Chapter 123
— What time is it now?
“…Five.”
— When were we supposed to meet?
“……Four thirty.”
Ha Seorim quietly watched Lee Seungho.
This was the first time she had seen him so flustered.
It was interesting to watch him in this unfamiliar state, but it also felt pitiful to leave him like that.
‘I guess I should help him.’
Ha Seorim rose from her seat and went into the bathroom.
It was a suitable distance away, and the echo would make it feel more like the real thing.
“Ahem.”
Ha Seorim lightly cleared her throat. Then she raised her voice in the direction of the call.
“Sunbae~ The people for the next shift are here. The manager says you can clock out now.”
At Ha Seorim’s voice, Lee Seungho’s eyes widened.
He was quick to catch on, so he must have realized what was going on.
— …Are you working part-time right now?
“……”
At the question, Lee Seungho’s eyes darted around.
He cautiously glanced at her.
“…No, it’s okay. I just finished.”
— Ah… really?
Hearing that he had been working, the voice on the other end softened a little.
At least he hadn’t simply forgotten.
“Sorry, I should’ve contacted you beforehand.”
Lee Seungho seized the opportunity and quickly apologized.
“I’ll run over.”
— No, no, it’s raining, so take your time.
The conversation continued much more gently than before.
— Then I’ll wait at the café that just opened on the first floor.
“Okay, got it.”
The call ended there.
“……Phew.”
With a heavy exhale, the tension left Lee Seungho’s body.
“The person who called was Sunbae Shin Ayoung, right? Did you two have plans?”
“We go to the same gym. We were supposed to work out together today, but….”
“You forgot?”
“…Yeah.”
Lee Seungho nodded and confessed.
“……”
Ha Seorim felt sorry, wondering if he had forgotten because of her.
“It was me who forgot, so don’t worry about it.”
Perhaps he had read her expression. Lee Seungho said that to her.
‘He works out…?’
Ha Seorim looked at his shoulders.
Shin Ayoung and Lee Seungho both certainly had the physiques of people who worked out.
He had also grown noticeably bigger than she remembered.
‘…Somehow, he seems to be getting bigger and bigger.’
What on earth did he eat to end up like that?
“……”
Gulp, gulp—
Lee Seungho downed the maesil tea in one go, hurrying to leave.
“Phew—That was good.”
He rose and picked up the coat he had left off.
He clearly seemed ready to go.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I’d better hurry.”
As he adjusted his shoes, he remembered the subject they had discussed earlier.
“Oh, I’ll send you the video when I get home later.”
“You can send it whenever you have time.”
It wasn’t urgent, so she didn’t mind if he sent it when he had a moment.
“You have my email, right? Can you send it through DM?”
“DM?”
“…Ah, are we not following each other?”
“…I’ll follow you.”
“No, you don’t have to. Just send it through chat.”
Lee Seungho shook his head.
He didn’t seem to care either way, but she did.
“…I’ll send it by DM later.”
“Okay, then.”
He wore an expression that said she could do whatever she wanted—he really didn’t care how.
“I’m off. See you next week.”
Lee Seungho raised a hand slightly as he opened the front door.
Ha Seorim gave him a small bow.
“Get home safely.”
He went out through the front door.
Click.
The door quietly closed.
And silence settled over the house.
“……”
That was that, but there were still things she had to do.
Ha Seorim turned around.
As she went to switch off the electric mat she had left on,
‘…He turned it off before he left?’
The power was already off.
The blanket had already been folded as well.
He was quick. He’d tidied everything up in the meantime.
“…Hmm.”
He was quite conscientious about saving money. She liked that about him.
‘Then all I have to do is wash the dishes.’
Ha Seorim picked up the cups he had left behind and carried them to the kitchen.
Whoooosh—
She continued washing the dishes amid the clattering.
It was only two cups. It wasn’t difficult at all.
“……?”
Ding—dii-ring—
Just as she finished washing the dishes,
as she was setting the wet cups upside down on the rack, her phone rang inside her pocket.
Ha Seorim dried her wet hands and took out her phone.
“……Ah.”
[Yoo Haneul]
That name was displayed on the screen.
Someone who had been deeply connected to Lee Seungho, who had been in this house until moments ago.
His former almost-girlfriend.
Dii-ring—dii-ring—
It wasn’t strange for her to be calling. They sometimes chatted on the phone and got caught up in conversation.
“……”
Ha Seorim’s eyelashes lowered.
Normally, she would have answered right away, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to reach for it.
An odd dilemma had arisen.
Was it because the Lee Seungho she had seen was vaguely different from the person Haneul had described to her?
