92.
“…….”
“…….”
Chae Yoo-jeong stared at me with a blank expression.
I thought he would blush and freak out or cry like before. The reaction was a lot more normal than I expected.
I didn’t show it, but I was really surprised on the inside. I kissed him because I was caught up in the atmosphere, but I didn’t feel too bad.
‘No, rather……’
It was fairly good. It was surprising that I felt this way after just kissing him.
I’d like to try it one more time, but wouldn’t that be too much? I swallowed my regret and let go of his collar. Chae Yoo-jeong, who had been quietly looking at me until then, finally opened up.
“Skinship... didn’t you say no?”
…Was it so?
“After thinking about it, I don’t think skinship should be left out of the process of getting to know each other.”
Despite my shameless attitude, Chae Yoo-jeong still had no reaction. I felt a little embarrassed by that sight.
“Did you hate it? Then I apologize.”
“Huh? No, no, that’s not it….”
“…….”
“……”
An awkward silence came again.
‘It’s ruined.’
It seems that the timing I felt earlier was just my own illusion.
A feeling of shame came to me later. I have never failed at skinship timing in my life.
“Anyway, thank you for taking me there. I’m going in now, so be careful.”
In times like this, the best thing to do is run away. As soon as I smiled and said bye, Chae Yoo-jeong grabbed my arm tightly.
“W-wait a minute. Hyung.”
“What is it?”
“I… I’m really sorry, I…”
Chae Yoo-jeong stuttered, half out of his mind, as if he was still dreaming.
“Can’t you just… try one more time?”
“What?”
“Just once more. Because it’s my first time. It went by too fast.”
Let’s do it one more time? Wasn’t it something you didn’t like?
Chae Yoo-jeong lowered the corners of his eyes and begged me, who was so embarrassed that I couldn’t answer.
“Hyung, can’t you? Just once. OK?”
“It’s okay once...”
As soon as I nodded my head, Chae Yoo-jeong rushed towards me as if he had been waiting for me.
The guy who pressed his lips to mine, grabbed my face with both hands. His hands, cold from his nervousness, were shaking.
Chae Yoo-jeong, who had been with me for about 5 seconds with just our lips touching, jumped away in a hurry, just like I did earlier. This time his face was all red.
“Whoa.”
Chae Yoo-jeong covered his mouth with his hand and let out an exclamation, his eyes shining like stars.
“Whoa!”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes!”
All I did was give him a kiss and he liked it like that. He seemed ready to dance if I kissed him later.
“Can we do it again next time?”
“Did you leave it to me?”
“No?”
“Don’t ask for permission to do things like that, just do it according to the mood.”
“Are we doing it again now?”
When I saw Chae Yoo-jeong looking so excited as if he could fly into the sky at any moment, I started to get worried.
“Calm down. How can you drive like this when it’s snowing at night?”
“It’s okay because it’s not that far away.”
Still, Chae Yoo-jeong took a deep breath and calmed down as much as he could, as if he didn’t want to worry me, and called me.
“Hyung.”
“Huh?”
“Ever since a long time ago, good things have always happened when it snows.”
Chae Yoo-jeong, smiling brighter than ever, continued.
“Today, I am the happiest I’ve ever been.”
At those words, I couldn’t hold back any longer and smiled at him. I have never heard such a pure and direct confession.
“I’ll go. Can I send you a message when I arrive later?”
“Do whatever you feel like.”
“Yes!”
Chae Yoo-jeong, who had just stepped onto the snow-covered road and returned to his car, shouted brightly.
“I’ll contact you!”
“Be careful.”
Even after getting into the driver’s seat, he rolled down the window and waved his hand at me before leaving.
I watched the car until it got farther away, and I couldn’t see it, and then I turned around and headed home.
***
From the moment I succeeded in kissing Chae Yoo-jeong, I accepted my feelings to some extent.
Let’s admit it. It may have been just curiosity at first, but now it was clear that I had developed romantic feelings for Chae Yoo-jeong.
‘I can’t believe I’m in a relationship with a man.’
It was a situation that was unimaginable not long ago.
Still, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t ignore Chae Yoo-jeong’s pretty appearance, his down-to-earth personality, or even his mind that was surprisingly only filled with me. How can I ignore him when I look straight at his eyes filled with sincerity?
