Real Man

Chapter 457:

Yoo-hyun came out and headed to the outdoor terrace connected to Namsan Tower.

It was a place full of locks that people had hung on the fence and the trees, and people called them love locks.

Behind the exotic lock scenery, the view of Seoul spread out widely.

The slowly setting sun was like a painting.

Jeong Da-hye, who was sitting on a bench and admiring the view, looked at Yoo-hyun sitting next to her and was surprised.

“What is that?”

“What do you mean, it’s a lock.”

Yoo-hyun took out a lock from his bag and handed it to her.

There was a cupid arrow engraved in three dimensions on top of a heart-shaped lock that was as big as two fingers of an adult man.

“If you’re going to hang it, you have to do it properly.”

Jeong Da-hye took the heavy lock and blinked her eyes as she looked at it from different angles.

It looked like a lock with a large ring on top of the heart shape, but it seemed like there was something inside it.

“Does it split open when you unlock it?”

“Yes. It becomes half like Da-hye’s sign.”

“Oh, I see.”

Jeong Da-hye seemed to like it quite a bit as she sparkled her eyes and examined the middle seam.

She had no choice.

This was the lock that she had liked so much in the past and showed off to Yoo-hyun.

-Sir, this is the heart lock I bought in Myeongdong. I couldn’t hang it last time, but I’ll definitely do it this time.

She wanted to go back to Namsan Tower, but Yoo-hyun couldn’t keep that promise.

He wanted to keep it this time, so he wandered around Myeongdong all day yesterday and finally found it.

Jeong Da-hye, who was looking at the crimson heart lock, tilted her head.

“But there are two keyholes on the front and back.”

“Yes. You need to insert both of them to open it. Here.”

Yoo-hyun held out his palm with a necklace on it.

There was a pendant hanging from the necklace chain, with a cupid holding a key instead of an arrow.

Jeong Da-hye smiled as she fiddled with the pendant.

“It’s cute. Is this the key?”

“Yes. You just have to turn it with this.”

Yoo-hyun showed her the same necklace and smiled.

Then he inserted the two cupid keys into the holes on the front and back of the large heart and turned them.

Click.

The lock ring rose and half of the large heart split.

Yoo-hyun took out two pieces of paper that he had prepared in advance.

“And you have to write this.”

“What do you write?”

“Your true feelings for each other?”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

Yoo-hyun said to Jeong Da-hye, who looked incredulous.

“The words you put in here will definitely come true. Write what you want to achieve, Da-hye.”

“What I want to achieve?”

“Yes. You’re leaving soon, right? You can write your future aspirations.”

“How do I do that…”

Jeong Da-hye hesitated to finish her sentence and Yoo-hyun smiled and handed her a pen.

“Are you not going to write it?”

“I’ll write it.”

Jeong Da-hye, who had been quietly looking at Yoo-hyun, took the pen.

Her expression looked very complicated.

What story should she write?

Yoo-hyun had a lot of things he wanted to say to her.

He had a lot of things he couldn’t say to her before, and a lot of things he wanted to do with her.

He wrote them down sincerely and carefully.

Jeong Da-hye also seemed to have something to write as she turned her body and hid it for a long time while moving the pen.

She also folded it twice carefully as if she didn’t want to show it.

She put the paper on one side of the lock and glanced at Yoo-hyun.

“Don’t look.”

“Of course. I’ll look when it comes true.”

Yoo-hyun nodded and Jeong Da-hye asked him.

“When did you find out?”

“About what?”

“About me leaving.”

“Well, I just felt like it. They wouldn’t leave you alone, the talented person who made the G20 summit a success.”

Jeong Da-hye paused for a moment after hearing Yoo-hyun’s answer.

She took a breath and tried to sound calm.

“I’m not that talented, but that’s what happened. I might not even be able to attend the opening ceremony.”

“You’ll do bigger things, right?”

“Maybe. I think I might be able to do what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“You’ll do well, Da-hye.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and cheered her up, and her eyebrows narrowed slightly.

“Are you okay, Yoo-hyun?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t help you with the exhibition preparation. It’ll be a lot of work when it opens.”

“It’s okay. We have to do our best by ourselves.”

“The people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are a bit picky.”

Yoo-hyun answered nonchalantly to Jeong Da-hye’s worried words.

“They’re nice to me. I’m also close with Director Jung Woo-hyuk.”

“…”

She swallowed her words and a walnut wrinkle formed on her chin.

Jeong Da-hye turned her gaze away from Yoo-hyun and looked at the view of Seoul.

The red sunset shimmered on the buildings that had shrunk to the size of a fingernail.

It was a pretty impressive scene, so Yoo-hyun also silently looked at the same place.

Whooong.

The cool evening breeze swept between the two.

After a fairly long silence, Jeong Da-hye looked at Yoo-hyun again.

“I might not be back for a long time when I leave. It’ll be hard to keep in touch.”

“I know. It’ll be hard, but you’ll do well, Da-hye.”

“…”

When Yoo-hyun answered as if nothing was wrong again, she finally exploded.

“I’m leaving. I won’t be able to contact you because I’m busy, but are you okay with that, Yoo-hyun?”

“That’s for your sake, Da-hye.”

