Unrequited Love Obsession Diary - Chapter 67

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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 67

After finishing his story, Dohan shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah. We walked way too much.”

“That’s true. But walking was nice too?!”

“Oh, really? I called you out for a date and just rambled on by myself. Isn’t that kind of lame?”

“Not at all!”

“That’s a relief.”

Another resting spot came into view along the way.

Despite bringing a picnic mat, the two sat down on the stone steps.

Just as Yeon-jae was checking the ground and about to sit down, Dohan took off the shirt he was wearing and handed it to her.

“Sit on this.”

“What if your clothes get ruined…!”

“It’s fine. I just throw on clothes carelessly anyway.”

Observing Dohan, Yeon-jae knew his words were a lie.

Even when Dohan wore just a white t-shirt, he always looked clean as if it were brand new. Whenever she stood next to him, there was always a subtle scent of fabric softener.

As Yeon-jae held Dohan’s clothes in her hands, unable to decide what to do, Dohan added another word.

“I said it’s fine.”

In the end, Yeon-jae spread out Dohan’s shirt and sat on it.

“I didn’t know the Han River stretched out like this continuously. Actually, I’ve never really thought about going to the Han River unless I was taking public transportation.”

“So today is your first time?”

“…Yes.”

“Didn’t you go with your classmates in freshman year? There’s always at least one person who calls everyone together to go to the Han River when you’re a freshman.”

“That’s true. Hahaha.”

She couldn’t exactly confess to Dohan here that ‘because my target was a senior, I put all department activities on the back burner.’

Pretending not to notice the question mark that appeared on Dohan’s face, she browsed the delivery app.

They ordered a pizza and stared blankly at the river.

“It’s nice just being like this.”

“It is.”

“Actually, if we spread out the picnic mat, we’d have to take off our shoes… So I was kind of in a nervous state all day today.”

“Don’t tell me that’s why you deliberately wore black socks today?”

“How did you know?!”

“Well… you usually always wear white socks.”

“You remembered all that…?!”

“Yeah. I didn’t try to remember it, but it just naturally caught my eye.”

Yeon-jae was a little surprised by the fact that Dohan remembered even the smallest details about her.

“But why did you suggest going to the Han River?”

“Ah… well.”

Yeon-jae hesitated for a moment. She was reluctant to bring up Hyeonoh.

But Hyeonoh and I were nothing to each other.

They weren’t dating, and it was Hyeonoh’s one-sided confession, and even that was just a notification that he would give up on his own, wasn’t it?

“…Actually, Hyeonoh said the Han River is nice around this time.”

“Kang Hyeon-o did?”

“Yes… He said it’ll get too hot soon and we won’t be able to go even if we want to. He said this time is just right.”

Half of it was a lie.

Hyeonoh had recommended it as the location for her third ‘date’ with Dohan.

She felt a pang of guilt in one corner of her heart.

“Hyeonoh really takes good care of Yeon-jae.”

“Oh, does he…?”

Normally, Yeon-jae would have waved her hands dismissively, saying there’s no way Hyeonoh would do such a thing.

Or she would have asked back in surprise. Hyeonoh?! she would have said.

But now it was no longer a topic she could just laugh off, so Yeon-jae only smiled awkwardly.

Usually when Hyeonoh’s story came up, the conversation seemed to flow naturally like water, but at this moment, as soon as Hyeonoh was mentioned, the atmosphere of the conversation sank.

“Oh. The pizza delivery is already here. I’ll go pick it up.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No. Wait here. You can watch our stuff too.”

As soon as Dohan disappeared, Yeon-jae let out another deep sigh.

Whenever Hyeonoh’s story came up as a conversation topic between the two, Yeon-jae couldn’t manage her expression well either.

Her thoughts immediately deepened and her heart became troubled.

Dohan quickly returned with the pizza. And as he sat down, he naturally continued the conversation.

“Oh right. Yeon-jae.”

“Yes?”

“How are things with Hyeonoh these days?”

“What?!?”

“Well. You two seemed to have become a bit awkward. Though it might just be my imagination.”

Dohan was so calm that it was hard to believe he was the person who had just made such a bombshell statement to Yeon-jae.

Only Yeon-jae froze in the middle of untying the string around the pizza box.

“If you fought, why don’t you make up? Kang Hyeon-o, that guy has such a good personality that even if Yeon-jae did something wrong, he’s not the type to hold it in his heart. He’s probably already forgotten about it?”

