My Ex-Girlfriend Regrets Dumping Me

30 – Explanation (2)

“Thank you. Come again.”

Leaving behind the voice of the part-timer, I bought a can of beer from the convenience store and walked outside.

I moved my steps to a peaceful park near my house.

“…It’s cold.”

11 PM.

It was the end of spring, but the night was still cold.

Regretting that I wore thin clothes, I put one hand in my pocket.

Although it was time to sleep to go to school tomorrow, I couldn’t fall asleep because I kept thinking about what happened earlier.

If I stayed at home alone, I would have too many thoughts, so I eventually went outside.

Click. Chink.

I sit on a bench and open a beer to take a sip.

A bittersweet and soft sensation passed through my throat.

“… Sigh.”

At the same time, I let out a deep sigh.

The resentment towards Hae-yeon didn’t completely disappear after hearing her story.

At least two years of hard times have not vanished.

“… Nevertheless,”

However, the hatred towards her was not as intense as before.

After hearing Hae-yeon’s explanation and her circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to be so cruel.

…What if it were me?

Would I have been so different from Hae-yeon?

If the situation were reversed, could I say that she had a deadline?

And could I have asked her to stay by my side until the day I die, even if I knew she would hurt?

I don’t know, but I can somewhat understand her choice.

Even if it wasn’t the right one, at least her heart was.

“I might have been more comfortable not knowing.”

Maybe it was easier when I knew nothing.

I only needed someone to hate, and now that I hated her, everything was okay.

“…Thank goodness…?”

Hae-yeon’s words, saying that she was annoyed, were a lie.

It gave me a sense of relief.

In fact, I also thought it didn’t make sense at that time.

But since I couldn’t figure out why she would leave me other than that reason.

I just believed that she was annoyed with me.

That became the biggest wound in my heart, digging deep inside.

It was such a huge wound that made me doubt her feelings all along.

Knowing that it was all a misunderstanding, my heart felt much more at ease.

I somewhat resented my own indifference for not noticing her state.

“Could it be that I still have lingering feelings?”

I thought I had forgotten everything.

We thought it was completely over between us.

But seeing myself wavering like this with just one explanation from her, it seemed like I couldn’t completely forget Ha-yeon.

Well, how could I forget?

The time we spent together far exceeded the time we’ve been apart by ten times.

I felt pathetic about myself, yet at the same time, I realized how much I truly liked Ha-yeon.

“…Now, how should I treat her?”

I pondered again, but I had no idea how to handle the situation.

Should I push her away if she approaches me like before?

Now, it didn’t seem possible anymore.

But even so, it wasn’t like I had feelings strong enough to dream of restarting with her.

The whereabouts of my emotions remained completely elusive.

Caught up in these indescribable feelings, I spent the night in the park until late.

*

The next morning.

Somehow, along with the cloudy and gloomy weather, my condition was at its worst.

“Achoo!”

Leaving the classroom, I sneezed and stopped in my tracks.

My body trembled uncomfortably, and I kept sneezing.

Moreover, I was so drowsy that I couldn’t absorb anything from the lecture.

“…Am I catching a cold?”

Because I got lost in my thoughts in the park last night.

I couldn’t sleep and stayed up all night, exposed to the cold wind, which led to this feeling of coming down with a cold.

Even worse, I was so sleepy that just walking made my head throb.

“This place has unnecessarily high stairs.”

The place I was in was a shared building used by other departments.

Usually, it was where general education or foreign language classes took place.

Now that class was over, I had to go home.

“The air feels a bit stuffy.”

Looking at the sultry weather, it seemed like it would rain soon.

The sky was covered with heavy clouds.

Since I didn’t have an umbrella, I quickly started walking towards home.

From the shared building to the main gate, I had to go down one set of exterior stairs and walk for a while.

I could describe it as the stairs of a high school’s grandstand.

The large exterior stairs of the building were quite uncomfortable.

Since the school had a large campus, most of it was built against a hill, and that’s why the stairs were always steep.

It was exhausting to climb up, and a bit scary to go down.

With a dizzy head, I carefully descended the stairs.

After a few steps,

“Ah.”

In that brief moment of absentmindedness,

I realized that my foot hadn’t touched the stairs, and I felt an alarm going off in my head.

