Geomancy couple

Chapter 53: Chapter 53

After many twists and turns he finally became her boyfriend, but there were endless scandalous rumors about him. She quarreled with him over those many times, and she became tired of dating him at some point.

On such occasions, he used to say, “You’re the one and only girl to me. Don’t listen to what others talk about me.”

He blinded her eyes with such sweet talk.

But she blew her top when she was tipped off that he went to a movie with a junior girl in the same club. At that time, he made excuses that he had to watch the movie because the tickets were sent to his club. But she couldn’t stand it anymore. She bluffed by telling him she would break up and never see him again. That was one month before he was enlisted in the army.

“Sorry. I am not worthy of holding you anymore as you are destined to leave me. I can’t ask you to stay beside me. Hope you can meet a nice guy.”

So he said goodbye to her. But two days later she met him again in an emergency room of a hospital, who was taken there in stupor due to over-drinking. According to the participants in the drinking party, he kept repeating, ‘I really can’t live without Arum,’ while crying.

When Arum arrived at the emergency room, he had just barely come to his senses while strongly smelling of alcohol. But she was deeply moved to see him alive and dated him again.

What a lousy love!

As the proverb went, ‘Once a user, forever a custom.’ There were rumors getting around on campus that even though Konsu joined the army, he was still dating different girls.

“That’s nonsense!”

Arum rejected it at the drop of a hat when her friends tipped her off on such rumors.

And she coped with such rumors sternly.

“Konsu is not that type of man.”

But he was.

For the girl who was in the same department, rumored to be Konsu’s date, made a bombshell announcement.

“Yeah, that’s right. I visited his army unit to see him.”

Arum wanted to drag her by the hair right away, but she couldn’t on campus. Arum was too nice to do so.

In that situation, she greeted that girl with a smile, though she bit her lips.

“I heard you went to see him at his unit. Is he doing well?”

“Yep!”

Arum didn’t like the way she smiled at her in a silly way.

‘Do I need to slap her in the face? Or do I have to give her a piece of my mind by shouting with a fierce look, “How dare you meet the boyfriend of your senior?” as often seen in a TV soap opera scene?’ At that time, Arum agonized over how to respond.

That girl responded, “Well, I came to realize that Konsu was serving at my father’s unit, so I had no other choice but to see him. And he kept calling me.”

“Are you sure he called you first?” said Arum, seeing red.

“Yeah, as you know, my father is a division commander.”

That was true. That girl, whose hair Arum wanted to pull, was the daughter of a division commander. That’s why Konsu was so anxious to date her. Sometime later he called Arum to say that his life in the army was much more comfortable after her junior came to see him.

It was really a close call. What if Arum had dragged her by the hair? What if her father had found out that Konsu’s girlfriend Arum had pulled his daughter’s hair? Most likely, Konsu would have been confined in the guardhouse.

“So, please don’t misunderstand me. Just trust me, okay?” he said.

His reassurance cleared her misunderstanding immediately.

Today, too, she wanted to trust his reassurance once again.

‘Just trust me. Only believe me.’

At that moment, her smartphone buzzed again.

It was a call from Jina.

***

Arum stepped into wine bar underground. Jina already got there, sitting at the corner of the bar. When she called Arum, she said she had a get-together dinner with her colleagues, but there was no one when Arum arrived. On the table was an empty bottle of wine.

“Where are your colleagues?” sitting down face to face with her, Arum asked.

“You’re a bad girl who deserted your friend because of your boyfriend!”

Jina was gazing at her with a stern look, but her eyes already showed that she was drunk. Though she tried to fix her gaze at her, she couldn’t.

“How much did you drink? You told me you’re having a company dinner, right? Did they all leave you alone here?”

“I left midway.”

Jina filled her glass again.

“So boring.”

“Stop drinking, Jina. Let’s get out. Let me give you a ride in a taxi.”

“It’s only 11PM. Have a drink.”

“Aren’t you going to work tomorrow?”

“I should. By the way, did you meet Konsu? Why didn’t you receive my call?”

“I didn’t know that since I put my phone in my handbag. You’re drunk.”

“I’m jealous of you. You have a boyfriend.”

Jina usually didn’t talk about men, but today she did.

“Try to find a man and date!” Arum said curtly. She didn’t want to talk about Konsu today.

“Are you kidding? You know I find it difficult to report to work everyday. Dating a guy? I don’t think I can, not in this life.”

“Aren’t you going to stop and get up?”

“Got it, got it. Let’s have another drink and then go home. Call Konsu, too.”

Jina drank a glass of water, but felt strange about her attitude.

“Did you quarrel again?”

“Nope.”

“Why do you look sullen then?”

Though she was drunk, Jina read her mind accurately.

“Were you stood up by Konsu? Or was he dating another woman? That bastard!”

She felt dizzy suddenly when Jina mentioned ‘dating another woman.’

“Hey, don’t leave me curious!” Jina pressed her. Though she was drunk a lot, she persistently kept at it.

Arum stopped by the wine bar to take her out, but she ended up staying there with her. She emptied Jina’s glass.

“I saw Konsu’s wedding picture.”

As soon as Arum said that, Jina began to scold her, “Oh my god! Why are you still keeping that wedding picture when you cancelled off your marriage with him? Just throw it away. Can I do it for you if you can’t? Let me bring a trash bag when I stop by your house.”

As if she wanted to go out to buy a trash bag, Jina twisted her body out of anger.

“Hey, you’re talking about something like ‘trash love’ in your regular column. Why can’t you desert Konsu? Just throw him away on this occasion. I simply can’t understand why you want to keep him as your boyfriend. He can’t even be recycled, you know. Let’s go now. Let’s throw it away under the influence of alcohol. How about that?”

Jina rolled up her sleeves.

Looking at Jina huffing and puffing with anger, Arum giggled.

‘Sorry. I really appreciate your kind consideration of my position.’

Arum was really thankful to her from the bottom of her heart.

“That wedding picture…”

Arum couldn’t bring herself to tell Jina the truth.

“Yeah, that picture.”

“…..”

“I know how difficult it is for you to tell me about it. But you should.”

“It’s Konsu’s wedding picture. But I’m not in it.”

“What the heck?”

Jina clearly heard Arum’s words, but couldn’t understand what she meant by them. She focused and tried to analyze it once more, but couldn’t. She even felt like throwing up.

“I feel like throwing up. Tell me right now. What the heck are you talking about?”

“That’s not our wedding picture. I hear Konsu is marrying another woman.” In the end, Arum told the truth flatly as if she was talking about a stranger.

“Is he getting married to another woman?” Jina’s eyes sparkled in anger. “How can you say that to me? So, he is marrying another woman, right?”

Arum nodded. Though she didn’t want to admit it, that was true.

“You guys are just a pair of crazy people.”

The moment Arum heard that, she was so embarrassed. Though Jina was her best friend, Arum was ashamed of herself. She now clearly realized it when she felt shameful before Jina.

‘In the end, it’s me who makes myself ashamed like this.’

She felt so miserable and pitiable.

Jina stopped drinking wine and ordered iced water.

“Can I send him to prison by bringing a lawsuit against him on charges of making false promises of marriage?”

“What the heck are you talking about? He didn’t even propose to marry me.”

“How come you can talk about marriage in this situation? Are you dumb?” Jina was so upset.

But Arum went further, like the tragic heroine who didn’t know what’s going on around her.

“If I sleep with him, am I committing adultery?”