Hye-won silently counted her menstrual cycle in her head.
Let me see… What day is it now?
Feeling down, craving sweets… If those were signs, her period would start within a week, maybe ten days at the latest.
Damn it. Ever since my body changed, everything’s a mess…
Frustrated, Hye-won aggressively ruffled her hair and let out a deep sigh.
The body that Yoon Jae-ha is inside… having a period?
The mere thought was disgusting. But no matter how hard she thought about it, there was no good solution right now.
“Whatever. It’ll work itself out somehow.”
But stressing over something she couldn’t solve immediately would only give her a headache.
Shaking herself off, Hye-won stood up and left the room. As she stepped out, she saw Yoon Jae-ha closing the refrigerator door.
“Did you find the chocolate?”
“No, there isn’t any. But Mom told me to give you an apple.”
“An apple? Why?”
“This.”
A note fluttered lightly in Jae-ha’s hand. Hye-won wandered over.
She took the note from him. It was covered in Aunt Mi-sook’s handwriting — crooked and wiggly, like a worm.
Make sure you two make up while I’m at the market! There are apples in the fridge, so peel one for Hye-won. You eat some too.
“Mi-sook’s handwriting amazes me every time… Your writing’s neat, though. All tidy and precise.”
“I got smacked into writing neatly when I was little. So I wouldn’t take after my mom.”
Jae-ha answered indifferently as he set a tray with apples, plates, a knife, and two forks, then carried it to the living room.
Placing the tray on the table, he sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa.
“Won-ah, let’s eat some apple.”
“Want me to do it?”
Hye-won asked as she sat down. But Jae-ha shook his head and, with his small hands, began peeling the red apple himself.
Crunch, crunch. The sound of apple peels falling onto the tray echoed quietly.
The morning sunlight pouring in through the veranda shone over Yoon Jae-ha’s — no, her — brown hair. For some reason, it gave her a strange feeling.
It was like a scene from one of those arthouse films — hazy, dreamlike. The corners of Hye-won’s lips curved upwards gracefully.
You know the ones. The movies that are boring as hell, but somehow sweep awards at every film festival. Everyone fawns over how stunning the mise-en-scène is, but I always wondered why the hell they won anything. Maybe I was the only one who couldn’t see the brilliance.
But, no. Mise-en-scène matters, after all.
It was visually satisfying — the atmosphere was soft, like cotton candy, completely her taste. And of course, the lead actor was her favorite part of the scene, no questions asked.
“Here, try it.”
Jae-ha held out the apple, sunlight cutting between them.
Hye-won accepted it without hesitation, shoving it into her mouth and chewing. Jae-ha smiled softly.
Damn it. Again. My heart’s aching again.
Swallowing the apple hard, Hye-won deliberately spoke bluntly.
“You’re gonna swallow a fly. Hurry up and eat too.”
“Is it good, Won-ah?”
“Yeah. Sweet as hell.”
“Um… hey… Can you not misunderstand what I’m about to say?”
What now?
Jae-ha’s eyes wavered nervously before fixing on her. He swallowed, his soft, full, annoyingly edible-looking lips parting at last.
“Hey… Hye-won…”
But that moment, something hit her like a slap to the back of her head. She froze.
What the hell am I thinking? Edible? Those are my lips!
“Why… why do you swear so much?”
“Huh?”
Jae-ha’s question snapped her out of it just in time, dragging her away from that dangerous train of thought. She barely managed to shake it off, but his curious eyes were still fixed on her.
“You never used to swear before.”
“What?”
Suddenly he cares about swearing? Who doesn’t swear at work?
__________˚ ˚ ༘.𖥔 ݁ ｡𓆩⚝𓆪 ֶָ.________
‘Han-writer, is this all your research? I told you to find out how many pairs of underwear that actor owns!’
‘What do you mean they won’t talk in interviews? If you leave them alone, why do we even need a writer? Coax them, do whatever it takes!’
‘You’re submitting a script like this?’
Those absurd demands and impossible expectations from back then flashed through her mind.
Anyone who’s worked knows — turning rage into swearing is practically a polite stress relief method.
When you feel murderous urges several times a day, what’s a little cursing?
“Work only improves your swearing. What, you don’t like it? Then marry me.”
Hye-won tossed out an old-school joke, but Jae-ha just stared at her like he’d lost his words.
Was that too lame?
Seeing his reaction, her cheeks heated up.
“Didn’t you say you were a variety show writer?”
Shit.
“It’s just a classic rhyme. Why are you avoiding the question? Do you hate it when I swear?”
“No, I don’t hate it. As if I could ever hate you.”
As she pressed him, Jae-ha quickly replied. Relieved the topic shifted back, Hye-won let out a breath and kept going.
“I swear well. I throw around ‘fuck’ like it’s nothing, and ‘sweet as hell’ is basically my signature. I curse way worse in my head too.”
But… strange. The more she talked, the worse she felt. She didn’t even know why she was making excuses like this. Her voice was gradually rising without her realizing.
Even though Jae-ha said he didn’t hate it, anger bubbled inside for no reason. She knew she was taking it out on the wrong person, but her mouth kept spitting venom anyway.
Her own emotions were impossible to keep up with.
“I’ve changed over these seven years! I’m not the innocent Han Hye-won from back then! You’ve worked too, you should know! Oh, right — you’re a CEO now, huh? Made a fortune with a startup, so I guess you wouldn’t know the pain of us corporate slaves!”
Her words mixed defense with mockery, a skill she’d perfected over the years. Jae-ha fell silent again.
If only I’d written dialogue this sharp for my scripts…
Han Hye-won, you’re seriously the worst.
She was disgusted with herself. Playing it cool, pretending they could stay friends — and yet she shook like a leaf at the slightest provocation.
What’s worse than turning fear into aggression? No one would want a friend like that. Honestly, maybe it’s better not to have friends like me at all.
Lost between self-mockery and regret, her eyes drifted toward Jae-ha. The moment she saw the pity in his gaze, she finally shut her mouth.
“Won-ah.”
He called her softly, knees drawn up, arms stretched toward her. His small palms cupped her cheeks gently as he met her eyes.
“You know… I like you no matter what you’re like. So just do whatever you want.”
“…”
“If you swear, so what? You’re cute when you swear. Every time you say ‘sweet as hell’… I don’t care what you do, I’m always on your side.”
Could that really be true?
Wouldn’t he be disappointed and leave me again once he sees how pathetic I’ve become? Yoon Jae-ha didn’t know me now. He only remembered the bright, sparkling version of me from childhood.
“What if I crack terrible jokes?”
“I liked it. I love dad jokes.”
“That wasn’t a dad joke, though.”
“…Right.”
Jae-ha faltered for a moment, then hurriedly added,
“Whatever it is, I like everything you do.”
“You’re trying to flirt right now, aren’t you?”
“Yup. I’m flirting and scoring points.”
Maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d changed. Yoon Jae-ha seemed different too, somehow smoother, more sly.
Time really had passed — and we’d both changed with it.
“Han Hye-won, thank you.”
“…Huh?”
“You’ve worked hard all this time. It must’ve been tough doing it all alone… But you held on, you were strong, and you’ll keep doing great.”
Jae-ha’s head tilted slightly. The warm sunlight that had been shining on Hye-won’s face disappeared, replaced by the shadow cast by him.
An unfamiliar tickling sensation crawled up the back of her neck, making Hye-won close her eyes without realizing it.
The world quieted like they were the only two people left. Everything faded away.
The moment his small hands cupped her cheeks, the quiet drumming in her chest pounded in her ears.
His warm breath brushed against her lips.
It was an early Saturday morning.
