Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Plodding along…

While walking down the street, I sneakily glanced at Yoon Hye-yoon beside me.

Her chest protruded slightly due to the strap of her bag, and her neck was long and strikingly white.

And from beside me, I could faintly catch the scent of her body.

I wasn’t sweating, so I was fine, but Yoon Hye-yoon was drenched in sweat all over.

We had quickly showered before leaving the gym.

Thanks to that, her scent tickled my nose with every step.

I always wonder why a woman’s body smells so good.

Shin Ah-young is like that, and so is Yoon Hye-yoon.

It seemed like their skin tissue was completely structured differently.

As we matched our walking pace, after about 5 minutes,

we entered an area with many restaurants, and I was the first to speak.

「Is there anything specific you’d like to eat? I’ll buy today.」

「I’m fine with anything, so choose whatever you want to eat.」

「That’s actually the toughest choice to make, you know?」

「I know, but… I really am fine. I’m not picky.」

Her expression said she’d eat whatever I chose.

I scanned the signs, looking for something suitable.

We had just worked out, so something fitting… caught my eye.

「How about naengmyeon? You sweated a lot earlier. Let’s cool down with a bowl.」

「Naengmyeon? Yes, I’d like that. Is there a place nearby?」

「There’s one on the second floor right there. See the red sign?」

「Oh, there it is. I was craving something cool. Let’s go right away.」

I was worried she might refuse.

But seeing her nod vigorously, it seemed I chose the menu well.

Upon entering the restaurant, it was packed.

It was dinner time, which I understood, but seeing so many people, it seemed to be a popular spot.

「Welcome! How many in your party?」

「Just two.」

「Please head to that table over there.」

「Okay, thank you.」

After we sat down, a young part-timer came over and handed us the menus.

I turned the menu so Yoon Hye-yoon could see it as well and scanned it from top to bottom.

Normally, you’d order naengmyeon at a naengmyeon place,

but looking at what else they offered was also fun.

「I’ll have the mul-naengmyeon. What about you, Ms. Yoon?」

「I’ll have the mul-naengmyeon as well.」

「Then, two mul-naengmyeon, please! Excuse me!」

I called over the part-timer from earlier and handed back the menu.

Then the awkward silence returned.

In the noisy restaurant, we felt like an isolated island.

Though I had lured her out to eat to catch her, there wasn’t much to talk about here.

I casually started a conversation while pouring water.

「What did you do today?」

「Ah! Thank you. Just the usual for me. Attended classes, and studied for finals… um.」

「Did you study a lot? There’s about two weeks left.」

「Just two more subjects to go, but there’s still so much I don’t understand.」

「That’s normal unless you’re a professor.」

「That would be great if I could memorize it all at once.」

While we chatted, two bowls of naengmyeon arrived at our table.

It seemed like only 5 minutes had passed since we ordered, but it came out quickly, which was nice.

I stirred the noodles, which turned out to be chewier than expected.

Yoon Hye-yoon seemed to feel the same, doing the same thing as me.

「Shall I cut them for you?」

「Yes, please, just twice.」

As I asked with the scissors, she pushed her bowl towards me.

After cutting the noodles twice as requested, we both started eating.

Maybe she was hungry, as she kept slurping.

Just watching her eat made me feel full, she was enjoying it so much.

「Ah… That was delicious. Thank you for treating me.」

「It’s nothing. You must have been really hungry. You ate well.」

「I guess I worked out hard.」

「Is that so?」

After paying and leaving, the sky had darkened.

In contrast, the brilliant lights brightened the streets.

Feeling it was time to talk, I pointed towards a park.

「Shall we take a walk?」

「Yes…」

The atmosphere had clearly changed from before.

I continued to ponder how to start a conversation while walking.

Despite it seeming trivial, my heart raced with tension.

Soon, we moved past the noisy, flashy area and entered a quieter spot where the sound of insects could be heard.

We walked around the interior, looking for a good spot.

Soon, we found a bench faintly illuminated by a streetlamp and sat down.

I tapped my leg, gauging her mood for a moment before I quietly started speaking.

「Was there something you wanted to ask?」

「Yes… what’s your relationship with Shin Ah-young? And about the moaning sounds that night…」

「To answer your first question… I can’t define our relationship precisely.」

「What do you mean?」

「It’s complicated. We’ve been intimate, but she’s not my girlfriend.」

「Intimate means…」

「Yes, those sounds you heard that night weren’t mistaken.」

「I see…」

I expected a reaction, but surprisingly, her expression remained calm.

