Even If You Run Away

“Hey, lift your head.”

A slender finger roughly grasped Ye-in’s chin, forcing her face upward. Se-rin tilted Ye-in’s head side to side, inspecting the spot where she’d been slapped, and clicked her tongue.

“Mom, you shouldn’t hit her face. She’s supposed to be a bride soon.”

“Looking at that face alone is enough to make me lose my mind,” her stepmother said through gritted teeth.

As her stepmother trembled with irritation, Se-rin waved Ye-in away with a dismissive flick of her hand, as if swatting at a bug.

“Don’t stress Mom out more. Go on. Didn’t you say you needed to wash up?”

Finally, permission to leave. Ye-in bowed her head and rose to her feet.

Before she could leave, Se-rin added a parting jab.

“See? This is what happens when you rely on nothing but a pretty face.”

That’s not true. I never meant for this to happen. What should she say—deny it? Explain herself?

Ye-in already knew the answer.

Neither. Both were the wrong response. What Se-rin wanted was for her to admit everything.

You’re just like your mother, with nothing to show for yourself except a face that can tempt men, and yet you have the audacity to sit at my family’s table and eat. She remembered her stepmother sitting beside her, waiting for the same desperate apologies when she was just a child in her school uniform.

“I’m sorry.”

Just as she had apologized to her stepmother, Ye-in repeated herself. Even after she’d bowed and apologized, she could still feel their piercing stares burning into the back of her neck.

She was exhausted. Once in the sanctuary of her tiny room, she sank onto the bed with a long, heavy sigh.

The “storage room” she’d been given barely fit a bed and a wardrobe. Boxes and belongings she hadn’t had a chance to unpack cluttered the corners, but her stepmother clearly had no intention of clearing the space for her.

Her cheek throbbed painfully. She carefully ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth to check for injuries, but fortunately, there was no damage.

I wish I had time to let the swelling go down before visiting Grandma. Pressing her cold hand to her cheek, Ye-in glanced at the clock on the wall.

The time made her stomach sink. Even if she left immediately, visiting hours would be cutting it close.

She made up her mind quickly. If she left now and caught a taxi, she’d at least get to see her grandmother’s face. Still wearing her damp clothes, Ye-in hurried out of the house.

The rain had eased since earlier, but the air was still bitterly cold. Shivering against the chill, she flagged down a taxi and climbed in, nervously checking the time on her phone as they drove.

The hospital room was a private, well-kept single when she finally arrived and rushed upstairs. Seeing it—her one tangible achievement—brought a faint sense of pride to Ye-in’s weary expression.

At the very least, she’d managed to give this much to her grandmother.

“Grandma, I’m here.”

Forcing a cheerful greeting, Ye-in stepped closer, and her grandmother, startled, raised herself slightly from the bed.

“I thought you wouldn’t make it today.”

“Of course I’d come. I was just a little late because I had some errands to run.”

“Why do you look so pale? And your cheek—what happened?”

“It’s nothing.”

Not wanting her grandmother to notice, Ye-in buried her face into the sheets. The sterile scent of the hospital lingered in the air, heavy and oppressive, pressing down on her chest.

‘Are you going to let your grandmother, who raised you, suffer and die just because you don’t want to deceive my parents?’

The words echoed in her mind.

Her grandmother might have received good care and undergone surgery in this excellent hospital for now, but what about the next time? It wasn’t something that could be covered with just a little money.

Coming to the hospital in her drenched clothes had been as much for her grandmother as it had been for herself. Staying in that house felt like it would drive her mad. She could endure physical discomfort, but the torment in her heart was unbearable.

In that house, Ye-in was utterly alone.

If her grandmother were to pass away, she would become an orphan in this world. Her grandmother was the only person who had never abandoned her—the only family she had.

“Grandma, don’t leave me. I have no one else but you.”

The words came out like a child’s whimper. Her grandmother slowly reached out and stroked her head. The frail but warm touch made Ye-in want to cry like a little girl.

If I cry here, it will only make her worry.

She couldn’t burden her already ailing grandmother with her tears. Pretending to glance at the clock, Ye-in rose to her feet.

“I came too late today, so I can’t stay long. I’ll come back tomorrow. If you need anything, just call me, okay? I’ll bring it. And even if you don’t have an appetite, you have to eat your hospital meals, alright?”

“You should be the one taking care of yourself. Every time I see you, you look thinner.”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine? You’ve been saying that since you were a child, always pretending everything was fine so I wouldn’t worry.”

Her grandmother’s hand brushed over hers. Her fingers, thin and bony like the branches of a tree, trembled slightly.

“I need to see you find someone to take care of you before I go.”

“I told you not to talk about dying.”

“Someone you can lean on—that’s what you need, my little one. It’s all I’ve been worried about since I came to Seoul.”

“Are you worried about me every day?”

She asked, playfully, like a child, and her grandmother clasped her hand tightly. Her chest ached as tears threatened to rise.

She remembered her grandmother, back bent, sweeping and cleaning her father’s house. The old woman who had endured the sharp words and insults of her stepmother without flinching.

When Ye-in, sobbing, had begged her grandmother not to come anymore, the older woman had only held her tightly, insisting it wasn’t hard. What’s harder is not being able to see you, my sweet girl. How could I live my life if I couldn’t check on you every morning?

