But the thing that made her feel embarrassed didn't stop there. Her whole family had been standing right there and had heard the entire exchange. Ha-neul just wanted the ground to swallow her up. She walked away quietly, like a person who had lost her soul, and her whole family anxiously followed along behind her. Ha-neul threw a fit, yelling at them for choosing to go up to the rooftop to grill meat at that exact moment.
Dong-gu, standing nearby, found the whole thing just as headache-inducing.
The next day, he got treated far too warmly by Ha-neul's family, which made Dong-gu feel so awkward that he just wanted to move out and be done with it. Right then, Ha-neul walked over and explained that last night was only because her mental state had been unstable lately, and she hoped he wouldn't mind it.
Dong-gu said he hoped the relationship between the two of them wouldn't get awkward, and Ha-neul thought exactly the same. She beat herself up with regret that her delusional misunderstandings had made them distance themselves from each other. She hyped herself up to act totally natural the next time she saw Dong-gu, but as soon as she caught sight of his silhouette, she dodged him immediately.
Dong-gu couldn't hold it back anymore. "Didn't we promise not to make it awkward?"
Ha-neul confessed that she felt totally humiliated by her own delusions. Because she had never had many friends before, she couldn't tell the difference between friendship and love.
Dong-gu comforted her, telling her not to feel embarrassed, because right now he himself felt he had no right to love anyone.
Ha-neul's mind was a mess after hearing that. She didn't get what he meant at all.
At her next appointment, Ha-neul's health indicators had all improved far more than last time. Her therapist asked whether she had any strange symptoms after the accident, like dreaming about it, or feeling overly anxious. Ha-neul said everything was still normal.
The doctor was happy for her, because many people who go through a huge trauma usually develop post-traumatic stress disorder. He even gave her an easy example to understand. It's like how a doctor can easily get this condition after facing a medical accident.
Ha-neul immediately thought of Dong-gu.
On the way home, she recalled Dong-gu's recent unusual behavior. She ran like crazy to his place, hugged him tightly, and asked, "You've been having a really hard time, haven't you?"
She could feel the pain and the pressure he was carrying. So she comforted him, saying that everything would be okay soon.
Dong-gu finally faced his own feelings too. He said that he had actually just been missing her a moment ago.
The next day, knowing that Dong-gu had PTSD, Ha-neul took him out to buy some wine to help him sleep, picked out some comfortable pajamas for him, and even went over to help him wash his blankets. While she was in the middle of washing, Ha-neul struck first and confessed straight out.
"I think I have feelings for you."
The sudden confession made Dong-gu freeze. After that, Ha-neul was extremely understanding and told him to just take his time thinking about it, since right now he still had to worry about his lawsuit.
Dong-gu agreed, but he also replied honestly, "It's true that I missed you. But I hope you can wait for me a little longer. I don't want to start any relationship in the terrible state I'm in right now."
And just like that, the feelings between the two of them grew even closer.
When she was about to leave, Ha-neul told Dong-gu that if he got nightmares and couldn't sleep, he should just call her and she would come over and play cards with him all night. Seeing her hesitating over and over, Dong-gu just asked her straight out what she wanted to say. Only then did she dare to advise him to go see a psychiatrist, to try getting counseling, and to take some medication.
But because of his pride, Dong-gu refused. Ha-neul didn't push it either.
That night, Dong-gu texted to invite her over to play cards. At first she complained, because it was so late to be inviting her anywhere. But then she suddenly remembered what she had said to him during the day. Thinking he must be having a nightmare, she hurried up to the rooftop.
Who knew that the man actually just wanted to play cards? Ha-neul pouted and decided to leave.
But then Dong-gu said, "I want to go to the hospital."
With Ha-neul accompanying him, Dong-gu went to the psychology clinic for counseling. A little while later, the two former legendary top students were sitting flat on the ground in the park, taking their psychiatric medication together.
Dong-gu couldn't help but make fun of himself. Seeing him sad, Ha-neul encouraged him to just live with his head held high, because good things would definitely come soon.
Just as they turned their heads, the two of them saw a 500-won coin rolling along the ground. Ha-neul excitedly rushed over to pick it up, and then danced so happily that the neighbors around them started pointing. Dong-gu felt so embarrassed that he quickly moved to stop her overly carefree behavior and dragged her away from the scene.
Using that exact 500-won coin they had found, the two of them went to play arcade games. While they were playing passionately, they didn't notice that a crowd of little kids had gathered behind them. Seeing Ha-neul start a verbal war with the kids, Dong-gu once again felt embarrassed on her behalf and had to drag her away again.
On the way back, a special character appeared. She was the girl who had ranked third in the whole school back in the day. Running into her two old rivals, the ones who had ranked first and second, the girl happily invited both of them for coffee.
Sung-kyung had always been following Dong-gu, and she knew his situation was chaotic right now, but she claimed she believed in him and boldly declared that the truth would definitely win.
Dong-gu was a bit awkward, but the peak came when Sung-kyung revealed that back in the day, she and he used to have feelings for each other. Just because Dong-gu used to scoop extra food for her in the cafeteria, and even let her borrow his eraser during exams. Sung-kyung's delusion left Dong-gu totally confused, while Ha-neul froze in shock.
Sensing that the vibe was starting to smell like a danger to his life, Dong-gu hurried to pay the bill and made an excuse to get out fast. When they parted ways, Sung-kyung even grabbed his arm to cheer him up, which nearly gave Dong-gu a heart attack.
Watching Sung-kyung leave, Ha-neul started throwing sarcastic remarks. She grumbled that back then he had treated her so stingily, but with other people he had been as chivalrous as the male lead of a romance novel.
Getting home, Dong-gu finally remembered the truth. It turned out that he had given Sung-kyung the extra sausage and lent her the big eraser purely to troll Ha-neul and make her mad for fun.
He also didn't understand why he had treated Ha-neul like that back then. Because normally, with people he didn't care about, he wouldn't even spare them a glance. Just like how he couldn't even remember who Sung-kyung was.