Crushing the Pillars on the Keyboard
Woo-hee had gathered the pills scattered across the piano keys and stacked them neatly. She also lined up the sheet music, then opened it again. She practiced the pieces she would perform tomorrow.
She had never truly enjoyed piano playing. It was something she had learned only under her mother’s insistence in her childhood.
“Practice is such a bother, our daughter.”
Suddenly, the image of her mother’s gentle laughter came back to her, flowing like the melody of a piano.
“Even so, it would be nice if you could play at least one instrument in your life. Even if it’s annoying now, when you get older, you’ll find that these things become comfort for the heart. When you’re troubled, playing the piano will empty your mind and calm your heart.”
Her mother had been right. The day when the piano would become comfort for the heart never came. No matter how she pressed the keys, her mind remained cluttered.
Yet because the skill she had learned then was now being used to seduce Woo Je-hyeok, it seemed she had done well to follow her mother’s words.
She had lunch with the restaurant staff, a late meal. Normally Woo-hee would skip lunch and head straight home, but today her stomach felt strangely empty. After eating, she moved to the female employee waiting room and changed into the clothes she had brought.
Back in the bathroom, after brushing her teeth, she gathered the business cards she had received all day and dropped them into the trash bin next to the toilet. Among them was Woo Je-hyeok’s card.
She had been about to throw away the pills he had given her too, but she felt they were a pity. She carefully saved them and handed them to the serving part-time worker as a gift.
She left the restaurant later than usual. As she stepped out of the building, the street was painted in a deep red sunset.
The wind was cool. In front of Woo-hee, who closed her cardigan, three lanes of asphalt road stretched out. Even though the sun blazed an angry red and dyed everything around it red, the paths lying before her were only darkness.
Where should I go? A moment of disorientation swept over her. The number of Woo Je-hyeok floated in her mind.
She slowly closed and opened her eyes, sorting out her confused thoughts.
In the end, he had come. As expected, he was the kind of trash who didn’t keep his promises with Jang Ha-rin.
Since he had come to find her himself, she could call him now and spend the night with him. She would lose none of the billions tied up in this project, and she would avoid Myeong Won-chul’s anger.
She still didn’t know whether she should be happy about this or sad. The confusion wasn’t unfamiliar, even if it was confusing.
Perhaps Woo Je-hyeok was toying with her once again. But even knowing it was a false hook, Woo-hee had no choice but to act. Eventually she picked up her phone, pressed the record button, and called him.
He answered after a long time.
“Yes, this is Woo Je-hyeok.”
Even though he was trash, his phone manners were perfect.
“It’s Shin Woo-yeon.”
“Ah.”
A sound like sipping water as he hummed came through the line.
“You didn’t throw it away, the card.”
“I just got off work.”
“Really?”
His answer was utterly indifferent, as if it were a complete stranger’s matter. She sensed none of the fervor he had shown when he appeared at the restaurant, crumpled his lawyer’s card, and kissed her. Woo-hee momentarily wondered if Woo Je-hyeok was changing his mind again.
There was a chance he would send her away now that his heart had cooled, but that would be troublesome. It seemed she had been needlessly shrinking herself in front of an indifferent man.
Still, Woo-hee boldly asked him for a place, and fortunately he gave her an answer.
“How long will it take?”
“About thirty minutes.”
She gave a rough answer because she didn’t know the distance from her current location to the S Hotel.
“It’ll take a while.”
Only thirty minutes, and she swallowed the words she wanted to say.
“Should I send someone?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Taking a car would be easier.”
“I can catch a taxi. I can go alone.”
“Who wouldn’t know you can go alone.”
“Then why—”
“Do you think someone will follow?”
The sound of a lighter clicking came, as if he was smoking.
“Because you’re so goddamn pretty.”
His pronunciation was also unclear because he was holding the cigarette.
“Then it looks like someone will get pissed off again?”
The voice asking the question was dry.
“…I’ll go by myself.”
“Not fun at all.”
