​

“Director, do you remember what you told me here? That proposal… when you asked me to go out with you.”

​

“Didn’t you already give me your answer?”

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“No. As far as I remember, I’ve never given you a proper answer.”

​

“…You’ve never given me a proper answer?”

​

Kang-woo twisted his lips into a smile, pressing hard against his brow with irritation.

​

“For a moment, I wondered if maybe being with someone like you might let me live comfortably too. But no matter how much I think about it… it’s impossible.”

​

“And why is that?”

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“Because I want… I want to meet a man who suits me, someone comfortable, so I can live an ordinary life. Not someone dazzling and burdensome like you, but a man who makes me feel at ease when I’m with him.”

​

A heavy silence fell between them.

Then, Kang-woo’s voice, laced with mockery, broke through.

​

“A man who suits you. A comfortable man? Who is that supposed to be? Do you really think that after thirty years of living without one, such a man is just standing somewhere in your life, waiting for you?”

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“…That’s my life, and it’s for me to figure out. I just… wanted to finally give you the answer to the proposal you made me that day. That’s why I came to see you, and now I’m giving you that answer.”

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“Seo Joo-young, don’t delude yourself.”

​

“……”

​

“A comfortable man? There will never be such a bastard in your life. No matter how suffocating, how exhausting, how unbearable it gets—you’ll only ever have one man in your life, and that man is me.”