Before I could say anything, Min Yu-un spoke first.
[You’re sorry?]
“I wasn’t trying to badmouth you. I just… No. I won’t make excuses. I was wrong.”
My mouth fell open.
Instinctively, I knew Min Yu-un had reacted the same way.
When I said nothing, the air around us sank into a cold silence.
Lee Soo-hyeon lowered his head as if he truly believed himself to be a sinner. I could not quite read the emotions on his face.
There was only one thing I wanted to know.
“Why?”
‘Why is he acting like this?’
Somehow, Lee Soo-hyeon heard even that faint murmur.
His sky-blue eyes lifted to meet mine.
“You hate me, don’t you?”
After a brief pause, Lee Soo-hyeon let out a soft laugh.
His smile was so light and carefree that I stiffened without realizing it.
Then he drew a breath, and his eyes curved warmly.
“Sorry, Yu-un.”
‘But… sorry for what?’
The question drifted through my mind, never fully taking shape before dissolving back into my subconscious.
I could feel a steady gaze burning into the side of my face.
When I turned my head stiffly, Yoo Si-eon was staring at me.
For some reason, there was a chill in his eyes.
I shrank back instinctively, as if I had just added another sin to Min Yu-un’s long list of wrongdoings.
*****
In the end, Yoo Si-eon and Lee Soo-hyeon followed me all the way to my apartment building.
I tried to send them off at the entrance, but even after stepping into the elevator, neither of them showed any sign of leaving.
When we finally reached my door, I turned to face them.
Their expectant expressions, as if they were wondering why I had not opened the door yet, were beyond ridiculous.
“…Take care. See you next week.”
After much deliberation, that was the best farewell I could manage.
It was already Friday.
Almost a full week had passed since I found myself in Min Yu-un’s body.
The thought settled strangely inside me.
Back when I had been living as Seong Yu-un, my life had been nothing more than an endless stretch of days I endured because I could not find a way out. In the end, I had scraped together the courage to escape through death.
But ever since becoming Min Yu-un, I had not seriously thought about dying, aside from that first day.
I had not cursed the world.
I had not resented myself either.
Life here was comparatively peaceful and uneventful.
That did not mean I wanted to live.
‘It’s just that I have a reason to keep going. Otherwise, I would have given up already.’
“You’re really going to leave us standing out here?”
The question pulled me out of my thoughts.
Lee Soo-hyeon was fiddling with the strap of his bag as he looked at me.
“Well, what else would I do?”
I blinked, genuinely confused.
Lee Soo-hyeon’s grip on his bag strap tightened slightly, and his lips curved into a strange smile.
Without warning, he stepped closer.
“I heard you gave the others cream buns when you apologized.”
‘Cream buns?’
The sudden topic threw me for a moment.
Then I remembered.
The cream buns I had given Yoo Si-eon as part of my apology.
And the ones I had handed to Han Tae-ryeong during our second meeting.
‘Ah…’
I sighed inwardly and replayed the moment I had apologized to Lee Soo-hyeon.
The doorbell had rung while I was talking to Min Yu-un. When I opened the door and found Lee Soo-hyeon standing there, I had blurted out an apology without thinking.
The cream buns had not even crossed my mind.
And I had no extras left, since I had already given Yoo Si-eon a new pack.
After sorting through my memories, I pressed the passcode and unlocked the door.
“I’m sorry.”
I had not expected something like this to come up.
That was why I had originally planned to give all three of them the same thing.
“I have other bread inside. I’ll give you something else.”
I had bought a few extras for quick meals, so it was not a big deal.
With a soft beep, the door unlocked.
I stepped inside and glanced back at Lee Soo-hyeon.
“Come in.”
A faint smile tugged at Lee Soo-hyeon’s lips.
For some reason, there was a glimmer of triumph in his expression as he walked past Yoo Si-eon.
Just as I turned to close the door, a hand shot through the gap, utterly unconcerned with the possibility of getting caught.
Startled, I swung the door open again.
Fortunately, Yoo Si-eon’s hand was unharmed.
Lee Soo-hyeon, equally startled, raised his voice.
“Si-eon, what are you—”
“I’m coming in too.”
Before I could say anything, Yoo Si-eon declared his intention as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Then he stepped inside like he belonged there.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pried my fingers from the doorknob, shut the door himself, and locked it.
The electronic lock chimed with a bright, cheerful melody.
“We don’t know what Min Yu-un might do to you, Lee Soo-hyeon.”
