The Puzzle He Claims Fits Perfectly
“Whew…… That ‘oppa’ thing drove me insane for six whole years too, so this works out perfectly. I'm going to say everything, nice and clear. What's this oppa business? When we first met, I called you sunbae because you bragged about being a Hankuk University student! No wait, I called you sunbae, and then you kept forcing me to call you oppa! Seriously, are you out of your mind, you pathetic old man?”
“Hey, you—what gives you the right to butt in between me and Ji-su, huh? You're a third party, so back off! I never liked you from the start anyway. Ugh, what kind of girl is this loud and this obnoxious? Out of all of Ji-su's friends, you're the one I hate the most.”
The childish, hopeless argument dragged on and on. Fitting for a neighborhood packed with studio apartments, the sound of windows sliding open drifted from all directions. Ji-su could feel curious ears straining toward the shouting match, and all she wanted was to put an end to this disaster as quickly as possible.
“Eun-mi, let's toss this and go inside. And you, just leave. I have nothing to say to you.”
“Ji-su…… How can you say that to me? You have to accept my apology. This bouquet cost two hundred thousand won. I bought it with my own money, not my mom's. Please. Let's make up. Okay?”
“Final warning. Show up like this one more time and I'm calling the police.”
At the word police, Young-baek shrank back, genuinely frightened—but he pulled himself together. He couldn't back down here. He had an inheritance to collect. Squeezing his eyes shut, he began to bellow at the top of his lungs.
“Im Ji-su! I can't break up with you! We dated for six whole years—we've seen each other at our best and our absolute worst! We know every last thing about each other! How could you throw away someone like that? I can't leave you either! We're practically one body! We're the kind of pair that just…… fits, you know? Like—yes! A puzzle! Two pieces of a perfect puzzle, ugh! Ow! Ahh!”
Kim Young-baek had been deliberately picking vague, suggestive wording, hoping to provoke the lewd imaginations of everyone listening—but his mouth snapped shut on its own. Ji-su could bear it no longer and swung the plastic bag holding the beer cans and the hangover soup containers straight into his face.
And once was not enough. Ji-su, consumed by spite, screamed right along with him.
“Get lost! Go! What did we ever—what exactly did we do! We knew each other inside out, my ass! What did you know! We're nothing to each other anymore! When were we ever anything special? Get out! I can't stand the sight of you!”
The commotion only died down after the cans and plastic containers clattered noisily across the pavement and the bouquet had been reduced to a mangled wreck. There stood Ji-su, huffing and seething, unable to contain her fury, in front of the pitiful sight that was Kim Young-baek. But he refused to give up.
“I understand you're angry. That's why I'm taking it all. There, venting's over now, right? This Chuseok, I promise I won't say a single word about how much I hate the countryside—I'll go pay my respects to your mother. Just listen to me, okay? Our Ji-su is a good girl, aren't you?”
Young-baek's hand, reaching out to offer Ji-su the ruined bouquet, was stopped short yet again.
This time, it was Jae-gyeom.
“Shit car. Don't come here anymore. Our Ji-su has a hard enough time just looking at something ugly.”
“Our Ji-su……? And—‘shit car’?! Who the hell are you?”
“The man who's going to marry Im Ji-su.”
“What? I—what?”
“I've already paid my respects to her mother, so stop trying to cozy up to your future mother-in-law's face. Clean up the beer cans and all this trash, and get lost.”
Jae-gyeom took Ji-su's hand and headed for the entrance of her building. Eun-mi, trailing behind them, flipped Kim Young-baek the middle finger, not even bothering to hold back the laughter that burst out of her—she was enjoying this far too much.
Should I even let him into my place? What state was it in again— There wasn't even time to wonder before all three of them were gathered in Ji-su's studio apartment. Standing awkwardly in the combined living room and kitchenette, Jae-gyeom greeted her first.
“Hello. I'm Yoon Jae-gyeom.”
“Oh! Right, hello. I'm Choi Eun-mi, Ji-su's best friend. But…… is your name really Yoon Jae-gyeom? By any chance…….”
