Chapter 144

The next day, the first thing I did after waking up, having barely slept the night before, was cleaning. I’m not talking about the wet floor from yesterday; I obviously cleaned that up right away.

What I was cleaning were the traces left behind by Jae-Ah. There weren’t too many, but some remnants of her time in this house still remained: clothes, a toothbrush, and other small items.

I gathered everything and put it into a box. It wasn’t much, so the box was small and light enough to carry in my hand. Without having eaten anything, I carried the box to the post office.

After writing Professor Seo’s address on the package and sending it cash on delivery, I returned home.

Despite what had happened yesterday, I felt surprisingly calm. No, it wouldn’t be right to say calm; “tranquil” seems more appropriate.

I was tranquil. Detached, deep.

Once home, I spaced out. Then, suddenly, I noticed the smartphone in my hand. I blocked and deleted Jae-Ah’s contact information.

I didn’t think she would reach out to me again, but whether to apologize or for some other reason, it wasn’t impossible for her to contact me again. That was an action that held no meaning for me.

Jae-Ah and I were finished. For her, it would be an ending, not a graduation. But that wasn’t an ending for me.

The story continues.

Time flows.

That alone was the only truth in this world.

I am me.

I was me.

Now that the truth of my own existence has shattered, that was the only truth remaining.

The phone rang.

A familiar name came to mind.

I answered the call.

Professor Seo said something to me. I replied appropriately.

He asked me something. I answered appropriately.

Professor Seo expressed his apologies and gratitude. I responded appropriately.

Until the end of the call, I mechanically provided adequate responses.

I didn’t mention yesterday’s incident. Jae-Ah probably didn’t either.

I didn’t want anyone to know. Not about this incident.

It was different from before. It wasn’t to hide something for Jae-Ah.

To report Jae-Ah to Professor Seo? He would apologize. Perhaps he would want to harm Jae-Ah half to death. That was truly none of my business.

If I didn’t report her, Professor Seo would end things with his apology and compensation. But if I reported to the police, he would send his son to the authorities without hesitation.

And that too was entirely unrelated to me.

So, I had no special reason not to report Jae-Ah.

It was simply a matter that had no connection to me, so there was no reason to act.

I was tranquil.

It seemed as though Professor Seo sensed my oddness, but he didn’t pry. He would likely ask Jae-Ah. And whether she spoke or not, he would handle it. Again, that wasn’t my concern.

The call ended.

I was tranquil.

Detached, deep.

Wounds do not become scars. They remain wounds to the end. We call them scars because we want to forget.

I couldn’t forget anything.

~

A day passed, and then another. I met someone I hadn’t seen in a while. It was the day Ham Yejin’s friend moved in.

Connections are truly wondrous.

“Writer-nim?”

I might have guessed it after all. A friend of Ham Yejin, who was either a senior or a junior, coming all the way from the countryside and was from a prestigious university.

Psycho.

“Why are you here…?”

“I moved here today.”

The foreshadowing was so blatant, I was foolish not to have noticed.

“Have you two met before?”

“Just briefly at the publishing company where we worked before!”

“Oh… that?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Han-bom and Ham Yejin were chatting right in front of me. Han-bom was being overly familiar with Ham Yejin, and Ham Yejin seemed barely concerned about it.

“By any chance, did this person do something rude to Seol-guk?”

Is that what we’re checking first?

“Other than pouring radish pickle juice over the rice soup, no.”

“Did you do that again?”

She was a habitual offender.

“No, it really is delicious. The writer liked it after he tried it.”

“I didn’t say you could make it again.”

Speaking of which, seeing them interact like this made me realize once more just how youthful Han-bom looked. Ham Yejin was certainly not one to look old either. However, with both of them together and Ham Yejin being slightly taller, it was hard to see her as the younger one.

Only one thing was clear: Han-bom had much larger breasts than Ham Yejin.

“It feels like you’re thinking something strange.”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

As always, Ham Yejin had her instincts.

“So what’s your relationship? How did you meet?”

“We’re friends. We met through work.”

“Really? That’s unfair! Writer-nim, can I be friends with you too? We met for work too!”

Strictly speaking, there wasn’t exactly work between us. Nevertheless, I couldn’t outright say “no” in this situation. And yet, I really didn’t want to say that I understood. It wasn’t that I had any personal grievances against Han-bom. I just felt that saying “I understand” here… felt off to me.

As I visibly showed my discontent, Han-bom puffed her cheeks in dismay. It was clearly intentional, but it was hard to say anything when it came to her face. Fortunately, while I was silently enduring, Ham Yejin slapped the back of Han-bom’s head.

“Ow!”

“Stop that nonsense.”

