My Girlfriend Is Very Good to Me

es. For the legs, rehabilitation and recovery… are not viable at the moment…”

The doctor’s words, engaged in conversation with my parents, were not entirely audible. Whether it was due to anesthesia or painkillers, I didn’t feel any immediate pain, but it was impossible to get up on my own.

In the hand mirror, a thing I had to repeatedly urge my complaining brother to get, I could see my face wrapped in a yellow bandage, as if pus had seeped through.

“……”

A foolish thought, but it felt like receiving retribution for having an easy life.

My life had been so easy and comfortable because of my harmonious family and my good looks, but now the smiles had vanished from my family’s faces, and my once-praised face was distorted. I couldn’t even walk on my own.

Everything had fallen apart.

Lowering the mirror from my weakened hand, I absentmindedly gazed out of the window. During this time, the doctor, my parents, and even my brother had said various things to me, but nothing registered in my ears.

How much time had passed?

Around the time when the sunlight was so intense that it was difficult to look outside.

“…Hee-na.”

Yeon-hu came to visit.

My brother must have contacted him, because they had seen each other a few times and exchanged numbers.

However, despite wanting to see him so badly after waking up…

Now, I couldn’t bear to turn my head.

After we started dating, he told me that he liked me not only for my face but also for my simple personality, playfulness, and other qualities. He said he had come to like them. However, the fundamental reason he liked me was because I was pretty.

And that scared me.

The fact that Yeon-hu would have to face my current appearance, even more than myself.

With that in mind, I sobbed silently without looking at him.

“It… hurt a lot, didn’t it?”

I  couldn’t hold back any longer, as he held me gently and asked me that.

“…Hurts… My leg… can’t move… and my face…”

His voice.

His warmth.

My heart broke and I cried, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn my head. Seeing me like this, Yeon-hu didn’t force me to look at my face. He simply embraced me.

“It’s okay. You’ll get better. I heard a bit earlier; that with rehabilitation, your legs will be able to move perfectly. So don’t worry. I’ll stay by your side.”

More than words of love…

More than a pounding heart…

More than anything…,

…it was the comfort of having Yeo-hu gently holding me.

I was truly grateful.

* * *

The next few months of rehabilitation were not easy.

Contrary to expectations, my body, especially my legs, didn’t respond as hoped. The pain in my heart outweighed the immediate physical pain.

Friends I had been close with, classmates, seniors, and juniors from university—all those who came to visit, expressed concern, and left the hospital smiling—became scarce afterward. My phone, which was always full of new messages, whether I was working or not, was surprisingly quiet. Except for a few close friends and Yeon-hu, who consistently kept in touch, the contacts vanished in an instant.

I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.

It was rather amazing that they kept in touch regularly, considering we weren’t very close.

However,

The fact that most of them stopped contacting me right after hospital visits was enough to shake my emotions.

I knew.

The reason people had become close to me was, more often than not, because of my pretty face.

It wasn’t that they exploited it or approached me with wrong intentions. I had skillfully used that part of me to easily make friends. Those friends, made so easily, left just as easily.

After seeing my distorted half-face.

Even though I acknowledge it.

Even though I knew it in my head, it was still heartbreaking.

So much so that I wanted to die right now.

But if there was a reason I couldn’t bring myself to die right away, it was having my family there for me, smiling in front of me no matter what.

And.

“Yo! Hee-na! Your oppa is here!”

“What’s with this ‘oppa’ thing? Did you do well in class?”

“Yeah, it was so boring. I really didn’t feel like doing the assignments…”

Every single day, without fail, Yeon-hu came here for at least a minute.

It had been a few months since the accident, and during this time, Yeon-hu visited every day.

Even though he was now a second-year student, busy with difficult classes at a university better than his skills, he continued to come.

Always facing my hideously distorted half-face, the one I’d hidden at first, but now resigned myself to showing.

“Oh, by the way. Do you remember Jung Yoon-sung? He also came. We’re going to have dinner later.”

“Your high school classmate?”

“Yeah, that’s right. He’s waiting outside because it might be awkward if he comes in without knowing anyone.”

“Let him in.”

“That guy isn’t someone you see often unless you’re familiar with him… You felt uncomfortable even when you first met him, right?”

“Oh… was that so? I remember him running away when I asked him to play.”

I eagerly engaged in every small conversation we shared, not wanting to miss a single word. I wanted to memorize Yeon-hu’s voice, the voice of my grateful boyfriend who always visited at the end of visiting hours.

Or the rehabilitation exercises I did all day without making any progress.

Even the mental strain shaken by the sudden disappearance of people.

All of it could be forgotten in the moments when Yeon-hu was here.

“Oh, it’s gotten so late today.”

