Unrequited Love Obsession Diary - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 13

Hyeonoh shook his head vigorously to drive away the thoughts that had carelessly surfaced.

‘By the way, does she work part-time in the morning and then go straight to class? She sure lives a busy life.’

Even though she must be tired, she listened to lectures much more diligently than others with their half-dead eyes. It was a completely different attitude from the impression that everything seemed boring and bland to her.

But his observations ended there.

His thoughts stopped without developing beyond the feeling of curiosity.

Hyeonoh categorized Shin Yeon-jae as just one of the human types found on campus.

A kid who works hard at everything.

There are always kids like that in college. Kids who seem like incarnations of Hermione.

With quite pretty looks if she didn’t wear glasses, working part-time and listening to classes diligently, and well, probably doing student council or club activities too. Kids who play the hardest while maintaining good grades.

Usually these types even come from good families.

When his thoughts reached that point, it became a bit boring.

Thinking that the woman’s defiant attitude toward the returning student at the drinking party last time came from the leisurely confidence that only someone who gets what they want and has never experienced humiliation could have, it made sense.

Hyeonoh made rough assumptions, and then he was no longer curious about the person called Shin Yeon-jae.

Nevertheless, for a while Hyeonoh was conscious of Yeon-jae every time he came to class.

Yeon-jae was always alone.

Seeing that he had never witnessed her talking on the phone or exchanging messages with anyone, it didn’t seem to be simply because this was a general education course she was taking alone.

That fact was somewhat unexpected to Hyeonoh.

With her looks and that kind of personality, isn’t she popular with other girls? That one fact subtly bothered him every time he saw her.

* * *

Actually, Hyeonoh couldn’t just leave alone people who were by themselves. It was a kind of condition, if you could call it that.

That’s how he had become friends with Dohan long ago. And it wasn’t just with people—he was the same way with animals.

Dohan evaluated this aspect of Hyeonoh’s personality positively.

“There’s nothing bad about it, right?”

Hyeonoh’s thoughts were a bit different.

‘It’s not bad, but it can be troublesome sometimes.’

If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be spending a fortune at the animal hospital right now.

This was his first time ever setting foot in an animal hospital. After completing all the necessary tests and treatments, the final hospital bill showed a terrifyingly astronomical amount that made his eyes pop out.

Fortunately, his bank account balance was generous for a college student using a debit card.

Otherwise, he would have surely faced the embarrassment of insufficient funds at the payment desk.

‘Wow. I’ll have to live on nothing but sucking my fingers this month.’

It wasn’t a joke—he’d really have to eat rice with cold water starting from tonight.

Unaware of Hyeonoh’s inner turmoil, the cat was comfortably nestled in his arms as if it were its own home, lifting its unbandaged leg to scratch its face contentedly.

‘Fine. Whatever happens, I have to save the sick one first.’

Hyeonoh looked down at the cat ‘Amugeoi’ in his arms.

Named Amugeoi. But not a dog—a small cat.

It was a name Hyeonoh had given it.

There were many people who fed cats on campus, but Amugeoi, being small in stature, was always pushed aside in fights among cats.

Sometimes there were people who noticed Amugeoi and set aside food bowls for it, but once they turned their backs, Amugeoi would invariably have its food bowl stolen by other cats again.

That was probably why. Why he couldn’t just glance and pass by.

He had never deliberately stood and waited at places where Amugeoi frequently appeared.

However, whenever he happened to encounter Amugeoi while walking, Hyeonoh would abandon his original destination and turn toward the nearest convenience store.

He would buy cat-specific tuna cans and place them right in front of Amugeoi, then quietly watch it eat to make sure other cats didn’t steal the food.

One day, while building their own kind of bond this way, Amugeoi disappeared for an unprecedentedly long time.

When two weeks had passed like this, such a thought occurred to Hyeonoh for the first time.

‘Did it leave?’

Then this thought followed.

‘No. Just like that, without a word?’

The worry and regret about Amugeoi, who had vanished without any particular notice, lasted only briefly.

There was nothing to regret about the disappearance of one cat that had been draining his wallet more than cigarettes every day.

But not long after having such thoughts, Amugeoi reappeared. Dragging one of its hind legs as if it were injured.

Hyeonoh hurriedly approached Amugeoi and examined the uncomfortable-looking leg.

He immediately discovered a wound where blood had hardened along a torn area. At a glance, it looked like it had been injured for quite some time.

“Hey, you rascal. If you were going to abandon your hyung and leave, you should have lived well. What’s this?”

Amugeoi didn’t care about Hyeonoh’s scolding. It just scratched at the toe of Hyeonoh’s shoe with a gesture that said to stop the nagging and bring out the food.

“Wow~ Look at this guy? This is unbelievable.”

At that moment, Hyeonoh was already holding Amugeoi in his arms.

