SMW 70

“Then why were you acting like enemies earlier? And why was your cousin so angry with you?”

“I made a promise.”

“What kind of promise?”

I thought he would answer readily this time, but Choi Seol wore a troubled expression.

“I can’t tell you that much. If I do, you’ll really get entangled in this.”

Why is he saying such scary things again?

“I have absolutely no desire to be entangled with the vice chairman of a conglomerate either. But… this promise you made, it’s not something dangerous or anything, right?”

“Depending on the situation, it might be.”

“Right. Then just keep it tucked away in your heart.”

At my attitude of ending the conversation without any lingering regret, Choi Seol’s eyes narrowed.

“Aren’t you worried about me?”

What is he talking about.

“Even if you stick your head into a tiger’s mouth, I wouldn’t worry. I feel like you’d manage to survive well anywhere.”

“I never imagined I’d receive such infinite trust from you.”

“Hah, who do you think I am? I’ve trusted you since our school days. Even if your personality is a bit scary, you seemed amazing even ten years ago. You were good at everything and beat everyone at everything.”

That amazing Choi Seol had made a potentially dangerous promise with that amazing vice chairman of Yuseon Group. If an ordinary person stepped in recklessly, they might end up as collateral damage in a fight between whales. I had to play it safe.

“True, everything was easy back then. Except for one thing.”

It couldn’t have been easy to admit his own boasting without sounding obnoxious, but for him, it was quite easy. The last part of his sentence also caught my attention.

“What was that one thing?”

“Are you curious about that too?”

“No. Forget it.”

For some reason, I felt that if I tried to find out, I would become deeply entangled in that potentially dangerous promise. Choi Seol let out a small laugh at my iron wall and muttered bitterly.

“That one thing is still not very easy.”

Then, his expression settled.

“When I heard you went home with some stranger, I thought my heart was going to drop out of my chest. And when I found out that stranger was Baek Han, I felt like I was going crazy.”

Perhaps because the sun was starting to set, the back of my neck suddenly felt chilly.

“Hey, why do you make your worries sound so scary?”

“Then how should I do it?”

“Well… no, I guess everyone has their own style of worrying.”

It was definitely cold, but looking into those eyes, my face felt beyond hot—it felt like it was going to burn. I subtly shifted my gaze to the side to change the subject.

“So, because of that promise, your cousin is angry with you right now?”

“…Didn’t I just ask you to worry about me?”

“I am worrying about you right now. You said your cousin is a psychopath.”

“If that’s all it is, there’s no need to worry.”

I thought you wanted me to worry?

“It’s true he’s angry, but it’ll be fine. He absolutely hates anything that causes him loss, but he’s also a human who becomes infinitely generous toward his allies.”

“…It sounds complicated, but does that mean you’re still an ally?”

“No need to think too complicatedly. Just as you said, I am still an ally to him. Since he went back after confirming things this time, nothing special will happen for a while. Of course, I’ll have to grant him what he wants soon.”

A bitter smile lingered at the end of [stolen content]Choi Seol’s words. Ah, now I think I [unauthorized copy]know what that feeling of anxiety from a moment ago was.

“Do you have to go back?”

“…It seems like I do.”

Though the answer was delayed, his attitude showed no hesitation, and my heart sank heavily. I knew a day like this would come eventually, but for it to end so suddenly?

If this was a trick to make me worry about him, it was truly the worst. But knowing that wasn’t the case, I had no choice but to ask.

“Is it because of me?”

“….”

“Is your cousin—or that vice chairman or whatever—threatening you with me, so you have no choice but to go?”

My history, which I hadn’t told him, had been recited fluently by someone else. Unless I was a fool, I couldn’t help but understand what the subsequent conversation between Choi Seol and the vice chairman implied.

“I can’t say it’s not. Because you are the only precious person I have left.”

The answer, spat out after hesitating far longer than when he [unauthorized copy]said he was going back, was unexpectedly sweet. Moreover, if I found [stolen content]this guy—who was avoiding my gaze as if he felt so sorry for those words—suddenly lovely, was I crazy? All of a sudden? At this point?

“D-don’t say things like that. It’s not like a line from a drama from the eighties; it gives me goosebumps.”

As I muttered primly as if in a final struggle, Choi Seol laughed.

“I know. Seeing how lines that sound cheesy even to me flow so easily when it comes to you, I might really be crazy.”

Maybe that was true. Maybe both you and I have finally gone crazy.

“Fine. I guess I’d become cheesy too if someone threatened me using you.”

There was no need to hypothesize otherwise. Even at this moment, I was becoming quite cheesy.

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“I’m like this because I like you, but why would you be like that?”

The sudden question left me speechless.

