~Chapter 14~
“Yaaah!”
So-hye, who had just entered the café, flinched at the sudden scream and instinctively hunched her shoulders.
Looking ahead, she saw the staff gathered in a circle, all staring at one spot.
‘What’s going on?’
Curious, So-hye approached, only to be stunned.
Choo-ok, her hair in disarray, was lying on the floor, glaring angrily at Kyung-rim while sniffling.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
The waiter next to her sighed heavily.
“I didn’t see the start, so I don’t know for sure, but it seems Choo-ok went against Natasha again.”
“At first, they were just raising their voices, but suddenly Natasha grabbed Choo-ok by the hair and shoved her.”
So-hye’s face froze in disbelief as she looked at the two.
Choo-ok, a dancer who usually disliked Kyung-rim the most, often taunted her and occasionally ruined the café’s atmosphere.
Normally, Kyung-rim would ignore her, letting the insults roll off, but seeing it escalate to physical conflict suggested she had finally reached her limit.
And with everyone out of the café and watching, no one intervened—they just gawked.
“You…! You really won’t get away with this!”
Choo-ok shouted, trembling with rage. Kyung-rim, wearing a look of bored irritation, chuckled dryly.
“If I won’t get away with it, then what? You gonna kill me?”
“I will kill you. I’ll definitely kill youaaah!”
“Go ahead. Try it.”
Kyung-rim lowered her stance and stared Choo-ok in the eyes.
The closer she got, the more terrified Choo-ok became—but Kyung-rim pressed forward, looking like she could devour her.
“Try it, then.”
Choo-ok’s jaw trembled uncontrollably.
Kyung-rim’s gaze was more than just murderous—it radiated a terrifying presence.
The anger that had earlier fueled Choo-ok’s shouting quickly drained away.
Still, she couldn’t back down—her pride wouldn’t allow it.
She bit her lower lip and glared at Kyung-rim. Kyung-rim laughed disdainfully and stood up.
“You talk big, but all you do is bluster.”
A fire lit in Choo-ok’s eyes. Determined, she let slip something she shouldn’t have.
“Because of your father, you came here!”
A hush fell over the café.
Talking about her father in front of Kyung-rim was practically taboo.
The already tense atmosphere turned to thin ice, on the verge of shattering.
“You think just because you learned to dance in Japan, you’re so high and mighty? No matter what, you’re still someone abandoned by your family. Whether you’re Natasha or the star of the stage, that doesn’t change!”
Choo-ok, now intent on going all the way, spat venomous words.
“And who do you think you are, looking down on us? Everyone knows you broke off your engagement to a Japanese man and got kicked out… aaah!”
“You little brat!”
In an instant, Kyung-rim grabbed Choo-ok by the neck.
Completely losing her mind, Kyung-rim put all her strength into her arms as if to actually kill her.
“Cough…kheh…!”
“Keep talking. You say I got kicked out? Do you even know how I ended that engagement? Don’t you dare open your mouth!”
“Y-hey! Someone stop her! Quick!”
Only then did the staff realize the seriousness of the situation and rushed toward them.
“Let go! She’s gonna kill her!”
Even the burly men struggled as Kyung-rim resisted fiercely.
Finally separating them, Choo-ok coughed and trembled, terrified.
Kyung-rim, still restrained by the staff, refused to stop kicking toward Choo-ok.
It was absolute chaos.
“One more word out of her mouth and I’ll tear that mouth apart!”
“Kyung-rim, stop it already! That’s enough!”
“Let go! Let me go!”
Kyung-rim shook off the arms holding her, glaring as if ready to kill anyone who tried to intervene, and stormed out of the café.
Only then did the chaos subside.
The dancers hurried over to check on Choo-ok.
“Choo-ok, are you okay?”
“Oh dear… she completely ruined my neck!”
Red handprints and scratches marked her neck. Everyone shook their heads, realizing how close it had come to a real disaster.
