Korean Story Set

a wild, a fool and a ring

“Why didn't you come yesterday? You didn't even answer the phone or reply to my short message. Know it? Almost all day I waited for you here yesterday.”

That's a bunch of sayings Sungmin made when I just arrived at a park where we promised to meet yesterday. Sungmin looked up at me who was sitting on the side of the fountain pool and just looked at the water that filled the circle-shaped pool without flinching to respond to his words just now.



“Jae?” call him. The man then sat down next to me. “Gwaenchana? (You okay?)”

“Sway me!”

Sungmin smiled wryly. “What are you talking about, eoh?”

“Not this kind of thing I expected,” I said slowly without daring to turn towards Sungmin who was on my left.

“Go and never see me again in a lifetime? That, right you expect?”

“If you know what I want, why are you still looking for me?”

“I never looked for you, because I knew that fate would eventually bring us together.”

“Ck.. It's free. We met also, I already have no more feelings for you like before.” I said in a cold tone, which Sungmin replied cynically.

“Lofer.”

“You know I never mess with my words.”

Suddenly Sungmin grabbed my left wrist which surprised me. His sharp gaze plunged right into my eyeball.

“Then what does this mean, Shin Jae Kyung? If you don't love me anymore, why are you still wearing it? Did you forget? This is our engagement ring, isn't it?”

I was shocked by Sungmin's words. Moreover, he deliberately placed emphasis on every sentence he shot. My tongue was suddenly twisted, not knowing what to say. My eyes stared blankly at the finger of the left hand that Sungmin had raised. He wanted me to see what was there. A circle-shaped object adorning the ring finger of my left hand. The thing I haven't let go of since it was first pinned there two years ago. My eyes turned toward Sungmin. His eyes were staring at me. There's a wound there, behind his foxy eye. I can't cover up the facts, too, if I feel the same hurt myself. And I'm sure the man knew even though I covered it up in such a way. I need to wake up. It shouldn't take too long to be washed away in this kind of situation or the defense I built with great difficulty would be destroyed just by looking into the eyes of that Lee surnamed man.

“You doubt my words?” I was cynical, breaking the silence between us.

“You suck in terms of lying to me.” Sungmin's voice sounded trembling.

“Then I will prove your perception of me about it is wrong, Ming.”

I threw out Sungmin's hand which was still holding my left wrist. Without saying much even in a cold manner, I removed the ring made of titanium. And again without thinking anything, I threw the ring. I'm sure that the object that had no limit on each side of it had managed to touch the bottom of the pool a while after I threw it. I looked to the side. Sungmin looked with an expression of disbelief staring straight at the pool that remained calm, unperturbed by the cold atmosphere mixed with tension that surrounded the two of us.

This time it was the turn of the man who was still frozen. Sungmin didn't say a word even if it was just to berate me if I was a stupid woman, if I would regret what I did now. But I don't care, I don't want to care. I just have to get away from her life. I stood up, turned my back to the pool. While Sungmin still did not want to budge on the chair he was sitting on. I put both hands in the pocket of the sweater I was wearing, trying to be indifferent other than because the night air was indeed blowing very cold. It was as cold as the atmosphere that would not be warm between us.

“Now do you believe? You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? I let go like I'm gonna let you go. You better go home now and try to start accepting the fact that I don't want you by my side anymore. Good night.” One step, two steps. I slowly started leaving Sungmin. Deep in my heart, I hoped Sungmin would stop my footsteps from stepping on the surface of the earth. She hugged me from behind saying if she didn't want me to go, she couldn't live without me. Impossible. It will never happen because of my own actions.

“With the pinning of this ring, then from now on your status changes from yeojachingu (lover) to the future wife of young master Lee Sungmin.” A glimpse of the memories of the ring came filling the mind. Still stuck in the mind of fond memories two years ago. Sungmin gave me the ring on the balcony of my house, which he said was proposing to me at the time. He said with confidence that he was actually bearing the fruits of my scorn. But honestly, it was a happy and moving moment for me. I never thought Sungmin would be this serious in our relationship.

“Will you promise me one thing? That no matter what happens, we will always love each other?” It was also clearly remembered. All the memories with him now started swirling around in my mind. It makes me hard to think and it's getting harder to put my feet up. Unknowingly my eyes began to cloud.

