US 19

Synopsis — Unromantic Summer

“Back then or now, Se-im… you’re the only person who can see the top of my head.”

Cha Tae-mok, executive director of the Hoemok Group, has appeared on Mangwoldo Island.Now impossibly polished and sophisticated—far beyond the reach of the caretaker’s daughter from the villa.

“It sucks, but that’s the truth.”

He was even wiping mud off the opposite sneaker. Even though he’d probably never gotten dirt on his own hands his entire life.Cha Tae-mok could never ignore the dirt that clung to me.

“So I guess there’s no helping it.”

Carelessly tossing aside his handkerchief, he bent one knee and braced both arms on either side of me.The first thing I felt was the sharp bridge of his nose pressing into my cheek.Then our lips met.At that moment, somewhere nearby—Bzzzz—A cicada cried loudly.It was the sound of our summer beginning again.

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“At least protect yourself now. I can do that much.”

Is the problem you, who came here determined to tear this island apart? Or is it still my pitiful twenty-eight-year-old self?

“Move.”

Our relationship should have ended as nothing more than reckless young love from those days.

“You’re basically telling me to die.”

But instead, his large footsteps closed the distance between us.Without thinking, I grabbed Cha Tae-mok’s arm. Perhaps because of the years that had passed, it felt even firmer than before.

“Just because we couldn’t see each other doesn’t mean we were apart, Han Se-im.”“……”“I lived with you the whole time.”

There was no way to tell how long this summer would last.That summer, I only wished it would stay just cool enough for the coming goodbye not to melt away.