The staff who had been watching, bored that the spectacle ended, left, leaving only the dancers to tend to Choo-ok.
One dancer spoke up, puzzled.
“By the way… did Natasha always speak with a dialect?”
“I thought I misheard, but yeah, that was definitely a dialect, right?”
“But isn’t she from Gyeongseong?”
“I heard she’s from Incheon.”
“Ah, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just take Choo-ok inside before the boss comes.”
The dancers hurried Choo-ok away.
So-hye, unsure what to do, glanced between the waiting room and café entrance.
‘Choo-ok will be fine with the others…’
She turned toward the direction Kyung-rim had gone.
Luckily, Kyung-rim was not far from the café.
Her shoulder jittered nervously as she exhaled cigarette smoke.
Carefully, So-hye approached.
“Um… sister.”
Kyung-rim’s sharp gaze made her flinch.
Realizing it was So-hye, Kyung-rim turned her head away.
So-hye didn’t know what to say, so she stayed quietly behind.
She had a small understanding of how Kyung-rim must feel.
After a while, Kyung-rim, having smoked almost the entire cigarette, stubbed it out with her foot.
The smoke drifting from her mouth or the one vanishing beneath her foot felt like a sigh.
“So-hye.”
Kyung-rim called softly. So-hye, staring at the floor in a daze, lifted her head.
“Don’t let yourself get hurt, too. What Choo-ok said was all directed at me.”
So-hye bit her lower lip tightly.
She had been hurt by Choo-ok’s words, too—they reminded her of her own father, who had sent her here.
She forced her expression into neutrality.
“Thank you… for thinking of me in all this.”
“I’m just telling the truth. You’re different from me.”
Kyung-rim lit a new cigarette and spoke meaningfully.
“Your father… wanted to protect you till the very end.”
So-hye’s pupils trembled slightly, as if she had heard it straight from her father.
Her mouth went dry, her mind dizzy.
An indescribable feeling pounded in her chest.
Impossible.
She still resented her father.
“You… know my father?”
Kyung-rim turned to meet her eyes.
Just for a moment.
“How would I know?”
The subtle, complex unspoken message.
“Just seems like it, I guess.”
Her eyes held an emotion So-hye couldn’t read.
A fleeting glance, wistful as if recalling something dear… or pitying someone who knew nothing.
But the moment passed, disappearing with the smoke Kyung-rim exhaled.
“Go inside. Don’t get on anyone’s bad side by staying here.”
“And you?”
“I won’t be going back today. Just tell the boss for me.”
Kyung-rim walked toward the alley. So-hye couldn’t follow.
She wanted to ask more but her long-held resentment toward her father held her back.
So, she returned to the modern café.
A few days later, the modern café returned to normal.
Kyung-rim performed flawlessly on stage as if nothing had happened. Mansaek gave Choo-ok a few days off to settle the matter.
Afterward, stories about Kyung-rim’s origin briefly circulated among the staff but soon died down.
Peace flowed quietly, hiding the precarious events beneath.
“Natasha! Natasha!”
After the performance, the café buzzed with her name as usual.
The dancers, ignored by the crowd, returned to the waiting room, collapsing in exhaustion.
“Ha… filling in for Choo-ok was so tiring.”
“Same here. I hope she comes back soon.”
“But when she does, won’t another fight happen? Choo-ok was in the wrong that day too.”
“Still, it felt satisfying. Who else would dare defy Natasha?”
Among the noisy dancers, So-hye quietly changed her clothes.
She usually didn’t gossip, but today she felt even more distant from them.
Someone had spread rumors that she followed Kyung-rim after the fight.
The looks she received confirmed she’d fallen out of favor.
Her long-standing affection for the café suddenly felt fragile.
“I’ll head out first.”
She left without waiting for a reply.
Thanks to the late summer air, the night was cool.
So-hye paused and looked up at the night sky.
Countless stars shone brightly, like a spilled glittering cascade.
She felt an unexpected melancholy.
