Chapter 15: Precious Little Bastard

“…..”

Why did I have to bring that up?

For what? To be validated? To be validated about what?

With what confidence, as if I’d done something great.

I already knew the answer, Cha Hye-won.

His heart has left me.

I made his heart leave me.

I threw away his always devoted heart without even telling him the reason.

Seo Hanbyeol is the kind of person who is generous enough to easily forgive anyone, no matter what they’ve done.

At the same time, he’s also foolishly kind, to the point where he looks for the cause within himself whenever conflict arises.

Even with my reasonless breakup notice, he thought that I was disappointed in him because he wasn’t good enough.

In the end, he didn’t resent me, and he overcame the hurt he received that day on his own, slowly. He shook off his lingering feelings, stood up, and reached out to me, suggesting we start again as friends.

But shaking off lingering feelings probably means he’s completely given up on me.

It’s only natural. He’s not the type to cling to past relationships.

Even if he’s sad, even if he’s bitter, he’s the type who can wipe away his tears, get up, and smile again.

All of this is my own doing.

Would the situation be better now if I had just honestly told him my secret back then?

Maybe I would have been scorned. The person who dumped him for being a man is now coming back to him as a woman? How pathetic is that?

But… maybe that would have been easier on my heart. Rather than him still treating me kindly enough to suggest being friends again, I’d rather he hated and loathed me so much that he wouldn’t even come near me.

“…Hanbyeol-ssi.”

“Yes?”

Should I tell him now? Honestly, the truth?

“…No, sorry. Never mind.”

But in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth. Because I couldn’t dare to imagine the expression he would make when he knew all the truth.

How can I, who can barely stand his smile, endure his scorn?

Impossible, absolutely.

“…It’s not your fault that we went wrong, Hanbyeol-ssi.”

“Then… I guess we just weren’t meant to be. Maybe Team Leader has a destined partner out there.”

“…”

My secret, a trivial secret sealed with a loose chain and a rusty lock.

“Someday I’ll meet someone nice too… Wait, who should I meet? I kind of don’t like… men…”

Became an unshakable shackle, holding me back.

Did I smooth things over well…?

The atmosphere of the conversation wasn’t bad. Considering how sensitive I was from working all night, you could even say it was quite amicable.

I did feel a strange sense of unease every time she said something, but if I don’t know the reason, there’s no reason to dwell on a feeling that isn’t even that strong, right?

Well… even if I failed to soothe Team Leader’s heart, it wouldn’t cause me any disadvantage or negative impact…

…Except maybe for our poor New Employee junior who made her upset.

I’ll say it in advance, just in case, sorry Se-young-ssi.

But what can I do? I have no choice but to believe that our Team Leader isn’t that kind of person.

“Heave-ho… Huh?”

Only after moving the documents did I feel the vibration of my phone in my pocket, signaling an incoming call.

“Team Leader, I’ll take this call for a moment…”

“…You can just go home. It’s all done, so go home.”

“Ah, yes. Then, excuse me… Hello?”

I walked out of the company, leaving behind Team Leader, who seemed more drained than usual, and answered the phone.

“What’s up? Calling me at this hour.”

…Hanbyeol-ah… Do you happen to have some time…?

The person calling was Lee Jin-woo, my elementary, middle, and high school classmate who I’m so sick of seeing.

If you’re busy… just let’s talk later…

“…What’s wrong?”

Except for the fact that he sounded gloomy, like a person on the verge of death.

I’m in front of your house. There’s a convenience store in front of it, right? Come there.

Normally, I would have ignored the words of this annoying bastard and just gone to sleep.

“…You’re making me worry.”

But it’s not often that this guy is so down in the dumps.

What’s the point of having friends if not for times like this?

….

“…So, what made you call me out at this hour?”

“I got dumped…”

“….”

Take back what I said earlier. This guy is of no help in my life.

“I’m leaving.”

“Hey, I got dumped, can’t you even offer some comfort…!!”

Of course, the pain of heartbreak is very bitter. As someone who’s been dumped before, I know that.

“How many is she, your current… no, your ex-girlfriend until recently?”

“Fourteenth?”

