Chapter 3

When I did not react, Snow took my arm and said, “Come on! Look at how tired you are! If school’s really that busy, you should quit and rest at home for a while. Teaching doesn’t earn much anyway.”

I did not understand why, but her touch suddenly felt unpleasant to me. I silently pulled my arm away and thought about what she said. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like mockery.

Back when she had just graduated and could not get a job, it was this so-called low-paying job that had kept her clothed and fed. I was the one who supported her and stood by her through everything.

In her eyes at the present, I was no different from the job she looked down on.

“Snow, my job doesn’t pay much, but teaching still means something to me. I’m not as free as you. I don’t have the time to run over to someone else’s place to do their laundry. But that doesn’t mean I should quit.”

Snow shot up from the couch as if my words had struck a nerve. Her face twisted with mockery.

“Jared, is that what you really think? You’ve been acting as if nothing bothers you, but you’re just angry because of the video Yulan posted!

“I haven’t even asked what that comment was supposed to mean! My coworker was drunk, and I couldn’t leave him alone. Do you really have to corner me like this?”

She had said things like this to me before.

Back then, Yulan had just joined the company as a new recruit. Snow worried he would not fit in, so she fussed over him and put him first every time.

Unfortunately, that was also when I came down with acute gastroenteritis. I went out to buy medicine and realized I had forgotten my keys when I got home.

It was the middle of winter. I crouched against the wall with stomach pain and called Snow. She did not answer until half an hour later. When she finally picked up and found out why I had called her, she lost her temper.

“Jared, how old are you? How can you still be so careless? It’s freezing right now. Yulan’s rental place has no heating, and I’m helping him buy a heater. Do you really need me to rush home just to open the door for you?”

That was the first time I was truly angry with Snow. I was aloof and distant when she finally returned.

She acted pitifully and told me repeatedly that Yulan was like a brother to her. She said she had not been thinking clearly earlier, and that was why she had snapped at me.

I let her soft words sway me. I even convinced myself that I had been too petty to get upset over someone much younger than me.

Thinking about that, it felt ridiculous and sad.