Throughout breakfast, the only sound filling the table was the clatter of spoons against bowls.
Gaeul took a sip of soup, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Yeonseo, so what are you really going to do from now on?”
I answered as I transferred the golden-brown rolled omelet from the frying pan onto a plate.
“Today, I’m going to properly confirm how Seohee unnie feels. I’m going to ask her without running away.”
“I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do either… but I hope it works out.”
“…”
“But you’ve really had a lot going on lately, haven’t you? Getting rejected under the cherry blossoms, getting tangled up with a beautiful bartender.”
At Gaeul’s half-joking concern, I smiled bitterly.
“I don’t know why my life suddenly got this spectacular either.”
After finishing her meal, Gaeul roughly fixed her messy hair and gathered her things.
As she stepped out the front door, Gaeul waved.
“Thanks for letting me sleep over! Message me right away if anything happens. Got it?”
After confirming that Gaeul had left and silence returned to the house, I let out the breath I’d been holding and picked up the phone lying all alone on the bed.
I turned on the screen and opened Seohee unnie’s chat window.
My fingertips trembled a little, but I typed a short sentence and pressed send.
[Me: Seohee unnie, are you working right now?]
Last time, the 1 had disappeared the moment I sent it, but today, there was no reply even after more than ten minutes.
Only the numbers on the clock at the top of the screen changed cruelly.
‘She must be busy with her morning part-time job.’
I went over to my desk and turned on the computer.
The monitor lit up with the grand whirring of the fan, but my gaze kept drifting not to the corner of the monitor, but to the phone sitting on the desk.
I went onto my NewTube channel to check the view count on the video I’d uploaded yesterday.
Maybe because it had been so long since my return, the views were tragically lower than usual.
But as I read the warm comments from viewers one by one—things like “We waited for you!” and “You’re finally back. Thank you”—I strangely felt strength rising in me.
Just then, the phone on the desk vibrated.
[Seohee: Yeah, I’m working at a PC café right now.]
[Me: When do you get off?]
[Seohee: I’m supposed to switch shifts at 5.]
‘It’s not like I can focus on working at home anyway…’
I wanted to play games for the first time in a while, and more than anything, the thought that I could meet her even a little earlier came first.
[Me: Then I’ll go there!]
After sending the reply, I hurriedly opened my closet.
Considering I was on my way to reject someone, I found myself choosing my clothes far too carefully and gave a bitter smile, but I couldn’t stop.
After getting ready, I slung a light bag over my shoulder and left the house.
While walking down the street, I realized I didn’t know where the PC café was.
When I checked my phone, there happened to be a message from Seohee unnie.
[Seohee unnie: Do you even know where I am before saying that? Come to Prism PC Café.]
[Me: I was just about to ask, so thanks for telling me.]
After about twenty minutes of traveling, I saw a sign with a large PC café logo on the third floor of a building.
I entered the building, took the elevator, and went up to the third floor.
Ding—
When I opened the door to the PC café and stepped inside, the sounds of countless keyboards and the smell of cup noodles rushed at me.
Seohee unnie was standing at the counter.
She wasn’t in the flawless masculine outfit I’d seen at the bar, but in a comfortable sweatshirt, looking natural.
At the sight, my heart thumped before I knew it.
‘No, Yeonseo. Get a grip. You came here to end this today.’
Thinking I shouldn’t disturb her while she was working, I raised my hand from a distance in greeting.
“Please come over here when you’re done.”
At my voice, unnie lifted her head, smiled brightly, and waved back.
I found a seat as far in the corner as possible and sat down.
If you come to a PC café alone, this seat is practically the rule.
I turned on the computer, finished signing up as a member, paid with my card, and returned to my seat.
When I launched the game, I was so moved I thought I might cry.
The computer at home had such poor specs that it could barely run anything besides composition software.
I launched a game I’d been really into back in high school and began savoring the freedom I hadn’t felt in a long time.
[An ally has been slain.]
“What? Why are you like this from the start?”
[Enemy double kill.]
“??”
Before I knew it, the screen I was looking at had turned gray.
“Whew… I’ve only played a few rounds, but I’m already exhausted.”
After focusing on the game for a while, I started getting hungry.
I ordered the flower and signature dish of any PC café: ramen. Of course, I didn’t forget to add cheese.
[An ally is on a rampage.]
“That’s right! Show them! You can do it!”
As I played while waiting for the ramen to arrive, a familiar voice soon came from beside me.
“Your cheese ramen is ready, dear customer.”
When I turned my head, Seohee unnie was standing there with a tray, a playful expression on her face.
