“Uh… hi. What a coincidence.”
Fortunately, the figure wasn’t some thug, but Johannes, whom Iris never dreamed she’d run into in front of her house this early in the morning.
He had been leaning against the wall, but now straightened his bent back.
Pulling the strings of his hoodie up to cover his face, he awkwardly raised one hand. His hand was remarkably pale and long.
Iris raised her hand to greet him and glanced at Johannes. At this early hour, when all the shops except the convenience store were closed, there was probably only one reason to be out on the street.
“Jogging… you’re jogging?”
“Yeah. Jogging… do, do you want to… come with me?”
Johannes squeezed out the words in a strained, cracked voice. Standing silently for a long time, he finally blurted out a pitiable, uneven sound.
Startled by his own words, he shrank his body and fidgeted anxiously.
Iris’s brown eyes widened. She didn’t recall Johannes ever making a suggestion before.
His hesitant, strained tone, reddened earlobes, and nervously blinking eyes—was it just her imagination, or was he worried sick about being rejected?
Judging by his expression, it didn’t seem like empty words.
Besides, she’d just been thinking it might be fun to get a little closer to Johannes anyway, so her hesitation didn’t last long.
‘With his personality, I thought he’d prefer running alone… but surprisingly, he wants to get close to me too!’
Iris nodded gladly.
“Yeah! Nothing wrong with that.”
After Iris shrugged her shoulders and started walking, Johannes shifted his foot but immediately collapsed.
He had been standing in the same position for too long. After days of enduring the hard labor of standing all night in front of Iris’s house, his body had grown weak.
It would have been better if he had just fallen down, but instead, he knocked over the bicycle parked next to him, causing a loud clatter.
“Ugh!”
“…Johannes?”
Startled by the noise, Iris turned around and hurried over.
Johannes was lying face down on top of the bicycle.
When Iris grabbed his sturdy arm to help him up, Johannes waved his free arm helplessly.
“I-I’m fine. Just fell over…”
“Are you sure? Come on, be careful.”
Johannes’s cheeks flushed a reddish hue as he stared quietly at the arm Iris was holding.
When she let go, he looked regretful but quickly tightened his hoodie more to hide his reddened face.
Leaning awkwardly against the wall with the fallen bicycle propped up beside him, he grimaced.
Having stood all night, suddenly moving made his legs tingle.
As Iris was about to move, she tilted her head at his expression and beckoned him forward.
“Hurry up and come.”
“Huh? Okay…”
At first, Iris tried to jog, but then slowed to match his pace.
They had intended to jog for fitness, but since Johannes wasn’t in a hurry, it had unintentionally turned into a leisurely walk.
It was still before work hours, so the streets were mostly empty except for some stray dogs roaming about.
Walking alone down the quiet street with just the two of them felt strange.
‘So he actually exercises in the morning too. What a strange coincidence… Amazing.’
Maybe they really had some kind of fate from a past life. Otherwise, it was hard to explain running into each other so often.
Even meeting friends from the same neighborhood by chance was rare.
In silence, they walked for about five minutes.
If it had been before, Iris would have felt very uncomfortable, but having spent some time with Johannes, even this quietness wasn’t bad.
Why hadn’t she realized it before?
Back in school, she had ignored him and walked away when he tried to talk to her, thinking he was mean-spirited—but it was really just his naturally shy personality.
She was glad they had cleared up the misunderstanding, even if only now.
‘Back then, I thought it was normal for the other person to respond when I spoke.
If they avoided me, I only thought it was rude.
I never considered that some people are introverted and judged others with prejudice.’
Recalling her immature school days, she shook her head slightly.
If she had been more thoughtful instead of judging so simply back then, she might have gotten closer to Johannes.
It wasn’t too late now, but she regretted the time lost.
Taking in the fresh morning air, Iris stretched her arms and asked,
“Johannes, do you usually take a walk every morning?”
“Huh? Yeah… every day.”
Johannes scratched the back of his neck as he answered.
He wasn’t sober right now.
After seeing Iris step outside his house, his heart had been beating so wildly it felt like it would burst, making him want to retch.
It was already the fourth day since he’d been standing like a scout outside Iris’s house from night till morning, and during that time, he’d felt utterly despairing, as if the world was collapsing.
But now, walking side by side with Iris, his painful heart was completely cleansed, and the whole world suddenly seemed beautiful.
Four days ago, he had arrived breathlessly at Iris’s house in a car driven by James.
He knew there was nothing he could do by coming here, but overwhelmed by miserable and terrible feelings, he couldn’t control himself.
Feeling like his chest would burst, he acted on instinct.
As soon as the car stopped in front of Iris’s one-room apartment building, he jumped out without a word to James.
He then stared endlessly at the darkened window of Iris’s room—Room 303 on the third floor, the third window.
He had already figured out where Iris lived the day she moved in.
Unable to do anything, he spent the whole night sobbing while gazing at her window.
During the day, afraid of running into Iris, he went back home, weeping all day, then repeatedly ran outside overcome by an anger he didn’t even know who it was for.
On the fourth day of endless torment until dawn, his tangled thoughts finally sorted themselves out.
He realized a truth others hadn’t dared to say.
He had been foolish and overly passive.
For the past 14 years, he had only watched Iris, thinking that if he didn’t try, he wouldn’t fail.
In truth, maybe he had been complacent.
Iris had never been involved with any other man and always seemed like she would stay right there.
So he brainwashed himself into thinking that just watching her was enough to be happy.
Seeing her always alone, he even foolishly imagined he would be her last man.
Now was the time to correct that flawed belief.
If you don’t try, you’re safe.
But you might lose something precious forever, so you have to take the risk, even if you fail.
‘I’m glad I kept standing there.
I met Iris naturally.
I can win her over.
I’m better looking… after all.’
He hadn’t just stood around foolishly through the sleepless nights.
In between, consumed by jealousy, he had searched for Laika’s name on portal sites and combed through every piece of information.
He had already looked him up when he heard about Laika dating Johannes in Rugang Park, but back then, he hadn’t expected things to turn out like this, so he only skimmed.
He never imagined Iris would become so involved with Laika, who looked like a thug.
No, looking back, he had been in denial, convincing himself it wasn’t true.
He had hoped their relationship would fizzle out after a couple of dates, believing his wishful thinking was sound judgment.
How stupid.
As he blamed himself, he kept scanning Laika’s photos from every angle—and no matter how he looked, he still thought he was better looking.
‘Right. I’m better looking.’
Johannes was timid, but not to the point of distorting his own appearance.
He certainly had some mental shortcomings, but he was capable of recognizing this one fact correctly.
The reason was simple.
People of all ages and genders had complimented Johannes on his looks.
This was why he had the confidence that even if he did nothing but wait, Iris would ultimately choose him.
‘Better than some ugly guy like him…’
He must have looked through all the photos on the portal site.
Laika’s smirking face was disgusting to Johannes, though many seemed to find him handsome.
Not at all.
He looked tacky, like a breeze could blow him away, fragile both in mind and body.
He didn’t think the public had good taste.
Wasn’t he better, who had been described as neat and handsome?
Feeling triumphant, Johannes tightened his mouth and lifted his chin.
But then his confidence faltered again.
He realized there was one person among those who had complimented him who hadn’t said he was handsome— Iris.
From the beginning until now, she had never once praised his looks.
‘Maybe I’m just not her type.
If she likes that kind of style… I could probably imitate it quickly…’