Eun-mi's journalistic instincts kicked in, and she peered up over her horn-rimmed glasses as though conducting an interview. The two of them had woken from sleep, washed not a bit, and gone straight for the hangover soup—and they'd both forgotten they looked it. Worse, the shouting match with Kim Young-baek had left them flushed, and Ji-su in particular was still blinking back tears of sheer frustration. The raw, unfiltered state of the two women struck Jae-gyeom as新奇 and adorable, but he suppressed a laugh with effort and answered politely.
“So you do remember me. In high school, I was Kim Jae-gyeom.”
“Yes! That's it! There's no way I'd forget a face like that! Kim Jae-gyeom! The young master from Seoul!”
At Eun-mi's words, Ji-su went white as a sheet.
“What? What? It's not like I said anything I can't take back. There was that rumor back in the day that no matter who ordered you around, you wouldn't even answer—no! Ow, stop hitting me!”
“Say it nicely.”
“Im Ji-su. Do you seriously not remember? When he transferred in, the whole school was buzzing! A smoldering hot guy from Seoul showed up and everyone said he was insufferably rude! I dragged you over to go gawk at him, remember?”
While Jae-gyeom gave a strained smile at this scathing review of his past self, Ji-su sank deep into thought. Her school was buried deep in the rural sticks, but transfers happened now and then—some students came to exploit loopholes and tricks for college admissions, and others came because troubled kids needed somewhere to collect a diploma.
But if a face like that had transferred in, as Eun-mi claimed, there was no way she'd seen him and forgotten……. Still, nothing came back to her, and she shook her head. And then the hair roller pinned into her bangs dropped with a soft plop.
“Uh-oh.”
The moment she looked down at the hair roller lying next to her big toe, Ji-su's current state registered in her eyes all at once.
A saggy-necked cotton T-shirt. Gyechon High gym shorts. There might even be sleep crust on her face. Her bangs kept stabbing her in the eyes, which was why she'd rolled them up in the first place…….
She snatched up the hair roller and fled to the bathroom. Eun-mi, realizing at the same moment that she was rummaging around in borrowed training clothes with her hair twisted up in a rat-tail comb, scrambled after her. In the cramped little bathroom, the two women whispered furiously.
“What do I do. Meeting him looking like this. I'm so embarrassed, Eun-mi. It's over. I'm finished!”
“Ha…… okay, our situation is genuinely dire. But what is wrong with your forehead? It's been weird this whole time. Are you a unicorn or a dokkaebi? Something's growing out of it, isn't it?”
“I…… slammed my head into the table earlier. Kicking myself.”
“Honestly, I can't live with you. But hey—Kim Jae-gyeom's eyes were practically dripping honey looking at you. Apparently he loves even this barbaric version of Im Ji-su.”
“Love, my foot…….”
Ji-su stared at herself in the mirror and sighed.
The drinking session had left her face puffy and dull. Her hair was a disaster, her forehead glowed an angry red, and she still looked half-drunk.
Leaving Ji-su shuddering in embarrassment, Eun-mi slipped out first. Then she asked Jae-gyeom to step outside for a moment so Ji-su could change.
By the time Ji-su had washed up quickly and emerged, the apartment was empty. Eun-mi had vanished, leaving only messages behind.
She had no idea what exactly she was supposed to be fighting for, but Ji-su hurriedly changed into the only training outfit that was still presentable and opened the front door.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“Can I come in? With everything that happened earlier, I just walked in without thinking, but looking back on it now, that was really rude of me.”
Come to think of it, Ji-su hesitated too. Earlier, at least, Eun-mi had been there—but if Jae-gyeom came in now, the two of them would be alone…….
“Um, so—do you want to come in and watch a movie with me? Or a drama?”
Jae-gyeom stifled a laugh.
“Ji-su. If I…… come inside right now, the first thing I want to do is dry your hair for you.”
Only then did she realize she'd done nothing but roughly towel off her hair, and her shoulders were slowly soaking through. Gripped by a strange, sudden tension, she squeezed the towel in her hand.
“And once I'm done drying your hair…… I have a feeling I'll want to do something other than watch a movie or a drama.”
At the look in his eyes, Ji-su felt heat flood her face. Jae-gyeom quietly watched the flush deepen across her cheeks, and then finished what he had to say.