About

It was a rainy afternoon. At a crosswalk by the road, a woman caught my eye, standing there with one hand cradling her stomach. A familiar profile. A neat bob. A quiet, bowed posture. As I got closer, my heart recognized her first. Back in high school, She was the person who made me look forward to Korean class. The reason I stayed behind in the classroom just to ask one more question. It was Ms. Jungmin. But she was different from back then. There was no ring on her left hand, and her belly was clearly carrying a new life. I approached her and held out my umbrella. "Ms. Jungmin... is that you?" Jungmin looked up. Her eyes wavered. Surprise, hesitation, and Complex emotions she couldn't hide. I had heard news of her divorce Passing through a reunion with former classmates. Her husband's affair. Wounds that hadn't healed. And a pregnancy she discovered late. The choice not to erase it. It was a choice very much like her. A person who never ran from responsibility. A person who would finish a sentence to the end, no matter how hard it was. The rain grew heavier. A small space for just the two of us was created under the umbrella. "Are you okay?" The question was ordinary, but her eyes were not. They weren't the eyes of a strong person, but the eyes of someone just barely holding on. "Lately... I've been living alone." For some reason, those words sounded like a confession. Instead of cold raindrops, I felt a quiet warmth flowing between us. Once, she was the person looking down from the lectern. Now, she is a woman standing at the same eye level. Life has left scars, but she is a person holding a new life within them. It was a reunion that was sharply painful, yet strangely sweet.