When I quit my job, my co-workers became obsessed with me

Hearing Yu Ga-ryun’s words, Dasom’s eyes popped out at any moment and grew so large that it wouldn’t be strange to roll over.

A joke to change the subdued atmosphere, raw abusive language spit out in a hurry, and provocative words that ridicule Yu Yu-jin for not being chosen by her.

All of them had only unpleasant options, but Dasom had no choice but to think so.

The words that came out of Yu Ga-ryun’s mouth were so absurd that they could not come out unless they harbored such malice.

“⋯⋯.”

Dasom, who calmed herself while drinking coffee, slowly observed the eyes of the woman sitting on the other side.

It was almost impossible to find a shadow in the eyes that stopped without a single movement and were emitting a still light. Still, Dasom decided to smile.

“I’m not kidding.”

Dasom picked up the coffee cup again. Her lips, which had been covered by the glass and then revealed again, were a pale crimson color.

“okay.”

I’m serious.

“That’s right⋯⋯.”

Dasom, who pulled out her horse’s tail, slowly picked up her breath. In order to face a naked person, you have to be naked yourself. It is necessary to show the true image of the original, without a single thread.

Dasom decided to acknowledge her affection for Yoo Ji-jin.

After accepting the tickling and stinging heat, Yu Ga-ryun’s remarks, which I thought were absurd, came to me a little differently. Although not completely, it was a vaguely understandable feeling.

“great.”

Yu Ga-ryun’s eyes widened slightly.

“Let’s do it, let’s go out together.”

Saying that, Dasom put down the glass she was holding.

Yu Ga-ryun tried to open her mouth with a slightly excited expression, but the sharp sound of the glass hitting the floor pushed her voice back.

“But⋯⋯ I want to get married too. So, dating should be a prerequisite for marriage.”

The pressure of the word marriage weighed heavily on the atmosphere flowing between the two.

“How is that going? It’s a monogamous country, our country.”

“The common-law relationship is fine. Because bigamy is judged by whether or not the marriage was registered.”

“Is it cold?”

“You can put it up. After all, it has no legal effect. It’s a show event.”

“But wouldn’t the guests think it was strange if the same groom appeared over and over again? How is Dojin going to explain to his parents?”

“You only need to invite people who really need it. It doesn’t have to be overlapping. My brother and my parents are somehow⋯⋯.”

“Poor girl.”

Dasom’s soft voice caressed Yu Ga-ryun’s ear.

“I mean, I want to make a proud declaration while receiving the blessings of so many people. This person is my companion.”

They reaffirm their love for each other and at the same time declare that they will be eternal. The whole process is recorded in the eyes of the witnesses who are guests and is left in the world in the physical form of a ring.

A luxury that can only be enjoyed once in a lifetime as a human being. Can anyone compromise on that?

“And I want to have children.”

I want to leave a living creature with a light that is incomparable to anything like a ring, and the evidence that a couple named Dasom and Yudo existed for future generations.

“But we only have one husband. So, what about events that parents must attend, such as athletics or curators? It’s not good for only one of the two to go out, so do they both have to go? Before that, children’s kindergarten or school? Wouldn’t the teachers find it strange if there were two children with the same mother but the same father? What about your classmates and your parents?”

“That is⋯⋯.”

“I said it was because of guilt.”

Dasom said in a muttering manner.

“Then you must have told Seol-ha.”

The root of Yu Ga-ryun’s sense of guilt is a sense of debt towards Cha Seol-ha. There is no way he could speak only to himself without saying a word to such an important person.

“⋯⋯Yes.”

“What do you want to do? New Year’s Eve⋯⋯.”

Yu Ga-ryun unconsciously caressed her right cheek. He was staring at Yu Ga-ryun with a muddy expression mixed with shame and humiliation in his memory.

I told you not to look ridiculous.

That was the first and last answer Yoo Ga-ryun heard from Chae Seol-ha that day.

“It didn’t go well.”

Just as Dasom thought that way a while ago, Seolha Chae must have accepted Yu Ga-ryun’s suggestion as a meaning of ridicule.

Because there is no way a person who can’t love himself can admit his love for others. Because I don’t think I should admit it.

No, because there is something more important than that, something you can’t give up on.

“It’s not that I don’t understand what you said.”

I would be lying if I said that. Dasom, who swung back slightly, wiped her own forearm.

“Have you ever heard of polyamory?”

