I’m an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me - Chapter 306

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 306

Before they knew it, only one step remained between the two of them.

It was Huijae who spoke first.

“I came to say goodbye.”

She used formal speech again.

“Before I leave…”

The cold wind seemed to pierce his lungs. The young man’s mouth stubbornly shut tight to hide his ragged breathing.

Should I plead? Should I try to hold her back? Should I get angry and tell her not to go? Should I ask why she has to leave and try to stop her? After pondering, Taeseok’s mouth let out very brief words.

“…Must you…?”

Even those few words couldn’t be properly spoken, the end trailing off. Huijae looked up at such a Taeseok, her eyes glistening with moisture.

“…I must.”

White snowflakes danced down on the wind. Huijae, her cheeks reddened from the cold, spoke cheerfully.

“I’m going to Manchuria to teach writing. The night school students can now get through at least one book, so they won’t need me anymore.”

Just like when she had looked at an empty, barren place yet held certainty about the future.

The Yeonhuijae who had been soaked in rain hadn’t changed at all.

The girl the boy had loved for so long remained the same.

“I may not look it, but I’m quite skilled at teaching.”

Huijae smiled as she was hit by the pure white snow.

“I don’t know Manchurian yet… but I’m a quick learner. I’ll do well even on the first day meeting the students. I’m confident since I’ve done self-introductions before.”

That clear, bright face.

The girl who had made him decide to throw away his entire life took a deep breath as if demonstrating, then opened her mouth.

“My name is Huijae.”

Unforgettable memories sometimes transport a person back to that time.

“Please teach me.”

As if still living in that moment.

“I have just arrived in Manchuria.”

Whoooosh-.

A snowstorm struck. Huijae’s hair became wet. Even though she must be cold, her bright smile pierced the young man’s heart.

“I’ll leave this place to CEO Gi. You can do well, can’t you?”

Just like when she first called out to the boy while standing on tiptoes beyond the wall.

She smiled like that.

“Please promise me.”

Huijae’s white hand approached Taeseok.

Just like the day she told him her name.

Taeseok slowly hooked his hand with that small hand.

Knowing it would break, they still intertwined their pinky fingers and pressed their thumbs together firmly like a kiss.

Huijae said nothing at all. Taeseok’s head spun.

When he held her white, soft hand, the flower-like face across from him became blurry. He couldn’t see well. He needed to look, needed to engrave it in his memory, but all Taeseok could manage was to put strength into his other hand that wasn’t holding Huijae’s. His eyes felt hot.

Whoooosh-.

A snowstorm struck. Now it was time for Huijae to go.

Their clasped hands couldn’t stay stubbornly attached. Huijae slowly released the strength from her hand.

Have a safe trip.

Taeseok wanted to say the words Huijae used to say to him.

But the reason he couldn’t say them in the end was…

Because if he opened his mouth, he might hold onto her. Because he might dare to beg her, who was strong and brave, to be pathetic for him.

Taeseok lowered his head. He didn’t have the courage to watch her retreating figure.

The place where Huijae had stepped. Taeseok stood there blankly until snowflakes piled up softly on the small footprints, leaving no trace behind.

The moment he finally realized she had completely left, Taeseok raised his head.

All that remained was the snow-covered landscape brightly illuminating the dark world.

Only now did Taeseok close his eyes.

The tears that had been pooling in his eyes finally flowed down to his chin. With hands reddened at every joint from the cold, he covered his eyes.

The pear blossoms he had wanted to show that girl, in the end, like that.

Without ever seeing them together even once.

Hot tears streamed down from beneath the large hands desperately covering his eyes.

The pear tree without a single blade of grass shook its branches in the wind as if comforting the young man. Instead of pear blossoms, pure white snowflakes settled on his shoulders.

“Huijae…”

Unable to say “go well,” unable to say “don’t go.”

Taeseok simply called out the girl’s name once.

Winter was long.

* * *

Taejin arrived at the airport.

He wasn’t dressed in his usual luxurious attire. A jacket and pants. And shoes worn one size too large with two pairs of socks layered underneath.

But his leisurely expression remained the same as always.

Taejin had been to Osaka. It was to meet the Koreans his father had abandoned.

He handed over compensation money and was slapped. He was grabbed by the collar. And he bowed his head.

