To Eungyeol

The moment our eyes met, Eungyeol crossed the classroom towards me, as if pulled by an irresistible force.

And then, abruptly, he introduced himself.

“Hi.”

“…….”

“I’m Baek Eungyeol.”

A single tear, inexplicably, traced a path down his cheek, beneath eyes the color of burnt umber.

The sight was so strange that I didn’t even register that he had cried.

“I…”

He had strode up to me, out of the blue, to introduce himself, and now…

“I’ve fallen for you.”

He’d just dropped a bomb on my school life, which I hadn’t expected to be smooth sailing anyway.

One spring day, at the age of twenty. That was the first day Baek Eungyeol walked into my life.

🎨🖌️

“I’m your boyfriend.”

“You’re on a contract.”

“But if I work hard, I can become a permanent employee, right?”

“…….”

“……Right?”

By “permanent employee,” Eungyeol meant a real boyfriend, not a boyfriend-for-hire. A privately owned car, not a rental. In short, a normal relationship.

We’d even kissed. I wasn’t going to deny it. I was attracted to Eungyeol. But I didn’t want a real relationship with him.

Because… I was scared.

Love isn’t forever, and all relationships end messily. That was the truth I’d learned from my parents.

So, Eungyeol would never become my real boyfriend.