Chapter 56: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: The Most Beautiful Moment in Life
Dressed lightly, Yeon-ju left her house and walked past the animal hospital and the park.
When she arrived at the nearby public parking lot, she spotted Eun-seong's car. She quickly scanned her surroundings before slipping into the passenger seat.
"Hello."
"Hey there."
Though Yeon-ju's greeting was as terse as ever, Eun-seong welcomed her with a bright smile.
The moment she buckled her seatbelt, her anxiety came spilling out.
"What if someone sees us? Are you sure this is okay?"
"It's fine."
"I've seen how relentlessly reporters follow other celebrities. If we get caught, things will get so complicated..."
As Yeon-ju continued to fret, Eun-seong paid the parking fee and chimed in. "Reporters can be relentless, but I'm just as thorough. You have no idea how many U-turns I had to make just to get here."
He had meant it as reassurance, but the words soured the moment they left his mouth. He worried she might be hurt by how determined he sounded to keep their relationship a secret.
"Still, just in case, you should prepare a profile. If a scandal breaks, it’s better if you introduce yourself directly rather than—"
"D-don't be ridiculous!"
As Yeon-ju shrieked in horror, Eun-seong laughed and changed the subject. There was no point in dragging out their fugitive-like conversation.
"What about the gimbap?"
"Oh, right. I packed some."
Once the car cleared the parking lot and merged onto the main road, Yeon-ju opened her shopping bag. She looked down at the gimbap, then glanced over at Eun-seong.
"It seems you were waiting for the gimbap, not me."
"Well, a bit of both."
Eun-seong, who seemed to be in a wonderful mood, replied with a smile fixed on his face. Glancing at the two cups of coffee sitting side-by-side in the cup holders, Yeon-ju pulled out the gimbap wrapped in foil.
The familiar, savory aroma of sesame oil wafted through the car. Yeon-ju placed the gimbap near the cup holders so he could grab a bite whenever they stopped at a red light.
"Eat slowly."
"I can only eat if you feed me."
Ah. Yeon-ju hesitated, faced with the awkward request. She regretted not bringing chopsticks; she had foolishly brought only tissues, thinking they could just wipe their hands afterward.
As if urging her on, Eun-seong tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. Yeon-ju separated a piece of gimbap. When she brought it to his lips, he readily took a bite.
The faint sensation of his lips brushing her fingertips lingered, and she quickly pulled her hand back, her fingers twitching.
And to think he had claimed he was sick of it—that just looking at it made him nauseous.
He was eating the gimbap with sheer determination, as if resolved to devour every last piece.
"Doing this reminds me of the old days."
Us. The old days.
The "us" of back then felt like a magical phrase. Not a recent memory, but a very distant past.
"Do you remember? I took my dad's car and we went on a weekend trip. Where was that again?"
"...Yangpyeong."
"Right. Yangpyeong."
Looking down at the gimbap, Yeon-ju pulled out a memory that had been tucked away in a deep corner of her mind.
Suddenly, she was twenty-three again.
"You fed me gimbap in the car back then, too."
"It wasn't gimbap. It was cherry tomatoes."
"No, it wasn't. It was definitely gimbap."
"That wasn't when we went to Yangpyeong. That was on the bus to Gapyeong."
Ah. Eun-seong fell silent for a moment as he sorted through his thoughts, then let out a soft exclamation.
"You're right. The gimbap was on the bus to Gapyeong. We bought it at the terminal."
As he readily conceded and untangled his memory, Yeon-ju let out a soft laugh. She popped another piece of gimbap into his mouth. This time, they both could feel that her fingertips were less tense.
A long time ago. A time when he had a license but no car of his own.
He had borrowed his dad's car and driven down quiet roads with her. With excited, fluttering hearts, they had packed more food than they could ever eat and headed to a tiny pension they wouldn't even glance at today.
"That pension was the absolute worst. We were totally scammed by the photos."
The pension, which was little more than a dressed-up shipping container, was a far cry from the promotional photos—a complete disaster. With no air conditioning, the interior was hot enough to roast them alive in the dead of summer.
Yet, they still laughed. When night fell and the heat finally broke, they were overcome with happiness, rejoicing that it was finally cool.
They laughed while eating gray, soot-covered pork belly because they didn't know how to grill over charcoal, and they laughed while drinking from cheap plastic cups. What had been so wonderful, so fun? Her fresh laughter, ringing out as loud and clear as the chirping of insects on a summer night, had never stopped.
Even while making foolish mistakes they would never make today—
They laughed. They couldn't stop laughing. As if they were people who knew they would need these memories to survive a future breakup.
"Do you want another roll of gimbap?"
