EGOIST (Sang Woo x Fem!OC) [COMPLETED]

42

In the end, Sang-woo found out, anyway. Everyone in Ssangmun-dong just had gossiping mouths that wouldn't shut up, and Mrs. Cho was all too elated to tell everyone about the return of his son's girl, or his former girl. It didn't matter to Mrs. Cho either way. It was Hae Young she put under a light of appraisal, so how could she not talk about her?

Sang-woo didn't know how to feel. In the five years of her absence, he never forgot, but he also forgot how to feel in general. He had found out through a phone call with his mom, when she wanted to ask him how he was doing in America.

America. He scoffs. America my ass.

She went on a tangent about things he could no longer remember, his mother's yapping becoming static in his head, but then he mentioned her name and he sat upright in his unkempt bed.

She was back, she's here for work. That was all he needed to know.

"You're coming back in a few days, anyway, right? Go pay her a visit." His mother ordered through the phone, and he did promise that he would.

So now, days later, standing in the market of Ssangmun-dong, he sees her for the first time in a while and a lot, yet also nothing has changed.

Hae Young conversed with Mrs. Cho while she chopped fish on her board, breaking out into laughter once in a while. It was her, it really was her. It was the way her nose crinkled when she grinned, or when she would nod her head fervently when you say something that she agrees with. It was her, she was there. She's here.

She was laughing with Mrs. Cho when he decided to finally approach them, hands in his pockets as he nervously maneuvers his way through the somewhat crowded market, closer and closer to her, he begins to feel all types of emotions crashing down. The joy, the guilt, the fear, and the sadness, and everything and anything in between that he could not name. It was all there, returning when Moon Hae Young finally returned to him.

He clears his throat, she instantly freezes.

"Oh, Sang-Woo!" Mrs. Cho cries, haphazardly leaving her tools as she excitedly runs up to her son for a hug. "I have missed you!" She coos, placing a kiss on his cheeks; her baby boy.

"Hi, eomma." He says softly, returning the hug as Hae Young just watches, not knowing how to react really.

"You're back so soon! How was your trip, huh?"

He just gives her a passive answer, though she doesn't mind. She embraces her son once again. Sang-Woo and Hae Young exchange brief, uncomfortable glances.

"Oh right!" She pulls away, suddenly remembering Hae Young standing by.

"You're both back now, isn't that great?" She says, clueless yet hopeful. Sang-Woo just gives her a soft smile, but it was Hae Young who kept her professionalism intact, maintaining her cheerful grin at the older lady.

"I actually told Sang-Woo that you were here, isn't that right?" She looks over to her son who did not even have a chance to respond when she began again, "You don't mind if I did, right, Hae Young? It's just that everyone was so excited to hear you were back. Even Sang-Woo was surprised! He asked about what you were doing and where you live now--"

"--Alright, that's enough--" He chuckles softly, nervously, so familiar to Hae Young's ears that she wanted to hear him laugh again.

Hae Young finally looks at him clearly for the first time, bewildered, in disbelief. "You asked about me?" She asks him, in a tone so genuinely surprised. But it was the look that she gave him that made him feel all sorts of feelings inside. He found himself unable to respond; a stuttering mess. Mrs. Cho looks up at the two, a sly smile on her lips.

"He did." Mrs. Cho answers for him, continuing to tend to her work. "The first night I told him about it. I told him to come visit as soon as he was back from America."

"America?" Hae Young scrunches her brows.

"It was for a business trip." Sang-woo answers uncomfortably.

"Right, Sang-Woo is always off on a trip, can you believe it?" Mrs. Cho coos. "You must be working so hard out there." She turns back to Hae Young. "He even gets me expensive things even if I tell him not to, which reminds me--"

She turns back to her son, a soft expression turning into a stern one.

"You came back here to see Hae Young after five years, but not one present?" She scoffs, hands on her hips. "Didn't I raise you to be a proper gentleman, Sang-woo?"

"Yes, yes--" He waves her off dismissively, panting both his hands on Hae Young's shoulders--an action that was completely uncalled for. "I was busy, but now, we're going to catch up, okay, eomma?"

She sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, alright. Go do what you have to do." She waves off, before exchanging heartfelt, but short-lived goodbye's with Hae Young as she was being pulled away by Sang-Woo. It was another familiar moment that made her heart flutter ever so slightly.

********

Their walk around the city was quiet and underwhelming. None of them knew exactly what to say; or perhaps there were too many things left unsaid. A lot of things have changed between them, but also nothing. It was when Hae Young finally sighed that all nervous thoughts came flooding into Sang-Woo's head.

"I--" He tries to speak up, but ends up in this dead end of a pronoun. He doesn't know where to start.

"It's good to see you again." Hae Young says, softly, nervously. It was a greeting of courtesy, but also an honest sentiment. It really was great to see him again despite everything.

Sang-Woo just nods, reciprocating the statement.

There was everything he wanted to say already at the tip of his tongue. 'You look great', 'I've missed you'--

"I'm sorry."

It was what his mouth was able to release and what his head and heart conjured up with such sincerity that it hurt. It hurt to say, because it was true and it was real, and he had held onto it for five years too long. He thought that he could never say it to her again, but here he was.

"Sang-Woo..." The pleasantries died down between them; that whatever was there before Hae Young left for Gangwon still remained. The misfortune and sadness.

"There are a lot of things I want to tell you..." He begins. "But I just don't know where to start."

Hae Young nods understandingly.

"And I think there are a lot of things I want to tell you because I want you to know how I've been these past few years... I just want you to know."

I just want to know if you still care.

"And that if I tell you, I kind of wish you'd tell me about you as well."

I want to get to know you again, if you'd let me.

"Maybe we could be okay again?"

Maybe we could still salvage what we've left behind.

"It's just..." He sighs. "Nice to see you again."

I love you, and I've missed you. Please come back.

Hae Young nods, eating up the silent nervousness he emitted from his speech. She took it all in, registering it, and then she looked up to him with a soft smile. It wasn't too late to start again and get to know what her old friend had grown into over the past five years.

She smiles.

"I'd like to get to know you once again, too, Cho Sang-Woo."