The Ex-Girlfriend Fears Her Ex Will Be Taken
The ex-girlfriend is terrified of having her ex-boyfriend stolen away.
He plunged into the sea and hauled Yerin up just as she was sinking into the depths.
Whether she had lost consciousness or not, she hung limp as a corpse the entire way he dragged her toward shore.
She swims better than anyone—so how!?
There was no time to answer the question, no time even to catch his breath. The single thought of saving Yerin seized every corner of his mind, and that thought alone poured fresh strength into his failing body.
"Sihyun, what happened!?"
The moment he reached the sand, classmates began gathering one by one. He told one of them to call an ambulance, then pressed his fingers to Yerin's lips.
She's not breathing…
His head dropped under the weight of that hopeless reality. At the same time, her legs came into view.
Whip-like welts he hadn't noticed while pulling her ashore. Something like tentacles clung to her legs.
Did a jellyfish sting her!?
If that were true, it suddenly made sense how a swimmer as skilled as Yerin could have been driven to the brink of drowning.
The situation was spiraling from bad to worse by the second. There was no room left to hesitate.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Careful not to put too much strain on her ribs, he compressed her chest with the heels of his hands.
Her body jolted with each thrust, but her eyes stayed shut.
"Han Yerin, snap out of it!"
Where was the ambulance? He knew it had only just been called, yet every second stretched him thinner.
Until the rescue team arrived, he had to keep hold of Yerin's lifeline somehow.
I'll save you no matter what—just hang on a little longer…!
After thirty chest compressions, he tilted her chin up to open her airway. Then he pressed his right palm firmly against her forehead and pinched her nose shut between his thumb and forefinger.
"Fucking hell…"
All that remained was to breathe oxygen into her through her mouth.
He knew there was no time to dwell on it, and still the thought of kissing her filled him with guilt.
"You can yell at me all you want later—just hold on a little longer!"
He sealed his mouth over Yerin's parted lips.
As he exhaled, her chest rose, then fell.
Twice in one second. He pulled away at once and pressed his lips to hers again.
Please wake up…
She still didn't move. He went back to chest compressions.
The thought that he might never again see that mischievous smile, never again watch her eat with such pure, happy appetite, planted a fear in his chest he had no words for.
"I will save you."
Desperate tears slipped down his face.
Another thirty compressions ended. Gasping, he didn't even pause to steady his breath before covering her mouth with his own once more.
Having sent the others on ahead, Sohee had stayed behind alone at the pension to get the drinks ready.
She liked looking at the ocean but hated actually going in, so she had thrown herself into supporting her friends so they could enjoy themselves without worry.
I'll just go all out tonight instead.
If she couldn't play in the water, she would lose her mind at the barbecue and drinking games later.
With that resolve, Sohee transferred the packs into the cooler. She was pouring assorted drinks into four insulated bottles when an image of her best friend flickered through her mind.
Come to think of it, I wonder how Chaeyeon's doing.
Sohee had watched from up close as Chaeyeon looked back and forth between her own bikini and Sihyun, her expression steeled with determination.
Whatever change of heart had taken place, it seemed she no longer intended to simply wait for Sihyun to come to her.
Whatever Chaeyeon was attempting, Sohee had been cheering her on, hoping for a good outcome, when—
Bang!
"Mom—!"
The front door slammed so hard she jumped and spilled the orange juice she was pouring across the table.
"J-Jesus…"
Who was taking their anger out on the door like that? Curious, Sohee wiped the table with a dishcloth and poked her head out from the kitchen. The moment she saw who it was, her eyes went wide.
"Chaeyeon! Why are you back already?"
She had expected Chaeyeon to be flirting with Sihyun by now. Why was she returning to the pension alone?
The question barely formed before Sohee caught the sadness mixed into Chaeyeon's expression and knew at once that the plan had failed.
Chaeyeon came back in with a blank face and spoke in a flat voice.
"It was taking longer than I thought, so I came to help."
"O-oh? Perfect timing, actually—I was short a pair of hands…"
Sohee ushered her into the kitchen with an awkward smile.
Hands trembling around a bottle, Chaeyeon filled it as she asked,
"Chaeyeon, did something bad happen…?"
"No. Nothing."
Her face was cold, but a darkness far thicker than usual lay over her expression.
Something happened with Sihyun…
Having roughly pieced it together, Sohee felt guilt crawl up through her chest. She wanted to do something—anything—but she knew perfectly well how limited her options were.
No matter how much I beg Sihyun, nothing changes unless Chaeyeon changes her attitude…
She had even arranged a chance for the two of them to talk, and all it had done was drive Sihyun and Chaeyeon further apart.
At this rate, even if they miraculously got back together, they would probably break up again in no time.
So what could Sohee herself actually do?
I have to make Chaeyeon understand how precious Sihyun is—and force her to drop that arrogant personality…
Changing someone's character was never easy, of course… but if she could get Chaeyeon to bend her pride even a little, offer a sincere apology, and promise to treat him kindly from now on?
Then the two of them still had a chance. That was what Sohee believed.
Alright… let's do this!
Hoping her friend would successfully reunite with him, Sohee steeled her heart into something ruthless. Then she dangled the bait, nice and slow.
"Speaking of which, Chaeyeon—did you know the girls in our class have been talking about Sihyun a lot lately?"
