Chapter 752 – #160_Let’S Stop Now (5)
#752
1.
Aimlessly walking, Sharon found herself wandering near Sinchon.
Her feet, drawn to familiar places, had led her into the area where she used to spend time with Siwoo.
The boisterous noise and lights welcomed Sharon.
“This is….”
It was a villa area slightly off the main street, and also where Sharon’s rooftop room was located.
Sharon considered turning around as if she had hit a barrier.
But after crying her heart out, she felt a bit better, and it was something she had to get used to.
More than anything, she couldn’t live like this forever.
Didn’t she just incur a massive debt again?
For now, she needed to use familiar Seoul as a base and diligently expand her radius to hunt down homunculi.
“Okay, what’s the big deal?”
Putting aside the issue of their breakup for a moment, Sharon squeezed out some positive energy, bit her lip, and bravely moved forward.
It was still the same here.
Shabby buildings and old eateries that didn’t fit the term “street of youth.” Villas with shops on the first and second floors.
People full of energy even at this late hour. The boisterous laughter coming from the open windows of trendy pubs.
As she let herself be carried by the familiar liveliness, she felt a surge of positive energy.
In the old days, she used to wander these alleys searching for homunculi and putting up flyers.
It was also Sharon and Siwoo’s night walk route.
After meeting him, he always joined her in her homunculus hunts and flyer postings, which she used to do alone.
“……”
Sharon, who had been unconsciously quickening her pace, stopped abruptly at a sign.
It read, ‘We steam snow crab, king crab, and lobster. Takeout available.’
Sharon, having found a king crab restaurant with hazy steam rising from it, stared blankly at the place.
It was the restaurant where Siwoo had first bought her a meal in exchange for her advice on living in the human world.
Thanks to that, she had her first meal costing over 50,000 won, ten years after coming to this world.
Since that day, Sharon’s favorite food had become king crab.
It was still thriving, perhaps because the weather had turned cold.
The savory smell of crustaceans, warming her empty stomach, made her nose tingle as if it were smoke.
“F-from the start, the difficulty is too high….”
She thought she had made up her mind firmly, but she already felt like crying.
But if her resolve was broken so easily, she would surely run back to Siwoo like a fool someday.
And then, the same situation would repeat itself.
Sharon had firmly resolved that if she were to stand before him again, she would at least be reborn as a 21st-level being.
“No, what am I saying…. It’s over now.”
She had said harsh words and left, determined not to return.
Even considering the slightest possibility of going back to him was a selfish act.
What was the difference between her and a spoiled child who used a breakup to beg for more love?
Sharon shook her head vigorously to clear her mind and quickened her heavy steps.
As she left the villa area and entered the street of youth, the streets became much cleaner.
She saw a familiar building.
It was the department store where a homunculus had appeared and caused chaos.
It was the first danger Sharon had faced in her witch life.
She had been chased by that huge mother dog all the way to the rotary, and Siwoo, using his wit, had collapsed the building and used the weight to subdue it.
At the time, it was so terrifying that it felt like her life was burning away, but looking back, it seemed kind of fun.
“…Thinking about Siwoo again.”
Actually, it was harder not to.
There wasn’t a single place on this street where she hadn’t been with him.
Every time Sharon’s gaze landed on something, the street, which she had returned to after a year, bloomed a memory like a mirage.
For example, the food court on the first basement floor of that department store: the two of them, with bags full of groceries.
‘I’ll cook today. Even though it’s a meal kit!’
‘Then I’ll do the dishes.’
‘No, no, I promised to do the housework in exchange for staying at your place.’
‘Hey, how can I make you do everything?’
The image of Sharon jumping on Siwoo’s back, and the two of them chatting away, faded away.
For example, the store where they took sticker photos together.
She had always noticed it because of the bright orange lights and loud music, but she had only looked at it because of the shocking price of 5,000 won for one photo.
‘Wow, Siwoo, your eyes look huge.’
‘What? That’s scary, your eyes take up half your face?’
‘Should we take one of us kissing?’
Sharon had opened her wallet with a big heart, but the excessive editing made it so funny.
She didn’t regret the 5,000 won at all.
It was a 50 million won worth of happy time.
For example, that three-story arcade.
‘You’re better than I thought?’
‘Ahem! Of course! I used to play a lot of tennis when I was a trainee witch!’
‘Can we play one more round?’
‘I have much to learn. Please teach me, big sister, and I’ll do it!’
Whenever they were bored, they would come here to play darts or air hockey and make bets.
Sharon had won most of the time, but looking back, Siwoo had always let her win.