Our relationship was not that of a couple, but we had been sexually involved.

It seemed like she somewhat understood.

「So, to summarize, she’s not your girlfriend but you had sex, right?」

「That’s one way to look at it.」

「And the noises all night… did you really keep going without stopping?」

「Yes, pretty much.」

「Ah…」

She paused for a moment, then sighed deeply as she looked at me.

It wasn’t a sigh of disappointment or disdain, but rather one of relief.

「Well, as long as she’s not your girlfriend, it’s less serious than I thought.」

「I thought you were avoiding me because it was a serious issue.」

「There was a bit of that, but was it that obvious?」

「Yes. When you saw me and Shin Ah-young in the elevator, you looked terrified, anyone would have thought that.」

「Ha… was it that noticeable?」

Yoon Hye-yoon turned her head slightly, embarrassed, and scratched her head.

She then adjusted her hair blowing in the wind and quietly watched the people walking by.

It seemed like she had something to say, so I quietly waited as I looked in the same direction.

After a while, her lips, which seemed sealed forever, slowly began to move.

「Seeing my emotions so clearly on my face must be funny to you, right?」

「No, not at all.」

「You don’t have to lie. Since school, my friends have teased me a lot for wearing my emotions on my face.」

「It seems that’s been the case for a while.」

「Yes. But I hated it. It felt like I was a toy. So, I practiced keeping a poker face.」

She took a deep breath.

Calming her hurried speech, she continued in a more composed tone.

「I’ve lived like that for so long, it doesn’t always work. I guess it’s a bit of a trauma, or a flaw, something I need to fix. I focus too much on trying to appear serious, and often miss out on other things.」

Hearing her inner thoughts for the first time.

The reason she often acted 98% perfect but slightly off in weird ways was revealed at that moment.

「I actually think that’s kind of charming. Don’t think too badly of it.」

「You wouldn’t understand because you haven’t experienced it. It’s kind of stressful when everyone teases you at least once. It’s hard to always just laugh it off.」

「That’s because you’re pretty, and everyone reacts because it’s cute.」

Honestly, it’s fun to tease her.

Even if she acts seriously, it shows, and that’s why I teased her, knowing all too well.

Those people probably didn’t mean any harm either.

From my experience, that was the case.

Thinking back, there were many instances.

When someone rang my doorbell asking if I needed a drinking buddy.

When they grabbed me to do yoga together.

When they asked to watch a movie in their room.

Their methods were clumsy and their intentions obvious.

But that clumsy aspect was endearing, so I played along knowingly.

「People don’t mean it seriously. Don’t take it too hard.」

At my last words, she stared at me for a long time.

And as leaves fell around us like a signal,

she asked in a serious tone.

「Woo-jin.」

「Yes.」

「Earlier, you asked why I was avoiding you. Are you curious?」

「Of course.」

Simply because I was seen with Shin Ah-young.

There was no reason to so openly avoid me otherwise.

「The superficial reason was that I thought you had gotten a girlfriend. If a girlfriend was in the picture, then it’s right to clean up our relationship and go back to just being neighbors.」

「And the real reason?」

「Do you remember what I said last week when we were together?」

I racked my brain as hard as I could.

But too many big things had happened since then, and her question was too vague.

I couldn’t think of anything specific.

Still, it was better to be honest than to lie.

「I’m sorry, I don’t remember exactly.」

「That’s okay. It happens. Do you remember me suddenly disappearing, or when I asked you to do it when I wanted? Does that ring a bell?」

「Ah! Yes, I remember now.」

「What would you think if suddenly, a week after I said that, you heard another woman’s moaning from the next room?」

「…」

「Of course, since we’re not dating, I can’t really dictate what you do. But… I thought maybe you were trying to push me away on purpose. That’s what crossed my mind.」

「I wasn’t thinking that at all…」

「I realized today that wasn’t your intention when you approached me. But back then, I was worried… maybe I was doing something annoying, maybe you started to dislike me, maybe I was being abandoned again. I really dwelled on it a lot.」

Hearing her say that, I felt a pang of guilt.

The casual words and actions I had taken seemed to have hurt her more than I realized.

「If you continue with Shin Ah-young, would you still keep our relationship? I know I don’t have anything better than her, not in looks or body…」

She trailed off, glancing at me cautiously.

I should have been the one apologizing for not being attentive enough, but the situation had turned the other way around.