“I was worried you might be bored waiting for me. But I’m glad you’re having so much fun?”
“Ah, unnie! …It’s just been so long since I came to one of these, I got too excited… I’m not bored at all, so please finish your work comfortably before coming over!”
At my answer, Seohee unnie gave me a pleased smile.
“Thanks. Though there’s still a long way to go before I’m done.”
With light steps, unnie moved off to deliver food to another seat.
I watched her back for a moment, then shifted my gaze to the steaming bowl of ramen in front of me.
After that, I had no sense of how long I’d been absorbed in the game.
During the final round, as I watched my base being miserably destroyed, I checked the time and saw it was already the agreed-upon 5 o’clock.
“I should turn it off now…”
I was about to log out, leaving my regret behind, when the chair beside me scraped backward with a rumble.
Turning my head, I saw Seohee unnie, having thrown off her apron, plop down into the seat next to me.
“Wow, that was seriously no joke.”
Unnie tilted her head back and let out a long breath.
Feeling a little bad, I asked carefully.
“Unnie, are you okay? I saw you going back and forth nonstop earlier.”
“Yeah, there were unusually many food orders today, so it was a bit rough. I don’t even know how many times I went between the kitchen and the floor.”
“You must’ve been tired. You really worked hard, unnie.”
When she heard my sincere encouragement, color quickly returned to Seohee unnie’s face, which had looked worn out just moments before.
Unnie leaned slightly toward me and smiled like a child.
“Having Yeonseo say that gives me a bit of energy. Thanks.”
We quickly left the PC café building.
Before we knew it, the light of the sunset, slowly sinking toward dusk, greeted us.
“Do you have another part-time job or plans after this?”
“Thankfully, no. Why, do you want to hang out again today?”
“No, you worked hard, unnie. I can’t ask you to entertain me.”
“Pfft… Yeonseo, you’re kindhearted.”
“Oh, come on… not that much.”
Once again, we walked around without any particular destination.
The lighter our steps seemed as we walked side by side, the heavier the stone in my heart seemed to grow.
Even the pointless conversation we shared beneath the red-stained sky felt precious to me now.
As we walked, a small stream came into view beside us.
Seohee unnie stopped and suggested,
“The view over there looks nice. Should we go down?”
I nodded silently and followed her down the stairs.
Nameless grasses decorated the surroundings, and the gentle sound of flowing water made it feel as though my complicated heart was slowly being healed.
For a moment, silence flowed between us as we looked at the scenery across the water.
The sunset shattered into fragments on the surface and sparkled.
What was unnie thinking as she looked at that view?
After working so hard and coming to meet the person she liked, I now had to confirm her true feelings and speak words of rejection.
I clenched my fist tightly, then slowly opened it and broke the silence.
“…Unnie.”
“Yeah?”
Unnie turned to look at me with eyes filled with the red light of the sunset.
“The day before yesterday, when I was drunk… did something happen?”
At my question, Seohee unnie flinched for a moment, then soon shook her head with her usual composed smile.
“What do you mean, something? You just passed out again, so I took you home. That’s all.”
The sight of her acting as if nothing was wrong while forcefully pressing down her own feelings.
Unable to endure it any longer, I blurted out the words.
“Don’t lie.”
“…I’m telling you the truth. Nothing happened.”
At unnie’s answer, still trying to keep the line to the very end, I drove in the final sentence like a wedge.
“I remembered… everything from back then.”
At that one sentence, Seohee unnie completely froze in front of me for the first time.
The always relaxed, skillful bartender, and the dependable unnie she had been, vanished in an instant.
Her eyes shook miserably, as though they had nowhere to go.
“Unnie, do you really like m—”
Before I could even finish speaking.
“Don’t say it… please.”
Seohee unnie cut me off desperately, as if snatching the words from my mouth.
There was no trace of her usual composure in that voice; instead, it was laced with a precariousness that seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment.
Unnie couldn’t bring herself to look straight at me and lowered her head.
“I’m sorry, Yeonseo. I’m really sorry…”
Leaving behind only that short, breathless apology, unnie stood frozen there for a while.
A gust of wind passed by.
And then, just like that, unnie turned around and began running away as if fleeing.
Her shadow grew distant along the streamside, where the sunset stretched long.
I stood there quietly, watching her retreating back.
I had definitely come here today to reject her.
I had stood here to confirm her feelings and draw my line clearly.
But when I saw unnie running away before my eyes as if she might break apart, I couldn’t move my feet.
I couldn’t chase after her to grab hold of her, nor could I turn around cleanly and go home.
The cold river wind brushed my cheek, and in the direction where unnie had disappeared, nothing remained.