“No, why are men so clueless? You should have held me back when I said that much.”

Yoo-hyun smiled silently and she turned her head sharply.

Yoo-hyun looked at her and remembered a scene that was still vivid in his mind.

She looked like a torn cat as she pouted her lips after hearing his calm confession.

-I wanted to be the first one to confess to you clearly. You don’t know how much I prepared for this since I was young.

You didn’t prepare anything, did you?

Yoo-hyun chuckled and asked Jeong Da-hye, who had sat down and turned away.

“Will you stay if I ask you not to go?”

“That’s just a figure of speech, a figure of speech.”

“Then come back safely.”

“Yes. I might not come back forever, but I’ll do that for now.”

Jeong Da-hye answered with a sulky tone.

Yoo-hyun approached her from behind and held her hand on the bench.

She flinched and turned her head, biting her lips.

“No, why are you suddenly holding my hand… Huh.”

She was startled to see Yoo-hyun right in front of her.

Yoo-hyun took in her face from a close distance.

Her long eyelashes lifted and her pupils dilated.

He felt her trembling and the scent of lavender on his hand.

Swoosh.

He moved closer and Jeong Da-hye closed her eyes.

Her lips quivered.

Thump thump thump thump.

He heard the sound of her heartbeat across the short distance.

He was nervous too.

Why did the skinship that he was used to feel so unfamiliar?

Yoo-hyun approached her with curiosity.

Thud.

His lips lightly touched hers and warmth spread.

She felt a tingling sensation and Jeong Da-hye’s hand gripped Yoo-hyun’s hand tightly.

Yoo-hyun wrapped his other arm around her back.

It was as if time had stopped and everything was quiet.

He couldn’t hear the wind or the noise around him.

The background was erased and he felt like he was in a world of his own.

How long had it been?

“Uwaa.”

A child’s cry broke the silence and the clock started ticking again.

Jeong Da-hye pushed Yoo-hyun’s chest and got up from her seat.

She looked away with a red face and stuttered.

“Th-that’s enough.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun got up and looked at her side.

She tried to act calm and opened her mouth again.

She still avoided his eyes.

“It was just because it was the last time, so don’t misunderstand.”

“Okay. I won’t.”

“…”

When Yoo-hyun obediently agreed, a walnut wrinkle formed on her chin again.

Shouldn’t a man be more daring after kissing?

Why is he just standing there?

Jeong Da-hye was so absurd that she couldn’t do anything.

She should either express herself or let go, but her body didn’t listen to her head.

She was in a dilemma.

She heard a word that shook her chest from beside her.

“I’ll wait for you.”

She hesitated for a moment and answered.

“It might take a long time.”

“I’ll still wait for you. Don’t worry, I won’t see anyone else.”

“What are you worrying about…”

She stopped talking and smiled with her head down.

The man she thought was different, and the man she thought was not, was already in her heart.

His words of waiting for her lifted the burden on her shoulders.

He even offered his pinky finger.

“I promise.”

“I promise too. I’ll come back no matter how long it takes.”

She smiled and hooked her finger with his.

Yoo-hyun smiled and lifted the heart lock.

“Let’s make it official with this.”

She looked at him with a smile and nodded.

“Okay. Can I hang it?”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

Yoo-hyun gladly handed her the heavy heart lock.

She moved to the corner.

There was a sign hanging on the fence.

-Hanging a lock here will make your love come true.

Clang.

The large heart lock hung right above the words.

The lock was as big as 20 other locks combined, and it seemed like it would be easy to recognize even after 10 years.

Some time later, on a certain day.

He received a message from Jeong Da-hye, who had changed to the same phone as him.

KakaoTalk.

-Da-hye: I got on the plane. See you later.

She said she wouldn’t be able to leave if she saw him again, so she boarded the flight alone.

She seemed determined not to leave any room for doubt.

Yoo-hyun sent her a message back.

-Call me whenever you miss me. There’s no reason to hold back when I want to hear your voice.

-Da-hye: You’re doing it again. (Blush)

She sent him an emoticon of a crocodile spitting fire and giggled.

She had never laughed so much in her dry life.

What words would make her smile this time?

She was thinking about that when she got the answer she was waiting for.

-Don’t change. I’ll wait for you without changing. (Heart)

-Da-hye: I’m going. Bye.

She suppressed her happy feelings and pretended to be calm as she replied.

She touched the cupid pendant around her neck and vowed.

“I’ll come back in a great shape. Please wait for me.”

With that, she buried her lingering feelings in her chest and flew away for a bigger goal.

Yoo-hyun, who had sent Jeong Da-hye away, also folded his lingering feelings.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t sorry.

But he knew they were connected by a red thread of fate, so he had no reason not to wait.

He really wanted to see her soar higher.

“Da-hye, you can do it.”

He whispered his wish for her future.

He was thinking about Jeong Da-hye’s future.

Choi Min-hee, the team leader, came up to him and asked.

“What are you doing? Are you thinking about your girlfriend again?”

“Maybe.”

“You look happy. Can I sit here?”

“Sure.”

Yoo-hyun guided her to the empty seat of Kwon Se-jung, the deputy.

She had a notebook in her hand, as if she had just come from a meeting.