Chapter 126.2

Chapter 126.2

“By the way, today’s my birthday.”

When Seoryeong didn’t budge an inch, he added, “If you don’t move now, I’ll make you pay for it tenfold later.”

He really had a knack for leaving her speechless.

In the end, Seoryeong gave in. Like a defeated soldier, she approached, righted the overturned wheelchair, and allowed herself to be pulled into Lee Wooshin’s arms.

Only when the heat of his sweat reached the nape of her neck did she pull away.

Once they were ready for their walk, they adjusted their clothes and headed to the indoor park. Seoryeong pushed his wheelchair along the neatly maintained path.

“I usually hate aimless walks like this.”

She looked at Lee Wooshin’s thick, long neck from her vantage point above him.

“Why?”

“You’d know, Agent Han Seoryeong. When moving to an operational zone, the basics are always jogging. Entering, retreating—those who walk and run well handle everything without a hitch. But when you take a walk…”

He trailed off. Meanwhile, Seoryeong found herself absorbed in the changing scenery of the seasons.

Did Kim Hyun ever walk paths like these while holding my hand when I couldn’t see?

When my vision was fading and I eventually lost it completely. When I couldn’t take a single step without his guidance.

Whenever I sank into despair, like falling into a narrow pit, Kim Hyun would effortlessly lift me out and set me in the sunlight.

“All that stays with you are memories of time passing, and I hated that.”

Seoryeong suppressed the old memories that surfaced and adjusted the blanket slipping off Lee Wooshin’s shoulder. He glanced down and chuckled quietly at her fleeting touch, as her hand darted away the moment it made contact.

She stopped the wheelchair in a sunny spot and sat down on a nearby bench. After some hesitation, she broke the silence.

“So it’s your birthday today?”

“I used it as an excuse, but I don’t actually celebrate it.”

Lee Wooshin’s expression hardened, as though she had brought up a topic he disliked even more than the walk.

“I don’t like calling it a birthday. I hate that word.”

Even I, who grew up in an orphanage, would stick a bunch of candles into a Choco Pie on my birthday and sing songs.

Now that I think about it, apart from knowing his grandfather was Russian, I knew almost nothing about him. At that moment, Seoryeong hesitated.

Russia… Again, it’s Russia…

Her gaze deepened for a moment.

“On my birthday as a child, my parents passed away. A few years later, on another birthday, my house exploded in an accident. Then, on my birthday when I became an adult, the comrades who raised me and supported me in every way stabbed me in the back.”

“…!”

“I think they were after my wealth or something. Those mercenaries, who were like family, brought me a cake, lit candles, set off fireworks after getting drunk, and then charged at me all at once. I can’t forget their faces.”

Seoeyong don’t know what kind of hell he survived, but she couldn’t take her mind off his past, which she was hearing for the first time. The ground had thawed, and a warm breeze was blowing, but she felt none of it.

He watched the children running through the park, their laughter ringing out, and then let out a dry chuckle. His expression said he felt nothing anymore.

“Why would I welcome something that only invites misfortune? For me, it’s just a day I want to erase.”

Lee Wooshin raised the corners of his handsome lips in a picture-perfect smile, but beneath the surface, I sensed a faint self-loathing from a man who refused to celebrate his own birthday.

Seoryeong stared at that hollow façade of his and, on impulse, yanked his wheelchair toward her.

The wheels rolled silently and stopped just in front of her bench. Their knees brushed against each other.

Seoryeong always felt melancholic on Kim Hyun’s birthday. She wanted to buy him a beautiful cake, but somehow, the cake always ended up ruined—toppled over, smashed on the floor.

Once, she tried to get him a meaningful gift, but at the department store, she accidentally dropped and shattered a bottle of luxury perfume.

She never dared set foot there again.

She felt a strange sense of guilt for being the disabled woman he married—a man who deserved proper celebrations and love but received neither. That guilt flared up every year on Kim Hyun’s birthday, the day that should have been the happiest for him.

Nothing she prepared ever felt good enough. In those moments, she wished she could offer him her body—whole and unbroken, save for her eyes.

But all she managed to give him was a pen, barely concealing the turmoil inside her. She had to smile cleanly, even as he shyly accepted it, and that effort tore at her.

At that moment, the sound of children laughing reached them, chasing a bouncing ball past the wheelchair.

Seoryeong gripped the wheelchair’s armrest tightly and leaned forward. Lee Wooshin’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Hyun, I’m sorry. I really am a terrible woman.’

“―!”

Seoryeong shut her eyes tightly and pressed her lips against his.