The Cutting Edge

029

"Hyunwon, won't you say something?" Kara pleaded, his icy demeanour making her more and more nervous by the second. She clutched onto the coffee cup in her hands, waiting for him to respond.

Across the table, Hyunwon was sitting with his arms folded across his chest, his mind a jumbled mess after listening to everything that Kara had to say. "What do you want me to say?" he said coldly. "Have you forgotten what you said to me before? You said that your career was more important than anything else, that's why you left for America without even telling me a single thing. You left, Seorin. Did you even spare a thought for me then?"

"I already said that I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice. My manager was rushing me to make a decision and I knew that you would say no because—" Kara couldn't bring herself to continue, because she knew that she was in the wrong no matter what she said. But Hyunwon had forgiven her when she had made mistakes before, he always did. "Won, I'm back now, aren't I? Can't we just forget everything that happened and move on?"

If it had been any other instance, perhaps he might have done just that—forgiven her and moved on. He couldn't even remember how many times he had already done that before. But this time it was not the same as all those other times. This time she had left him behind even though she knew that he was going to propose to her, that he wanted to ask her to marry him. He could still remember how the rain felt against his skin as he stood out there in front of the church, and she never showed up. That was when he finally realised exactly how much, or how little, he meant to her.

"No," he said resolutely. "No we can't." He turned away and looked out of the cafe window instead. "Seorin, I've already told you that it's over between us from the moment you boarded that plane. You made your choice, and I had to make mine too."

"It's not over, how could it ever be over?" Kara exclaimed, reaching over to grab hold of his hand. "Hyunwon, I know you're upset because I left like that, and I admit that it was all my fault. I promise you that I won't ever do something like that again. I'll stay by your side, isn't that what you always wanted? We could get married and get a house together—didn't you want to buy a house in the countryside with a vineyard? We can do all that!"

"So you're willing to give up your acting career now?"

Kara fell silent, biting her lower lip anxiously as she tried to think of an answer.

Extracting his hand from hers, Hyunwon said, "You're not, are you? So what's the point of telling me all this now? Do you know how much of a fool I feel every time I think about how I let you bury our relationship just so that you wouldn't have a blemish on your record? But when I think about it some more, it's partly my fault. I helped you become this way, so let's just call it even. I think it's best if we don't see each other anymore. I'll speak to Ryu about terminating the contract. There's still half a year left on it but I'll pay for all the damages."

Tears brimming in her eyes, Kara said, "You don't actually mean it. You told me before that you would never ever make me cry, so don't go back on your word, Kang Hyunwon. I already apologised! I said that I'm sorry, why are you still being like this? If you're unhappy because I wanted to keep our relationship under wraps, then let's not do that anymore. Let's just tell everyone that we're dating, it's alright with me!"

Hyunwon sighed, running his fingers through his hair in exasperation. If she had said this to him a few months ago, he would probably have been over the moon; now, he just didn't feel anything except irritation. In fact, seeing Seorin again after all this time didn't even make his heart skip a beat anymore—perhaps his heart had died back when she left him at the steps of the church.

The incessant vibrations of his phone in his pocket provided a temporary distraction from the awkward situation at hand. Digging it out, he realised that the salon's chat group had exploded with dozens of texts and photographs from the dinner that everyone else was at now.