The Best Winter
Choi Seungtaek stared at his phone for the twentieth time that day.
“Still not picking up…”
Ever since Thursday, the day he had returned, he had kept texting and calling Park Gayoung. No answer.
“Haa…”
He let out a long sigh. The signal came through just fine. She hadn’t blocked him. She had simply chosen to ignore him.
The more he thought about it, the more his chest tightened. He was bleeding inside.
Ring.
Gayoung: Meet me at the café after 8 p.m. tomorrow.
‘She came! The ice finally melted!’
Seungtaek typed his reply as fast as he could.
Seungtaek: Okay, I got it…
Ring!
Gayoung: And stop texting or calling me. It’s annoying.
‘…’
Seungtaek stared at the screen, the words stuck in his throat. He had to delete them.
* * *
Ho-ro-rok.
Park Gayoung narrowed her eyes and sipped her coffee, staring straight at Seungtaek.
Kung!
‘Whoa!’
Unlike Gayoung, who slammed her coffee down hard, Seungtaek set his gently onto the table.
“Cough…”
‘I’m a criminal. I’m a criminal. I’m a criminal. I’m a criminal. Calm down, Seungtaek.’
He repeated the thought inside his head.
“Got anything to say?”
“Sorry.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
‘On your knees!’
In the finishing camp he had knelt hundreds of times. Right now, for her, he would not be able to stop.
Seungtaek dropped to his knees right there in the café.
“Whoa! Look at that!”
“Ooh…”
“Whoa… the man must have done something huge.”
“Just a girl finally caught him, huh?”
Seungtaek’s sudden performance turned every head in the café.
Startled by the sudden attention, Gayoung shot to her feet and poked Seungtaek’s shoulder.
“Stop it and get up. You’re embarrassing me. If you don’t, I’m leaving right now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Seungtaek sat back down in almost the same speed he had knelt.
Apologize big when you mess up. The effect was strong. The ice in Gayoung’s eyes cracked and her cheeks flushed slightly.
Of course, he had no idea if it was in the right direction.
“So… you’re not mad anymore?”
“No. Does this look like I’m not mad?”
“Then… can we just sit quietly?”
“Mhm.”
…
Seungtaek took another sip of his coffee.
Before he knew it, the cup was almost empty.
The bitterness of the iced Americano seemed to match his mood perfectly.
‘Still, there’s coffee to drink. Good thing. I’m used to black coffee anyway.’
The silence stretched on. Seungtaek tried again.
“Hey. Gayoung, why didn’t you answer yesterday?”
Kung!
Gayoung set her coffee down a little harder than before and glared at him.
‘Why are you asking that now?’
Seungtaek looked down.
‘…I’m such an idiot.’
It was a half-hearted protest that was quickly crushed.
“Ugh… one day feels too short. I waited two whole weeks. Right?”
Gayoung smiled softly.
That smile was even scarier.
“That’s because I was in Japan. It was hard to reach anyone. I mean, to use my phone there I had to get a new SIM card, so…”
“Is that an excuse? You weren’t trying to use a phone in Japan?”
“Exactly?”
“Then if I knew your number I could have called. Did you forget my number? Or did you just not save it?”
Seungtaek felt the pressure rising. He could hear the steam starting to come off Gayoung’s voice.
“That’s… because it’s always saved in my contacts, so I didn’t—”
“Ah! So you didn’t even save my number?”
“No! I did! 4547—”
Seungtaek racked his brain hard to remember her number.
“Saved it? Then why didn’t you call?”
‘…’
That was the only option left. There was no way to win.
“That’s… I mean…”
Seungtaek couldn’t keep up with her flashy attack and was stuttering.
In the end, he had only one thing he could say.
“I’m sorry.”
“Haaam…”
Gayoung glanced outside for a second, then looked back at him.
Her face had softened a little. She looked a bit tired.
“Actually it’s okay. I was just messing with you. I’m not mad at all.”
“Really?”
“…Yeah.”
‘What?’
Seungtaek wasn’t that stupid. He knew it wasn’t fully over.
Too frustrated to think straight, he splashed cold water on his face.
“Why? Still mad?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“I’m really not mad. I was pretending to be mad…”
* * *
Of course, after the CSAT, Gayoung had been hurt.
