Secret Love Affair between a Former Saint and a Dark Hero - Chapter 2
It was a thick romance novel with a white cover adorned with a vertically arranged, beautifully designed multicolored script. Before I knew it, I was holding it in my hands. Ugh, it’s heavy.
“Quickly, quickly. You have to get an idea of the story for us to chat about it. Right? Right?”
“Well, can’t be helped. Just wait. I’ll finish it in an hour.”
I decided I didn’t need to read it intensively, so I started skimming. Some time passed as I listened to the cafe’s music, and as I flipped open the novel’s cover, my reaction was simple. Not my cup of tea!
The story is too sunny and shiny and cotton candy.
Whether it’s just me or not, the smooth unfolding of the heroine’s life wasn’t that interesting. There’s no conflict, no crises, just a novel that spoon-feeds everything to the heroine.”
“It’s a novel with a saint in it.”
“Yeah!”
“I can’t even count the male protagonists.”
“That’s the beauty of it.”
“The heroine has it all, absolutely everything. How vast is this fishing ground? Is it only possible in novels, not in reality? What kind of men fall in love at first sight just by making eye contact?”
As if mocking my ignorance, Sol looked at me pitifully and snapped her fingers.
“So, it’s a novel. And the crown prince is truly the best. He’s my favorite character. Handsome, good-natured, only interested in the heroine. A completely wonderful man. No man like that in real life!”
“His personality seems pretty bad.”
“That’s only in the beginning. After falling in love, he’s amazing. Sweet as honey!”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Let’s keep novels as novels, Park Sol. Why would you want to bring a guy like that into real life?”
“Oh! Don’t crush my dreams!”
“Have you ever seen a man like that in your life? I’d rather win the lottery first!”
“Hey! Kim Jiyeon!”
I smiled. It was cute to have a friend who was all grown up and talking with a twinkle in her eye. Talking with my friend, who was well-loved and had an air of elegance about her, always made me feel happier.
The truth is, I’ve never imagined it.
A future where things were a little better than they are now, where we had a chance to be a little happier, where something miraculous happened. Just enduring each day was already incredibly tough.
On the contrary, such thoughts felt like poison. If I didn’t think about anything, I wouldn’t have any expectations. So conversations and situations with my friend were my only breathing room.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right. So that’s why you can’t have a relationship, huh?”
“Don’t tease me. I’ll break your hand, Kim Jiyeon. Geez, you’ve had a lot of boyfriends, haven’t you?”
My friend, Park Sol. She was a truly kind person.
Perhaps a touch of pity, and most of all, true friendship. She was an unpretentious person.
I remember the moment we first met. It might sound strange for the 21st century, but I was filling a water bottle with tap water because I was starving. Park Sol, who was a transfer student seeing me like that, smiled warmly and offered a piece of bread. She said, “Here. It’s too much, so why don’t you eat it with me?”
“All right. I’ll lend it to you, so read it properly. It’s really interesting, you know? You have to read it to the end, without a doubt! There’s a twist at the end.”
“Got it, got it. But when are we going to eat our meat?”
“Geez!”
I still remember it vividly. The cool air from the air conditioner against my skin, Sol’s cheerful laughter, and the refreshing table, resting my cheek on it. Then, I’d suddenly jump up and playfully mess around. That sense of peacefulness. I sat still for a moment, then clapped my hands.
“Oh! I have one.”
“Huh? What?”
“A wish. Sol, you asked, if I could make one wish.”
“Uh, what is it?”
I chuckled as I crunched on the ice inside my mouth. It was a lighthearted response, not an answer that hadn’t been given much thought.
“A novel like this.”
<The Saint’s Flower>. The main character in the novel. If there was any chance of that really happening, as Sol said.
I pointed to the thick novel under my hand.
“I would want to become the heroine of a novel like this, given the chance. I mean, to get into the world of the novel.”
My friend rolled her eyes.
“Really? No, but why the heroine?”
“Because she’s the main character?”
I replied as I opened the book and began to flip through it carefully.
“Look at the life of the heroine. How wonderful it is.”
“Well, I guess, but…”
“She’s from a wealthy family, she’s got a bunch of guys professing their love for her, she’s got people around her who love her, she’s got a pretty face, and she’s got a lot of money. Wow, the heroine here is even a saint by birth. What’s going on?”
And she has a family, too. A family I don’t have.