Normally he would have given in to what Amugeoi wanted, but not today. Right now, treatment came before food.

Without thinking twice, Hyeonoh hurried to the animal hospital near the school.

And so now.

Hyeonoh was trudging back to school with Amugeoi in his arms.

What remained was an empty bank account balance, a distant future, and…

‘Amugeoi, who got treatment for its injury.’

That was enough.

He hated thinking about something that had already happened two or three times. Humans don’t die from starving for a few days. He had more than enough friends to mooch food from.

Having lightened his mood, Hyeonoh headed straight to the spot where Amugeoi used to frequent as soon as he arrived at school.

As soon as Hyeonoh put it down, Amugeoi quickly disappeared into the bushes, as if it had never been lying with its legs stretched out in Hyeonoh’s arms like it was its own home.

Really now.

But seeing it run, it seemed much more comfortable than before.

Looking at the spot where Amugeoi had disappeared, Hyeonoh suddenly worried.

‘I’ll be tight on money for a while, so what about Amugeoi’s food expenses?’

This was a guy who constantly had his food bowl stolen by other cats even when all his limbs were fine.

Without someone to look after it, with an injured leg on top of that, it would starve every day.

Hmm… should I go to someone’s studio apartment and steal some tuna cans meant for humans?

By the way, I was planning to take a leave of absence after this semester, but if I take a break, who’s going to take care of Amugeoi?

But his worries didn’t last long.

Because a new caretaker appeared besides Hyeonoh.

* * *

“Where have you been all this time?”

The back of the crouching woman was a figure he was encountering for the first time in this place.

“You hurt your leg? I can see from the dressing that you went to the hospital? Who treated you?”

Just listening to her, it really seemed like she was communicating with the cat.

Hyeonoh’s steps slowed. Looking more carefully, it was a familiar back. A girl with long straight hair? Huh?

Shin Yeon-jae?

Hyeonoh immediately recognized the owner of the back.

Despite recognizing her right away, the fact that they weren’t close enough to acknowledge each other felt awkward.

So Hyeonoh stood a step away and quietly watched Yeon-jae. Amugeoi was eating while calmly submitting to Yeon-jae’s stroking hand.

Oh my? Are you a male too?

The sight was completely different from when his own hands touched it, making him feel wronged, but only briefly.

The feeling of injustice quickly turned to relief.

Thinking that there was one more person besides him to take care of Amugeoi’s meals made him feel lighter.

Yeon-jae didn’t notice Hyeonoh’s presence and chattered away happily with Amugeoi.

“Why are you so grumpy? Are you sulking because I’m late? No way. You were the one who disappeared for a while. Do you know how much I searched around this area? Okay, okay, I’ll come right away next time. Really.”

Hyeonoh, who had been quietly listening, couldn’t help but let out a laugh. It was amusing how she was talking to Amugeoi as if the cat could understand every word.

‘Wait, I didn’t know she was this talkative.’

Either way, it was a relief. From the looks of it, this wasn’t the first time she had been feeding him.

With a much lighter heart, Hyeonoh quickly turned around.

Arriving at the classroom, Hyeonoh sat down earlier than usual.

Meanwhile, Yeon-jae must have stayed in that spot for quite a while longer after he last saw her, as she quietly opened the rear door and appeared only about 10 minutes after class had started.

The rear door, which he found himself glancing at repeatedly hoping to catch a glimpse of her rarely seen face, opened, and the moment Yeon-jae casually entered and tidied up the snacks that Amugeoi had devoured.

Hyeonoh’s fingertips, which had been mindlessly spinning his pen, stopped for just a brief moment.

‘So she can be late too.’

Seeing how diligently she listened in class, he thought she was obsessed with getting good grades, but seeing her like this, maybe that wasn’t the case.

Seeing how she didn’t bat an eye when throwing away alcohol given by a much senior student, she seemed like an unusual girl.

He naturally assumed she’d be surrounded by friends, but it was surprising that she was always alone.

Unlike her pretty appearance….

Wait, do I keep calling her pretty?

…unlike her appearance, she sometimes made blank expressions, which was also quite strange.

When the professor assigned discussions, she would keep her mouth tightly shut, so he thought she was exceptionally quiet, but seeing her talk so well in front of Amugeoi was also funny.

He thought she was an unpredictable girl.

So this was curiosity.

A small curiosity toward the girl who had been taking care of the cat he used to look after, just at different times.

Maybe it could be interest disguised as curiosity….

No. What kind of interest could there be toward someone he’d never properly met?

The pen started spinning again. He had no idea that at some point, a smile had caught at the corner of his closed lips.

Time passed quickly and it was soon the end of the semester.

Hyeonoh took a leave of absence after that semester ended, and naturally forgot about Yeon-jae.

* * *

He encountered Yeon-jae again in a university major class he took after returning from his leave of absence.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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