Back Then, Back Then, Back Then (5)
Two girls sharing the exact same name and one boy sat at a table in a franchise tteokbokki restaurant.
The two girls sat side-by-side by the window, while the boy sat across from them, facing them.
The black-haired girl spoke to the brown-haired girl who shared her name.
"Hae-in's friend! Since we have the same name, why don't we introduce ourselves properly?"
Her tone was playful yet gentle, but the brown-haired girl couldn't hold back her whimpers.
She kept her head lowered, unable to even look at the boy.
Perhaps finding the tearful girl pitiful, the black-haired girl—Eun Na-rin—pulled Gong Na-rin into a tight hug, as if embracing a pretty doll.
"Hae-in, your friend is so soft. She's squishy, just like the toy rabbit I had when I was little."
Oh Hae-in didn't know what kind of face to make at the sight of Na-rin hugging Na-rin.
He simply offered a faint, weary smile.
Gong Na-rin, feeling even more miserable as if she had become the other Na-rin's comfort doll, burst into tears like a child.
"Hae-in, look at her... She must be so touched that I'm hugging her! How cute. Hey, can you cry a bit more?"
Eun Na-rin kept holding Gong Na-rin. Loving how soft this crying doll felt, she actually asked her to cry more.
Gong Na-rin choked up even further at those words. Though she made no sound, the tears flowed faster.
Gong Na-rin, who had always been the sly, teasing one among her friends, was completely helpless against this girl who shared her name.
How dare she... treat me like this?
Gong Na-rin looked up at the other Na-rin while still in her embrace.
The black-haired girl, looking down at her with sly affection and telling her to cry, felt... so similar to herself.
Could it be?
"Come on, cry. Hae-in's friend, hurry up!"
Cry more? Eun Na-rin was actually pressuring someone she had just met to cry.
Gong Na-rin looked utterly dazed by the girl's persistent demands.
And watching them, Oh Hae-in let out a bright, genuine laugh.
Gong Na-rin stopped crying and stared at Eun Na-rin, lost in thought.
So that girl is Hae-in's new 'Na-rin'—the one replacing me.
No, that can't happen...
He's trying to overwrite all his memories of me... everything associated with the name 'Na-rin'... with this new 'Na-rin'.
Gong Na-rin fell into despair.
In reality, Oh Hae-in had only laughed because seeing the "two Na-rins" together was simply too amusing to resist.
Just yesterday, under the side effects of sleeping pills, Oh Hae-in had hallucinated his old friend Gong Na-rin lunging at him to drag him to death.
Yet, reuniting with her so soon after destroying Lee Ga-rang's father, he realized... just how much she had missed him.
That was why Oh Hae-in made a decision. Until his name was completely cleared, he would not show himself to his old friends.
Meetings like this, which only served as a form of false hope, would only hurt them both. He concluded that it was best to keep his distance for now.
"Na-rin, thank you for always thinking of me..."
At Oh Hae-in's unfinished sentence, both Na-rins reacted at the same time.
Eun Na-rin gave him a playful look with her purple eyes, as if asking why he was stating the obvious.
Gong Na-rin, however, stared with blue eyes filled with dread, misinterpreting it as an impending farewell.
Still held gently in Eun Na-rin's arms, Gong Na-rin convinced herself that Hae-in was trying to let her go.
Though she had no proof, she took it as a sign that he was preparing to say goodbye.
Just then, the tteokbokki they ordered was placed on the table.
"Ah, it's here. Let's eat."
Oh Hae-in urged them to eat, leaving his sentence unfinished.
Eun Na-rin naturally slipped on a plastic glove and began shaping the rice balls.
Gong Na-rin hesitantly picked up her chopsticks and stared at the tteokbokki, which looked deceptively spicy.
It was blood-red.
The sight of Hae-in brutally beating Ga-rang's father earlier that afternoon... Even though she turned her head away, it felt as if she were seeing it all over again through the reflection in the window.
Why wouldn't he sincerely apologize to them? And why did he have to leave Ga-rang's father covered in blood?
Her reason held her back, telling her that she shouldn't ask him to come back to them under these circumstances.
"Here, Gong Na-rin, right? Even though we ordered the mild flavor, the tteokbokki here is still pretty spicy. Make sure to eat it with the rice balls and chew carefully~"
Eun Na-rin, seemingly finding Gong Na-rin adorable, spoke to her as if she were a toddler and fed her a rice ball.