“It’s okay. Thank you for coming… Hurry up. Your friend is waiting.”

“I know. You said you have rehabilitation in the morning tomorrow? I’ll come a little earlier tomorrow.”

I wanted to say that it would be hard to come every day, so you don’t have to come for a day. But I couldn’t open my mouth.

It was salvation.

His unwavering, bright smile that had caught my eye even before we started dating.

Now, it was a treasure that I couldn’t be without.

If I couldn’t see him for even a day, I might burst into tears.

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye~”

The gradually fading footsteps.

As Yeon-hu left the room, I briefly stared at the closed door before slowly rolling the wheelchair toward the bathroom.

It would be better to use the bathroom while I was in the wheelchair. With my current condition, even getting on and off the bed was a considerable exercise.

—Creak

As I made my way to the restroom with my wheels moving slowly and lazily, thinking about my conversation with Yeon-hu, I heard a voice from the nearby corner.

Today, I hadn’t heard any sounds of visitors in the neighboring rooms, and it was quite late. So, I thought Yeon-hu might have stopped by the bathroom before leaving. While I was slowly approaching, the voice reached me.

“You, uh… are you going to keep dating her?”

The voice was faintly familiar, a friend of Yeon-hu’s whom he had mentioned before. I stopped in my tracks.

“Who? Hee-na?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Of course, dude.”

“If you’re happy, it doesn’t matter… but they say she’s almost hopeless. Her legs.”

“…Hmmm. She does seem to struggle.”

—Squeak

I knew it.

Even though it had been several months since I started rehabilitation.

I still had no guarantee of improvement, let alone having prosthetic legs. I continued the rehabilitation exercises mechanically. It was just to show my family and Yeon-hu that I hadn’t given up hope.

But those were trivial aspects. The question from Yeon-hu’s friend was a topic that tormented me throughout the time I couldn’t see Yeon-hu.

What would he think of me now?

I was so curious and yet fearful.

What if.

What If, by any chance.

He decides to leave me.

I wouldn’t be able to stop him. Even if I were thankful or sorry.

“That… I shouldn’t be saying this here, but are you sure you’re okay with this? If you keep seeing each other, it’s only going to get harder.”

“Um…”

There was silence for a moment.

Cold sweat trickled down my hands. Unlike me, who felt tension and even a bit nauseous from the sudden tension, Yeon-hu was as cheerful as ever.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said.”

“And?”

“We’re not breaking up.”

“Why?”

I, too, was curious. Why?

However, Yeon-hu’s answer was clear and straightforward.

“It’s just… because it’s good.”

“Sometimes Hee-na seems a little tired.”

“Her rehabilitation isn’t going as planned… she must be going through a lot.”

“Maybe if I asked her to break up with me, she’d laugh and say yes.”

“Honestly… I don’t think she likes me as much as I like her.”

“Besides, I think she feels a little sorry that I come to visit her every day.”

“But I don’t give a shit about any of that.”

“It’s not like she asked me to break up with her.”

“I just keep coming because I like her, I’m not breaking up with her, and I want to see my girlfriend.”

“I’m not doing it out of obligation or pity or anything.”

“In fact, I don’t think I’m such a good guy, and I thought it might be the same for me at first. I thought my heart might cool down like the kids who were secretly gossiping about Hee-na at school.”

“But it wasn’t like that.”

“I want to see her every day, and I feel good when I see her.”

“Like when we first started dating.”

“I guess I just like her too much.”

It was such a simple reason, but it stuck with me more than anything else.

‘Because I like her.’

I bit my lip to stifle the sobbing, holding back the tears. As Yeon-hu said, I had feelings for him, but I didn’t start dating him because I liked him that much.

But the more we got to know each other, the more I was drawn to him, and he slowly seeped into my heart like paint on a canvas.

I still didn’t think it was love.

It was my first relationship and I didn’t have the experience to clearly define what love was.

I didn’t feel that kind of passionate feeling that I saw in manga, novels, and dramas, where you only think about one person and your whole life revolves around them.

I didn’t feel that kind of passion.

Up until this moment.

Whether it was my radiant self or my current disfigured appearance.

He simply liked me without unnecessary words.

If I think about it, there was always a part of me that was just waiting for Yeon-hu to come.

Reflecting on the conversations and dates we had.

I would do all my rehabilitation exercises when he came.

Thinking about where I would go with him once I got better, even if it was just in my mind.

There was such a part of me.

More than just gratitude. I was absorbed in every aspect of his face, expression, body language, and words.

Only now do I realize.

Only now have I learned to love.

If only I had learned it a little, just a little earlier.

If I had met him more, gone to more places, and dated more…,

…I could have loved him even more than now.