Chapter 65. The Sound Youth Makes When It Drowns (21)

*Splash.*

Eunkyo slipped into the warm bathtub and held her breath as she closed her eyes.

‘It had been about 30 minutes since Lee Jaeheon left?’

She still couldn’t understand why she asked him out on a date. Even thinking about it now, it felt like such a ridiculous decision.

There wasn’t really a special reason. She just didn’t want to be alone.

She’d asked him to stay because she felt like her mind would start to wander if she was by herself, but he left, saying he needed to prepare.

‘Then why even bother…? Ugh, whatever.’

Eunkyo let out a hollow chuckle and tilted her head out of the tub. Her phone caught her eye, sitting on the sink shelf diagonally across from the bathtub.

After Jaeheon left, she turned her phone back on and saw a message from Seontae. It was nothing more than a brief apology and a vague excuse that he couldn’t help it.

Had he at least given her some drawn-out explanation, she might’ve tried to understand. But the way he so cleanly cut off the conversation left her with no choice but to reply with a simple “okay.” His one-sided message stung her pride, so she didn’t even bother to tell him to take care.

Still leaning lazily against the edge of the tub, Eunkyo reached out and picked up her phone.

When her dripping fingers tapped the screen, the wallpaper—unchanged for years—appeared.

“Stop staring at the ground all the time and look up at the sky. The rainy season’s over, Eunkyo.”

A line from the past. When she lifted her head at Lee Dohyun’s words, she saw his face before the sky. He’d smiled so sweetly and warmly that, embarrassed, she’d pushed his face aside and taken a photo of the sky.

Just like Dohyun said, the sky she hadn’t seen in a while was beautiful—almost unfamiliar. And as she stood there blankly staring upward, he kissed her.

It had once been a cherished memory, but now it was just that—a memory. A photo that used to stir her heart had become just another background. She hoped Dohyun, too, would fade away in the same way.

With a sigh, Eunkyo stared at Dohyun’s number, still marked as a missed call, and sat with the feeling.

When he disappeared three years ago without a word, she was disappointed in him. Just like Kim Haeda said, Dohyun had ghosted her. After wandering for what felt like forever, she finally came to accept the breakup.

Neither of them had ever said “let’s break up,” but they were, for all intents and purposes, over.

‘So what now?’

Did she still feel the same way? Or had her feelings dulled?

Suddenly, she was curious. And if she kept avoiding him like this, Dohyun would just keep calling and showing up, like today.

Gathering her knees together, Eunkyo finally mustered the courage to dial his number.

Lee Dohyun was a weed. And even during the brief seconds the call was ringing, old memories rose like bubbles.

Pretending to be unfazed, Eunkyo closed and opened her eyes. She bit her trembling lips, then forced a smile.

— “Hello.”

Then suddenly, at the sound of his voice—so close it felt like he was right beside her—her heart clenched as if someone had grabbed it tight.

— “Eunkyo.”

She bit her lip hard and finally managed to answer.

“…I saw I missed your call.”

— “You didn’t pick up earlier. Where are you?”

So nonchalant, as if they had just been together moments ago.

“…You’re only curious about where I am now?”

Her voice low, she clenched her teeth and asked. Her lips curled then tightened again, her jaw trembling. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Ugh, I don’t want to be like this… But her face twitched on its own.

— “I’m sorry, Eunkyo. You must’ve been really upset…”

“Upset…? What are you even trying to do right now? Calling me after three years… asking if I was upset?”

— “Three years already, huh… No wonder it feels like living in hell.”

“…Do you even know what hell is?”

In an instant, her eyes turned red and burned with heat. Eunkyo tilted her head back and opened her eyes wide. She didn’t want to shed a single tear for Lee Dohyun, so she stared hard and took deep breaths through parted lips.

Now she understood.

She was still a foolish person ruled by these pathetic, lingering feelings.

— “Still, hearing you mad… even that makes me happy.”

And you’re still the same asshole.

“You haven’t changed one bit. Still smug and disgusting.”

— “Let’s meet. I want to talk in person.”

“No! If you can’t say it on the phone, don’t say it at all. And I deleted your number. If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have called.”

Her sharp voice echoed in the bathroom. Eunkyo suddenly stood and turned on the cold water. Still holding the phone, she stepped under the showerhead and let the water wash over her before the tears could fall.

— “I miss you, Eunkyo. I won’t make excuses. I just… miss you.”

“Just stop already!”

And with that, she threw her phone into the bathtub. With a splash, it sank beneath the water, its screen still glowing brightly. Her shoulders trembled, breathing ragged, as she stared at it.

“Aaah!”

Eunkyo clenched her eyes shut and screamed, her voice rising in rage.

She glared at the phone with bloodshot eyes before finally collapsing to her knees. Pressing her forehead to them, she sat under the freezing water, shaking.

This was despair.

Not sadness, but fury—at a heart that had been toyed with and a pride that had been trampled.

The humiliation and grief Dohyun had left her with hurt so much, it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

***