I had seen quite a few people fall here.

So, I knew that falling on such a steep slope would result in serious injuries.

*Whoosh*

I tried to extend my foot in a hurry, wanting to step on anything, but my body leaned forward.

With my weight leaning, I barely managed to step on the edge of the stairs.

I must have misjudged my center of gravity because I felt a sharp sensation as my ankle turned.

“Ouch…”

In a single breath, I jumped a couple of steps and stumbled.

I wanted to scream in response to the dizzying pain in my ankle.

It was fortunate that I didn’t roll down the stairs as I reached out to touch the ground with my hands.

“That was quite a close call.”

The sound of the snapped strap from earlier and the throbbing pain in my ankle.

My ankle hurt so much that it was difficult for me to stand up, so I sat down right there.

As I was standing there, I heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Yul-a. Yul-a! Are you okay?”

Hayan hurriedly descended the stairs and plopped down beside me.

She glanced sympathetically at my swollen ankle and grimaced as if it were pitiful.

I asked Hayan, who suddenly appeared behind me, “Why are you here?”

“I also have a class in this building. I was going home since I only had one lesson today, but then you fell in front of me. I didn’t even realize.”

After all, there are quite a few classes mixed with other departments in this building.

Hayan also made use of the lecture rooms on this side.

Well, at that moment, I wasn’t concerned about Hayan.

The pain in my ankle was much stronger.

“…Ouch… Ahh. It hurts.”

I massaged my ankle as if to soothe it.

Since it only swelled up and there was no protrusion, it seemed that it wasn’t a bone issue.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? Look at how swollen it is. What should we do?”

Hayan looked down at my ankle with an expression that seemed like she might cry in my place.

I felt burdened by her concern alone.

I still hadn’t properly sorted out my feelings for her.

Meeting her after what happened yesterday made me even more awkward.

So, I forced myself to stand up as if I were fine.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

And I reached out my foot downwards to step onto the next stair.

A sharp pain jolted through my ankle.

I soon had to stop again and lower my body.

She followed behind me and pleaded.

“Yul-a, should I support you? Where are you going now? Home?”

“No, it’s unnecessary.”

“It clearly looks necessary. You can’t even walk alone. I know it’s inconvenient for you, but let’s not do this.”

I stubbornly tried to take a few more steps based on her words, but in the end, I could only stop again after a few steps.

“Yul-a, please. You helped me yesterday too… Let’s not act like this when we’re in pain. Okay?”

I heard the story from yesterday, perhaps.

The appearance of Ha-yeon, reflected in my eyes, was genuine and not pretentious.

She was genuinely worried about me.

However, for some reason, I hesitated to seek help from her.

But there was no one else worthy enough to rely on.

My close friend Jin-ho had classes until late today, and the same went for Ji-ah.

…What should I do?

As I hesitated with a heavy heart about Ha-yeon’s request, something lightly brushed against my nose.

Then followed by a thud.

– Thud. Shoot, ahhhhh!

Suddenly, rain poured down from the sky as if there were holes in it.

Perhaps it was a heavy shower. Whatever it was, luck definitely wasn’t on my side.

It was difficult for me to move my feet, so I just stood there getting wet in the rain.

“Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you going? It’s raining. Open an umbrella or something.”

Ha-yeon didn’t budge from beside me, as if she refused to leave, and she didn’t open an umbrella either, continuing to be soaked by the rain.

I yelled at Ha-yeon, frustrated by her stubbornness.

Her short hair started to get wet from the raindrops falling and clung to her head.

“I don’t have an umbrella. And if you don’t take shelter either, I’ll stay here too.”

“…You’re so stubborn.”

It was a part of Ha-yeon that hadn’t changed at all from before.

Even though her makeup was being washed away by the water flowing down her face, she remained resolute.

That stubborn attitude.

She wasn’t particularly greedy, but once she decided to do something, she had to do it.

I looked around, but there was no one suitable to ask for help.

Besides, compared to a stranger, Ha-yeon was, in fact, a better choice.

I couldn’t just stand here and keep getting wet in the rain.

“…Fine. Alright, let’s go since you understand.”

In the end, my stubbornness was broken right there.