Unexpected Ch 11

Yeju’s voice as she asked her whether KunHyung had a girlfriend would not leave ChaYoung’s head. Standing at the door to the lobby of her apartment building, she squinted her eyes as she looked up. She was currently waiting to have lunch with KunHyung.

“What time should we have lunch tomorrow?”

For some reason, she felt like she owed him a debt. As soon as she returned home from the birthday party, she called KunHyung. He remained silent for a moment before telling her that he’d be at her place by 12:30.

When she told him she’d make a reservation at a restaurant, he stopped her and told her that they needed to stop by somewhere first. Therefore, she was now hovering in front of her apartment building without having chosen what kind of food they were going to eat.

“Where are we going?”

He arrived exactly five minutes before the promised time. She got inside his car and asked. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he glanced over at her and answered.

“To mark my territory.”

ChaYoung didn’t understand what he was talking about and frowned in confusion.

“Mark your territory?”

“You’ll understand when we get there.”

He gave her a curt reply before stepping on the gas pedal.

“Welcome.”

A store clerk in a uniform bowed as the two of them entered a jewelry store in Chungdam-dong. Even though she wasn’t interested in jewelry, she recognized the name of this famous store.

The store was a lot bigger than she’d expected. Just looking around made her mouth open in surprise. Momentarily dazed by the extravagance of the place, ChaYoung wondered why he suddenly came here instead of going to lunch.

“Is there something you’re looking for, sir?”

The manager of the store introduced himself and flashed them a gentle smile. The jewelry display cases were centered around the consultation area. The walls of the case were made of glass and marble. Trendy pieces of jewelry were elegantly put on display.

“Could you show us some of your rings?”

KunHyung stopped walking and spoke to the manager.

“Is this for a lady?”

“Yes.”

“Please come this way.”

The manager grinned and gestured to the display case further inside the store before he began walking towards it. When KunHyung followed, ChaYoung went with him.

She looked down at the glimmering marble floor. Even though she knew this had nothing to do with her, she couldn’t help that her heart was fluttering inside her chest.

It was oddly coincidental. Her birthday was in two days.

However, she had never mentioned this to him before, so there was no way he knew. And even if he had come to learn of it by chance, unless he was like her mother and got the dates mixed up, he wouldn’t be doing something like this two days before her birthday…

“Pick one.”

The moment her conflicting thoughts began to clash inside her head, she heard his voice. Her head whipped up, and she watched him as he gestured to the display case with his chin. Even though he was obviously speaking to her, she couldn’t open her mouth to reply.

“Are none of them to your liking?”

KunHyung gazed at ChaYoung as she stood still and raised a brow. Her heart began to beat faster. The possibility that he was doing all this for something that was not her birthday made her heart race.

If it wasn’t for her birthday, there was only one answer left. She wasn’t completely certain, but she felt that it was approximately one hundred days since they’d begun dating.

Even though she thought that having these expectations of him was unreasonable, she was starting to feel excited. Because it was none other than him.

No way. Did he really count the days?

It may just be a misunderstanding. Suspicious that this might just be a one in a million case of pure coincidence, she asked him.

“Who’s going to wear it?”

He scoffed.

“Why would I ask you to pick the ring if someone else was going to wear it?”

When she was certain that the one who would wear the ring was her, her squirming heart instantly relaxed. If he had gone through the struggle of picking it out himself, she would have been twice as moved, but she didn’t want to nitpick over something like that.

“If you’re having difficulty picking one out, we can just buy all of them.”

It sounded like something he’d say. ChaYoung laughed. She didn’t hate his arrogant attitude. She felt like the fog in her head had instantly cleared.

“Well then, show me what your discerning magic eyes can do.”

KunHyung took her hand and dragged her to the display case. The main stones weren’t remarkably designed, but anyone could tell at one glance that they were high quality.

