Chapter 11.2

“You will catch a cold if you stay like this in this weather.”

A sudden voice woke Yoo-hwa up from her thoughts. On her lap was a coat, which she did now know when it had been placed. Yoo-hwa, who lost her chance to be surprised, turned her head to see Woo-hyun’s profile, crouching next to her. Except for the grandma next door, it had been a long time since someone had sat next to her like this, so it was unfamiliar.

Was it because of the slight excitement that came from the small realization? Or was it because she had been distracted by thoughts of the past?

Unlike usual, Yoo-hwa looked at Woo-hyun without saying a word.

His profile was beautiful, as if someone had painted it. Even in middle school, he was famous for his handsome looks. The pure and soft feeling from that time disappeared, and a deep and bold masculinity was felt.

Amid that, his life, which was not easy, felt tenuous.

“… Why are you like that?”

After Yoo-hwa asked in a hoarse voice, Woo-hyun turned his head and made eye contact.

“Because you were like that.”

“…”

“Here.”

Woo-hyun held out the plastic bag with Yoo-hwa’s groceries that he had at some point picked up. It was then that Yoo-hwa realized that she had thrown away the plastic bag with her groceries.

“… Thanks.”

Yoo-hwa reached out and grabbed the bag. Their fingers touched unintentionally. She felt pain as the warmth reached her frozen fingertips. Yoo-hwa hurriedly pulled the bag towards her.

“You bought kimchi.”

Yoo-hwa hurriedly blocked the opening of the plastic bag, but there was nothing she could do about what he had already seen. It was the kimchi she bought after unconsciously saying, ‘Just a moment.’, in front of the checkout counter. While making excuses that she also needed it.

“Share it with me tomorrow.”

“…”

“I will give you cup ramyeon.”

“…”

Woo-hyun continued to speak, but Yoo-hwa did not answer.

“It’s burdensome inside the house, so let’s just eat ramyeon outside.”

“… Why? Why do you want to eat with me?”

Yoo-hwa asked while making eye contact with Woo-hyun. Why does he want to eat with her, whom everyone says is scary and disgusting? Doesn’t she smell like death? Isn’t he scared? Yoo-hwa asked, suppressing all her questions.

“I told you. I don’t like eating alone.”

Yoo-hwa smiled weakly at Woo-hyun’s answer. It was such a brief answer that it was difficult to ask any further questions. But there wasn’t an answer that was more accurate than that.

Although it was something easy to get used to, eating alone was always lonely.

Yoo-hwa looked at Woo-hyun silently. No intentions could be read on his soft expression. She had the ridiculous thought that if it was Woo-hyun, he might really just want to eat together.

“It’s a promise.”

Woo-hyun said lightly, getting up. It didn’t seem like he was moving carefully on purpose, but there was almost no sound in Woo-hyun’s movements. So, unless he gave her a sign, she couldn’t tell when he had approached her.

Yoo-hwa tilted her head back to see him standing up.

“See you at lunch tomorrow. Around one o’clock.”

After Woo-hyun spoke as if he was informing her, he went into his room. As if he had thought of something while walking, Woo-hyun turned around.

“Don’t worry about the restroom. You can’t do it with your strength anyway. I will take care of it.”

After leaving those words, Woo-hyun went inside the room without hesitating. Yoo-hwa, who was left alone, stared at Woo-hyun’s closed door.

She had a promise with someone, after a long time.

At the question that carelessly came to her mind, a wind blew through her heart.

***

When he opened the restroom door, a foul smell came out. No matter how much it was cleaned, the disgusting smell did not go away in the old and worn-out restroom.

When Woo-hyun opened the restroom door early in the morning, there was no sound in Yoo-hwa’s house. The public bathroom was the farthest from Yoo-hwa’s house, so he couldn’t hear anything.

Collapsed on the floor, barely avoiding the toilet, the ungrateful old lady’s clothes were soaked with vomit. And it had been a while, so the contents were dry. Even seeing the frown on her face, Woo-hyun’s face was placid. He didn’t care because he had lived seeing more than this.

“Wake up, old lady.”

The old lady, who had fallen asleep from tiredness, woke up at Woo-hyun’s words. After blinking a few times, anger spread in the woman’s eyes.

“You, you bastard!”

Getting strength from somewhere, the old lady jumped up and rushed towards Woo-hyun. Even though she stumbled and fell on the toilet bowl, she was so angry that she didn’t notice. However, the ungrateful woman’s arm was caught by Woo-hyun. She tried turning her body around, but she couldn’t move like she was handcuffed. Instead, she felt pain until her wrist snapped.

“You, you! I’m going to report you! You bastard! You fucking bastard! Why are you interfering? Are you that woman’s husband? Ahh, did you fall in love in the meantime? She’s not a woman who stays still in a corner with a pretty face. She lives by spreading her legs anywhere in order to put food in her mouth…”

“Where do you want to be buried?”

The woman’s words stopped abruptly at the monotonous voice. The old lady, who paused for a moment at the sudden rush of fear, argued even more angrily as if to shake off the chill.

“You! You dare threaten me? You’re like a playboy with a good-looking face! Oh, it turns out that she didn’t spread her legs, you were shaking them around? Crazy bastard. You have to see where you rub it! That worthless…”