#96
– Kim Sehyeong → Chooses Han Jiwon / Waiting at Point D
At Point D, Kim Sehyeong was waiting for Han Jiwon.
– Jiwon hyung is a good person. I thought he was my ideal type and ideal aspiration. If I were to date someone, I’d want to meet someone like him, and at the same time, I wanted to become that kind of person for someone.
When asked if he chose Han Jiwon because he wanted to date him, Kim Sehyeong slowly shook his head.
– That’s not it. I’m rooting for Jiwon hyung to do well with someone else.
He let out a small laugh and continued.
– When I talked with hyung, there were often times I was amazed, specifically when hyung would pick up on the nuances and context of words like a ghost. I naturally thought it was an advantage. I wondered how reassuring it would be if such a person could understand my heart and cheer me on.
Kim Sehyeong pondered for a moment and touched his chin.
– But Jiwon hyung is delicate and at the same time very strict. He even categorizes his own feelings in such small units and so thoroughly. He might be cool-headed and accurate, but at the same time, I think he’d be lonely and anxious. It would be good if he could be with someone who could quietly hold onto that for him.
He concluded with a gentle voice.
– Whatever happens, I hope Jiwon hyung made the choice that would make him happiest. Sincerely.
That Han Jiwon was quietly staring at the text message that had just arrived for him.
[The person who chose you is waiting at Point D.]
Han Jiwon, who had arrived at the path to Point D following Bae Taeseong’s guidance, opened his mouth.
“How about you? Would you be okay with me dating someone else?”
Bae Taeseong replied in an indifferent tone.
“Do I have the right to control that? I’m not even your boyfriend.”
“I’m just asking about your feelings.”
“Feelings, huh.”
He looked at Han Jiwon with a displeased expression and said,
“It’s not a topic I particularly want to answer, but you won’t be satisfied unless you hear this answer.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re such a mean bastard.”
Bae Taeseong looked down at Han Jiwon, who was smiling bitterly, and said,
“There was a time when you and I briefly broke up.”
“Right. When we were twenty-two.”
“Back then, some guy who said he liked you came to see me.”
Han Jiwon stared at him with a surprised expression as if hearing this story for the first time. However, since Bae Taeseong was looking into the distance, they couldn’t make eye contact.
“He asked if things between us were cleanly settled. He said he liked you and wanted to try things with you, but our unfinished relationship bothered him.”
“So what did you say?”
“I told him instead of wasting time coming to see the guy who got dumped and talking nonsense, he should buy a bouquet and hover around you.”
“……”
“I don’t care who you date or if you get married. You already came to the conclusion that you wanted to break up with me, and as long as that decision exists, I can’t exercise any power over you.”
“Because you don’t have the right to?”
“Yeah.”
He rubbed his face with his large hands.
“I’m fucking nothing. What am I to you?”
“……”
“What am I to stop you?”
It was an answer that was tantamount to saying he wasn’t okay with it.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you, Han Jiwon.”
His black pupils captured Han Jiwon’s face, which looked dazed as if caught off guard.
“I’ve been dumped by you again and become nothing. But if I say that the thought of you doing well with another guy makes me sick, would you be okay with that?”
When they arrived at Point D, Kim Sehyeong was waiting for the two with a relaxed demeanor. He smiled as if he had expected this and casually waved his hand.
“Well then. Don’t mind me and have a comfortable conversation, hyungs.”
“Weren’t you here because you chose Han Jiwon?”
“Turns out I couldn’t choose no one.”
“What about Hwang Yeonwoo?”
“Our Yeonwoo went to surprise Sanho hyung.”
“What the…”
Kim Sehyeong approached Han Jiwon and playfully patted his back as he said,
“Jiwon hyung is good in every way, but you think too much. Love isn’t something you do with your head.”
“……”
“We’ll watch from outside. I’ll go first.”
After Kim Sehyeong left the place while humming, silence flowed for a moment.