Some of what Yoo Haneul had said was true. But much of it wasn’t.
‘……To begin with.’
Why did Yoo Haneul hate Lee Seungho so much?
As far as Ha Seorim remembered, she hadn’t always been like that.
She had even defended him when bad rumors about him were going around school.
At some point. From some moment onward….
“……Ah.”
As she continued pondering, the call ended.
“……”
…Never mind. I’ll contact her later.
* * *
“Then I’ll wait at the café that just opened on the first floor.”
Shin Ayoung ended the call and put down her phone.
Lee Seungah looked at her and asked,
“What did Oppa say?”
“I think he just finished his part-time job. He says he’ll be here soon.”
“Really? Then how long will it take?”
“Um… Probably about twenty minutes? It’s quite a distance from here.”
“Hmm.”
Twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes, huh.
“Whew.”
Even as Lee Seungah sighed, she felt the corners of her mouth gradually lifting.
The later he arrived, the less time they would have to work out.
She couldn’t help but be happy.
Of course, even so, it was too much to make them wait like this.
“He could’ve at least texted.”
At Lee Seungah’s grumbling, Shin Ayoung rolled her eyes nervously.
“…M-Maybe Seungho was busy, too? It is the weekend….”
She was subtly taking his side.
“……”
Lee Seungah’s head slowly turned. Her eyes curved into half-moons as she looked at Shin Ayoung.
Just a moment ago, she had been grumbling about Lee Seungho being late, but somehow she had already cheered up.
It was almost frightening.
“Let’s go.”
Lee Seungah led the way to the café.
There was a newly opened shop below the gym. As they had told Lee Seungho, they could kill time there.
Jingle~
When they stepped inside, a neat interior caught their eye.
Even though it had just opened, quite a few people were seated, perhaps because it was the weekend.
“What do you want to eat, unni?”
Lee Seungah turned her head while tapping the kiosk.
“Ah, I’m fine.”
Shin Ayoung shook her head.
“It feels a little wrong to snack before working out… Besides, I’m trying to lose weight these days.”
“…You? Why?”
“I should start taking care of myself in advance.”
Shin Ayoung replied with a smile.
“Hmm.”
Lee Seungah let out a nasal hum.
Somehow, it felt like a mere excuse.
Could it be related to Lee Seungho? She naturally continued along that line of reasoning.
……Could Sol unni have started working out?
“……”
No, maybe not.
Lee Seungah shook her head inwardly.
‘…Sol unni?’
It made no sense.
She couldn’t picture Sol exercising by herself.
Unless Lee Seungho suggested doing it together, or someone else forced her to, it probably would never happen.
‘I don’t know.’
Well, it wasn’t particularly important.
Shin Ayoung must have another reason for exercising.
“But you look fine even now. It doesn’t seem like you need to lose any weight….”
“Really? Oh, come on—it’s not like I’m that slim….”
Shin Ayoung gave an embarrassed smile at the compliment.
“No, I mean it.”
But Lee Seungah was sincere.
She truly was. It wasn’t something she was saying out of politeness.
“…Besides, if you lose weight by starving yourself, you’ll only lose it from your chest.”
Lee Seungah narrowed her eyes and let out a mischievous laugh.
“…!?”
Shin Ayoung’s eyes flew wide open.
“Seungah…!”
Perhaps she hadn’t expected her to bring up such a subject here. She whispered with an embarrassed expression.
She smacked Lee Seungah’s arm several times.
“Okay, okay. I won’t.”
Lee Seungah snickered.
Teasing her was more fun than she had expected.
“So what are you going to do? Are you getting something? Or should I just order mine?”
“……”
Shin Ayoung hesitated briefly, then her throat bobbed once.
“…Then, just one café mocha.”
She ordered it in a small voice.
“A café mocha. Hot?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Seungah selected the item, looking perplexed.
“But do you like this, too, unni? Oppa gets this a lot.”
“……Mm-hmm.”
Shin Ayoung answered in the affirmative after a subtle pause.
At that, Lee Seungah narrowed her eyes.
‘…Could it be.’
Did she know that Lee Seungho liked it and want to try it herself?
If that was the case….
“……”
Lee Seungah gave Shin Ayoung a small smile.
Her expression was usually always the same, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
But whenever the conversation turned to Lee Seungho, her expression cracked open as if a seam had split.
‘She’s kind of cute.’
It was fun getting a glimpse of her true feelings through that opening.
A charm entirely different from Lee Sol’s.
She found herself wondering who she should root for.
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(There’s an illustration if you scroll down!)
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Café Alone ver.