Chapter 4.1

Chapter 4.1

“By the way, where are we going?”

“We’ll take a little walk, then go get some meat.”

“Meat?”

“Yeah.”

When he asked if she didn’t like it, Yeon-ha shook her head. Staying at home all day was something she was quite used to, but Min-gyu probably wasn’t.

“They said you should move around a bit within your limits, remember?” Min-gyu said as he took out a pair of sneakers from the shoe cabinet at the front door.

Yeon-ha nodded. Honestly, the slow pace of her recovery was partly due to the severity of her injury and also because she hadn’t been very active post-surgery. Even though she had to use crutches at first, for the past month, she could have at least gone for a walk nearby.

But…

Min-gyu lightly wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they stepped out the door, and Yeon-ha’s face momentarily turned cold.

It was well past six o’clock, but it was still bright outside. The gentle spring breeze that brushed her cheeks wasn’t entirely warm. Not long after they set out, Yeon-ha was glad she had listened to Min-gyu.

The air, faintly tinged with a chill, felt oddly refreshing. As she walked slowly, her gaze fell on the sporadically blooming flowers along the roadside. Her previously tense expression softened without her realizing it.

They maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Once they left the alley, Min-gyu naturally let go of the arm he had around her shoulder. He didn’t hold her hand either. It was hard to imagine that they had held each other so passionately the night before. Whenever someone passed by them, Yeon-ha felt a bit nervous, worried she might run into someone she knew.

“Does your foot hurt?” he asked casually.

She quickly shook her head and looked up at him. “It’s not like I’ve walked that much,” she said.

As she answered, she couldn’t help but smile slightly. Watching him seriously check on her was amusing. His tone wasn’t exactly gentle, but seeing his concern felt peculiar. Min-gyu didn’t miss her brief, fleeting smile. He closed his mouth tightly.

They took a leisurely stroll near the small mountain behind their neighborhood. It was only about 20 minutes, but it was enough to leave Yeon-ha feeling slightly tired. It felt like they had walked for an hour, but she didn’t show it.

When Min-gyu suggested they stop and go eat dinner, she responded enthusiastically, raising her voice a bit more than usual. She didn’t want to seem weak, so she made her voice deliberately cheerful.

“You seem to really enjoy being out,” Min-gyu said with a slight chuckle as if joking that he had been keeping her locked up. Yeon-ha swallowed dryly.

They turned and headed back the way they came, passing their house and familiar streets until they reached a steep set of stairs. Yeon-ha hesitated noticeably for a moment.

“….”

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since Yeon-ha had been here. Before, she had been using crutches and had been scared, so she had taken a longer detour. Ever since she started living with Min-gyu, whenever they went out, they would catch a taxi right in front of the house, so there was no need to come this way.

Yeon-ha’s eyes trembled slightly as she looked down the stairs. It was nothing, really. She just had to be careful going down, but why was she feeling agitated so suddenly?

The stone steps connecting the end of her residential area to the main road were quite numerous and steep. Once past these steps, a bus stop bustled with people. Shops lined the streets, and a middle school was nearby.

It was on these very steps that she had fallen a few months ago.

It was still baffling to think about. She had been walking down the steps a bit quickly, as usual, when suddenly, her legs gave out. She barely had time to feel the dizzying sensation of her body tilting before everything went black.

The shock and pain of that moment were still vivid in her memory. The sensation of something breaking inside her ankle was unforgettable. The pain had been so intense that she had wished she could just pass out.

“Oh my! Are you okay?” An elderly woman passing by had been startled and had come over to help. She caught a taxi for Yeon-ha, who was able to go straight to the hospital. Even in her dazed state, she had somehow managed to talk her way out of the woman calling her parents.

The hospital’s diagnosis was a fractured right ankle. The broken bone fragments inside her ankle were in such bad shape that immediate surgery was necessary. In the end, she had to undergo surgery to insert metal pins.