Chapter 1. Na Yeoul and Na Sunwoo
“Where are we going?”
“Your place.”
Yeoul had been in fourth grade when Sunwoo brought a friend from school over to their house. That day was the first time Yeoul met Jinhyun.
After that, she would occasionally run into Jinhyun.
‘Hi, Seungwon oppa. Hi, Jinhyun oppa.’
Back when she was still a clueless kid, Yeoul would greet them informally. And he always responded with a warm smile.
Sunwoo, Seungwon, and Jinhyun—the three who were practically glued together—continued their friendship into middle school and even high school. Their bond only deepened over time. Even after choosing different colleges and career paths, nothing changed.
“You don’t have work?”
“Even for a variety show PD, I don’t usually go to work at this hour.”
“I meant, why are you off work so early? Shouldn’t you still be busy?”
Jinhyun was a variety show producer at SBC. Until recently, he was the assistant director of the popular talk show Shin Woojae’s Talk Talk. But after the sudden resignation of the main PD, he unexpectedly got promoted to the lead role.
He’d been so busy lately that he rarely came by Yeoul’s place. She wondered why he had free time today.
“What, are you embarrassed because I caught what happened at the restaurant?”
Jinhyun hit the nail on the head, and Yeoul had no choice but to admit it.
“Of course I’m embarrassed. It felt like I acted out a whole drama in front of a variety show PD.”
A soft chuckle slipped through his lips. Yeoul caught a glimpse of the corners of Jinhyun’s mouth lifting slightly.
Yeah, laugh it up. Honestly, it was a relief that it was Jinhyun who saw it. If Sunwoo or Seungwon had seen it, they would’ve teased her endlessly.
Yeoul let out a sigh and spoke again.
“Don’t tell Sunwoo.”
Instead of answering, Jinhyun tilted the umbrella more toward her.
Tatatak—the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella under the streetlight mixed with the rhythm of their footsteps.
Punching in the door code like it was his own home, Seungwon walked in and saw Sunwoo sprawled on the sofa.
“Hey. Your sister was out front beating someone up at a restaurant.”
Sunwoo didn’t even flinch. He replied casually, his face calm.
“You could’ve at least pretended to stop her.”
“I was going to, but… Jinhyun was already there.”
On his way to Sunwoo’s, Seungwon had seen Yeoul smacking some guy in the back of the head. He didn’t know the details, but it had caught his attention.
He was just about to enter the restaurant to break it up when he locked eyes with Jinhyun through the glass door.
‘Just go.’
Reading Jinhyun’s signal, Seungwon raised an eyebrow but decided to back off. If something needed to be handled, Jinhyun would take care of it.
“What was Jinhyun doing?”
“Watching.”
Sunwoo scoffed in disbelief and sat up. Seungwon thought he might call, but instead, he just grabbed the TV remote.
“Aren’t you going to call her?”
“Would she pick up? She’s probably still busy beating people up.”
Despite acting indifferent, Sunwoo kept glancing at his phone. He clearly couldn’t ignore it.
About an hour later, they heard the door lock beep.
“You beating someone up made it all the way home before you did.”
Yeoul turned around at the sound of Sunwoo’s voice just as she walked in. She locked eyes with Jinhyun, who shrugged.
“Wasn’t me.”
While Jinhyun denied leaking anything, Sunwoo asked again.
“Who’d you hit? Is he still alive?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Frowning deeply, Yeoul stomped into her room.
Slam!
The loud bang of the door closing was followed by the sound of Sunwoo clicking his tongue.
“Guess she’s trying to spend her money paying assault settlements now…”
Jinhyun hadn’t used his phone at the police station, so how Sunwoo found out was a mystery. Why did no secrets exist between these people?
As she thought back on the police station incident, a fresh wave of anger surged.
‘I’m telling you, she contacted me first! Said answering a few questions would help her with her work. Who would rudely reject that?’
Yoo Seokho had practically leapt up, waving his phone in front of the police as if he were the victim. It showed the text message Yeoul had sent him a few days ago requesting an interview.
‘See? She messaged me first!’
‘Yes, yes, I see that.’
The officer skimmed the text and looked at Yeoul. She sighed and spoke with a tired face.
‘I did message him first, but…’
‘See? She was coming onto me!’
‘Oh, shut up. I’m talking—’
‘What?! What did you say to me?!’
As Yoo Seokho jumped up, Yeoul moved to rise too, but Jinhyun suddenly stepped in front of her.
Before she could say anything, Jinhyun spoke in a calm, icy voice.
‘Seems like we need to clear up a misunderstanding.’
Seokho responded with an annoyed grunt.
‘Misunderstanding? Yeah, right.’
‘It’s true she contacted you first for the interview.’
‘Exactly! Wait—who are you, anyway? You were at the restaurant too… Are you another victim of hers?’
Jinhyun let out a scoff.
‘From what I heard earlier, it was you who set up the meeting today. You even chose the restaurant to feed her something nice.’
‘W-what?!’
‘Didn’t you say, “Working alone gets lonely. Call me if you’re ever bored”? Who was showing interest in whom here?’
Jinhyun’s precise memory even surprised Yeoul. Had he really been close enough to hear all of that? She hadn’t noticed him at all.
Flushed with anger, Seokho pointed a finger at him.
‘Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?! You dare lie to the cops? You want to end up in jail too?!’
‘You seem to get louder when you’re cornered.’
Jinhyun, unfazed, glanced at Seokho’s wife, who had come with him to the station.
‘That’s about the gist of it. You probably already know who’s lying.’
‘Who are you even talking to?!’
‘Anyway, I think it’s time we settled this.’
Maybe it was the calm authority in his voice, but Seokho’s wife finally stepped up and settled the matter. Thanks to Jinhyun, Yeoul was able to walk out of the station without issue. But that only made her more embarrassed. She’d fought plenty with Sunwoo before, but showing that side of herself to someone else felt like a different level of shame.
After a quick shower, Yeoul opened her sketchbook for the first time in a while.
With her earphones in, the noise from the living room disappeared, and a perfect silence settled around her. She became absorbed in her work, completely unaware of time passing.
But then… she felt someone’s gaze on her back. She turned to see Sunwoo watching her with his head tilted.
“You scared me! When did you come in?”
“Since when do you draw on your days off?”
“Everyone else left?”
“Yeah.”
After Yeoul entered college, the trio started gathering at her place instead of Seungwon’s. Her parents had moved to the countryside, leaving the siblings behind in Seoul. By now, it was normal to see the three guys lounging around her living room.
Hopefully Jinhyun hadn’t said anything unnecessary earlier. When Yeoul briefly stepped out into the living room, they were just chatting about random things.
She glanced at Sunwoo to check his mood. He seemed normal as he picked up a piece of paper on the floor.
“This part of your next project? You should take better care of it.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m scrapping it.”
Sunwoo looked confused.
“Scrapping it? Why?”
“Sometimes you just have to let things go.”
Yeoul answered coolly. Since she’d only been working on it alone so far, she didn’t even need to discuss it with the platform. The sooner she scrapped it, the better.
She noticed Sunwoo still standing behind her.
“You have something to say?”
“Come by the restaurant tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“New menu testing.”
Yeoul groaned openly.
“I really don’t want to go out…”
“You can at least show some support when your brother is opening a restaurant.”
“I already showed support with my money.”
“Then consider investing your time along with your deposit.”
Ugh. He’s good with words.
Yeoul waved him off with a lazy hand. Sunwoo seemed satisfied and left the room without another word.
Guess I’ll test the food and then binge-watch some movies.
With a tired sigh, Yeoul cleaned up her desk and flopped onto her bed.