“I’m leaving.”

But he has so much dating experience, like Casanova, that he shouldn’t be so emotional over just one or two breakups. He’s dated a total of 14 girlfriends from high school until now.

Even though he’s ugly, he’s got the gift of gab like a main MC who’s been on TV for 30 years, so he’s always been good at getting girls. He’s also broken up with them just as often.

“Hey, don’t be like that…”

“I just got off work from overtime. I have to go to work tomorrow. I can’t live a YOLO life like you, huh?”

“It makes me feel awkward when you say it like that, my friend.”

While I’ve only dated once, this conceited bastard has traveled all over the country for dating, from Seoul to Busan… He lives such a fun life…

“It’s the first time I’ve been dumped. I was the one who broke up with all of them before.”

“So what, you black sun. Why don’t you just live as a solo while you’re at it.”

I wish he would stay single forever. God, please let this dark-haired beast never get married and die alone and lonely.

“I really, really didn’t want to lose this girlfriend. There’s no one in the world as pretty and kind as her!”

“Think of it as karma, you trash.”

“I, I know I’ve lived my life recklessly. But, but…!!”

Even the gentle have gotten angry. To grab a salaryman who is physically and mentally exhausted from working overtime and talk about his dating problems.

“….Haa…”

Even so, I couldn’t easily turn away. Because it was the first time this thug was looking at me with such a serious face, with a sincere and desperate attitude, asking for my help.

“I’ll listen. But only for 10 minutes.”

“Really!? Thanks. Thank you, Seo Hanbyeol. I don’t know if it’s enough to repay you, but I’ll buy you that keychain you wanted last time. That… the car-shaped one, what was the car’s name?”

“Ford Model T.”

Yes, well… I guess that’s what friends are for… probably.

We’re close enough to be called inseparable friends, but apart from that, my opinion of Lee Jin-woo isn’t high.

He’s the type who lives his life the way he wants, and because of that my-way personality, he’s been a troublemaker who’s been causing accidents since a long time ago.

Knowing what kind of people his parents are, I’m amazed at how such a crazy guy came out of such great parents. Jin-woo was a weirdo who approached everything with a strange mindset. The son of that strict and dignified father is such a free spirit.

He was a guy who was the complete opposite of me. But we became friends because we were so extreme. They say opposites attract, right?

Anyway, Jin-woo was a living disaster in and of himself, as long as he didn’t break the law. And the biggest of those disasters was women.

Jin-woo’s parents were great people in terms of their achievements, status, and character, but they were very strict and conservative when it came to raising their children.

But Jin-woo ignored his parents’ instructions and started dating girls from the first year of high school. In a way that a conservative family would immediately condemn.

If love faded while dating, he would break up, and then date a new girl and break up again. A Western-style romance that burns passionately and fades quickly.

I could often see Jin-woo’s father’s dignified face changing like a disco ball in a karaoke room.

“…So you’re saying that this time, you really wanted to have a serious and deep relationship?”

“That’s right.”

Originally, he didn’t plan to stay with this girlfriend for very long either. His criteria for dating a girlfriend is strictly based on looks, and he started dating this time based on looks as well.

But that girlfriend, no, ex-girlfriend, succeeded in civilizing this Tarzan-like guy. He was moved by her kind and gentle personality, which he hadn’t paid attention to at first.

The fact that he once got tattoos like a gangster and then spent a fortune to get them removed and started acting relatively politely was also after he started dating her.

After meeting her, he began to seriously think about the future, about marriage and starting a family, and he decided that she was the kind of woman he could spend the rest of his life with.

“So you went to confess seriously on your 400th day anniversary and got dumped?”

“….Yeah.”

And he got dumped. Unilaterally.

He doesn’t know the reason. At least as far as he could tell, there was no sign of a breakup at all.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why she suddenly broke up with me, or what I should do in the future.”

Jin-woo said, chewing on jerky with a depressed expression.

“How can I turn her heart back? Do you have any ideas?”

“….Um…”

To think the day would come when I would feel sympathy for him…

…But am I in a position to advise this guy?

“…Well…?”

I got dumped without knowing why too, you know?