NINE YEARS AGO.
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE WENT AS PLANNED, AND I NEVER FELT DESPERATE FOR ANYTHING.
ATTENDING CLASS ON AUTOPILOT, JUST TWO WEEKS BEFORE MY MILITARY ENLISTMENT...
...I WAS SIMPLY LETTING THE DULL, BORING HOURS DRIFT BY.
TAKE YOUR SEATS, EVERYONE. I'M GOING TO TAKE ATTENDANCE.
YES, PROFESSOR.
AH.
HERE YOU GO.
...THANK YOU.
HONG YOOYEON.
HERE.
YOU'RE A COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR, AREN'T YOU?
ARE YOU PURSUING A DOUBLE MAJOR?
I'M STILL THINKING ABOUT IT.
THAT WAS ALL IT WAS, BUT STRANGELY ENOUGH,
MY GAZE KEPT BEING DRAWN TO HER.
HONG YOOYEON.
A WOMAN WHO WENT BACK AND FORTH ACROSS CAMPUS BETWEEN ENGINEERING AND BUSINESS TO TAKE CLASSES,
DRIVEN BY AN IMMENSE PASSION FOR LEARNING.
HYUNMYUNG, PLEASE DON'T ENLIST...
CAN WE COME VISIT YOU?
WE'LL BRING LOTS OF GOOD FOOD!
SOMEONE CALL 911!
WHAT'S GOING ON?
I THINK SOMEONE COLLAPSED!
HURRY!
IT'S THAT WOMAN FROM BACK THEN.
HONG YOOYEON.
CPR... SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING.
SHE'S PUTTING HER FULL WEIGHT INTO EVERY PRESS.
IT WORKED!
SHE'S BREATHING AGAIN!
PLEASE CLEAR A PATH FOR THE AMBULANCE!
EVEN IN THAT FLEETING MOMENT, SHE WAS A STRANGE WOMAN WHO STIRRED UP MY EMOTIONS.
AFTER THAT, WITHOUT ANY REAL CONTACT, I FINISHED MY MILITARY SERVICE AND WAS DISCHARGED, AND BY THEN...
YOOYEON!
YONGTAE!
IT FELT LIKE OUR TIMING HAD BEEN OFF, BUT...
SINCE WE NEVER HAD ANY REAL CONNECTION TO BEGIN WITH,
I QUICKLY SHOOK OFF WHAT I THOUGHT WAS JUST A FLEETING, STALE ATTRACTION.
WHAT'S MEANT TO HAPPEN WILL HAPPEN WITHOUT FORCING IT,
AND WHAT ISN'T WON'T HAPPEN NO MATTER HOW DESPERATELY YOU WISH FOR IT.
SO IF I DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING AT ALL, AT LEAST MY MIND WOULD BE AT PEACE.
FOUR YEARS LATER.
...HONG YOOYEON?
AH, YES.
A SOFTWARE SALES PROPOSAL CAME IN,
ello, Director Choi Hyunmyung of Choiseon Corporation. Sender: Hong Yooyeon Recipient: Choi Hyunmyung I'm sending over all the relevant files.
AND IT LOOKED LIKE A ROUTINE WORTH REVIEWING FOR IMPLEMENTATION, SO I FORWARDED IT TO YOU.
...I'D LIKE TO HEAR THE PITCH IN PERSON.
SET UP A MEETING.
THERE'S ALSO SOMETHING ELSE I'D LIKE YOU TO LOOK INTO...
MY NAME IS HONG YOOYEON.
UNDERSTOOD, DIRECTOR.
MEETING HONG YOOYEON AGAIN AFTER FOUR YEARS,
SHE WAS PRETTY,
BRIGHT, SPIRITED,
AND STILL WORKING SO DESPERATELY HARD,
THAT IT INFURIATED ME.
2:01 pm
Subject: Do Yongtae He currently resides in a gosiwon and appears to be preparing for the patent attorney exam. The rent deposits are made under the name Hong Yooyeon.
We have confirmed Do Yongtae's regular visits to massage parlors.
LOOK HERE, HONG YOOYEON.
YOUR BOYFRIEND, DO YONGTAE.
WHILE LIVING IN THE ROOM YOU PAID FOR,
HE'S BLOWING YOUR ENTIRE SEVERANCE PAY ON SLEAZY MASSAGE PARLORS.
WERE YOU AWARE OF WHAT SORT OF SCOUNDREL HE WAS WHEN YOU POURED YEARS OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT INTO HIM?
WHAT DID YOU SAY...?
DIRECTOR.
DIRECTOR...?
YOU HAVEN'T SAID A WORD FOR A WHILE NOW...
...DO I EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT?
THE RIGHT TO BE FURIOUS AT DO YONGTAE'S SHAMELESSNESS—
USING HANDS STAINED BY CORRUPT ESTABLISHMENTS TO ACCEPT HER MONEY FOR HIS GOSIWON RENT...
AND THE RIGHT TO DESPISE THIS WOMAN'S FRUSTRATING, BLIND DEVOTION.
THE RIGHT.
THAT DAMN RIGHT.
HONG YOOYEON.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET WITH ME PRIVATELY?
...I MADE A MISTAKE.
I SHOULDN'T HAVE EXPRESSED MY JEALOUSY LIKE THAT.
ONCE HONG YOOYEON CALMED DOWN,
WITHOUT STARTLING HER THIS TIME,
IF I HAD JUST GONE OUT RIGHT THEN AND STOPPED HER,
IF I HAD JUST TOLD HER THE TRUTH UPFRONT INSTEAD OF BEING SARCASTIC,
I INTENDED TO TELL HER THE TRUTH ABOUT DO YONG-TAE.
THAT ACCIDENT NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.
TWO YEARS AGO, IT FELT LIKE MY ENTIRE WORLD WAS FALLING APART,
BUT NOW THAT TIME HAS PASSED, IT'S BECOME AWKWARD TO BRING UP AGAIN.
...MAYBE IT'S BETTER NEVER TO SPEAK OF IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
TOO MUCH HAPPENED TODAY, I CAN'T FALL ASLEEP.
IT'S ALREADY DAWN.
...WHO'S THERE?
Two weeks before leaving for military service nine years ago, the narrator notices computer engineering student Hong Yooyeon in class. He is impressed by Yooyeon's passion for learning and her successful CPR on a person who fainted. After his military service, they part ways without forming a connection. Four years later, they meet again at Choiseon when Yooyeon comes with a software offer.
