The Discarded Dream and The Red Letter

Yusin, who emerged from the bedroom, was perfectly fine. Free of a single injury, he merely carried a slightly flushed appearance, looking as though he had just finished stepping out of the shower.

Confronting Yusin in the flesh, she truly realized just how massive his height of 194cm actually was.

Broad, wide-set shoulders and a body solid with muscle. And beneath that, the dark…

Yehi rapidly jerked her gaze back up.

And only after facing Yusin, who wore an utterly dumbfounded expression, did she realize what kind of act she had just committed.

“Let’s concede that my front door was left open just as you claim. Even so, is it standard common sense to just stride right inside?”

Growing even more disheartened by the sound of his tongue clicking, Yehi pressed her forehead against the floor and begged even more earnestly.

“I am sorry, hic… I am truly sorry. P-Police, you can’t… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Her legs, bent beneath her in a kneel, had gone completely numb from a cramp. The marble floor against which her forehead was pressed was so freezing that her skull throbbed with a dull ache.

Because her eyes were brimming with hot tears, her vision was blurred, but Yehi continuously bowed her head and apologized.

“I’m sorry, entering your home as I pleased, I am t-truly sorry… I’m sorry…”

The version of Yusin who always smiled toward the spectators and the cameras was nowhere to be found.

It was only natural. Right now, she wasn’t a fan cheering for Yusin, but a tedious criminal who had trespassed into his home.

“Save your explanation for when the police arrive.”

“I’m sorry! Player Yusin, I am truly sorry. I was wrong, please let me off just this once… P-Please don’t call the police. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

However, she had to prevent getting dragged to the police at all costs.

If she went to the police station on charges of residential trespassing, her grandfather and every single member of the Gu family would learn the truth.

That she wasn’t receiving psychological therapy in America at all, but was still unable to even step foot outside her house—how could she handle the aftermath if everyone found out?

The fact that she had been infatuated with the youngest grandson of Gyehwa Hospital—with whom her grandfather possessed terrible relations—for ten years would also be exposed.

More than anything, she felt terribly apologetic toward Yeoun, her older sister.

Unlike her clumsy self, who possessed nothing she was good at, her sister was beautiful, intelligent, and spoke her mind confidently anywhere.

It was Yeoun who had stepped forward to tell the family that Yehi would be heading to America for her psychological therapy.

She had helped Yehi hide so she could breathe, shielding her from the relatives who urged her to overcome the sorrow of losing her parents as effortlessly as cooking a retort-packaged meal, forcing a ‘normal life’ including college admission upon her. She did not want to turn that very Yeoun into a liar.

Furthermore, while she had remained holed up inside the house evading her grueling reality, her sister had struggled fiercely on her behalf to carry her own weight.

Being a burden chained to her sister’s feet was already an apology enough; she could not become a stone blocking her path.

Recalling Yeoun, she grew even more desperate. She possessed neither pride nor anything else. Yehi finally brought her two hands together and began to beg frantically.

“I’m sorry, the police can’t… the police can’t…”

The pathetic sound of palms rubbing vigorously together echoed out.

Yusin let out a heavy sigh as he looked at Yehi.

Her thoroughly drenched eyelashes were blinking like a broken doll. Watching her sob and weep while repeating that she was wrong and truly sorry, it felt as though he was the bad guy here, even though she was the one who had committed the offense.

Ever since he announced his retirement, there had been instances where individuals who used to be fans sought out his home in this manner.

How they managed to unearth his address was a mystery. They would show up out of nowhere, ring the bell recklessly even at late hours, pound on the door, and cause a racket.

He had already turned a few over to the police and was currently packing up his house to move away as quickly as possible, but he hadn’t expected things to turn out like this until his very last day.

Furthermore, this time was different because she had actually entered the house.

The moment their eyes met, the first words out of her mouth were that she had come to return his trophy. But because the door was open, she had ended up entering out of worry that it might be a dangerous situation.

Frankly, it sounded like nothing but an excuse. He didn’t really buy the claim that she came to return the trophy either.

The trophy she pulled out of her bag looked genuine, but whether it was a well-crafted replica or something else, he couldn’t disregard the possibility that she was an extreme fan who had sought him out using that as a pretext.

Why was the truth always so far away?

How wonderful would it be if the human heart were an object visible to the naked eye? Facing the sorrowfully weeping woman, Yusin also felt frustrated.

The MVP trophy gleaming tactlessly, and a pale pink envelope plastered with heart-shaped stickers.

