Zephyr | Lee Felix

Chapter 32

MONDAY, WEEK 6

"Thanks for your time, Yujin.”

Eugene shakes her head, smiling gratefully at the trio in front of her. It was unexpected of them to even consider making amends with her after years, but she’s glad that they chose to be better people.

“You guys head back to the hotel first.” Seungmin says as the two other girls raise their brows in confusion.

“O... kay?” Yeji just shrugs, giving a look to Lia. The latter, however, gives a teasing yet knowing grin to the girl, before waving at them, “Alright. We’ll head back, enjoy you two.”

“Ha?” The taller girl looks confused, but decides to trail behind the older one without any more questions. Seungmin turns to Eugene, a soft, guilty smile replacing his carefree expression from seconds ago.

“Yujin-ah.” He starts, the gentle voice catching her slightly off guard. “Can we find a quiet place? There’s something I’d like to say.”

Eugene stands there, her heart beating a little loudly out of anxiousness. She thought that the conversation about the past had ended. What else is there to talk about?

Despite the confusion in her head, however, she nods at him.

“Then, should we go to the garden behind the library? It’s a 5-minute walk.”

“Sure.”

.

.

.

The atmosphere in the garden feels quite different from what Eugene had remembered. The usual calmness is nowhere to be seen—it is in fact, filled with a bunch of laughter and screams from children of big families having picnics.

But this isn’t bad either. Her lips unconsciously form a smile. The sight of children will always make her heart melt, no matter how energetic and loud they can be.

“I guess you took the right major.” Seungmin comments, noticing the reaction on her face at the livelihood of the garden. Eugene chuckles softly, her shoulders shrugging afterwards.

“It’s indeed the best when you’re studying something you are passionate about.”

“Heh. Of course.” He follows up with a tiny chuckle. They navigate through the path and pick an empty bench just right in front of a pond. Somewhere a little further away from the bunch of kids having fun.

“I... owe you an explanation. For my behaviour back then in high school.”

Eugene blinks, surprised by how quickly the male speaks about the issue the moment they settle down on the bench. But a look of confusion stays on her face instead. We have talked about this at the cafe. So why...?

He turns his head to look at her properly, but she can tell how difficult it is for him to maintain eye contact with her. From the way he breathes, fiddles with his fingers, and his lips pressed together. He's extremely nervous.

“Seungmin.” Eugene calls out, shaking her head with a small smile of reassurance. “You really don’t have to go this far. We already had a proper closure at the cafe. I’m really okay now.”

“It’s not about that.” He replies, his shoulders slumping in distress. He hesitates for a moment, wondering if he should even continue when Eugene seems nonchalant about it. But he braces forward anyways.

"D... Do you perhaps know why I mistreated you back then?" He starts off quietly. The sudden question catches her off guard.

Surprisingly? No. She doesn't know why.