She wished it had been him. But then again, there was no reason for him to call her.

No, that’s not it. If I’m that necessary to him, he could at least try to reach out once.

Eun Jae gazed blankly at Taegyu’s phone number, which had been displayed for a long time, recalling the man.

Now she didn’t know. She wondered why that man kept roaming around in her head.

“You’re quite persistent, Yoon Tae Gyu.”
He had called three times the day before, but she had intentionally not answered. There was no reason to.

The long vibration stopped, and shortly after, a text message arrived with a short vibrating sound.

I picked up something in front of the elevator.

It was an object she had been trying to forget just a few days ago. Upon hearing Tae Gyu’s words that he had that object, Eun Jae didn’t hesitate and immediately called Tae Gyu.

After not many rings, Tae Gyu’s voice came through.

[Hey, Ji Eun Jae. You’re really showing your true colors.] “Yoon Tae Gyu, do you have that keychain? The one with the bear on it?”
[……Huh? Yeah.] As Tae Gyu’s response came, Eun Jae, who had sat up in bed, quickly brushed up her bangs in front of the mirror. Then, she pressed down the cap in front of her.

“Where are you? I’m going there now.”

Why did it have to be here again?

The place where Eun Jae arrived was in front of the man’s apartment. She waited for Tae Gyu while standing a bit off to the side, for fear of being spotted by the loan sharks.

Not long after her arrival, a black sedan smoothly stopped in front of Eun Jae. The passenger window slid down, and through the car window, Tae Gyu’s face appeared.

“Get in.”
“No, the keychain first―”
“Just get in.”
Eun Jae let out a long sigh and opened the passenger door. As soon as Eun Jae got in the passenger seat, Tae Gyu’s hand stretched out in front of her eyes.

He seemed to be trying to fasten her seatbelt.

Eun Jae lightly blocked Tae Gyu’s hand, pulled the seatbelt herself, and asked.

“Where are we going?”
Tae Gyu, leaning back, smiled bitterly.

“I’m hungry, let’s eat first. I haven’t eaten a single meal all day.”
“Yoon Tae Gyu.”

“That’s not too bad, you even found the item for me.”
She didn’t avoid Tae Gyu’s gaze, which was intently waiting for her answer. She pulled the belt she was holding taut.

With a click, as the belt locked, Tae Gyu grinned and stepped on the accelerator.

The place they arrived at was the W Hotel lounge.

From the moment they entered the familiar parking lot, Eun Jae was amused.

She had visited a place where it was usually difficult to come even once, twice in this week alone.

Eun Jae sat in the lounge and looked at the scenery, which was quite different from that day. It was the view of the sunset, just before the sun went down.

Maybe it was because it was night.

The night view was really beautiful that day.

Suddenly remembering the man’s image, Eun Jae frowned.

“Ms. Ji Eun Jae. Let’s eat first, you can look around later, it’s not as good when the food gets cold.”

How amusing it must have been, me gazing outside with such delicious food in front of me.

“Why are you laughing?”
“No, it’s nothing. Hurry up, give me my keychain.”
When Eun Jae narrowed her eyes and held out her hand, Tae Gyu frowned as if it was so urgent.

“I’ll give it to you when you finish eating.”
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Give it to me now.”
As if he was annoyed by Eun Jae’s behavior, Tae Gyu clucked his tongue and reached into his pants pocket. The keychain hanging from Tae Gyu’s index finger dangled in front of Eun Jae’s eyes.

It wasn’t Eun Jae’s.

It was my mistake for rushing out without checking first.

Eun Jae took a deep breath and looked at Tae Gyu.

“Why. Isn’t it yours?”
I don’t know. She was sure she had no regrets about losing it and planned to throw it away without hesitation, but why had she rushed out without thinking twice as soon as she heard that he had found it?

“Did you really find it in front of the elevator?”

It looked like new to anyone, like a hastily purchased item upon hearing that I had lost mine. Because if it was you, you would have done that.

“Yes. Why?”
“No reason.”
Tae Gyu handed that keychain to Eun Jae, who was looking down.

“Don’t regret losing something. If it’s truly yours, it will return to you even if you don’t try to find it.”
Tae Gyu, who had been staring at Eun Jae’s unchanged expression, changed the subject.

“What did it look like? Should we look for it again?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Didn’t you drop it around there? Then it should be somewhere around there. I’ll go and—”
Eun Jae’s eyes widened as she quietly listened to Tae Gyu’s words.

“That’s right! It could be there.”
“What could be?”
Eun Jae, who suddenly slammed the table and stood up, gathering her bag. Tae Gyu looked at her as if she was absurd, rushing to stand up.

“Hey! Where are you going?”
“Thank you, Yoon Tae Gyu.”
With a small grin, Eun Jae quickly turned around and started walking.

Right. It might be at that person’s house.

Two thoughts rapidly crossed Eun Jae’s mind.

The thought that she could find the keychain again.