Chapter 16

“He’s a real workhorse. Once Sunwoo takes an interest in something, every related book in the library disappears. He has this tendency to dig in until the end.”

As Ayeon recalled their undergrad days, she spoke about Jin Sunwoo.

“Really?”

“Yes. If you assign one task, he brings back two or three. And the quality is always so high that the professors were stunned. If students want good grades, they’ll have to put in real effort.”

Whenever someone ended up in a group project with him, they would initially be excited by his looks and personality, but soon they all started groaning.

Did the assignment really need to be done to that extent.

But he led everyone and completed every task perfectly.

“He didn’t become the youngest professor for nothing. He has it all. Looks, personality, brains.”

At Tae-eun’s words, Ayeon just smiled faintly instead of answering.

“Sunbae.”

Just then, a voice called out to her from somewhere.

“Oh. Professor Jin.”

Sunwoo noticed Tae-eun standing next to Ayeon and gave her a polite nod.

“You’re not much of a gentleman, are you, Professor Jin?”

Tae-eun said with a squint, and Sunwoo gave a sheepish smile.

“Were you talking about me?”

“Yeah. She didn’t know much about you, so I filled her in.”

Ayeon replied playfully.

“You said I’m a workhorse again, didn’t you?”

“Oh my, how did you guess?”

As Tae-eun reacted in surprise, Sunwoo gave Ayeon a look that said he knew her too well.

“Only Sunbae calls me that. Don’t misunderstand, Ms. Lee. I’m a gentle workhorse.”

“It’s written all over your face. Even if I tried not to see it that way, I couldn’t. Gentle workhorse… Professor Gentle?”

Tae-eun said brightly, making Sunwoo laugh awkwardly.

“Let’s have a meal together sometime.”

“Sure, Ms. Lee.”

After Tae-eun left first, Sunwoo looked at Ayeon with soft eyes.

“Sunbae.”

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk for a moment?”

His expression was unusually serious, so Ayeon responded with a matching tone.

“Yeah. Sure.”

To be honest, Ayeon wasn’t fully present. She couldn’t tell if she was walking or standing still, meeting someone or just going through the motions.

Her body was moving and speaking out of habit while her mind was elsewhere.

But seeing the way Sunwoo looked at her brought her back to herself for a moment.

In front of him, she wanted to seem composed and calm.

No matter what she was feeling, she didn’t want anyone, especially him, to notice.

She wanted to be the same Seon Ayeon she had always been to him, the one who loved psychology and lived for it.

She wanted to be a Sunbae who exuded ease.

Not the Ayeon who was slowly crumbling inside.

“Professor, we’re all ready.”

A student approached Sunwoo, eyes shining.

“Ah…”

Sunwoo glanced between his watch and Ayeon, looking conflicted.

“They’re waiting. Go on inside. We’ll talk later.”

Reluctantly, Sunwoo nodded.

“See you later then.”

He headed into the lecture hall, and Ayeon walked toward the department office.

After finishing her errands, she stepped back into the hallway. It felt quieter than usual.

She walked slowly, letting out a soft sigh.

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking when she found herself in front of the lecture hall where the orientation was taking place.

The door was open again.

She peeked inside. All the students were focused on one person.

Jin Sunwoo, standing at the front.

So that was why the hallway was so quiet.

The students watched him with bright, eager eyes, their expressions serious in a way she hadn’t seen before.

“Professor, is there something you’ve always kept in mind while studying psychology?”

A student asked. Sunwoo thought for a moment, then spoke slowly.

“Hm… I’ve always hoped that my work would never be used to judge people rashly. I wanted it to be used only to help others.”

His firm voice resonated quietly through the room.

“It’s thanks to that that I’ve been able to live well too.”

His joking remark at the end made the serious students burst into laughter.

Ayeon pressed her lips together, watching him as she had moments ago.

His calm words touched something deep in her.

The students must have felt the same, because the entire lecture hall erupted in applause.

Sunwoo stood alone at the podium, quietly shining.

* * *

“It’s been a long time.”

Ayeon met Assistant Manager Joo at a café not far from Jooheon’s company.

“It really has. I think the last time I saw you was at the company’s opening ceremony. You look exactly the same, ma’am.”

Joo’s soft gaze rested on Ayeon.

It wasn’t just flattery.

Even after five years of marriage, Ayeon still looked young.

It was partly her well-defined, pretty features, but more than that, she had a kind of natural purity.

And on top of that, she carried herself with a quiet intellectual grace.

She was someone anyone would find likable at first sight.

Even as a fellow woman, Joo couldn’t help but envy her.

She had it all.

Or so she had thought until recently.

“Do I? You look exactly the same as you did five years ago, Assistant Manager Joo.”

“Oh no. I really feel how fast aging hits once you start raising a kid.”

Ayeon smiled faintly at the way she waved her hands in denial.

“Your child must have grown a lot by now.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“If I remember correctly, her name was Soyul.”

“That’s right. Joo Soyul. She’s already seven. A terrible seven. She never listens.”

“Wow, when I last saw her she was just a baby. Time really flies.”

“Doesn’t it? Life’s been such a scramble that I didn’t even notice the years passing. Suddenly she’s grown, and I’ve aged.”

Joo gave a small laugh.

“She’s grown enough that things are a little easier, but it’s still hard. Every moment is something new. Maybe it’s because I’m raising her without a dad. No matter how hard I try, it never feels like enough.”

Her words made Ayeon tilt her head.

“You’re raising her alone?”

“Ah, I guess you didn’t know. I got divorced before joining the company. I must not have mentioned it.”

“I… didn’t know.”

Ayeon replied with an awkward expression and bit her lip.

She had gotten to know some of the employees during company dinners around the time Jooheon founded the business.

She’d met Assistant Manager Joo then too.

Maybe she simply hadn’t remembered Joo’s story because it hadn’t come up again, or maybe she had brushed it off as irrelevant to her own life.

Come to think of it, she had introduced her daughter as Joo Soyul.

She’d taken her mother’s surname.

“I’m a fine arts major without a fancy degree or resume, so The Bridge took a chance on me. It’s the only reason I can raise my kid and keep working. It would have been impossible to find an office job with fixed hours in my field otherwise.”

“Ah.”

Ayeon hadn’t known any of this.

The more she listened, the more she found herself drawn in.

“But ma’am, may I ask why you wanted to meet me all of a sudden today…”

“Well.”

Ayeon ran her fingers along the mug on the table, hesitant to begin.

Now that they were face to face, she didn’t know where to start.

“Is this about the CEO?”

Joo asked carefully.

Ayeon let out a quiet sigh without realizing it, then met her eyes.

“My gut tells me that you might be able to answer something I’ve been wondering about.”

“What…”

Joo’s expression grew tense.

“Jooheon didn’t come home last night. He said he had too much work and would be pulling an all-nighter.”

“Work?”

Joo looked incredulous. Ayeon pressed her lips together and slowly nodded.

“He said he worked in the company’s storage facility in Unpo. But you told me that day was his day off. Yours too.”

“Ha. That’s right. I took a day off because Soyul was sick.”

She sighed involuntarily before speaking.

Her child had been sick.

Realizing she had misunderstood Joo, Ayeon suddenly felt a weight in her chest.

She had thought of all kinds of possibilities before coming here.

Her head had been a mess about what to say and how.

But now, things were starting to clear up.

She felt like she might finally be able to speak honestly.

“I acted like I knew about the day off at the time, but I actually didn’t.”

“Ma’am.”

Joo looked at her with a meaningful expression.