It was truly the first time I had seen Ham Yejin act so casually. After all, we were about to become neighbors, and since she was Ham Yejin’s friend, there was no need to create a bad atmosphere.

“Alright. Let’s be friends. I don’t know if this is how you really make friends, like we’re in elementary school or something, though.”

“If you’re okay with it, feel free to say you don’t want to be friends. I’ll kick you out right away.”

“That’s too much! Yejin, you’re so heartless!!”

Even so, before I could finish thinking that kicking her out was too much, I felt the urge to follow Ham Yejin’s words as I watched Han-bom whining and clinging to her.

“It’s fine. What can we do?”

“Yay! So we’re friends from now on? What should I call you then? It feels weird to keep calling you Writer-nim.”

“Call me however you like.”

“Then, Seol-Ah.”

This crazy girl.

“It’s Seol-guk.”

“But the name Guk doesn’t sound cute at all.”

“Miss Ham Yejin, about that suggestion again…”

“Stop! Stop! I’m sorry! Please save me! If I go out of here, I really have nowhere to go!”

*Sigh…*

It was a farce. I felt like I was part of a comedic skit. Han-bom was a girl with the knack for turning all conversations into one-liners. She was a poet, but perhaps a humorist would suit her better.

“Then, Seol-guk?”

“Call me Seol-guk.”

“That sounds so heartless… Fine. We can gradually narrow the distance!”

“Yes… you can do that, I suppose…”

“Oh, you can call me Han-bom unnie.”

As soon as she said that, Han-bom was hit on the head and hugged her head in pain. Obviously, it wasn’t me who hit her.

“Stop messing around.”

“Yejin, you’re so heartless. I met you first, you know.”

Is she getting jealous? She didn’t seem to be at all.

With a sigh, I brought up the title I had called her before. Honestly, I didn’t think I had any other titles to use.

“I’ll call you Senior.”

“Hehe, then it’ll turn into ‘unnie’ and ‘oppa’ before we know it.”

As a side note, Han-bom received another hit for saying that. From Ham Yejin.

“Ow, ow. That hurts.”

“That’s karma.”

“By the way, I’m getting a bit hungry, and since the moving-in is over, shall we order some Jajangmyeon? It’s customary to have Jajangmyeon on moving-in day! I’ll treat today!”

I wasn’t really in the mood for eating, but I had no particular reason to refuse. For reference, the conversation so far had started when the two of them came to greet me, and it took place in my house. But from today onward, we decided to have meals at Han-bom’s place instead. It wasn’t right next door. It seemed that Ham Yejin intentionally chose the house that was the farthest from mine.

Han-bom’s house was tidy. It was a bit unexpected, somewhat in line with her image, rather than being the way I imagined.

One side of the living room wall was entirely a bookshelf.

“I haven’t unpacked the books yet. I plan to organize them later at my own pace.”

I guess all those boxes over there are filled with those. After all, she is someone who writes. The amount wasn’t particularly excessive, but it was still considerable.

While waiting for the delivery, I didn’t really feel the need to speak much. Han-bom talked non-stop the whole day. Ham Yejin and I mostly listened. Occasionally, we would provide appropriate responses, but they held absolutely no meaning.

As we conversed, I felt that Han-bom was indeed a remarkable person. The way she rambled on for over 20 minutes about otaku games, which neither I nor Ham Yejin had any interest in, confirmed that. Ham Yejin seemed accustomed to it, responding appropriately, but it was evident she was just going along with it. However, Han-bom didn’t take the hint. For reference, I was looking at my phone.

I had sensed this before to some extent, but this girl was definitely an otaku. Beautiful, youthful, and large-breasted, yet an otaku girl—a type of human that surely didn’t exist in reality—yet here she was, leaving me puzzled as to why she was real.

Despite the glaring flaw of being a crazy girl, I thought there would surely be many who wouldn’t mind that.

“So suddenly changing the atmosphere like this in the game story is just plain stupid. The tempo gets completely thrown off. Even though I endured it because I drew a legendary character from a gacha… Ah, looks like it arrived.”

The moment Han-bom’s otaku rant came to an end, the Jajangmyeon arrived right on time. Though, based on the location of the Chinese restaurant, it might have been a bit late.

“I’ll get it.”

It was a minor movement.

Han-bom walked toward the door, which happened to be on a path beside me. I was at a perfectly safe distance and wouldn’t be bothered by her passing. Yet, at that moment, I instinctively stepped aside.

It wasn’t a meaningful movement.

There was absolutely nothing one could glean from it. You could be sure of that. I looked fine.

Ham Yejin asked.

“…Did something happen?”

I replied appropriately.