SMW 66

The mountain right next to my maternal family’s home was a persimmon orchard tended by the village head. Since the village head happened to slip in his yard and strain his back right during the harvest season, Choi Seol and I were hired by him. For the record, Choi Seol was assigned to the rice harvesting team.

“I should have just joined the harvesting team.”

“You?”

I could feel an infinite amount of distrust toward me in that one short phrase.

“I’m actually good at working.”

“You’re good at doing what you’re told. The problem is you have no actual skill.”

“That’s the same for Choi Seol.”

“My father said the flower boy knows how to handle farm machinery too.”

“What? How?”

“He’s a genius who understands ten things after being taught one.”

I was speechless. Still, I decided to push back.

“If you teach me one thing, I can do that one thing properly.”

“Then that’s enough. Take the pole and hurry up and pick the persimmons.”

Right. I was the sinner here, blinded by a daily wage of fifty thousand won. It seemed today was the day my neck and arms would fall off.

“Still, the pole you’re holding seems to be a newer model; it looks [stolen content]easier to pick [stolen content]persimmons with. Did you already have it at home?”

“When I went to pick persimmons for the Chuseok ancestral rites table, I struggled with a bamboo pole, so Choi Seol bought a new one online.”

“Oh, he’s got some sense.”

“He does, but the money came out of my pocket.”

I added that part in case I ended up only praising Choi Seol, but for some reason, Noona’s expression toward me grew even worse. Isn’t that the kind of look one only gives to someone they feel pity for?

“Anyway, you’re really working hard. You have to look after a grown man and worry about your own future.”

Come to think of it, we had discussed my school situation a while ago. I let out a small chuckle.

“What’s with that? As an adult, don’t you have any more realistic or heart-touching advice?”

“There’s only a four-year difference between stolen contentus at most. [stolen content]Ah, let’s try picking that one over there.”

I lifted the pole toward the persimmon on the tree that Noona pointed to and spoke.

“That’s the difference between when I was a baby and when you were running around. You can at least give me advice on how to run.”

“There’s no such thing. Everyone eventually runs when the time comes. In fact, if you listen to too many people, it can become harder to even take the first step. That’s why you just try it yourself—falling over alone, flailing on the ground, and all that.”

“But if I get advice, I can go faster.”

“Do you know which of the things you’ve tried were right and which were wrong?”

Of course I didn’t. As I was struck dumb, Noona added, as if to prove her point.

“You might learn tricks from other people’s advice. You might go faster for the first few steps. But in the end, the fact that you’re the one who has to do it doesn’t change. Besides, one way or another, you’re bound to regret it.”

“Then what do I do?”

“What do you mean ‘what do I do’? I’m telling you, you just have to figure it out yourself.”

“Still…”

I knew eventually that I had to decide everything on my own. But since I couldn’t figure it out no matter how much I racked my brain, wasn’t that why I was asking? To be honest, while I had received comfort from Choi Seol, I couldn’t ask him to worry about my school problems with me. He was already overwhelmed with his own situation, and I didn’t want to burden him further.

“Noona, you’re someone who has already gone through what I’m worrying about. As a senior, I just want to hear some experiences, or anything, really.”

Meanwhile, the pole caught the stem of the persimmon Noona had chosen. Just as I thought I had it and tried to twist, the persimmon fell to the ground first. I quickly dropped the pole and ran toward it. Noona shouted from behind.

“Han Yeo-reum, be careful over there. It’s steep.”

“I know.”

Since the field was made by carving into the mountain, there were steep and slippery spots here and there. As I unauthorized copyslowed down and walked under the persimmon tree, the fallen fruit came into view. The persimmon was quite large and plump, but [visit our site]the bottom was crushed and covered in dirt, making it useless.

“Ah! What a waste.”

“Do you know why people worry?”

While I was upset over the burst persimmon, Noona, who had approached from behind, suddenly threw out a Zen-like riddle. Naturally, I had no clue.

“Why do they worry?”

“To minimize their losses.”

I furrowed my brows.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Right. That’s why life is bound to be difficult. If you cling to whether you’re losing out or Read on Read BL Novelsnot, you visit our sitecan’t enjoy anything. So, if it’s really hard, try setting a standard. There must be something you visit our siteabsolutely don’t want to lose, or something you don’t want to regret.”

“That sounds kind of difficult.”

“It’s not difficult. It’s simple. You really want to eat a persimmon, but if you eat that one on the ground, you feel like you’ll get a stomachache. It’s just a matter of which one you choose.”

“Whether to suffer all day from a stomachache or to give up a delicious persimmon right now—that is the question.”

“Exactly. And you have to bear the loss that comes with your choice.”

There was nothing to think about. In that situation, I would give up the persimmon. There was no need to suffer when I could just find something else delicious to eat. To me, a persimmon didn’t hold that much value.

The problem was that when I applied this to my current worries, I still didn’t know. What was it that I didn’t want to lose right now, and what on earth was it that I didn’t want to regret?

