I Decided to Stop Being Her Fake Boyfriend (3)

How much time had passed.

The tears that had flowed nonstop had finally slowed to a stop.

I kept my face buried in my knees for a long time without moving.

My head was completely blank from how much I had cried.

Occasionally only a short breath escaped as I failed to swallow it.

Slowly lifting my head, the alley was now filled with darkness.

The red sunset that had been shining between the buildings had vanished without a trace.

Only the streetlights turned on above my head dimly illuminated the narrow alley.

I took out my phone from my pocket.

When I checked the time on the screen, it was much later than I thought.

'Already like this.'

When I left school after being dumped by Yuna, the sun was still up.

It seemed like I had been here for several hours.

There were no messages from Yuna.

Yuna probably thought that everything would go back to normal after today.

Perhaps tomorrow morning, she would come to me as usual and talk to me casually.

It might have been a natural thought.

For the past few years, I had never turned my back on Yuna.

Thinking that, I suddenly felt empty.

Even if I faced Yuna now, I didn't know what to say.

No, was there even more to talk about?

I had to go back now.

Nothing would change by sitting here any longer.

I stared at the screen that hadn't turned off for a while, then locked my phone.

The face on the screen that had changed was faintly reflected.

'This looks bad.'

I thought I should calm my eyes a bit before going home.

Sitting in the cold night air for a while, just as I was about to push off the wall and stand up.

Footsteps echoed from inside the alley.

—thud, thud.

The steady footsteps clearly echoed in the quiet alley.

'I guess people are still passing by at this time.'

I thought they would just pass by, but the footsteps got closer and stopped right in front of me after a while.

'Oh, wait a second.'

"……Jun?"

I slowly raised my head at the familiar voice.

A female student was standing under the streetlight.

Black hair reaching down to her shoulders.

A face close to expressionless with slightly sharp eyes.

We had often crossed paths at school since we were in the same class, but we had almost never spoken to each other.

"Yoon Seohee?"

Seohee had a black bag slung over her shoulder.

Her face still had a tired look, as if she had been somewhere until late ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and was returning home, and her hair that was neatly styled at school was a bit messy.

Seohee looked at me sitting on the bottom of the alley for a moment.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just resting a bit."

"Here?"

Seohee looked around.

A sign with poor lighting and piled-up trash bags.

The alley didn't seem very suitable for resting.

"…My legs hurt a little from walking."

I realized it was a ridiculous excuse coming out of my mouth.

Then, Seohee's gaze lingered on my face.

Exactly on my still red, swollen eyes.

I turned my head belatedly and rubbed my eyes with my sleeve again.

"You were crying?"

It was already obvious.

"No."

"……"

"Really not."

I hurriedly made an excuse, but Seohee didn't answer, just stared at my face.

It would have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠better if she had at least pretended to believe me.

Instead, not saying anything made me even more embarrassed.

"Just something got in my eye."

"Both sides at the same time?"

"…It's possible."

"Yeah."

Her voice was naturally not believing.

Seohee stared at my face for a moment but didn't ask what happened.

Instead, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a bottle of water, offering it to me.

There were still cold water droplets on the surface.

"Take it."

"…Why?"

"Hold it to your eyes."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Seohee pushed the water bottle a bit closer to me.

"If you keep rubbing it like that, it'll swell more."

"……"

"If you don't want to take it, don't."

Seeing me try to take the bottle back, I quickly accepted it.

"I'll take it."

A cold sensation was transmitted through my palm.

When I brought the water bottle to my eyes, it seemed to calm the skin that had been burning hot.

"…Thank you."

"It's fine."

Seohee answered as if it was nothing.

After that, she didn't leave for a while and kept looking down at me.

As if wondering what more she wanted to say, when I looked at her, Seohee opened her mouth.

"Can you stand up?"

"Of course."

I got a bit of pride and immediately stood up.

However, because I had been sitting in the same position for a long time, my legs didn't have strength.

"Ugh..."

Just as my body was tilting forward.

Seohee quickly grabbed my arm.

"You said it's fine."

"Just my legs were numb for a moment."

"That's why you can't stand up."

"I'm standing now."

Seohee looked at me with disbelief and slowly let go of my arm.

I leaned against the wall and waited for strength to return to my legs.

A moment later.

"I'm fine now."

As if proving the words, I cautiously took a few steps.

Although the numb feeling remained in my legs, this time I didn't stagger.

Seohee confirmed the scene and adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

"Then go."

"Huh?"

"You're not going home?"

"…I have to."

I lowered the water bottle I had been holding to my eyes.

"I'll buy a new one tomorrow."

"You don't have to."

"It's still yours."

"I was told to drink it."

Seohee answered shortly and turned her body.

"…Yoon Seohee."

Seohee, who had taken a few steps, turned only her head and looked at me.

"…Thank you."

Seohee stared at me for a moment then opened her mouth.

"Don't cry in places like this from now on."

"I wasn't crying."

"Yeah."

