"What's my little Crybaby up to?"

His gentle voice came through the phone.

Na Yoonseul, Yoonseul, Seul, Crybaby, Kiddo... Go Wooyoung had all sorts of names for her. Of them all, Crybaby was his favorite.

He'd given her the nickname because she cried so much around him.

So much time had passed that most of those memories had grown hazy. Yet strangely enough, hearing his voice again brought them back, one by one.

Almost as though she'd returned to those days.

Holding the phone, Yoonseul let herself drift into the past for a moment.

To the Go Wooyoung who had adored her and taken such good care of her.

"We had a family gathering today. Ah, I bet you're wondering what I'm talking about, aren't you?"

Wooyoung was explaining why he hadn't been able to meet her that evening when he interrupted himself with a low chuckle.

When she'd seen him in his office earlier, he'd told her they would meet that evening. Then, around quitting time, a message had arrived from Go Wooyoung.

Bad Go Wooyoung

Something came up. I'll call you when I'm done. Get home safely.

Something had come up, and he wouldn't be able to see her.

She still knew next to nothing about him. His sudden appointment as Executive Director was bewildering enough, and the fact that he'd joined the very company where she worked was just as strange. For now, all she had to go on was what her teammates had been saying.

What Yoonseul remembered was that Wooyoung's mother, Go Minhee, had suddenly died. And that Wooyoung himself had disappeared only a few days later.

She had been ten at the time, but his disappearance must have been such a tremendous shock that the memory remained painfully clear.

"Hmm. Where should I start?"

Wooyoung seemed to consider it for a moment.

Go Wooyoung had been an exceptionally kind person.

So many things had happened during the two years they'd lived next door to each other, but if she had to choose a single word to describe him, it would unquestionably be kindness.

He had taken better care of her than even her grandmother, Jongsuk.

In all her life, he had been the first and only person to cherish her and treat her as someone precious.

"Well, I'll explain everything properly another time. Where are you? Sounds like you're outside."

Although Yoonseul had been holding the phone to her ear without saying a word, Wooyoung continued talking.

"I'm on my way home now. I called because I wanted to see you, Na Yoonseul. Come on, let me see your face. Hmm?"

That was when she spotted Jeong Mirae coming out through the apartment building's communal entrance.

Apparently, something else had put her in a foul mood.

Mirae was storming along when their eyes met. A nasty smile spread across her face, and she changed direction toward Yoonseul.

"I have something to take care of right now. I can't see you. I'm hanging up."

With that, Yoonseul ended the call and slipped her phone into her bag.

By then, Mirae had reached her.

"What are you doing here? Haven't you gone home?"

It seemed she'd come looking for another fight.

Without the slightest sign of agitation, Yoonseul rose from the swing and faced her.

Mirae, who was even shorter than Yoonseul, glared up at her and continued.

"You really are as shameless as ever."

"And you're not?"

"What?"

"You did it on purpose. Did you think I wouldn't figure that out?"

Jeong Mirae had always envied and resented her.

It wasn't as though Yoonseul couldn't understand why.

Her aunt Inja's family had never been particularly well-off, so Mirae must have resented having to take in and raise an orphaned cousin.

Inja had said it was only a matter of setting one more spoon at the table, but having Yoonseul move in must have made their financial situation even harder.

And because the two girls attended the same school, everything about them had been compared, from their grades to their behavior.

Teachers had always been fond of Na Yoonseul, leaving Mirae constantly measured against her.

"Yeah, that's right. I did it on purpose."

Mirae finally showed her true colors.

She had often been cruel in the past, but never quite to this extent. Apparently, she no longer saw any reason to hide it.

"Everything that should've been mine alone, I had to share with you. That's why I did it. Since you got to share what belonged to me, I have every right to share what belongs to you. Don't I?"

The sheer absurdity of it made Yoonseul let out a disbelieving laugh.

Because she had supposedly taken a share of everything that belonged to Mirae, she was now expected to share her boyfriend, too.

What an outrageous piece of logic.

"Fine. You can have him. All yours."

"W-What did you say?"

Yoonseul gave her a cold, mocking smile and replied calmly.

"I'm telling you to keep what I've already used. I don't need trash like that."

"Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"Ah!"

Unable to contain her fury, Mirae grabbed a fistful of Yoonseul's long hair.

It happened in an instant.

The sudden pull made Yoonseul stagger.

"See? This is exactly why you piss me off every single time! You get under my skin, and then you act all high and mighty, like you're so much better than everyone else!"

"Let go."

Yoonseul issued the warning through clenched teeth.