Gong Na-rin glared in annoyance at being treated like a child, but she chewed and swallowed the rice ball anyway.
To Eun Na-rin, she just looked like a puppy pretending to pout, which only made her seem cuter.
Eating his tteokbokki, Oh Hae-in watched the two of them with a bright smile.
The taste of the spicy tteokbokki...
For Eun Na-rin, it was a familiar yet fresh delight.
For Oh Hae-in, it cooled down his overheated emotions.
For Gong Na-rin, it felt like a thick, dark red stain spreading across her heart.
It was incredibly spicy, but each of them processed the heat in their own way.
After finishing their spicy meal, the three of them headed toward the subway station.
For some reason, Gong Na-rin remained painfully quiet.
Eun Na-rin waved cheerfully to the two of them as she headed toward her platform.
"I'm off! I originally came out to buy some textbooks, but I ended up hanging out with Hae-in and some cute younger girls instead~"
Oh Hae-in waved back with a wry, amused look.
Gong Na-rin stood behind him, glaring at Eun Na-rin as she said goodbye.
Even that glare only made Gong Na-rin look like a cute little pet to Eun Na-rin.
And then, there were two.
Oh Hae-in and Gong Na-rin stood waiting for the train that would take them in their respective directions.
Staring blankly at the screen doors, Oh Hae-in spoke.
"Na-rin. The thing with Ga-rang's parents... there's a reason for it. I can't tell you the details right now, but... please tell Ga-rang and Sang-hui that they need to be careful around Ga-rang's parents."
Gong Na-rin glanced at him sideways, her eyes filled with confusion.
She couldn't understand why he was telling her to watch out for Ga-rang's parents, especially after he had beaten Ga-rang's father half to death.
"What... does that even mean? You did something terrible, and now you're shifting the blame onto someone else again?"
Unfortunately, since Gong Na-rin knew nothing of the Baekyeom Sect, his words sounded like nothing more than an excuse to avoid responsibility.
He still hadn't apologized to them, and here he was, running away again.
We endured all that humiliation because of you, and yet... we still love you.
If you're going to be the bad guy, why don't you at least hold us, beg for forgiveness, and try to get away with it?
"You... you know you're incredibly frustrating, right?"
"It's just... too much for me to tell you guys everything right now."
Gong Na-rin couldn't help but be completely consumed by Oh Hae-in—the boy who had once spoken to her so sweetly—for better or for worse.
She didn't want to give him any more chances. In fact, Hae-in wasn't even attempting to salvage their relationship.
Yet, his faded voice continued to frustrate her, making her feel utterly miserable.
The train was due to arrive soon, but the wait felt agonizingly pathetic.
The two of them just stood there in silence.
Soon, the screen doors slid open, and passengers poured out.
Gong Na-rin stepped inside, but Oh Hae-in remained on the platform.
The boy and the girl looked at each other.
Even as the boy's distant gaze drifted away from her, the girl couldn't bring herself to erase him.
And even though the boy's eyes seemed to say that erasing her was impossible, he did not step inside.
Soon, the screen doors closed.
The girl gripped the subway handrail tightly, watching him fade into the distance as the train pulled away.
The boy started to raise his hand to wave, but then turned his head away, pretending not to see.
After sending Gong Na-rin off, he boarded the next train home.
Night had fallen, wrapping the world in darkness. Today, the journey home felt incredibly slow.
It was only natural, given how sluggishly he walked.
He casually looked up at the night sky.
For some reason, the constellations were visible, unhidden by the darkness.
They hung directly above, yet their light seemed strangely faded.
They were shining brightly, but perhaps his attempt to force himself to let go of Gong Na-rin, Lee Ga-rang, and Cha Sang-hui was making everything look blurry.
Lowering his head, he walked toward the crosswalk.
For some reason, Eun Na-rin came to mind.
Normally, anyone in their right mind would avoid him.
Even if she had a thing for bad boys, he didn't fit that description at all.
He stared at the red traffic light, waiting for it to turn green.
Pretending to erase them from his life and enduring it would be no easy task.
Even after everything was over, it would surely leave him with regrets.
He had to act, pushing them away, because if he stayed by their side... they would undoubtedly be in danger.
Perhaps they would meet new people and erase whatever good memories of him they had left, truly abandoning him.
"Even if I clear my name... things will never go back to the way they were."
He muttered to himself as he crossed the street under the green light.
Even though he was unstable, there was someone who would hold him... so he had to escape this conspiracy.
Even if they would be hurt when they finally learned the truth.