Chapter 8
Chapter 8
A Strange Person
A lottery ticket instead of a business card.
And not just any lottery ticket.
A winning one-thousand-won ticket.
What must she have thought when she saw it?
She must’ve felt annoyed.
No matter how she looked at it, apologizing was the right thing to do.
The next day, Mari rode the subway at the same time.
She searched for her through the packed crowd, but she was nowhere to be seen.
The next day too.
And the week after that.
For an entire month, Mari kept riding that same subway line at the same hour.
“She’s not coming?”
Eventually, she half gave up on finding her.
Time passed.
One day, on a whim to grab some coffee, Mari stepped into a café she happened to see.
She stood there, about to order—
then glanced toward the window.
There she was.
A brown bob-haired woman, sipping an iced Americano while staring at her phone.
Long eyelashes.
Slightly upturned eyes.
Pale skin.
A small frame.
Mari’s heart dropped.
It’s her.
She could almost imagine that same fresh scent reaching her already.
Mari forgot to order and stood there staring for a long time.
Should I go over?
Should I just leave?
No, if I was going to leave, why did I spend a whole month looking for her?
What if she thinks I’m weird?
I threw her a one-thousand-won lottery ticket.
Then again, isn’t standing here staring at her even weirder?
Mari cut off her thoughts and took a small breath.
I’m Jo Mari.
An S-rank hero.
A dignified one.
I can’t hesitate over something like this.
Steeling herself, she marched forward.
The woman was still looking at her phone, sipping through her straw, completely unaware of Mari approaching.
“Um... excuse me…”
Unlike the confidence she’d just built up, her voice came out thin and weak, barely louder than a mosquito.
So much for hero dignity.
The bob-haired girl lifted her head slowly, straw still between her lips.
Pink eyes met Mari’s.
Those eyes widened.
“Huh...?”
“Hello.”
The moment their eyes met, Mari’s mouth went dry.
“Ah... you’re that…”
“Yes. That person.”
Mari swallowed.
“Would it be okay if I sat here? I’m not a strange person.”
“Ah, yes. That’s fine.”
Mari awkwardly sat across from her.
She forced herself to get to the point.
“What I tried to give you that day was actually my business card. I gave you the wrong thing.”
“Ah.”
Yuri let out a small sound of realization.
She rummaged through the small bag beside her, then carefully pulled out the lottery ticket and offered it with both hands.
“I kept it, just in case. It’s not exactly something that happens every day.”
Mari hurriedly searched her pocket and pulled out her real business card.
The two exchanged items at the same time, like some strange trade.
Why did I take the lottery ticket back?
I shouldn’t have.
What if she thinks I care that much about a lottery ticket?
When Mari looked up, Yuri was holding the business card carefully in both hands, her body curled slightly inward as she studied it.
The way she tucked into herself made her look like a small animal.
For some reason, it made Mari’s chest feel ticklish.
“Hero Jo Mari... ah, so you’re someone impressive.”
“It’s not really like that.”
Mari felt oddly embarrassed.
Tense.
Like her whole body had gone stiff.
Yuri carefully set down the card and looked up at her.
“I’m Lee Yuri.”
At that moment, sunlight poured through the window and painted her face in warm light.
Yuri squinted one eye against the brightness.
The moment Mari saw it—
ding.
A bell rang in her ears, shaking her mind.
Mari bit down on her lower lip and clenched her thigh hard.
Get it together.
Apologize first.
She was just about to speak—
“Miss, our café has a one-drink-per-person policy.”
A staff member’s voice suddenly cut in.
Mari whipped her head around.
At the counter, an employee stood there with a polite but firm smile.
“Ah, right. Sorry. I’ll order and come back.”
As she stood, Mari scolded herself.
Idiot.
You should’ve ordered before sitting down.
Nothing goes right.
At the counter, she stared blankly at the menu.
Black letters on white background.
But she couldn’t process any of it.
Her brain was too scrambled.
“Uh... one iced Americano.”
While waiting for her coffee, Mari seriously debated whether she should go back to Yuri’s table or not.
A little later, the buzzer rang.
Coffee in hand, Mari returned.
“It’s because there’s a one-drink-per-person rule…”
She sat down, blurting out the awkward excuse.
Yuri laughed softly and tapped her own cup.
“I know.”
Yuri flipped her phone face-down on the table and took a sip through her straw.
Then she asked—
“So why did you grab me that day?”
A direct hit.
Mari scrambled to organize her thoughts.
Because it felt like I couldn’t let you go.
Because I had to catch you.
Because alarm bells were ringing in my head.
Because your scent was nice.
Not a single normal answer.
“I... honestly don’t know.”
That had to be the dumbest answer in the world.
Don’t know?
Even to herself, it sounded thoughtless.
Mari hurried to explain.
“My hand just moved before I realized.”
“And you didn’t let go.”
“For that... I’m really sorry.”
Hero, my foot.
Right now, she was just Jo Mari, public nuisance.
Mari took a long drink of her bitter Americano.
“If you want compensation or anything, I can do that.”
“It’s really not that serious.”
Mari found it strange how calm Yuri looked.
