chapter 18.2

After Mina left work, Yeonhwa cleaned up her desk soon after. She tried to gather all the information about Go Joon as much as possible, but there was nothing that could be of much help because he was so private.

After leaving the office building, Yeonhwa headed to the parking lot. She was diligently walking, then saw a man in front of the museum building. She didn’t care at first but then immediately turned her eyes to the familiarity as if she had seen him somewhere before. And it didn’t take long for Yeonhwa to realize that the man was the one who was in the car accident with her. Go Joon’s eyes, who recognized Yeonhwa, were folded into a half-moon shape. With his long legs, he quickly walked over and stood in front of Yeonhwa.

“It’s a surprise to see you here.”

“I know, right,” Yeonhwa spoke with a voice full of joy.

Go Joon reached out his right hand to Yeon-Hwa as if he wanted to shake her hand. As Yeonhwa glanced at his hand in front of her not knowing what to do, Go Joon kept smiling brightly at her.

“It’s really nice to see you again.”

Was it nice to meet the person who had the accident again? Yeonhwa wondered, but then she remembered the man’s words that he hadn’t been to Korea. ‘In foreign countries, if you’re happy, you’ll be hugged, if not then you have to shake hands’. Yeonhwa was embarrassed by his friendly greeting, but she couldn’t refuse to shake his hand because she feared that he would be embarrassed.

As Yeonhwa’s hand overlapped with Go Joon’s hand, she felt the man’s fingertips flinching. Yeonhwa, who lightly waved her hands up and down, released her hands first. But Go Joon kept holding on to her hand as if he had no intention of letting go. Yeonhwa tilted her head and glanced at Go Joon.

“Excuse me.”

Go Joon, who was looking at Yeonhwa, fascinated, belatedly withdrew his hand and laughed out loud.

“Haha, sorry. I thought I would never see you again, but it was so nice to see it again like this.”

Yeonhwa wondered if he lived in a foreign country for a long time that’s why he acted this way? The man acted as if he had reunited with a friend he had met a long time ago. However, Yeonhwa did not reject this man’s behavior. She instinctively felt that he wasn’t a bad person. Go Joon brushed up his hair as if thinking about what to say first, and then repeatedly opened and closed his lips.

“Are you here to see artworks ?”

“Oh, I work at an art gallery.”

“….Curator?”

As Yeonhwa nodded a little, Go Joon, with both hands together, covered his mouth. With his eyes closed, he felt an intense emotion as recalling Yeonhwa’s words from a long time ago.

“My dream is to be a curator. With the picture you drew, I will surely make my dream come true and let many people know. There is someone who paints such wonderful pictures.”

The girl who said she would become a curator in front of him has reached her dream as an adult now nine years later. When he decided to return to Korea, Go Joon wanted to meet Yeonhwa the most. He wondered if she would still remember him. The promise she had made with him. Unfortunately, Yeonhwa did not seem to remember.

It was understandable because Go Joon now was very different from then. He didn’t wear clothes like rags, and his hair didn’t cover his eyes. Above all, he was taller than then and was no longer a teenage boy but a grown man.

It was safe to say that he was a different person, so it was natural that Yeonhwa could not recognize him. Go Joon, who removed his hand from his mouth, carefully spoke to Yeonhwa.

“Do you have any plans this evening?”

“Why…?”

Seeing a confused look on Yeonhwa’s face, Go Joon explained.

“I want to treat you to dinner because you did not charge for the repair of the car or receive any settlement fees.”

“Did my husband not charge you?”

Go Joon’s prediction was right. Geonwoo made the decision himself.

“He said that the car was originally scratched and he would take care of it.”

There weren’t any scratches on the car. It was difficult to understand why Geonwoo, who said to take care of the problem on his own, did not go through the insurance process. Was it cumbersome to contact the insurance company and make a claim? Perhaps he has a lot of work these days so he didn’t have time to do it.

“My husband is very busy, so I guess he handled it alone.”

Gojun, with an unknown smile, nodded.

“I guess so.”

“I don’t have any dinner appointments, so it’s okay, but I don’t know if my husband will have time.”

“Would you like to contact him?”

When Yeonhwa took her cell phone out of her handbag to contact Geonwoo, she saw two missed calls from him. Geonwoo usually doesn’t call, but Yeonhwa quickly pressed the call button to see what happened. Shortly after the beeping sound, Geonwoo answered the phone.

[Hello.]

At the voice of her husband, Yeonhwa continued on the phone with her back to Go Joon.

“Did you get off work? You called me?”

[I am off work. I’m near the museum now.]

Yeonhwa, who was looking at her feet with her head down, then raised her head.

“Oh, that’s good. Can we eat dinner together if you don’t have an appointment?”

With her head turned, Yeonhwa made eye contact with Go Joon, who was looking at her. Even in the short moment when the eyes met, Go Joon did not forget to smile brightly.

“I ran into the person who had an accident last time at the art museum and he said he wanted to treat me to dinner.”

[Are you with him right now?]

Geonwoo’s voice suddenly subsided, as if he was tired.

“Yes. He is here.”

When she couldn’t hear a response, Yeonhwa held her cell phone close to her ear.

“Hello?”

She wondered if Geonwoo hung up the phone. As Yeonhwa took her cell phone off her ear, she saw Geonwoo’s car in the distance. The car with high speed slid along the street lighted driveway and stopped in front of the museum. Forgetting to turn off the car, Geonwoo opened the driver’s door and came out. With the driver’s door closed, he stared at Go Joon who was standing next to Yeonhwa. Go Joon did not avoid and accepted Geonwoo’s gaze which was piercing him fiercely.

As Geonwoo gradually approached, Yeonhwa was able to properly check his expression. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but his lips were tightly closed as if he was holding back. His bitter eyes contained all the discontent of the world.

‘Somehow, my husband seems to be angry, is that an illusion?’