Chapter 26: Even the Rain Leads to You

Hyunwoo watched Kangeun for a moment as she remained silent, then chuckled. He leaned forward, craning his neck to look inside the accommodation as if to shift the mood.

“How’s the bedroom? Is it as clean as the living room?”

As he moved toward the bedroom, he looked at Kangeun with a puzzled expression when she popped up from behind him, standing in his way as if to block him. He realized her intent—a request for respect for her personal space—and took a step back.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time. Since you started calling me something other than Oppa.”

“…….”

“One day you started calling me Manager, then Manager, and now it’s Director……. Why did the way you address me become so cold?”

“I just got used to it while working at the company…….”

“No. I think you were like that even before I started helping my father.”

Kangeun pulled the corners of her lips up without a word, and Hyunwoo narrowed his eyes slightly.

“That’s a bad habit. Smiling when you’re in a difficult spot to answer.”

“…….”

“Soo-ah didn’t like it, did she? You calling me Oppa.”

Thinking of Hyunwoo’s wife, Soo-ah, Kangeun shook her head and habitually pulled at the corners of her lips. But remembering Hyunwoo’s words from a moment ago, she bit her lip firmly.

“That’s right. I don’t think you’ve called me Oppa since my wedding. Right? Hah……. I only noticed that now.”

Hyunwoo laughed awkwardly, recalling his wedding five years ago. When Kangeun remained silent, Hyunwoo winced, laughing as if he found it absurd.

“Kangeun-ah.”

“Yes.”

Looking down at Kangeun as if he had something more to say, Hyunwoo let out a sigh and slumped his shoulders. He bowed his head, rubbing the back of his neck, before looking back up and smiling at her.

“Never mind. I’m a bit tired. Let’s talk later.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, did you talk to my father?”

“Yes, I called him a little while ago.”

“I see……. I’ll get going. Sleep well. Oh, there’s a pretty decent café on the first floor of my office-tel. Come there on Monday morning. Let’s have breakfast together and go to work. Rest well today and tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Kangeun saw him off with a smile, watched the automatic lock on the front door, engaged the auxiliary lock, and turned away. Pushing aside the suitcase she’d been organizing, she collapsed onto the plush bedding and closed her eyes.

The smile she had worn while around others vanished as if it had been a lie, leaving her face full of exhaustion.

****

It had already been two hours. The man running on the tracks against the backdrop of the glittering city night had his hood up.

His face was not visible.

Only his high nose bridge and sharp jawline were briefly revealed.

Yet, his tall stature and broad shoulders were enough to overwhelm anyone who looked; his thick, sturdy frame and the taut thigh muscles revealed beneath his shorts naturally drew the eye.

“Huu…….”

Perhaps finished with his workout, the man’s chest heaved as he pressed the buttons on the console. He stepped off the treadmill, emptied half a water bottle, and gave a short tap to the wireless earphone in his ear.

“Yes, Chief Hyun.”

At the pleasant, low-toned voice, people’s attention turned to him once more. But Siheon, his indifferent eyes downcast, merely pulled off his hood and wiped his slick, sweat-drenched face.

Due to a sudden business trip to Busan, he had left the work that needed to be handled in Seoul to Gitae. He was in a situation where he couldn’t move because he had a schedule until tomorrow morning, Sunday, but he thought it might be for the best.

If he were in Seoul right now, he might be running wild like a mad dog unable to contain his excitement. Perhaps it was because he was this far away that he could maintain his current composure.

He had to be more cautious than ever. The day he had looked forward to for nine years was right before his eyes.

Siheon stood before the glass wall of the fitness club at the Busan HK Hotel, looking toward the lights, and said nothing. Then, at a certain moment, his eyes, which had only been listening to the report from the other end of the line, sparkled with an intense light.

“Good work. See you on Monday.”

The man finished the call, his gaze fixed on a distant point outside the window. As he traced old memories and fell into thought, he clenched his fist, which was itching with anticipation.

“Hah…….”

He let out a languid breath and closed his eyes.

The corners of his lips, which had been slightly raised, soon curved in a perfectly drawn arc.

It was a rare smile for Cha Siheon, the Team Leader of the New Business Team at Hyungyeong Commerce.

****

“Lead Manager Go, are you really not going to come have a drink?”

“You know I don’t drink.”

“But you can still enjoy the atmosphere. The chicken place I used to go to when I was in Korea moved to this neighborhood. Their chicken is really delicious.”

It was Sunday evening. Kangeun shook her head at Jihwan, who was standing in front of her door.

