Pick Up the Rejected Pure Love

-Bee-bee-beep-! Bee-bee-beep-!

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock blaring from the bedroom.

Last night, after sending off Han-gyeol, I had slept on the living room floor.

As I stretched and got up, what greeted my eyes was not Han-gyeol, but his colleague, who was sound asleep, oblivious to the world.

Her name was Chae-in Jeong. The first time I saw her was during lunch on the first day of the semester.

Even then, I thought she had quite a pretty face.

I didn’t think she’d have any connection to Han-gyeol, so I didn’t pay much attention... But I never imagined I would get so deeply involved with her.

You never know what life has in store, do you?

“Don’t fall for Han-gyeol. Got it?”

I murmured to the sleeping Chae-in Jeong. It seemed silly to speak to someone who was asleep, but I had to give the warning.

If I told her about last night, she might fall for Han-gyeol. To be honest, it was a situation too perfect for falling in love.

First, I got up and turned off the alarm clock in the bedroom. I tidied up the bedding and took it to the bedroom, then gently shook Chae-in Jeong to wake her up.

“Chae-in Jeong, it’s time to wake up~”

“Ughhh...”

She twisted and turned, not waking up easily. If she kept this up, I’d be tempted to just bury her.

“Come on, wake up~ Before I bury you behind the school~ Get up~ Hurry up~”

“Mmm...? Bury...? Who...?”

“Who else? The person sleeping so soundly in someone else’s house~”

I smiled brightly at Chae-in Jeong.

“But who...!”

Her closed eyes slowly opened and met mine as I squatted next to her.

Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth wide, screaming.

“Ahhhhh-! Who are you?! What are you doing here?!”

“That’s a stronger reaction than I expected. Don’t you remember last night?”

“L-Last night...? I... I was drinking with my colleagues, and then the seniors joined in...”

“Anyway, take your time remembering and go wash up. You slept without removing your makeup.”

“But who are you...? Are you a senior...? I’ve never seen you before!”

“I’m not a bad person, probably?”

“What-?!”

Han-gyeol’s actions were right, but it’s hard for me to be kind to a girl my boyfriend helped.

“Hey...! Who are you really?”

I went to the kitchen, tied an apron around my waist, and opened the refrigerator.

She had been through a lot, so the least I could do was make her breakfast.

“Think about it slowly. You can wash up in the bathroom.”

“Wait-! Please explain properly first...!”

“Sorry~ I’m in a bit of a bad mood and don’t feel like explaining everything right now~ I’ll tell you everything after you wash up~”

Chae-in Jeong could have been angry at my half-hearted answers, but she just sat on the sofa, staring at me blankly.

“I feel like I’ve seen you before... Are you a senior?”

“We do go to the same college~ Ah, we could have chicken stew.”

I took a chicken out of the fridge. It was a whole chicken that needed to be cleaned and prepped.

“Um, first... I’m sorry for the trouble-!”

“You should apologize to someone else after you remember. Do you know how many times I’ve told you to wash up~?”

“Oh-! Sorry, sorry. I’ll wash up now-!”

Seeing that she was properly dressed and recognizing that she was a woman, she didn’t seem too cautious.

She seemed to mistake me for a senior in our department... Well, I could explain everything once she remembered.

Chae-in Jeong got up from the sofa and cautiously headed to the bathroom, glancing at me as she went. The sound of running water soon filled the air, and I immediately began prepping the chicken.

I washed it in cold water, cut off the tail, and trimmed the fat.

Then, I took out a cutting board and started breaking down the chicken with a knife.

I had bought it because it was on sale at the market, but next time I would just buy pre-prepped chicken.

There was supposed to be a sequence to breaking it down, but I couldn’t remember, so I just went with the flow.

But whether it was the wrong order or a dull knife, it wasn’t going as planned.

“It’s not working. I’ll need a different knife...”

Luckily, there was a large cleaver in the knife block.

Just as I raised my hand to chop, Chae-in Jeong came out of the bathroom at the perfect moment.

“Huh?”

