Yes, It’s Me. The Obsessive Side Top

#036

I was taken aback by I-na’s sudden proposal, but I had no choice. Refusing even that would hurt her too much after already hurting her a lot.

While waiting at a red light, I turned my head towards I-na. She was watching me tensely, waiting for my answer. 

What on earth did Ha Jin say to her?

I reached out my right arm and ruffled I-na’s hair.

“Cancel the Paris reservation.”

When her hair got messed up, I-na let go of her tension and immediately grumbled.

“I don’t know. I’m going to go alone anyway.”

“Let me make it clear. I’m not going to Paris with you.”

“…You’re really a fucking bastard. I even reserved a really nice hotel and everything.”

“Should I look into what to have for dinner over the next week?”

At my words, I-na stopped fixing her hair and stared at me blankly. Then she bit her lip. Seeing her face holding back tears made my heart waver again. When I turned my head to look straight ahead, I-na spoke, hiding her joyful expression.

“Ha Jin, you’re really chaotic, hurting me then being nice.”

Pretending to grumble, I-na continued as if doing me a favor.

“Let’s go to the places I suggest. I have a list of places I wanted to go with you.”

“Sorry, I-na.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I didn’t know you were an annoying person. You really won’t ever be able to date a girl like me again.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Gosh, what do you mean ‘yeah’?”

I suddenly ended up with a week-long date promise with I-na. 

Since it’s summer break, I guess it’s okay to visit Grandma a week later or so.

Ah, but what should I do about Sun Woo misunderstanding and leaving like that? While I was worried, a question also arose about why I had to make excuses in detail.

No. We’re friends, so I should set straight that kind of wrong information. Right. Friends.

Crazy Ha Jin is amazing, even eating with Sun Woo as a friend. 

As a friend, Sun Woo is worried about Ha Jin and even said to stay together.

To think I refused Sun Woo’s once-in-a-lifetime proposal to be together.

For some reason, my chest felt bitter.

I-na seemed to have it all planned out, having dinner with me every evening.

The place I-na took me today was a chicken soup restaurant with private rooms. We were having a meal as usual in that place built in a quiet, traditional Korean style good for dining. The only unusual point was that today was the last day of the week I had promised I-na.

“Aren’t you busy these days? Is it okay for you to be with me for dinner every time?”

“Don’t worry about that, Ha Jin. You come before any other appointment for me.”

I smiled as if used to I-na’s words now. At my smile, I-na showed a bit of irritation.

“Come on, give in a little now. If it were me, I’d at least show some signs of wavering if the other person was trying this hard.”

“Sorry, I-na.”

“Ha Jin. I like receiving apologies from you. But apologizing while I’m hitting on you is really annoying.”

“Sorry. Eat.”

“Tsk.”

I-na puckered her lips, stopped, and looked at me.

“Why are you suddenly like this? You used to be far from caring. No, what’s ‘far’? It was nonexistent.”

I just smiled at I-na’s question and continued eating. As if she had no intention of eating, I-na put her elbows on the table, rested her chin on her hands, and stared at me intently.

“Why do I like this more?”

“You’re not hungry?”

“Actually, I liked Ha Jin’s face and reckless personality, but seeing you like this now, I like this more. While you’ve fixed your personality, want to start over with me? I’m really confident I can do well.”

“Do well with what? Just eat. You can’t even have proper meals these days because you’re busy, right?”

“You’re so annoying, Ha Jin. Really. Be moderate even when putting up walls. If you’re going to put up walls, do it properly. Don’t care for me affectionately.”

“Should I do that?”

“Damn… you really… Just try that. Treat me like you are now.”

Having come right after finishing her schedule, she looked as pretty as a celebrity should, enough to make one gasp. Even with her determinedly showing her affection for me like that, strangely, my heart didn’t waver at all.

I made a call before leaving for Grandma’s house. The call connected after ringing for a while, and I heard Grandma’s voice that I missed.

“Oh, is this Jin-i?”

“Ok-bun!”

“Calling me by name again.”

I could picture Grandma’s smiling face over the phone. I briefly told her I was leaving and informed her of my arrival time, and she said she would send her grandson. She said the road here was narrow, so it would be hard if it was my first time. I said it was fine, but she told me the time she would send him and gave me her grandson’s number to contact him.

When I stopped by a rest area after departing and checked my phone, there was a text from [Kim Ok-bun’s Real Grandson].

[Let me know when you arrive.]

It was an extremely concise and stiff message. I laughed at the text without even a single squiggly line. As I started driving again, I imagined what kind of person Grandma’s grandson would be. Grandma had said he was pretty, so he must be really good-looking. And judging by his texting, he must have a very blunt personality.

“A cold city woman?”

That was exactly the image forming in my head.

A cold and aloof city woman.

I laughed to myself, thinking she wouldn’t suit warm and caring Grandma.

I arrived at the meeting place earlier than expected. 

I had expected 4 hours, but I arrived 30 minutes early even after stopping at a rest area. Thinking I didn’t even step on it that much, I parked my car at the designated meeting spot and waited inside. The village where Grandma lived was at the “ri” level, and this place was an “eup”. There were quite a few people coming and going as it was near the intercity bus terminal in the eup.

Every passerby carefully looked at my car as they walked by. It was a rare car even in Seoul, so their gazes filled with curiosity were directed at the car. As time passed like that and the expected arrival time approached, someone knocked on the car door.

I looked at the person knocking on the door, startled, and could only blink.