Just a moment ago, she’d received a message that the whole team was going for beer and asking her to join them. Kangeun had replied that she wasn’t in the mood and to have a good time.

But Jihwan, with a face full of disappointment, had come all the way to her place to urge her to join them once more. Since he had been assisting Kangeun for three years, ever since Italy, she felt no burden by his visit.

“After today, this kind of leisure is over. Tomorrow we have to go to work, so please, just come with us. You haven’t been staying in the house all day again, right?”

She had been staying in the house all day.

There was no one she wanted to meet, and nowhere she wanted to go.

The person she wanted to meet was unreachable, and the place she wanted to visit had been redeveloped and had disappeared.

That was the reason why her homecoming, prompted by work, wasn’t purely joyful. Of course, Kangeun didn’t show it.

“I’ll just rest a bit. I haven’t fully recovered from the fatigue.”

“If you change your mind, come. The Director said he’d join us after he finishes his business.”

“Alright. Have a good time.”

Kangeun saw Jihwan off with a smile and then touched her forehead.

Seeing that she felt a chill despite the warm air inside the house, it seemed it was starting again.

As if used to it, she rummaged through her bag, swallowed two painkillers with water, and lay on the bed, relaxing the tension in her body while waiting for the nausea to fade.

She felt like her body, limp and relaxed, was sinking infinitely into the soft mattress.

“Hmm…….”

Deciding that her mood would only sink further like this, Kangeun got up.

Even she thought it was a problem that she hadn’t breathed a single breath of fresh air all day. Kangeun took her wallet, thinking she’d at least buy some snacks, and left the house.

The ash-gray sky looked like it would pour rain at any moment.

It wasn’t as cold as she had thought. Feeling the moist night air, Kangeun walked aimlessly along the main road, realized she had come further than she thought, and stepped into a nearby convenience store.

“Welcome.”

Kangeun gave a slight bow to the clerk, who was focused on his phone, and scanned the shelves. She felt nostalgic for Korean snacks she hadn’t seen in a long time and started filling her basket, which was soon full.

She didn’t usually enjoy snacks that much, but strangely, her hands kept moving.

Because of that, she didn’t notice that it had started raining outside, nor that a new customer had entered.

Did I pick up too much?

While she was heading to the counter, feeling a bit sheepish, her eyes fell on the ice cream displayed in the freezer.

Before she knew it, she had taken out a Screw Bar, which seemed smaller than she remembered.

“…….”

Kangeun stood there for a long time, a bitter smile on her face as old memories surfaced naturally.

In Italy, it had been less intense, but back in Korea, there were things everywhere that caught her eye and kept her feet rooted to the spot. Everything reminded her of one person.

“Please calculate this.”

“Would you like a bag?”

“Yes.”

Just as Kangeun, who had finished paying for everything including the Screw Bar she couldn’t bring herself to put back, was about to leave with the bag full of snacks,

“Customer!”

Kangeun turned toward the clerk who had called her.

“Take this umbrella.”

“Yes……?”

“The umbrella.”

The umbrella the clerk pointed to with his chin lay long on the counter. It was a new one, not even having its plastic packaging removed.

“That’s not mine.”

“The person you were with paid for it.”

Kangeun looked around. She was the only one in the convenience store.

“Um, I’m not with anyone.”

“The man who just left, wasn’t he with you? He told me to make sure you took it because it was yours.”

“A man?”

“A man as tall as this. Wearing a hat……”

Kangeun looked at the umbrella blankly and approached the glass door.

The rain hitting the glass door was quite heavy—she didn’t know when it had started. Could someone from the company have passed by and seen me? She glanced outside, but no one was waiting for her.

Just as Kangeun was tilting her head, thinking there must have been a misunderstanding and that she should say this umbrella wasn’t hers,

“That’s the last umbrella.”

Following the clerk’s addition, she heard the sound of the rain pouring down even harder.

In the end, Kangeun took the umbrella someone else had paid for and headed into the street.

She had thought about leaving the money for the umbrella in case the person who made the mistake came back to find it, but due to the clerk’s obvious annoyance, she just took the umbrella and left.

The long umbrella, as large as a golf umbrella, was surprisingly light.

So, she could carry the bag full of snacks without getting wet. She almost had to walk through the rain just like that.

Even if it was a misunderstanding, she felt grateful to the person who brought her good luck.

Suddenly, Kangeun thought the streetlight reflection in the rainwater puddles on the ground looked like the flesh of a sweet pumpkin. She even forgot the familiar chill.

It was a winter night that felt strangely cozy.

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