Love - Chapter 1 Part 4

After returning to the facility, Jeongwoo became quieter. Eunhye hesitated to approach him but eventually gathered the courage to find him sitting alone on a bench.

“Aren’t you going to eat? Tonight’s dinner is jajangmyeon.”

Jeongwoo stared at Eunhye for a moment before brushing her bangs, which were swaying in the wind, to the side.

“That time… when you fell?”

“Yeah.”

On one side of her round forehead was a scar from when she had fallen while chasing him, hitting a rock. Because of that, Eunhye had to get seven stitches at the hospital. The shock of not being able to see Jeongwoo again had been more painful than the physical wound.

“…There’s a scar left.”

Jeongwoo’s eyes darkened slightly. His eyes still sparkled like stars, but to young Eunhye, he seemed sad. Staring silently at the scar, Jeongwoo didn’t respond as Eunhye spoke in a raspy voice.

“It hurt a lot, oppa.”

“……”

“It hurt so much because of you.”

Jeongwoo looked at her with moist eyes and said, “I’m sorry.” At the time, she didn’t fully understand why Jeongwoo, who had left in nice clothes and a nice car, had returned to the facility from his new parents’ home.

Was it because she had prayed so hard for him to come back? Was that why Jeongwoo looked so sad now? Wearing a school uniform and with his hair cut short, he seemed like a completely different person from a month ago. And Eunhye hated that.

“…You know, you’re really my oppa, right? You promised to be my real oppa. Right?”

On the bench where he had first cut her hair, Eunhye asked him. Instead of answering, Jeongwoo adjusted her scarf.

The cold snap of early spring brought snowflakes swirling in the air. Eunhye clenched her fists and sniffled once. Then, in a trembling voice, she spoke.

“In my class… none of the kids with oppas live apart from them.”

“……”

“Well, there’s one… but this is a secret… His mom and dad live separately, so his dad took him.”

Jeongwoo still didn’t respond, but Eunhye stubbornly continued.

“…But we don’t have a mom or dad.”

The child who had refused to accept her mother’s death and lied about it had grown up a lot in just a few months. She wasn’t slow to adapt—it was something else.

“So, can’t you just stay here and live with me?”

“…Would you like that?”

Finally breaking his silence, Jeongwoo spoke with dry lips. Eunhye nodded vigorously.

“Yes. I’d like that. I’d like to live here with you forever.”

With him around, Eunhye Won felt like a good place. She didn’t mind her name being Eunhye or the kids teasing her. Seeing Jeongwoo’s faint smile instead of a clear answer made her heart ache and her chest feel tight. On a freezing cold day, watching Jeongwoo sit alone outside, Eunhye’s small heart pounded painfully.

“I’ll scold anyone who bullies you, oppa…”

Junkyung had said it. Jeongwoo had returned to the facility because he was being abused by his scary parents. Eunhye swallowed dryly, clenched her fists, and raised her voice.

“I’ll fight off anyone scary, even ghosts. I can do it.”

Jeongwoo’s eyes gradually turned red. Eunhye quickly covered his eyes with both hands. Feeling the dampness on her palms, she shouted with a voice choked with tears, loud enough to hurt her throat.

“Go away…! Go away…! Stop bullying my oppa and go away…!!!”

She was too young to fully understand what it meant to be returned from adoption, but she wasn’t oblivious to the anxiety and fear. She didn’t know how long it had taken Jeongwoo, who was mature for his age, to open his heart to his adoptive parents, or what he had felt when he left Eunhye Won and when he returned.

But she could tell how scared and hurt he was. The trembling of Jeongwoo, who cried without making a sound, was vividly felt through her own body.

That night, Eunhye prayed to God, clutching her rosary until her hands were worn out. She thanked him for bringing her oppa back and promised to be a truly good Eunhye from now on.