Seohee left the alley without leaving a reply that didn't believe it to the end.

* * *

When I arrived home, it was already late evening.

Standing in front of the front door, I checked my phone screen once.

"…It'll be fine?"

My eyes were a bit red, but not as bad as I thought.

I had washed them a few times with cold water, and the wind hitting me on the way made it not noticeable from afar.

'I can just go straight to my room.'

My parents had been on a long overseas trip for almost a year now.

It would take several more years to return.

Thanks to that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the only people living in this house with me were my older sister and me.

"I'm home."

I roughly greeted and took off my shoes.

"Ya."

A voice came from the living room right away.

"Why are you coming home so late?"

The older sister lying on the sofa sat up and looked at me.

"I was outside."

"What were you doing outside?"

"What I do outside doesn't matter."

I casually spat it out as usual and tried to go to my room.

"What? Noona could ask when her younger brother comes home."

"I'll do it myself."

"Dinner?"

"I didn't eat."

"Why?"

"I'm not hungry."

I passed through the living room without looking at the older sister.

It was right when I arrived at the door.

"Ya."

It was called again.

"Why."

"Come here."

"I don't want to."

"Just a moment."

"Ah, why."

Just as I turned my head in annoyance.

My eyes met the older sister's.

"……"

The older sister's expression, which had been full of mischief until now, strangely changed.

I immediately avoided the gaze.

"What."

The older sister got up from the sofa and approached me a few steps.

"You."

"……"

"Crying?"

My body stiffened for a moment.

But I immediately hardened my expression and answered.

"Ah, no."

"What no. Your eyes are red."

"I'm just tired."

"Ya."

The older sister leaned her head down to look at my face closely.

I turned my face away irritably.

"No."

"……"

"Just a little tired."

Normally, the older sister would have teased me for a long time about why my eyes were like that, but today she didn't ask anything.

"……"

A moment of silence passed.

I used that moment to turn and open the door to my room.

"Don't touch me if I'm going to sleep."

"Did you really not eat dinner?"

"I said I didn't eat."

"…Okay, got it."

The answer to withdraw obediently unlike usual was a bit strange, but I didn't care.

Just as I was about to enter the room.

"Jun."

"Why again."

"Just a sec."

The older sister walked towards the kitchen.

Opened the fridge, closed it.

Rummaged through the pantry and brought out a bag of snacks and a jelly.

Then she handed them to me with a tap.

The things the older sister handed were the snacks and jelly I usually ate often.

"Eat."

"What suddenly."

"Just."

"I won't eat."

"Just take it."

"I said I don't want to."

The older sister narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

"Jun."

"Why."

"Take it when I say nicely."

"……"

"Ah, okay."

I ended up accepting the snacks and jelly.

"And."

The older sister hesitated for a moment and continued awkwardly.

"I don't know what happened."

"……"

"Well, there are days when your mood is like crap for a day or so."

Is that meant to be comfort?

I unconsciously let out a small laugh.

"You can't comfort at all."

"Shut up. I can't do this kind of thing well."

The older sister turned her head away as if embarrassed.

"Anyway, eat and sleep."

"……"

"Tomorrow will be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠better."

Then she turned back to the sofa and added one more word.

"And if you don't want to talk, you don't have to."

I looked at the older sister.

The older sister had already turned her back and was looking for the remote control.

"Don't keep whining for too long."

"…Okay."

I took the snacks and went into the room.

—click.

When I closed the door, the TV sound from the living room became distant.

I put the snacks on the desk and sat on the bed.

My body was tired, but lying down didn't seem like sleep would come.

I stared at the ceiling blankly for a while, then took out my phone.

I scrolled through the screen mindlessly until my finger stopped at my profile.

My profile picture was a photo taken with Yuna.

A photo taken last weekend at a cafe.

It was kept as is because Yuna said she liked it and to change it to this.

"……"

A photo that wouldn't have mattered normally.

Now, just looking at it made my chest feel tight.

I stared at the photo for a moment, then pressed the profile edit button.

"……"

I deleted the text written in the introduction.

The heart Yuna had playfully put in.

The background photo we had matched.

As I deleted them one by one, the screen quickly became blank.

I stared at the changed profile for a while.

The profile that had been filled with Yuna's traces until just a moment ago was now completely gone, which was oddly strange.

"……"

'It's more bitter than I thought....'

Just as I was lowering the screen, a familiar account caught my eye.

"…Ah."

Now that I think about it, this was it.

The couple account we used with Yuna.

My face hardened without me knowing.

It was my personal profile that I could delete, but this was different.

Yuna had made the account in the first place, and most of the management was done by Yuna.

I had only occasionally posted photos or chosen posts to like together.

I stared at the account for a moment, then finally withdrew my finger.

"…Done."

I didn't want to contact Yuna because of this.

—woong.

At that moment, my phone rang briefly.

"…Who is it."

I checked the screen without thinking and widened my eyes a bit.

"…Choi Seoa?"