Chapter 176
As Yeoreum was taking a break to hydrate while immersed in her dance practice in the training room, Oh Yoori approached and asked.
“Older Sister Yeoreum, are you okay?”
“….”
“Older Sister Yeoreum?”
“….”
“Older Sister Yeoreum!”
“Ah, Yoori, what’s up?”
Oh Yoori, looking worried as she gazed at her, asked.
“You seem like you’re struggling with something these days. Is there something on your mind?”
“…Struggling.”
There was indeed a struggle. A struggle that she had never experienced with such desperation in her entire life.
Not even when the doping scandal erupted or when her national team qualifications were revoked did she think this hard.
At that time, she quickly assessed what she could do and found clear answers.
But now, she was lost. No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t find a suitable answer.
“Is something difficult happening?”
“….”
The root of all her conflicts and struggles began the moment she saw Gaeul and Taeyang together on the rooftop.
“We’re dating, you know.”
There was a precious feeling she had been nurturing.
It had grown so strong that it filled her heart to the brim with an intense impulse.
The man who erased her trauma, the man who granted her wish of just wanting to gaze at him, the man who became the place to lean on that she had always searched for.
All those feelings of love and affection.
She crumbled at Gaeul’s one word on the rooftop.
Yeoreum felt so frustrated that she wanted to express her feelings about her heart and the current situation.
But facing Oh Yoori’s worried gaze, Yeoreum eventually gave up on that thought.
She knew all too well what Yoori could possibly say to her.
It would probably be about giving up. And Yeoreum, more than anyone, knew rationally that it was the best answer.
“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal. I won’t show any strange sides as a Girl Revolution member.”
“Even if it’s not a big deal, if you say it…”
“It’s fine.”
“….”
“I’m okay.”
But Yeoreum didn’t want to hear that answer from someone else.
*
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“What do you mean? I didn’t do much. With the mandatory training time complete, considering Yeoreum’s skills, you’ll get your license in no time. See you later in the Sky.”
“Yes, thank you. I hope so too.”
Yeoreum greeted the instructor of the flight training facility as she finished.
She greeted him.
“Oh, but is it possible to take a picture? My daughter is a fan of Ms. Yeoreum.”
“…Of course.”
So, as Yeoreum left the instructor, Seok Hyun-woo welcomed her.
“Miss, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, thank you for your concern. As you can see, I’m fine. In fact, if an accident happened, I wouldn’t just get hurt; I’d be dead!”
“…Please refrain from such statements. Honestly, just imagining it is hard enough.”
Seeing Seok Hyun-woo’s reaction, Yeoreum panicked and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I spoke thoughtlessly.”
“Haha, it’s fine. I was the one being overly sensitive.”
Reading the emotions hidden in Seok Hyun-woo’s playful banter, Jin Yeoreum blurted out a thought that popped into her head.
“…If I were to die, would Team Leader Seon have a hard time?”
“…”
“Ah, that is… so what I mean is…”
Noticing the tremble in Jin Yeoreum’s eyes, Seok Hyun-woo changed the subject.
“By the way, how did you learn to fly a light aircraft so quickly? Your agency seems to support it as a unique talent, so it’s not that I oppose it now, but I’m just genuinely curious. It’s amazing. The instructor said he had nothing to teach you and was astonished!”
“Well, that’s…”
Yeoreum only answered that question in her mind.
‘Well, it was the only hobby I enjoyed in the last round.’
For the previous Jin Yeoreum, dancing had become a traumatic experience and couldn’t be seen as a hobby.
So, she opted for flying light aircraft instead.
It was surprisingly a decent hobby back in America.
However, no matter how much Seok Hyun-woo tried to mention the previous round, it was tough, so she simply said:
“Maybe I longed to fly in the sky without any restrictions.”
While saying this, Yeoreum reflected on the deeper reasons for choosing to fly.
“Or, I might have had a strong desire to soar into the sky to reach someone.”
Both Yeoreum and Seok Hyun-woo could easily guess who that someone was.
Unable to bear looking at her, Seok Hyun-woo inadvertently broached the topic he wanted to avoid.
“Uh, Miss, are you aware? Team Leader Seon and Gaeul…”
“Are dating, right?”