“This piece was carefully processed using 360 degree precision. Because it’s a layered ring, it can accommodate various styles. Compared to other pieces with a similarly delicate and detailed design, it has fewer flaws and deformations. Because of this, many of our customers choose this as their wedding band.”

The manager explained with a face oozing with confidence. However, ChaYoung’s eyes looked away. Wedding bands? It seemed that he had misunderstood. She was only thinking of getting something simple she could wear every day, so his remark was a bit bewildering.

“It’s too excessive. Is there anything simpler?”

ChaYoung smiled as she asked. Suddenly, KunHyung’s voice intervened.

“It needs to be of this caliber so that the flies stay away from you.”

Flies? That word made her frown.

“What are you talking about?”

“I already told you. I’m marking my territory.”

She recalled that he had said this when they first departed together, but he hadn’t explained any further by the time they got here. She narrowed her eyes because she still did not understand what he was trying to say.

“Mark… your territory?

The moment she asked back, a disjointed thought suddenly popped into her head. She suddenly realized that this was coming from a completely different place than she’d hoped.

“Why are you still hiding the fact that you broke up with that bastard?”

He tilted his head as he asked. She wondered what he was talking about and frowned. Suddenly, her lips stiffened.

“Don’t tell me… Are you talking about what happened at the birthday party?”

His silence answered her question. She didn’t know when he started listening in on the conversation, but she felt like she knew who he was talking about when he said ‘flies’. It was probably the man who had approached her.

So? Was he trying to chain her to him by bringing her here?

Unaware of this, she had misunderstood, and her heart had fluttered like a fool. ChaYoung scoffed in disbelief and swept her hand through her hair.

“Ah… Please continue your discussion. I will return a little while later.”

Having caught on to the tension between the two of them, the manager tactfully left them alone. However, they couldn’t have a full-blown argument in the middle of a store.

Thinking that they needed to get out of here to continue having this discussion, ChaYoung bit her lips and turned around. As she quickly exited the store, KunHyung also came out and stepped in front of her.

“Let’s finish what we were talking about.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

ChaYoung looked him in the eye and answered him.

“Whether I tell people that I broke up with Kim SeungHoon or not, why is that any of your business, Sunbae?”

ChaYoung tried to steady her breaths and asked in a calm voice. The birthday party was full of good spirits and well wishes. She didn’t want to ruin the mood by talking about her gloomy situation. But she didn’t want to give him this excuse. Nor did she want to tell him that she planned on telling Yeju about what had happened at a later time.

KunHyung must not have liked her question. His eyes sharpened.

“What is it? Did you want to try something like this as well? Pretending that I’m your property? Pretending to be obsessed with me?”

He frowned as he tried to understand her questions. He stared at her.

“What?”

“Now that I think about it, it’s always been like that. Starting with how you waited for me in front of my office, all of it…”

“I always wanted to do something like this.”

She recalled his flushed face as he appeared in front of her office building. He said that he had always wanted to surprise her in front of her office. Delivering some haejang-guk to her. And spending the night with her. Even running to her when he heard her weak voice over the phone. She began to wonder if he had done all of this for the same reason.

“So it wasn’t because it was me. For Sunbae, you were just checking a box off a list.”

“What are you talking about?”

“For Sunbae, dating is… Because it’s all a first for you, they were all just exciting experiences for you. Like playing a game.”

When he heard her explanation, KunHyung scoffed in disbelief.

“Game?”

“Am I wrong? What are we?”

“That’s…”

“What is my favorite color? When is my birthday?”

KunHyung’s lips closed shut. He wanted to respond, but he didn’t know the answer.

“Of course you don’t know.”

ChaYoung mumbled tiredly. She let out a bitter laugh. Because this relationship hadn’t started with romantic feelings in the first place.

However, she didn’t plan on hating him for it. She was the one who believed that she could forget someone with someone else. She had been the selfish one who thought that he could help her get rid of her messy emotions. She was also the stubborn one who had thought, ‘Why can’t I?’