“Even though you have so many companions… why do you all look so lonely?”
Then, she remembered Kyung-rim’s words from a few days ago: that her father had wanted to protect her until the end.
Mansaek had said something similar when she first arrived.
‘Could Kyung-rim know something about my father?’
But it seemed highly unlikely.
Since graduating from elementary school, So-hye and her father moved often. In the year before arriving at the café, she barely saw him.
‘Unless she met him in that year…’
Even if that were the case, it was highly improbable.
Kyung-rim, a Japanese student, and her father, a gambler… there seemed no connection.
‘Kyung-rim a gambler? No way.’
Thinking that was absurd, she chuckled.
It seemed more plausible that her father used gambling as an excuse for being in Japan rather than her being connected to Kyung-rim.
At that point, her thoughts reached a stop.
“Your father… wanted to protect you till the very end.”
The smile on So-hye’s face gradually faded.
If, by some chance… if somehow they had been involved in something together, masked as gambling…
“….”
She pressed her lower lip between her teeth, shook her head, and dismissed the thought.
“No. That’s ridiculous. It can’t be true.”
It would be pointless to dwell on it; she didn’t want to waste time.
Even if she asked Kyung-rim now, she wouldn’t get a proper answer.
“I’ll stop thinking about it. Stop!”
Slapping her head, So-hye pushed down the thoughts, pressed her hat deeper, and walked again.
Yet that night, she couldn’t sleep, pondering Kyung-rim and her father’s possible connection.
Time passed quickly, and the promised Monday arrived.
So-hye reached Songil High on time and, as Woo-geon had instructed, entered through the small west-side gate in the wall.
‘No one’s here.’
Still, she stayed low and moved cautiously toward the lab, wary of being seen.
Knock, knock.
She tapped lightly. No response.
Trying harder, she knocked again. Still nothing.
‘Is he not inside?’
Looking around, she gently pushed the door aside.
It slid open with a soft creak.
“Ah.”
So-hye quickly closed her mouth.
In the corner, at a desk, Woo-geon sat with his back against the wall, eyes closed.
The lab lights were all off, and the windows were covered with thick curtains.
The room was dark, like a stormy sky.
‘Is he sleeping?’
So-hye tiptoed carefully, moving like a cat toward him.
Almost reaching him, Woo-geon’s eyes remained firmly shut.
‘Should I wake him?’
But his peaceful expression made her hesitate.
She decided to sit quietly next to him.
‘Might as well let him rest a bit before working.’
She stared blankly for a moment.
Soon, she found herself observing Woo-geon’s sleeping face.
His eyelashes cast shadows under closed lids; his straight nose led down to slightly parted lips, breathing softly.
He looked more serene than ever.
‘Even sleeping, he’s handsome.’
Watching him felt like time had stopped.
She wished the moment could last longer.
“Hmm…”
Suddenly, Woo-geon frowned, his expression tightening.
So-hye sat up straight, startled, and glanced at his face again.
Still closed, he murmured unintelligibly—it seemed he was having a nightmare.
“Hyung… not yet…”
A crease on his brow made him look troubled.
So-hye slowly reached out.
Placing her finger on the furrow, the pained expression vanished as if by magic.
The nightmare had ended.
‘Thank goodness.’
She didn’t withdraw her hand yet but began smoothing the hair on his forehead.
The softness of his hair against her fingers was delightful.
His peaceful face, now framed by neat hair, lifted her spirits.
But then—
“Kyaah!”
Without warning, Woo-geon grabbed her hand and pinned her onto the desk.
She was trapped between him and the hard surface.
Papers fluttered everywhere.
For a moment, the world flipped. She looked up at him in shock.
“What… you…”
His growling voice reverberated, his neck tense.
More chilling than the desk pressing her back, was his gaze, sharp and predatory.
“Se… sir…”
Meeting those eyes, a dangerous thought flashed through So-hye’s mind:
If things go wrong… I might get eaten.
