A Madman in Love-Chapter 73

Throw you away?

How could I possibly throw you away?

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me the truth."

The glow of the park’s streetlight illuminated Seo Jaehee’s face.

His pupils trembled violently, his lips parted with ragged breaths, and his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed hard.

He looked like someone who had been blindsided by a catastrophe.

Someone who had no way to control the situation, someone seconds away from losing his mind in panic.

"Why are you trying to abandon me?"

"Don’t use that word."

The grip on the nape of her neck tightened, and it hurt.

But what hurt even more was her heart.

A cold wind cut through her chest, her heart clenched so painfully it felt like it might shatter.

"I’m saying we should end our personal relationship because my feelings have changed."

She had learned, through all her past struggles, how to suppress her emotions.

This was a breakup that had already started. She couldn’t stop now.

Even if Seo Jaehee lost his mind.

Even if it tore her apart.

"In simple terms, couples break up. Every relationship ends eventually."

"You and I—do you really think that applies to us?"

"Why wouldn’t it?"

Jaehee’s grip on her throat tightened.

His fingertips trembled with suppressed rage, sending vibrations through her fragile skin.

A sickening grinding of teeth followed.

"Of course, it doesn’t."

Did he want to snap her neck right then and there?

If he couldn’t have her, would he rather see her dead?

Seo Jaehee—he might actually do it.

A cynical voice inside her mind whispered that it wasn’t entirely impossible.

Then suddenly, his bloodshot eyes turned even redder, a crimson hue spreading like ink in water.

It blurred, seeping outward as if dissolving into the air.

His voice, hoarse and desperate, barely escaped his lips.

"Fuck. I love you."

Ah.

Suin nearly gasped.

She wanted to embrace him, this trembling beast, wounded and desperate.

But—

Of course, this was fucked up.

"…I don’t."

"You don’t?"

"Yeah."

She placed a steady hand against his chest.

"My feelings for you aren’t strong enough to invest my time and my life in this. That’s why I want to end it."

Her tone was calm, as if trying to coax him into understanding.

"I’m just being selfish."

She slowly pushed against his chest.

He let her.

That broad, unyielding chest—once a solid fortress—slowly backed away.

And then, her fingertips slipped from him entirely.

Empty air.

Jaehee, his gaze unfocused, took another step back.

"Not today."

For the first time, the forceful, relentless Seo Jaehee backed down.

"Let’s take some time."

He turned sharply and strode toward the park entrance.

Suin hastily called out to his retreating back.

"Nothing will change."

Cold-hearted words.

But he left without acknowledging them.

He walked out of the park without hesitation, without even a pause.

Suin stood there, frozen.

She wished for darkness to swallow her whole.

For the world to just end.

***

But, of course, nothing ended.

She stood in the park for a long time, waiting.

Waiting for the world to break apart.

But the pavement didn’t collapse.

The neon signs decorating the alley didn’t flicker out.

The world kept moving, uncaring.

Only her footsteps, sluggish and heavy, seemed to have lost their purpose.

"What am I supposed to do starting tomorrow?"

How ironic, to be worrying about tomorrow even now.

Was she being selfish? Or just realistic?

But the fact that Seo Jaehee didn’t persist—

That was what unsettled her the most.

She had expected him to growl, to sink his claws into her, to refuse to let go.

Instead, he had turned his back so easily.

He had looked… deflated.

Almost as if he were afraid.

Seo Jaehee… afraid?

That wasn’t possible.

Even if it was—she didn’t want to see it.

Seo Jaehee had always been brilliant, untouchable.

She didn’t want to see him break.

Not because of her.

Not like this.

"Fuck."

Plop—

Right as she turned the corner, a heavy raindrop struck her scalp.

She barely had time to register it before—

Whoosh—

A torrential downpour crashed down.

The once peaceful street turned chaotic in an instant.

"Oh, shit!"

People who had been enjoying the night ran for cover, shrieking in surprise.

Bar workers scrambled to shut the doors they had left open to lure in customers.

Suin also stepped into shelter.

It was beneath a small eave, supported by one of the columns of a public parking lot—but it was nowhere near enough to keep her dry.