Now that she peeked inside, there was no reason why they couldn’t just end things here and live as if they were strangers from here on out.

However… It was easier said than done. That was the problem. Just look at what happened today. Within the short span of an hour, her heart had fluttered, sank in disappointment, and felt all sorts of emotions.

Thankfully, he hadn’t caught on. But just the thought of what had happened made her feel so pathetic and embarrassed that looking him in the eye like this was incredibly difficult.

This man currently had a hold over her that even SeungHoon did not have. She was shocked by the way she was changing when she was with him. She felt that she needed to distance herself from him, but her heart kept leaning towards him. And it made her even more scared.

However, unlike her, he did not change in the slightest. He merely seemed like he was simply enjoying a pleasant time.

She didn’t have the confidence to pretend not to notice his behavior. She knew that if they continued on like this, she would be the only one who got hurt. She needed to stop before her feelings grew too big.

“So what are you trying to say?”

When she heard his voice, she looked up at him. Now that she made up her mind, she felt sympathy for him as she looked into his confused eyes. He probably wouldn’t understand why she was suddenly doing this. Of course he didn’t. He couldn’t read her mind.

She drew in a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Let’s stop here.”

His brows furrowed as he stared at her.

“If you don’t like the ring, pick something else.”

“It’s not because I don’t like the ring.”

“Then what is it?”

ChaYoung silently blinked as her lips opened and closed.

“It’s just… I don’t like myself.”

“Say it so that I can understand.”

His sunken voice grew cold. His eyes seemed to ice over as he looked at her.

His aura could have frozen everything around them. ChaYoung clenched her fists. Even if her ego was bruised, should she be honest? Or should she stay quiet? When she made a decision, she drew in a deep breath.

“I don’t want to feel pathetic.”

She broke the silence and slowly raised her eyes. His eyes were filled with scorn.

“Pathetic? You’re making me go crazy over something like that?”

“Yes. Over something like that.”

She answered him in a quiet but firm voice.

“Something like that… It makes me feel pathetic. Just like now.”

“Just what makes you feel pathetic? Is it because you don’t like this place? Should we go somewhere else? Or should I just give you my card instead?”

When he moved to pull out his wallet from his pocket, she felt something well up inside her throat.

“I don’t want to wear a ring just to keep the flies away!”

Her sudden shout made him freeze. She continued to speak with watery eyes.

“Do you know that? At times like this, people normally feel ‘something like that’. And this ridiculous argument makes me feel pathetic.”

“Then you could have just told me before we got into this ridiculous argument.”

“Give me a reason why we should continue this relationship.”

It must have been a completely unexpected remark because he looked at ChaYoung as if he’d received a huge blow.

He never thought that this relationship could be severed. He believed that she would stay by his side for the rest of his life.

“There are still things that I wanted to…”

She helplessly shook her head.

“I’m not blaming you, Sunbae. I’m sorry.”

The moment he saw her dejected eyes, he suddenly remembered the conversation he had with his father a few days ago.

“It seems that my way of thinking is wrong.”

“It’s not… There’s no right or wrong.”

“Then at the very least, it seems that my way of thinking is different from other people.”

The expression he had seen on his mother’s face that evening was exactly like the one on ChaYoung’s face right now. His mouth suddenly went dry, and he was feeling nervous.

“Tell me what I did wrong. Really, I truly don’t know.”

Even if it wasn’t because he said the words ‘something like that’, his eyes held no lies. She could see that he was telling the truth. But because of this, she felt even more despair.

If she pretended nothing was wrong, she knew this relationship would continue on as it always did. However, no matter how she thought about it, this wasn’t normal.

“You did nothing wrong.”

“I’m not sure what it is, but at the very least, we have differing thoughts. Right?”

Hundreds of words flashed through her head. However, what was the point in explaining it all to him with words? ChaYoung remained silent for a long time. Finally, her mouth opened.

“My friend asked me, but I couldn’t give her an answer.”

