Remember 1999

Chapter 29 - Flashback

Tilting her head in the direction of the departure entrance, she told him to go now with a softer voice than usual. She waved at him goodbye which he did not return, instead, he sighed deeply, and with shrugged shoulders, he walked towards the gate.

"He badly doesn't want to go," Ye Jin whispered softly. 

Her eyes started to fill up with tears.

She turned around and walked swiftly to leave. She did not let a tear slip out of her eyes inside the airport. But when she reached the exit and got out, tears started to fall down like a waterfall from her cheeks. She sobbed hard and sniffled while walking on the street. Wiping her tears using the cuff of her sleeves and her wrists.

She was letting her pent-up emotions out. She had been so strong in front of him but deep inside she was in pain thinking that they will separate again. Her worries and hesitations came back to her like a vision that could not be erased. 

She clasped at her finger and felt the cold engagement ring that was supposed to warm her heart. Even it couldn't appease her mind and heart. Her steps became quicker and agitated, same as her tears. Walking without stopping, she did not notice that she had reached the pedestrian lane. The light was still green.

A screeching sound of a tire pierced through her ears. Glancing at her left, harsh lights blinded her. Making her throw her hands up in front of her face.

It was so fast. As she closed her eyes in the submission of the impending danger, a memory came flashing back to her mind.

Memories of the same harsh lights that blinded her that day...

* * *

Son Ye Jin picked up her lying phone on her bedside table and looked at the message she had just received. It was from Tae Pyung. 

It was three days ago since the day she asked him to disappear from her life. He yielded that day to her. More because he thought about her health more than his feelings. But on the following days, he kept on calling and even went to her house. She did not face him at all. She didn't have the courage to do so.

Staring at his name on her phone, she contemplated reading the message. Letting out a deep sigh, she finally gave in and read it. Her eyes widened and her breathing took a standstill. The message said that he was going back to Seoul today at 7 PM. 

"...Ye Jin. Please. Let me see you once before I leave. Please."

She lingered on his words but she could only stare at her phone melancholy. No. She couldn't. It was better if they would not see each other again, she resolved. It would not change anything. It would only hurt them more.

Her door opened slightly and she saw her ahjumma peeked inside.

"Ye Jin-ssi, you have a visitor."

"Hmmm? Is he-"

"No. He's not."

A sigh came out from her in response. It should sound like a relief, yes, but somehow deep inside, it came out as disappointment that it wasn't him. Ye Jin rose from her bed and went to look over the visitor. She stopped and her brows furrowed when she saw her visitor.

* * *

"I'm leaving the country this week."

Ye Jin glanced at Myung Soo instantly when he said that. She knew that her mother was in the States but it never occurred to her that he would go there too. She knew he had decided to live with his father so it was so unexpected. She shifted in the swing she was sitting to look at his face.

"I've decided to go try live with Mom. She kept on pestering me how much she misses me and tells some cringe stuffs," he said, letting out a short chuckle.