That same day she called everyone—family, relatives, friends—and spent the evening talking.
But the next day, and the day after, Seungtaek never called.
“How could he not even send one line saying he’s sorry?”
Frustrated, she finally called him first… but he didn’t pick up.
Of course Seungtaek had stopped coming to school at the end of October. He was just training with Daejeon Magpies, but she didn’t know exactly where.
Because he never called.
She had searched for him online anyway.
And there it was.
Pu-hut.
“Today’s photo of the completely screwed-up Daejeon Magpies players in Okinawa jpg.”
The internet was on fire with photos of the Magpies players training in Okinawa. Their harsh training had produced dozens of memes.
Especially Woo Jeong-geun’s “spawning season” crawl, and the endless dying poses of Magpies players, made even non-fans laugh.
And finally, she found Seungtaek.
In the ten-minute video titled “Blocking Machine,” she saw him.
The video was a three-hour blocking drill compressed into ten minutes. He moved like a zombie, eyes dead, blocking nonstop.
Because he finished the entire three hours without falling, the Magpies fans had made him a hot topic.
“Whoa! Insane. He did that for three hours?”
“His knees must be fine?”
“Amazing. He just kept going. He slowed down a bit but he made it.”
“He was first overall in the draft? He’s really good. No dropped balls in three hours.”
“Hee… guess Japan made him slow down.”
Although she was still a little hurt, seeing him panting like that made her feel sorry for him.
So she decided to wait a little longer.
* * *
“Not mad. Just a little mischievous. So… how have you been, Seungtaek?”
Finally Gayoung called him by name.
“Eh… you’re really not mad?”
“I’m not mad. I’m really mad.”
“Okay! I’ve been fine. Well… actually not so fine… I mean… I mean…”
Seungtaek wanted to say something, but his head was still a mess.
“You didn’t want to see me?”
“I did want to see you.”
“Got anything else to say?”
Seungtaek looked at her.
Dduk.
Gayoung’s cold gaze from earlier vanished and the classroom version of her returned.
Dduk, dduk, dduk.
Seungtaek felt his heart get heavier.
But every time he looked at her face, the strength came back.
Dduk. Dduk. Dduk.
“Let’s date. I waited for this day only.”
* * *
Seungtaek was getting dressed.
“Son, what good news is this?”
“Yeah! Mom, I have a date today. I’ll eat dinner and come back.”
His mother immediately noticed something was different.
“Don’t tell me you have a girlfriend?”
‘What?! How did she know that fast?!’
“N-no!”
“Not a no. Go have fun. Mom will give you pocket money.”
Seungtaek thought for a moment.
But he had to accept the money. Otherwise she’d be disappointed.
“Yes! Please! I’m getting my mom’s money today.”
His mother pressed ten thousand won into his hand.
“Mom, you’re giving too much…”
“Too much? You don’t have money yet. Take it while I can give it.”
“Yes!”
His family wasn’t rich, so he didn’t have anything nice to wear.
Reluctantly he picked the best Daejeon Magpies training outfit he could find.
“But, Seungtaek.”
“Mom, why?”
“You’re going to meet a girl in that?”
“Yeah! It’s cool! Plus I’m a pro now!”
“Mom will give you more. Go out early and buy something pretty.”
Because of his serious expression, his mother decided on a bold purchase.
Thanks to her, Seungtaek felt human again.
He wore a decent shirt and a decent jacket and headed to meet Gayoung.
His confession from yesterday had succeeded.
Late at night, he sent Gayoung home. Tonight they were watching a movie and eating dinner.
Seungtaek headed toward the theater where they had agreed to meet.
The weather was cool, but he still wore the same beige slacks and neat shirt and jacket from earlier.
Seungtaek admired Gayoung’s elegant figure for a moment, then walked up to her.
Gayoung glared at him.
“You’re late.”
“Cough… sorry. I got distracted.”
But Gayoung smiled softly at him.
“I know! I was surprised you came looking like that. I’ll let you off this time. You look great. Let’s go!”
Gayoung took his arm and Seungtaek followed her straight into the theater.
It was the most warm and satisfying start to winter he could have imagined.