Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 70-2

“Yoo-hwa.”

Woo-hyun kindly called her name. In that very sweet voice she once wanted to hear.

Woo-hyun called her once more, but Yoo-hwa didn’t raise her head. Woo-hyun then knelt down as if he didn’t care about what happened to his expensive suit. Yoo-hwa turned her gaze to Woo-hyun, who penetrated her field of view as if driven by an irresistible force. Then, she properly met his gaze.

Woo-hyun’s black eyes were speaking, filled with many emotions. Filled with a deep, strong, unfathomable meaning.

Yoo-hwa looked at those eyes emotionlessly.

Finally, Woo-hyun’s slightly trembling lips opened.

“… I thought.”

“…”

“Because I never did it, I never learned it.”

“…”

“I don’t know what to do. Other than hovering like this.”

Woo-hyun was good at always clearly saying hurtful things, no matter when and where. Woo-hyun, who was like that, blurted out his words and closed his mouth tightly, as if he couldn’t bear to finish them. He had a hurtful expression, as if each and every word was a thorn.

Yoo-hwa could not understand why, if not for the fact that he was in pain.

Why was he in pain?

And what was he saying?

It was hard to understand.

“… I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“…”

“I don’t know what it is, but you can take care of it.”

Yoo-hwa, who barely stood up against the wall, looked down at Woo-hyun where he was still kneeling, and spoke bluntly.

“And if you want to keep an eye on me, you can do so; if you want to watch, you can watch. Where my life goes. I will consider that as your hobby and turn a blind eye. But don’t step up like this. Even if someone jumps in with a weapon against me. Because this is my life.”

Yoo-hwa, who briefly said that she didn’t want his interference, gave strength to her legs. Her mind was calm, but her legs were shaking as if her body had been electrocuted. Her feet were definitely on the floor, but she felt like she was floating as if she had a cramp.

She managed to take a step and turn around. Then, a weak laugh flowed at the fact that she was heading to a dark place instead of the end of the alley where there were habitually bright lights. She even felt comfortable in the darkness at the end of the road.

It was strange. When she was in that dark place in the small room, she had the very faint hope that life was still worth living if she left that place; but now that everything was safe, she had no hope. As if it wasn’t the life she wanted.

Rather than living, it felt like she was walking into death.

“… I won’t wither.”

A sunken voice mixed with wetness echoed through the alley. She was confident that she could walk away from any words she heard, but surprisingly, she stopped walking when she heard those faint words.

Yoo-hwa hunched her shoulders defensively.

“Until you allow me.”

However, Woo-hyun’s piercing words couldn’t be stopped at all. The things she was blocking with all her might seemed to crumble at his words. In that gap, the things she had turned away from pushed through and blamed her cruelly.

Actually, she knew.

“… I thought.”

From the moment Woo-hyun opened his mouth.

“Because I never did it, I never learned it.”

What he was saying.

Because… She was the same.

“I don’t know what to do.”

She didn’t know what to do, so she just gave herself up. There was nothing else she could do but that.

She gave herself up like that… and loved him.

She gave herself so much that she could not feel anything at this moment and became empty.

Yoo-hwa bit her lips tightly when she realized that what was barely supporting her had collapsed.

Her vision turned blurry. She thought she couldn’t cry anymore, but she burst into tears, surprisingly.

It made her angry. She didn’t shed a single tear when the mart owner’s wife said something that ruined her life and the people’s eyes were painfully stuck on her, so why did she cry after hearing just one word from Woo-hyun?

Yoo-hwa turned around quickly. Woo-hyun, who stood up at some point, was looking at her. Amid all this, she noticed that one knee of the expensive suit had become a mess.

“So, what do you want me to do? What the hell do you want from me?!”

Yoo-hwa shouted while crying.

What could they do at this point?

What did he want to do?

“I told you I wasn’t confident! I told you I couldn’t do that twice!”

She shouted angrily. As if to escape from something that was binding her tightly.

Woo-hyun quickly approached her and grabbed both her hands. Then, he forced Yoo-hwa’s hands down as she tried to cover her face, and faced her.

Her vision was completely filled with Woo-hyun’s face. He was looking at her, with a completely broken expression. With that expression, what he was feeling could be perfectly conveyed.

Because it was the expression she always made.

“I’m not asking you to do anything.”

Woo-hyun had a tearful voice.

“Don’t wither, you too.”

“…”

“No matter how dirty, harsh, and desolate my life is…”

“…”

“Hold on. That’s enough.”

“…”

“That’s enough for me.”

Tears streamed down Woo-hyun’s eyes.