After they left the restaurant.

"Are you out of your mind? Why are you acting like a thug? I told you to stop!"

‘What on earth is happening to me now?’

Chae-yeon, who had wanted to apologize back at the wine bar, ended up lashing out instead, afraid of getting scolded by Si-hyun.

In an attempt to quickly quell his anger, she made the worst possible choice.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gone on a blind date."

"Do you think I wanted to go? Sohui begged me to fill in, so I just sat there. Is that such a big crime?"

‘What right does he have to speak to me like this?’

Even in this moment, where Chae-yeon was retorting every word, she felt like she was about to faint from dizziness.

"Of course it’s your fault! There's no way Sohui has only you as a friend. Why did you go? If it were me, I wouldn’t have gone out of sheer conscience."

There was no excuse she could give for this statement. While Chae-yeon kept her mouth shut, Si-hyun continued.

"Apologize. Then I'll let it slide just this once."

Despite everything, he was willing to forgive her with just one apology. How kind was that?

Chae-yeon, who was on the verge of speaking, decided to rely on his kindness.

"Sorry..."

"I can't hear you. What did you say?"

Was her voice too quiet? Just as she was about to apologize again to Si-hyun, a sudden thought crossed her mind.

'If I bow my head here, I won't be able to control Si-hyun anymore...'

Though it was a misunderstanding, it was true that Chae-yeon had met a man. After forbidding Si-hyun from interacting with other women, she had made a mistake herself.

This would certainly give Si-hyun a reason. If he later met Ye-rin and Chae-yeon got angry, he might use this incident to justify his actions.

'I don't want that...'

Chae-yeon was aware of how selfish she was being, even if it made others call her trash.

"I did nothing wrong. I will not apologize."

She wanted to prevent Si-hyun from going to another woman.

“What?”

Si-hyun's bewildered expression was clear in Chae-yeon's eyes. But she was also aware of how absurd her words were.

However, for Chae-yeon who couldn’t express affection or kindness, this was all she could manage.

“More importantly, how did you know I was there? Have you been following me or something?”

“Hey, Lim Chae-yeon…”

Chae-yeon knew she was digging her own grave. But it was impossible to backtrack on the path she had chosen.

“You always say you love me, but now you're acting like a stalker?”

Chae-yeon knew full well that Si-hyun wouldn't do such a thing. It was just her desperate attempt to take control. She felt so disgusted with herself that her stomach churned.

“Damn it, knock it off!”

“Did you just curse at me?”

“You're making me out to be trash just to avoid one apology. Wouldn't you swear too?”

Hearing Si-hyun curse at her for the first time was shocking, but in some way, it also brought a sense of relief. She had internally been cursing her own flawed, selfish self as well.

“You're really going off the deep end... Do you just not want to date me anymore?”

At her limit, Chae-yeon played her final card. As often as she used love to suppress his anger, she tried once more.

“Are we even really dating?”

“What?”

She was dumbfounded by his unexpected response.

“Other couples are eager to express their love. But, since we’ve been together, I've never even heard you say you love me.”

Si-hyun, driven by his pent-up frustration, hit Chae-yeon where it hurt the most.

‘It's not like that... I love you, too!’

Still unable to speak honestly, Chae-yeon answered with burning agony in her heart.

“So what? Be content with just being able to date me. Why are you making a fuss now after all this time?"

Maintenance of the status quo. Chae-yeon wished he would wait until her psyche healed. If that were to happen, she would convey all the feelings she had been unable to express thus far. She had made up her mind.

But Si-hyun, unaware of this, continued to speak.

"Do you really think our relationship is right? No, wait. Chae-yeon, do you even like me?"

She liked him. After their dates, she would stare blankly at the pictures they took for hours.

When it was time for his call, she would stop whatever she was doing and wait with an excited heart.

"Why can't you answer?"

She liked him so much that just watching him talk to another woman would make her depressed all day.

But Chae-yeon couldn't express it till the end. Even though she tried to say she liked him multiple times, her dismal past choked her throat and scrambled her brain.

"You're a selfish woman."

In the end, Si-hyun walked away, and Chae-yeon watched his retreating figure with fearful eyes.

"Hey, Kim Si-hyun! Are you just going to break up with me like this?"

"Yeah, let's end it here. I'm getting tired too..."

The fear of being abandoned shook Chae-yon's mind. Unable to think straight, she was desperate to stop him somehow.

"If you take another step… If you take another step, it really will be the end…”

At Chae-yeon's desperate words, Si-hyun hesitated, as if having second thoughts. But soon he moved again, raising his middle finger as he did so.