Yu Ga-ryun shook her head.

“It is a combination of ‘poly’, which means ‘many’ in Greek, and ‘amor’, which means ‘love’ in Latin. Literally, there is no limit to who you love. In our own words, it can be described as non-exclusive polygamous love⋯⋯.”

Dasom Lee said while slowly retracing what she had heard in the liberal arts lecture.

“You can think of it as similar to nanhon (亂婚), but if you look closely, it is different. If the core of rebirth is animal desire, the core of polyamory is spiritual communication. It means that all members should respect and consider each other, and establish an equal and democratic relationship.”

The fact that it was established as an academic concept also means that a considerable number of people are living and observed that way.

Thinking about it that way, Yu Ga-ryun felt as if the fog that was moving in front of her had disappeared a bit.

“But social perception is not different from marriage. Even in the West, which has a relatively tolerant view on sex, the majority view it as a means to justify an affair or orgy. How do you think it will be accepted in Korea?”

Dasom sighed and continued speaking again.

“⋯⋯Of course, it must be difficult for Ga-ryun to put Do-jin down as you said. It will be really, really hard.”

The process of getting something out of your chest is terribly painful. Pain as if cutting through bare skin with a knife. Because of that, people hesitate and sometimes refuse.

“But you have to. Everyone is doing it.”

But the pain goes away with time. As the snow melts, it disappears to such an extent that it feels like a lie that it existed.

If you get up and walk again, you will find a tree someday. It had a different shape from the tree she once loved, but with an equally beautiful scent.

“is that so.”

“yes.”

A calm voice flowed through Yu Ga-ryun’s ears. Right now, she is determined.

So, in order to dig into this, Ga-ryun Yu must prepare herself.

Denying all the resolutions I had heard a while ago, I am determined to intervene in the lives of a woman named Dasom, no, Chae Seol-ha and Yu Yu-jin, and the children who will be born in the future.

“Your sister is right.”

Indeed, Yu Ga-ryun had no choice but to nod her head.

“Normal people, to me.”

Dasom’s words are theories of truth. For those who grew up in good health while growing up and building relationships normally, getting sick, taking it off, and putting it back on.

“⋯⋯What do you mean?”

“Sister, we are not people with a normal mindset. They are abnormal people who have been twisted and twisted.”

They each had their own twists. Those parts interlocked, creating a bizarre relationship that normal people would not have even been able to start with, and it was able to last for quite some time.

“If such people try to behave normally from now on, is there any way to do it? As we saw in the movie, is it possible to overcome, support each other⋯⋯ and have such a relationship? If I could have done that, I wouldn’t have come this far. It was all over when my brother enlisted, if it had been the way it was.”

“It’s different then. Now⋯⋯.”

“What is different? Even then, you’re just trying to negotiate. Is it forbidden by law? Are you unable to convince your parents? The law can be circumvented, and the parents have to convince them somehow. Do you think you could give up just for that reason? You wouldn’t be able to understand yourself, would you?”

If Lee Da-som was a person who had built up normal interpersonal relationships, Yu Yu-jin would have been one of the men passing by. However, for her now, Yu Yu-jin was her younger sister, a benefactor, the meaning of life, and a reference point for her actions.

The soil can be shaken off, but the roots cannot be cut.

“⋯⋯.”

Dasom bit her lip. It was because he pretended to brush it off, but in reality, he suddenly remembered the image of the future, where he couldn’t let go of his feelings for Yu-jin, and he was making troublesome behavior inside and out.

“Sister, I don’t think this is the right answer either. I just think this is the best thing.”

At least, I just thought it would be better than living a life of self-defense, thinking of a reddish and disgusting scar as a medal of honor.

“Other people won’t think that way.”

“So, do those ‘others’ make me happy?”

It is truly foolish to lose the happiness in front of you just to take care of your pride. Yu Ga-ryun thought so.

“If you say that, your sister has nothing to say.”

With a bitter smile, Dasom quietly fiddled with the handle of the teacup before opening her mouth again.

“Still, I am against it.”

“⋯⋯Why?”

“People have a feeling of monopoly. Even if you do⋯⋯.”

Dasom Lee said while smiling softly, looking at Yu Ga-ryun with a somewhat sad look.

“At least Seol-ha and Ga-ryun don’t feel happy to see you in Do-jin’s arms.”

And he added:

“Maybe me too.”

That day’s conversation ended there.