By Zephyria The day of the engagement ceremony was surprisingly sunny. Everyone was saying that they were a blessed couple under the cloudless, bright blue sky, but Winston felt nothing.
When his engagement to Evelyn was decided, she cautiously asked Winston, “Are you sure you’re okay with me?” Winston replied, honestly, for the sake of minimal friendship, “I don’t care who it is.”
He didn’t know if Evelyn was hurt by those words. It was because he literally didn’t care.
It was as if his heart had disappeared somewhere. No matter what he did, no emotions arose. Even though it was happening to him, it felt like someone else’s business. Winston thought he had died that day.
So, even when he heard that Yu-jin had come to see him a few hours before the ceremony, Winston was just calm.
“Are you alright? I’m worried that he’ll try to deceive you with some other lie.”
Mrs. Campbell sighed as she tried to stop him, but Winston replied indifferently.
“Nothing will happen.”
Watching her son’s back as he left after saying only that, she wore a worried expression, but that was all she could do.
He was still walking with crutches, but Winston was in much better condition than before. The day he would let go of these wretched crutches was not far off.
It wasn’t just the crutches that he would be letting go of.
When he opened the door without knocking, the lover he had loved so much was waiting inside. Yu-jin, who was cowering with a terrified face, filled his big eyes with tears as soon as he saw Winston’s face.
“Winnie…!”
Yu-jin, who was about to run to him while calling his name, stopped. It wasn’t just because Winston was still on crutches. He must have sensed something unusual in his expression, and Winston just stared at him indifferently at his hesitation.
“How’s your body…?”
Yu-jin carefully opened his mouth.
“Good.”
Winston replied in a nonchalant voice, but that was all. Yu-jin said, “That’s a relief,” and sighed in relief, but he wasn’t completely relieved.
“The crutches… what happened? Are you going to keep using them…?”
“It’s okay, I’ll be able to walk without them soon.”
Winston told him the truth to Yu-jin, who couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. He doesn’t lie. Unlike Yu-jin. “Okay,” Yu-jin said again. An awkward silence flowed between them. It was the first time there was such an uncomfortable atmosphere. They were not used to such an uneasy air because they always tried to talk and kiss each other whenever they saw each other.
“…Um.”
Yu-jin hesitated and mustered up courage with difficulty.
“Are you very angry with me…?”
“Me?”
At the indifferent question, Yu-jin nodded hesitantly.
“Because of me… you almost, died, because of me.”
He stuttered as if he was trying to suppress the rising emotions. If it had been before, Winston would have hugged him long ago and reassured him that it was okay because nothing had happened. But now he didn’t move a finger and just stared at Yu-jin. Yu-jin was restless because of the situation.
“I’m sorry, Winston. Did it hurt a lot…?”
Yu-jin said in a trembling voice. The way he was looking at Winston, not knowing what to do, was like a weak prey fearing when it would be eaten in front of a predator. But Winston was strangely unmoved. He would have been flustered and not known what to do to comfort Yu-jin, but now he was just watching it like it was someone else’s business.
“Yu-jin.”
“Yes.”
Yu-jin answered immediately at the sound of his name. Winston asked him, looking at him anxiously.
“Is that all you have to say?”
Yu-jin became quiet again. He opened his mouth while holding his breath and looking at Winston, but he couldn’t make a sound. Only his lips moved, and when he barely made a sound, a faint voice like he was dying came out.
“The, engagement… is it true? With Evelyn?”
Winston just stared at Yu-jin silently. But Yu-jin had already heard the answer.
“How could you…”
Yu-jin’s eyes were soon glistening with tears. He clenched his fists, but couldn’t bring himself to hit Winston, and repeatedly clenched and unclenched them. Instead, he protested fiercely in a tearful voice.
“How could you do this? Leaving me behind… you said you loved me, you said I was yours!”
Winston didn’t answer. As he turned away as if he didn’t need to hear more, Yu-jin turned pale and rushed to cling to him.
“W-wait a minute! Don’t go!”
Eventually, he knelt down. He grabbed Winston’s leg and shouted like crazy.
“Don’t go, Winston. You can marry Evelyn. I’ll endure it. Just let me stay by your side, I’m okay with that!”
Those words bothered Winston even more.
“You prefer being a mistress? What was with being jealous of Evelyn before?”
Yu-jin hesitated for a moment. He paused as if choosing what to say, and then he answered.
“I’m okay with being a mistress… I’m not jealous either, because Evelyn is a better match for you.”
“Ha.”
Winston just let out a dumbfounded sigh. As Winston tried to turn around, Yu-jin grabbed him again and clung to him.
“W-wait, Winston! I was wrong, I was wrong about everything, so please forgive me!”
“You’re the only one for me,” Yu-jin looked up at him, desperately begging. Looking down at his lover’s tear-stained face, Winston opened his mouth.
“What?”
Yu-jin blinked blankly at the unfamiliar, cold voice. Winston asked again, spitting out each word as if chewing on it.
“What did you do wrong?”
Yu-jin couldn’t answer. He might be wondering what answer he should give to please Winston. He already thought that no matter what he said, Winston wouldn’t be shocked or change his mind. But even in the midst of that, he couldn’t let go of one regret.
“…I.”
In a tense voice mixed with heavy breathing, Yu-jin opened his mouth. Ah, Winston twitched his eyebrows briefly at that moment. Please don’t say those words. Yu-jin finally confessed to Winston, who was staring at him intently.
“I’m pregnant.”
Ah…
Winston’s expression changed blankly.
How could you be like this.
“It’s your child.”
Yu-jin added in a trembling voice. Yu-jin, smiling in his father’s arms, vividly came back to life in Winston’s eyes. A bitter smile spread across his lips.
Will you trample on my love until the very end?
The face of his lover in his sight was no different from before. What had changed was Winston. The expression looking down at his past lover was only mixed with bitterness, regret, and resentment.
That day, Yu-jin disappeared from his sight. He thought that he would probably never appear in front of him again for the rest of his life. And about five years passed like that. In that way, he was planning to end his meaningless life with his heart dead. Winston’s prediction might have become a reality.
If it hadn’t been for Harold’s will.
* * *
“…Ugh.”
Yu-jin frowned, letting out a faint groan. When he slowly lifted his eyelids, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. After blinking a few times to focus, the image gradually became clearer.
Where is this…?
As he turned his head in doubt, he saw the medical equipment connected to his body and soon realized that this was a hospital. Along with that, his memories came back one by one, and belatedly, his spine tingled.
He belatedly remembered that he almost died. Fortunately, he was still alive, and the throbbing pain in his body clearly proved it. It was then that he discovered a man sitting in a chair, leaning against one wall and sleeping.
Winston.
At that moment, Yu-jin’s heart was pounding like crazy. What is he doing there? Is he guarding me in case I try to run away in this state? Angela must be okay, right? What about Charlotte…?
It was hard to even breathe with the thoughts that came to mind one after another. Yu-jin stopped thinking quickly, gasping for breath. Right now, it was important to check his condition.I felt around and touched a thick bandage on my chest. I seemed to have been stabbed several times, but it wasn’t fatal. Well, if it was Charlotte, who probably hasn’t held a knife much in her life, it’s only natural that she would fail.
But why would she do that to me…?
Just as I was thinking that, Winston groaned softly and furrowed his brow. Startled, Yu-jin watched him with great tension as he slowly opened his eyes. And finally, the two of them met each other’s gaze.