"…Talking about what?"
Chaeyeon frowned and took the bait. She finished pouring the drinks in a hurry and listened closely.
"Just… that Sihyun's pretty solid as a guy, or that he and Yerin are secretly dating… that kind of stuff."
Sohee wasn't lying.
Among the female classmates, Sihyun's reputation had been climbing by the day.
A man who endured Chaeyeon's endless gapjil and still devoted himself to his girlfriend. Patient, single-minded toward the woman he loved—Sihyun had already been certified as a top-tier boyfriend in all but name.
And the secret-relationship rumor with Yerin is true, too…
The reason Sohee had brought it up at all was simple: she wanted Chaeyeon to feel the danger. She wanted her to realize that if she left things as they were, she might lose him—and change the way she treated Sihyun because of it.
Crunch.
It seemed to work. The empty plastic bottle in Chaeyeon's grip crumpled under the force of her hand.
Watching the reaction carefully, Sohee probed a little further.
"Chaeyeon, are you going to be okay? If you leave things like this…"
She let the silence stretch, amplifying the unease, then finished the thought.
"Sihyun might really go to someone else."
With Sohee's earnest warning, the events at the beach came flooding back to Chaeyeon.
Sihyun rejecting her advances without a shred of hesitation. The way he had looked flustered by Yerin in her swimsuit.
For someone who wanted to get back together with him, those were signs that could only make her frantic.
"I'm not okay…"
The hand holding the bottle began to shake. She kept repeating that she wasn't okay, and tears slowly welled in her eyes. Sohee saw them.
Chaeyeon…
She wanted nothing more than to comfort her friend right then, before she collapsed entirely—but doing so would defeat the whole purpose.
Steeling herself once more, Sohee forced the words out.
"If you're not okay, then you have to hold on to him starting now. And to do that, you need to treat Sihyun kindly. But all you do is snap at him. You fight at the drop of a hat… why would he want to come back to that?"
The fair criticism hit at the same moment the tears that had been pooling in Chaeyeon's eyes spilled over. The bottle slipped from her hand. She sank slowly to the floor.
Arms wrapped tight around her own stomach, lips and chin trembling, she said,
"I don't want to fight with Sihyun either… I want to be good to him. I want to tell him I love him. But the words just won't come out when I'm in front of him—what am I supposed to do…"
Sohee broke out in a cold sweat. She had fully expected Chaeyeon to pin the blame on Sihyun. This reaction was nothing like what she had prepared for.
Is this… Chaeyeon's real heart…?
If so, far too much of it still didn't add up.
If she liked him, she could just say so. Why claim she couldn't? Why had she only ever been cold to Sihyun, never once treating him well?
I really don't get it…
She had thought that as a longtime friend she knew almost everything about Chaeyeon. Apparently not.
What on earth was the reason for this?
Sohee sat down beside her and asked in a gentle voice,
"Why can't you? If you like Sihyun, just tell him honestly that you like him."
Chaeyeon gave no answer. She only shook and cried.
"Is it something hard to talk about?"
Sniffling, Chaeyeon looked at her. She nodded—and after a long moment was finally about to open her mouth when—
Bang!
"M-my phone!"
One of their classmates, Nahyun, burst in gasping for air. She snatched up her phone and shouted into it in a panic.
"S-someone fell in the water! She's not breathing—what? The location? The location is—"
Sohee and Chaeyeon stared at each other, eyes wide.
Someone fell in the water—who? Shock and questions hit them at once, and the second the call ended they asked,
"Nahyun, who fell in!?"
Nahyun was already rushing back out the door as she answered.
"It's Yerin!"
Yerin. The girl standing at the center of their love triangle had gone into the water. Both of them gaped—then bolted out of the pension without waiting to see who moved first.
"What do we do!! Yerin! Yerin!"
"When is the ambulance getting here!"
"I just called! They said it'll take about four minutes!"
The moment they stepped outside, their friends' frantic voices rang out from every direction. To grasp the situation as fast as possible, the two of them headed for the lookout that overlooked the beach.
"There!"
Following Sohee's pointing finger, they could see classmates gathered in a circle. Was Yerin at the center of it? The ones surrounding her were too busy screaming at each other to do much else.
"Wh-what do we do, Chaeyeon? Isn't there something we can do too?"
Sohee stamped her feet as she asked.
But—
Chaeyeon just stood there staring downward, frozen. The color drained from her face. Fist clenched against her chest, she slowly began to shake her head.
"No… please stop…!!"
Then she stumbled backward and took off toward the stone stairs, not even noticing when her slippers came off.
"Chaeyeon!"
Sohee tried to catch her, but the distance between them had already opened too wide.
For a while she could only watch that retreating back. Then, wanting to know what had made Chaeyeon snap like that, she returned to the spot where Chaeyeon had been standing and looked down again.
"What did she even see…"
Unlike where Sohee had been standing before, from here she could make out Yerin's silhouette at the center. Sohee's eyesight had never been good; she leaned forward and squinted. Everything snapped into focus—
and the moment she saw the same scene Chaeyeon had seen, the strength left her legs.
"No way…"
Sihyun was performing CPR on Yerin, who lay stretched out on the ground. The instant the chest compressions ended, he tilted her chin up—
and without a single hesitation, pressed his mouth to hers.