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Chapter: 03
The man’s strikingly handsome face and imposing build were overwhelming enough that Lee Eun-hye, who was standing beside her, instinctively looked up at him.
But Haeru was too dazed to even glance at his face. She ran both hands through her disheveled hair and pressed the center of her throbbing head with her palm.
The man standing before her bent down slightly until their eyes met.
“Are you alright?”
Looking up at him, she immediately nodded.
“Yes. Thank you.”
The truth was, if he hadn’t stepped in, the security guards probably wouldn’t have come.
For some reason, they had simply stood by and watched while she was being harassed. It was only after he appeared in front of her that they hurried into action. Thanks to him, the situation hadn’t become even worse.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
Frowning, he carefully examined her face.
Maybe because a complete stranger had taken her side, she suddenly felt tears threatening to spill.
Forcing herself not to cry, Haeru nodded again.
“Yes, I’m fine. Um… I’ll be going now.”
People were still staring at her from every direction. More than anything, she just wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible.
She had left work early for the first time in a long while today. Grabbing Secretary Lee’s hand before she could follow, she said,
“I’ll go by myself. Sorry. I guess you’ll have to eat without me.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?”
“Yes. I need to rest.”
Forcing a faint smile, Yoon Haeru got into her car and left the company.
After leaving work, she found herself sitting alone in a corner of a small street food tent along a road lined with blooming spring flowers.
One drink turned into another, and she kept drinking until late into the night.
Empty soju bottles piled up on the blue plastic table in front of her, and her consciousness gradually became hazy.
“Seriously… why is this happening…? Ha… Why is my life like this? What the hell did I do wrong…?”
Even though no one was sitting across from her, she kept pouring herself drinks and muttering her complaints.
“How could I fall for trash like him? What? A stalker?! Ha…”
Speechless from the absurdity of it all, she slammed her fist onto the blue table.
Bang!
“What a disgrace… a complete disgrace in Yoon Haeru’s life. Ha… I just want to erase it all… I want to erase that bastard from my life! I really do… sob…”
As she cried out in anguish, tears rolled down her cheeks.
She wiped them away with the back of her hand, filled her shot glass with soju once more, drained it in one gulp, and slammed the empty glass onto the table.
Thud!
Normally, she wasn’t even someone who cursed.
She had always been upright and proper, which made the insults she had endured today all the more shocking.
The alcohol had flushed both of her cheeks so red that even someone close to her might not have recognized her. Her hair was hopelessly tangled, and her usual firm, composed way of speaking had disappeared.
Instead, her tone had become strangely soft and almost cute.
She picked up an empty soju bottle, turned it upside down, shook it, then raised her hand.
“Another bottle of soju, please.”
The elderly owner of the food stall, a white-haired grandmother whose back was deeply bent with age, walked over to her.
After wiping the water from her hands onto her red apron, she gave Haeru a firm smack on the back.
Smack!
“Oh, goodness! That’s enough! Why are you drinking so much?”
She had watched Haeru drink nonstop from the middle of the day until nightfall.
Even though they had only met today, she refused to serve her any more alcohol.
Haeru shook both her head and her hand.
“I-I… hic… I’m not even drunk.”
Despite her words, her body swayed as another hiccup escaped her.
The old woman narrowed her eyes, frowned deeply, and waved her hand dismissively.
“Not drunk, my foot! Go home already!”
The accusations she had suffered earlier were still vividly replaying in her mind.
Placing a hand over her chest, she said,
“I’m just… so upset… Why do I have to go through all this because of someone I want to erase from my life? What did I ever do wrong? Why did I have to fall for someone like him…?”
“Tsk. Who else are you going to blame? You ignored a good man and chose some worthless fool instead. Now quit drinking and go home!”
Haeru had expected comfort.
Instead, the grandmother scolded her while firmly smacking her back again, as though she somehow knew everything.
Then she turned away to take another customer’s order.
Realizing she wasn’t getting any more alcohol, Haeru sighed, planted both hands on the blue table, and slowly stood.
Staggering to the register, she handed over her card.
After paying, she was about to leave when the owner suddenly grabbed her wrist just outside the stall and placed something soft and blunt into her hand.
“What is this?”
Blinking slowly, Haeru looked down and opened her hand.
Lying in her palm was a white eraser with the single Korean character “Yeon (연)” written on it.
It was an ordinary rectangular white eraser, the kind that would leave little black shavings after erasing pencil marks.
Tilting her head in confusion, she stared at it.