"……"

She thought about finding a better spot, scanning the now empty street.

That was when she noticed a single rose bush lining the fence of the parking lot.

Fragile, crimson petals trembled violently under the relentless rain, battered mercilessly by the wind.

"……"

Suin stared at it.

Then, she stepped out from under the eave.

She slowly walked toward the roses.

The rain pounded against her skin, stinging like tiny needles.

But she stood there anyway.

"Lee Suin, today is Rose Day."

Of all times…

"Accept my love."

Eighteen-year-old Seo Jaehee had stood in front of her, awkward and shy, holding out a single rose.

That flower had been just as beautiful as this one…

"I don’t like you."

That flower must have felt just as battered as she did now.

Because of her.

Because of her unwavering cruelty.

"……."

The flower, exposed to the merciless downpour, looked utterly pitiful.

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The delicate petals trembled weakly, and the sight of it twisted something deep inside Suin’s chest.

Flower…

It must hurt, being struck by these cold, indifferent raindrops.

How much pain did Seo Jaehee feel when I struck him with those cruel words?

"Ah…"

A fragile sound slipped from her lips.

As the rain poured down over her head, her delicate sobs slipped through the storm.

"Hk."

Now, of all times.

"Hk, hk."

Only now.

"I love you…"

She covered her face with both hands, pressing her forehead against her knees as the sobs tore through her.

Her lips trembled violently, her confession just as wretched as the rain-beaten rose.

"I love you, too…"

***

Jin Sukyung had just stepped outside with an umbrella to fetch something when she noticed Suin’s suitcase sitting by the entrance.

"She didn’t even call to say she was back, and she just left her luggage here? Where the hell did she go at this hour?"

Frowning, she peered out into the dark alley.

It was pouring so hard, the street was completely deserted.

On a whim, she stepped across to Café Lime, but aside from the faint glow of the counter light, the shop was completely dark.

[The person you are trying to reach is unavailable…]

She tried calling, but there was no answer.

"Did she at least take an umbrella?"

Ever since her breakup with Jaehee, Suin had been moving around like a ghost.

And then, out of nowhere, she had gone on that sudden trip abroad.

Jin Sukyung had been uneasy the whole time.

She couldn’t sit still any longer. Gripping her umbrella tightly, she headed out.

"Could it be…"

As she walked, an anxious thought crept up.

"Even after everything I said to her…"

Had she gone to see Jaehee anyway?

Had she lied about traveling with Miju and gone with Jaehee instead?

[The person you are trying to reach is unavailable…]

The more Suin refused to answer, the more Jin Sukyung’s suspicions solidified into certainty.

Annoyance flared. Her steps quickened, frustration boiling over.

But then—

As she turned the corner, she spotted a figure crouched by the fence of the public parking lot.

The hunched back, completely soaked in the relentless downpour, was unmistakable.

"Suin!"

Jin Sukyung’s heart lurched.

She abandoned her umbrella, sprinting forward.

"Why are you sitting in the rain like this?!"

Suin lifted her head slightly.

Her face, hidden beneath damp strands of hair, was streaked with tears.

Her skin was paper-white, as if she had been sitting there for hours, consumed by the storm.

"Mom…"

Her voice was barely above a whisper, strained and exhausted.

"Mom…"

And then—

Her pale fingers weakly grasped the hem of Jin Sukyung’s coat.

Like a drowning person clinging to the last thing keeping them afloat, she held on tightly and murmured desperately.

"I… it hurts too much."

Her body shook violently.

A dry, broken sob escaped her throat.

She collapsed forward, burying herself in her mother’s arms, crying so hard it sounded like her very soul was being torn apart.

"My chest… feels like it’s being ripped apart."

Jin Sukyung froze. Her entire body went rigid.

In all the years she had raised Suin, in all the time she had known her, she had never seen her cry like this.

Not once—except for when she had been a newborn.

Suin, who was always the smartest, always the most composed, had never been one to show her emotions.

She had always been reserved.

"Mom…"

But now, she was wailing like a child.

Like someone whose entire world had been shattered.

"It hurts so much… I feel like I’m going to die…"

Jin Sukyung’s heart broke into pieces.