Chapter 88 – Episode 88 – I Shouldn’T Be Doing This (3)
“What do you mean, ‘don’t do this’? You’re the one who said it first, sis.”
Jinhyun moved even closer. His hand around my shoulder tightened, and his face drew nearer.
Well, yeah, that’s true.
But this is too sudden…!!
Yoon Yujeong instinctively recoiled.
“Ah, I shouldn’t… if I do this…”
Ironically, in this situation, Dajeong’s smiling face flashed in her mind.
But that was only for a moment.
As Jinhyun’s face got closer, Dajeong’s face was quickly erased from her sight.
“N-not here… I shouldn’t be doing this here…!”
Yoon Yujeong closed her eyes instinctively.
‘…?’
And then.
Even after five seconds with her eyes closed, nothing happened.
Rather, she couldn’t even feel the weight of the hand that had been around her shoulder.
What’s going on?
Yoon Yujeong cautiously opened her eyes.
Jinhyun was already up from his seat, gathering the order slips. He went to the counter with the slips, took out his wallet, and paid.
Is… is this another one of my fantasies?
What was that just now?
As she was thinking this, Jinhyun, who had finished paying, came back to the table and looked at Yujeong.
“You should get up too, sis. We need to go soon.”
“W-where to…?”
“Where else?”
The smile Jinhyun gave at that moment was deeply etched into Yoon Yujeong’s mind.
“If not here, then we should go to a more appropriate place.”
******
Jang Ye-hwa.
Ye-hwa (霓花), whose name meant ‘bloom like a rainbow,’ had a talent that made everything she did seem to blossom.
From a young age, she grew up with plenty of love from her parents, excelling not only in her studies but also in:
Figure skating, piano, violin, flute, art, and more.
She could try anything she wanted and achieve results.
She didn’t grow up spoiled either.
Her parents believed that education in manners and the values of the world was more important than anything.
Life was easy, and she could do anything well.
With just a few private lessons, she got into the best university in Korea with top grades.
Well, she did take a leave of absence after about two years.
It wasn’t what she wanted.
Feeling this way, Ye-hwa stopped going to university. All she would get was a diploma saying she graduated from a prestigious university. She decided there was nothing more to it.
She had made a few friends at university, but eventually, she sensed other intentions hidden within them.
There were no friends she could just hang out with casually, like in high school. Above all, the guys were too bothersome.
Well, honestly.
She could have pretended not to notice the other intentions if it benefited her.
But Ye-hwa, who already owned two buildings, had nothing to gain from clumsy freshmen.
Ye-hwa began to search for her dream.
What she found was composing.
Having played all sorts of instruments, it was a fitting dream for her. Beautiful music brought vitality to life.
She could have learned at university, but she didn’t feel like it.
Her father readily approved of her dream of composing. Since she already had so much, there was no need to worry about making a living.
Ye-hwa set a three-year period for her challenge.
Now, about six months into composing, she unfortunately hadn’t had any major breakthroughs.
Many people left comments saying her songs were great and subscribed to her channel.
But at least for casting.
She needed to make a big splash. She would only be satisfied if her music was used as the BGM for a famous webtoon or as an OST for a movie or drama.
She could use her father’s influence and connections to aim for something like that.
But that was for later.
First, she needed to improve her skills, so Ye-hwa wasn’t using her father’s help.
“Hmm. I’m lacking points again this time.”
Ye-hwa, who had been listening to music with her high-end headphones, took them off and muttered.
She wasn’t getting any inspiration.
The songs she wanted weren’t coming out, and even when she tried writing commercially viable songs, the results weren’t satisfactory.
“It’s already past 8.”
Ye-hwa sighed as she checked the time.
She saved what she had written and closed up the studio.
Going to bed early and waking up early was one of Ye-hwa’s healthy habits. She needed to sleep by 11 at the latest to wake up refreshed in the early morning.
It was a shame today, but something would come to her tomorrow when she woke up.
She should go home, work out, rest, and then sleep.
These days, she enjoyed reading comics in her massage chair after working out.
Thirty minutes of sweet relaxation before bed.
Ye-hwa came out of her private studio. If she walked straight through the alley, she would reach one of the buildings she owned.
Ye-hwa lived on the top floor of that building.
“Ugh… it’s getting chilly at night.”
She was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, and the wind felt a bit chilly in the evening.
Maybe it was because her t-shirt was thin, but today, she felt like people’s gazes were even more sticky.
‘Tsk…’
Ye-hwa clicked her tongue inwardly and looked at the night street.
‘Should I grab a drink before working out?’
Drinks were the enemy of fat!
But, if you thought about it the other way, wasn’t she working out for the sake of this sweet drink?
A juice shop came into view.
Ye-hwa glanced at the shop for a moment and then looked away.
It wasn’t that she wanted to save money, but she didn’t want to wait in line.
