When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

Sun checked the time with her cell phone when she got off the elevator.

She was already ten minutes late to see Eunwoo.

"... Oh my. I'm losing my mind..."

Sun started walking fast while blaming herself like she was pathetic and mumbled to herself.

"Really? You can't do this all of a sudden!"

Then, she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

She turned her head and noticed Ojae while talking on the phone.

"You know, Gyeonhui just had surgery. If you're not staying with him in his house, then he will be all alone by himself."

However, maybe because of his frustrated tone, his voice caught Sun's attention.

"What? Your kid is sick suddenly? Hah..."

Ojae was so frustrated that he couldn't say anything more after hearing that the maid's kid was sick.

"... Okay, I understand that you have to go. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help your child."

When the phone call ended, Ojae roughly scratched his head and got on the elevator that had just arrived.

"Hah…"

When Ojae left, Sun exhaled a long sigh.

Gyeonhui's sick face, the one she saw during the day at the orphanage, came to mind.

His pale face would collapse at any moment.

She looked at the entrance of the building and saw that Eunwoo was waiting for her.

She took a deep breath and slowly stepped toward him.

Eunwoo was looking for her in the crowd.

His gaze was gradually shifting toward her, and she was also trying to raise her hand to greet him.

At the time when they would notice each other, two men who were carrying a large mirror blocked the path between them.

'Bzzzz.'

At that moment, her cell phone rang.

She thought it obviously would be Eunwoo, but her pace slowed down when she checked the caller.

Soon, she stopped altogether.

'... Gyeonhui...'

It was him.

69. Something Strange.

"Sun?"

Eunwoo thought that he had seen someone similar to Sun at the moment.

However, when the men who were carrying the large mirror left, her appearance disappeared as well.

"... Did I see it wrong?"

While he was tilting his head, familiar faces came into his eyes.

It was Eunyoung and Ari that came out for dinner.

"Huh? Dr. Park?"

Ari noticed him first and approached Eunwoo.

"Hello. On your way to dinner?"

"Yes, we're working late tonight because my boss is mean and evil."

Ari said in a low voice while sensing Eunyoung nearby.

"I can hear you, Ari."

Eunyoung approached Ari and pinched her cheek.

"Oh, it hurts!"

Ari rubbed her blushing cheek and cried out while pouting.

"But why are you still here? Didn't you see Sun? She left the office a while ago to see you." Eunyoung asked, seemingly in doubt.

"Really...?"

Eunwoo quickly tried to understand the situation.

'Bzzzz.' Then a message came to his cell phone.

It was from Sun.

"Is it her?" Ari asked.

Eunwoo waved his head with an awkward smile when he saw the message.

"... No, it's my friend."

"Where did she go then?"

"Oh, Sun texted me that she wasn't feeling good today, so we decided to meet next time."

"Really? That's weird because she was just fine at the office." Ari said in doubt.

"Then I have to go for another appointment. I'll see you all later."

"See you later."

Ari left him quickly.

After departing, Eunwoo slowly exited the building.

When Eunwoo came out of the building, he checked the message from Sun again.

"I don't think I can see you tonight. Something urgent came up. I'm so sorry."

It seemed that there was something else going on, but the reasons were left out in her text. Knowing her personality and how she couldn't refuse a favor to someone, Eunwoo had a bitter smile.

He also could see how much she had struggled to send the text to him.

"Something urgent..."

Eunwoo smiled with a shallow sigh.

***

"What did she mean that she's suddenly sick?" Ari asked with a curious expression throughout dinner.

"Stop thinking about it and eat your food, so we can go back to the office soon."

Eunyoung said while putting a big spoon of rice in her mouth.

"Are you not curious, seriously?"

"Hah…"

"I got it. I'll eat."

Ari pouted and picked up the side dish with her chopsticks.

After a moment of silence, Ari started speaking again, seemingly unable to resist her curiosity.

"Hey, boss."

"What, again?"

"I think Dr. Park was lying."

Eunyoung did not respond to Ari's question.

Eunyoung put her spoon down when she seemingly lost her appetite.

"Oh, okay. I'll keep quiet."

Ari looked at her and closed her mouth.

"... He lied."

"What?"

"Sun never cancels an appointment because she's sick."

"Oh, that's right. She is the type of person who says she's okay when she's seriously sick."

Ari rolled her eyes when she recalled Eunwoo's words.

"But why did he lie? He has no reason to do so." Ari asked again, curiously.

"He was protecting her."

"Oh..."

"He couldn't tell the truth because we both knew that they were going to meet tonight.

"Wow… how can he be so thoughtful?"

Ari looked in the air and mumbled to herself as if she had a crush on him.

"So, where did she go?"

"Well... I just hope it's not the place that I don't want her to be."

Eunyoung said with a sigh of frustration.

"Where is that?"

Ari asked her again, but Eunyoung only breathed a deep sigh.

***

The taxi carrying Sun ran between luxurious houses.

When she saw the familiar paths and houses, Sun felt that something in her mind was reeling.

After a little further up, she noticed the familiar exterior of the building in front of her.

"... Pull the car over here, please."

The taxi stopped right in front of the enormous mansion just like she asked.

She raised her head and looked at the large wooden gate.

It had been a while since she came here, but nothing really changed.

"Hah…" She sighed, unable to walk inside.

She came here since her heart led herself, but she didn't know if this was the right thing to do.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the list of missed calls.

There was a missed call from Gyeonhui.

After struggling for a moment, she slowly approached the door.

For quite a long time, her finger stayed in the air to push the doorbell.

'Dingdong.'

She heard the doorbell. It wasn't loud.

However, there was no reaction from inside.

She pushed the bell a few more times, but no one answered.

Suddenly, she remembered what Ojae was saying over the phone.

'You know, Gyeonhui just had surgery, and if you leave the house now, he is all alone in the house.'

She reached out once again and began to press the password next to the doorbell.

'Bip, bip, bip, bip, bip, bip.'

When she pressed six digits, the big door was opened with a loud sound.

"... It's still the same."

The door opened, but she couldn't step inside.

"Hah…"

After taking a few deep breaths, she slowly opened the door and went inside.