Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“What about the money?”

“My father will probably continue to be that way as long as he’s alive.”

Cha Yeowoon answered nonchalantly as if it was of no importance.

“Then?”

It seemed I was more anxious than Cha Yeowoon. I couldn’t do anything about his father’s problem right now. If I considered it that way, his life was likely to be filled with unknown challenges in the future.

“After obtaining consent, Team Leader Choi Jinseo said we should discuss it with a lawyer to avoid future interference.”

“Oh…”

I supposed that was all brought up with the lawyer that was mentioned previously during our talk if we had a case for defamation. Could they be trusted? Choi Jinseo presenting her business card with clear eyes came to mind.

“If it wasn’t for the senior, I wouldn’t have trusted it.”

Cha Yeowoon said bashfully, making me question if he had accidentally spoken aloud.

“Someone is trying to help me.”

And then, how innocently Cha Yeowoon smiled.

I wondered if this was the same child who would get suspicious and take a step back whenever he saw me nearby.

All the strength went out of my shoulders. The way he was talking shook my heart.

Just as before, there were people who followed and harassed him, and there were also those who encouraged him to spend time together. It was all the same as it was a year ago.

The only thing that had changed was him.

“It’s strange that it has only gone from spring to summer, but my life has changed so much.”

Cha Yeowoon’s fingertips, fiddling with the apricot, danced as cheerful as playing music.

I recalled something else.

The sensation of those fingers stroking the back of my neck, my heartbeat pounding in rhythm similar to the sound of rain, and the whispered words, “I love you.”

“Should we go chestnut picking in the fall?”

At some point, Cha Yeowoon started smiling so much that not a single wrinkle could be seen.

Although there was no sunlight, it was dazzling, so I lowered my gaze. My heart pumped vigorously, sending blood to my toes.

“Senior, Grannie, and I. The three of us. Let’s pick acorns too.”

“Cha Yeowoon. Do you have $23,000?”

“No.”

“Let’s just buy some chestnuts and eat them.”

I was serious, but Cha Yeowoon seemed to take it as a joke.

“What is it?”

“Illegal acts are enough with apricots. Hey, committing crimes every season is too much.”

“It’s just going to jail if we get caught.”

“Don’t even joke about that. I might as well sell a kidney to raise $23,000.”

“If you’re going to, I’ll sell too.”

“What the hell kind of compromise is that?”

At this rate, we might end up selling kidneys instead of going chestnuts picking in fall.

Both of us agreed not to touch our organs, and instead, diligently picked apricots.

A sour and sweet smell entered my nostrils. It was accompanied by the smell of grass leaves and branches.

The green hues of the rain-soaked leaves and the water droplets gliding down the fruits collectively conveyed the essence of summer’s abundance.

[ Countdown: 10:16:43 ]

The ticking time felt oppressive. Apricots piled up in the transparent container. Every second spent with Cha Yeowoon felt special.

I wanted to say that I loved him.

“I don’t know how to properly like people.”

Instead, I said something like this.

My first lover had told me that. How it seemed like I didn’t know how to properly like people.

It had felt like getting slapped when I first heard it, but I soon understood. Perhaps it was true. I was someone who didn’t know how to like and cherish people properly. That was why I hurt them. I even made those who were with me feel isolated.

“I’ve been alone for too long…It became so familiar that I don’t know how to be by someone’s side anymore.”

I picked a heavy apricot at the end of a branch. Playing with it carelessly, I accidentally tore the adjacent leaf.

It wasn’t my intention. I was clumsy.

“I’m sorry if I did it to Yeowoon, too.”

“Stop talking.”

Cha Yeowoon plucked an apricot attached to a branch. The fruit trapped in his clenched fist made a soft, squishing sound.

I faltered at the sharp response.

“Are you angry?”

It seemed like Cha Yeowoon was angry, but I didn’t know why. I felt helplessly anxious.

Transparent juice dripped between his fingers. The crushed flesh oozed.

“Cha Yeowoon. I know you think I don’t like you.”

“I said stop.”

“Why are you suddenly angry?”

Couldn’t I speak? I wanted to complain, but I couldn’t even joke when the atmosphere was so tense. Tension rose along with my nervousness.

The apricot crushed in Cha Yeowoon’s grip fell to the ground.

“Are you trying to break up?”

“What?”

To my ears, an incomprehensible voice was heard. I was immediately dumbfounded as Cha Yeowoon continued without looking at me.

“We can’t break up. I can’t give up. Senior, you don’t hate me, right?”

“What? Hey, wait a minute.”

“Wouldn’t it be the same even if you meet someone else anyway? Continue to see me.”

Cha Yeowoon quickly poured out his thoughts as if he had thought about it hundreds of times.

Last time, he had suddenly asked me if I was going to break up with him.

“I mean, if you’re sorry, there’s no need to break up.”

Cha Yeowoon seemed to firmly believe that I wouldn’t mind breaking up with him.

“I didn’t say that to break up.”

“…Then what?”

When Cha Yeowoon asked why, I didn’t know what to say. If I wanted to apologize, I should have done it yesterday. In fact, I couldn’t even respond when he had confessed. Now in retrospect I was rambling and wasn’t making any sense.