‘What is that?’

What did it mean? As Chae-yeon’s attention was captured, Si-hyun's middle finger pierced her heart like a dagger.

"Hey!!"

Startled, Chae-yeon collapsed right where she stood. Tears poured out, and she bawled without caring who was watching.

"Please come back… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry!"

But her late apology was in vain; Si-hyun had already left. As Chae-yeon wept uncontrollably, rain started pouring from the sky, drenching her little by little.

‘I hate myself so much…’

Can one get hypothermia from getting soaked in the rain for too long? Filled with self-loathing, she knelt there, unmoving.

"He said we should break up… He said he’s tired…”

Reflecting on Si-hyun's last words, she spent the next twenty minutes in self-reproach.

“Chae-yeon!”

Sohui, who arrived late, lifted Chae-yeon’s limp body off the ground.

“Chae-yeon, what are you doing here… Where is Si-hyun?”

“He told me to break up…”

Sohui realized she had made a terrible mistake.

‘It’s all my fault…’

She didn’t know how to apologize to her friend, Chae-yeon, who used to boast about Si-hyun and joyfully browse through his photos every day.

"I'm... I'm so sorry!"

Sohui knelt on the ground with her head bowed, apologizing without concern for the puddles around her. Chae-yeon stared blankly at her friend.

It wasn't that Chae-yeon had no anger towards Sohui, but she believed the bigger problem was that she had gone on a blind date in the first place.

"I-I'll definitely get you two back together. No matter what, I will!"

As Sohui fervently apologized, Chae-yeon quietly said, "I want to be alone..."

Chae-yeon returned home alone and climbed onto her bed without changing her clothes. She hugged her knees.

‘I don’t know what to think anymore...'

Love me. Stay by my side only. Don’t even look at other women. Chae-yeon was filled with disgust at her selfish and contradictory self.

[Me: I'm sorry for what I said. If it's okay, can we meet even now?]

She didn’t want to end it like this. She had to apologize no matter what this time.

As she was about to hit the send button...

‘No... I should talk to him in person tomorrow.’

She decided to wait for a day until Si-hyun's anger subsided. She resolved to talk everything out, both her psychological issues and the problems she'd been brooding over, and she went to school the next day with a determined face.

To clear up any misunderstandings as quickly as possible, Chae-yeon went with Sohui and looked through the window of the lecture room door to see if Si-hyun was inside.

She saw Si-hyun and Ye-rin sitting close together.

‘Did he go straight to Ye-rin right after we broke up? To you, what was I...’

Bang!

Chae-yeon, overcome with anger, slammed the door open. The desire to resolve things through conversation vanished, replaced by a sense of betrayal at Si-hyun for moving on to Ye-rin.

‘To you, what exactly was I...’

(Switching to the university trip setting.)

Thirsty, Chae-yeon woke up and took a bottle of water from her bag. Looking around, she saw everyone had passed out drunk. Confirming this, Chae-yeon quietly moved to another room.

And then.

"Si-hyun... I like you..."

Like hugging a big teddy bear, Ye-rin was tightly embracing Si-hyun. Si-hyun had a pained expression on his face as he slept. Annoyed, Chae-yeon quickly pushed Ye-rin away from him.

Thud...

With Ye-rin moved away, Si-hyun’s expression relaxed. Clearly exhausted, he was snoring. Chae-yeon, after pressing the speaker and snapping a picture, saved it to her gallery.

'Cute...'

Then she tucked Si-hyun's loose blanket back around him and gently brushed his hair to the side.Then, as moonlight illuminated his face, his lips stood out remarkably.

‘Even though it was just CPR, I hoped it wouldn't happen...’

Gazing at his lips with discontent, Chae-yeon lightly touched them. Si-hyun's brows furrowed at the touch. Panicking, Chae-yeon quickly hid but, realizing he hadn't woken up, she approached him again.

‘Don’t go to Ye-rin... I’ll do better from now on. I won’t ever nag you, I won’t go near other guys, I’ll only look at you...’

Chae-yeon lowered her head towards Si-hyun's lips. Strangely, expressing her affection seemed possible only while he was asleep, so this was something she did secretly now and then.

Smooch.

“I like you...”

Unable to say these words when he was awake, Chae-yeon whispered them repeatedly while he was asleep.

“I like you. I like you. I like you. I like you. I like you...”

Whispering softly for only Si-hyun to hear, Chae-yeon found herself shedding tears while kissing him.

Her tears trickled down onto the corners of his mouth. At that moment, when he stirred, Chae-yeon had already exited the room.