Gender Reversed Geum Taeyang - Chapter 72

Chapter 72 – Notification of Farewell

Lee Junhyuk isn’t usually such a strange person.

Born into a good family, meeting good people, and receiving good education while growing up, his characteristic insensitivity hasn’t improved with age, but he’s never received negative feedback from those around him.

Everyone knew that Junhyuk had a good personality, and with that level of awareness, he never caused trouble for others.

For such a Junhyuk to act selfishly towards Ari was quite a special case.

While Ari was the most important person to him, he somehow felt that Ari didn’t prioritize him.

His feelings for Ari, his desire to make her look at him, manifested in a strange way.

Actually, whatever Junhyuk’s feelings are, they don’t matter much.

Unless properly expressed, no one can know those feelings, and no one particularly wants to know them either.

Even though Ari is quite perceptive, she can’t read Junhyuk’s mind.

She can’t know what psychology led to such behavior, and it just makes her annoyed.

Therefore.

Junhyuk’s current behavior of maintaining silence without a single phone call.

To Ari, it was impossible to feel any attachment to such behavior.

Of course, whether attachment grows now or not doesn’t change anything for Ari, who’s lying in bed smiling while looking at her phone’s wallpaper.

Though things have reached an irreversible point, Junhyuk, unaware of this fact, only held strange hopes in his heart.

###

Has it been about a month since fighting with Ari?

As time passes, even memories start to become hazy.

For a while, I consoled myself by watching Ari’s NewTube, but that didn’t last long either.

Why is she being so prideful about this?

Maybe because it’s my first time having an argument with someone, but this whole situation really doesn’t sit well with me.

Honestly, it’s becoming hard to endure alone now.

Is it right for people who like each other to be like this just because of pride?

If Ari had suggested making up earlier, we could have gone on a nice date.

Should I humble myself first? But what if something like this happens again?

Won’t she just be unnecessarily prideful again then?

I really liked her, loved her. But I guess it’s inevitable to lose feelings when things go this far.

Still, I suppose even the most compatible couples go through times like this.

I think couples become stronger after going through such trials.

Yeah. Sometimes the man can yield.

Today. If there’s no contact today…

Tomorrow, it might not be bad if I reach out first.

-♩♫♪

What’s this? Looking at the suddenly ringing phone, the screen shows ‘Ari♥’.

A call from Ari.

My heart is pounding. It tickles.

Yes. Ari must have been struggling like me too.

Though she seemed to have held out because of pride, she felt the same as me.

A happy smile forms on my lips.

And I answer the phone with a cheerful voice.

###

Looking back, I probably wasn’t that great of a partner.

While I’m not denying Junhyuk’s selfish behavior… I definitely only thought about my own life even after becoming a couple.

He might have felt hurt. No, he must have felt hurt.

Even so… I also have quite a few things I felt hurt about regarding Junhyuk.

But shouldn’t these issues have been resolved more maturely and calmly?

Getting irritated unilaterally and cutting off contact like that, what did he expect me to do?

Even if we had talked maturely, it’s uncertain whether the problems would have been resolved well…

Hmm. I don’t want to think about it too much. Using my brain for this is troublesome.

What’s the point of thinking about such things now anyway.

While I can empathize with Junhyuk’s feelings, accepting his behavior is a different matter.

Honestly, my feelings have cooled off way too much.

No, maybe they had already cooled off even before this.

It’s already 11 o’clock after getting home from dropping Yuhan off, showering, and lying down.

I turned on my phone and looked at the wallpaper for a moment.

Yeah. I’ve changed quite a bit as a person. My feelings have changed even more.

I think it’s not courteous as a ‘friend’ to not cut off the relationship with Junhyuk quickly when things have gotten to this point.

Weren’t we longtime friends? Friends shouldn’t make each other worry about things like this anymore.

I turned on the phone again and went to the contacts list.

‘Lee Junhyuk’ – except for my parents, I saved everyone’s contacts just with their names like this.

Ah, now Yuhan should be an exception too. I suddenly realize how I’ve been thinking about Yuhan.

After pressing the screen and waiting for a moment, the dial tone rings.

And after another moment.

A rather uncomfortable voice starts coming through the phone.

That voice…

Seemed quite excited.

###

It’s clear. Ari must have put down all her pride.

Listening further, she seems to be completely admitting her mistakes.

Finally understanding my feelings. Finally going to pay more attention to me.

I’m happy. Thinking about how we’ll be even happier from now on makes me feel so good.

“That’s enough. Now then…”

“Ah, I’m not done talking yet.”

“Come on. I think I understand your feelings well enough.”

“No. Not that.”

“Huh…?”

But somehow Ari’s voice becomes frighteningly low.

The atmosphere is strange. Something is going wrong.

Even someone like me, who’s often been told I’m insensitive, can feel it.