I questioned whether I wanted to be understood.

While hesitating to answer, Cha Yeowoon wiped his nose with his hand stained with juice. The bridge of his nose turned red.

“Are you crying again?”

“…I’m not. Does senior think I cry so easily?”

“You do.”

Cha Yeowoon’s lips, which looked like he was about to say no, only twitched and then closed again. Perhaps he did cry a lot after I thought about it.

“Crybaby.”

I wanted to tease Cha Yeowoon, so I added another word, and he sniffled.

“I only cry if senior makes me cry.”

“Yes, it’s all my fault.”

“That’s right.”

It was cute how Cha Yeowoon, with a reddened nose, stubbornly refused to budge even an inch.

How should I say it?

It wasn’t that I didn’t like him, and it wasn’t that I wanted to hurt him. I just sometimes found myself in situations I wanted to avoid, whether it was my clumsiness or just my luck. Maybe it was fate.

My forearm was firmly held. Startled, I looked at Cha Yeowoon, who was wiping away his tears and seemed serious.

“Senior. Hold on tight.”

Cha Yeowoon whispered with urgency.

There was no need to suddenly ask what was happening. Behind us, middle-aged men in familiar suncaps, wearing noticeable vests were gathered near the walking trail.

I could hear comments like “Just let us go this time,” “We didn’t even pick that much,” and such. The situation was quickly understood.

Caught. I guess we were the only two who hadn’t been discovered.

“Let’s take the back road.”

I thought Cha Yeowoon and I should leave through the back entrance of the park. We tried to slip away discreetly, but the patrol was scouring near the apricot trees diligently. Furthermore, if we were to fall, they would catch us. A man with a stern expression noticed us and glared intensely.

Beep–!

A whistle resounded loudly.

“Run!”

As if receiving the signal, Cha Yeowoon sprinted ahead. He grabbed my hand tightly.

The scenery that had been motionless was pulled in the direction he was running.

Soon, I was short of breath. If I didn’t focus, I might collapse.

Despite running with all my strength, I just couldn’t keep up. The child taking the lead was too fast, making it feel more like I was being pulled along.

Meanwhile, fearing I might lose the apricots, they bounced around in the plastic container that I held dearly in my arms. Something like stuffed ping-pong balls hit my chest.

Behind us, the sound of whistles followed but gradually faded. The air hit my face.

“Hey, too fast, hey, Cha Yeowoon, it’s too fast!”

To some extent, I got a sense of what it felt like when Cha Yeowoon was running. My heart throbbed, as if it was crawling from my chest to my brain, and the soles of my feet felt like they were burning.

[ Buff reversal. ]

My feet that seemed to be dragged backward moved forward lightly.

A faint sparkle appeared from our hands that were entangled like a knot.

There were only gloomy clouds flowing overhead, but lights came from under my feet.

A flowing spectrum of lights.

I recalled the scene of Cha Yeowoon surpassing other athletes. The scene of him shaking off the gravity of the stars and shadows, running at an unbeatable speed.

Now, I was part of that scene.

If I looked down just slightly, I would be able to see ripples spreading from my feet, but I only looked at Cha Yeowoon’s back.

We slowed down only after we were far from the park.

“Let’s take a break…and catch our breath.”

While catching my breath with my hands on my knees, I looked at Cha Yeowoon’s sturdy legs standing firmly in front of me. When I recalled the shapes of his legs that had been completely twisted by the impact of the car, a lump of breath caught in my throat.

[ Countdown: 09:59:51 ]

Even when standing still, time continued to pass steadily.

“Are you out of breath?”

Cha Yeowoon continued to stroke my back. I couldn’t raise my head and simply nodded.

“But what do we do with this?”

“Indeed.”

Cha Yeowoon took the container filled with apricots from my arms.

Originally, the groups were supposed to meet at the park entrance, but it didn’t make sense to carry it back now.

“Let’s take it home for now.”

If Cha Yeowoon and I needed to take it somewhere, my grandmother would tell us. Anyway, we had done what we were told.

“Let’s buy a cake.”

Cha Yeowoon held the container as he pointed to the sign of a bakery not far away.

“Why suddenly a cake? Do you want to eat cake?”

“No. It’s your grandmother’s birthday.”

Cha Yeowoon still remembered what I had said earlier. He had a good memory.

“It’s going to take some time to make seaweed soup, so we’ll buy a cake.”

“…I think seaweed soup would be better.”

“Then let’s have seaweed soup and cake.”

Cake…It inexplicably felt awkward.

In the past, my grandmother and I never celebrated each other’s birthdays. There was no such thing as parties with gifts and cakes in our lives.

I couldn’t recall us ever wishing each other a happy birthday. My grandmother was probably busy taking care of her grandson, who was always causing trouble.

“What kind of cake does senior like?”

“Not Grandma but me?”

“Yes. Both. Because I have to buy a cake for senior’s birthday too.”

The topic naturally turned to my birthday. At times like this, I felt like my thoughts would be exposed.

“Your birthday is in October, right?”