Chapter 104: Feels Good (3)
"…Why are you crying?"
Seo Juhwan wiped away the tears from her eyes with his thumb.
But tears flowed out again through the gaps between his fingers.
Once tears started flowing, they didn't stop easily.
"Huh, huh? Why am I crying? Why won't it stop…?"
Min-gu looked completely bewildered, as if she truly didn't understand why tears were flowing. Unable to comprehend the phenomenon happening to her, she kept wiping her eyes repeatedly.
But the more she wiped, the more her eyes became stained with tears and distorted.
Suddenly.
Seo Juhwan pulled her back into his embrace.
Min-gu, now held in his arms, made sounds of surprise and wriggled as if trying to escape from his embrace.
"O, oppa? Let go of me. I'm fine. I'm really fine…."
Her voice contained only bewilderment, not tears.
That made it even more heartbreaking.
The fact that she didn't understand why she was crying meant she had accumulated so much.
"Just cry."
"Huh?"
He swept his hand over the back of Min-gu, who he held in his embrace, as if to comfort her.
It was natural for him not to know why she was crying.
He simply wanted to comfort her.
Seo Juhwan had experienced something similar in the past.
Her figure overlapped with his past self.
There are times when people shed tears without realizing it. Even when they don't feel the slightest sadness.
Or more precisely, they had averted their eyes while saying it was fine.
But emotions that pile up will inevitably burst out someday, no matter how much you ignore them. It was fortunate that she cried before accumulating more.
"You can cry out loud. There's only us here."
"...."
"I'm someone you just met today anyway. There's no need to hold back."
Sometimes strangers can be more comfortable than close ones.
Especially when it's a side of yourself you don't want to show.
"I'm really fine… hic."
"It's okay. No one's listening."
"Huh, hic…"
"...."
Pat, pat.
He swept her back as if comforting a crying child.
Would the healing touch help?
It was unclear, but he activated the touch anyway. Unlike when increasing sexual desire, a warm light faintly emanated from his hand.
Was it effective? Or had emotions welled up from the tears that continued to flow?
"Hic, huh-eung~"
Soon after, she burst into tears.
His shoulder became soaked with moisture.
*
Crying is unfamiliar.
She preferred laughing to shedding tears.
She believed the saying that if you smile, fortune comes and happiness arrives.
'With a smile on my lips, happy~'
'Fill your face with laughter~'
The song he had chosen was one she liked too.
She loved songs filled with love, with lyrics that made a bright smile visible to the eye.
That's why when she sang, she always wore a smiling face. She thought the trouble with Seulgi at the bar could be forgotten.
She should fill herself with laughter through the song she could perform best.
'If tears fall, just cry-'
'If it hurts once more, just laugh-'
'Fill your heart with only love-'
But for some reason today, the lyrics didn't feel right.
Why was that? Was it because she drank alcohol?
Even though she was clearly happy, it was hard to smile.
She had enjoyed the atmosphere of the club she visited for the first time.
The first hunting she tried had been successful.
The man she hunted for the first time had been a good person.
So she should definitely be happy and smiling—
"…Why are you crying?"
He asked with a worried expression.
Only after hearing his question and touching her eyes did she realize she was crying.
"Huh, huh? Why am I crying? Why won't it stop…?"
She thought she was smiling, but tears were coming out. The tears flowing down her cheeks were startling.
She had to quickly wipe away the tears and stop them.
But then—suddenly! He pulled me into his embrace.
She tried to escape, but the man's strong force held her body firmly, so she couldn't get away. Instead, a warm hand swept across her back. It was the large, firm hand she had felt interlocking with hers in front of the bar earlier.
He spoke with a worried voice.
"Just cry."
"Huh?"
What was this person saying?
He wanted her to cry in front of someone she met for the first time today.
She didn't even cry in front of Seulgi, her closest friend—
"You can cry out loud. There's only you and me here."
…Ah, Seulgi isn't here.
Even so, there's still this stranger here.
"I'm someone you just met today anyway. There's no need to hold back."
But he said precisely because he's someone she just met that she doesn't need to hold back.
…She didn't want to cry.
"I'm really fine… hic."
Despite her thoughts, her throat tightened.
She felt angry at her body, which wouldn't obey her since earlier.
"It's okay. No one's listening."
"Huh, hic…"
Why, why was this man trying to make her cry?
She had barely managed to hold it together—!
…Ah, I was holding it together.
The moment she realized it.
Pat, pat. A large, firm hand patted her back.
The careful touch, as if comforting a young child, was so warm and comforting that—
"Hic, huh-hic. Huh-eung~"
The emotions she had held back and held back came bursting forth.
"Huh-hic, I'm, I'm nothing…"
I'm just an ordinary person, not a genius or anything.
"I'm, I'm just Min-gu…!"
Why was it that I'm not anyone's daughter, just Min-gu alone?
I'm just an ordinary person who simply loves music, so why?
"Huh-eung~!"
The wounds and pressure she had received knowingly and unknowingly burst forth. Emotions she had deliberately turned away from flowed out uncontrollably.
The moment she faced it, the music she had loved so much seemed like it would become hateful.
That's why the heart she had firmly buried—
"...."
Pat, pat.
The hand silently patting her back was warm.
The comfort seeping in from her back calmed her heart.
Finally, the lyrics that hadn't come out properly, as if stuck in her throat, entered her heart.
'If tears fall, just cry.'
She just, simply burst into tears.