You, who seemed like you couldn’t endure even a week, had already passed two weeks. So, at first, I thought I was seeing things.

“Hey, Sunwoo. How about I slap you to wake you up?”

“You used to be a non-violent person. I’m just tired.”

“Bullshit. Have I seen you for a day or two? Look at your dark circles.”

Just yesterday, a woman who turned her back while crossing the cloud bridge disappeared. At first, I thought she just resembled you.

“I couldn’t sleep. For about two weeks.”

“Go see a psychiatrist.”

“I feel more tired because of you. Just go away.”

While Sunwoo conversed with Heewon, he also scanned the spot where the woman had disappeared. Sunwoo’s gaze shifted to the entrance of the lobby on the first floor.

After a while, Eunjae, who had just exited the cloud bridge, stopped at the entrance of the first floor, as if wiping his chest, then slowly moved.

Sunwoo couldn’t take his eyes off that spot until he gradually became smaller and disappeared.

When I couldn’t see you and just let time pass, it was bearable. But seeing you again, the suppressed emotions bubbled up again.

Actually, I recognized you just by your departing figure, even without looking at you.

It was driving me crazy.

The heart that I thought had stopped started beating fervently again at the sight of your back, and as emptiness began to fill my vacant eyes, it seemed like I was really losing my mind.

After all the treatments, Sunwoo, who was alone in the professor’s office, smiled bitterly as he remembered yesterday’s events.

If I had received a good slap, I might have snapped out of it. Thinking like that.

Sunwoo was leaning near the window that he had deliberately shattered a few weeks ago. Looking at the clean window that had been replaced, Sunwoo chuckled softly and bowed in front of the window.

I’m not doing well.

I’m not happy, and I resent you a lot for leaving. I hate it. I’ve never had a moment when I didn’t think about you.

As soon as I wake up in the morning, I have to accept the fact that you’re not beside me. And when I go home, the once bright house is kept bright because I don’t like the darkness. The light is on 24 hours a day.

You’re not there across from me singing a tune while I eat, and on days when I come home early, there’s no you welcoming me with a smile. There’s no you to hold my hand when I have nightmares. So now, I’m really lonely and struggling.

How about you?

Are you the same?

I hope you are.

Whether I wish for it or not, you’ll be back soon anyway. But if you don’t come back with determination, I wonder what I should do then.

Even though I strongly deny it in my mind, my parched lips were anxiously telling me that whether I hope for it or not, it’s something I must face.

Sunwoo ran his thumb over his dry lips and checked the message that had just arrived from Wonjuseong.

“I’m heading to Jeonnam now.”
It was faster than expected, quicker than imagined.

But why is none of it making me happy?

Is it because you’re not here? Has it lost its meaning?

Sunwoo, while putting a lavender tea bag in a cup, successively checked the messages sent by Jeong Kisanim.

―The café part-time work hours seem to be from 1 PM to 4 PM on weekdays, after finishing academy classes. Sometimes, it seems like they work until 8 PM when there’s no studio work.

―Starting from last weekend, you also began working as a server at the 00 restaurant. It’s a full-time position from 9 AM to 8 PM.

Even though I sent you to the officetel telling you not to do such things.

“Stubbornness is damn annoying.”

After that, for about five minutes, he couldn’t take his eyes off the subsequent messages. They were messages filled with Jeong Kisanim’s concerns.

―Do you really not want to go?

Sunwoo didn’t hesitate for a moment and typed a message.

―Even if I ask, please don’t teach me.

I’m enduring the urge to run to you right now.

After sending the message, Sunwoo briefly put down his phone, then picked it up again.

Listening to the flowing radio, Sunwoo swallowed a sip of strongly brewed lavender tea. His body, unable to sleep for several days, felt heavy as if sinking into the bed.

[Due to the sudden downpour, I hope you weren’t too surprised. In the afternoon, the atmospheric instability will worsen, and scattered showers are expected to develop. Inland areas might experience showers with thunder and lightning, so be prepared in advance.]

While listening to the weather forecast, Sunwoo stared blankly out the window. The weather is so nice.

“Rain is coming…”

As soon as the words were spoken, a single raindrop was drawn frighteningly above the window. One by one, the etched lines that had been appearing covered the entire window in no time.

Did he bring an umbrella? He probably didn’t. It will rain again. If he catches a cold…

Sunwoo quickly put down the teacup and immediately called Jeong Kisanim.

“What is Eunjae’s home address?”

[You told me not to tell you even when you asked a little while ago…]