To have someone who worries about you—how crucial that is to life. And to face the possibility of losing that person—how terrifying that is.

“Maybe I should just… get married.”

“Is there a man in your life?”

Her grandmother didn’t know about the deal Ye-in had made with her father. If she did, she would have refused to move to a better hospital, even if it cost her life.

“You can always find someone.”

“Well, this is new. I thought you only ever studied.”

“I don’t spend all my time studying…” Ye-in mumbled, closing her eyes.

She had always been the child who stayed at her desk, diligently focused. She studied hard, hoping to become someone successful who could repay her grandmother for all the sacrifices she had made.

She wanted to give back, to ensure her grandmother never thought raising her had been a mistake.

She wanted to prove her worth.

“It’s really time for visiting hours to end,” Ye-in said softly, almost as if to herself. She kissed her grandmother’s cheek as she said goodbye. Precious, warm moments like this always passed too quickly. The bright spots in Ye-in’s life were fleeting.

Walking down the hallway after leaving the room, her legs felt weak, and she stumbled. She tried to walk straight, forcing her body upright, her back stiff and rigid.

When she reached the lobby, her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, her expression darkened.

“Father.”

It wasn’t often that her father called. Had Tae-heon already reached out to him? She thought she’d braced herself, but her heart pounded nervously.

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the hospital with Grandma.”

“Always at that place? You’re never at home.”

His grumbling made her throat tighten with a retort she dared not say. That wasn’t a home—it was a place that drained her, body and soul.

But she knew better than to speak her mind. Like her stepmother, her father’s response would only bring more trouble. So, she stayed silent and listened.

“Kwon’s family wants to arrange another meeting.”

“Another meeting?”

Hadn’t she already made everything clear? She had explicitly said she wouldn’t marry. Why wouldn’t they let it go?

“Yes. They’ll reach out to you. Talk it through and see how it goes.”

See how it goes? With that man? How?

Ye-in kept walking, her steps aimless. She barely noticed as she exited the hospital. The drizzle soaked her hair little by little. Her father continued speaking.

“You’ve done so much for me, really. Thanks to you, I’m finally getting by. Your older sister’s a real handful—always argumentative, loud, never listens. But you, Ye-in, you’re everything a woman should be: calm, beautiful, composed. Kwon saw you and immediately knew you were the one. Thanks to you, I can hold my head high.”

Her father laughed, a chuckling, almost warm sound that felt uncharacteristically gentle. When was the last time he had spoken her name with such tenderness?

He was a wretched man who had made her life miserable, but he was still her father. There had been a time when she had longed for his approval, enduring everything just to gain a shred of recognition. Like when she was seven, the urge to obey and simply follow his orders tugged at her, to walk into that wedding hall without resistance.

“Father, I… I don’t think I can go through with this marriage.”

But just as she had forced herself to walk upright, she made herself speak.

Her heart pounded wildly, and her blood surged, making her fingertips burn as though they were aflame.

After a brief silence, her father’s response came.

“Stop spouting nonsense and know your place.”

The call ended abruptly. The monotonous beeping of the disconnected line rang in Ye-in’s ears as she lowered the phone and continued walking.

Realizing she hadn’t made it to the road and was instead circling the parking lot, tears welled up and spilled over. She thought she had been walking straight, but she’d been going in circles—like a fool.

Once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. Sobbing, she crouched into a corner, her body trembling.

Warm tears rolled down her neck, mixing unpleasantly with the cold raindrops. She hated the sensation. She wished she could vanish—to dissolve into the rain, flow away, and disappear completely.

And then, the rain stopped.

Following the shadow that fell across her, Ye-in slowly looked up.

A black umbrella had been extended over her head. The man holding it, shielding her from the rain, looked down at her with the composed, icy expression she had once wished she could master.

Why was he here, now?

“How did you know?” she asked in a daze. How did you know I’d be here?

Tae-heon tilted the umbrella slightly in response.

Behind him, the world blurred into silver streaks of rain, swallowed by the downpour. Only he stood clearly in focus beneath the dark canopy, as if this space was his alone.

“You’re crying.”

The man’s fingers brushed the bruise on her cheek.

“With a face that looks like it would crumble if touched, you managed to hold it together so well back then.”

Tae-heon slowly knelt in front of her. The moment their eyes met… Why did it feel this way?

It was as if the falling rain reversed its course, flowing back into the sky. The relentless, unending storm seemed to shift around him, as if the world itself transformed in his presence.

“I was curious, ever since the café… what you’d look like when you cry.”

“And?”

Her tongue moved without her consent. She wanted to know. What did he think of her, crying like this?

“More than I imagined…”

No matter how hard she focused, she couldn’t hear the rest of his sentence. His thumb moved downward, tracing her cheek, before brushing against her lower lip. The warmth of his touch was far more intense than she had expected.

As his hand lingered on her lips, Tae-heon grasped her wrist.

Suddenly. Without giving her a chance to resist.

“Get up. You’re soaked.”

To where?

She didn’t even ask the obvious question. Instead, she stood as if under a spell, letting him lead her. Tae-heon said nothing as he walked her toward his parked car.

When she slid into the passenger seat, the door closed behind her with a soft click. The noise of the outside world was muffled, fading into the distance.

Inside the sealed car, it was just her and Tae-heon.

The realization sent a shiver down her spine, like a thin current of electricity running along her back.