In The Arms Of Morpheus || CHOI SAN

XLIII

 
 
"Take care," Seonghwa let go of Sieon from his warm embrace and bid her farewell before making his way out of the main entrance, leaving for the city.

Sieon felt an emptiness when she returned home. She'd had breakfast with Seonghwa and gave him some food before he left. He promised her he will visit her soon and bring more things with him.

"I wish you stayed for longer," she cleaned her house, took a bath, and decided to head to the shop.

She saw San on her way but neither she nor him, said anything, or smiled. They both acted like they were strangers.

Sieon didn't say a thing because looking at San's face reminded her if what Seonghwa had told her, but she wondered why San seemed gloomy.

Maybe he didn't see me.
But she was sure their eyes had met.

"What is it, Sieon?"

She looked at Chaeyoung, "What?"

"This is your nth time sighing ever since you came here."

"Obviously, I'm missing Seonghwa."

"I hope you don't mind me," Chaeyoung started, "But I think you should've went with him. I mean, only for a few days."

Sieon didn't react as usual, "His visit was a surprise for me. I couldn't have prepared myself by the time he left."

Chaeyoung nodded and they continued to work.

Three days passed and like Seonghwa had mentioned, Munhee's wedding was now being talked about.  Everyone got to know about it.

"I'm sure this is why my mom is so adamant about my marriage," Chaeyoung complained, "because girls younger than me are getting married."

Sieon chuckled, "Don't be jealous, I can also hear your wedding bells."

"Jealous? My foot!" Chaeyoung puffed, "And I'm not getting married anytime soon. I'm yet to approve of Joowan."

Sieon rolled her eyes jokingly, "Whatever you say."

Even if Chaeyoung wasn't saying it out loud, it was obvious that she admired Joowan..
Sieon felt happy knowing that.

But it also made her think of what Seonghwa said,
"maybe because I think Ma would think of your marriage before me."

She had thought of marriage too, like other women. But her concerns regarding it were different. Because she was different.
Sieon wasn't like others nor her situation was.

And the worst part was, that the boy she was apparently fond of, had distanced himself from her.

She could feel San ignoring her purposely whenever he saw her.

Is this Karma?
She thought.

Because this reminded her of the time when she was the one who avoided him and he would look at her with sad puppy eyes.

"So what? Does he think that I will do the same?" Sieon sat up angrily, late at night.
"I will ignore him more. It's not like I'm dying to get his attention."

Well, Sieon might not have been dying to get his attention. But was clearly bothered by it.

Whether it's Chaeyoung or Jisung, they could see that she was upset over something.

She could see San helping others in Munhee's wedding preparation, but was it so important that he couldn't even give her a slight smile..?

She groaned and punched the air on her way back home the next day,
What is happening to me?

And like that, Sieon's heart had gradually started giving up on denying her feelings.
She was slowly accepting it.

The last straw was seeing San with someone else. And not just anyone, but Jihee. The one who had an obvious liking towards San and an obvious disliking towards Sieon.

Being three daughters of a single father; Mr. Go, Jihee participated a lot in her older sister's wedding. She made sure there was no inconvenience and things were perfect.
San was always there by her side.
He helped her as much as he could, and Sieon could see that they have gotten close in that short while, even when she attended the wedding.

That following night, Sieon felt gloomier than ever and finally embraced the change of her heart.
I like him too.

✂

A day and the next passed very slowly for Sieon. The sudden realization she had… or not so sudden– but the the realization she had about her feelings, made her frustrated for some reason.
But she knew that she wasn't irritated because of feelings, it was because she was reciprocating to someone's feelings who was now, not reciprocating to hers.

Maybe I'm too late this time as well...

She sighed, "I'm unfortunate and I shouldn't forget it," she kicked the stone breathe her feet and walked at the same path again and again, around her house. It was late at night and almost everyone had fallen asleep in their homes.

Luck is never on my side–!

Or maybe it was...

Because she saw him.
She saw San.

He immediately stopped in his tracks once he saw Sieon and he hesitated. One of his feet still in its place while the other moved back and then forward.
He was contemplating whether to stay or leave immediately.

San sighed, giving up, and moved towards Sieon, "Hey."

"Hi..." she looked around awkwardly and then back at him, "Why are you here?"

"I- I couldn't sleep so, I was just wandering here and there."
He internally screamed at how awkward the atmosphere was, and it was all because of him.

"...Would you like to come inside?"

Her question surprised him and he nervously nodded.

Following her inside, he realized it was dark as Sieon had not lit a single candle, which was another surprise because Sieon did not like the dark.

"Why did you invite me inside, by the way?"

"I have something to tell you."

He was still uncertain, "Okay, so. Should we sit down? And why is it so dark?"

"Just... Because I don't think I can say it if I see you clearly."

San knew what was coming, he could feel it.
He could also feel the tension rising between them and air becoming cooler with each passing second.
And it felt like Sieon was standing way too close in front of him, but he didn't have the courage to move back either.

Sieon too, looked anywhere but him, scared that he will hear her rapid heartbeat in the tranquil house.
"I'll get straight to the point, now. I– I think I like you too, San," she finally looked at him and wished that the floor will swallow her.
She lowered her voice further, "I mean, I have thought about it long and hard and I, I have never felt this way before. The way you make me feel–"

San couldn't help himself anymore and without thinking of the consequences, his hands held her face and he placed his lips over hers.
He kissed Sieon.