1. The downfall of the protagonist is an essential element of a drama.
2. Their failure becomes a humanizing relatability for the reader...
3. And signals the possibility of growth from their place at rock bottom.
4. Noona didn't come to school yesterday...
5. She told me not to worry over text...
6. "What do you wanna eat?"
7. ...but I bet those thugs are creating more trouble for her...
Memuatkan…Memuatkan…
1. "And where? Cafeteria? Convenience store? You up for stir-fried octopus?"
2. Yeah, I need to call her...
3. "Heeey! Hello? Lunch?"
4. "What am I, invisible?"
5. "!"
6. "Wait... Noona?"
7. "Noona!"
8. "Noona...! You okay?!"
1. "What happened yesterday?!"
2. But sometimes...
3. "Hm?"
4. "Yesterday? What do you mean?"
5. ...there are protagonists who act as if nothing's happened the very next day, like a complete sociopath.
3. "Seriously, I'm fine!"
4. "After that entire ordeal, chanyang took care of everything."
5. "I think he paid back all of his debt too..."
1. "Since those debt collectors are off our asses now, jin joo seems a lot more relaxed too."
2. "Well, that's good..."
3. "'cause morae scared me so bad..."
4. "She said this wouldn't end well..."
5. "And that this was all stupid..."
6. "Like, just jinx us all, huh?"
7. "..."
1. Morae's always had good intuition...
2. "Hm?"
3. "Um, jin joo's actually gone back to her house."
4. "So my house feels real empty now."
5. "Hm, maybe I'll take this opportunity to work at a shelter for abandoned animals."
6. "??!!"
7. Minho's always said he needs help, so...
1. "Noona."
2. "Are you sure you're okay with jin joo returning home?"
3. "You're still shaken by it, right?"
4. "For you, jin joo was..."
1. "Well..."
2. "...I am a bit down about it..."
3. "...but what could I do?"
4. "And if we really get into it, I'm the weird one here, so..."
5. "What?"
6. "Well...she was married."
7. "I think we just reached an inevitable conclusion."
1. "In fact, it's probably good that we ended things before real feelings got involved."
2. "...!!!"
3. "Why are you talking like that, noo-"
4. "Hey! Doyeon!"
5. "Come help with some department head stuff!"
6. "Good runnin' into ya!"
1. "Oh, the professor's calling me."
2. "Sorry, gunwoo. Let's talk later?"
3. "...wait-"
4. "..."
5. We're all back to where we belong.
1. That's all that this is.
1. "...stop."
2. "I'm... Not ready yet."
3. "..."
4. "Jin joo..."
5. "The shit I went through while you were gone..."
1. "The emotions I felt while living in that house alone for months on end..."
2. "You never so much as gave me a single phone call!"
3. "When to me..."
4. "...to me, you're all I had!"
1. They say crying out is said to be the most instinctive act of asking for help.
2. If that's true, then what does it mean to shed tears alone?
1. "Why am I..."
2. "...muffling the sounds of my sobs that no one can hear?"
3. My memories of those days are hazy, but it's only those nightmarish emotions that I remember as clear as day.
4. The days and nights lose their meaning...
1. ....and no matter how high up the sun was, I was in a perpetual state of darkness.
2. Back then...
1. "Back then, that was the best I could do!"
2. "This is the best I can do right now."
3. "I thought I'd want to give up and go back home if I heard your voice...!"
4. "Plus, if the debt collectors chased me down, I wouldn't have been able to do anything there!"
1. "There was no other choice!"
2. "..."
3. "Do you truly think that?"
4. "Did you never think about what I might go through?"
5. "!!!"
6. "No, I didn't! I'm telling the truth!"
7. "Jin joo, you know me!"
1. "I'd never do anything to put you in harm's way!"
2. "You have to believe me!"
3. "Please..."
4. "I'll give up the rest of the my life to prove that..."
5. "Hm?"
1. It seems...
2. ...like he's telling the truth...
1. ...so why don't I feel comforted by his words at all?
2. Huh...
1. She never clung onto me like this...
2. We're all back to where we belong.
1. That's all that this is.
2. Then there wasn't anything lost, and there isn't any reason to be sad.
1. "Noona. Time to leave, yeah?"
2. "..."
3. "Yeah."
4. "Soon."
1. "...noona?"
2. "Are you really okay?"
3. "Why do you keep asking...?"
4. "Huh?"
5. "Why?!"
6. "What, do I look sick?"
1. "Did I do something wrong?"
2. "..."
3. "N-no..."
4. "It's not that..."
5. "Gunwoo."
6. "Everything's fine."
7. It wasn't exactly surprising...
1. "...and this isn't even the first time."
2. "I did everything I possibly could, so I have zero regrets."
3. "So why on earth would I not be okay?"
1. "..."
2. Ever since she was little...
1. ...noona didn't need...
2. ...anyone in her life.
3. I always admired that about her, her steel mindset...
1. ...but I also worried that deep down, she might be sad. Like, really sad.
2. Shit...
1. ...now...
2. ...it's probably like her heart's been slashed open.