Lee-yeon responded with a subtle frown as if she had finally arrived to address this matter. The taste of bitterness lingered in his mouth as he suppressed the words he had been holding back.
“I’ve never actually said those words, as far as I can rember. You were too frightening, and your brother had pressured . I just went along with it to keep things calm. After all, your brother watched my every move. What else should I have done than pretend to like you?”
Kwon Chae-woo wiped his pallid face with both hands and swallowed a groan of agony.
He needed to leave soon. He needed to shatter this illusion and go et Lee-yeon. But the words that gripped him were gradually breaking his resolve, keeping him rooted in place.
The pain that had started in his chest soon spread throughout his entire body, contorting his arms and legs as if they were convulsing. Gradually, the man lost his courage.
“I was wrong. Please don’t say that.” The man’s voice trembled vulnerably.
“She showed what it’s like to live normally. Preparing als for you while dipping my hands in water instead of blood, rescuing animals instead of harming them, and living like a human. Lee-yeon showed all of this.”
“…”
“How amazing that ordinary life was.”
Living in hiding with Yoon Joo-ha and not receiving any benefits of education or dical care was an abnormal life, regardless of the mories.
In addition, he was lonely during his teenage years and had to live only as a perforr, and as he beca an adult and beca a hunting dog, his life went completely off track.
So, it was the first ti he had experienced it. To live solely as a house husband and have such a tranquil and comfortable routine.
Cooking three als a day, going out to the yard and tending the garden, picking up his wife after work, and spending passionate nights with her.
It was all a first. Nights where they’d cuddle under the blanket to keep warm on cold and lonely nights. That’s why –
“I want to go back to Hwaido.”
A grim smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he grappled with a sense of loss.
‘I ca to Hwaido to bury you in the first place.’
“When my life ends, I want to be buried next to you.”
It was only now that he seed to understand why Lee-yeon wanted to share the orchestra with him as a gift.
Why she invited him as the first audience, not for any other reason, and why she wanted to share music of all things.
The ruined forest may have represented the image of the family that Lee-yeon had in mind, but the music was Kwon Chae-woo.
Her solace had been solely derived from the music played by a boy, carried on the wind. Lee-yeon was offering the most dazzling mont she possessed.
“Let’s continue living like this.”
“I’m sorry, but I no longer need a husband.”
However, Lee-yeon turned her back with an air of indifference, and Kwon Chae-woo felt utterly helpless.
As he watched Lee-yeon growing increasingly distant, he suddenly felt his legs becoming heavy. His hesitation was exceedingly brief.
With a determined leap, he enclosed her cold body in his arms.
“You can leave if you want.”
Lee-yeon’s body wobbled from the sudden motion, but contrary to her harsh words, Kwon Chae-woo firmly embraced her. He gently ran his ssy fingers through her disheveled hair and whispered,
“…You can leave, but I’ll keep waiting here.”
“…”
“I’m not tired at all. I could do this for a lifeti. So…”
As Kwon Chae-woo continued, his throat tightened with every word he tried to force down. He winced as he swallowed sothing acrid, yet each ti he gritted his teeth and kept his chin high. His throat stung as he pushed the burning lump down, but he didn’t falter.
“Walk as far as you want, Lee-yeon even if you abandon hundreds or thousands of tis along the way. Consider the most aningless thing, and cast aside without a second thought.”
“…”
“Just… pick up only at the very end. “I don’t care when that happens.”
As he shattered the cello on the stage Lee-yeon had so thoughtfully prepared, her dream of having a family was destroyed once again.
The pain he felt realizing this was overwhelming as if his guts were lting.
“…I’m sorry for not understanding your feelings even a little all this ti.”
Despite it all, Kwon Chae Woo sincerely expressed his apology, knowing that sowhere, So Lee-yeon might be listening.
“Don’t get scared just because I took a few gunshots.”
Lee-yeon remained silent.
“Don’t pity .”
Lee-yeon still didn’t respond.
“Don’t waver.”
Kwon Chae-woo tightened his grip around her, putting an almost intimidating amount of strength into his arms.
He clung to her as if he would never let go, but after a while, he slowly released his grip. At that mont, Lee-yeon’s previously trembling back stiffened instantly.
“This old man has gone insane!”
At that very mont, with Choo-ja’s voice and an influx of enraged villagers, Kwon Chae-woo tried to shield Lee-yeon, but the height difference was too much.
“All of this is because of that tree doctor! How are you going to take responsibility for this? It’s because of you that our village’s divine tree died!”
The angry villagers attempted to pull Lee-yeon down by any ans possible, reaching out with their claw-like hands, but all their efforts were thwarted by Kwon Chae-woo’s solid body.
They scratched and pulled at his clothes, but he didn’t release even a single strand of Lee-yeon’s hair.
The woman who tried to save the tree and the man who had cut it down.
Now, only an unbridgeable gap remained between them.
Gradually, everything started to turn a little too white. He felt a slight heaviness in his limbs, and a headache was pounding through.
Due to the experience of having his vision flipped multiple tis, Kwon Chae Woo instinctively knew what lay at the end of this path.
His eyes were closed tightly, his nose was pinched, and he had to endure the feeling of being tossed around. Then, at long last…
Ah…
Kwon Chae-woo was left speechless as if a burning lump was stuck in his throat.
“….”
“….’
The cello Lee-yeon held so dearly had now beco a deadly weapon in her hands, a tool to exact revenge on the man who broke her heart and family.
Kwon Chae-woo’s body couldn’t help but tremble. He clung to Lee-yeon even tighter, determined to face the consequences of his past actions.
The world around them faded to white, and the painful reality he had yearned for was unfolding.
This was the reality he had longed for, the one he was willing to face, no matter the outco.
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