Scream For Me - Scream - Episode 145

#side story 14

 

side story 3

After finishing interpreting, I always felt extremely tired and hungry. Talking incessantly while being extremely focused consumed more calories than it seemed. Sometimes, I was so exhausted that it was difficult to get up from where I was sitting.

Yeonwoo, who had just finished interpreting and had taken off her headset, let out a long sigh of the tension that had been tightening her body for two hours. Normally, the basis for simultaneous interpretation is for two interpreters to take turns interpreting, but in cases of small-scale events like this, one interpreter may take charge of interpreting the entire short event.

Yeonwoo stared blankly for a moment as people left the conference room, then immediately gathered her luggage and came out of the interpretation room. Depending on the event, there were times when he was in charge of the speaker’s protocol, but there were many cases, like today, where all work was done with just interpretation without any additional work.

Yeonwoo found the person in charge of the event who requested interpretation among the crowded crowd and approached him to say hello. After exchanging formal greetings thanking everyone for their hard work and making an unconditional promise to do their best next time, Yeonwoo came out of the conference room.

Most large convention centers where international conferences are held are equipped with various indoor amenities. Yeon-woo entered the area where convenience facilities were concentrated, briefly satisfied his hunger, and sent a message to In-woo that the work was finished. Before, it felt cumbersome to report what I did and when by text, but now it feels like a natural part of my daily routine.

Yeonwoo put his cell phone in his pocket and came out of the convention center carrying a heavy bag. It was November, the first snowfall in Seoul, but the wind in Jeju was just cool enough to feel comfortable.

Yeonwoo, who was walking toward the bus stop to catch a limousine bus to the airport, came across the silhouette of a familiar person right in front of her and stopped.

The person standing in front of Yeonwoo was slightly shaking the hand holding the briefcase, as if he couldn’t believe this situation even more than Yeonwoo.

Unable to say hello or pretend not to recognize a face he recognized, Yeonwoo stood there for a while as if stuck in place, but then awkwardly looked away.

I thought we might meet each other at least once in our lives, but it was much earlier than expected. While Yeonwoo was wondering what to do in a situation she had never imagined, the other person spoke first.

“long time no see.”

“… … .”

“… Did you eat?”

“… huh.”

Although the conversation was in the context of refusing an invitation to eat, the other person had a faint smile on his dry cheeks, as if he was happy that Yeonwoo had spoken to him. It was a somewhat unnatural and dry smile, like someone smiling for the first time in their life. Yeonwoo intuitively realized that the other person had not smiled for a long time.

“uh… then… “Would you like some tea?”

Yeonwoo unconsciously looked at the person who made the foolish request with a sad look. The man in front of me had an appearance that was better described as age rather than immaturity, but his actions were clumsy, like a child talking to someone he likes for the first time.

Yeonwoo spoke after swallowing a heavy, watery breath.

“… no.”

The man twitched the corner of his mouth with an expression that was neither smiling nor crying. The man, who swallowed dry saliva several times as if he was intensely considering what he was saying, finally spoke in a voice that could not hide his trembling.

“then… “Would you like to take a short walk?”

Yeonwoo closed her eyes tightly. He couldn’t figure out why the sight of him made him feel so distressed. Yeonwoo looked at him with the words of rejection on the tip of her tongue. And the moment I heard the words of rejection and faced the face of the man who looked as if he would turn into sand and fall to pieces, I swallowed those thin, knife-like words into my stomach.

“… okay.”

The man laughed. Absurdly innocent.

Joo-hyuk, whom I met for the first time in about three months, was noticeably emaciated. It was surprising that he recognized it at a glance.

Joo-hyuk seemed to have not thought at all about what to say after asking him to walk first, but he was only swallowing dry saliva the whole time. Yeonwoo was the first to speak after staring indifferently at the exotic scenery near the convention center.

“How is Jiwon doing?”

“huh?”

Joo-hyuk stupidly asked back, as if he didn’t know what Yeon-woo was going to say. Yeonwoo spoke with a formal smile on her lips.

“Mr. Kang Ji-won. “The one who was your fiancee.”

“ah. iced coffee… . huh. uh. how are you.”

“really?”

In response to Yeonwoo’s joking question, Joohyuk blinked blankly with an expressionless face. Yeonwoo laughed a little awkwardly at Joo-hyuk’s reaction, who found her every attitude new.

