Chapter 128: A New Hobby [R-18]

Seojin turned and buried herself deep in Rio’s embrace.

As her wet hair touched the nape of his neck, Rio’s eyebrows twitched minutely. Seojin wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled against him.

“For now… I’ll just try starting on my own. If I think I need help, I’ll ask you then.”

From the very beginning, the woman named Kang Seojin had never taken anything for granted—not the phone registered in Rio’s name, not the life in his home, not the credit cards and bank accounts he offered, nor the closet full of expensive clothes.

I’ll replace whatever you spend. Feel free to use as much as you want. No matter what permission he gave—

She always spent in moderation, as if it wasn’t hers to begin with. She never strayed beyond what her own salary would have allowed.

Rio had found it absurdly funny at first, but now, he found it endlessly cute and endearing.

He stroked her damp hair as she buried her head in his chest.

“Suit yourself.”

*

—In the time between dawn and morning the next day.

Seojin woke up much earlier than usual. Being the type to always keep her word, she tied her hair up tightly and pulled on a sports top over her leggings.

It was a decent enough outfit for a light run near the house.

As she was tightening her shoelaces, Rio appeared behind her, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching.

In stark contrast to Seojin, Rio wore a smile that was slightly more lazy and relaxed than the day before.

“Babe, coffee on your way back.”

“Okay,” Seojin answered softly.

He leaned his head against the doorframe and asked, “What time will you be back?”

“Umm… I need to shower too, so about thirty minutes before I have to leave for work.”

“You can come back earlier.”

“Don’t kill my motivation on the first day.”

“You have to give me time to enjoy you all covered in sweat.”

“Ugh… I’ll only come back early if it’s really, really hard.”

Instead of an answer, Rio gave a playful laugh. A moment of pleasant silence passed, and Seojin, who had been tying her laces, looked up.

Rio was still leaning against the doorway, watching her. When their eyes met, Seojin hesitated for a moment—

“…I’m heading out.”

It was a quiet but strangely resonant farewell.

For her, who wasn’t used to leaving him behind, the words were filled with an unfamiliar flutter of excitement and a shyness that felt like they were newlyweds.

The corners of Rio’s mouth lifted a little higher. His smile didn’t falter in the slightest until she turned her back and closed the door.

“Yeah. I’ll be waiting.”

As she hurried out the door with his send-off, her heart was pounding before she even started running.

How long has it been since I’ve said something like that?

If it weren’t for the fact that they were on such a high floor, she would have taken the stairs instead of the elevator.

Stepping outside, the morning air brushed coldly against Seojin’s cheeks.

After taking a few slow breaths to steady herself, she took the elevator down and stepped onto the ground floor.

The early summer sun was still low in the sky, and because it was so early, there were few people on the street.

Taking a deep breath in and letting it out, Seojin adjusted her neatly tied hair once more.

She followed the lush greenery of the city, making her way down to the banks of the Han River near her home.

Her heart slowly calmed as she walked, but the short farewell she’d shared with Rio earlier still lingered in her ears.

From him, a man who was the furthest thing from stable, came an unfamiliar sense of security, of anticipation, of feelings she couldn’t name.

Unlike the streets, there were quite a few people on the riverside track—people like Seojin, exercising before work, and others enjoying a morning stroll.

Once she reached the riverbank, Seojin quietly tightened her shoelaces one more time and began to stretch instead of starting to run right away.

She rolled her shoulders, loosened her legs, and stretched her sides. Even while warming up, she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

Then, she clasped her hands, palms facing out, and stretched them forward, pushing firmly.

Only then did she speak, as if to herself.

“Let’s start again.”

It was the voice of resolve. One light step, then another.

Because of the heavy bounce of her chest and her diminished stamina, she quickly became breathless and tired. But even if she had to take breaks, she felt an inexplicable sense of liberation running like the others, the wind brushing against her cheeks.

For several days, it was the same time, the same path.

Seojin was gradually getting used to the awkward physical sensations, and her heartbeat and breathing were slowly but surely finding their rhythm.

This is just about right.

The path along the Han River was flat. The speed at which the sun rose, the sweat that beaded on her skin… A smile played on Seojin’s face.

When she ran, her mind emptied. Only a simple, clear purpose remained: to run, and to move forward.

