Lady Spring

It always seems to rain on the days when I’m really tired and want to go home early. Glancing at the sky resentfully, Saeun grabbed the umbrella and went outside. As a car passed by, icy water splashed on her legs, making her curse and walk faster.

 Everything about her life sucked. Her work was boring, her superiors were horrible, and her coworkers were unfriendly. Worst of all, the CEO, who was hired by the company, was a known lecher who liked to harass all the female employees in the office.  

 “10 years ago, I never thought I’d be living like this.” Saeun smiled weakly and continued to murmur, “But I’m not special, so I guess this is it.”

 10 years ago, she thought she was someone special, but she learned that this wasn’t true.  She sighed as she stared at the dimly lit street. When she was a high school student full of dreams, she thought she was the best in the world. Those were the good old days. Now, she was just an ordinary working woman who was tired of her life, and there was nothing sadder than realizing your own mediocrity.  

Let’s hurry home to shower and rest. Perhaps she will feel a little better afterward. After a hot bath, she could have a cup of coffee and watch some TV. If she’s lucky, she might catch a good movie on TV. Something like “Meet Joe Black” or “Kate and Leopold”.

 Romance only existed in movies. In reality, there were so many obstacles in life that love alone was never enough to make a relationship last.  Love and marriage were just impossible dreams for her at the moment. For now, she was tired just from surviving her monotonous life. One fortunate thing was that she hasn’t received any calls from her family in six months. 

 “Hey, Class President.”

Class President? Come to think of it, she did hold that position in high school. Actually, during middle and high school, she was selected almost every term. After all, she was always an honor student. Although she was ignored by her friends and the boys, she was a model student who was beloved by her teachers. Sadly of course, being a class president in high school didn’t mean much.

But she missed those days. If she could go back, she thought she could live everyday happily.  At the time, she felt tormented because the other kids ignored her and the boy she liked never noticed her, but if she went back in time, she knew she would ignore them and have fun. She would try new things without worrying about the consequences.

 “Hey, Class President, didn’t you hear me?”

 Suddenly, Saeun stopped walking. 

 “That’s right. I’m talking to you. It has been a while, so how could you ignore me like this? I’m over here.”

 She turned around and found a sad wet figure sitting in front of a convenient store garbage can and looking up at her. Actually, he didn’t look sad because he had a wide smile on his face. But the problem was, his smiling face was swollen and covered in blood. She could tell it was a man, but other than that, she didn’t recognize him at all. 

 “Who are you?”

 She hesitantly took a few steps closer to get a better look. 

“What? Have you forgotten me? Well, I guess it has been a few years. Has it been almost 10 years? You’ve changed a lot. You look pretty now”

Of course, she looked different now. 10 years ago, she wore glasses and was covered in acne. But now, she stopped breaking out and wore contact lenses. She even got rid of her ugly ponytail and replaced it with a feminine bob. But pretty? She knew changing her hair and getting clear skin certainly weren’t enough to make her pretty. She was still the same old four-eyed Yun Saeun from 10 years ago. 

 “Do you know me?”

 When she asked cautiously, the man bent his long legs and chuckled. His crumpled military style jacket was soaking wet and his slightly long hair was dripping as well.  

 “Don’t you remember me? I thought I annoyed you quite a bit in our first year of high school.”

First year of high school? That was 10 years ago and the only men she knew personally from all three years of high school were her teachers. Her college friends used to tease her about not having any male friends even though she attended a co-ed high school, but it was because she found it hard to talk to guys at the time. 

Wait. Actually, there was one guy. She never initiated the conversations with him, but…

 “Min Wooyoung?”

 When she murmured his name doubtfully, the man began to chuckle again. 

“Why, you don’t believe me?”

Believe him? Of course not!  Who would believe this puffy-faced bum sitting on the street to be a member of the popular idol group Strawberry Fields, which won Golden Disc twice?

 “What are you doing here?”

 Saeun looked down at him blankly. Wooyoung shook his head like a dog to dry off and looked up at her.

 “Water is dripping on me from your umbrella. Put it away.”

 Without a word, she folded her umbrella and sat down on the small space under the convenient store roof. When she looked at him closer, she was shocked by how mangled his face was. She couldn’t recognize him at all. No wonder no one tried to get close to him on the street. 

 “What happened? Did someone hit you? Doesn’t it hurt?”

 “It hurts like death.”

 “But why are you here in the rain? Go home already.” 

 “Are you nagging me to go home when we just met after 10 years? You haven’t changed at all, Class President.”

Class President… It felt strange being called that now. 10 years have passed, and she was now just an average salary woman, not a Class President. She has been in her current company for two years now, which meant she should be close to getting a promotion, but it seemed that it wasn’t going to happen because she was a woman. She felt angry, and she hated herself for not speaking up about it. 

Swallowing her unhappiness, Saeun looked at Wooyoung again. If it weren’t for his voice and the way he talked, she would’ve never recognized him. 

“What if someone recognizes you here?”

“Even if you screamed who I was right now, no one is going to believe you. You can try it if you want.”

How could he smirk so well with a swollen face? Feeling annoyed, Saeun stood up and opened her umbrella again, making Wooyoung’s smile disappear a little. 

“You’re leaving?”

“I will call your agency for you. What’s the number?”

“You’re just as coy as before, huh?

He was being sarcastic, but his voice sounded weak. It has been over three hours since it began to rain, and it looked like he had been here the whole time. No wonder he was feeling weak, especially considering how wounded he was.

Unable to walk away, Saeun continued to look down at him. Wooyoung raised his chin a little and said to her sharply,

“I thought you were leaving.”

“I didn’t say I was. Are you really going to just stay here?”

Without giving an answer, he looked away. Saeun looked at the people walking by before looking down at Wooyoung again.

“Get up. Let’s go to my place. You can stay there just until the rain stops.”

Wooyoung stared in disbelief before asking her,

“Your place?”

“Yes, my place. I live alone so it should be okay. When the rain stops, you can go home or just take my umbrella and go wherever you want. If you stay here like this, you’re going to die. If your fan club finds out I left you here, they are going to kill me.”

Wooyoung grinned and murmured something, but the sounds of the rushing cars drowned his voice. Saeun stood still and waited for him until he limped towards her. Then, they began to walk together slowly. 

***

Hey! Translator of “Spring Lady” here! If you like this story and want to support me so I can put more time into this novel, please buy me a coffee by clicking below! Thanks!