Whether he was laughing or exhaling smoke, the breathing sound was ambiguous. For some reason, her ears itched. Even though Je-hyeok’s breath wasn’t actually touching her ear, she reached to touch it anyway.
“…But.”
“Yes, but.”
“You weren’t supposed to say you would get engaged soon, were you?”
A short, meaningless laugh came from him, who was smoking. This too was a test. Really, it was the very last chance to take her foot off him.
“So what? Does it bother you?”
Perhaps this was a test not for Woo Je-hyeok, but for Woo-hee herself. That meant this was the last line she could draw for her conscience.
But the person talking about conscience now was absurd, but somehow she felt that was how it should be.
“If you’re going to get engaged, there must still be love between you and me. I was wondering if it would be okay for me today.”
“Toying around is toying around.”
After a moment of silence, he said it sounded tired.
“If it bothers you that much, break off the engagement.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“When?”
“Later.”
“When later?”
“Just later.”
“…Lie.”
“You already know what I’m asking.”
This time the laugh that came was a dry chuckle.
“You said you like me. You dream about me and think about me all the time. You followed me around knowing all that.”
Woo-hee heard those words of Je-hyeok’s as, “So I have to keep acting like that.”
Keep acting like I like him. Know that it’s acting, yet pretend to fall for it. What nonsense is this about conscience now. In the end, you and I are the same kind of trash.
“It’s only for one night anyway. If you’re going to keep being tiresome, let’s end it here.”
“…”
“Shall I end it?”
This was probably the very last point where she could turn back all of this. Woo-hee recalled the question Eun-ju had once asked her.
“Are you okay? You’re the sister’s ex-fiancé who slept with trash.”
To that question, what had Woo-hee answered?
“Break it off, or else.”
“It’s already a life that’s known as trash.”
Yes. That was how she had answered. Resolve settled again in her heart.
“No, I’m going.”
“…”
“I’m going. Now.”
But there was no answer from Woo Je-hyeok. Wasn’t it that the man’s shallow patience had run out?
“I’ll be there soon. Please wait.”
Without realizing it, a desperate voice slipped out. If words could change the heart, at that moment she truly wanted him desperately. As if she really loved him.
On the other side of the phone, Woo Je-hyeok seemed satisfied as he chewed the cigarette. To him, all of this was just light amusement.
Soon the call ended. Woo-hee checked the voice recording file saved in her phone. It was material that would one day become evidence for this dirty scandal.
***
Since it was quitting time, the car was stuck in traffic. Time had already passed beyond the thirty minutes she had told the man.
She had been trapped on the clogged road for a while. The radio in the taxi was playing an old song: “Men are the sea, women are the harbor.” The tone was too melancholy to dispel the sinking feeling. The taxi driver sang along with the sad song.
The driver’s yawn, which hummed the folksy lyrics, made Woo-hee tired too.
It was the season when days grew shorter. Looking at the rapidly darkening road, Woo-hee wondered if she should jump out like this.
Because the car was too jammed. In the end, the man’s patience had run out. Before Woo Je-hyeok changed his mind again and trampled her pride once more. It seemed better to be the one to strike first, like before.
While she was pondering, she received a text.
[Late.]
[Very late.]
[Are you crawling?]
Texts arrived one after another with a few seconds between each.
The image of Woo Je-hyeok’s slanted face floated up. His lips chewed tobacco badly, and his eyes that swallowed her lips and left flashed in her mind.
Woo Je-hyeok’s dry face and smiling expression. Impolite words and gentle ones. Eyes that were bothersome and eyes that were interesting. A man of nothing but contradictions. The man who gnawed at her mind the more he entangled himself.
Woo-hee chewed over the man’s actions and adjusted her inner scale.
Since she had come this far, she had to be sure. She could not have any more hesitation or mistakes in this matter.
[I’m taking a taxi, the traffic is really bad.]
She sent the message, but he didn’t reply. Whether out of patience or interest in her, he was that shallow a man.
The taxi driver’s song started again. Woo-hee quietly hummed the melody too. Her heavy head felt a little better for a moment.