She was a fairly famous person, someone who appeared in the media all the time.
But Yuri was almost absurdly composed.
“So why did you sit here? Just to apologize?”
“Yes. I looked for you for over a month. I kept taking the subway at the same time.”
“Oh. Back then, I was just out playing around.”
So that’s why I couldn’t find her.
Still, Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise at the fact Mari had searched for her.
The reaction didn’t seem bad.
“Unni!”
At that moment, Ji-eun entered the café, her brown wavy hair bouncing as she waved.
But the moment she spotted Mari sitting across from Yuri, she froze.
Ji-eun narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“Uh... isn’t that the crazy person from the subway?”
Yuri hurriedly waved her hands.
“Ah, right. But she’s a hero. Hero Jo Mari.”
“A hero?”
Ji-eun looked Mari up and down suspiciously.
“What kind of hero grabs strangers’ clothes on the subway like that? That’s dangerous.”
“That’s... why I came to apologize.”
“She says she rode the subway for over a month trying to find me.”
“Yeah right.”
“She said it’s true.”
Ji-eun stared at Mari for a long moment.
Then she dragged a chair over, sat down beside Yuri, and crossed her arms.
“What a weirdo.”
“Lee Ji-eun.”
“It’s true.”
Mari had no rebuttal.
She kept her mouth shut and sipped her coffee instead.
Ji-eun examined Mari like she was inspecting a suspicious animal, then quietly grabbed Yuri’s arm and tugged her closer.
“Unni, sit closer to me.”
“Ah, stop that.”
Yuri pulled her arm back and glared at Ji-eun.
“You never know.”
“She’s a hero.”
“That doesn’t explain grabbing strangers’ clothes on the subway. She could just have a weird personality.”
Ji-eun lifted her chin and stared Mari straight in the eye.
“Was it really an accident? Or was there some other reason?”
“It really was an accident.”
“Look me in the eye and say that.”
Mari tried.
She really did.
But for some reason, her gaze kept sliding away—
to the side.
Toward Yuri.
She tried to pull her eyes away.
She couldn’t.
It was beyond her control.
“See?! See?!”
Ji-eun pointed at Mari and shouted.
“Look at her! Unni, I told you!”
“Lee Ji-eun, stop.”
Yuri called her quietly, but Ji-eun ignored it, poking Yuri while pointing at Mari.
“Look at those eyes! Totally impure and suspicious!”
“That’s not true.”
Mari snapped back immediately.
Ji-eun snorted.
“Sure.”
Yuri sighed and stopped Ji-eun with a scolding look.
“That’s enough.”
Ji-eun puffed her cheeks and folded her arms.
Yuri looked at Mari and smiled lightly.
“My sister’s a little strange. Don’t mind her.”
Then she picked up her bag and stood.
“We’ll get going. About that day—it’s really okay.”
Mari moved her lips a few times, unable to think of anything to say.
She could only stare blankly as Yuri walked away.
Ji-eun kept glaring sharply at Mari the whole way out.
Right before the café door opened—
Yuri turned around once.
Her hair fluttered.
The sunlight behind her made it look like she had a halo.
An angel?
She smiled softly and waved.
Ding—
Only after the door shut did Mari finally relax.
And then—
the café sounds rushed into her ears all at once.
The music.
People chatting.
Coffee beans grinding.
Chairs scraping.
The ordinary sounds that had been there all along only became clear now.
Mari sat there for a long time, frozen in place.
Her eyes drifted to the empty seat where Yuri had been.
Nothing remained.
Not even the cup with the straw.
Her fingers fidgeted under the table.
I should get up.
Her thoughts moved, but her feet felt stuck to the floor.
Only after a long while did Mari finally stand and leave the café like someone dazed.
Using that chance encounter as an excuse, she gradually became closer to Yuri over time.
And then, at some point—
whenever she looked at Yuri, another figure from the night sky kept overlapping with her.
The same fresh scent.
The same phone case.
Even the same pretty smile beneath the eyepatch.
It’s just a coincidence.
At first, she tried hard to believe that.
But her suspicions had already tilted too far to one side.
No way.
She wasn’t that oblivious.
Other people might not notice—
but she had been the one closest to her.
The one who had breathed in that scent deeply.
What kind of person are you, really?
Lee Yuri.
The person in front of me now—
there’s no way this is all there is.
Mari pulled herself out of the memory, crumpled her empty paper cup, and casually tossed it toward Hye-eun.
“A strange person.”
“A strange person? Not a cute person?”
“Well... both, maybe.”
Hye-eun uncrossed her legs and spoke quietly.
No teasing in her face now.
She looked serious.
“Sunbae.”
Mari turned her head.
Hye-eun was watching her deeply.
Mari let out a short breath.
“You can’t hide it forever. People are talking more and the pressure’s getting stronger.”
“I know. Don’t say anything.”
“If I was going to report it to the Association, I would’ve done it years ago.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Sunbae, a villain is still a villain. You have to catch them.”
Mari stood up and lightly patted Hye-eun on the shoulder.
Ignoring her final words on purpose, she walked out of the lounge.