Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 46.2

Woo-hyun’s expression turned dark.

“It must be hard to understand, right? What kind of feeling this is.”

The moment he heard that, it was inattentively drawn before his eyes.

Someone who was handing the hot pack to him in the cold. That someone, who, without considering it, was enduring the cold just to quickly relieve his cold a little bit, was helpless.

As he took a deep breath, Woo-hyun’s chest swelled. Standing upright, Woo-hyun looked down with a precarious expression that seemed like he was about to cry. He felt dizzy as he looked at the grave mound, which was only now slowly settling down.

Someone glimmered before his eyes. That someone appeared in countless figures, countless words, and held on to him.

“… Eun-soo.”

He called Eun-soo’s name quietly and for a long time, as if he were chanting a spell to get himself together.

“I came all the way here to see you and pull myself together, but…”

… I keep getting caught by someone else.

He couldn’t bring himself to say that.

***

“Take it easy, Yoo-hwa. You’ll pass out at this rate.”

Yi-seul, who worked with her, tapped her shoulder lightly as Yoo-hwa kept working despite the break time had begun. Yoo-hwa turned her head and stared at Yi-seul, who stood close to her.

It had been a month since they started working together, after she passed the interview for the parcel packing part-time job. Whether she liked her, Yi-seul, who had been unmindful of the quiet Yoo-hwa, who worked silently and honestly, spoke to her in a friendly manner once in a while.

She didn’t have a chance to mingle and talk with the office staff anyway, and there were only three people who worked part-time. Meanwhile, one of them had quit two days ago, so she had no one else to be close to but Yoo-hwa.

The problem was Yoo-hwa. She felt awkward about someone else’s friendliness and kindness. Even though it was the daily life that she had longed for, it felt as distant as a scene in a tiresome drama.

It was the opposite of the vivid feeling she felt when she was with Woo-hyun. At that time, she felt everything, to the point it hurt.

To the point she prayed that if it was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up.

Maybe she was stimulated to the limit at that time; she was now calm even if someone approached her or talked to her. No, she was a little uncomfortable. She was not uncomfortable because it would shake up her heart, but because someone was invading her space.

However, while working face to face with her, she couldn’t ignore her, so Yoo-hwa looked at her without any emotion on her face.

“It’s fine. I’ll rest after doing this.”

After Yoo-hwa quickly moved her hand and packed the last parcel, she lifted the paper cup she had placed on a box in the back. The coffee that was poured during the last break time had cooled down.

“Hm, coffee should be drunk when it’s warm. Or completely cold. Are you going to drink it or not?”

Yi-seul sipped on her coffee and murmured in a low voice. If she wanted a hot cup of coffee, she had to go to the break room in the office upstairs, and she had to pass by the staff.

They didn’t like part-time workers coming up twice a day for coffee. Proof of that was that they would sigh, or ask questions like, ‘Aren’t you working?’. Yi-seul panted, saying that they were dirty and cheap and that she wouldn’t go up there twice.

“They let us rest for 10 minutes every two hours. Even a meal is 5,000 won for eating like a cow… Plus, there’s a surveillance camera. Should I quit because they’re dirty and cheap?”

Yi-seul, who was angry about something, complained about the unreasonability in the parcel packing part-time job. However, Yoo-hwa did not think she could quit. She had already heard that since the first day she started working at this place. According to what the worker that quit two days ago said, it had already been a year since she had been saying that.

Yoo-hwa turned her gaze downwards because she couldn’t find anything proper to answer.

“Yoo-hwa, are you always this quiet?”

Yi-seul’s anger splashed onto the stern Yoo-hwa. It seemed that she was frustrated that she didn’t say a word despite being in the same position as her.

Knock, knock.

The slightly sharp atmosphere subsided at the knock on the door. As Yi-seul answered it, the door of the office opened suddenly.

“I…”

It was a male employee working in the office upstairs. With an ordinary impression, he came in with a large box, saying that he had brought something that had been returned. Putting the box on the place where returns were handled, he, who was hesitant unlike usual, had a conversation with Yi-seul, whom he was acquainted with, while coming and going.

At the same time, his gaze occasionally went over Yi-seul’s shoulder and reached Yoo-hwa. The moment the man’s head tilted, Yoo-hwa turned her head. When their eyes met, the man looked awkward. Even from a distance, she noticed the tip of his ears getting red.

“Then, I’ll get going.”

The man hurriedly turned around and ran away quickly.

“Just what I was thinking. Dong-min, seems like you’re interested in Yoo-hwa.”

Yi-seul sat on top of the desk where Yoo-hwa was sitting and gave an ambiguous smile. She had an expression like something fun had happened in the small room they were confined in and did only packing.

“He only looked at me.”

“Didn’t you see his face turn red? He doesn’t do that to me. Don’t you think so?”

“… It’s time to start working.”

“Don’t change the topic. Anyway, break time really passes in an instant.”

Yi-seul sat in her seat while grumbling and started packing. Unlike her grumbling tone, her skillful movements after working for a long time were fast and neat.