But unfortunately, since the day I became aware of my feelings, Chae Yoo-jeong has become incredibly busy as the year has changed.
[Chae Yoo-jeong: I’m sorryㅠㅠ]
As if everything that happened was just a fantasy, Chae Yoo-jeong stayed in his dorm without any weekends and constantly repeated his practice through scrims and solo queue with his teammates.
Chae Yoo-jeong’s routine was usually like this. He wakes up at noon, eats breakfast and lunch, and starts a private scrimmage with another team.
Scrimmages are usually two or three times a day, and because they are conducted as closely as possible to regular matches, he spends about three hours each time.
We eat a late dinner in the middle of the scrimmage, and after the scrimmage, each person plays solo rank until 3 a.m. Chae Yoo-jeong said that since he took a year off, he would work until 5 o’clock to make up for his lack of practice.
The contacts also naturally decreased. Of course he can’t do it during scrimmages, and in ranked games the only break is the 5 minutes it takes to queue, so it’s hard to keep in touch.
I received replies regularly, up to 10 times a day, usually about 5 times. The good news is that I am relatively relaxed during my vacation, so I am able to receive calls late in the morning.
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Hyung hyung]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: You are coming to my house tomorrow, right?? 8ㅅ8]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: What time are you coming?]
[Yoo Ji-han: Around 3 o’clock?]
[Yoo Ji-han: I also had a part-time job interview, so I don’t know for sure]
[Yoo Ji-han: I will contact you after the interview tomorrow]
[Chae Yoo-jeong: Yes yes! (emoticon)]
Two weeks passed without seeing his face, and Chae Yu-jeong’s birthday was finally approaching.
January 15th. It was a day off that Chae Yoo-jeong, who had been working all day, had finally gotten.
As I was pondering what I wanted to give him as a birthday present, I remembered the logo on the cake box I received last Christmas.
I looked it up online and found that it was a dessert specialty store right in front of Chae Yoo-jeong’s house.
‘I should at least buy a cake from here.’
Just in case, I called the store and made a cake reservation. I would be eating cake and playing with Chae Yoo-jeong, and when the mood was right, I would have planned to confess that I wanted to officially date him seriously.
When I thought of Chae Yoo-jeong, who would be happy to hear my answer, I couldn’t help but smile.
***
The next day, I dressed up in a way that showed just the right amount of care and not too much and left the house in the morning so as not to be too late in meeting Chae Yoo-jeong.
The part-time job I was being interviewed for was at the bookstore where I worked last summer. I thought about how long I would have to wait because I heard that there were people who came first for the interview, but unexpectedly, the interviews of those who came ahead of me ended quickly, which shortened the time significantly.
“If Ji-han wants to work for us again, that would be great for us. You did a very neat job last time, so I can trust you.”
After receiving a reply from the bookstore owner, who informed me of my acceptance with a happy face, telling me to start working next week, I immediately took a taxi. I wanted to call in advance to ask if the cake was ready, but since I’m going to get it anyway, I put it off for now.
“It just worked out really well. The cake was just finished. You can take it right away.”
When I went to a dessert shop, a handsome man handed me a packed cake box.
“Thank you.”
Why am I so lucky today? I had an interview for a part-time job, and I received the food I had reserved right away, so was it a good day to do anything?
Holding the cake box in one hand and humming a tune, I headed to Chae Yoo-jeong’s apartment. Since it was less than 5 minutes away, I called Chae Yoo-jeong on the way. However, the phone call did not connect, and the song continued for a long time.
‘Are you busy?’
Are you doing the cleaning just because I’m going there like last time? There’s something to clean in that house.
I thought nothing of it and tried to make another call, but I stopped when I saw a familiar person on the other side.
The person standing in front of the apartment’s front door was clearly Chae Yoo-jeong. There was a woman in front of him.
Surprisingly, she was a woman whose face I recognized. When I realized that, the corners of my mouth that had been naturally raised slowly stiffened.
---
Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor: Meimei
Support on Kofi:
HM: me editing while listening to Ice breaker by nejishiki…. There’s a strange ending going on here…
GX: I knew it, it was too good to be true. Can’t they just let the boys be happy?
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Is this the time where jihan will know that yoo jung and yoo chae is the same person? 😔😔 Cannot wait for the next chapters