“…No one, no one ever said sorry to us… We thought everyone had forgotten…”

They beat their chests and cried. Later, some thanked him for coming even now, and others asked if he had eaten. A few said nothing at all. They seemed to be thinking of those who had already left this world.

Taejin touched his still stinging cheek. The pain seemed to be in his chest rather than his cheek.

There were still many places left where he needed to ask for forgiveness. Taejin had a busy road ahead. There was still some time before the plane’s departure.

He sat in a chair for a moment and placed his simply packed bag on his lap. There was nothing expensive inside, but there was one precious item. It couldn’t be broken.

“I should have brought a bigger one…”

Taejin muttered to himself. It was a moment when he suddenly regretted not bringing one of the larger picture frames containing wedding photos.

“What should you have brought?”

Why was there a familiar voice from the seat next to him…

“…Madam?”

“You should add ‘former’ in front now.”

“But why are you here…”

Huijae, wearing a red scarf, plopped down in the seat next to him. Unlike Taejin’s, her luggage bag was quite large. The sound of it hitting the floor was quite heavy.

Taejin blinked as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I came to set things right.”

Huijae had changed a lot. She looked at Taejin with her drastically shortened bob haircut.

Bright sunlight shone through the glass window onto both of them. The past Huijae and present Huijae overlapped.

His heart stirred as he remembered the day they first met.

“First of all, I don’t particularly like pear blossom tea. Especially the tea you used to make was mostly tasteless. You think you’re very good at brewing tea, but that’s clearly a delusion.”

“But you used to say my tea was delicious…”

“That’s because you kept making tea with strange combinations until you got that answer. Citrus with mint and cinnamon was really terrible. It makes me angry just thinking about it again.”

“Is that so… They were all good for your health…”

Huijae chattered on and on. She was so talkative that one might wonder if she had always been this kind of woman.

It was a side of her Taejin had never seen before.

The stories she couldn’t tell when they were closest could only be spoken comfortably after they became strangers.

Now Huijae was neither anyone’s daughter nor anyone’s wife,

Just Yeonhuijae.

“And I don’t particularly like Onhwadang’s bread. There’s too much red bean filling. Since it was said to be quite difficult to obtain, I ate it all out of appreciation for the gesture.”

“Yes…”

Taejin answered with bewildered eyes.

Huijae seemed much more comfortable. She was different from before.

“I don’t know why you like red jade so much, but the brooch you chose for me was honestly tacky. When you brought matching earrings and a ring, I almost cried a little.”

“Yes… It looked so beautiful to me… The jeweler said it was nice too.”

“Of course they would say that since they had to sell expensive things.”

“I was naive.”

Like hair touching her chin, Huijae was refreshingly straightforward. Taking a deep breath, Huijae spoke each word clearly and distinctly, as if the preamble had been for this very story.

“And I’m sick and tired of living according to what others want.”

“….”

“I also hate pretending to be ignorant like an earthworm, knowing nothing.”

“….”

“Don’t tell me that such things are for my own good.”

Even without saying it explicitly, he knew what she meant.

Taejin nodded slightly. Madam, no, Yeonhuijae… was a much stronger and more wonderful person than he had thought.

“Anyway. Since you don’t know me like this, I have no choice but to set things straight.”

Huijae stood up from her seat. Then she lifted the heavy bag with a grunt.

Taejin hurriedly reached out to take the bag that Huijae was carrying. However, Huijae didn’t hand over the bag. She gripped it tightly with both hands.

“I’ll carry my own luggage.”

“Even though it made an extremely heavy sound when you put it down?”

“Yes. Even so.”

Huijae was dignified as she stubbornly turned her head away and walked forward.

Taejin, who had been watching her retreating figure, followed with long strides. He persistently took hold of one handle of Huijae’s luggage bag.

“But what on earth is inside to make it so heavy?”

Taejin asked, pretending to be nonchalant while struggling to suppress his rising emotions.

“What do you mean what? They’re all books.”

Huijae answered demurely without looking back at Taejin.

The two people, sharing the heavy luggage, walked matching their pace.

Toward Manchuria.

To set right the things that were wrong.

Through the window, an airplane drew a white trail as it departed into the distance. Taeseok, who had been gazing at it intently, turned his gaze away again. Sitting in an expensive chair, he signed documents with a fountain pen from overseas on a desk bearing a nameplate inlaid with a golden dragon. There were many things to be done.

Taeseok put the cigarette he had quit back in his mouth.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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