Chapter 295
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 295
Chapter Title: Our Spring Has Returned
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Song Yujeong, just like any other day, settled in front of the television while on the phone with Im Yena.
“I heard the sneakers Seojun wore are completely sold out, right?”
-Yeah. Even though they only show up for a second, everyone manages to find and buy them. I had to go around to offline stores just to get a pair.
“I wish they’d restock soon.”
-I want to buy a few more pairs, too. I wonder when they'll be available again.
Song Yujeong and Im Yena chatted away while the MBS channel, still on commercials, played in the background.
“It hasn’t started yet, right?”
Then, Song Yujeong’s mother.
“Yeah. Still a little while.”
-Hello, ma’am!
Im Yena, the master persuader, greeted her from the other end of the line.
“Mom, Yena said she bought Seojun’s sneakers.”
“Really?”
Song Yujeong’s mother’s eyes widened.
‘Spring Has Returned,’ which had been airing from April to now, May, was showing a tremendous promotional effect.
Items were selling out right from the first broadcast. This was especially true for the sneakers Lee Seojun wore. The firepower was enough to make the sneaker brand, which had prepared for it, gasp in amazement.
“The news even said the sneakers sold out incredibly fast…”
-Ehehehe.
Im Yena laughed shyly.
As they chatted about this and that, the commercials flew by.
“It’s starting!”
The opening sequence, familiar from being rewatched so many times, passed, and the final episode of ‘Spring Has Returned’ began.
* * *
-Did you get a boyfriend?
“No?”
Kim Seoyeon, getting ready for work, raised her voice at her mother’s words. The moment she heard her mother, another person, along with Yoo Seongjin, unconsciously came to mind.
“A boyfriend? Out of nowhere!”
-It’s just that your voice sounds brighter. It’s been a long time since you’ve talked with me on the phone for this long, too.
Kim Seoyeon, who was heading toward the entrance, paused.
-Whenever you called, you’d always say in a listless voice, ‘Nothing’s wrong,’ ‘I’m fine,’ or ‘I have to go, I’m busy with work.’
“That’s because… I really was busy.”
-And you’re not busy now?
She was busy.
Busier than ever.
But unlike usual, it felt like she had found some peace of mind.
-Anyway, you look much better now. I’m curious who changed my daughter like this, so introduce us soon. Your dad’s curious too.
“Ah, I told you I don’t have a boyfriend!”
Hearing the laughter in her mother’s voice, Kim Seoyeon couldn’t help but laugh as well.
“She’s right.”
Since when had she been able to laugh like this?
At the edge of Kim Seoyeon’s gaze stood a yellow umbrella.
* * *
“Let’s take a short break.”
In the middle of the shoot, Director Choi Yowon called for a break.
The brightly smiling models bowed and headed to one side of the set. Kim Seoyeon explained the storyboard to them and pointed out areas that needed improvement during the shoot.
The models, who had been cast on short notice, were a currently popular idol group. The client had chosen this concept again from the many storyboards proposed by Planning Team 3.
“Still, it’s a relief the shoot is ending today. The new models are doing great, and the agency staff are all working hard.”
“I know.”
While replying to the staff member, Director Choi Yowon’s gaze never left Kim Seoyeon.
Just then, someone else entered Director Choi Yowon’s line of sight. It was Team Leader Lee Hyunseong, who was looking at Kim Seoyeon just as he was.
A staff member from the planning team called out to Team Leader Lee Hyunseong. His head turned to the side.
Kim Seoyeon, who was explaining things to the idols, looked up, glanced around, and then her eyes fell on Team Leader Lee Hyunseong talking with the staff member.
Seeing the two of them, Director Choi Yowon, more sensitive to gazes than anyone else here, gave a bitter smile.
* * *
The shoot resumed.
Kim Seoyeon, who had been watching the idols, turned her head. She could see Team Leader Lee Hyunseong looking at the set with a serious expression.
As if sensing her gaze, Team Leader Lee Hyunseong turned his head. Startled, Kim Seoyeon tried to look away, but for some reason, her head wouldn't move. It was as if her body had frozen solid.
Kim Seoyeon felt as though she had seen that look in his eyes somewhere before.
Scritch, scritch.
The sound of a mechanical pencil on paper could be heard, and warm sunlight streamed through the window.
Yoo Seongjin looked up.
He watched Kim Seoyeon studying with a serious expression, a gentle smile on his face, before lowering his head again.
Kim Seoyeon looked up.
She watched Yoo Seongjin lightly brush his hair back, as if struggling with a difficult problem, and smiled before lowering her head again.
