could meet again, but she wasn’t confident that it wouldn’t be awkward when they met again after ending like this.

“…I want to do that too.”

It was a timid answer to the confession she had heard earlier. Suhyun’s lips trembled slightly, but

after staring at Irene intently, he simply shifted his gaze.

Even if he heard such words now, it didn’t reverse his mood.

Rather, he was dumbfounded and surprised by what Irene had just said.

He thought if he didn’t get an answer, he could hear it later. He believed it was just a matter of needing time.

But now he was hearing that she was leaving tomorrow. It was so absurd that Suhyun laughed hollowly and ran his hand over his dry face.

“Are you really leaving tomorrow?”

It was a weak voice. It was a voice that seemed to have lost all vitality, not just strength, the first such voice Irene had heard since getting to know Suhyun.

But all Irene could do was affirm his question.

In the flowing darkness, the silence that seemed eternal continued endlessly.

#

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“…Nothing.”

“Nothing, huh? Your face has been haggard since earlier, like you’re troubled by something.”

Chris grumbled as he saw Suhyun’s face, which was much darker and weaker than usual.

He wasn’t even teaching the students properly and had been suffering over something all morning.

Unless he spoke honestly, Chris, who didn’t even know why he was acting like that, could only furrow his brow.

Come to think of it, Irene, who always kept in touch, wasn’t around, and Suhyun, who should be with her at this time, was staying with him today.

A thought suddenly occurred to him, and Chris, who had been staring at Suhyun, carefully opened his mouth.

“Now that I think about it, Irene is going to America today, aren’t you going to see her off?”

“……”

Suhyun’s silence was enough for Chris to roughly understand what had happened.

The two had been getting along well these past few days, eating meals and drinking together.

What feelings would a compatible man and woman develop in such a situation?

With a slight hope, he opened his mouth, and Suhyun looked at Chris with a coldly hardened expression.

“Did you get rejected?”

“I didn’t get rejected.”

Though he said that, the reality was that the answer was already determined. As Suhyun finally lowered his head,

Chris, who had been laughing as if amused, got up from his chair and tapped Suhyun’s head.

Chris didn’t think Irene would reject Suhyun’s confession either.

She probably hesitated to answer because she was leaving for America today, but she was surely screaming with joy inside.

Having just recently started to correct her introverted personality that she’d had since childhood,

not being able to speak clearly in such situations was Irene’s characteristic.

“Go. I’ll call someone else instead of you today.”

“Where should I go?”

“Aren’t you going to the airport? If you don’t go now, you probably won’t make it by 4 PM.”

[Thank you for introducing us. I’m taking a 4 PM flight today.]

He was already thinking that he would regret it if he didn’t go now. But what should he say to someone who was leaving?

Then he remembered what Sujin had once said to him.

-You can be happy now.

It was definitely something he had never heard in reality. A word he had never heard, but

strangely, the memory of hearing it was vivid in his mind. His sister’s face, lying in a white hospital room, was pale.

The place suddenly changed to a large tree on a hill they had visited when they were young.

Looking at the stars in the sky, and at the same time, his sister who was becoming a star.

Whatever that meant, what was certain was that this moment was the most important in his life.

As Suhyun got up dazedly, pushing away Chris’s hand, Chris chuckled and pushed his back.

“Did you pack your things?”

“Yes, actually…”

Suhyun, who had been looking for something, naturally pulled out the carrier he had packed as if possessed that morning. After looking at Chris, who was letting out a hollow laugh, Suhyun smiled faintly and opened his mouth.

“I packed it in advance.”

Perhaps he had known from the beginning that it would come to this. Feeling somewhat relieved,

Suhyun, with a much brighter expression than before, ran past numerous people.

The sound of the rolling carrier’s wheels echoed through the corridor.

Some students were surprised to see the always calm Suhyun running like that, but that wasn’t important right now.

All he wanted was to make the end of this story a little more like what he wanted.

[13:43]

Irene, checking the time, scanned the empty airport with a slightly lonely look.

There were people seeing off their families, and couples embracing and exchanging final greetings.

