Chapter 139 – Episode 139 – Dajeong Is Kind (9)
“I received the card~.”
Seeing Yoon Yoo-jung’s brightly smiling face, Jang Ye-hwa’s suspicion solidified into complete certainty.
The format of the name starting with ‘Yoon’ and ending with ‘Jung,’ and their very similar appearances.
The same goes for their smiles.
While nothing is absolute, the two were highly likely to be sisters.
Not only their looks and names, but also the girl named Yoon Da-jeong came to the cafe every day.
Judging by her behavior, it seemed like she came straight to the cafe after school.
‘I wondered what she was doing going up to the second floor every time…’
Jang Ye-hwa had witnessed her going inside the employee area today.
It was an employee area that ordinary people couldn’t enter.
Seeing her go in there every day, it was practically a confirmed fact that she knew an employee at the cafe.
If that acquaintance was Yoon Yoo-jung, there was no doubt that they were sisters.
‘Ugh…’
Ye-hwa groaned inwardly.
Suddenly, she remembered what happened last week.
When the girl named Yoon Da-jeong sat next to her.
She had a very sulky expression and said, ‘Jinhyeon oppa is a dummy.’
While Jang Ye-hwa considered Cheon Jin-hyeon a trashy playboy, she was still quite curious about him.
How did he win over Su-jeong?
His sudden change in appearance, physique, and height.
And the cafe’s huge success as well.
When she first saw him, he was just an unremarkable guy, but what happened that suddenly made him open a cafe like this and make it a success?
Even the part-timers seemed to be well-chosen, all of them being kind people.
Therefore, Ye-hwa was bothered by Yoon Da-jeong’s comment. What did she mean by ‘dummy’?
Honestly, it might not be a big deal.
According to her deduction, Yoon Da-jeong, who called him a dummy, was Yoon Yoo-jung’s younger sister, and her sister, Yoon Yoo-jung, worked here.
She might have simply been turned down after asking for a free drink by mentioning her sister to the cafe owner, Cheon Jin-hyeon, and then sulked and called him a dummy.
Unlike that time, she seemed to be in a very good mood today.
‘Okay. Whew. Let’s not pay attention to it.’
Jang Ye-hwa tried to shake off her curiosity and waited for her turn.
“Earl Grey Milk Tea Ice is ready. Enjoy~.”
Receiving the milk tea that came out shortly after, Jang Ye-hwa went up to the second floor.
As she started working with her headphones on, all the previous miscellaneous thoughts flew away.
This cafe is indeed good for working.
“Whew…”
After focusing on her work for a little over an hour, Ye-hwa took a short break.
She took off her headphones, stretched lightly, and looked around.
Amidst the still crowded space, she suddenly saw two people coming out of the employee area.
‘…Huh?’
Both of them were familiar faces.
Cheon Jin-hyeon, Su-jeong’s boyfriend, and Yoon Yoo-jung, the one he had an affair with.
Jang Ye-hwa frowned slightly at the sight of them and thought to herself.
‘Is Cheon Jin-hyeon always inside the employee area?’
That was probably why she had never seen him in the cafe before. He probably made the part-timers do all the work while he just sat around and played.
Of course, she didn’t think she had the right to say anything about that. He had hired them fairly with money.
Jang Ye-hwa didn’t want to make eye contact with Cheon Jin-hyeon, so she kept looking at her laptop.
Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung were talking about something with smiling faces as they went down the cafe stairs.
She was still suspicious of their relationship, but they were the owner and an employee. It wasn’t that strange for them to come out of the employee area together and go downstairs.
“Huh…?”
After Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung went down, she was stretching again when she saw another person come out of the employee area.
This time, it was Yoon Da-jeong.
Stealthily.
She walked with a strange gait and headed towards the stairs, following Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung, who had gone down earlier.
Reaching the stairs, she peeked at the first floor, then took a step down, then peeked again, repeating the process.
Then, she suddenly rushed down the stairs.
‘What is she doing, moving like that…?’
Was she playing hide-and-seek?
It felt like she was monitoring someone.
‘Jinhyeon oppa is a dummy…’
“…”
Along with the word ‘monitoring,’ a phrase Yoon Da-jeong had said echoed in Jang Ye-hwa’s mind once again.
Her curiosity was greatly stimulated.
However, Jang Ye-hwa endured and shook her head again.
‘Let’s not… pay attention to it…’
Yoon Da-jeong disappeared completely from Ye-hwa’s sight, and Jang Ye-hwa, who had been watching her, started working again.
She drank the milk tea she had brought up and tapped on her laptop.
As a result, Ye-hwa was able to successfully finish her work.
“…”
However.
The following Monday too.
Tuesday as well.
Even Wednesday and Thursday.
Watching Yoon Da-jeong move as if she was monitoring Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung all week, Jang Ye-hwa couldn’t help but pay attention.
Every day, a little after 5:30, Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung came out of the employee area together, and Yoon Da-jeong came out a little later and moved as if she was monitoring them.
She never thought that her pattern of working at the studio first and then finishing up at the cafe in the evening would come back to bite her like this.
Friday.
Ye-hwa was working on her laptop on the second floor of Cafe Delia today as well.
‘They’re out.’
The difference from before was that she didn’t come to the cafe just for work.
When it was past 5:30, Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung came out of the employee area.
Seeing that, Jang Ye-hwa packed her bag, including her laptop and other belongings, in advance.