"No, I'll eat it later. Right now, I want to hold your hand."
At Eun-seong's words, Yeon-ju hesitated, slowly crumpling the foil and putting it back into the shopping bag. If they were twenty-three, he would have just grabbed her hand without such gentle persuasion.
As if to coax her, Eun-seong opened his palm and wiggled his fingers. Yeon-ju leisurely lowered her arm and took his hand. Their fingers naturally intertwined, and Eun-seong squeezed her hand tightly.
"I could find your hand even with my eyes closed."
...Because there weren't many moments he wanted to look back on, his life, which had been spent rushing forward, felt as pristine as a brand-new book.
Yet, among those pristine pages, there was one specific section that was worn and frayed—a place where his favorite phrases and most cherished passages were carefully kept.
Tucked somewhere inside a life as clean as an unread book, it was a section clearly darkened by frequent handling. A place that brought the exact same joy and happiness no matter how many times he looked at it—
"How much further do we have to go?"
"About four more hours."
A passage he never grew tired of reading, a phrase that touched his heart no matter how many times he revisited it.
It was the time he spent with her.
* * *
Dr. Ju sat alone in the animal hospital's examination room, lost in thought. His expression had been somber ever since he’d spotted Yeon-ju walking down the alley a moment ago.
The moment he saw her, a welcoming smile had spread across his face before he could stop it. He had wanted to open the door, run out, and call her name, but seeing her hurrying along, he couldn't bring himself to speak.
'I'll take the bad woman. Instead, if I find a good woman, I'll introduce her to you. We're going to roll in the mud, so you, Doctor, should live beautifully.'
In that moment, he had realized with a bitter pang that there was nothing more he could do.
Eun-seong's words about being ready to roll in the mud together hadn't sounded like a lie. No matter what happened later, they wanted each other right now. He couldn't force his way between them and ask her to consider his feelings too.
It was probably right for it to end like this. He had no choice but to respect her wishes and her courage.
"Sigh."
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Deciding he shouldn't just sit here moping, Dr. Ju stepped out of the examination room to make a cup of tea.
He paused on his way to the breakroom. A documentary about Eun-seong was playing on the TV in the waiting area, catching his eye.
Given the time, it wasn't a live broadcast but a rerun—a special program detailing Eun-seong's career from his debut to the present.
Brilliant and Special
The title described Im Eun-seong. Dr. Ju stared at the words floating at the top of the screen and let out a long, slow breath. On the screen, a twenty-five-year-old Eun-seong was shown rising to the top in an instant, winning the Best Actor Award.
Twenty-five—what an incredible age. To stand at the center of the world so young... he really was an amazing person.
It was only Dr. Ju's own pride and stubbornness that made him reluctant to admit it. At just twenty-five, Eun-seong had achieved a level of success that others couldn't attain in a lifetime.
"...I'm no match for him."
A man he couldn't beat, no matter what he did.
As he watched, a self-deprecating remark slipped out. Like a young general who had lost his will to fight before the battle even began, overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance of his opponent, he felt himself giving up as he looked at Eun-seong on the screen.
When did they break up?
The thought suddenly occurred to him. Dr. Ju slowly closed and opened his eyes, staring intently at Eun-seong's face. Han-byeol was in the second grade of elementary school, which meant he was born when Eun-seong was twenty-seven.
As if to satisfy his curiosity, the documentary showed a twenty-six and then twenty-seven-year-old Eun-seong. Movies starring Im Eun-seong had been released all over the world back then. When he was twenty-seven, his Hollywood blockbuster, The Name, was a spectacular success.
...No, that couldn't be. Surely not.
Dr. Ju shook his head slightly. He had no doubt that they had met much earlier, before Eun-seong's debut. He refused to even imagine that Eun-seong had been living the life of a superstar while abandoning his own child.
If that were the case, she wouldn't have tried to lie about having a husband in the first place.
"Oh, Doctor, you're here."
Just then, the door chimed, and Han-byeol's grandmother walked in with Yam.
"Oh! Hello, Elder!"
A surprised Dr. Ju welcomed Mrs. Na. Carrying Yam in one arm, she spoke with her characteristic sweet laugh.
"I came alone today."
"I'm glad you came. Please, come this way."
"My grandson speaks so highly of you, saying you don't overcharge, so I came to see for myself if it's true."
"Of course. Don't worry. Since you're here, please have a cup of tea."
Thinking he should serve his welcome guest a nice cup of tea, Dr. Ju turned toward the breakroom with a smile. A pleased look spread across Mrs. Na's face as she watched the polite, warm-hearted doctor.
On the TV, the thirty-year-old Eun-seong was now on screen.