When the Clock Strikes|Pi Han Ul x Reader|

(S02) Chapter 38

We sat in silence for a while.

The rain hadn’t stopped.

“I just… I don’t get it,” I finally said. “She loved me. I know she did. She looked at me like I was everything. People don’t fake that. Not every single day.”

Minhwan rubbed his temple. “I know. I saw it too.”

“She kissed me like she meant it. She held my hand like she needed it. What could’ve changed in a few hours? What’s happening to her that she won’t tell me?”

Minhwan was quiet.

Then he asked, gently, “Do you think she’s trying to protect you?”

I froze.

The words hit me somewhere deep.

“You said she looked like she was in pain, Han Wool,” Minhwan continued. “Like she was holding something in. Maybe this isn’t about you at all.”

I swallowed.

But what could be worse than losing you?

“She should’ve told me,” I whispered. “Whatever it is, I would’ve stayed. I would’ve helped.”

“I know.”

“I wouldn’t have walked away.”

“I know, bro.”

Minhwan reached over, finally pressing the hoodie into my lap.

I didn’t put it on. I just stared out at the rain again.

And said the only thing I truly knew for sure:

“She’s lying.”
________________________

I didn’t remember how I got back.

The door of the guesthouse creaked open with a gust of wind, and I stepped inside, soaked to the bone. Rain still clung to my skin, my clothes sticking to me like regret. The air was warmer inside, but I couldn’t feel any of it. The world had narrowed down to a single echo:

Let’s break up.

I didn’t take off my shoes. Didn’t move. Just stood there like a shadow of myself.

She held my hand yesterday. Kissed my forehead like I was home.

She loved me.

She loved me.

So why—

Why did she let go like that?

I wanted to believe it was a dream. A glitch. Something surreal I’d blink away when the rain stopped.

I finally stepped farther inside, my soaked shoes squelching against the floorboards. The guesthouse was quiet—too quiet. Like the kind of silence that made your chest feel hollow.

Minhwan glanced up from the couch, where he’d left a blanket folded and a hot water bottle next to it. He looked relieved to see me, then worried the second he got a better look.

“Jesus, bro,” he said, standing. “You’re still soaked. You need to get out of those clothes and lie down. You’ll get sick.”

I didn’t respond. Just walked over and dropped onto the couch beside him. The cushions sighed beneath me, like even they could feel the weight in my body. I leaned forward, elbows on knees, hands limp between them. Water dripped from my sleeves and hair. I didn’t care.

Minhwan knelt to pull my wet shoes off.

I stared at the floor, eyes unfocused.

“You should go to sleep,” Minhwan said, a little more softly this time. “You’ll feel worse if you don’t.”