But Mirae ignored her and continued hurling insults.

"Even now, just thinking about all the times I got compared to you makes my blood boil!"

"I don't want to hit a pregnant woman, so let go while I'm still asking nicely!"

"Bullshit."

Mirae raised her other hand and seized Yoonseul's hair with both fists.

"Ugh!"

If she'd been dealing with anyone else, Yoonseul would have shoved her away without hesitation.

But she couldn't do that to a pregnant woman.

Mirae took full advantage of that restraint, gripping her hair and shaking her head back and forth.

"Mirae! Mirae!"

At that moment, Hong Jicheol came running from some distance away.

He hurried over and pried Mirae off Yoonseul, pulling the two women apart.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Ha! Why are you stopping me? Why? Are you taking her side now, Jicheol?"

"That's not it, and you know it. I'm worried about our baby. This isn't good for the pregnancy. Stop it."

Hong Jicheol looked utterly flustered.

Of all the situations he could have found himself in, he clearly hadn't expected the three of them to come face-to-face like this.

Breathing hard, Yoonseul roughly pushed her disheveled hair away from her face.

"You'd better think about Mom and Dad and bring a generous cash gift to the wedding. If you're grateful they raised you all these years, you'd better bring a fucking huge one. Got it?"

"Come on. Let's go. Now."

Jicheol hurriedly led Mirae away.

And this was the man who had still been her boyfriend just last week.

It wasn't as though she'd been desperately in love with him.

Still, she'd never imagined that the time she'd spent with him would end up seeming quite so pathetic.

Overwhelmed by a sense of emptiness, Yoonseul stood there in a daze for a long while.

******

She barely knew how she'd managed to make it home.

Every so often, she experienced a suffocating tightness in her chest, but today it seemed worse than usual.

No matter how deeply she breathed, the feeling wouldn't go away. She found herself wishing she had some sparkling water to drink.

What an incredibly long day it had been.

She was about to enter the communal entrance of her apartment building when something enormous suddenly appeared and blocked her path.

Yoonseul flinched and slowly raised her head.

Wooyoung stood before her, looking down with a somewhat startled expression.

"..."

Stunned by his sudden appearance, Yoonseul simply stared up at him, blinking.

Wooyoung frowned and quickly looked her over.

When he raised one of his large hands, Yoonseul instinctively shrank back and squeezed her eyes shut.

"What on earth have you been doing? Look at the state you're in."

His voice was full of concern.

A moment later, she felt his gentle touch against her hair.

Was she really in such a terrible state?

Apparently, the struggle with Jeong Mirae had left her hair in complete disarray.

Wooyoung tried combing his fingers through the tangled strands, but after several attempts, he seemed to give up and let out a quiet sigh.

Then his hand moved to her chin, gently tilting her face upward.

Yoonseul slowly opened her eyes.

He had bent down until his face was mere inches from hers, bringing their gazes together at an uncomfortably close distance.

"Tell me. Who did this to you?"

Wooyoung looked even angrier than before.

As though he would immediately track down whoever was responsible and teach them a lesson if she so much as gave him a name.

He had always been like this.

Always on Na Yoonseul's side.

Whenever something happened, he would appear and take care of everything.

Before he'd come into her life, everyone had ignored her, unwilling even to acknowledge her existence.

But after Go Wooyoung arrived, everything had changed.

With him around, there had been nothing in the world she needed to fear.

At his simple question, Yoonseul felt the oppressive tightness in her chest gradually begin to ease.

How strange.

He hadn't actually done anything for her.

He'd only said a few words.

And yet...

After gazing at him for a moment, Yoonseul reached up and removed his hand from her chin.

"I should go."

"Seul."

She had neither the energy nor the desire to say anything more.

Leaving him with those few words, Yoonseul stepped past him.

But Wooyoung caught her wrist again.

"Please, just go."

The utter exhaustion in Yoonseul's voice struck him sharply.

Something had clearly happened.

The look on her face, the state of her hair, her rumpled clothes...

Every last detail bothered him.

She looked as though the slightest touch would make her burst into tears, and she was telling him to leave?

How could he possibly do that?

"Tell me. Please?"

Wooyoung softened his voice, abandoning his demanding tone in favor of gentle coaxing.

But Yoonseul wouldn't even look at him.

She said nothing, her lips still pressed firmly together.

"Was it that bastard?"

That bastard.

He was probably talking about Hong Jicheol.

Yoonseul let out a quiet sigh and twisted her wrist free of his grasp.

"Do you... still worry about me that much?"

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with resentment.

Chapter 9

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