“Jiwon, how is your friend? Mr. Lim Seo-ha.”

“iced coffee… Seoha… . “They said they were getting married.”

“marriage? wow… “It feels like the world is changing so quickly.”

“Usually, if you decide it’s appropriate, you get married.”

Only then did Joo-hyuk seem to have lost his voice and gave a quite polite reply. Yeonwoo nodded his head and gazed at the scene in front of him. Joo-hyuk, who was repeatedly biting his lip and letting it go, asked carefully if there was something he wanted to say.

“How have you been… “Can I ask?”

Yeon-woo, who unconsciously let out a sigh-like laugh at the question that was so uncharacteristic of Joo-hyuk, tried to speak calmly.

“how have you been doing.”

“… okay?”

“huh.”

Yeonwoo did not return the greeting she received. He didn’t ask how I was, and he didn’t even ask what brought him here. He didn’t want to know any information that would build up new memories and feelings about him.

Joo-hyuk, who was anxious and unable to continue the broken conversation, asked in a voice that broke off at times.

“Your brother… how are you?”

At the unexpected question, Yeonwoo stopped and looked back at Joohyuk. Joo-hyuk, who was hardly able to make a proper expression, only had traces of broken emotions revealed here and there.

“Are you curious about that?”

Joo-hyuk nodded slowly to Yeon-woo’s question. Looking into Joo-hyuk’s eyes, which were filled with an unknown depth of sadness, Yeon-woo spoke in a delicate, trembling voice.

“you… “Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“… what?”

“That you like your younger brother.”

“… … .”

“Normally, people think it’s strange or scary, but… “I don’t think you ever found it strange.”

Joo Hyuk slowly blinked his eyes. Although he seemed to be pondering countless thoughts, his movements felt as if he had no thoughts at all.

“Since you said so… “I guess that’s just the way it is.”

Yeonwoo, taken aback by the unexpected trust she had encountered, looked up at Joohyuk’s face in confusion. Joo-hyuk was twitching the corners of his mouth as if he was trying to smile. It was painful to face that desperate face, so Yeonwoo turned his gaze into the distance.

At one time, I had hoped that he had even an ounce of sincerity towards me.

The reason she ran away without saying a word of resentment when she found out that he had ostracized her and blinded her in one eye was because she did not have the confidence to face the despair she would face when she found out that he had not even the slightest sincerity.

Still, I couldn’t bear to feel miserable if I didn’t believe, even a little bit, that maybe in fact, he also had sincerity towards me. The piece of faith that was left as a vague guess in the tomb of resentment became a lingering obsession and attachment that would not disappear until the other person’s heart was confirmed to the bottom.

In the end, as he broke his body and mind, he realized that he had no feelings for himself.

A toy that is fun to play with, a fun activity, and something that can be broken and destroyed.

If you run away, you feel embarrassed, and if you lose it, you get angry.

To him, he was like that.

There was no love in his heart.

But why, now, do I feel so clearly that he loves me?

***

Steam rose from the two coffee cups placed on the table. Joo-hyuk stared blankly at Yeon-woo sitting in front of him. His sense of reality was dulled, as if he was watching a dream image.

“Why don’t you drink it? “He asked me to come over for coffee.”

Yeonwoo asked in a very sensitive voice. Joo-hyuk blurted out something absurd without even thinking about picking up his coffee cup.

“I didn’t think you would come with me.”

Greetings saying it’s been a while, asking if I’ve eaten, requests for tea, and suggestions for a short walk were all gambling and begging.

He thought there was nothing he could do if Yeonwoo pretended not to know him and passed by. If that happened, he thought he wouldn’t even be able to hold on. However, Yeonwoo accepted the offer to take a short walk, and he also granted her wish to have coffee together.

Joo-hyuk was curious about what Yeon-woo was thinking about hanging out with him, but he did not ask the question out loud. It seemed like the moment he wondered about his feelings, he would just disappear, leaving behind only a firm word of refusal. So it was not easy to say anything to Yeonwoo.

“Even in November, it’s not that cold in Jeju.”