Yoon Da-jeong came out a little later.
As expected, Yoon Da-jeong followed them down the stairs, showing a gait as if she was concerned about the two who had gone ahead.
Jang Ye-hwa stealthily followed behind her.
She left the cafe, crossed the crosswalk, keeping a certain distance, and walked along the street.
After about seven minutes, a shabby alley appeared.
‘What am I even doing right now.’
The thought briefly crossed her mind, but since she had already followed them this far, it felt awkward to turn back now.
This was basically a well-developed city, but there were still old places like this scattered around.
‘How long do I have to follow them until…?’
Ye-hwa, who was thinking to herself, froze slightly as she turned the corner of the alley.
At the end of the alley, Yoon Da-jeong’s figure was visible, slightly peeking out.
However, her appearance was different from before.
She was covering her mouth with one hand.
Her trembling eyes looked like she was in shock.
Ye-hwa, who had good eyesight, could see her expression clearly.
An expression mixed with sadness and surprise.
Then, tears like chicken droppings streamed down her cheeks.
‘Is she crying?’
Jang Ye-hwa quickened her pace.
Yoon Da-jeong was already focused on looking beyond the alley.
Jang Ye-hwa quickly approached her and looked around the corner of the alley.
‘Ah…’
A kiss.
Cheon Jin-hyeon and Yoon Yoo-jung were kissing.
It wasn’t as shocking as when she first saw Cheon Jin-hyeon with another woman who wasn’t Su-jeong.
Jang Ye-hwa quickly took out her phone.
Their kiss lasted long enough for her to take plenty of pictures.
‘Well, they say people don’t change.’
There was no room for conversation.
This time, she didn’t need to talk to Cheon Jin-hyeon; she had to tell Su-jeong right away.
‘It’s better this way.’
Surely, Su-jeong wouldn’t forgive a man who cheated on her twice. She had to get rid of that man cleanly, and Su-jeong had to meet someone decent.
However…
Jang Ye-hwa looked at the girl who was crying.
A girl with a cute face.
Seeing her cry after witnessing their kiss, it seemed like this girl, Yoon Da-jeong, also liked Cheon Jin-hyeon.
‘I just can’t understand it.’
Why people like such playboys.
It was obvious that they were attracted to his looks.
She had to tell this poor girl the truth about Cheon Jin-hyeon.
If he were a human being, he wouldn’t touch a high school student, but seeing him cheat twice like that, he might not be human.
It would be good to help her escape Cheon Jin-hyeon’s clutches in advance.
Yoon Da-jeong seemed to be so shocked that she didn’t even realize that she was standing next to her. Or maybe she knew but didn’t have the energy to care.
Jang Ye-hwa placed her hand on Yoon Da-jeong’s shoulder.
******
Ever since she received Jin-hyeon oppa’s kiss, Yoon Da-jeong’s heart was soaring with joy.
Every day was delightful.
Even at school, she kept thinking about oppa, and while drawing comics, she would remember that touch and run her lips over her own several times.
Her mom, who had talked to oppa on the phone, said he seemed like a good person and allowed her to go on the trip.
She was as happy as if it were her own accomplishment when oppa gained her mom’s approval. Yoon Da-jeong lived each day in happiness.
‘Let’s stop following them after today.’
Friday.
As she followed oppa, who was taking her sister home after her shift ended, Yoon Da-jeong thought that.
She had followed them several times because she thought their relationship was suspicious, but oppa hadn’t done anything other than taking her sister home.
It would be the same in the future.
That’s what she thought.
“Huh…?”
Yoon Da-jeong, who was watching oppa and her sister say goodbye in front of their house, unconsciously made a sound.
Suddenly, the two’s faces got closer.
‘What…?’
A completely different scene from before, when they just waved and parted ways.
Her heart pounded, and her eyes trembled.
Time seemed to slow down.
Originally, her sister should have opened the door and gone inside right away, and oppa should have watched her before turning away.
However, the two didn’t do that.
They looked at each other.
Oppa placed his hand on her sister’s shoulder, and her sister’s face looked desperate, as if she was asking for something.
Then, as the distance between the two closed, her sister stood on tiptoe.
‘Ah…’
Yoon Da-jeong had devoured countless comics, movies, and dramas to draw her own comics.
She knew what those movements meant.
A kiss.
What she had with him wasn’t even a kiss.
Although she was watching from a distance, she could tell that the kiss they were sharing was deep and passionate without having to see it up close.
The two embraced each other and kissed passionately.
‘Oppa… with my sister…’
It was unbelievable, and she didn’t want to believe it, but it was the reality that had entered through her eyes.
Yoon Da-jeong covered her mouth.
‘It hurts…’
A stinging emotion swept through her entire body.
Tears came out.
‘You said you’d help…’
Yoon Da-jeong recalled her sister’s words from the previous Japanese restaurant, saying she would help her get together with oppa.
Why was her sister kissing oppa like that now after saying she would help?
She should have just told her to give up since she liked him.
If she had…
‘Could I have given up?’
Seeing the kiss scene, her heart ached so much that it felt like it was tearing apart, and tears came out. Only then did Yoon Da-jeong realize how much she liked oppa.
The more strongly her sister and oppa embraced each other, the more painfully Yoon Da-jeong’s heart was crushed.
That’s when it happened.
She felt an unfamiliar touch on her shoulder.
“You’re Yoon Da-jeong, right?”
Yoon Da-jeong turned around.