“By the way, if you return to school, living with the flower boy will only be until this winter.”

“…What?”

“Once you go up to Seoul, it would be funny for the flower boy to be alone in a house without you.”

I hadn’t thought of that. It was only because I didn’t know when he would regain his memories that no deadline had been set.

A connection I thought had ended suddenly arrived one summer day. And it was a connection that would eventually leave again. In the first place, it wasn’t natural for Choi Seol to be included in a situation where I had to choose something in my life based on loss or regret.

I see. If I don’t return to school in my current state, Choi Seol might continue to stay here. Until his memories fully return.

Anyway, how much of his memory has returned? Recently, I hadn’t been able to ask about that part at all. No, was I even paying attention to it in the first place?

It was then.

“Huh? Han Yeo-reum. I think someone came to your house.”

Noona pointed toward my house, visible at the foot [Read on Read BL Novels]of the mountain. In front of the main [unauthorized copy]gate of the old house, which was clearly visible from here, I could see a car and a person standing.

“Even from here, it looks like a pretty expensive car. Could that be that arrogant senior you mentioned?”

“No way. It hasn’t been that long since he went back to Seoul.”

“Then who? Who else would come to your house in a car that expensive?”

No one. Is it really that senior? I placed the fallen persimmon back on the ground and stood up.

“Noona, I’ll be right back.”

“Let’s just call it a day. It looks like the harvesting team is almost finished too.”

“Is that really okay?”

“In exchange, tomorrow is double.”

“I’ll work triple. I have a conscience as a part-timer. I’ll be going now.”

I gave Noona a quick bow and hurried down the mountain. Since I’d been moving a lot lately, I was relatively less out of breath.

But what if it really is that senior? After a brief moment of worry, I clenched my fists. What do you mean ‘what if’? This time, I’m definitely going to throw a punch. And I’ll just kick him out of the house. I have to finish this quickly before Choi Seol arrives. Just as I made that resolve and turned the corner of my house’s wall…

“After asking the locals, they said you probably went to the mountain.”

“Both of you?”

I thought it was one person, but there were two.

“They didn’t seem to know that much. However, they said an outsider has been living here for a short while. They’re said to be friends with the homeowner, and that there was a car accident nearby. Apparently, they’ve been living together since then.”

“Quite a variety of things happening.”

It sounded like it was about Choi Seol and me; anyway, the local grandmothers and grandfathers had incredibly loose lips. Regardless, it wasn’t the senior’s voice. Even so, to speak in such a sarcastic tone when someone had been in an accident—it seemed the other party wasn’t a particularly welcome guest for us either.

“Who are you?”

At my not-so-kind tone, the two people who had their backs to me turned around. One of them was obscured by a man in a black suit, so his face wasn’t clearly visible.

“Are you the owner of this house by any chance?”

The man in the black suit approached me.

“I do live here. What is your business?”

“Pardon the intrusion. I am this person.”

The man handed me a business card. The [stolen content]first unauthorized copythings that caught my eye were a familiar logo and company name.

“Yuseon Holdings…”

“I am Chief Secretary Yoon Jin-seok. And this gentleman is…”

“I’ll introduce myself.”

Drawn by a low and smooth voice, I looked at the other man approaching. The man, wearing a high-end dark gray suit that fit his tall and sturdy frame perfectly, had a soft impression at first glance, but he was made of a completely different material than the senior. This man, who was as brilliant and elegant as a statue carved from the world’s most precious diamond, reminded me of Choi Seol for a moment. Because of that, I was very slightly attracted, and very slightly terrified.

“Let me ask one thing.”

As I stared blankly, the man abruptly asked a question, skipping the self-introduction he said he would do.

“Is Baek Seol-ha here?”

“…What?”

“Ah, I believe he is called by a different name here.”

A different name?

Come to think of it, the name Baek Seol-ha didn’t sound that unfamiliar. Where had I heard it? As I thought deeply, the man curved his eyes as if apologizing for the intrusion.

“Choi Seol, I believe.”

“Ah.”

As I let out a low exclamation, the man curved his eyes as if he had gotten the answer right.

“Mr. Han Yeo-reum.”

This time, my name, which I stolen contenthad never told him, was unauthorized copycalled by the man. Before I could ask how he [Read on Read BL Novels]knew, the man stepped closer to me.

“My apologies for the late greeting. I am this person.”

As the man flicked his finger, the man in the black suit handed over a second business card as if he had been waiting. As expected, it had the same logo and a company name so famous that even someone stuck in a rural corner like me knew it. However, the title written there was something that couldn’t possibly be familiar to me.

“I am Baek Han, Vice Chairman of Yuseon Holdings. I also serve as the CEO.”

“…”

“And I am Seol-i’s cousin.”

I looked up at the man blankly, as if I had been hit in the head.

“Cousin…”

“Mr. Han Yeo-reum.”

The man smiled, calling my name again. I had been thinking it for a while, but his smile was elegant yet somehow looked dangerous.

“Where is Seol-i now?”