Chapter 58
Chapter 58
This spot truly is a prime location.
Oh Dong-pyo, seated at an outdoor cafe in the Rodeo Intersection of town, slurped up his iced green tea latte.
Summer vacation for high school seniors split into two paths. Seniors who'd entrusted their fate to early admission based on academic records played with heavy hearts, while those preparing for essay-based admissions or aiming for regular admission spent each day squeezing out every last drop of effort.
Dong-pyo, for his part, was the former. His grades weren't good enough for a top-tier university in Seoul, but he could probably just barely scrape into a mid-to-low-tier one. Since he was only aiming for psychology, the competition wasn't even that fierce.
So today, Dong-pyo had come out in light clothing, killing time by observing passersby.
He'd deliberately chosen a spot under an outdoor parasol rather than indoors, despite the scorching sun, for more meticulous observation. People couldn't see him under the parasol, but he could see them up close and clearly.
For Dong-pyo, who sought to capture even the slightest changes in expression and behavior to hone his observational skills, this spot was absolutely perfect.
After sitting for a long while, Dong-pyo's eyes finally caught sight of a familiar face.
She's lost a lot of weight. Looks like she hasn't been sleeping properly either.
The north side of Rodeo was the academy district. The person walking from there was Choi Se-jin, from his club. Dong-pyo began to focus on Se-jin, whose aura was markedly different from usual.
Se-jin pulled out her phone, its screen flashing in her pocket, hesitated for a moment, then pressed the power button for a long time.
She turned her phone off completely.
After that, Se-jin, looking lost and wandering at the intersection, suddenly disappeared towards the east.
"Hmm, doesn't seem like a guy problem. Something a bit more serious...?"
As Dong-pyo mumbled, another familiar face appeared before his eyes. Is that...?
"That's the CEO of JK Power Energy!"
Seon Han-gyeol's Uncle was strolling along, hands shoved into his pants pockets, as if taking a walk.
He, too, seemed particularly out of sorts today.
Han-gyeol's Uncle furrowed his brow, exhaled irregularly through his nose, and stopped directly in front of Dong-pyo to start a phone call.
"Come to the south side of Rodeo. Yeah, yeah. Did you buy the train ticket? Good. Once you go this time, don't ever come back down here."
Then he quickly disappeared towards the south.
He's annoyed, still entangled with someone he wants to cut ties with. Is it a woman?
Because of the hot weather, the green tea latte, blended with ice, had already turned into a lukewarm sludge. Dong-pyo took a sip and grimaced.
"Ugh, I should just go home."
Just as Dong-pyo was about to pack up, a woman wandering around caught his eye. It was obvious she was looking for directions.
This time, Dong-pyo spoke up.
"Excuse me. Are you looking for directions?"
The woman's face brightened. Dong-pyo narrowed his eyes as he watched her quickly step under the parasol, wiping sweat with a handkerchief, her expression one of relief.
She looks a bit like Seon Han-gyeol?
Fanning herself repeatedly with her hand, the woman caught her breath and asked,
"Student. They told me to come to the south side of Rodeo, but do you know where south is?"
"You just need to go straight down this way."
"Really? Thank you."
Watching the woman walk away, Dong-pyo mumbled.
"Oh, feels like the calm before a storm."
⋆★⋆
Returning after Bom-sik's walk, Bom brought her laptop to the table and turned it on.
To the right of the laptop, the flowers Jae-gyu had brought were arranged in a vase. It was called a vase, but in truth, having nothing suitable, she'd hastily improvised one by cutting a 2-liter water bottle.
Still, perhaps because the flowers were so pretty, her gaze kept drifting towards them.
[Let's try dating, us.]
Every time she saw it, Jae-gyu's voice automatically replayed in her ears.
Bom's cheeks flushed a vivid crimson. She had expected it, but it was an even more heart-fluttering and exciting confession than she'd imagined.
[Please give me a little time. I'll think about it positively.]
She had replied as she'd practiced, but Jae-gyu seemed to think she had already accepted, more or less.
However, after sending Jae-gyu off earlier, she belatedly remembered one thing she hadn't mentioned.
She had never once mentioned that she would be returning to Seoul next year. Only Choi Yi-jun knew about it.
"What would his reaction be if I told him...?"
Jae-gyu's affection for Shinsu-eup seemed special. And Bom, too, thought it would be good if Jae-gyu continued to live here, the place where he had first found peace of mind.
But I absolutely have to go back to Seoul next year.
As an inter-provincial exchange teacher, there was no way to extend her stay. Her return to Seoul was non-negotiable.
There was another problem.
Prosecutor Choi's family was inviting her to dinner soon.
Clear your entire schedule.
A message had arrived from her mother earlier. She'd replied that things were settled with Yi-jun, but it was like talking to a brick wall.
