Mint Is Pure Love - Chapter 37
Tears were already rolling down Ji Yeonseo’s puffy eyes again.
“Stop crying, your eyes are gonna hurt tomorrow.”
I gently dabbed her cheeks with a soft handkerchief, but they were already flushed red—probably from how much she’d been rubbing them. It hurt to look at, like her skin was my own.
“I… told my mom—hic—something awful—hic—” She gasped for breath between sobs, and her face looked as if she’d pressed on an open wound.
Leaving her sitting quietly at the dining table, I went to the bathroom, filled a basin with warm water, and brought it back to soak her small feet.
It was her first time in my house. Even though she was sniffling, her eyes wandered curiously around the room. Thanks to that, she didn’t seem to notice me washing her feet.
“…Your brother—hic—?”
“He’s in the army.”
“What?!”
She whipped her head toward me like I’d just announced I was the one being deployed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“…It’s just the army. Everyone goes. And why would I tell you? You trying to collect more older guys you know?”
Half-joking. Half serious. Enough with knowing more “oppa” already. Even if it’s my brother, I don’t like it.
She sniffled once and hesitated before speaking again.
“That’s not it… It’s just—you never even introduced your brother to me. Aren’t we friends? You’re close with Baek Hyeji, though.”
“Hyeji? I didn’t introduce her. She just happens to know him.”
What kind of random topic was this? More importantly—
“Are you done crying now?”
“Hic… yeah.”
She nodded like a well-behaved child, then asked,
“…But why were you there at that time?”
The way she asked—why I’d shown up in front of her house—made my chest tighten. I didn’t even know myself. I just… wanted to see if she was okay.
Even if I couldn’t face her directly, I felt like I’d be at ease if I at least checked the front gate. The truth was, I sometimes loitered by her house wall before leaving—but I couldn’t tell her that.
If she already felt heavy with tears, I didn’t want her to feel burdened and run away. So my answer came out lighter than the truth.
“…Just because.”
Now what?
“Do you want to go back home?”
“…Can I stay here? Home… feels scary.”
I carefully dried her feet, then stood up.
She must have thought I was saying no, because she hesitantly got to her feet. I rummaged through a drawer and handed her a clean t-shirt and long sweatpants.
“There’s dirt on your clothes. Change into these—they’ll be more comfortable.”
For some reason, after letting me wash her feet, she suddenly seemed shy, taking the clothes gingerly. She went into the bathroom, and when she came back—maybe she’d washed her face too—her swollen face was pale and soft again, like a steamed bun.
My room was almost empty, no bed, so I spread out bedding on the floor. After she settled in and laid her head on the pillow, I turned off the light and was about to leave when—
“…Can you talk to me until I fall asleep?”
Probably not a good idea. She didn’t know how dangerous people could be. I wasn’t really any different from those guys she used to glare at from afar.
“…Alright.”
For some reason, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to refuse anything she asked anymore.
I sat against the wall, careful not to touch the bedding. Moonlight streamed in from the window above, and from there, I could see her face clearly.
“What should I talk about?”
“…Gossip about me. Tell me how awful I am.”
With the blanket pulled up to her chin, her face looked like a wilted petal in the heat. I decided to just listen.
“…I’m the one who refused to call the woman who raised me ‘Mom’ for over ten years and kept calling her ‘Stepmom.’ No wonder Minjae calls me ‘Step noona.’ He thinks it’s some kind of nickname.”
“…That’s pretty bad, Yeonseo.”
“I told my cheating dad to give me a hundred million won and I’d disappear.”
“You should’ve asked for more. Too nice, Yeonseo.”
“When my grandma collapsed, I thought my stepmom bothering her was… annoying.”
“You didn’t say it out loud though?”
Her long lashes drooped. What was she thinking now?
“…I’ve only ever hurt the people who loved me.”
