Chapter 43: The End of Waiting

“I’ll put my feelings aside.

I won’t ask anything more of you.

I’ll wait until you acknowledge me…… Kangeun-ah, you need to look at reality.

You might not know because you’re so kind, but you are just……”

“Stop.”

“……What?”

“You are the one who needs to look at reality, Branch Director.”

Kangeun realized she couldn’t be considerate of him anymore.

“You thought someone like Go Kangeun would be easy, and it pissed you off that I ignored your subtle signals.”

“…….”

“So you threw yourself forward with your feelings, only to end up with a split lip after being struck.”

Mocking his lip, which was still covered in a dried scab, Kangeun continued her criticism in a quiet but powerful voice.

“You didn’t have the courage to face me again, and you didn’t want to work.

So you lay in the hospital to gain sympathy.

You thought I’d feel guilty for hitting you because you were even hospitalized.”

“It’s not like that. I…”

“And then, far from getting an apology, your pride was wounded when I said I’d quit.

You were likely resting well, pushing all your work onto me while using your pain as an excuse, so you were flustered when I, the productive employee, said I’d quit.”

Hyunwoo, hit where it hurts, fell silent.

“I cannot fathom how little you must have thought of me to have such ideas.

Let me be clear: my resignation has nothing to do with Team Leader Cha Siheon.

The responsibility lies entirely with you, Branch Director.”

“…….”

“I didn’t want to go this far, but it turned out this way because you were pathetic.”

“…….”

“I truly liked Tenuto Coffee. Please…… take good care of it.”

Was it greedy to hope for a graceful ending?

Kangeun turned away, skipping a final greeting to the bowed Hyunwoo.

Leaving the hospital room, she took out a tumbler from her bag.

She rinsed her mouth with lukewarm water to clear the dry taste, and there was no trace of regret in her next steps.

****

When the doorbell rang, Siheon had just finished washing up.

Go Kangeun was the only person who would press his doorbell.

His heart raced as he strode across the living room, intending to open the door and face her personally.

When the door opened and he saw Kangeun standing outside, Siheon almost pulled her into his embrace again.

His hand nearly reached out first, making the vows he’d made to give her time seem useless.

But he froze as soon as their gazes met, silenced by her first words.

“I came here to sleep.”

“……Huh?”

“I haven’t slept at all these past few days.”

He couldn’t read the expression in the eyes that met his steadily.

He was busy enough just trying to catch the meaning of her words whispered with a plain face.

“I have nowhere else to go.”

“What does that……”

“Am I going to keep standing here?”

Snapping back to his senses, Siheon opened the door wide and ushered her inside.

Kangeun took off her flats, stepped into indoor slippers, and walked past him.

She held out her bag, which he took; she handed him her muffler and coat, which he held.

“I don’t have the strength to wash up.”

“…….”

“Do you have anything to do in the living room right now?”

“……No.”

“Good, then……”

He realized too late that the bathroom door near the living room—the one he’d previously told her was under construction—was wide open.

Before Siheon could react, Kangeun walked inside.

After washing only her hands in the sink—which showed no trace of construction—she walked past the dazed Siheon and collapsed onto the sofa.

“Can I have a blanket?”

“Oh…… just a moment.”

Holding the blanket with a bewildered face, Siheon saw that Kangeun had already closed her eyes using a cushion as a pillow. He draped the blanket over her curled body.

Still keeping her eyes shut, Kangeun’s lips moved slightly.

“These clothes aren’t uncomfortable, so don’t even think about touching me.”

“…….”

“I’m going to sleep. Then I’ll wake up and wash. After that, I’ll eat the ramen you cook and the ice cream you bought.”

“…….”

“Let’s talk after that. Turn off the light.”

Doing exactly as instructed, Siheon turned off the living room light. He stood there blankly for a long time, his hand not leaving the switch.

After standing like that for a while, he snapped to attention and carefully approached the back of the sofa.

“…….”

The dim evening moonlight fell over Kangeun’s face as she slept in complete stillness.

The sight of Kangeun—who had spent a whole week acting as if he didn’t exist, only to suddenly show up and fall asleep alone in his living room—felt unreal to him.

Go Kangeun was sleeping with an innocent face on the very sofa where he had previously pinned her down to taste her.

“……Go Kangeun.”

When he called her softly, her fine brows knit slightly.

A hollow laugh escaped him, followed immediately by a surge of relief.

Siheon exhaled a deep breath without realizing it.

In the air he inhaled, there was the faint scent of Go Kangeun.

He belatedly realized that Kangeun had truly entered his personal space—something he couldn’t believe even while looking at it with his own eyes.

