Reunion with My First Love
Yesterday, running up to the fourth floor wasn't anything like I remembered.
The whiskey I poured out as an excuse to skip the beer because my head was pounding— of course, my job at the company was in a mess the next day. So my choice was simple.
"Sorry, I have an upset stomach, so I'll head in early."
"Got it, Mr. Taejung. See you tomorrow."
Still, it wasn't just a lame excuse—I actually went to the hospital. Of course, it was just the routine dental scaling I'd booked weeks ago.
But what mattered was that I ran into her on the first floor of the hospital building. My first love. Song Chohee.
Wow. How long had it been?
I lost touch with her the day I turned twenty and started university, so it was a full five years. Now I was twenty-five, she was twenty-four.
But I recognized Chohee instantly. That face and figure that once grabbed my heart straight away were exactly the same. No, it had been a cute, bright-eyed girl back then, but now she was a proper woman—and even prettier.
I approached her, who was walking out of the pharmacy with a plastic bag in hand.
"Song Chohee."
Chohee stopped. The instant I said her name, a thrill ran through my whole body. It felt like I had become the main character in a movie.
Why, guys like to daydream about this kind of reunion once in a while, right? The kind of reunion with the first love you had during your school days.
But Chohee's reaction was completely different. She quickly scanned her surroundings.
Even though it was just a black pharmacy bag, she immediately stuffed it into her eco bag. It made me a little nervous. She looked anxious.
While I was wondering if something was wrong with her, I finally heard her voice.
"Who are you?"
Her signature elfin voice was exactly the same.
Back in high school, when I entered the third year and our class moved into the new apartment downstairs, the word "elfin" fit her perfectly, though I wasn't sure if it was accurate. From the moment I first met Chohee, I couldn't find any other way to describe her.
"Hello. I just moved in downstairs. Here, take this."
Her skin was as pale as snow rice cakes, delicately arched eyebrows, and lips that were always too red and made me imagine things I shouldn't. Those large, black eyes that weren't just dull but made me lose sleep.
Most of all, her voice was warm like spring days, and her gentle mannerisms completely enchanted me. Back then I was such a fool I could only stammer.
"T-Thank you. I'll let my mom know."
"If you like it, bring back the empty bowl. I'll give you more."
"Yes, thank you. I'll eat it well."
"I'm Song Chohee. Nice to meet you."
And then Chohee bowed low, that sweet scent still lingering in my memory today. So I came back to reality still overwhelmed with emotion.
"It's me, Taejung oppa! I'm really happy to see you, Chohee."
At that moment, Chohee's face hardened. It was already stiff, but now it was on the level of full alert.
"I don't know who you are."
"Huh? What?"
"I don't know anyone named Kwon Taejung."
She even stepped back a half step.
"Hey, I'm Shinmyung High School's Taejung oppa. You don't remember?"
"No, I don't. And I'm not Song Chohee either."
"But how did you know I'm a Kwon? I only said Taejung oppa."
Chohee bit her lower lip and even started talking nonsense.
"I-I just read your palm."
By now I was genuinely worried. Song Chohee, who used to top the charts for looks in all of Shinmyung High and even our neighborhood, wasn't the type to do something like this.
There was a truckload of snacks I got from her on Valentine's Day or Pepero Day.
"I ate too many sweets and can't anymore. You eat and get fat, oppa."
Plus, even when I rejected her confession, I'd sometimes play the big brother act.
She received countless celebrity offers, and I heard she had tens of thousands of Star followers during my army days.
Now suddenly palm reading? Chohee's personality had never been interested in that kind of thing, and her defensive attitude now felt completely alien. So I couldn't just let her go.
"Chohee, let's go to a cafe for a bit. You still can't drink coffee?"
"What are you talking about? That was a long time ago..."
Caught.
"You really are Song Chohee."
"Argh."
In the end Chohee lowered her head.
"Follow me. Got time?"
In terms of years it had been six years since we last went to a cafe together.
* * *
The workplace cafe after lunch hour was quiet. I picked a card and asked, "Chohee, iced Americano?"
"No, something without caffeine."
"What? Still can't drink coffee?"
"No, I just don't feel like it right now."
"Then iced chamomile tea?"
Chohee thought for a moment. "Warm one."
"Eh? On a day like this?"
My reaction was natural too. It was July now, the highest temperature today was probably 34 degrees, and it was 2:30 in the afternoon.
"Want some cake? You like carrot cake, right?"