Dohan now seemed to have concluded that Yeon-jae and Hyeonoh had definitely fought.

Yeon-jae couldn’t figure out where to start explaining.

She wondered if explaining would even make a difference.

“Hyeonoh does have a good personality…”

“Yeon-jae really can’t lie.”

“What?!”

“Well. Like at the beginning of the semester too.”

Dohan trailed off. Only Yeon-jae was left wondering what ‘beginning of the semester’ he was referring to.

‘I didn’t lie about anything back then…?’

She remembered that back then, far from imagining talking to Dohan, she could only steal glances at his back and jot down information in her notebook.

Maybe Dohan already knew everything even back then.

That thought occurred to her belatedly.

“The weather’s nice.”

Dohan had already moved away from the previous topic and was looking at the river in front of them.

The river water was flowing slowly.

Suddenly a signal went off in Yeon-jae’s head.

‘Now. I have to confess now.’

Everything was just right.

I like you.

Just saying those words would be the end of it.

The atmosphere was appropriately set.

Given the time that had built up between them, it wouldn’t be like suddenly blurting out a confession in a place where nothing existed.

But her mouth wouldn’t open.

Every time she tried to move her lips to speak, it felt like something was blocking her words.

For a reason she couldn’t understand at all.

“S-senior.”

“Yeah?”

“I… um…”

Yeon-jae kept trailing off her words.

Dohan, on the other hand, had a calm expression.

As if he could see right through whatever Yeon-jae was trying to say.

In a way, it looked like he was quietly waiting for Yeon-jae’s words.

As if buying time for Yeon-jae to bring her long one-sided love to a close herself.

“….”

But Yeon-jae’s thoughts fell deeper into a maze instead.

It had definitely been the moment she had longed and longed for.

A long one-sided love. Finally a confession. The start of the romance she had dreamed of was right before her eyes.

This semester had gone so smoothly she wondered if things were allowed to work out this well.

There wasn’t a single aspect she disliked.

Everything fell into place appropriately, as if returning to where it belonged.

Despite all this, Yeon-jae continued to feel something wasn’t quite right.

Why was that….

No, was asking “why” even appropriate?

Though she tried hard to look away, Yeon-jae knew the reason she kept running into obstacles whenever she tried to move forward.

In the place that had burrowed into her confused heart, Hyeonoh was always standing there.

That day’s sudden confession. His hands trembling so unlike him. Yet despite that, the heartfelt sincerity that came through.

Now she had to acknowledge it.

She had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Right now, Yeon-jae was wavering.

How could that be possible?

The other person was Dohan.

She had harbored a one-sided love for him for a very long time.

From her third year of middle school until now at twenty-two.

A full seven years.

She had liked him for the entire time it takes a child who just entered middle school to graduate high school.

But could those feelings really waver in just one moment like this?

Was my love really this light?

Yeon-jae couldn’t believe it.

It would only be for a very brief moment.

It would pass quickly.

Anyone would waver after receiving a confession, right?

Especially when receiving a confession from someone you’d been closest to for a while, it’s natural to waver.

Since Hyeonoh had been so good to her all this time, and she had trusted him completely as a good friend, it would be even more so.

Yet whenever she tried to confess to Dohan, her mouth just wouldn’t open.

The cause was Hyeonoh.

Only Hyeonoh. He tore through Yeon-jae with a weight too heavy to dismiss as just a passing breeze that would shake her briefly and move on.

Yeon-jae looked at the Han River straight ahead.

The days had grown long enough that it could now be called complete summer, so it was still bright out.

Light reflected from the sunlight spread along the river like gold dust.

Once, Yeon-jae had read an article online comparing the width of the Han River to other rivers that flow through cities around the world.

The Thames. The Seine. The Nile. The article’s conclusion was that compared to any famous river, among rivers that flow through cities, the Han River’s width was overwhelmingly broad.

Perhaps because it was such a large river.

Today she had walked along the Han River with Dohan for quite a while, enough to pass several train stations, but no matter how much they walked, there seemed to be no end.

Suddenly, Yeon-jae realized that all this time she had firmly believed the destination of this one-sided love was romance.

In that moment, it felt like something that had been hardened for a long time cracked with a snap.

Some kind of realization struck Yeon-jae’s head hard as it passed through.

Yeon-jae bolted upright from her seat.

“Um… sunbae, I’m sorry but I think I need to go.”

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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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