Yeonwoo spoke in a casual tone. It wasn’t something he would find awkward saying to anyone or even to himself. Joo-hyuk couldn’t respond and just stared at Yeon-woo.

sometimes… No, in fact, I often pictured myself and Yeonwoo together like this. When I’m alone, I’m alone, and when I’m with someone, because that person isn’t Yeonwoo, I draw Yeonwoo’s image in every scenery I see, think of her smiling face, imagine a voice speaking sweetly to me, and then one of the countless memories comes to mind. When I realized that nothing overlapped with my sweet and ordinary imagination, I felt frustrated, regretful, and missed it.

“It’s very cold in New York.”

There was nothing he could say, so Joo-hyuk immediately regretted saying that. It was because he belatedly realized that Yeonwoo would not be very pleased if he said anything related to his current situation.

“It’s a bit like that there.”

Fortunately, Yeon-woo accepted Joo-hyuk’s words without any hesitation. As Joo-hyuk, unable to find anything to say again, kept his mouth shut, Yeon-woo said with a grin on his face.

“You really don’t drink a single sip.”

At that moment, Joo Hyuk realized why some people have no choice but to be silent. It’s not that I don’t have anything I want to say, it’s that I have nothing I can say. I can’t say that because I don’t want to miss the moment I can see you while drinking coffee.

It was the same when Yeonwoo asked a question about his younger brother earlier. The moment he was asked why he thought it strange that he liked his younger brother, so many thoughts came to his mind that he couldn’t answer right away.

When you like someone so much, when the whole world is filled with that person, how can you describe the feeling that makes you think that the world is the way it is, even if it’s a little distorted somewhere?

“If you don’t want to drink coffee, can you stop getting up?”

“no… “I’ll drink it.”

Joo-hyuk hurriedly put his lips to the coffee cup, but was surprised by how hot it was and quickly removed it. Yeonwoo, who was looking at that scene, had a sad expression.

Joo-hyuk looked helplessly across the table and picked up a snack that the clerk had brought for dessert. Joo-hyuk was biting into a hard caramel cookie little by little, but unable to overcome the awkwardness of silence, he opened his mouth first.

“you… “Don’t you eat cookies?”

Yeonwoo smiled and shook his head.

“I don’t like those cookies.”

“… why?”

“Because your girlfriend gave it to me.”

At that moment, Joo-hyuk was speechless and looked at Yeon-woo’s face. He had no memories. Yeonwoo said to Joohyuk, who was frozen in embarrassment.

“When I went to the library to study for an exam… I ran into you and your girlfriend. At that time, your girlfriend gave me the cookie to eat… “I didn’t eat it and threw it away.”

“… … .”

“I still don’t eat those cookies.”

Joo-hyuk put down the snack he was holding, rubbed his lips where the taste of the snack remained, and even erased the sweetness remaining on his tongue with bitter coffee. I felt sick, as if I had swallowed poison.

“If you don’t want to eat anymore, let’s get up.”

“… Yeonwoo.”

Joo-hyuk was embarrassed by his own voice and kept his mouth shut after calling it out in an absurdly trembling voice. Yeonwoo didn’t try to get up, but he sat down again. Joo Hyuk, in his urgent mind, brought out the questions he had been holding tightly to his heart.

“If the… When we meet again… If I did well even then… Then would there have been a chance?”

The question was asking about the past, but its meaning was directed toward the future. Even if I did something wrong to you now, if I do well after a lot of time, maybe there will be a chance then?

“no.”

Yeonwoo answered firmly and said while looking at the snacks on the table.

“look. “Even now, because of you, I can’t even eat even a simple snack like this.”

“… … .”

“If I’m with you… Every time we encounter each other, it must be a wound from the past… “How can you live happily?”

Yeon-woo spoke in a sweet voice to Joo-hyuk, who was unable to say anything and was painfully silent.

“Joo Hyuk. Maybe later… When you find someone you like… Even if you don’t treat me well, don’t hurt me too much.”

The words, taken in the form of advice, were a declaration that repeatedly confirmed that the relationship between the two was irreparable. When Joo-hyuk couldn’t answer, Yeon-woo laughed and said, as if he had said something nonsense.

“Did I say something too obvious?”

“… … .”

“It’s almost time for my flight, so I have to get up now.”

Yeon-woo said to Joo-hyuk, who lowered his head, unable to bear the last moment in his eyes.

“Good-bye, good-bye.”

With those words, Yeonwoo walked out of the coffee shop. As Joo-hyuk looked at the empty space left behind by Yeon-woo, he realized that he would never be able to escape from the shackles of a relationship he had twisted in the past.