Chapter 31: The Taste That Remained

After spending several days together and staying by someone’s side for such a long time, he finally realized it.

Hae-su would occasionally talk to himself.

And whenever he stopped speaking midway and sank into his thoughts, he would act as though he had forgotten that very moment.

Then he would blurt out something that even he himself didn’t remember.

It was the same now.

Hae-su did not look like someone who was feeling proud.

He wasn’t making eye contact with Do-yoon, who had approached him, and he didn’t even seem aware that Do-yoon’s fingertips were lingering near his wrist.

Perhaps something in their conversation had reminded him of someone.

Something that had stirred an old memory.

“Do well with your rehab today. Get some rest when you get home. I’ll come pick you up.”

“You can just text me where you want me to come.”

“I’ll see how things go later. It’d probably be more comfortable to meet at home anyway, and there’ll be fewer variables. Can you wait here for me?”

“I will.”

He had been so absentminded that he didn’t properly listen to what Do-yoon was saying before they left the house.

In the end, he put on his shoes, left with Do-yoon on his way to work, and only realized what had happened when a familiar building appeared before him.

Do-yoon had driven him all the way to the university hospital he attended.

When he checked his phone, Do-yoon’s work hours had already started quite some time ago.

Hae-su told himself that Do-yoon would surely manage just fine on his own.

Even so, it bothered him.

He wanted to become normal enough that Do-yoon wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.

While thinking about how he should respond to Jae-young, his thoughts drifted this far.

He didn’t know how many minutes had passed.

Anyone would have been uncomfortable with Hae-su’s complete silence.

Yet Jae-young simply smiled and continued emptying her cup.

“…Someone I know drove me here.”

“Hm?”

“The person who brought me to the hospital had to go to work. So I ended up arriving way earlier than my appointment…”

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

But Hae-su finally realized that he had probably made the person sitting across from him uncomfortable.

Because of the long stretch of silence after her question.

Unlike Hae-su, who worried that he might have upset her, Jae-young had simply run out of things to say.

She had looked forward to having ordinary conversations with him someday.

She just hadn’t expected it to happen like this.

She turned her head and looked him over.

His clothes.

His clear complexion.

Those were the first things that caught her eye.

His expression hadn’t changed, but his clothing had.

He was dressed differently from usual.

Unlike before, when he never paid attention to himself.

“I see. Still, it must’ve been comfortable getting a ride here.”

“Yeah… I wasn’t sleeping anyway, so coming early wasn’t a problem.”

“You’re dressed warmly today, Hae-su.”

Hae-su carefully watched Jae-young, unable to understand where her comments were leading.

Then he rummaged through his bag and pulled something out.

They were the assignments she had given him.

For the first time ever, Hae-su had actually brought back the papers she’d printed out during previous sessions.

The first thing Jae-young felt was fear.

A change after only a few days was frightening.

After all, Hae-su wasn’t someone who kept people close.

Even when others asked questions right up to the edge of his boundaries, all they ever received in return was a silent smile.

Rather than thinking this was a sign of mental recovery, another saying came to mind first.

People change when they’re about to die.

Because she knew the days he had lived through until now.

She quietly watched him sip at the cocoa she had bought for him.

His emotions still rose and fell with almost no visible difference.

“…The person who brought you here…”

She hesitated before asking.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

But if he really had changed, she hoped it was for the better.

Whether it was because someone had entered his life or not didn’t matter.

Whatever the reason, she simply hoped he was getting better.

The moment she noticed these small changes in him, this was the only question she could force out.

A pathetic question, perhaps.

But she couldn’t think of another one that would reveal so much at once.

“No way.”

A self-mocking smile spread across Hae-su’s face.

As if he were saying that was an absurd thing to ask.

“Not anymore.”

“……”

“I don’t think I need that anymore.”

He said it while wearing proper clothes instead of the thin outfits that had worried Jae-young every time.

Her gaze dropped to the assignment records and checklist.

The marks all clearly showed someone’s involvement.

Yet Hae-su insisted that there was still nobody beside him.

The cocoa had long gone cold.

He hadn’t even finished half of it.

As he stared toward the door, Jae-young swallowed heavily and looked away.

He had intended to go straight home.

That was what he and Do-yoon had agreed on.

And he didn’t have plans with anyone else.

Yet despite that decision, his eyes kept drifting toward the café in the hospital lobby.

Because of the cocoa Jae-young had given him.

The faint taste lingered in his mouth.

He hadn’t felt anything when he handed the unfinished cup back to her.

Only afterward did he realize what the feeling was.

Regret.

It was strange.

He didn’t even like sweets.

Thinking only that, he walked into the café.

He ordered a warm drink and sat down.

Patients in hospital gowns.

Medical staff in white coats.

And people who belonged to neither group.

The café was full of them.

Yet it wasn’t noisy.

That felt strange too.

When he checked his phone, he found a missed call.

From Do-yoon.

Seeing his name, Hae-su pressed the call button without hesitation.

The ringtone hadn’t even played three times before Do-yoon answered.

“I didn’t know when you’d finish. Did I interrupt something?”

