Chapter 16: Shall We Meet Again?

How to date someone you broke up with…

…I wouldn’t know. As someone with only one dating experience and one experience of being dumped, it’s beyond my understanding.

“If you came here for relationship advice, I think you’ve come to the wrong place…”

Unless you’re an outsider with no friends but me, you have plenty of friends.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to go find someone else? Like Seunghyun…”

“That bastard’s married. I need a broken specimen.”

…When? He’s already married at that age? No, wait a minute.

“…A broken specimen?”

So, this bastard chose me as the perfect example of someone who got dumped?

“And… I don’t know anyone who thinks as maturely as you do.”

“…?”

…It didn’t seem like that was the only reason.

“That Gu Seunghyun, that bastard, got married because of a speed violation. Wouldn’t it be crazy to seriously ask such an idiot for advice?”

“You are crazy, though.”

“…At least say I’m a crazy person who can tell right from wrong.”

A guy who misused his lower body and unintentionally became responsible as a head of household is a no-go, even for the crazy Lee Jin-woo.

At least I can understand that he thinks I’m better than such a fool, right? I’d have to be a criminal to be treated worse than that.

“I’m serious. You’re the only one I know who can give me serious advice about this.”

“Out of your wide network of contacts, there’s no one to talk to about this… I guess not, now that I think about it.”

The friends of this guy, who are also my friends, are hard to find someone who can take care of themselves, let alone date.

One of those hard-to-find guys stepped on the gas pedal of life unintentionally a while ago for not using contraception properly.

“So, what you want is that, right? To get back together with That person.”

“Of course. I’d do anything if I could get back together with her. Seriously.”

This might be the first serious concern this guy has ever had in his life. Seeing him, who used to laugh even after a big fight with his parents, asking for advice with such a desperate look on his face.

“Hmm… First, you need to know the reason to change her mind or not, right? Was there really nothing strange at all? Anything different than usual…”

“No. Really. We were together all the time, even the day before we broke up.”

“Hmm…”

This is difficult, really.

It’s hard to believe Jin-woo’s words as they are. Expecting excellent concentration or observation skills from him is a bit… close to an overestimation.

Whether there were really no signs of change is unknown. Nevertheless, assuming I believe this guy’s words…

“Maybe it’s not her problem, but a problem around her. Like her family’s opposition. Or she might have suddenly had to move or go on a business trip overseas.”

A problem around her, and a sudden problem at that, could be the reason.

“If moving or going on a business trip were the problem, she probably would have told you in advance, so all that’s left is… Did her parents oppose you dating?”

“…They didn’t seem to like me very much. From the first time I met them.”

The most likely guess is the girlfriend’s parents’ opposition. Even in fairly conservative families, it’s rare for them to interfere in their adult child’s dating life, but it’s not impossible.

Of course, even if they’re not such extreme parents, if their daughter brings home a guy like Jin-woo as her boyfriend, most parents wouldn’t be very happy about it.

“…Did you get all your tattoos removed?”

“I’m still getting them removed.”

“You must have had more tattoos back then than you do now.”

Objectively, Jin-woo’s appearance isn’t what you’d call handsome, but it’s not an appearance that would inspire dislike. Even though I jokingly call him a black sun, a black sun, his moderately tanned skin and firmly muscled body could be seen as someone who’s healthy and likes to exercise.

If it had stopped there, it would have just ended with black hair and tanning, but the problem is that there are elements that add the label of a thug. That’s the tattoo.

“No matter how much you’ve changed your mind after meeting That person, her parents would have seen it as some thug trying to take away their precious daughter.”

“…Do I look that much like a thug?”

“Yeah, you look like a total thug.”

The world may be changing to be more open and progressive these days, but the bad perception of tattoos is still prevalent across generations. That perception would be even worse for the parents’ generation.

“And you actually are a thug. You don’t have a job or anything.”

“That’s…”

Moreover, this guy isn’t just a thug in appearance, but he’s actually lived a thug-like life. This Lee Jin-woo is an idle human being who didn’t learn the manners he should have learned under parents who are prestigious university professors and public enterprise executives, and just squandered his parents’ money.