Seojin swung her arms rhythmically, listening intently to the rhythm of her own body without any earphones.

Then, beside her, the gaze of someone running past seemed to brush against her cheek for a moment.

Sweat dripped from under the brim of a gray cap.

Woo-chan, who had a healthy pre-work exercise routine long before Seojin started hers, took a breath as if annoyed and thought to himself.

…That woman.

That was it. There was no need for greetings.

The woman he’d seen a few more times since that day at the office was, without needing to know more, the same one. He didn’t know anything about her and didn’t try to.

The only thing that stuck in his mind was the fact that she ran the same path at a similar time.

Having no reason to speak with her, his pace quickened, and the distance between them soon grew. Just like that, he ran on alone as if nothing had happened.

A drop of sweat fell from his forehead and trickled past the corner of his mouth.

Panting, Seojin propped herself up on a bench and sat down, gasping for air.

“……Should I drink it now, or… later…”

Drinking water would make her feel heavy. But saving it for later meant a new burden. It was cumbersome to run with it.

As she pondered, she lifted her head to the sky, and sunlight streamed into her eyes. But soon, someone blocked it, approaching her.

The silhouette that approached, blocking the sun, was a man in workout clothes, holding a bottle of convenience store water.

“Do you need some water, by any chance?”

Seojin blinked in surprise and looked up. A man with a slightly overly bright smile stood before her.

“I think I’ve seen you around at the same time often… If you like running, are you interested in a running crew?”

“Uh, uh… no.”

Seojin answered reflexively, but the man wasn’t deterred.

“Our crew is really casual. We just get together and run when our schedules line up. There are probably a few of us here today.”

His gaze subtly swept over Seojin’s disheveled hair and the nape of her neck. Her skin, flushed with sweat, the curves revealed beneath her workout clothes.

The man, still wearing a friendly smile, slyly dropped the arm holding the water bottle as if pretending it was heavy.

“There are quite a few women, too.”

Finding it awkward to refuse the gesture, Seojin hesitated for a moment before accepting the water bottle.

“Okay…”

As he deliberately relaxed and slid onto the bench next to her, the unfamiliar gaze that enveloped her didn’t feel entirely welcome.

Nevertheless, Seojin tried to hide her expression, merely fiddling with the unopened water bottle in her hands.

“What time do you usually come out?” the man asked casually.

“…Just, before work.”

“Oh, most of us are office workers and college students. We gather right around this time. You know the area near the Southern Rest Stop? We meet there around 6:30.”

He rattled on without even waiting for Seojin’s reply. It wasn’t just information being offered; it had the strange energy of a “promise to see you next time.”

“It’s hardest to get to know faces at first. If you come, you’ll probably fit right in. The atmosphere is really great.”

Seojin, unable to find the right moment to tell him to leave, just nodded blankly.

“Yes…”

As her voice trailed off, he added, “Here, this is our group chat. You can come straight to the rest stop tomorrow, too.”

With those words, the text “Group Chat Invitation Link” appeared on Seojin’s phone screen, and before she could react, the man’s finger pressed the accept button.

“Ah, if you feel pressured, you can leave… but if you look at the member list here—Shim Kyung-woon. That’s my name.”

He said that, but his smile clearly conveyed, You’re already in.

He went on introducing himself, but his sudden high energy was too much for her to take it all in.

Shim Kyung-woon, twenty-three. A college student living nearby… At first, he’d slyly called Seojin noona, then asked her age, and seemed completely shocked to hear she was twenty.

He even flusteredly explained that he didn’t mean she looked old, he just assumed she was older because she seemed like an office worker.

“I didn’t take up too much of your time, did I? Seojin-ssi, good luck with the rest of your workout today~!”

After the affable man finally left the exhausted Seojin with a light wave, she carefully peeled the fabric of her shirt from where it clung to her chest.

A faint trace of cold condensation from the water bottle he’d given her remained on the back of her hand. It wasn’t a bad thing, and she hadn’t been harmed in any way, but strangely, she felt like something had been done to her.

Seojin let out a small sigh.

Should I have told him I was uncomfortable?

Instead of drinking the water, Seojin got up from her seat. She had to run. If she didn’t, she felt this ambiguous feeling would stick with her.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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