EOFD 45🔐

chapter 45

“I’ll head over right away.”

The call ended immediately, and Seongjun, quick on the uptake, was the first to lift himself from his seat.

“Shall we go in? Oh, it’s already this late… um, you can give me the coat next time.”

“…Ah.”

Yeonwoo lowered her gaze toward the clothes she had forgotten about. Even now, they were in no condition to be worn outside.

“I’ll be coming to City Hall again, so then…”

“Anytime. Besides, it’s summer, so you wouldn’t be wearing it now anyway!”

Seongjun’s voice was deliberately cheerful, despite a faint undercurrent of calm. Yeonwoo nodded in response.

A brief conversation continued after that, but it was no longer as warm as before. The two of them entered the first floor of the City Hall main building, and that’s when it happened.

“…!”

“Yeonwoo?”

Yeonwoo visibly froze and stopped walking. Seongjun called her name from beside her, but her gaze was fixed on the end of the hallway.

“…Yeonwoo?”

No way.

It felt like a stone had been thrown into her chest, a sharp pain spreading instantly.

At the end of the hallway stood a familiar woman. She was standing sideways at first, then quickly turned toward Yeonwoo. And the moment Yeonwoo recognized her face, her breath hitched and faltered.

It was Chae Eun-young.

“…Are you alright?”

“Yes… Ah, sorry. Let’s go.”

Seongjun walked slightly ahead, ensuring she couldn’t see his expression. Yeonwoo hurried forward, biting her lips as though she might chew them. There was even a faint metallic tang, as if smelling blood.

She had thought that meeting her might happen someday… but not like this.

“….”

What should I do? How…?

Taking each step felt heavy, as if she had been running for hours; her legs trembled. She had to make sure it didn’t show. If it did, it would be as if she were announcing herself as Seo Yeonwoo.

“…Huh.”

The closer she got, cold sweat formed in beads along her back, slipping down in rivulets. After feeling the blood rush to her face, warmth spread through her body. Her ears were probably flushed red.

Still, she had to keep moving forward.

Chae Eun-young frowned as she saw a long-haired woman approaching from a distance. She squinted for a moment, stared at Yeonwoo for a few seconds, and then turned her head away.

Watching her, Yeonwoo realized that Chae Eun-young had not recognized her.

“Hah.”

Only then did she feel a sudden release, as if the tension in her body had drained away. Even as Chae Eun-young brushed past her, she didn’t grab her arm.

It was over.

Trying to maintain as natural a gait as possible, Yeonwoo forced herself not to look back. After that, she didn’t remember how she parted from Kang Seongjun or how she went to Jeongha.

It would take a long time before the tension that had seeped into her bones finally dissipated.

She resented Director Won.

He said there was nothing to worry about.

The ride back was strangely quiet. Woojeong seemed to sense that Yeonwoo wasn’t in the best condition, though whether it was because of the tense meeting with the mayor, she couldn’t tell.

His face looked somewhat troubled, but Yeonwoo didn’t have the energy to care. She collapsed onto her bed as soon as she got home. Her body ached as if she had been beaten mercilessly.

As time passed, she slowly succumbed to a creeping fever. She had thought her head felt heavy since the afternoon, but she hadn’t expected it to flare up like this.

…Maybe it was because she had met Chae Eun-young.

Every exhale made her head throb painfully.

But she couldn’t just lie there. She had seen something earlier today.

Yeonwoo forced strength into her blurry eyes and grabbed her phone. She searched for a contact and pressed the call button. The dial tone rang.

• Hello?

“…It’s me.”

• How have you been? According to the lady, you seem to be doing well.

It was Director Won. Even though it had been a week since they last spoke and he could have scolded her for not calling, his voice was calm.

“I contacted you because I had something to ask.”

• What happened?

“…I saw someone from my high school class. You said before that it was nothing to worry about, but why….”

She wanted to scream out that it had almost become a disaster. Pain made her feel a violent kind of sadness.

If that person—Chae Eun-young—had seen Woojeong…

If she had said something strange…

But Director Won’s voice remained calm.

• Who exactly did you see?

“…Chae Eun-young. A girl named Chae Eun-young.”

• Wait a moment… let me see.

There was the sound of something being shuffled through, faint clicking noises, and even a small chuckle from Director Won.

• It seems you had quite a connection with that friend.

“What do you mean?”

• Nothing serious. It’s just that Chae Eun-young isn’t in Gojing Town anymore, and it’s remarkable that you ran into her.

His tone seemed to mock her slightly, but it also carried a hint of reproach, as if saying she shouldn’t have lived recklessly. Yeonwoo pressed her lips together tightly.

• That friend is in Yedong Town now. She even got married to a man there.

“…Are you sure?”

• It concerns the young master, so do you think I’d have investigated carelessly?

Then why had Chae Eun-young been at City Hall? Did she have personal business there?

Cold sweat dotted her forehead, and she grimaced at the churning in her stomach.

• I don’t think you need to worry too much. How is the young master doing?

“…He’s fine.”

Director Won didn’t bring up things like memory or connection after that. Hearing Yeonwoo’s moderate responses, he gently reassured her.

• If you get too tense, it will show. Be careful. Judging by the current situation, he probably won’t be in Yedun City for long.

“…Won’t be there long?”

• Well… the company has some movement. You don’t need to know all the details, but I’ll contact you if it becomes certain.

“…Understood.”

Without further pleasantries, the call ended. Yeonwoo curled up like a shrimp, hugging her blanket.

Time passed slowly.

Her breath was hot, her body alternately burning and freezing, as if in menopause. Every joint ached, and even the brush of her skin against the blanket was uncomfortable.

She should have brought emergency medicine.

It was well past eight in the evening; no pharmacy would be open now.

“…Hah.”

Rubbing her eyes with her forearm, Yeonwoo licked her parched lips. Some lukewarm water might help, but she didn’t want to take a single step outside.

Her eyes blinked slowly several times before she fell asleep. Faint murmurs escaped her lips.

“…I was wrong, so wrong… huh.”

Murmuring through her dry lips, she muttered in her sleep.

All sorts of things appeared in her dreams.

Chae Eun-young scolding her for coming back here, Uncle Yang-gyu giving her strange looks, the fruit vendor she occasionally saw when shopping for her aunt…

Even Park Jung-woon walking toward her with a strangely twisted smile.

Yeonwoo’s night passed painfully and slowly.

“….”

Outside her room, Jeongha paused abruptly. His eyebrow lifted as he listened to the sounds coming from inside.

His gaze remained fixed on Yeonwoo’s closed door for a long time. He lifted his hand as if to knock, then lowered it repeatedly.

It was a night not even touched by moonlight.