What would they trust in such a guy to give their precious daughter to? Who knows what might happen.

“If you really want to get back together with That person, if you want to start a family, you need to change yourself first.”

“…”

How long can you live as a free spirit? In this country of South Korea, where the land is small, the population is large, and competition is fierce.

“If the decisive reason is that That person’s parents oppose you, meet them first. Meet them and kneel down and swear.”

To win love, you have to show your ability. This is a law that applies not only to humans but also to the animal world.

“And keep that oath. You’re that kind of person. Someone who can do anything to achieve their goals.”

The prodigal son has to return home.

It’s time to go back, wash up, put on new clothes, and be reborn as a new person.

Of course, all this advice is based on the assumption that the reason Jin-woo and Jin-woo’s girlfriend broke up was because of her parents’ opposition.

If the reason is somewhere other than her parents… then what can I do? I’ll have to find another way.

“…Okay.”

Anyway, Jin-woo nodded, seemingly feeling something from my advice.

“By the way, there’s one thing I want to ask you.”

“…Can’t I go now? It’s past 12 o’clock? I have to go to work tomorrow, you know?”

Grabbing me as I tried to get up from my seat, the gold-spoon unemployed layabout looked at me with a serious face after hearing the word “get a job.”

“Just one thing, just answer one thing.”

“…Okay, just one thing?”

You bad bastard.

“Whatever the reason, if someone you broke up with asks you one day if you can’t get back together, what would you say?”

“…I told you to ask just one thing, and you’re trying to get the most out of that one thing. Sigh…”

If someone I broke up with asked me one day to get back together…

My only dating experience is with Team Leader.

That’s why I couldn’t help but think of Team Leader.

Team Leader, Cha Hye-won. The person I admired. The person I liked.

The person who didn’t like me. The person who dumped me.

If that person told me one day that she wanted to get back together, what would I say?

“…I don’t know.”

I don’t know. Really, I have no idea.

First of all, I can’t even imagine that person saying that to me. She was the one who said let’s break up first, right? The one who declared the breakup first is asking to get back together?

Can that… happen?

If you browse the internet, you’ll find a lot of stories about women or men who coldly dumped someone later contacting them and saying they want to get back together.

Most of them are made-up stories in their heads, but if you read the comments on those stories, most of them say things like, “Why would you get back together? What’s so great about them?” or “Just block them.”

Depending on the gender ratio and atmosphere of the community, there may be extreme reactions such as, “Are they trying to get you pregnant and pass it off on you?” or “You’re going to get used.”

Anyway, it’s mostly negative. There are many views that it’s shameless for the one who caused the breakup, not the one who was dumped, to ask the person they hurt to get back together.

But I don’t think Team Leader is the kind of person who would say that. She’s not the kind of person who would have regrets about the past.

Above all… it’s too strange that someone who didn’t show any signs of loving me would suddenly have regrets after breaking up and want to get back together.

My love was one-way. It was just an empty echo with no answer. She never looked at me, and I never caught her eye.

Would it make sense for us to get back together? Especially if Team Leader was the one who asked to get back together first?

It’s unlikely to happen, but if Team Leader really said that, I’d honestly suspect her intentions.

Why would someone who can have everything she wants want to get back together with me, who has nothing?

And in the first place, I’m a woman now. That means we’re the same gender.

Unless Team Leader is a lesbian, there’s no way she’d ask me to date her again, right?

“…If.”

…But if she really asked me to get back together.

If she asked me, now that I’m a woman, if we couldn’t start over, if we couldn’t date again.

“If that really happened, I…”

What would I say? In a situation where everything has changed, I…

“…I don’t think I can give a definite yes or no answer.”

It’s too complicated to easily decide which way to go.

“To get back together, or not to get back together?”

I thought I didn’t resent her. I thought I had completely let go of my lingering feelings for past love.

I said that in front of her. Confidently.

“I don’t know, really.”

It seems I was lying.

To her, and to myself.

“That person…”

I guess I hate her.

And still.

I guess I like her.