Moreover, the sporadic memories of Jun that kept surfacing made it hard to control my erratic emotions. No matter how much I tried to suppress them, they only bounced back with greater force.
I had vaguely explained the situation to Jeong-eun and Hyun-su. Hyun-su had started to say, “Ah, that’s why the director doesn’t believe in first love,” but then hesitated, catching my eye.
Jeong-eun, who had been quietly listening to me with arms crossed, said in a calm tone:
“Iharu. You don’t have to come with us. Just rest in a cafe nearby. And, I understand how you feel, but surely that guy also treasured you as his precious first love, as much as you did him. I’ve seen and heard it. So stop blaming yourself today. It was a mistake. Regrettable, but just a mistake.”
Jun, too, was my precious first love. Stop blaming myself today. Just a mistake. A regrettable mistake…
These words floated in my mind like word cards. I shook my head. It felt selfish to excuse my mistake with these words, to ignore the pain I unknowingly caused Jun.
No matter how much time had passed, scenes from nine years ago would resurface vividly with just a little dusting off. Moreover, Jun, as a film director, seemed to be healing himself by dealing with the dark side of first love through his work.
The pain of a first love being hurtful seemed like a fact I was trying to console myself with.
The weight of guilt pressing down on me briefly lightened before returning to its full force.
Suddenly, two long shadows stretched out in front of me. Lifting my head, I saw Jeong-eun and Hyun-su, looking somewhat exhausted, walking towards me. Hyun-su flopped down in front of me and said,
“Sister, are you avoiding the sea? Why are you sitting with your back to it? The view of the sea is included in the price of the coffee here, you know.”
“Kim Hyun-su. Are you really saying that now? I feel like disowning you. Ah, what’s the use of talking here? I should just keep quiet.”
“Sister, even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn’t know what to say, but ‘I should just keep quiet’ is a bit much, isn’t it? You’ve been talking about that the whole car ride here. It was pretty obvious that the story was about you.”
“Be quiet, Kim Hyun-su.”
“Okay.”
It seemed like Hyun-su had done something to be reprimanded again.
“Seo Jeong-eun, why are you so prickly like a hedgehog? What happened? Tell me.”
But Jeong-eun’s expression remained unyielding, just silently looking at me with eyes full of stories.
“Haru, about the house where you homestayed…”
“Oh, yeah. What happened? Did you meet the owner?”
It was only natural that I asked this first. After all, the purpose of this trip to Japan was to get filming permission from the current owner of the house where I had stayed nine years ago.
With the project approved and overseas filming budget secured, the pivotal location for the shoot was this homestay house. However, it had been difficult to contact the owner.
If I remember correctly, Jun’s parents had plans to sell the house nine years ago.
Jun’s sister was going to start working in the city the next year, and Jun was scheduled to study abroad in the U.S. So, they had only about a year left in the house, as they had mentioned with some regret.
Since then, how many times the house had changed owners and who the current owner was, was hard to determine from Korea.
From the information gathered from the Korean community in Kyushu, the current owner apparently uses the house like a vacation home, mostly during the good weather of spring to summer, roughly from June to July.
But Jeong-eun’s face darkened in response to my question about meeting the owner. Perhaps they failed to get filming permission from the owner.
“…Yeah, the owner. It seems they just arrived from Tokyo today.”
“Oh, that’s good timing then. But why do you look so gloomy? They said no to filming inside the house?”
The ensuing silence and the shadow cast over Jeong-eun’s face made it clear what had happened. The owner must have been more inflexible than expected.
As I tried to gather my thoughts under the weight of this new concern, Jeong-eun asked,
“Haru, do you remember? Before we came here, we did some research. You heard about it, right? The owner doesn’t always stay there; they use it more like a vacation home. Seems they only stay there between June and July each year.”
“Yeah, I remember. But why? The owner only comes then?”
“Well, that’s true but, about the owner…”
I don’t know why. Just moments ago, I was only worried about the potential cancellation of the shoot, the trouble everyone went through because of me. But, unknowingly, I found myself suddenly thinking of him.
Jeong-eun spoke as if trying to catch my gaze, which was about to cloud over with thoughts of that person. She mentioned the name of the person I was thinking about.
“The owner of the house was Kim Jun. Hyun-su and I just met him and came back.”
At that moment, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. The sound of the sea, the clinking of coffee cups, the occasional car passing by—all these background noises vanished in an instant.
Jun was there. In a place very close to here. Within reach, if only I decided to go. Right there, where we first met.
My heart started racing.
Faster, much faster, faster still… with an almost frightening speed.
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium
