Chapter 1 Part 8 While I was walking back into the apartment entrance, my vision kept blurring. I barely held it in and walked on. I just wanted to get farther away from Yeo Saebyeok somehow.
The tears I had been forcing back finally fell when I stood in front of the elevator. Even after stepping inside, I just stood there without pressing a floor button.
Inside the unmoving elevator, for a long while—"That bastard." The curse slipped out on its own. "You unbelievable bastard. A fucking awful bastard. A bastard with no conscience. Ah, you fucking bastard!"
Even cursing while throwing punches into the air didn't relieve me.
I couldn't understand Yeo Saebyeok's heart at all. After stealing my first girlfriend away, the things he said afterward—did that mean he didn't actually like Seong Jiyeong?
He didn't want to be friends with me? And that had been true for a long time?
Then why the hell had Jiyeong gotten dumped? Just because he wanted to mess with me? Because he'd hated me that much for nineteen years? The sense of betrayal made my chest pound and my forehead burn.
Yeo Saebyeok, how could you do this to me? When the guys wouldn't play with you and talked shit, I was the one who stuck with you. When I refused to go home and dug in my heels, I was the one who hid with you in the playground and got scolded together with you. Every time I threw a fit, I was the one who forgave you and kept hanging out with you too!
"You don't have any friend besides me!"
I kicked at the air hard enough to make the mattress bounce, but there was no way my anger would reach Yeo Saebyeok. Since by now, Yeo Saebyeok had probably gone home and was either sleeping or something.
Because of that bastard, who never spared even the slightest thought for my feelings, I was the one crying, sulking, and getting angry now.
Thinking that far made Jiyeong come to mind. So after dating me, it wasn't that she came to like him—
I picked up the phone I had tossed onto the bed and pulled up Jiyeong's number.
Would Jiyeong even answer if I called right now? If I were her, I probably wouldn't answer a call from an ex-boyfriend still resentfully ringing after a breakup.
I wanted to call Jiyeong right away and tell her what Yeo Saebyeok had said, but I hesitated over how she might react. It wasn't like I didn't know Seong Jiyeong's personality.
A sigh slipped out. In the end, I pulled my hand away from the call button and went back to the main screen.
After staring blankly at my phone for a while, I opened Facebook. Only then did I understand why people lingered on their ex's social media after a breakup. You want to know how they're living, what they're thinking about right now, but you can't ask them directly.
Seong Jiyeong's Facebook was filled with emotional posts overflowing with sentiment.
"I'm happy because of you
happy because it's you
happy because it's you
happy because you're mine
you'll be in my future too♡"
"..."
Together with sweet, sentimental photos, the post felt completely unfamiliar. Back when she was dating me, Jiyeong had been more concerned about whether to put ramen noodles or udon noodles into tteokbokki than about dates.
"Looks like she really does like Saebyeok..." I had no choice but to admit it.
So what she had with me really hadn't been love...
Why, Jiyeong? Why meet a guy who has nothing going for him except his face, instead of a guy who'll make you cry and smear your mascara, or ruin your lipstick? The guy who'll make your mascara run, the one from the posts you wrote, is Yeo Saebyeok.
I clutched the bedsheet and cursed inwardly, but there was no way my shouting would reach Seong Jiyeong. Right now, Jiyeong was probably thinking about Yeo Saebyeok too.
"That bastard Yeo Saebyeok."
When I clicked the ID Yeo Saebyeok had been tagged in by Seong Jiyeong, the page changed.
Unlike Jiyeong's, Saebyeok's SNS did not have many posts. Just a few photos.
Even so, the photos had quite a lot of likes and comments on them. Though the content was strange.
⌞"Oppa Saebyeok is seriously like a celebrity♡♡"
⌞ "This bastard, check your contact list from time to time lol"
Yeo Saebyeok never responded to anyone's posts left on his page. That was just the kind of guy he was.
"No, what, is he actually some kind of celebrity?"