When she began speaking without giving any context, KunHyung’s eyes narrowed in confusion as he gazed at her.

“She asked me if Sunbae had a girlfriend.”

KunHyung interrupted her.

“Of course…”

He thought that the words would come out right away. However, the words got caught in his throat. Shocked by this reaction, his mouth opened and closed.

ChaYoung watched as his face grew stiff. Her heart throbbed, but she also felt relieved.

When she realized that she needed to get rid of the final strands of hope left in her heart, she came to the conclusion that this truly was the end. Her fingers grew cold as she kept them clenched in a fist.

“Let’s stop… dating now.”

She looked up at him with eyes devoid of emotion. Her lips stretched into a bright smile. Then she turned around and passed him while he stood as stiff as a totem pole. She waved at an approaching taxi and got inside. He remained rooted to the spot, standing as still as a tree, until she went further and further away.

* * *

Tap.

After getting into the driver’s seat, KunHyung leaned his head against the headrest. What just happened? He blankly stared into space as his mind raced.

He couldn’t tell where it all started to go wrong. When they got in the car and started driving… No, even as they were entering the store, there weren’t any issues. Things started to get twisted when she brought up the birthday party.

The ring was merely the fuse.

But he didn’t know why she had looked at him with hurt in her eyes. If he didn’t understand, he would normally have gotten frustrated and angry, but right now, he felt anxious and nervous.

She was the one who suddenly said they should break up, but when she said that her friend had asked if he had a girlfriend, his head and his mouth didn’t seem to be in sync.

In his head, he had thought, ‘of course’. But the words did not leave his mouth. Normally, he should have said, ‘Of course it’s you!’. However, when he suddenly heard the word ‘girlfriend’, the semantics of the word caused his mouth to remain shut.

When a man and a woman are in love. Someone he loves.

The moment he began to mull over the words ‘dating’ and ‘girlfriend’, he was suddenly filled with embarrassment. Even though he claimed that they were dating, he had never linked that those words with the character ‘愛¹’. Therefore, he had never equated that character with ‘dating’ and ‘girlfriend’.

So even though he asked her to date him, he had never mentioned love. He just liked being with her, and when they were apart, he could only think about seeing her again. Curiosity and concern, anxiety and worry. Various emotions that he could not explain were tangled together.

Love? No matter how much he thought about it, that emotion was so far away for someone like him.

“Girlfriend…”

He said the word out loud. It sounded awkward and unfamiliar.

“Hoobae…”

The familiar term made him recall how she had introduced him as ‘a sunbae-nim who had given her a ride’. Remembering this, he mocked himself. She had also hidden the fact that she was no longer with Kim SeungHoon. He didn’t like any of it.

The final blow was the smirking man who had asked to be introduced to ChaYoung. When he thought about all the men who would have approached her like this, he suddenly felt his blood boil.

But they said that this was all because she wasn’t wearing a ring. When her friend said, ‘Don’t you want to wear one just to tell everyone ‘I have a boyfriend’?’, it pierced his ears.

That’s why he brought her here to put a ring on her. That’s why things ended up like this. He never thought of this as a game. He definitely wasn’t doing this to check a box.

He wanted to argue that this wasn’t fair. But when she asked him what her favorite color was and when her birthday was, he lost anything he had to say. 

Why wasn’t she surprised that he did not know these answers?

Why did her eyes look so sad?

“Do you know that? At times like this, people normally feel ‘something like that’. And this ridiculous argument makes me feel pathetic.”

Leaving other things aside, when she told him that she felt pathetic, he was absolutely shocked.

What was wrong? What was so different about him and her? He had so many things he wanted to ask her, but he couldn’t grab her as she turned away.

He told himself that she just needed some time, but actually, he was afraid that she would try to escape his grasp.

He pursed his lips and closed his eyes. A furrow formed on his smooth brow.

“Let’s stop… dating now.”

Her voice continued to float in his head. It was as if his brain had short-circuited. He couldn’t find a solution to this problem.