Chapter 18

“But, Kang Tae-wan you still Iove him.” At Jiyoon’s words, Hayeon’s hand, who was heading for the soju bottle, paused for a moment.

Her eyes as she looked at the bottle of soju fell out of focus for a moment and then caught it. It was a look that caught something deep in her heart.

“Huh, yes.” Before long, she admitted it.

Then Jiyoon crumpled her face as if she couldn’t understand. “But, why? Does Taewan have another woman? Is the scandal is that why you broke up?”

“no.”

“Then? Is it another woman?” Ji-yoon started looking for the reason for the breakup with Kang Tae-wan.

“No. Taewan doesn’t have another woman. I wanted to break up.”

“What? you?” Jiyoon asked with a startled face.

“Huh.”

“What on earth is the problem?”Jiyoon shouted with a frustrated expression.

They’ve been dating for over 10 years. She knew what Kang Tae-wan meant to Na Ha-yeon. Hayeon couldn’t open her heart to people easily. After watching for a long time, she opened her heart and approached. Jiyoon knew that the reason lies in her family.

Ha-yeon has a family, but they weren’t able to become a real family.

The remarried father had a hard time dealing with Ha-yeon, his oldest daughter. And he was awkward with her remarried mother and younger brother.

That was why she became independent as soon as she received her high school diploma. Silently pushed from the fence of her family, she made it difficult for people to approach her. Kang Tae-wan was the man she had been holding in her heart for more than 10 years. It meant more than family to her. Breaking up with Tae-wan like that. Why?

“You, you guys were getting along well. Did you have any problems?” Jiyoon asked with a stuttering voice.

“… Were we really well together? Jiyunah.” At the moment of Ha Yeon’s question, Ji-yoon was speechless.

Holding the soju glass, Ha-yeon looked at Ji-yoon with her eyes. “… Could it be that what we did was dating.”

Again, Ha-yeon asked for quiet. Ji-yoon, who seemed to be pouring out words at once, quietly shut her mouth. Jiyoon’s silence was taking the place of the answer. Hayeon quietly closed her eyes.

She asked, but she knew it well. The answer of ‘no’.

After graduating from high school, she became independent, and until then she was no different from others. After graduating, she no longer needed to have other people’s attention.

They  walked on the street holding hands, and they bought and ate delicious food with the money she earned from working part-time. Although the university she went to was different, they would stop by each other’s universities to study during the exam period. Taewan is so popular that every time he goes to college, his gaze is strong, and it was such a common relationship that others do, except for the fact that people’s attention pours out when he goes along the road together. Little by little, the situation changed when Tae-wan, who had been discharged from the military, began his career in the entertainment industry.

Little by little, the roles he played grew, and as his field of activity expanded, the number of people who recognized him increased. It was fun at first. Watching Tae-wan make his dream come true made her happy, it was her own dreams come true.

She hoped his additions went well, and she watched his program several times again.

Tae-wan was embarrassed to cover his face with a big hand and said,’Look at him in the morning’, and Ha-yeon liked to look at him. An embarrassed  face, a reddish tip of the ears, and the eyes covered with a large hand. Even so, even lips with a smile on his face.

His appearance was as beautiful as a painting, so Hayeon hoped that time would stop as it was.

Everyday was like that, struck by the window, but when she faced it, the days like the pleasant morning sun continued.

Until she knew she was a stumbling block for his dreams.