Damn, is Korea originally this small? Or is the world inside the webtoon small? To think I’d run into Sun Woo 4 hours away from Seoul.

I hurriedly got out of the car, and Sun Woo also looked at me with a surprised face.

“Ha Jin.”

“Sun Woo? What’s this about meeting here?”

“What brings you here? Didn’t you say you were going to Paris?”

Sun Woo erased his surprised expression and asked, lifting one corner of his mouth. I shook my head vigorously right away.

“That’s a misunderstanding. I’m not going to Paris.”

“……”

“Ah, wait a moment. I have someone I’m supposed to meet here right now.”

“Who?”

“Huh?”

“Who did you come all the way here to meet?”

Sun Woo’s gaze turned sharp and swept over me. 

He glanced at my t-shirt with a sea turtle embroidered on it and furrowed his brows.

“The person related to that t-shirt?”

“Yeah.”

“You cherished it so much, saying it was a gift. Who is it?”

At Sun Woo’s words, I brought the phone that was already dialed to my ear. Listening to the dial tone, I faced Sun Woo, who was still looking at me with dissatisfaction.

And at that moment, Sun Woo’s phone rang.

Sun Woo answered the call, telling me to wait a moment.

“Hello?”

At the same time, I heard Sun Woo’s voice from the other end of the phone I was holding.

“Hello?”

When Sun Woo spoke again, the same voice was heard from my phone as well.

Oh… no way… is this?

I hung up and, with trembling hands, checked the name [Kim Ok-bun’s Real Grandson] once more and pressed the call button. Hoping Sun Woo wouldn’t pick up. But my desperate wish was shattered to pieces. Sun Woo brought his ringing phone to his ear again and said “hello” just like before. Of course, his voice was heard from my phone as well.

‘Fuck. Fuck. This damn webtoon.’

With my hands shaking uncontrollably, I ended up dropping my phone on the ground.

There’s no way. Grandma’s grandson is a woman, right? …Grandma said she was pretty.

“You….”

When I called out to Sun Woo in a trembling voice, his gaze shifted from the phone to me. Then, with a startled face, he quickly approached me and pulled me up. I was about to collapse, my legs shaking, but I managed to stand thanks to Sun Woo’s hold.

“Ha Jin. What’s wrong with you?”

“Sun Woo, you….”

“What’s this all of a sudden? Are you hurting somewhere?”

Sun Woo examined me all over while holding me up. Looking at his face reminded me of when we went to a cafe with Grandma, and he said, “It’s good because it’s sweet,” while drinking a sweet coffee.

Fucking hell, really.

Soon, my vision turned blurry, and tears welled up.

“Ha Jin?”

“Fuck….”

Then I just cried. Unable to even make a sound, I just kept shedding tears, and Sun Woo hugged me.

“Ha Jin. It’s okay, Ha Jin. I’m here with you.”

I hated Sun Woo, who was trying to comfort me. Why did it have to be Sun Woo of all the many, many people who was Grandma’s grandson? Why am I not allowed even a small patch of shade…?

“Ha Jin.”

The pitiful call caresses my ears. At the sound of his voice, I forcibly swallowed my tears. I tried to pull myself together, telling myself I had no tears to shed here, but it wasn’t easy.

Haa, there were times I felt frustrated, wondering why Sun Woo acted like that in the webtoon. I wished he would just boldly shake off Sin Yeo-un and Ha Jin and live more independently. That’s crazy. I thought too lightly of someone else’s life.

In a situation where even Grandma had passed away, and he was left alone, Sun Woo needed someone to rely on. 

Fuck… Even I, who isn’t related by blood, am struggling this much after meeting her only a few times.

How hard must it have been for Sun Woo, who was raised by Grandma’s hand from the moment he was born?

I broke free from Sun Woo’s embrace and picked up the phone that had fallen to the ground. The screen was a bit cracked, but it was still functioning normally. Calming my trembling hands, I called [Kim Ok-bun’s Real Grandson] again. Sun Woo had his eyes on me, not even looking at his ringing phone.

“You’re not going to answer?”

“Later. Right now, I need to take care of you first.”

I raised my shaking hand and grabbed Sun Woo’s. My hand, still not calm, was trembling badly. Sun Woo placed his hand over my shaking one and held it tightly, trying to steady it.

“Sun Woo. Can you drive for me?”

Sun Woo nodded. Even though he didn’t know where I wanted to go.

As I got into the passenger seat, Sun Woo naturally went to the driver’s seat. When he closed the door and looked at me, his face had darkened.

“What’s going on?”

Sun Woo asked carefully. He seemed to want me to answer, but he wasn’t pressing me for it. I couldn’t even mention Grandma to him. I tried to find another plausible excuse, but my mind was blank, and nothing came to mind.

In the end, I chose silence.

Since I had no answer, Sun Woo also maintained the silence with me. After staying like that for a while, Sun Woo carefully called out to me.

“Ha Jin.”

At his affectionate call, my eyes welled up with tears again.

“You can cry if you want to.”

Sun Woo had a very calm and mature demeanor. Seeing him appear more emotionally mature than me, I bit my lower lip hard.

A hand reached out and lightly rubbed my bitten lower lip.

“If you don’t want to tell me the reason you’re crying, I won’t ask anymore.”

Sun Woo, slowly closing the distance and approaching me, muttered in a barely audible voice.

“So only cry in front of me.”

Sun Woo’s lips touched mine and then pulled away.