Chapter 101: Memories of a Birthday

Since coming back from the space-time travel with Sung Yohan, Hyun Taewoon kept lingering in my mind.

From the him before the regression, I could feel a gentleness and affection towards me, unlike the cold gaze and cruel actions I remembered.

When I thought of him, I used to always remember the painful memories first, but now, the precious memories I had felt while living with him came to mind one by one, like looking at an album of photos.

Among them, there was a memory I had cherished deep in my heart, the memory of my birthday when I had been living with him for two years.

After becoming an adult, my birthday was a day to comfort myself, a day that came only once a year.
Except for my birthday, I had only worked to pay off my debts, so my birthday was a little special to me.
So on that day, I wanted to spend it with him.

However, as luck would have it, he had to go on an assignment to an S-Class gate that had appeared in Germany during the week of my birthday.
I didn’t know when he would be back, but fortunately, I was notified that the gate had closed at dawn.
A sense of anticipation arose that if I was lucky, I might be able to see him.

I immediately sent him a message asking if he was okay, but there was no reply.
Worried that he might have been hurt, I checked my Guiding Watch, and except for his guiding level being low, everything was normal.

I had been expecting at least a happy birthday message, but since there was no contact, my shoulders drooped with disappointment.

I lay in bed for a while, looking up the news about the German gate, but since it was my birthday, I didn’t want to spend it gloomily, so I forced myself to get up and get ready for work.

I quickly finished getting ready and got on the elevator.
Thinking that a message from him might have come, I checked my phone again, but there were only congratulatory messages from my colleagues.

I was still disappointed that there was no contact from him.
But as I was being congratulated by Jinho-hyung and my colleagues, I tried to forget my gloom.

Before I awakened, I didn’t have anyone to celebrate my birthday with.
I didn’t have any close friends, and since my mother was bedridden, I hadn’t been congratulated since graduating high school.
I hadn’t even thought about wanting to be congratulated.
But being congratulated like this, I felt a great sense of gratitude even for a short word.

Knowing how happy it was to be congratulated, I wanted to be congratulated by him even more.

Even in the training room, I would check in my spare time to see if any contact had come from him.
Without even realizing that Jihwon was approaching me.

“Hyung, you haven’t forgotten that we’re having a celebration party together tonight, right?”

Everyone knew that he was on an assignment, so my close colleagues had arranged a birthday celebration for me.

“How could I forget? It’s a party to celebrate my birthday.”

“I thought you forgot because you have a sad face. It’s the weekend tomorrow, so let’s drink all night.”

My disappointed feelings towards him must have been written all over my face.
I forced the corners of my mouth up and nodded.

As the appointment time approached, I was so preoccupied with him that I was worried if I could even enjoy the party properly.
But I didn’t want to be gloomy at home and fall asleep with a sleep chip on.

In the evening, we had a meal at a private restaurant that he had found, and for the second round, we moved to a nearby lounge bar.

As I was drinking, he came to my mind again, and I started to feel depressed.
As my words became fewer and fewer, he asked cautiously with a worried face.

“Hyung, you look tired. Are you okay?”

“I’m not tired at all. Do I look tired?”

“I’ve known you for two years. Is it because of him?”

I shook my head and said no, but he didn’t seem to believe me.
At that, to relieve some of my stuffiness, I honestly confessed my feelings.

“To be honest, I haven’t heard from him… so it’s been on my mind.”

“He’s probably busy because he’s on an assignment. I hope you won’t be depressed on your birthday.”

“Yeah, I should be happy today at least.”

As he said, I didn’t want to bring gloom on a happy day, so I drank.
As I was drinking one glass after another, I realized later that a message had come.
At the name ‘Hyun Taewoon’ on the screen, I quickly checked the message.
The gloom from a little while ago disappeared, and a bright smile formed on my face.

[Hyun Taewoon: Where are you?]

I wrote my current location and quickly sent it to him.
I also added a question asking if he had come to Korea.

[Hyun Taewoon: Yeah. I’ll be there in 10 minutes, so be outside.]

At his message, my sunken heart began to flutter and pound.
I hurriedly grabbed my coat and stood up.

“I think I have to go now.”

He was surprised that I, who had been depressed until just a moment ago, was leaving with a smile.
My colleagues were also disappointed that I, the main character, was leaving in the middle.
But since I had had dinner and had drunk enough, I thought it would be okay to leave now.