After a long while, Han Jiwon, who had been contemplating something with a complicated expression, opened his mouth.
“After breaking up with you, I tried to do well with Jung sunbae. I hated living with just you alone, and Jung sunbae was a good person. When you think about it, there was no reason not to date him.”
“Yeah.”
“But it didn’t work out well.”
Han Jiwon laughed helplessly.
“I clearly showed enthusiasm, and that person was also drawing me in. But still, it didn’t work. At some point, my heart wouldn’t move forward as if it had hit a wall.”
“……”
“Right. Like you said, you’re nothing. We were just people who had broken up, so why did you bother me so much?”
Han Jiwon rubbed the corners of his mouth with his fingertips and said,
“I couldn’t accept the fact that my emotions had overflowed and gone beyond the range I could control. That I liked you much more than I thought, and that for you, I could not only compromise my future but also change my way of life… Right. I didn’t want to admit that.”
Han Jiwon smiled coolly, saying he now knew how meaningless and childish that behavior was.
Soon he turned around and stood facing Bae Taeseong.
“So… this is my choice, Taeseong.”
“……”
“I’ve thought enough and analyzed it to the point of getting sick of it. Jealousy and lingering attachment, attraction, curiosity, affection, sympathy… I’ve hung everything on the scale and pondered it to my satisfaction.”
“So you reached a conclusion?”
“I gained an epiphany.”
Han Jiwon continued.
“The fact that hearts have value not when you pick and choose, but when you believe.”
“When were you calling it foolish and blind?”
“Right. I guess I’m changing too.”
“……”
“But before I hear your answer, there’s one last thing I need to do.”
Taking the map that was in Bae Taeseong’s hands, Han Jiwon said gently,
“Let’s go. This time I’ll show you the way.”
– Han Jiwon → Chooses Bae Taeseong
The two began moving again. Bae Taeseong silently followed behind him. Because he knew where he was going.
[Q. What are your feelings toward Yoo Sanho-ssi?]
Bae Taeseong: To be honest, I felt attracted to him. He was close to my ideal type. Emotions are ultimately a matter of trust and promises, and I think I couldn’t help but be drawn to Sanho, who gives his all and pours his sincerity into every situation.
(But you didn’t seem to be as proactive as one might expect.) I think I expressed myself in my own way. Wasn’t I?
(It seemed even more so after Jin Woohyeon-ssi joined.) Hmm. Woohyeon’s influence probably wasn’t negligible. I couldn’t help but notice that Sanho was being drawn to Woohyeon more definitively.
Honestly, I do think Woohyeon is impressive. I had the impression that you need that level of energy to completely uproot the lingering attachment from a 10-year relationship. My situation was complicated in various ways to do that for him. I felt like something was colliding inside me… That was probably because my feelings for Han Jiwon weren’t sorted out.
I naturally want Yoo Sanho to be happy. I saw him cry a lot, and I think he probably had the hardest time after entering Can Love Be Transferred Too?.
(Didn’t you have any desire to make him happy yourself?) That’s…
“I’ve been thinking.”
Han Jiwon, who was walking half a step ahead, said.
“I liked Sanho, but actually that was closer to competitiveness than romantic interest. I didn’t want to lose for no reason, I felt like I was a better person than X, and I didn’t want to fall short compared to you. Those kinds of things.”
“I figured as much.”
“But you weren’t like that, were you, Taeseong?”
Han Jiwon stopped walking and turned around.
“You really felt attracted to Sanho, and you know that Sanho is a good kid who deserves that.”
Bae Taeseong looked at his face, and then at Yoo Sanho’s figure faintly visible in the distance over his shoulder.
“So this is the last chance I’m giving you.”
“……”
“If you choose Sanho now, I’ll let you go, but from then on, I’ll do my best to hold onto you.”
Bae Taeseong’s face was reflected in Han Jiwon’s resolute pupils.
“Now you choose.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