Perhaps Yi-jun was pushing for it. Bom felt frustrated. Maybe the refusal message she'd sent her mother earlier had been too gentle. While she was thinking about it, she opened the messenger app installed on her laptop.
Mom, I really have no intention of marrying Yi-jun. Please don't proceed with this on your own. I won't go to the dinner either.
And... Bom typed out the words she'd been debating whether to write, then hit send and closed the messenger.
I saw your drama comeback on TV. Congratulations.
She expected a call right away, but her phone remained silent. Bom decided to focus on something else for now.
"Let's find this first..."
Bom opened her internet browser and began searching. It was because of something Jae-gyu had mentioned in passing earlier. He'd asked if she wanted to go on a trip to the outskirts next week, since it was vacation season now. She was agonizing over where to go.
<Gyeongbuk Vacation Spots>
<Places to Visit in Namhae>
<Recommended Domestic Travel Destinations for August>
<...>
It was mostly mountains and seas. If she had to choose between the two, it would be the mountains.
Bom usually preferred the sea, but now, after visiting Jae-gyu's hometown, she liked the mountains more. It would be better to go to the sea with Jae-gyu a little later.
There are plenty of other nice places too.
Bom created a favorites folder and, losing track of time, dropped links to promising travel destinations into it.
Knock—knock-knock—knock-knock—
At the rhythmic knocking on the door, Bom-sik was the first to rush to the entrance. Bom looked up and was startled. It had grown dark outside.
When did it get so late?
Bom opened the front door, which Bom-sik was scratching at.
"Bom!"
Unlike earlier, Jae-gyu, now comfortably dressed in a functional tee and training pants, was laden with black plastic bags.
"You're back so soon, Jae-gyu. But when did you change clothes?"
Bom smiled brightly and let Jae-gyu inside.
"I stopped by my place. You changed clothes too, Bom."
"..."
Recalling the disheveled state she'd been in when she'd rushed out earlier while choosing clothes, Bom bit her lip. If only she'd been wearing proper homewear like now, but of all times, it had to be when he confessed...
"You were quite unique earlier."
"...I'll take that as a compliment."
Bom pointed at the black plastic bags.
"What's all that?"
"I had an appointment in town earlier, so I swept up mostly things you enjoyed eating before, Bom."
They went to the dining table, and Jae-gyu took out his purchases.
Market-style Charcoal-Grilled Seaweed, mung bean pancakes, firm peaches, corn rice cake bread, fresh blueberries...
"Do you know we missed all of 'Transferring from Solo to Couple'? We should really catch up on it. Shall we do it today?"
"Oh, 'Soljjak'? I was curious about it anyway."
When Bom said she wasn't hungry yet, Jae-gyu only washed the peaches and blueberries and brought them over. The two ate fruit while continuing to watch "Soljjak" from where they'd left off.
"Look at that event by Mr. Park. Ha... What do you think of something like that?"
It was still provocative and entertaining. At first, they sat side-by-side, but before long, Bom had her knees drawn up on the sofa, leaning into Jae-gyu's embrace as she watched the program.
"A public proposal. Han-gyeol said women absolutely detest things like that."
Currently, Mr. Park was enlisting friends to relay several handwritten letters he'd written to Ms. Yoo as part of his courtship.
In the past, she would have cringed, calling it tacky, but somehow, Bom's heart wavered.
"It looks nice."
"Really?"
"Yes. The very act of everyone around them trying to bring two people together with one heart and mind... that's a blessed connection, isn't it? It must mean they look good together to others."
As she spoke, she felt a pang of envy. The sight of a couple celebrated by everyone even looked adorable.
But separate from that, Mr. Park was far too lacking compared to Ms. Yoo. Not just in his resume, but everything else about him was subpar. In the end, Ms. Yoo screamed and ran away.
"She absolutely detests it."
"...Ms. Yoo was a bit too good for him, though."
Following this, other contestants' courtship scenes unfolded. The contestants they'd been watching closely took center stage.
"Wow, Mr. Kim and Mr. Choi are going after Ms. Moon until the very end. That's amazing."
Bom crunched on a peach slice that Jae-gyu had picked out and put into her mouth.
"If you're set on someone, you go all the way. People's tastes don't change easily."
"Have you ever been like that, Jae-gyu?"
"Can't you see right here?"
The hand that had been around Bom's shoulder subtly slid down to her waist, then slipped beneath her thin homewear.
Why is he suddenly like this?
Her thighs twitched at the subtle caress of his hand against her bare skin. She tried to pull Jae-gyu's hand away, but then the preview came on.
Since it was a rerun, she could continue watching by pressing the 'next episode' button. But no one pressed it.
The hand that had been caressing her waist had, before she knew it, moved up to gently cup her breast. His hot breath began to brush against her ear.