Like that, they watched each other, unbeknownst to one another,
until finally, their eyes met.
Ah.
It was first love.
* * *
“Well then, great work today, everyone.”
“Everyone, get home safe!”
“Don’t get caught in the rain!”
The company dinner for Planning Team 3 and the film crew, celebrating the successful wrap-up of the shoot, came to an end.
“Seoyeon. Good work.”
“You too, Director. You worked really hard.”
Seeing Kim Seoyeon’s bright smile, Director Choi Yowon’s lips twitched for a moment before he gave a bitter smile.
“Well, get home safely.”
“You too, Director. Get home safe.”
Starting with Director Choi Yowon, people began to head home one by one. Someone asked Kim Seoyeon.
“Assistant Manager. How are you getting home?”
“Oh, I was planning to take the bus from the stop just ahead.”
“Then let’s go together.”
Kim Seoyeon nodded at Team Leader Lee Hyunseong’s words.
And so, Kim Seoyeon and Team Leader Lee Hyunseong walked side by side toward the bus stop.
Rain was falling.
It wasn’t too late, and she had only had a few drinks. Walking with Team Leader Lee Hyunseong, her mind quite clear, Kim Seoyeon recalled that day.
That day, she was on her way home after studying with Yoo Seongjin at the library. They walked side by side, each holding their own umbrella. Just walking together felt so good.
At the bus stop, Kim Seoyeon got on the bus first.
“Kim Seoyeon!”
“Huh? What is it?”
She couldn’t open the window because of the rain. The bus was quite crowded, and an announcement was playing over the speakers.
Hearing Yoo Seongjin call her name, eighteen-year-old Kim Seoyeon pressed herself against the glass window.
Through the window, she could see Yoo Seongjin.
The wind blew. His yellow umbrella tilted to block the gust.
Soon, the yellow umbrella lifted back up.
Beneath it, the boy she loved,
was smiling so sweetly.
Seeing him, Kim Seoyeon held her breath and couldn't hear the boy's voice.
It might have been because of the bus engine, the voices of the other passengers, or the announcement from the speakers.
The bus started to move, and she saw Yoo Seongjin waving.
“…I’ll have to ask him at school tomorrow. What he said.”
Leaning her forehead against the glass, watching him until he was out of sight, eighteen-year-old Kim Seoyeon, with her cheeks flushed, smiled faintly.
But Kim Seoyeon never got to ask.
Because,
Yoo Seongjin left, just like that.
* * *
The rain pattered down.
Kim Seoyeon, recalling the image of her homeroom teacher announcing Yoo Seongjin’s transfer, opened her mouth.
“Team Leader ‘Lee Hyunseong.’”
The unusual emphasis on his name was surely not just her imagination.
“Yes?”
“Do you, by any chance, know the name Yoo Seongjin?”
At Kim Seoyeon’s question, Team Leader Lee Hyunseong stopped walking and slowly turned his head.
Kim Seoyeon looked at him, her face tense with anticipation.
The rain fell.
Raindrops pattered on the two clear umbrellas they had bought from a convenience store.
Beneath them, Team Leader Lee Hyunseong smiled.
Just like on that rainy day.
He smiled just like the boy who had smiled from outside the bus.
“It’s been a while, Seoyeon.”
* * *
Kim Seoyeon and Lee Hyunseong went into a nearby café.
They placed their umbrellas in the stand by the entrance and took a seat by the window. Lee Hyunseong familiarly ordered a peach drink and a coffee.
“I have so many questions…”
“Ask me anything.”
“…When did you know it was me?”
“You can speak casually.”
Lee Hyunseong said with a smile, then searched his memory.
“When we first met, your face looked similar, so I wasn't sure, but then your name was the same, so I started paying attention. Then I realized you were *that* Kim Seoyeon.”
Just as Kim Seoyeon had seen Yoo Seongjin in Lee Hyunseong, he must have seen the eighteen-year-old Kim Seoyeon in her. She nodded.
“Um. Can I ask why you gave me that project? You knew I’d already been rejected for a similar product plan.”
She was talking about her first rejected plan.
“Because I knew the Kim Seoyeon I remember would do a great job, even on something she’d failed at once before.”
“People change. It’s already been fourteen years.”
The eighteen-year-old Kim Seoyeon who laughed and chatted with friends, experienced a fresh first love, helped others, and was full of life and confidence—she had passed through so much time, endured hardships, felt despair, and been disappointed in herself, becoming the worn-down thirty-two-year-old Kim Seoyeon.
Lee Hyunseong smiled bitterly at her words and nodded.