“…Like my stepmom. Today, even when Minkyung and Minjae called me, I didn’t go. Minkyung knew I couldn’t go and was crying, and all I thought was—‘You’re her real kid, so of course you get to go.’”
Her voice trembled at the end. Now, even the smallest tremor in her voice makes my heart sway like a reed.
“Ho… Hojung, you know? Lee Hojung. She liked me too. We were close, but I didn’t take care of her. When people started talking, I should’ve defended her.”
I remembered a short-haired girl who used to hang around school. I didn’t remember her face much—just that she’d glare at Yeonseo and whisper behind her back.
“…In middle school, the older girls hated me so much, they…”
Dumped her schoolbag, got rid of her desk, waited for her at the apartment complex, dragged her to the playground…
“But I… avoided Hojung too because I was scared. And I told her… we weren’t friends.”
“…”
“If I’d just stood by her even once…”
“…You were scared too, Yeonseo.”
My brother and my mom never protected me. That’s why I ended up like this—completely drained, full of cracks.
So how can you, who was never protected, still say you should’ve protected someone else? How can you be more pained by the hurt you’ve caused than by the hurt you’ve received? How can someone so small have a heart so strong, like it could never break no matter how hard it’s struck?
“I think I always hurt the people who like me. With my stepmom too… I’ve said such awful things to her… I’m awful, right? No manners, no warmth, totally cold—just like they say.”
The arrows people had thrown at her—she’d caught them and stabbed them into her own arms. And the shards that broke through hurt me too.
“…Your turn, Cha Seokyung.”
“You want me to badmouth you?”
“Yeah. But don’t be too harsh—just the moderate stuff.” Her small voice added that last part, and it was strangely cute. I let out a small laugh that didn’t even feel like a laugh.
“Let’s see… Is there anything bad about our Ji Yeonseo?”
“…?”
“Oh, there is. Plenty.”
She drew in a quick breath, like bracing herself.
“You told the PE teacher bad things about me because you didn’t like me.”
“…I wasn’t going there to gossip.”
“You glared at me every time I walked by.”
“…That’s because—you know what, never mind.”
“You prayed for Korea to lose the World Cup.”
“…I actually wanted them to win.”
“You have too many older guy friends just to piss me off. What’s that, dedication? Affection?” My voice rose slightly—still kind of annoyed about that one.
“The oppa didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeonseo.”
“…Go on, then.”
Her voice, trembling earlier, suddenly had a bit more strength.
“When I asked you out, you said you had homework and just went home. So annoying.”
“…That’s…”
She trailed off, voice shrinking again.
“And then why’d you still dress up so nicely?”
“…?”
“You kept telling me to go back to class when I wanted to be with you. Wouldn’t even let me sit next to you.”
I wanted to be somewhere obvious with her. I wanted to see her more often, say hi when we made eye contact, go to her class during breaks like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You waited for me even when I said stuff in a nasty tone.”
Like when I’d accused her of pitying me, like my mom, just looking for somewhere to lean out of sympathy.
I wanted to hit myself for that.
“Yeonseo, you’re annoyingly kind.”
She wasn’t awful. She didn’t always hurt the people who loved her. Not me, at least.
“You make it impossible to stay still. You shake me up.”
“…”
“Because of you, my heart…”
Hurts, aches, races, burns, flutters, stumbles—and yet I don’t hate it. In fact, I want to feel it again and again. It’s so unfamiliar, so strange.
I moved closer to her.
“Put your hand out of the blanket.”
Her small hand slipped out without hesitation. I held it like it was something precious and brought it to my forehead.
“…What are you doing? Do you have a fever?”
“It’s just… this is the warmest part of me.”
If comfort is found in warmth rather than in meaning—if this is what Yeonseo’s kind of comfort feels like—then I want to gather all my warmth and give it to her.
Lean on me. If this warmth is enough, take it.
“Don’t cry. Don’t make that face.”
Because it makes my heart ache too much. Her palm was warm against my forehead.