“A present! You look like you’re having such a hard time. Use it somewhere you really want to.”
“But… I’m not a student… hic.”
Still hiccupping, she held the eraser between two fingers and brought it close to her face, studying it with a puzzled expression.
She was already thirty-three years old.
She had long since passed the age where she’d have any use for an eraser.
The old woman smiled.
“Didn’t you say there was someone you wanted to erase? Then erase him with that.”
Haeru let out an incredulous laugh.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I said erase him with it! Now hurry along! I’ve got to go home too.”
The grandmother lightly smacked her on the back again.
“Ow! That hurts! Your hands are seriously strong, you know that?”
Rubbing the spot she’d been hit, Haeru grumbled as she looked around.
“And besides… there are still so many people here… Where exactly are you going…?”
She stopped speaking.
Just moments ago, the food stall had been packed with customers.
Now every seat was empty.
Unable to believe what she was seeing, she rubbed her eyes and looked inside again.
“Huh? There were people sitting there just a second ago…”
“Go on home! You’re completely drunk.”
Still scratching her head in confusion, Haeru allowed herself to be gently pushed out of the food stall.
Thinking she really must have drunk too much, she stumbled away from the orange tent.
The road was crowded because of the cherry blossom festival.
Sweet music drifted through the air, and cherry blossom petals danced gently in the breeze.
The scenery was breathtaking.
Feeling pleasantly drunk, Haeru swayed as she walked along the sidewalk.
She wandered aimlessly for quite some time.
Traffic had been blocked around the cherry blossoms, and groups of people walked beneath the trees, stretching their hands toward the sky as they tried to catch the petals floating down on the wind.
Looking at all the couples around her only reminded her of Taejun.
She shook her head.
Then, while staggering through the festival, she suddenly froze.
A familiar silhouette caught her eye.
In the distance, among the crowd, Taejun was walking while holding his son’s hand.
On the child’s other side walked Taejun’s wife, holding the boy’s other hand.
They looked exactly like a happy, ordinary family.
“What the… I’m suffering like this… You ruined my life… and you’re here… enjoying the festival?”
Neither Taejun nor his wife looked especially happy.
Only the child was smiling.
But Haeru didn’t care what expressions they wore.
She clenched her teeth in anger.
Seeing the man who had falsely labeled her a stalker—just to protect himself from getting fired—walking peacefully with his family beneath the cherry blossoms twisted something inside her.
Everyone had condemned her while he went on living happily.
A burning rage welled up inside her chest, and tears filled her eyes.
“That bastard…”
A woman who rarely ever cursed, who had always been the very picture of morality, found herself swearing through gritted teeth as she clenched her fists.
Her entire body tensed, and her neck and face turned bright red.
“Why did I ever meet you? Why did I fall for garbage like you?!”
As she glared at him with resentment, something soft pressed against her palm.
“Huh? I thought… I put this in my pocket.”
She opened her hand.
The eraser the old woman had given her was glowing with a blue light.
Thinking her drunken eyes were playing tricks on her, she blinked over and over.
But the eraser continued to shine.
The old woman’s words suddenly echoed in her mind.
“If there’s someone you want to erase… erase them with that.”
It was ridiculous.
Still, she had nothing to lose.
Holding the glowing eraser, she swung it through the air toward Taejun’s face as he walked hand in hand with his son.
She traced over his entire body as though erasing him.
Just then, several people passed between them, blocking her view.
A moment later, Taejun came back into sight.
Nothing had changed.
If anything, he looked even happier.
He and his wife were smiling brightly now, showing their white teeth.
Haeru shook her head and threw the eraser away.
“Ugh! Damn it! I’m an idiot for believing something like that.”
She shouted and continued walking.
As the distance between them closed, she could see their expressions more clearly.
The couple walked right past her, smiling like the perfect image of a happy family.
A deep frown formed on Haeru’s face.
“What?!”
She turned around.
No matter what had happened, they had dated for three years.
She couldn’t simply let Taejun pretend not to know her after walking right past.
Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted toward his back.
“Hey! You! Kim Tae—”
But she never managed to finish calling his name.
Someone rushed toward her and covered her mouth with one hand.
Taejun turned around.
After looking around with a puzzled expression, he tilted his head, picked up his son, hummed cheerfully to himself, and walked away.
The man who had covered Haeru’s mouth watched Taejun disappear into the crowd before slowly stepping back.
It was the very same man who had helped her earlier that day in the company lobby.