Well, he kind of was. No, wait. A student model? That wasn't a celebrity. Just doing modeling gigs sometimes didn't make someone a celebrity… right?
There were hardly any other people in the photos Yeo Saebyeok uploaded either. Since most of them were pictures taken with me, everything taken with me was there.
It was exactly what you would expect from someone with a narrow, shabby circle of relationships like his.
"Why the hell doesn't he delete this picture? I'm the only one who looks like shit in it." Looking at the photo pinned at the top, I let out a sigh.
My older sister had taken it for us. I even came out bigger in the frame than Yeo Saebyeok.
Could it be that he left it up because only he looked handsome? With that bastard's personality, it was possible.
"Ugh. Why am I even looking at this? It's only making me more annoyed."
I should have been checking Jiyeong's posts, so why was I over here looking through Yeo Saebyeok's?
Since things were already completely ruined, should I tell him to take down my photos? Would that be too much? Would he get pissed off? Pressing my phone against my forehead, I thought it over.
At that moment, the vibration smacked against my forehead. Jiiing, jiiing. It felt like a drill was pounding into my head.
Who was calling at this hour? Jiyeong, maybe? Had she realized what trash Yeo Saebyeok was and decided to call me?
I checked with hope, but it was an unwelcome call from Yeo Saebyeok.
My finger nearly hit the block button. I almost blocked him on impulse. Should I hang up now and block him?
While I hesitated, the call disconnected.
[Yeo Saebyeok: Did you block me?]
The moment the call ended, a message Yeo Saebyeok had sent at frightening speed popped up. His reflexes really were fast.
[Yeo Saebyeok: Pick up the phone.]
No. Where did the part about me never seeing you again go? I glared at the messages and answered only in my head.
Wiiing, wiiing. The phone call started coming in again almost immediately.
Even the way he contacted me was exactly the same as ever. Was I really supposed to answer just because he wanted me to?
The phone kept vibrating without stopping.
The missed calls piled up. A second one, a third one. Yeo Saebyeok kept calling without getting tired. As if he knew I was glaring at my phone.
The ongoing vibration cut off for a moment, and then a message popup appeared.
[Yeo Saebyeok: Pick up.]
Pick up, he says. My forehead tensed on its own as I frowned. There weren't many times Yeo Saebyeok ever sounded like he was asking me for something.
If I say, You told me to pick up, so should I just pick up? then what exactly is this attitude of his, so confidently telling me to answer?
The phone rang again. Jiiing, jiiing.
Yeo Saebyeok, who never made pleading sounds, was practically clinging to me in a voice full of regret.
I slowly swiped the call button. It wasn't because my resolve had weakened. I was just going to hear what he had to say.
"Stop calling."
—I called because you weren't answering.
"I picked up to tell you not to call. I'm hanging up."
—Don't hang up.
"No."
—Haneul.
I froze for a moment. Why was he suddenly calling me by name like that? Every day it was hey, you, Giha, you crazy bastard.
Even though we'd known each other for nineteen years, it would be faster to count on one hand the number of times we'd called each other Haneul and Saebyeok. Which meant that right now, Yeo Saebyeok was using a kind of foul play on me.
If I listen any longer, I'll be the only one who loses. Hang up now. I made up my mind and moved my hand toward the end call button.
—It's a request.
I almost laughed. Looking down at my phone, I ended up biting my lip without realizing it.
I couldn't let my heart soften. What exactly was Yeo Saebyeok asking for? After causing all that chaos, if I got shaken by the four words It's a request, that would be even more ridiculous. Was I an idiot?
But for some reason, my fingers would not move. I could not press end call.
This was what made time so frightening. Nineteen years together with that bastard had trained me into an idiot.
Fine. We were graduating soon anyway. Just once, I would hear what he had to say. I absolutely was not going to forgive him. Tomorrow, I was really cutting ties with Yeo Saebyeok. Having made that decision, I put the phone back to my ear and chose my words.
"What time."
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