Chapter 7: 4.2

His hyung’s face was covered in blood after being beaten, and Woo-hyun luckily had no major injuries except for his injured shoulder.

He later found out that he stated he had been on drugs and had no idea why he did that when he came to his senses.

But when the two of them were left alone, his hyung shouted with a demon-like face.

“I hate bastards like you the most! Fucking bastard. Because of bastards like you, only the bastards who work perseveringly like me are insulted!”

There was a sense of victimization and a sense of guilt on his face, which used to always have a gentle smile. Woo-hyun heedlessly realized that taking drugs was an excuse for killing him. It must have been that the fact that he got a promotion earlier than him made him angry.

Upon being informed of this fact, his superior decided that trying to kill people within the same organization was a big problem, and he disappeared silently. Some say he was buried in cement; some say he was buried in the middle of a mountain, and some say he was sold to an island with one hand cut off.

In any case, the warning about what would happen if someone went against the decision of the superior and touched someone in the same organization was clearly given.

After that day, although no one in the organization tried to touch Woo-hyun, his sleep became lighter from then on. It was so light that he could easily wake up just from sensing the wind coming in through the gaps in the thin wooden door.

For that reason, the original house he lived in was quiet. But now, he heard footsteps in-between the wind blowing. A sound like a small beast approaching cautiously; there was only one person in this place he knew could make a sound like that.

Roughly tidying his hair, Woo-hyun got up. He stood in front of the door. Beyond the half-open door, he saw the wooden door that served as a gate, although it was so flimsy that it was difficult to call it so. He could see someone’s head flickering through the opaque window in the middle of the wooden door. It was a small movement, but a sign of concern was evident.

Woo-hyun’s eyes curved softly, and the corners of his lips rose. He waited patiently. He hoped Yoo-hwa would walk into a maze where she has no choice but to go deeper and deeper the more she enters. He hoped she would be lured by a bait called interest.

Knock, knock.

Eventually, Yoo-hwa knocked on the wooden door. Woo-hyun opened the door without saying a word. Yoo-hwa had a more placid expression than expected.

“Hey.”

Woo-hyun greeted her with a cool smile on his face.

“… Thanks. For the sneakers. I thought I should express my gratitude.”

He couldn’t pretend not to know.

“You knew it was me?”

Woo-hyun asked slowly, on purpose. The quiet tone of voice contained a strange meaning.

“The only person here who would do this kind of thing is you. But from now on, you don’t have to do this.”

Woo-hyun’s eyes hardened.

He thought she was here to thank him, but contrary to his expectation, it seems like she was here to tell him not to be a nuisance.

“I did it because I came across it by chance, so don’t give it much meaning.”

Woo-hyun replied with a smile as if he didn’t do anything.

You are reading story Even If It's Not Love at novel35.com

“Even if you come across it by chance. Don’t do it.”

“Why?”

Woo-hyun asked while crossing his arms.

“Just… I will take care of my own problems.”

Yoo-hwa put up a wall once again. However, Yoo-hwa’s wall was too low for Woo-hyun, who treats people like cards.

“I didn’t mean to help you. It was because the sneakers looked pitiful.”

“…”

Yoo-hwa’s expression became confused. Woo-hyun, who had been looking intently at Yoo-hwa’s swaying face as he said the word ‘pitiful’, slowly lowered his head. His bangs, which had been deliberately disheveled, flowed down. In that state, Woo-hyun quietly met Yoo-hwa’s eyes and continued talking.

“They were going to get rained on, just like me.”

It’s not you, it’s me.

The very pitiful me.

Woo-hyun was trying to convey that meaning, and he knew that it was conveyed properly. As proof of that, Yoo-hwa’s face softened.

***

Woo-hyun knew two ways that had a high probability to get people on his side.

Salvation and empathy.

People who have tasted the hope of getting out of their messy lives grab the other person’s hand without distinguishing whether it is a trap or a rope. Without knowing that the hand was later caught in a trap and dragged deeper underground.

Unfortunately, Yoo-hwa was not the kind of person whom he could get on his side with hope and salvation. She had fallen so much that she couldn’t even accept hope.

She is a person who wants nothing but death but is unable to make the extreme choice, so she lives one day at a time. The easiest and fastest way to get people like this on his side was empathy.

For those who have never received proper empathy, a person from a similar environment who suddenly appeared was a good target to sympathize with.

Especially if it was Yoo-hwa, who had a lot of sympathy like Eun-soo, there was a high probability of that.

“Have you eaten?”

Woo-hyun looked into Yoo-hwa’s eyes and asked carefully. If it was before, Yoo-hwa would cut him off with something like ‘I already ate.’, or ‘No.’, but she didn’t say any word of rejection. However, the sense of refusal that was left on her face did not disappear.

You can find story with these keywords: Even If It's Not Love, Read Even If It's Not Love, Even If It's Not Love novel, Even If It's Not Love book, Even If It's Not Love story, Even If It's Not Love full, Even If It's Not Love Latest Chapter