It was quite ridiculous for her, who had no family in Korea, to expect a send-off, but

thinking of the one person who hadn’t come until this time, when she was about to depart, made her feel a bit disappointed.

“…He’s really not coming.”

She had told him not to come, but she didn’t expect him to really not show up.

It would have been nice if he had pretended not to know and just shown his face once.

After smiling bitterly, thinking it was her karma, she slapped her cold cheek once.

She had to board the plane in a few minutes. In fact, she could have boarded by now and waited, but she was staying here on the pretext that Suhyun might come.

[I’m leaving soon.]

[Take care.]

The number 1 that wouldn’t disappear until the end made her close her eyes. As time flowed mercilessly and she really had to go to the plane now,

Irene stood up and slowly raised her head.

Then, she was captivated by someone running from far away.

It was a familiar yet somewhat awkward sight. Someone who had never run before was running toward her,

with his usually neat appearance completely disheveled. His eyes were sunken as if he hadn’t slept, and

his messy hair looked like he had been running all the way here.

With her words caught in her throat, the voice she finally let out was a surprised one.

“Suhyun…?”

Breathing heavily for a long time, Suhyun grabbed Irene’s shoulders.

As if to prevent someone who was ready to leave from going, until the announcement for the plane’s departure was heard. He just kept holding Irene’s shoulders endlessly.

“I need to go now-“

“I never said you could go.”

“What are you saying all of a sudden? I told you I’m going to America today. I appreciate you coming to see me off, but I need to board the plane now.”

“How can I let you go when I haven’t even heard your answer yet?”

Catching his breath, Suhyun finally uttered those words and met Irene’s eyes.

He wanted to hear the answer to his confession. Whether it was yes or no.

Wanting to hear that answer clearly, as they stared at each other for a long time, Irene’s cheeks gradually began to redden.

Isn’t this too sudden? Coming like this and asking for such an answer…

As she continued her thoughts, Irene lowered her head deeply and bit her lip slightly. She didn’t want to avoid answering at this point.

What she could say to Suhyun in this situation.

The deliberation wasn’t long, and Irene, meeting Suhyun’s eyes again, slowly opened her mouth.

“I like you too, Suhyun. I wish I could leave with you. But, you said you have a sister here. After hearing that story yesterday, how could I say let’s go together…mmph?”

A finger touched her chin, lifting her face, and their lips suddenly met.

As her mind turned blank, Irene realized their lips were touching and let out a small moan.

For her first kiss ever, their tongues intertwined in a mouth full of mint flavor, and both their ears turned bright red as they surrendered to the flow.

“Phew.”

“…That was my first time.”

“It was my first time too.”

“But why suddenly here…?”

With no concern that the plane had already departed, Irene asked blankly, and Suhyun just shrugged.

If asked why, there was only one reason to answer.

“Because I like you.”

To that obvious question, Irene couldn’t say anything.

It was a dreamy feeling. Both Suhyun and Irene felt like they were wandering in a dream.

Is this what it feels like to face a flower blooming in a dream? Between that dreamlike feeling and sentiment, Suhyun slowly opened his closed eyes.

#

“…So you’re saying you had such a dream?”

“It’s a funny story, isn’t it?”

Irene nodded as he explained that he had seen such things in the World Tree before, though he couldn’t explain everything about the modern world.

After all, being an entity that had existed since the beginning, wouldn’t he know countless things that ordinary people don’t?

What was pleasant was that in the dream, Evan and she were in such a relationship.

“You don’t think about other women?”

“How could I? How could I think like that when I have Irene?”

“That’s good then.”

Evan, who answered Irene’s question, rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

His sister, and that modern background.

No matter how he thought about it, wasn’t it exactly like the world he had lived in?

But he couldn’t understand what that meant.

Whether he had drawn what he had so earnestly wished for, or whether he naturally had such a dream while thinking about Irene.

Shaking off his continuing thoughts, Evan smiled slightly.

What did it matter? He was happy now. He was happier than at any other time in his life, so no matter how beautiful the dream was, it was just a dream after all.

Just that it made him feel good whenever he recalled it,

so he thought, maybe it was a dream within a dream. That’s all.