This is…

Definitely strange.

“Hey… why are you suddenly making your voice like that? The atmosphere is just getting weird…”

“Let’s break up now.”

“…What?”

Is this a joke? No, I know better than anyone that Ari doesn’t joke about things like this.

I must have heard wrong. The strange atmosphere must have made me hear things wrong.

“Ah… I think I misheard something just now, could you say that again? Is something wrong with my phone? Haha…”

“Let’s stop seeing each other now.”

“… Th…”

“I know you must have felt hurt because of my personality.”

What does she know?

“But… honestly, I don’t have confidence to change. I think I’ll keep living like this.”

When did I ask you to change? Just paying a bit more attention to me would be enough, right? Is that so difficult? You’re saying such things because of that?

“I’m sorry for just giving you stress.”

What are you sorry for? This isn’t something that ends with sorry. You can change from now on.

You can change little by little while being with me.

“Well, someone like you can date plenty of good women.”

I have no interest in other women, what are you talking about?

I want to say something, but she’s not giving me any chance to speak.

“We were childhood friends after all, let’s see each other again after some time has passed.”

You’re not just a childhood friend but my girlfriend.

I want to see you right now, what do you mean ‘after some time’?

“Take care. I’m hanging up.”

“Wait!”

The call can’t end like this.

I can’t accept this.

###

“You, where are you right now? At home, right? Just wait a bit, I’ll come right away!”

“What, where are you coming?”

“Let’s talk in person! I’ll apologize if I did anything wrong too! Tell me if you felt hurt about anything! I’ll come right now!”

“No, what are you talking about coming here in the middle of the night!”

I’ve heard that first loves rarely last until the end.

And honestly, I didn’t know Junhyuk wanted me this much.

No, considering there was no contact for a month, doesn’t that mean his pride was more important than me?

Since we’re breaking up anyway, I tried to be humble to let him save face, but what’s this now?

“Ah! Then, tomorrow! I’ll come tomorrow morning! 9 AM? Or should I come at 8?”

I keep telling him not to come, but he’s not listening at all.

His voice, tinged with something like madness, keeps coming through.

He thinks about the meeting time by himself and says he’ll come at 9:30 AM because I might be sleepy…

To put it crudely, he seems crazy.

This is a completely unexpected reaction.

If he was going to be like this now, why did he treat me that way before?

Even if he felt hurt, if I was that precious to him, wouldn’t it be normal to contact me at least once during a month?

The call ended.

Before hearing my answer.

This is driving me crazy. Even though I’ve lost feelings for Junhyuk but haven’t come to hate him as a person… honestly, I don’t want to see his face.

Considering his stubbornness, considering his pride. He’ll definitely stay at my house until I take him back.

If Yuhan finds out that Junhyuk is at my house?

Yuhan will definitely misunderstand. Even though he heard we fought, Yuhan still thinks we’re just a happy couple.

If I don’t make any noise and don’t open the door? Won’t he keep calling me from in front of the door? Until I open it.

It’s worst case scenario no matter what. I have to do broadcasts from tomorrow, and there’s quite a lot of broadcast-related work piled up.

Should I stay home without making any noise? Is that possible? There’s not much food at home to begin with.

He probably won’t leave soon. Because that’s the kind of person Junhyuk is.

My dislike for him starts building up, beyond just losing feelings, as he continues to cause stress until the end.

While leaving the house would be the surest solution.

But where am I supposed to live then? My family home isn’t suitable for broadcasting.

While thinking about this, one idea crosses my mind.

…

Should I ask Yuhan? Somehow manage the broadcast with a laptop?

… Damn. No matter how urgent, this is really crazy talk.

A woman who’s not even dating asking a man for something like that? It feels like I’ll just come across as a weird girl.

And… even if I get Yuhan’s permission.

If it were before, I could have used the excuse of being ‘friends’, but now I’m clearly aware of my feelings.

Wouldn’t this… feel like… ‘living together’?

Isn’t this too embarrassing?

My troubled mind becomes even more troubled.

After staying still with my head buried in the pillow for a while.

Unable to resist the impulse, I ended up calling Yuhan.

The advice Yuhan gave me, to live as I want, seems to have stuck deeper in my mind than I thought.

Without explaining the situation, rambling incoherently. A sudden request asking if I could stay at his place for a few days.

Normally when a woman says such things, being suspicious would be normal, but this insensitive man naturally said it was fine.

The stress that had been building up dissipates in an instant.

I feel like I’ve become quite a terrible person now too.

I thought I had already changed enough, but am I changing even more here? I’m not sure.

I sent a message to Junhyuk saying that even if he comes here, I won’t be home.

To the person who gave me nothing but annoyance until the end.

A little gratitude arose.

(End of Chapter)

T.N. Hilarious 😂. Poor Junhyuk.