𝗦𝗨𝗡 & 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡 | ᴬᶰ ˢᵒᵒᴴᵒ 『English Version』

Chapter 33

"Let me go."

"With who? Your new friends?" Bumseok, standing at the edge of that ring she hated so much, stared at her with malicious eyes—so different from the ones she remembered. "So you can hurt them again?"

"I didn't hurt anyone!"

"Of course you did!"

Hyeori didn't reply. She just watched him step closer. His hands reached for her face with a terrifying gentleness, and she realized her own hands were trembling.

Seeing him this close again was terrifying.

"Do those people matter more to you than us now? More than Sieun? More than Sooho? More than me?"

She fell silent again. Her sun-colored eyes locked with his, trembling—not just from fear, but from helplessness, from confusion.

"Say it. I want to hear you say it."

A single tear rolled down from the boy's left eye. Hyeori felt her own welling up too, but she kept staring at him.

"Bumseok-ah... please, let me go... to my friends... to Sieun..." Her lips curled into a pout, barely holding back her sobs. "Let me go to Sooho..."

They stared at each other for a long time. Then Hyeori slowly raised her hand and gently grasped his wrist—not to push him away, just to hold it.

"I don't know your reasons... I probably never will," she whispered. "If you were hurting that much... I'm sorry. But there are still people who need me... and people I need too..."

She softly lowered his hand from her face. "I'm sorry we couldn't be a group of friends... like the ones I have now, Bumseok-ah..."

The boy just let her walk away, his eyes glossy and full of tears as he watched her cross to the other corner of the ring. Before stepping down, she turned around and gave him a small smile.

"Just go, Bumseok-ah..."

* * *

In the hospital room, Gotak sat next to Hyeori's bed. When he heard a noise, he immediately put down his phone and leaned over to check on her—she was starting to wake up. His body shot upright, and his hands moved instinctively, though he hesitated, unsure if touching her would hurt her.

"Sooho-yah..." she whispered.

Gotak rushed to her side as she tried to sit up.

"Yah, don't move. You'll hurt yourself."

"Sooho... I have to see Sooho..."

"Hyeori, please..."

She kept insisting as he pressed the call button beside the bed to alert the nurses.

"Gotak-ah... Sooho?"

He sighed and gently pushed her shoulders back so she wouldn't strain herself. As he looked into her eyes, he could see the unmistakable daze of someone just waking up. But with her, there was always more. This time, her gaze was filled entirely with uncertainty.

"Sooho... he's okay, Hyeori. Sooho's okay."

* * *

FIVE DAYS EARLIER

Sieun opened the hospital room door. The tall figure sitting up on the bed had long hair that brushed over his eyebrows. His face looked a little thinner, but what brought the most relief was the color returning to his cheeks.

He was back.

"It's been a while... Are you okay?"

Sieun felt his throat tighten. He nodded, eyes already glistening.