“…”
“I know… I really do know.”
Tears flowed from Yeoreum’s eyes.
Recently, she found herself crying uncontrollably at times, just imagining the situation.
Until now, she had hidden her tears, but it was becoming too much to bear.
“Still, I can’t give up. I know, I really do. I realize my feelings are only a burden to Team Leader Seon now, that I’m merely an obstruction between the two of you, and I understand that painfully well, but I just can’t. How can I do that?”
“…Ms. Yeoreum.”
Once the tears started flowing, they showed no signs of stopping.
“Will I meet a good person in the future? That love is just a fleeting feeling? That I might be misinterpreting things because I’m young? …I’ve read plenty of that old-fashioned advice, but it doesn’t help at all.”
“….”
Seok Hyun-woo could only remain silent in front of Jin Yeoreum, whose unfiltered thoughts were spilling out.
“That’s just nonsense, right? To think that these feelings for someone like Team Leader Seon could be felt again by someone else, or multiple times in my life?”
“It’s possible. Life is long, and after all, Ms. Yeoreum is still young.”
“Then I’d rather die. …I’d choose to drown, sinking into this feeling.”
“….”
Yeoreum’s eyes, overflowing with tears, sparkled with a dangerous light.
“…You’re right. If I were to die, wouldn’t it be better to die in a plane crash like just now, or at least find myself in a position where I’m likely to die in some major accident? Wouldn’t Team Leader Seon perhaps look back at me then…?”
But that fierce gaze soon crumbled, and her usual shine returned.
“I have such wicked thoughts sometimes.”
“Ms. Yeoreum….”
Yeoreum pondered.
What could she do to hold onto him or find a way to be by his side?
There were no answers; he had already made his choice.
It could be seen as just dating, or she could believe it was a relationship that would shatter soon, and wait for the inevitable.
If it were possible, she thought she could wait ten years.
But that wasn’t going to happen. The fact that Taeyang, who was like a personification of responsibility, chose to date despite the risks to the company and his colleagues meant that their relationship was not something so easily broken.
She also considered ways to create discord between them.
To sow seeds of distrust and break their bond.
As a third-generation chaebol that Jinkang represented, it wasn’t an impossible task if she utilized her resources.
As the third-generation chaebol, she had options on the table that were far from impossible.
But soon enough, her rational side put the brakes on.
With her clear-headedness, she realized that Seon Taeyang would be hurt in the process.
Jin Yeoreum didn’t want to wound him.
So the only thought that crossed her mind was to induce sympathy and beg for his attention and love.
That was all.
However, even that was blocked by her rationality.
She understood that this way, it would be difficult to receive the love of Seon Taeyang that Jin Yeoreum desired.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what to do. …But one thing is certain; I can’t give up.”
Saying this, Yeoreum sat down and cried. She sobbed so hard she couldn’t even wipe her tears away.
Seok Hyun-woo, unable to bear the sight of her precarious state, tightly shut his eyes and pondered before speaking.
“Actually, the relationship between Gaeul and Team Leader Seon is not normal.”
Drowning in self-loathing, guilt, impulses, and regrets, Yeoreum opened her eyes at Hyun-woo’s words and desperately asked.
“…Not normal? What does that mean?”
Having struggled with whether to reveal the truth up until this point, Seok Hyun-woo found determination in Yeoreum’s pleading gaze and finished his thought.
“Well, there was blackmail involved.”
“Blackmail?”
“Yes, blackmail. Even a confession filled with love, if made from over the edge of a cliff, should rightly be called blackmail. Team Leader Seon probably had no choice in the matter.”
“…”
Silence filled the air.
Heavy, cold, and eerie.
Eventually, Yeoreum broke that silence.
“Tell me more about that.”
*
‘…Older Sister Gaeul. That’s not right. It shouldn’t be like that.’
Having heard everything from Hyun-woo, Yeoreum clutched her trembling body and kept thinking.
Love, reason, impulses, friendship, trust, relationships, lust, revenge, betrayal, dreams, business, family, image, marriage, contracts, fans, idols.
And Seon Taeyang.
Finally, the thought that arose from within her spilled out of her lips.
“Well, I can do that too.”
Her eyes sparkled dangerously brighter than ever.
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