“Why are you so concerned about me?”

“Because you are yeojachingu-ku.”

“Why do you want to make me your yeojachingu?”

“Because I love you.”

“Why can you love me?”

“I don't know. There's no reason for that, Jae.”

I closed my mouth and stopped walking. Tried to hold the shoving forcefully outside and was about to turn into a scream full of wounds. My heart is burning, very. My chest was so tight I found it hard to breathe. Is this sick? Does it feel like this pain leaves someone we really don't want to leave behind? Yep. Sungmin's right. I was lying. Everything I said was a lie. But I can't do anything other than this. Situations and circumstances forced me to scratch the wound in the heart of the man I loved so much. Cold night air penetrates into the respiratory cavity. Slightly able to neutralize the tightness that feels suffocating. A tear slowly rolled from the eye patch that I quickly removed before anyone saw, though I was sure that it was just me in this place at midnight. And also Sungmin, whether he's gone or not.

I began to gather energy back to immediately leave this area of the park. But just one step, suddenly from behind a sound like something fell into the pool water. My husband tries not to care. But something inside held the foot back to go further. Instead ask to turn around to see what really happened there. The pool water illuminated by the lights around him seemed calm. Plus the quiet atmosphere around made me feel a little scared. ‘What sound was that?’ my question is in my heart. What fell in there? From his voice sounded quite loud, like a weighty object.

There ain't?

I was struck by a cellphone ringtone that sounded from inside one of the coat pockets. I reached into my right pocket and got what I was looking for. Name ‘Kyunnie’ is listed on the phone screen as a phone caller. But I didn't answer because my heart suddenly felt like a mess. Eventually, the man ended his call. The shock has not gone away. Once the call is terminated, the wallpaper on the phone appears. A photo of a woman posing while v-signing with her right hand and set on the beach behind her. That'sme. Sungmin took the picture while we were vacationing at Gwanghwali beach almost a year ago.When I returned to this place, I did not find Sungmin's figure again. I looked around trying to find the man. Nil, there's no sign of him. Did he leave here by going the other way? I was about to leave when my eyes accidentally caught the attention-grabbing object on the wooden chair I was sitting with Sungmin earlier. I approached, grabbing the thing carefully as well as pounding. A coat? I know well the perfume that sticks to this brown coat. Could this…? And if it's not wrong he used a brown coat when we met a while ago. I didn't pay much attention to what clothes he was wearing, but I can confirm he was wearing this coat here.

Why are these things here? Did Sungmin leave her? Not likely. It's too cold tonight. The weirdness re-emerged when I also found a pair of shoes under the chair's feet. An uneasy feeling enveloped the heart of finding Sungmin's belongings. He must still be here. But why leave his stuff? I remembered the sound like something had fallen into the pool that had been heard. My head quickly turned towards the pool. Could Sungmin? Suddenly some small bubbles appeared on the surface of the pool water and caught my sense of sight. I approached the side of the pool. The bubble still appeared and the calmness of the pool water was broken because there seemed to be small movements in there.

“Ming, is that you?” my screams agitated. There's no answer.

“Ming, if it is you, then quickly go up,” my command with the volume rising. Still no answer. Is it really Sungmin in there? But I don't know why my little heart says it's him.

“Yak! Lee Sungmin's! Answer me!”

Silent. The bubbles slowly disappeared. The water became calm again. But my anxiety is becoming more and more. My brain is starting to not work properly right now. My mind is really upset and I don't know who to ask for help. All I know is that the pool water in this park is basically deliberately made in from other garden ponds built in the Gwangju area. Its depth can reach 5-6 meters. If it wasn't that deep, I'd probably dive to see if Sungmin was there or not. No matter what, I'll turn into a chunk of ice when I get back to the surface.

“Sungmin-ah, don't frighten me,” lirihku accompanied by stuffing.

I don't know since when the tears fell freely to wet both cheeks. Getting that man's possession stuff here, scares me even more. Forcing me to believe Sungmin was in there and I could do nothing but cry. My cry became when the mind guessed why he was doing this. Could it be that he tried to end his life after I cut off our relationship like this? Just remembering that makes me even more haunted by guilt.

“My answer or I call the police here right now, Lee Sungmin!”

Silent.

“Truly stupid joke. This isn't funny at all. You think this way I'll come back to you? I will hate you even more!”

