【Book Chapter 6】
Even if ninety-nine things were right, one thing being wrong was enough to cause a breakup — that was how relationships were.
But could a relationship with so many obstacles even before it started really survive?
“So… we’re ten years apart?”
“…Yeah.”
The two of them stood there in silence for a while.
The first to break the silence was Seo Dohyun.
"So you haven’t even graduated from university yet?"
"Yes."
"Haaa... No wonder I really didn’t want to ask about your age."
Lee Gajun was already the type to get upset at the slightest thing, and adding a ten-year age gap on top of that was a bit too much. Even Kim Juhee, who was known for her romantic nature, would have opposed it. And, of course, the age difference was something that Gaeul herself found difficult to accept, even by her own standards of common sense.
When Seo Dohyun was an adult, Gaeul had been just a ten-year-old elementary school student. By the time she turned thirty, Seo Dohyun would be approaching forty. The age gap between them was twice that of the one between Gajun and her.
"Wouldn't a ten-year age gap be difficult after all?"
"...I suppose that's true."
He seemed quite shocked in his own way.
Both of them might have anticipated an age gap, but probably only by seven or eight years at most. Frankly, even that would still be something to worry about.
Honestly, it seemed unrealistic to think that the first digit of their age would never be the same, no matter how old they got.
After a long silence, he finally spoke up.
"I’ll handle this on my end."
“...”
"From now on, you don't have to worry about anything related to me. Your brother doesn’t need to know about this, and let’s pretend there’s no 'third night.' Just focus on your studies like always.”
Their eyes met, and their individual confusion tangled in the air between them.
"I'll sort out my own feelings."
He stood there, not moving, until Gaeul went inside. In the end, she awkwardly said her goodbyes and turned to leave. As soon as she got upstairs and looked out the window at the parking lot, his car had already disappeared.
And so, about two weeks passed like that.
“Hey, Lee Gaeul.”
“Hm?”
“Is it really... that bad you’d cry?”
“What is?”
“The soybean paste stew I made.”
Only then did Gaeul see the hot soybean paste stew, which was more like water mixed with soybean paste than a proper stew.
Nodding, she let her tears fall, thick as chicken droppings.
“It’s serious.”
"No matter how bad it is, it’s not like you to cry over it... Is preparing for a job really that difficult for you?"
"That’s tough, but it turns out there are even harder things in the world."
“What’s that?”
“Soybean paste stew.”
At this point, Gaeul was ready to make a post on an online forum.
‘Hey everyone, I can’t forget the soybean paste stew my ex-almost-boyfriend made for me. Would it be weird to contact him and ask for the recipe? It’s not because I’m curious about how he’s doing or I want to see him or anything — it’s just that the stew was so unbelievably delicious — it literally brought me to tears. I just miss that taste.’
"Hey, don’t eat it. I messed up. Let’s just order some fried chicken."
“Chicken soup?”
“No, fried chicken. Why are you acting like this? Please, stop crying. Last week, you cried because the chicken was so delicious.”
Gajun ruffled his hair as he continued speaking.
"Ah, I’ll just order it more often. I'll provide free chicken until you get a job, so stop crying already."
Gaeul nodded, tearing off a piece of toilet paper to wipe her tears.
Over the past two weeks, Seo Dohyun had kept his word.
A few days after that incident, Dohyun went out drinking with Gajun. Afterwards, he brought a drunken Gajun back home, knocked on the door, and left before Gaeul could open it, leaving Gajun standing at the doorway. She could tell he had been there by the numbers on the elevator and the lingering scent of his cologne in the hallway. After that, a similar situation happened every time Gajun went drinking.
Gajun opened the delivery app, browsed through the chicken section, and spoke up.
"Oh, come to think of it, Team Leader Seo has been acting a bit off lately."
“What? Why?”
Gaeul asked urgently upon hearing news about Seo Dohyun for the first time in a long while.
Gajun paused for a moment as if thinking deeply, before continuing.
"No. It's autumn. I suppose it's because men are naturally prone to autumn blues."
"What is it? Don't just leave me hanging, hurry up and tell me."
"It’s no big deal. It’s just that Team Leader Seo has been spacing out a lot lately. He sighed frequently and even told me to speak casually when we were drinking, but that actually made things more awkward, so I told him to drop it. Oh, did he break up with his significant other?"
“...”
“No. That person doesn’t have time to date. It’s been a while so I’ll order the 'grilled' chicken this time.”