"No, I'm fine."
"What's wrong? Okay."
We finished ordering and took a seat by the window. There were more things I wanted to ask than I could count.
The moment we sat, I launched into an interrogation.
"You were in the pharmacy just now. What's wrong?"
"No, I just bought some vitamins."
"Really? Anyway, how have you been?"
"I was doing fine."
"What? Your answers are so dry. Is there something going on lately?"
"Nothing like that."
"Then how did we end up meeting here? My office is right here."
"Oh, really? Good for you, working there."
"What about you? You look like you're on your way to work, but you don't seem to be dressed for it. Do you live nearby?"
"Yeah."
Chohee was wearing a relaxed half-sleeve T-shirt and wide-track pants. Of course, even like that her curves stood out.
"What are you up to lately?"
"I'm just a freelance designer."
"Wow! You kept your talent. You always drew well in school."
"Did I? I did?"
"Are your parents doing well?"
"Both of them went to the countryside because they're doing remote work."
"That's good. You always mentioned it."
"Yeah."
Throughout our conversation I was puzzled. This was definitely not Chohee's usual energy.
She used to be the ultimate attention-seeking leader of our high school's dance club who swept our school festival, the one who looked after me almost like a friend—well, she just played with me.
"Oppa, shower time? I'll massage your back like a lonely grandma. Open the door!"
"What? Get lost!"
"My shoulder blades are so uncomfortable. Be a good oppa and fix my underwear straps?"
"W-What? Are you crazy? I don't even know how to do that kind of thing."
"Then I'll just go braless? My school uniform is too small and my nipples show everything!"
"Oh! There's a YouTube tutorial for that, right?"
"Hell! Oppa watches hentai? But why does this woman look like me?"
"What nonsense? She's a Western woman! And please stop coming into my room!"
Most of my high school memories were with Chohee.
But even after all these years, at just twenty-four, how had her energy dropped so much? Most importantly, her looks now were on the level of any idol. With a face like that, how was it even possible to feel depressed?
Looking at her more closely, she kind of reminded me of the actresses in recent medical dramas. She used to be just "a girl," but now she was glamorous and even sexy...
Ah, what was I supposed to say after meeting my first love after five years? Anyway, I kept asking.
Who she was hanging out with lately, how her work was going, if she was hurt anywhere, if she had any worries, if she had a boyfriend. I threw as many questions as I could, but I got no answers.
Chohee just replied with the same things: "Yeah, I see," "No," "Hmm," "You know."
Chohee was my first love and also the sister I cherished the most. That she had become someone I couldn't even look in the eye for years made me feel helpless as her oppa.
"Hey, Song Chohee. Don't you happy to see me?"
"I am."
"But your energy is so low? You didn't even ask me anything."
"Oppa seems to be doing well, right."
I was going crazy. The hangover I had finally settled was starting to stir again.
"Argh, fine. I talked a lot, so now it's your turn."
I had planned to stay silent in a staring contest until Chohee broke first. And it worked.
"Oppa."
But that was so shocking it was a problem.
"I became a mom."
Chohee touched her belly with a shy face.
Wait, a moment ago she said she was a mom? I was stunned. And the first emotion that rose was anger. She was twenty-four, with her whole life ahead of her, and she already became a mom.
But wait, maybe this was something to celebrate? Maybe she met a man she truly loved and had a child according to plan. I scolded myself for still treating her like a high school girl.
I forced a smile.
"Wow! Congratulations, Chohee! How far along?"
"Five weeks."
"Ah, that's why you were drinking warm tea?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa! When we get married, you should have found my number and sent me an invitation! Your parents must have been upset. Who's the husband?"
I was honestly happy. Of course I was insanely jealous, but if Chohee was happy in her family, then that was what mattered. But...
"There isn't one."
"There isn't? What's there isn't?"
"No husband."
"No husband?"
Chohee just nodded silently.
Up until now I had been running on an infinite positive loop. Or at least trying to. In this world today, childbirth didn't always require marriage first.
"Ah, you haven't gotten married? You just live with a boyfriend?"
"No, I don't know."
Slowly anxiety was creeping in.
"Know what? Tell me straight."
"I don't know who the baby's dad is."
What kind of nonsense was this? In my head, all the worst words for unwed mother, divorce, speed dating, sperm donation, surrogate, fake pregnancy danced around.
Chohee must have seen it in my face, because she said with a sigh, "That's why I didn't tell you."
What? What kind of thing was this?