Side Story 4 (2)

“T-team leader?”

So-young stared at Taekyung with big, surprised eyes. He glanced down at her and smiled slightly.

“I’ve missed you.”

So-young’s lips were dry and chapped. The blood began to rush against her blood vessels, and the heart pumped roughly. She stuttered with a blushing face.

“No, I thought it was a dream……. How did you get here….”

“I said I’d come on the phone yesterday, but I guess you don’t remember, even though you urged me to come quickly.”

“Really?”

“I’m already here and you’re comfortably asking if this is a dream. Are you playing with me?”

Taekyung patted So-young on the cheek playfully. She stuttered, rubbing her red cheeks.

“Me? I guess I’m out of my mind. But that’s the way it is…… How did you come here?”

She was aware that she was talking nonsense with excitement in the heat. Tae-kyung bent her eyebrows toward So-young, who repeated the same thing in confusion.

“I don’t mean to make a big deal out of it, since I’ve never used it before.”

“What?”

“It’s my first time on a private plane. That doesn’t mean I can leave right away, but it took longer than I expected.”

“Team leader…”

“There is no way to get in touch with the Wi-Fi on board today, and I’m afraid I’m going to go crazy with all kinds of delusions about how you’re going through.”

“…….”

“As soon as I arrived, I got a text message saying I hate you, and I feel like 10 years of my life were taken away.”

Taekyung took a deep breath with his head buried on Soyoung’s neck. His voice echoed low in her ears.

“Why are you so thin again?”

So-young, who was clasped in a daze, felt her joy of belatedly rising. So she tried to laugh, but the funny thing was tears burst out instead of laughter.

“Ugh… ”

So-young twitched finely and grabbed Taekyung’s coat hem. Feeling the tremor of her small body, he wiped away her tears. So-young left her face to him quietly and cried silently.

“Ugh…Heuk.”

She couldn’t stop crying. She wanted to show Tae-kyung a smile, who flew a long distance without hesitation for So-young, but she couldn’t help her body’s out-of-control reaction.

She didn’t even know that there was no need to force herself to be strong or okay in front of Taekyung. He would love everything from So-young’s weakness to her strengths.

“I’m sorry for making you suffer alone.”

Taekyung rubbed the tip of her nose comfortably and put his lips on her wet lips. So-young shook her head.

“Heuk, no. Ugh, what you’re saying.… Don’t do it.”

Nevertheless, Taekyung could not erase her darkened expression. So-young could not fully read the complex emotions in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a lower voice than usual.

“While I was coming here, I kept thinking about which was the most important thing.”

“…….”

“I’m obsessed with the desire to be of some help to you in some way, to prove that you were right to choose me…… I wonder if I’ve made you overdo it, and if we should be apart.”

His delicate fingers wiped So-young’s wet cheeks. Taekyung continued, staring at her.

“I shouldn’t have let you suffer alone in the first place.”

“…….”

“Would you like to go back?”

So-young forgot to cry and looked at Tae-kyung. He raised the corners of his mouth to reassure her, but he couldn’t completely hide the remorse and regret he felt. As if he was the one who made her suffer this much. Soyoung clasped his hands and shook her head.

“No, it was entirely up to me to be here. Thanks to you, I stopped imagining things before…….”

“…….”

“It’s hard, but I feel a sense of accomplishment. So I’m usually really fine. It’s really okay.… I keep saying weak things only in front of you.”

“…….”

“You’re the only one who makes me weak. If so… Sure.”

So-young wondered if Taekyung could understand this contradictory feeling she felt.

Soyoung had an independent personality and could be alone. She had never felt the urge to lean on anyone in her life, nor the urge to be emotionally weak. Then Taekyung changed her.

In front of Taekyung, the vulnerability that So-young herself did not know was constantly revealed. She also learned how reassuring it is to have someone she can trust and rely on.

However, that gave her happiness she had never felt before. Therefore, So-young did not hate herself, who had become weak by loving Taekyung.

Then Tae-kyung smiled as if he understood So-young’s mind. His long fingers carefully overlapped her cheeks.

“Me too.”

“…….”

“That’s why I like you.”

No more words were needed. So-young smiled brightly with a tear stained face and hugged Taekyung’s neck tightly.