“No. It ended a while ago. I only just noticed the missed call. Did something happen?”

Listening to Do-yoon’s voice, Hae-su stood up.

The pager in his hand vibrated.

Even though he had already told Hae-su that morning to have a good day, Do-yoon still asked about him.

Had he been praised for the assignments?

Had he eaten anything instead of breakfast?

It seemed like Do-yoon had accumulated a surprising number of questions during that short time apart.

Hae-su answered every one of them.

“I bought some cocoa.”

“You’re at a café? I thought I could hear people talking.”

“Ah, is it noisy? Should I hang up?”

“It’s not that bad.”

He moved again and chose a seat tucked away in a corner.

A place where nobody would really see his face unless they deliberately looked.

A place where only Hae-su could quietly observe everyone passing by.

When he became absorbed in people-watching and stopped speaking, Do-yoon finally got to the point.

“I ordered lunch to the house. It should arrive within an hour. Aren’t you hungry?”

“You didn’t have to do that… Did you eat lunch?”

“I’m going out in about ten minutes. Even if you only take a bite before throwing it away, don’t skip the meal.”

“…Thank you.”

Though it had only been a few days, Hae-su had realized something while staying at Do-yoon’s house.

Do-yoon was genuinely serious about making sure he ate.

He never forced him.

Instead, he always said it was fine even if Hae-su only managed a few bites.

At the same time, Do-yoon was careless about his own meals.

The moment Hae-su noticed that contrast, guilt slowly began to creep in.

Even if it hadn’t been intentional.

Even if he hadn’t wanted this.

He couldn’t ignore the fact that he had become a burden to someone who had been living peacefully before.

“I’ll eat it. You should enjoy your lunch too, Do-yoon.”

“Okay. See you later.”

After the call ended, he sat there for a long time without thinking about anything.

He stopped watching people.

But he didn’t touch his phone either.

After drinking the overly sweet cocoa, his senses abruptly sharpened.

The sweetness stung his tongue.

Just a few sips were enough to make his stomach ache.

Frowning deeply, he set the mug down.

He had known it would taste this sweet.

So why had he wanted it so badly?

The cocoa Jae-young had given him earlier wasn’t all that different.

What was different?

The taste?

The feeling?

Why had he bought this and poured it down his own throat?

He couldn’t understand.

It was while he was feeling unsettled by his own actions.

“Mr. Choi Hae-su…?”

Someone called his name.

The voice wasn’t as familiar as Do-yoon’s or CEO Yoon’s.

But it wasn’t completely unfamiliar either.

The moment he heard someone standing on his deaf side call his name, his body stiffened.

He could hear it faintly from the other side.

Someone had definitely called him.

Slowly, he turned his head.

An unwelcome face stood there.

Unless he was hallucinating, it was Yoon Ji-woo.

The feeling seemed mutual.

His cold eyes and slightly furrowed brows spoke clearly enough.

If he was going to look that startled, maybe he shouldn’t have called out in the first place.

The endless coincidences involving this man were becoming suffocating.

The thought that Do-yoon had sent lunch for him surfaced briefly.

Then every thought unrelated to the person before him began crumbling away.

“Ah…”

“……”

“Hello.”

It wasn’t as though he had never imagined a moment like this.

After spending an absurd amount of time waiting for someone, he had imagined countless possibilities.

Especially scenarios involving Kwon Se-ha loving someone else.

Perhaps it had started the moment Se-ha’s gaze toward him began feeling cold.

“Looking at you hurts me.”

“It feels like my head is going to split open…”

“Even if breaking up is difficult, wouldn’t it be better for both of us?”

Those imagined scenes had tormented Hae-su countless times.

Yet he had always thought he could endure them.

Because they weren’t real.

Because they weren’t happening in front of him.

Without realizing how arrogant that assumption was.

He simply believed that if he was surviving now, then he would survive when that day finally arrived too.

He only learned how wrong he was after receiving the wedding invitation.

After hearing words from Se-ha that sounded like another farewell.

After meeting Yoon Ji-woo.

After spending day after day talking to an imagined version of Se-ha.

“…I want to apologize first. I’m sorry for trying to stop someone who had already decided to leave back then. And I’m sorry for surprising you today too.”

“……”

“Even though I could tell you looked anxious, my curiosity got the better of me.”

This was the second time they had faced each other.

He had never anticipated a situation like this.

Yet unlike the last time, when he had been with Do-yoon, he wasn’t as afraid.

Maybe seeing the face once had given him some immunity.

The situation wasn’t really different from before.

He had wanted to run away then.

Yet now his hands weren’t trembling.

Not seeing Yoon Ji-woo at all would still be preferable.

But he no longer felt the overwhelming urge to flee.

And that made him uneasy.

This couldn’t be right.

There was no way he should be able to look at Yoon Ji-woo and remain unaffected.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“I was curious about what kind of person you were, Hae-su.”

“……”

“I didn’t know your name. I didn’t know your face. I didn’t even know what you did.”

“……”

“I only knew that Se-ha once had someone named Hae-su in his life.”