There were six people there.
She would just buy one at the convenience store.
She walked a little further towards the nearby convenience store, and in the distance, she saw a familiar face.
“Huh…?”
There was a man. And she knew his face.
Chun Jinhyun.
That was definitely the name of the man.
He was Sujeong’s boyfriend who lived on the floor below Sujeong.
Originally, she had gossiped about him, saying he was a weirdo, but one day, the gossip suddenly stopped, and now, they were dating.
Sujeong would send photos of them being lovey-dovey whenever she had the chance, bragging about her boyfriend, and after seeing it so much, she had even thought about dating a little.
Well, that thought quickly disappeared.
What kind of magic did he use to make Sujeong fall so deeply for him?
Honestly, she was curious. She had even thought about meeting him in person later to talk.
Aside from their fathers being close, she and Sujeong got along very well.
Sujeong was one of her closest friends.
They would sometimes hang out on their days off.
But…
“The person he’s with… is a woman, right?”
And she looked drunk.
The person presumed to be Sujeong’s boyfriend was slightly pulling another woman’s waist close to him.
“I’m not seeing things…”
It was certain.
His impression was a bit different from the last time she saw him, but it was the same impression as in the photos Sujeong had been sending lately.
‘Could it be… an affair?’
No.
Ye-hwa shook her head. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
He could be with a drunk woman. He could be taking a female friend home who was too drunk.
It was suspicious that they were together, but she needed to watch them from a distance.
Ye-hwa forgot about her drink and began to follow them.
‘I should take pictures just in case.’
Looking at the messages Sujeong sent, she was completely smitten with her boyfriend.
There was a limit to the reliability of spoken words.
She should take pictures for solid evidence.
Ye-hwa immediately took out her phone and took pictures silently.
She continued to take pictures and quietly followed them.
Peeking out from a corner, she could finally see the destination of the two people.
[Love in You Motel]
‘Haa…’
She sighed.
She had hoped it wasn’t true, but it was.
‘He’s dating Sujeong, but he’s with another woman…!’
The words ‘trashy guy’ immediately came to mind.
“What should I do…”
Ye-hwa felt a familiar throbbing in the back of her head.
Had Sujeong been tricked by a sly fox?
She could imagine how sad Sujeong would be if she found out, which made her head hurt even more. The boyfriend she had been so proud of was having an affair.
She might suffer a great wound to her heart.
‘That’s why you shouldn’t trust people easily.’
That was what she had learned from her father and from living her life.
What should she do…
Should she tell her the truth right away with the photos? Or should she meet Sujeong and talk to her in person?
Just then, her phone rang.
It was her dad.
Ye-hwa immediately answered the call.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Oh, my daughter, how have you been?”
“Yeah, I’ve been good. How about you? You’re back, I see. You didn’t get hurt anywhere, did you?”
“Of course not~. It was really nice there. I had a good trip.”
Ye-hwa smiled at her father’s friendly voice.
“Where did you say you went? Yulong?”
“Yeah, Yulong Snow Mountain. Ugh. Chinese food doesn’t really suit me, but the mountain scenery was the best.”
“That’s good. You sound like you’re at the airport. Did you call right after you got back? What’s the occasion~?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s the occasion’? I called because I wanted to hear my daughter’s voice. I’m hurt, Dad is.”
“Hurry up. Get to the point.”
She could hear her father chuckle on the other end of the phone.
“Hey, do you have some time this Tuesday?”
“Tuesday…?”
Ye-hwa thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“That’s good. I said I’d take a look at the cafe that Sujeong’s boyfriend is opening on Tuesday, you know?”
“Sujeong’s boyfriend? Chun Jinhyun?”
“Yeah. You know him too, I see. That was definitely his name. He’s trying to find a good location, and you go to cafes a lot.”
She did go often.
When she was searching for songs or coming up with ideas with her laptop, she would sometimes spend 3-4 hours at a cafe.
“He’s looking for a place near where you live.”
“Oh. Really?”
“Yeah. So, I was wondering if I could get your opinion, can we meet on Tuesday?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind.”
Ye-hwa nodded at her father’s words.
“Oh, my daughter. Thank you. Love you~?”
“Me too. But Dad, you should say those things to Mom more often too.”
“I said it three times before calling you. I say it a lot when you’re not around.”
She could hear someone say, “It was twice,” from the side.
Ye-hwa chuckled at the warmth.
“Okay. I’m going to hang up, Dad.”
“Okay~. I’ll send you the time and place in a text.”
Click.
The call ended.
‘Chun Jinhyun…’
Jang Ye-hwa looked at the motel where Sujeong’s boyfriend had gone in with the other woman.
‘He said Tuesday.’
For now, she would hold off on sending it to Sujeong.
Jang Ye-hwa turned around and walked away.