His dynamic vision and physical abilities were far superior to Sharon’s, so if he hadn’t, her win rate would have converged to 0%.
For example, that shaved ice shop.
They often ordered delivery for other foods, but for dessert, they always visited the store for shaved ice.
The ice was more crunchy and the shape was prettier that way.
‘Can you stop? The part-timer has been watching us.’
‘He’s watching because I’m too pretty, so if you don’t want to lose me, you better treat me well?’
Sharon stubbornly made Siwoo eat the shaved ice, and he would always be flustered, conscious of the people around them.
His reaction was so cute that she kept up her strange stubbornness.
“…Should we get some shaved ice? To reminisce about the old days.”
As if making a bad joke, as if suggesting it to someone who should naturally be by her side.
Sharon spoke.
“The department store is closed, so that’s a shame, but we could skip that, have a match at the game center over there, take sticker photos…. It would be…. really nice. Right?”
Sharon bit her lip tightly to hold back her tears at the answer that, of course, didn’t come.
On the street that had become a bundle of memories, the bitter scent was so thick that Sharon turned away as if fleeing.
2.
A newly built officetel right in front of Sinchon train station.
It was the building where the convenience store Sharon had worked at for a long time was located, and also where the two of them had their newlywed room.
So even the space on the first floor where she waited for the elevator was a place with a story.
It was where Siwoo had proposed living together when Sharon was kicked out due to the demolition of an illegal building and was crouching and crying on the first-floor stairs.
“Stop being so pathetic, Sharon.”
Again, it was something she had to get used to.
She would endure the pain of a long-lasting heartbreak in a concentrated way and find a new life.
Wasn’t that why she had returned to Sinchon, full of memories with Siwoo, and to the officetel?
Sharon slapped her cheeks until she felt alert and pressed the elevator button.
She stepped inside, hearing the familiar dial sound of the door lock that hadn’t changed.
“Wow, it’s more or less the same as before?”
She felt strangely happy.
She had been prepared for the room to be completely empty and desolate, but it was almost the same as when they lived there.
Come to think of it, she had heard that this residence was like a safe house that Siwoo had borrowed from the Geminai residence.
It was natural for it to be managed with furniture and household goods.
“It’s so comfortable at home.”
In fact, even though it was a newly built officetel, it was nothing compared to the annexes of the Geminai residence, where each room was comparable to a luxury hotel.
Nevertheless, Sharon hummed a tune as she threw herself onto the sofa, so glad to see the low ceiling, the familiar wallpaper, and the night view from the window.
They used to watch movies here with popcorn and beer, and kiss at the end.
They also did more than that sometimes, or rather, quite often.
“……”
She felt strange.
Her mood kept going up and down from good to the worst.
She felt like she had become a bipolar patient.
“Let’s just sleep.”
Yes.
It was because she hadn’t slept for too long.
Now that Siwoo was safe, all that was left was to stretch out her legs and sleep comfortably.
She lightly washed her body.
While washing, she recalled the moments when she used to shower with Siwoo.
She lay down on the bed where they used to lie together.
Lying on the bed, she unconsciously buried her nose in the pillow, wondering if Siwoo’s scent was still there.
Of course, there was no remaining scent.
“Hiccup….”
Sharon’s shoulders shook as she buried her face in the pillow.
The trembling, which had started gently, soon grew as large as waves crashing in a storm.
“I’m…. a liar…!”
She kept saying that it was for Siwoo, that he could be happy without her.
As if she was being considerate of him, she was putting on a pretense that all her decisions were for Siwoo.
But that wasn’t all.
She was just trying to make it look plausible so that her shallow hypocrisy wouldn’t be revealed.
Sharon’s choice was not only for Siwoo but also included selfishness.
Because the person she loved so much was always in danger.
Because it was so painful to watch every time.
Because she had to face her own powerlessness, unable to do anything.
It was hard.
She was exhausted.
Every day was like swallowing hot coals.
The more she loved Siwoo, the more unbearable those moments became.
So, in a fit of anger, she decided that it would be better to break up.
She must have thought that if she didn’t love Siwoo anymore, she wouldn’t be in pain even if something like this happened.
She ran away with self-pity, like a tragic heroine, saying that it would be better if she wasn’t there.
She didn’t know that not having Siwoo by her side would be this painful.
She didn’t realize that he filled her life so completely.
She didn’t know that emptying that space would be this difficult.
She was not only weak but also pathetic for trying to find a good reason even in her breakup declaration.
“Hwaaaah! Hueeeeng…! Siwoo…! I miss you…. I miss you, hwaaaah!”
Sharon, who had been crying her heart out, hugged the pillow and sobbed herself to sleep.