“The proposal before the revisions was good, so I thought you’d do well as long as no one interfered.”
Fiddling with her glass at his words, Kim Seoyeon finally asked the question she really wanted to ask.
“…Why did you leave without a word?”
After they parted ways on Sunday, she had to hear the news of Yoo Seongjin’s transfer at school on Monday. He had left before they could even take the final exams they had studied so hard for together.
Lee Hyunseong’s expression clouded over.
“It’s similar to the reason I transferred to Korea in the first place.”
“…What was that?”
It was a question her eighteen-year-old self had never asked Yoo Seongjin, out of consideration for his tense demeanor.
“My parents divorced when I was in elementary school. My mother stayed in Korea, and I went to America with my father. When I was in high school, my father remarried and sent me to Korea, to my mother.”
It was a decision made without any discussion.
When his father handed him the plane ticket, Yoo Seongjin had no choice but to take it with trembling hands.
“As a minor, I had no choice but to obey.”
Kim Seoyeon fought back the curse that was about to escape her lips.
Lee Hyunseong seemed to notice and smiled faintly. He didn't know how long it had taken for him to be able to smile so calmly about it.
“It was the same that day. This time, my mother sent me to America. When I got home, all my bags were packed, and everything was already arranged.”
Faced with his mother’s cold gaze, eighteen-year-old Yoo Seongjin could do nothing.
Taking the finals with Seoyeon, comparing scores, spending their senior year together, studying, taking the college entrance exam, going to university, and maybe even longer, much longer…
On the bus to the airport, Yoo Seongjin finally broke down and cried.
“I thought about contacting you… but I wasn’t in my right mind back then.”
Life in America wasn’t good either.
The hardened, thirty-two-year-old Lee Hyunseong swallowed his words and looked at Kim Seoyeon.
“But thanks to you, I was able to endure it.”
You were my spring.
And because I knew a warm spring, I could survive the cold winter.
At Yoo Seongjin’s—no, Lee Hyunseong’s—gaze, so warm it was almost hot, Kim Seoyeon’s eyes trembled.
“So when I realized you were *that* Kim Seoyeon, I hoped you would smile as brightly as you used to.”
Lee Hyunseong could never forget the dark expression on Kim Seoyeon’s face that first day. He wanted to bring her back to her old self. To the lively, kind, and brightly smiling eighteen-year-old Kim Seoyeon.
“But I realized that was just my own selfish wish.”
The man who had been forced to leave for America without even saying goodbye to his friends, whose name had been changed from Yoo Seongjin to Lee Hyunseong due to his parents’ selfishness, smiled bitterly.
“Telling someone to live brightly can be a burden in itself. So I decided to just help you from a distance.”
At first, it just felt like meeting an old friend after a long time. The memories from fourteen years ago were too distant, and the feelings had faded.
But it wasn’t long before Lee Hyunseong fell in love with Kim Seoyeon all over again.
And today, on the set, just like fourteen years ago, he realized they had fallen in love with each other once more.
“Ah, I wanted to do this in a cooler way…”
He hadn’t expected Kim Seoyeon to ask him so directly. Lee Hyunseong, who had been rubbing his dry face for a moment, lowered his hands and looked at her.
“Seoyeon. Kim Seoyeon.”
Lee Hyunseong smiled shyly, but his gaze never left Kim Seoyeon.
At his soft call, Kim Seoyeon’s heart pounded.
“I like you.”
Ah.
Now she knew.
The words Yoo Seongjin had murmured from outside the bus.
The words she couldn’t hear that day.
Beneath the yellow umbrella.
The boy in love smiled as brightly as a newly blossomed flower and said.
‘Seoyeon. I like you.’
Memories of Yoo Seongjin were sparked by seeing Lee Hyunseong and Choi Yowon, and as those memories led to others, Kim Seoyeon realized that her life, too, had once been filled with such happy and warm days.
She had been so buried in the busy and difficult ‘present’ that she had forgotten those happy memories.
Kim Seoyeon’s life hadn’t always been difficult.
Looking back on her past, prompted by the memory of Yoo Seongjin, gave Kim Seoyeon the strength to carry on.
She could finally say the words she couldn't say back then.
“I like you, too.”
Thirty-two-year-old Kim Seoyeon beamed, her eyes welling up with tears, just like her eighteen-year-old self.
At her smile, Lee Hyunseong also smiled brightly, just like the boy from that day.
Beneath the café’s yellow awning.
Through the glass window, the image of the two people sitting face to face was shown on screen.
The difficult winter passed,
and it had finally returned.
Our spring.
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