“Because I’m tired. Thank you for celebrating with me today. I’ll pay the bill, so drink as much as you want.”

“Aren’t you leaving too early, hyung? I’m sad.”

“I’ll make proper time for you next time.”

I entrusted my card to him and hurriedly went outside after receiving my colleagues’ farewells.
He had said he would be there in 10 minutes, but when I went outside, his car had already arrived.

My steps quickened without me realizing it.
The November night was cold, but even this cold felt warm to me.

As soon as I opened the passenger door, my eyes met with his, who had been watching me.
A bright smile formed on my lips as I looked at him.
It was a moment when I realized again that I liked him deeply.
He chuckled when he saw my face.

“You’re really going out a lot now that I’m not here.”

“I just came out today. Did your assignment go well? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“I received treatment, so I’m fine. Anyway, why did you send so many texts in the morning?”

Hearing his light reprimand, I only then remembered how many times I had contacted him today, and my face turned slightly red.
I was curious about how he was doing, and I was also greedy to be congratulated on my birthday, so I had continued to send messages even though I knew it would annoy him.

“I was worried because I hadn’t heard from you.”

“You know I don’t get in touch often when I’m on an assignment.”

I knew, but I had also sent a message in the hope that ‘he might be able to contact me from inside the flight shelter’.
Since we had sometimes exchanged messages from inside the shelter.

“Still, you could have contacted me from inside the flight shelter.”

“I’ll do it next time. Anyway, did you eat cake?”

At the word ‘cake’ that came out of his mouth, I could be certain that he had remembered my birthday.
The fact that he, who was always indifferent and acted uninterested, hadn’t forgotten my birthday made me as happy as if I had received a gift.

I had eaten cake with my colleagues at lunchtime, but now I was shaking my head and lying.

“No, I haven’t.”

“What have you been doing without even eating your favorite cake? Let’s go and buy one.”

“Really? You’ll go and buy one with me?”

“You like cake. I know you’ll be miserable all day if you don’t eat it, so it’s better to eat it.”

I agreed with his words.
Fortunately, there was a bakery nearby that wasn’t closed, but since all the whole cakes were sold out, we bought the two remaining slices of cake.

After arriving home, while he was washing up, I sat at the dining table and waited, looking at the cute cake.
When he and I were in a cold war after my grade came out, I had never even imagined a situation like this.
I was relieved at his appearance, who was no longer ignoring me, even if it wasn’t as much as before.

He, who had changed into comfortable clothes after washing up, was holding a paper bag.

“What are you doing without eating the cake?”

“I was waiting to eat it with you.”

As he sat across from me, he handed me a paper bag with an unusually hesitant gesture.

“A birthday gift.”

Since I hadn’t even expected a birthday gift, my eyes widened, and a warmth filled with excitement spread through my cheeks.

“What is this? When did you prepare it?”

When I hurriedly checked inside the paper bag, there was a large box.
Inside the box was a training suit.
It was different from the training suit I usually wore, as if it had been custom-made.
On the pocket on the chest, my name was embroidered.

“Your training suit was tattered.”

“Because the training hours are long. Is my name written here too?”

“I don’t know. They must have put it in on their own.”

“Thank you. I’ll wear it with care.”

At my words, the corners of his mouth went up slightly.

As I was looking at the training suit with a smile for a while, he urged me to eat the cake.
As soon as I brought the fork to my mouth, he quickly finished his share of the cake and stood up from his seat.
I hurriedly pushed the cake into my mouth and followed him as he moved to the sofa.

“Shall I guide you?”

I also wanted to repay him.
At my words, he just nodded his head once.

I sat next to him on the sofa, took his hand, and guided him.
Whether it was because we were both tired or because of the cozy atmosphere, I remember that we fell asleep on the sofa just like that and had a hard time the next day.

Before the regression, I had spent every day with the hope that Taaewoon would one day look back at me.
And he had definitely gradually changed, thanks to my earnestness.
No matter how much I replayed it, he definitely had the same feelings as me…

I didn’t know why I was recalling such a memory now, but it was certain that I was denying the current situation and my feelings, just like the Hyun Taewoon of the past.

I didn’t have the confidence to face the truth.
But I knew that the time when I had to face it would soon come.
I had to steel myself for that time.
So that I wouldn’t crumble.