When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

In the restroom of the orphanage.

"Ugh... ugh..."

She had the dry heaves with nausea, but nothing came out.

When she struggled to raise her body, she leaned against the wall, exhausted.

Even with her eyes closed, the thoughts about Gyeonhui did not leave her mind.

If she left this place, she might feel better, so she tried to get out of the bathroom in a hurry.

'Bzzz.'

After checking the caller, Sun hesitated for a moment and answered the phone.

"... What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry Sun, but are you with Gyeonhui?"

Ojae asked her urgently without telling her the reason for the call.

"No. I don't think I'm the right person for that matter."

She tried to hang up the phone.

"Wait a minute."

She heard a cry from Ojae, and he sounded desperate to stop her from hanging up the phone.

She lifted her phone again.

"He had surgery a few days ago, and he isn't feeling well."

"Did you say surgery?"

Hearing Ojae, she was surprised and asked him again.

"It's a long story, but he was supposed to stay in the hospital for a week to recover. Now, he's gone from the hospital. That's why I've contacted you. I'm very sorry, but if you see him, please contact me right away. Thank you."

Ojae quickly hung up the phone, seemingly trying to contact someone else to find Gyeonhui.

"... what does it mean… surgery."

Her confused mind grew more disturbed as she tried to make sense of the situation.

She shook her head, trying not to think about him anymore.

She quickly walked to the parking lot to leave the orphanage.

She then saw him standing by her car in the distance.

He, too, started ambling toward her, seemingly recognizing her as well. Her eye caught his pale face and his bloodshot eyes. The closer he approached, the more hurt she became.

He reached out and grabbed her right hand.

Gyeonhui asked, indifferently while he was looking at the wounds on her index finger, "Did you get your finger hurt again? Are you going to hurt yourself like this every day?"

Hearing his ambiguous words, she turned his hand down, not knowing if it was out of his concern for her or irritation at her.

"... That's not something you need to worry about."

"I'm just worried..." Gyeonhui said in an unusually calm voice.

His expression and voice were weak.

"Why the hell are you doing this to me!?"

She could not stand the frustration that she's feeling and shouted at him. Gyeonhui's eyes were shaken hard after hearing her cry.

"... No matter what you had to go through in the past, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't even want to know. Do you understand?"

She walked past him after yelling at him.

"Okay. I won't care about you anymore."

Then her steps stopped at his voice behind her.

"... Like you said, I'm going to stop bothering you."

Sun's eyes shook.

When Gyeonhui took a deep breath, she slowly started speaking again.

"You're free to move out of the office building. You will still have the business with us, so don't worry about that. If you don't want to see me again, yes, that's fine too. I'll never show up in front of you again, so... "

He stopped speaking and turned his head to look at her. He calmly started talking again.

"One day, stay with me for just one day."

Hearing his unexpected confession made her eyes shake hard.

68. You're Alone

These two people seem to have stopped in time.

It was her that broke the silence first.

"... No, I don't want it."

There were only two syllables that came out of her lips.

She refused, but when he looked at her, she looked more hurt.

"... Even one day is a burden to me, and I'm afraid."

Her trembling voice pierced his heart, so Gyeonhui furrowed his eyebrows.

He couldn't turn and look at her.

It was painful to see his wounds revealed whenever she saw his face.

"... Even one day is hard for you." He sighed with his eyes closed.

'Brrrrr.'

Then he heard her car's engine starting from behind him.

She was preparing to leave him.

'Woowoong.'

Then he heard the loud sound of the engine.

She was moving away.

'Whirling.'

After leaving, there was only the sound of a strong wind.

He lifted his head up and looked at the bright blue sky.

"I wish cool rain would fall right now."

He couldn't hide his pained expression under the clear sky.

"Why... I've realized it now..."

He smiled and mumbled to himself.

'Geeeeek!'

Then he heard a sudden stop in the distance.

"Cheonsun."

Gyeonhui was surprised, and he quickly turned his head to look back.

***

On the road, after she made a complete stop with the brakes, she closed her eyes, putting her head on the steering wheel.

There was no accident, and that wasn't why she stopped.

She couldn't breathe properly because of the terrible pain.

"Hah…"

She raised her head and leaned back on the seat.

Her heart was astringent as if it were rubbed with salt.

"Hah…"

She tried to calm her mind by catching her breath, but it wasn't easy.

'Just one day, stay with me...'

She couldn't forget his desperate voice.

His pale face was glimmering in her eyes.

At that moment, Sun held the steering wheel tightly with both hands, and she was lost in thought about whether or not she should turn the car around.

However, she soon shook her head hard.

"Hah…"

She took a deep breath and pulled out her phone while biting her lower lip.

She struggled for a moment and called Ojae.

***

A car that seemed to have nothing to do with him was going away from him.

He stood still and watched her leave as he breathed a long sigh.

He was relieved that nothing had happened to her, but he was sad that nothing had changed.

"Hah..."

He sighed and turned his head to look at Sister Andrea's room.

He wondered what Sun had talked about with Andrea.

He took a few huge steps and headed toward the director's room.

'Knock, knock.'

When he arrived at the door of the director's room, he knocked on the door.

Andrea opened the door, and she was so surprised to see him.

"There are a lot of unexpected guests coming in today."

He smiled weakly while watching her welcome him warmly.

"But are you okay? What's wrong with your face?" When she saw his complexion, she asked, worried.

"I've been fighting with a cold; that's all."

He lied and struggled to sit down.

"Hold on. I'm sure I have some medicine somewhere here."

Andrea hurriedly tried to find the cold medicine and rummaged through the drawer.

"... I saw her here just a while ago." He struggled to speak.

Andrea stopped rummaging and slowly looked at him.

"Did you tell her anything about me?"

Looking at him for a moment, Andrea nodded slowly.