Disheveled, messy hair. Skin as pale and white as a white-fleshed fish. A face stained with tears. A frail body that looked as if it would snap with a crack rather than just tumbling over if given a light shove.

Quietly observing Yehi, who was begging to him as if prostrating before a Buddha, Yusin ultimately ran a hand through his hair and said irritably, “Get out.”

It wasn’t as if she had entered wielding a raw fish knife, and she had brought a trophy and stationary paper. While the trophy would become a weapon if swung, he didn’t feel like he would come to any harm even if a scrawny person like her swung it.

“I’m letting you go, so get out.”

I’m an idiot for letting my heart soften over a measly letter like that, Yusin mocked himself and pointed toward the front door.

Yehi raised her face, which was a total mess of tears and mucus, to look at Yusin. A brief wrinkle formed between Yusin’s brows.

“You’d better leave before I change my mind.”

“Ah… T-Thank you. I’m sorry, thank you…”

Snapping out of it, Yehi gathered her bag in a scramble. She also bowed her head multiple times to apologize. I’m sorry, thank you, I’m sorry, the words came out tangled together.

She lacked the courage to hand over the letter she had pressed her heart into writing in a situation like this. As Yehi gathered every piece of luggage except the MVP trophy and tried to rise from her spot with clumsy movements, Yusin stopped her.

“Take that with you too.”

“…Pardon?”

“That. The trophy.”

She had traveled all the way here to hand over the trophy, yet he was telling her to take it with her. Yehi spoke, utterly flustered.

“T-This is… I came to r-return it to Player Yusin…”

“Who knows if you stealthily installed something on that thing. Take it with you.”

“I-It’s nothing like that…! It truly isn’t…”

She waved her hands in denial, but Yusin remained cold.

“Even if it isn’t, I have no use for it, so take it back with you.”

Transparent teardrops splattered down onto the golden trophy.

Rather than all the hardships she endured to get here going down the drain, it made her sadder that he flatly stated he had no use for a trophy that must have been a shining dream once upon a time.

Yehi hurriedly rubbed and wiped the trophy with her sleeve before placing it back inside her bag.

“G-Goodbye…”

Bearing a bag that had bulged outward like a turtle shell on her back, Yehi hurried out of Yusin’s home.

The moment she turned the corner of the living room, a loud thud echoed as she fell over, but it didn’t even hurt. Terrified that Yusin might change his mind and turn her over to the police, Yehi scrambled to her feet and fled.

“I am t-truly sorry for the intrusion…”

Standing before the front door, which was left slightly ajar just as it had been when she entered, Yehi offered her final apology. It was a tiny voice that wouldn’t even reach the living room.

With the sound of the door lock latching shut, silence settled over the residence once more.

Feeling a fatigue akin to having been passed through by a sandstorm, Yusin faced the state of the house that he—rather than a storm—had cluttered up.

The spot where the woman had wept was soaked with tears. Furthermore, while he had thrown and broken only medals and plaques, a crumpled sheet of paper was fluttering toward the back.

It appeared the intruder had left a paper trail behind. Using the indoor slippers he wore, Yusin flipped over the sheet of paper, which was wrinkled as if it had been handled by dirty hands.

[Hello? My name is Gu Yehi.]

The very first sentence began with an introduction.

The moment Yusin saw the name Gu Yehi, he let out a short lament.

Things have gotten tangled up…

A faint wave of dismay arose.

However, what could he do about spilled water? Exhaling a long breath, phew, he pinched the corner of the paper with his fingertips and lifted it as if holding a filthy object.

Scanning through it roughly, it appeared to be content written in preparation for crossing paths with him today.

As if she had practiced public speaking while holding this, the page was a hectic mess of highlighters and three-color ballpoint pens, but she had indeed come solely to deliver the trophy.

As if the final sentence were the most critical statement amidst the crooked handwriting from start to finish, five stars had been drawn over it in bright red pen.

[Player Yusin, I am always cheering for you.]

Even so, it was merely a single sheet of crumpled paper.

Though it was a rather shabby piece of lost property to return, Yusin designated the resting place for the crumpled paper not as the trash can, but as the inner pocket of the clothes he would wear tomorrow.

The messy face ruined by tears floated up like a buoy in his mind.

Since her face had been hidden beneath disheveled hair and wasn’t easily visible, it was a rather thin recollection, consisting entirely of a strawberry nose with wet strands of hair clinging to it.