“Sure.”
“It’s ordered. Huh? Where are you going?"
"I’ll be in my room for a bit, then I’ll come out."
As soon as Gaeul entered her room, she put in her earbuds and lay down on the bed. Then, she opened the gallery on her phone and clicked on the video at the top.
The video was from the day she reunited with Dohyun. She had started filming to capture Gajun’s embarrassing drunken behaviour, intending to use it as leverage to get a pair of sneakers, but stopped halfway through.
Although it was a meaningless video where Dohyun’s face only briefly appeared at the end, it was clear since the shot was close-up. She had completely forgotten about it until last week when she was breaking into the sneakers Gajun had bought her and suddenly remembered the video. That's when she went searching for it.
His expression was stiff, likely from the effort it took to bring Gajun back. She had once thought that a tense expression made it hard to approach someone, but now, upon closer inspection, she realised it wasn't necessarily the case.
As she replayed the video, a notification appeared at the top of the screen saying Juhee had sent a new message.
「Lee Ga-eul, good luck with your blind date tomorrow! Be sure to tell me all about it!」
“Oh, right. I have a blind date tomorrow.”
Gaeul put her phone down, her face calm. How could she not be excited for her very first blind date?
Just then her door opened.
“Gaeul, the chicken’s here.”
“I’m coming now.”
They weren’t even in a relationship; wasn’t it about time to move on?
If she simply maintained the status quo from now on, she'd be well on her way to achieving her life plan. She had steadily built up her grades and credentials. Her current goal was to land a job at a major corporation.
The curiosity that led her to consider her first one-night stand was just a fleeting phase, something she didn’t plan to indulge in again, especially with her career in mind. If she could beat Gajun in their unspoken rivalry, rise through the ranks, and build her career…
What came after that?
She glanced at her brother. Funny how similar they were — Gajun had even been silently competing with Seo Dohyun through his drinking battles. She used to think it was pathetic, but now, her own behaviour seemed no different.
"What’s the point of beating Assistant Manager Lee? You’re already much better than your brother."
...She didn’t know anymore. For now, she just needed to go on the blind date tomorrow.
But Seo Dohyun was the only thing on her mind.
・・・・・
Just a few days ago, Gaeul was feeling completely out of sorts.
As soon as she started distancing herself from Seo Dohyun, her period started, and this month, her cramps were particularly bad. Writhing in pain on her bed, Gaeul suddenly remembered Seo Dohyun, who had been sick with the flu and had held her close. She finally understood why he hadn’t let her go back then. Now, all she wanted was to hold him just like that.
Her brother, Gajun, thinking she was just crying because of the pain, felt sorry for her and ordered chicken the next day. But when she saw the crispy, freshly fried chicken in front of her, she couldn’t help but think of Seo Dohyun eating chicken soup when he was sick. And once again, she burst into tears.
It felt like her mind was losing control, and she couldn’t rein in her emotions. She kept telling herself it was just hormones, urging herself not to let them take over — but every time she thought of him, her resolve shattered.
In truth, Gaeul had cried far more than Gajun had seen. They weren’t even dating, and they hadn’t known each other long enough for her to feel this deeply. She didn’t even understand why she was reacting like this.
Unable to watch any longer, her friend Juhee took matters into her own hands.
"The best way to get over the last guy is with a new one."
She continued, her face set with determination.
"Gaeul, let’s set you up on a blind date. His name is Go Jaemin, 26 years old. He’s only three years older than us, a future police officer and I heard he’s good-looking with a decent build. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?"
“No, thanks. It wouldn’t be polite to meet someone in this state.”
"Do you have to date someone just because you're introduced to them? Of course not. You just meet them once! Who knows? You might end up liking them after you meet. Did you ever imagine you'd fall for that one-night stand guy at first sight?"
“No.”
“Look. You never know. Life’s funny like that. Who knows? You might find your true love when you least expect it.
"Then was Seo Dohyun a fake love?"
"He was just a relationship that ended."
"Why do you say it so harshly?"
Those words weighed on her heart, and she cried again.
・・・・・
The world was made up of countless coincidences.
People often say that if a coincidence happened three times, it became fate. So, if that fate occurred three times, wouldn't it become destiny?
Seo Dohyun and Lee Gaeul met through two coincidences.
The first coincidence was a one-night stand at Baekje Hotel, and the second coincidence was the night he brought a drunken Lee Gajun back home.
