Fishing For Love

Chapter 4

It's already been a little over two weeks since I got here, and I feel I have become closer to everyone in the village. Especially Mrs. Kim, she likes to come over in the mornings and have coffee with me, and then we go on a small walk before I go to work. Eun-woo doesn't get up till 9 am now because he's adjusted the store's hours. Now, the store is open from 10:30 am to 6 pm, and on the weekends, it's open from 10:30 am to 4 pm. I asked why he had the store open for so long from the start and he said it was because he had nothing to do all day except for work. I was going to ask what changed since we both could work hours so that it could stay open the same amount of time but it's kind of a win for me. 

The movie that I asked Eun-woo to go with me to is in a couple of days, and I'm a little scared he won't enjoy it. I know his taste in movies now and revenge in a school setting doesn't seem like his cup of tea. He loves watching films where the main character goes through some significant change in their life and then overcomes it and becomes a better person. 

Yuna has come to the house several times asking for Eun-woo, but he has asked me to tell her he isn't home when she does. I still don't know why they broke up, but it seems Yuna did something that hurt him, leading to what is happening to me right now: being interrogated by her. 

"I know he's home. Tell him I need to talk to him."

"Uh, he's not here. Think about it: I have no reason to lie to you."

She scoffs and bangs on the gate door, yelling Eun-woo's name. He finally emerges from his room, watches her on the doorbell camera, then sighs and walks out to meet her. I don't see anything else because he pulls her off somewhere away from the camera. I go back to sweeping the kitchen and have moved on to dusting when he returns with a sad expression. I don't know whether I should comfort him and ask if he wants to talk or if I should leave him alone. 

I decided to do the first one, "Hey, I don't know what's going on, but if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

We sit down at the table, and he starts talking about how Yuna and him started dating in high school and dated for years before she cheated on him when she went off to college and tried to blame it on him for not visiting her more. I was expecting something terrible, but not as bad as that. 

"She keeps trying to date again, saying she's changed, but I know it's just because the guy she cheated on me with broke up with her." 

I hesitate but end up putting my hand on his to comfort him, then say, "You deserve better than that. Don't let her get to you. If you need my help, I can scare her off". He laughs a little and thanks me before wiping some of his tears on his sleeve. I wouldn't say I liked Yuna's invasive personality, but now I don't like her. 

I keep true to my word and refrain from being nice to her the next time she shows up around the store or the house. 

She walked into the store, searched the aisles, and then tried going to the back again.

"EXCUSE ME, CUSTOMER, but you cannot go back there. It's an area for only employees."

"Eun-woo and me need-"

"Unless you want me to call the police for trespassing, do not go back there, ma'am." 

She doesn't look so happy about it but leaves anyway. Eun-woo isn't here today, so she wouldn't have had any luck. He had to go to the nearest city for something about his bank because the village didn't have one. 

I lock up the store at 6 pm and start my walk home which doesn't scare me anymore, and I don't feel like someone is constantly watching my every move. The whole walk home is peaceful and filled with the sounds of nature. It almost makes me sad when I get home, and it's silent. Eun-woo told me he had to stay in the city overnight because he ran into one of his friends, so I have the whole house to myself right now.