Then, his heart grew heavy watching her sleep on the sofa without even changing her clothes.

He felt pained by the fatigue etched on her pale face.

He wanted to help her sleep more comfortably.

He wanted to carry her, wash her, change her clothes, and lay her in bed, but……

‘I don’t have the strength to wash up.’

‘These clothes aren’t uncomfortable, so don’t even think about touching me.’

Recalling the words she’d said before falling asleep, Siheon didn’t move.

He knew that even that would be his own greed right now.

He realized his only task was not to disturb the deep slumber of a woman who even found small calls annoying.

‘Is she sick anywhere? What if she’s cold? What if she’s hot? Is the humidity okay? It’s probably better to close the curtains so she can sleep soundly.’

Unable to set aside his worries, he carefully felt Kangeun’s forehead. He checked the temperature and drew the curtains with silent steps.

Still unable to leave her side, he eventually sat on the rug on the floor below the sofa where she lay.

Had today been very hard?

What would she have done if he hadn’t been there? Why did she come without even calling?

What did she mean by saying she had nowhere to go?

Had she had enough time to think?

Was his wait finally over?

“…….”

He had many questions, but Siheon made no sound.

The most important thing to him right now was that Kangeun had come to him.

No matter what she had thought over the past week or what conclusion she had reached, Siheon had to respect her intention for coming.

Even if it turned out to be a rejection.

Closing his eyes tight at the assumption he didn’t want to imagine, Siheon opened them and shook his head.

In truth, he had no intention of quietly following her will if she didn’t give the answer he wanted.

He knew himself—he would force his way into the cracks somehow, stay by her side, and crash against her as many times as it took over time.

Siheon rested his chin on the edge of the sofa, watching Kangeun sleep like a baby. While he suppressed the words he wanted to say and the hand he wanted to extend, his eyes slowly began to blink.

Eventually, they closed.

To the two people who fell asleep early after a long time, a peaceful, deep slumber arrived.

****

Was it evening? Or pre-dawn?

Lying still on the sofa, Kangeun blinked her eyes while staring at the dim light reflecting off the wall through a gap in the curtains.

Having slept soundly, her body and mind felt refreshed.

She just couldn’t tell what time it was.

It was only then that the black stockings she hadn’t taken off felt stifling.

Her wool pants were hot, and she wanted to change into comfortable clothes from the blouse that likely had coffee stains from her shift at the café.

She didn’t want to endure the grimy feeling of having slept without washing up.

And more than anything.

“…….”

She was worried about Siheon, who had fallen asleep while sitting beside her.

She couldn’t even imagine since when he had been like that.

His backside must be sore, his waist must ache, his neck must be stiff, and his arm must be numb.

He must have been cold without a blanket, so why on earth was he sitting here like this?

“Siheon-ah.”

Even when she called his name softly, Siheon did not wake up.

Her fingers, gripping the soft blanket, twitched playfully several times.

“Siheon-ah, you see.”

Calling his name once more, she felt a sudden surge of tears.

The sorrow and sadness she had pushed aside to fulfill her responsibilities, and then later out of sheer exhaustion, now wavered and shook her.

She hadn’t lived carelessly enough to look trivial to anyone.

She hadn’t been lazy enough to be seen as an easy target.

She had nurtured her own small happiness because she didn’t want to be the child who brought misfortune.

Valuing those tiny joys, she believed there would be someone who recognized her efforts. Yet.

“I……”

Kangeun’s jaw trembled slightly as she tried not to let the sobs show in her voice.

“I really…… really lived with everything I had.”

Suppressing her sniffles and her stinging eyes, she stared at the ceiling.

As she blinked repeatedly, tears flowed silently.

“Once I met you again,”

The strength in the hand gripping the blanket increased at the leaking sob.

“I wanted to be validated by you. You……”

She bit her lower lip at the end of a sharp breath to suppress her quiet weeping.

“I hoped you’d say, ‘You’ve lived well all this time, Noona. You’re cool,’ while smiling at me.”

A large, warm hand, having awakened at some point, was quietly stroking along the curve of her eyebrows.

“So that I’d never lose you so helplessly again. Like that……”

“Go Kangeun.”

At the gentle voice calling her name, Kangeun squeezed her eyes shut.

Her face, which had already reached its limit, was distorting in a mess of emotion.

“You’ve lived well all this time. You are cool.”

“Sob……”

“You’re the coolest ever. So much so that I can’t help but fall for you.”

The sobs that finally burst forth poured into Siheon’s embrace.

Wrapping her arms tightly around the neck of Siheon, who leaned over her, Kangeun burst into tears like a child.