Yoo Si-eon added it casually as he slipped off his shoes.
Despite this being only his second time here, he moved around the apartment with the ease of someone who had lived there for years.
“…Hah.”
Lee Soo-hyeon let out a short, scoffing breath before bending down to remove his shoes as well.
He placed them neatly in a corner of the shoe rack, then followed Yoo Si-eon into the living room.
Meanwhile, I stood there, still trying to process what had just happened.
[What’s with those two? Did you feed them cyanide or something, Seong Yu-un?]
“I have no idea.”
[So apologies really do make people love you.]
In the end, Min Yu-un arrived at a bizarre conclusion about the inexplicable situation.
An exasperated gaze met my dazed eyes.
Those two were strange, but Min Yu-un was no less strange himself.
“Yu-un?”
Perhaps I had been standing still for too long, because Lee Soo-hyeon poked his head around the shoe cabinet.
I felt as if all my energy had been drained out of me.
“I’ll bring the bread.”
Muttering softly, I stepped into the kitchen.
Just as I reached for the cream bun sitting near the cold window—
“A picture frame fell over.”
“Yeah. Is this Yu-un’s family photo?”
‘Family photo?’
I turned my head instinctively.
Yoo Si-eon was trying to set the fallen frame upright on the shelf.
[Seong Yu-un!]
A sudden shout pierced through my skull.
[Stop him!]
But the pain did not matter.
[Hurry!]
At Min Yu-un’s urgent cry, my body moved on its own.
In an instant, I wedged myself between Yoo Si-eon and Lee Soo-hyeon, snatching the frame roughly from Yoo Si-eon’s hands.
Without meaning to, my nails left red scratches down the back of his hand.
“Min Yu-un?”
Before I could fully grasp what I had done, I flipped the frame over and hurled it to the floor.
Crash!
A sharp crash rang through the air as shattered glass scattered in every direction.
A cold silence fell over the room.
Slowly, I blinked, my chest heaving as I struggled to catch my breath after the sudden outburst.
No one dared to break the suffocating tension.
“…”
I bit down hard on my lip until it turned white, not even realizing I was doing it.
Was it because Min Yu-un’s shout had startled me?
Or because of the desperation in his voice?
There had been no time to think.
I had simply acted on instinct.
Drawing in a deep breath, I looked down at the mess.
The frame lay facedown, the photo peeking out from beneath it.
Despite the chaos, the scattered shards of glass caught the light, glittering almost beautifully.
I had been too rash.
Making a scene like this in front of guests—especially people who already disliked me—what had I been thinking?
Suddenly, Lee Soo-hyeon, who had been frozen in place, bent down.
His hand reached toward the photo, as if he meant to flip it over and look.
This time, I moved faster than Min Yu-un could shout.
I dropped to my knees and swept my hand past the shards to grab the photo.
But before I could reach it, a firm grip clamped around my wrist.
“Min Yu-un, what are you doing?”
The one holding my wrist was Yoo Si-eon.
His face was twisted in a grimace, and his grip tightened with growing force.
“Are you seriously trying to touch that? You’ll cut yourself on the glass.”
Only then did it occur to me that I might have sliced my hand open on the sharp shards.
I flexed my free hand.
Before I could do anything else, Lee Soo-hyeon gently caught it too, as if to stop me from doing something reckless.
“I’m sorry, Yu-un. I wasn’t trying to look at the picture.”
Startled, I blinked.
“I just wanted to move it aside. Really.”
A faint sigh slipped from my lips.
Their reactions were not unfamiliar.
Just absurd.
“Do you think I’m six years old or something?”
I muttered in frustration.
Yoo Si-eon and Lee Soo-hyeon exchanged a look.
Irritated, I tugged against their grip.
“What’s with that look? Are you seriously treating me like a child?”
I mumbled in disbelief.
“A grown adult should know better than to reach straight into broken glass.”
Yoo Si-eon’s sharp remark left me momentarily speechless.
After all, I was the one who had rushed over and hurled the frame.
And I was the one who had tried to snatch the photo out from among the shattered glass.
I bit my lip and looked away.
When I said nothing, Yoo Si-eon let go of my wrist and gestured toward the sofa.
“Go sit down and stay out of the way.”
At his words, Lee Soo-hyeon stood, his hand still resting gently over mine.
“Come on, Yu-un. Let’s sit down.”
I parted my lips.
No sound came out.