They ended up agreeing to a contract, disguised as blackmail, trying to force an inevitability from a connection that hadn't properly formed. Their precarious relationship ultimately broke off after the second night.
From that perspective, if this man and Gaeul were to experience a third coincidence, it might indeed be fate.
“I happened to overhear you talking to yourself that day. You were saying, ‘What if I end up with high standards and never have a relationship before I die?’ You seemed so upset about it, and it was really cute. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I were the one you were dating. People usually say that's what it feels like when you fall in love at first sight."
The other person scratched the back of his head with a shy expression. This was the same man who had taken a drunk Gaeul back to her lodging during the club retreat last year.
Okay, let’s say the first coincidence was that day.
"The tattoo is pretty, right? I originally thought I shouldn't get one, but one day, it caught my eye like it was fate, so I went ahead and got it."
“It’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t it?”
“By the way, did you happen to go to Baekje Hotel last month? On the evening of Friday, August 25th? I think I remember seeing you there.”
The man's expression suddenly crumpled.
“Oh… that was the day I went on a staycation with a friend. Were you there, Gaeul, on the evening of Friday, August 25th? My friend stood me up, so I ended up spending the evening alone. It’s a shame we didn’t get to say hi that day.”
“I see.”
Then, the second coincidence must be that this guy was the same one from the app who was originally scheduled to have a one-night stand with her.
“I had a great time today, but I think I should leave early. I just remembered something I forgot at home. Sorry about that.”
“What? Already?”
“My brother told me to be home before lunch. We live together, you see.”
And the third coincidence was that Gaeul, who hadn’t intended to go on a blind date, ended up here after nursing the pain of a heartbreak that wasn’t exactly from a breakup, all because she couldn’t resist Juhee’s persistent urging.
“Ah, I see...”
“Well, have a nice day.”
But Gaeul had no intention of letting fate bring them together.
It was partly because she had seen this man's true nature on the dating app, where he had made thoughtless remarks toward others. But even more so, when she met him in person, she felt even less impressed. And, truthfully, she couldn’t stop thinking about Seo Dohyun.
The date had started and ended in the early afternoon. By the time she arrived home, it wasn’t even two o’clock yet. For a Saturday, the street was unusually empty, and the old apartment complex in a less desirable school district was quiet, without the usual sounds of children.
Gaeul’s steps came to a halt in front of a man standing outside her home.
“...Seo Dohyun.”
“It’s been a while.”
Dohyun was dressed casually. He wore a simple, neat sweatshirt with minimal branding and a pair of pants, but somehow, even ordinary clothes looked good on him. Come to think of it, Gaeul had made an effort to dress up for the blind date, wearing the same white dress embroidered with cosmos flowers that she had worn the first time they spent the night together.
Since he was her brother’s boss, casual encounters like this were bound to happen from time to time. Gaeul wasn’t naïve enough to turn this simple meeting into a grand coincidence and convince herself it was some kind of fated connection.
“What brings you here?”
“I have something to pick up from Assistant Manager Lee.”
“Oh, I see.”
The two headed towards the elevator together.
Usually, when she was in a hurry, the elevator was always on the top floor, but today it was waiting on the first floor. On a day like today, Gaeul thought, she wouldn't have minded if it had been on the top floor. With this in mind, she got into the old elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.
“Why didn’t you ask him to come down for you?”
"I was the one who needed to pick something up, so it felt unnecessary to call him down. Besides, I already know where he lives."
“I see.”
As they continued their small talk, there was a sudden clunk, and the elevator came to a halt. Gaeul looked up to check the floor — it was the fourth floor. Startled, she began pressing the buttons for other floors and the ‘open’ button in turn, but nothing happened. To make matters worse, the interior lights flickered rapidly before going out completely.
"Step aside for a moment."
Dohyun used his phone's flashlight to illuminate the elevator panel, found the emergency button, and pressed it. Before long, he was connected to someone outside.
[The elevator is acting up again. We’ll call someone to get you out shortly. Please wait a moment.]
“How long will it take?”
[It will likely take at least an hour. Are you in a hurry?]
“Time isn’t an issue.”
“I have plenty of time.”
This time, the two of them answered simultaneously.
What were the odds of being trapped alone in an elevator with her brother’s boss — an ex-situationship and one-night stand — whom she hadn’t seen in two weeks?
This could probably be considered a coincidence.
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