He was right. The word ‘friend’ was still a term that didn’t apply to us. It probably would in the future, too. That was why I couldn’t even get angry when Choi Seol was being pushed around by the vice chairman. Because for a relationship that was ‘nothing,’ no justification was permitted.

Then what was it? A first love from ten years ago? Or the affection from living together for nearly two months? I don’t know. I hadn’t clung to regrets over past loves for the last ten years. Nor was I a person who was affectionate toward just anyone.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer. Just knowing that you’d do that for me makes me happy enough.”

In the end, it was Choi Seol who closed the conversation. What should I do with this man? Because he keeps saying exactly what I want to hear, my heart is becoming this weak.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason my heart was softening. The pain poking at the heavy inside of my chest was so welcome that it was now hard to ignore.

Maybe even now, I…

“You can come back.”

“….”

“I mean, once you’ve finished your business, you can come back here. I’ll give you a room.”

My cheeks flushed under the gaze staring at me, but this time, I didn’t avoid his eyes.

“Instead, next time, you have to pay the rent and for the food properly.”

I hadn’t decided on the issue of returning to school yet, but the thought that it wouldn’t be bad to just keep staying here with Choi Seol came first. Rationally, it was nonsense, but whenever I stood before Choi Seol, it felt like all that became useless.

“I told you not to keep doing that.”

Choi Seol, who had been listening quietly to my words, eventually muttered as if troubled. That looked cute too, so I ended up letting out a giggle.

“Why? Are you going to say that if I keep doing this, you’ll get greedy again?”

“No.”

How embarrassing for me.

“Then what is it?”

“I start wanting to kiss you.”

My head snapped back instantly.

Oh my god. What did I just hear?

“Hey, don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking.”

Choi Seol tilted his head to meet my eyes.

“Han Yeo-reum. Can I kiss you?”

Looking at the tip of his nose, which seemed like it would touch mine at any moment, I blinked slowly. It was already evening. The glow of the sunset, burning its last heat before fading away across the sky, invaded the wooden veranda. I thought the reason my face had been stinging with heat since earlier was because of that, but it seemed I was wrong.

As I continued to meet Choi Seol’s eyes, which held an explicit heat, my breath suddenly caught. It wasn’t just a kiss; it was an overwhelming pressure that felt like I would be swallowed whole, and I unconsciously leaned my upper body back. However, before I could move away from him, I was trapped in two firm arms.

“D-don’t.”

At my frightened voice, Choi Seol’s shoulders flinched. As if the fierce aura from a moment ago had been an illusion, a voice with the strength gone reached me.

“Sorry.”

And without realizing it, I grabbed the collar of Choi Seol’s clothes as he began to slowly pull away. I don’t know why I did it. What was clear was that I hated the idea of ending the situation like this.

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

To the question that was no different from when he asked why he liked me, Choi Seol narrowed his brow again. The difference was that instead of feeling like he found the answer difficult, it seemed like he was suppressing something hard to endure.

“I’ve just always wanted to.”

There is no reason. Choi Seol’s answer was no different from back then. This time, too, I ended up understanding that reason.

Everything must have just come to him suddenly. And as his feelings grew steadily, he must have eventually become greedy. I was the same. But I had never once put those feelings into words.

That must be the difference between me and Choi Seol. Perhaps that’s why, suddenly, I felt greedy.

“There’s something I want to eat, but they say if I eat it, I’ll get an upset stomach. What would you do then?”

At my seemingly random question, Choi Seol looked puzzled for a moment before speaking.

“Eat it.”

“Even if I get an upset stomach?”

“If it hurts, you can just take medicine.”

What is this? What kind of innovative answer is that?

“If you can’t eat what you want right now, you’ll regret it for a long time. I already did.”

There was no need to ask what Choi Seol regretted. Instead, I shook my head.

“Still, I can’t eat it. I hate being in pain.”

“I know. You don’t eat it. It would be heartbreaking if you were in pain.”

The gaze Choi Seol used to take me in, with his eyes softly drooping, was full of tenderness. I could feel once again how precious I was to him.

Somehow, it became hard to resist.

“If it’s just once.”

“….”

“If we don’t put any particular meaning into it, I think once would be okay.”

Choi Seol’s body stiffened. Even through the collar I was holding, I could feel his tension and bewilderment. Even though the temperature was dropping as the sun set, the inside of my body flared up.

“I mean, there’s really no meaning. It’s a bit petty for people our age to make a fuss over one kiss. And since you want to do it so badly…”

I couldn’t continue. My nape was wrapped in a hand and pulled, and our lips locked. It was so sudden that I blinked rapidly a few times. Then, Choi Seol’s eyes, which were far too close, moved following my gaze. Whether it was just agitation or a burning flicker, at that overwhelming movement, I ended up closing my eyes tight.