She seemed startled to see me in the kitchen, chopping the chicken. But seeing the chicken on the cutting board, she seemed slightly relieved.

Little did she know, it was too early to be relieved.

“Uh, um...!”

“Yes?”

“I’ve washed up, so now can you tell me who you are? Are you a senior? I was too drunk last night to remember...”

“I’m not a senior. We’re the same age.”

“What? The same age? So you’re twenty?”

I nodded silently.

“Then who...”

“A bit hurtful~? We’ve met before and even had drinks together, but you don’t remember. Though, we never properly introduced ourselves, so it’s understandable.”

“We’ve met before...”

She seemed to recall something as she looked at my face.

“Oh...? Could it be...?!”

“Do you remember now? How could you pretend not to? A bit hurtful, really.”

“Han-gyeol’s girlfriend...”

“That’s right. I’m Han-gyeol’s girlfriend~ We drank together at the start of the semester party, remember?”

The moment she realized who I was, Chae-in Jeong froze. She stared at me silently before hurriedly bowing and apologizing.

“Oh...! I’m so sorry...! I’ll just leave now-!”

Realizing how awkward the situation was, she quickly grabbed her bag and phone. But I couldn’t let her go just like that.

“Come on~ You should hear how you got here last night~”

I stood in front of the shoe rack, blocking Chae-in Jeong from leaving.

In my hurry, I still held the cleaver I had been using to prep the chicken. It was a mistake, I swear. I had no intention of intimidating her.

“A bit hurtful~? I personally brought you here last night, and you’re just going to leave like that?”

I smiled sweetly at Chae-in Jeong, who was trying to leave. Then, I carefully closed the distance between us.

“Aren’t you curious about what happened last night? Why you’re here? How you got here? I’ll tell you everything from start to finish. So, instead of thinking about running away, why don’t you sit on the sofa, wait for me, and then we can have a nice breakfast together and talk over coffee. Doesn’t that sound like a great idea? If you’re okay with it, could you also tell me about how Han-gyeol is doing in his department? We were always together in high school, but now that we’re in different departments, I’m curious as his girlfriend. You’ll tell me, right? You’re not going to just run away, right, Chae-in Jeong?”

My expression must have been a bit intimidating because Chae-in Jeong looked absolutely terrified.

“Eek-! Um, um! Could you put the knife down first?!”

“Oh, this?! You’ll try to run the moment I put this in the sink, right? I know all your tricks~”

“I won’t run away-!”

“Really? Can I trust you? If you run, I’ll chase you.”

Terrified, Chae-in Jeong silently nodded.

“Then, sit on the sofa.”

“N-no! I’ll help-! Please let me help!”

“Do you know how to cook? Do you know how to prep a chicken?”

“N-no! Just, just simple things-!”

“Then come over here-! Prepping the chicken is a bit fun, I’ll show you!”

I brought Chae-in Jeong, who had offered to help, to the kitchen.

“Watch carefully~? You might need to cook chicken for your boyfriend someday~”

“Yes...”

“When cutting meat, it’s easy if you bend the joints like this. With a satisfying snap, the bone pops out of the meat like this. You could just tear it apart with your hands, but like this-!”

With a thud, I brought the knife down. I lifted the cleanly cut piece of meat and showed it to Chae-in Jeong.

“Tada~ It’s cleanly cut like this. Easy, right?”

“Yes...”

“After you’ve prepped the chicken, you need to clean the innards that might give off a bad smell. Use your fingers to clean the innards between the bones. It might feel a bit gross at first, but you’ll get used to it. It’s better to eat clean, right?”

“Y-yes... Haha...”

After prepping the chicken, I quickly made chicken stew and placed it on the table.

“I’m not sure if it’ll suit your taste~ but it’s made with care, so it should be delicious~”

“Yes...! It looks really appetizing-!”

“Really? I should make it for Han-gyeol next time too. It must be hard on the stomach, so let’s eat it with the broth.”

“Yes... Thank you for the meal.”

Still, it’s best not to bother someone while they’re eating.

“Let’s talk after you finish eating~”

“Pardon?”

--- The End OF The Chapter ---

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