Silent.

“Quotes are stupid!”

Stay silent. Not wanting to give up quickly, I reached into the phone in the pocket of a sweater. Oh, my God, I just remembered. I left it at home because it was charging its exhausted battery. Misadventure seems to want to play around at this time. Sungmin's only phone hoping to call for help from anyone also suddenly dies from running out of battery. My legs are squeezing and I'm no longer strong enough to stand. I sat helplessly hugging both knees bent. I put my head there. My cry was heard again, even tighter.

“I'm sorry, Ming.”

I started to curse myself for what happened. I'm so sorry now for what I did to Sungmin. I told you I never meant to let her down. I don't want to do this either. If the world had sided with me now, all I wanted was to be with that man. There was a faint sound coming from the direction of the pool. I sharpened my hearing and the sound became clearer. The sound of people coughing? With a thumping heart, I slowly raised my head. Looks like someone is swimming in a weak movement from the middle of the pool water to the side of the nearest pool. Several times the man tried to get out of the cold pool water as soon as possible. But because her body state seemed so weak, she always failed. His body was shivering and unceasingly coughed. Probably because too much water goes into his throat.

“Ming-ah!”

I immediately ran towards Sungmin who was not far from where I am now. I held out my hands to help her up, out of the water as fast as I could before her completely wet body froze due to the water temperature and the extremely cold air. Sungmin's body was not powered at all when I managed to lift it back to the surface. His breathing was still heard hunting and his foxy eyes occasionally closed. Sungmin inhaled the air so greedily while I helped pat his shoulder so that his cough immediately stopped and the water that entered his body could go outside.

“What are you doing, Stupid?” I asked with a rebuking tone to the man who was lying weak and put his head on my thighs. He smiled weakly.

“This,” said Sungmin slowly. He opened the right palm that had been in his head earlier.

I looked at Sungmin in disbelief. “You?”

“Don't drop it carelessly again! Especially if I know you lost it, you're done with your history. And I'm not kidding.”

“Are you really stupid, huh? You're willing to dive into water that can turn you into chunks of ice? What do you really think?” I could not resist any longer the frustration of the foolishness this man had just committed.

“Hey. You forgot, Shin Jae Kyung? I bought this ring in America and I designed it myself. You also know that it's very expensive, right? And I've also said that this titanium ring is our engagement ring. So you have to take good care of it.”

“Lee Sungmin! Don't you think that this stupid act could harm even your own life, huh?”

“I can't think healthy if it's about you, Jae. Even though I have to lose my life once I don't care, as long as you don't leave me.”

My breath is back. My esophagus felt very painful because it had held back tears that were ready to slide for too long. Adding a patch of eyes that have also been enlarged since earlier. “From the water, I can hear your voice that worries me so much. You're afraid of losing me, aren't you?”

“…”

“You even cried for me.”

“I'm not crying.”

“No need to dodge,” said Sungmin, smiling while wiping away tears that I could no longer bear. Her fingers were so cold, but her smile felt warm.

“Take it,” pinta Sungmin smooth.

I'm shaking. “I can't.”

Sungmin grabbed my left hand. Put the titanium ring in the palm of the hand and hold it.

“Honest is yours.”

“Why are you so stubborn, Ming? I told you if...”.

“Take me home.”

“What?”

“I'm cold. I can get sick if it takes too long again here.”

“You can go home by yourself.”

“You can watch me drive in this state? If anything happens to me, you're the first one to take responsibility.”

“You threatened me?”

“Who?”

“Ck~ How dare you do this to me when we have no relationship now.”

“The car key is in the left coat pocket.”

“You!”

“Palli (Quick)! Hatchim~ Uhuk uhuk~”

With annoyed feelings mixed with worry and of course full of guilt, I finally led Sungmin who was walking in limp. Actually, I'm going to nag him again because he parked his car outside the park area to drain enough energy to get there. “Gomawo (Thank you),” Sungmin said as I sat his body wrapped in wet clothes on the seat next to the steering wheel. I didn't budge and focused more on wearing a seatbelt for him. Sungmin had already opened his mouth, about to say something again. But she undoed the intention because I immediately turned around, avoiding eye contact with her at close range. I walked around and got into the car. Sit behind the wheel and drive towards Gangnam area.