Unrequited Love Obsession Diary - Chapter 69
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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 69
Nevertheless, Dohan was relaxed in this competition.
At least Yeon-jae’s heart belonged to him.
Even after Yeon-jae started talking with him, she would get flustered whenever there was even the slightest hint of something sweet in their occasional conversations.
That wasn’t all. Just calling her name would make her face turn red first. So he wanted to tease her a little more, to make her anxious.
Sometimes when Dohan pretended not to know Yeon-jae’s feelings at all and casually mentioned how well she got along with Hyeonoh, she would look like she was on the verge of tears.
He wasn’t playing with her.
At some point, Dohan had grown quite fond of Yeon-jae.
Sorry to Hyeonoh, but they would naturally end up dating.
That’s how it should have been.
But Yeon-jae’s heart began to lean away, little by little, yet unmistakably.
Even seeing this change, Dohan didn’t easily assign meaning to it.
Because Yeon-jae… liked him.
It seemed like feelings that had been building up for quite a long time.
It wouldn’t be a heart that would crumble easily.
But such thinking merely overlooked the fact that his opponent was Hyeonoh.
By the time he belatedly realized that Yeon-jae’s heart had tilted, it was already too late.
They liked each other.
Even if they themselves didn’t know it, it was clear as day to Dohan, a third party.
Kang Hyeon-o was uncharacteristically fumbling around, and Yeon-jae was…
Yeon-jae seemed to have liked him for so long that it had hardened like inertia.
So she was in a state where she couldn’t even think that she might like someone else.
Probably if someone gave her a little push, she would realize it right away.
So Dohan decided to quietly step back at this point.
Interfering in other people’s love affairs and being uncharacteristically greedy didn’t suit his temperament in the first place.
Still, thanks to them, this spring had been enjoyable in many ways.
He had considered playing the role of giving Yeon-jae that push, but decided against it.
This time, that’s okay with me, right?
* * *
Despite her bold declaration, Yeon-jae was actually frozen in place, unable to take any action.
It was because she thought she had just been terribly rude to Dohan.
But Dohan’s reaction was calm.
“Oh, go ahead.”
He just waved his hand as if telling her to hurry up and go.
There were no questions at all.
Just moments ago, they had been sitting together leisurely by the Han River.
She had never even hinted that she had other plans today. Yet Dohan seemed to have no curiosity about Yeon-jae at all.
Perhaps he already seemed to know everything.
As if he knew exactly where Yeon-jae was heading, who she was going to meet, and what she would say.
Normally, she would have wondered for a long time about Dohan’s attitude of not asking questions.
But right now, Yeon-jae didn’t have the luxury to question each of Dohan’s attitudes.
“Senior. I’m really sorry. I suddenly have something urgent…”
“Sure, sure. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
But Dohan just smiled good-naturedly.
* * *
She had walked to such an ambiguous location that it took 20 minutes to walk to the subway station.
The subway station she finally reached was bustling with crowds returning home after enjoying picnics all day.
Unfortunately, even the escalator was under repair.
Yeon-jae ran up the stairs two at a time without much thought.
“Huff, huff…”
As she caught her breath, she suddenly remembered the moment when she and Hyeonoh had climbed the hill from the club room to the Business School Building.
The large hand that had been extended to her.
The times they had spent bickering with each other came to mind one by one.
Why had she never once thought to question it?
Hyeonoh’s feelings weren’t hers to know, but it was strange that she couldn’t even understand her own heart.
Looking back, she had laughed more than ever before, yet never once suspected it might be love.
Thinking about it now, that seemed even stranger.
How much time had she spent with Hyeonoh?
They just hadn’t called it dating, but how many times had they eaten together and walked around campus?
Sometimes they seemed like carefree friends, but other times the intensity was so overwhelming that Yeon-jae had moments where she held her breath.
The sincerity hidden in jokes.
People who noticed before the parties themselves and asked if the two were dating.
Even the suspicion that at least Hyeonoh might have a crush on her.
Even Yeon-jae herself, who stubbornly insisted it wasn’t true among all those voices.
Yeon-jae thought it was ridiculous.
Because Dohan was standing at an unimaginably close distance compared to before.
Dohan’s shadow was enormous and his presence was heavy.
There was no room to imagine anything else.
To Yeon-jae, Dohan was sixteen itself.
That wasn’t all.
During the countless hours of Yeon-jae’s school days, he was like a god reigning from high above in the sky.
From Yeon-jae’s late teens to early twenties.
The one and only existence that could freely traverse that long period of time.
Yeon-jae had endured certain times by imagining Dohan for a very long time.
For that, she needed an unwavering belief that she loved him. She never even doubted that it would change.
Even now, Dohan’s presence alone was not inferior to Hyeonoh’s.
Nevertheless.
When she was with Hyeonoh…
…her heart fluttered.
Her heart raced. She held her breath. She felt nervous. She couldn’t sleep. She was happy. She was joyful.
Of course, when Dohan suddenly appeared, her heart would also skip a beat, her face would turn bright red, and her heart would race.
It was natural for her heart to race because he was someone she had seen in print and videos, someone she had dreamed of in her imagination.
Dohan was wonderful, cool, amazing, and above all, someone Yeon-jae was grateful to.
But love and admiration were different.
Yeon-jae admired Dohan.
Just thinking about Dohan made her feel tender, but that wasn’t love.
Now Yeon-jae finally admitted it.
Once she accepted the truth that was hard to accept, everything became clear.
Now Yeon-jae had only one destination.
* * *
She got off at University District Subway Station.
As she exited the ticket gate, she checked her phone for the first time.
The battery was running dangerously low.
Yeon-jae thought Hyeonoh wouldn’t have blocked her.
They still had the group project assignment left between them.
And he wasn’t the type to block and unblock people over something like this.
Yeon-jae immediately started typing a message.
Senior
Hyeonoh senior
Are you home right now?
I’m currently
near school
Right in front of your dormitory
Could I see your face for a moment?
There’s something I really want to talk about
I have to do it today
Even if you don’t want to see me, please give me just one chance…
I’ll wait
until you reply
Even while exiting the turnstiles and going up to ground level, Yeon-jae couldn’t take her eyes off her phone.
She waited for Hyeonoh’s reply.
Even though barely a minute had passed since sending the message, her heart was anxious.
What if he ignores it, thinking I’m just trying to shake someone who said they’d give up?
Before she knew it, Yeon-jae was unconsciously biting her nails.
Fortunately, Hyeonoh’s reply came quickly.
Did you eat dinner?
* * *
The two sat facing each other at the sundae soup restaurant.
It was the place Yeon-jae had chosen. This was where she first ate with Hyeonoh.
The store was quiet now that the opening buzz had died down.
The grand opening congratulatory wreaths had all been cleared away, and only the opening flower pots with fallen ribbons were clustered together in one corner of the restaurant.
Hyeonoh appeared with a face that looked like he’d just woken up.
“You can’t eat sundae though?”
And he asked that instead of greeting her.
“…I just had a craving. The bone soup here is delicious too.”
“You didn’t eat any of it back then though?”
“It’s a bit awkward… picking meat off bones in front of someone you’re meeting for the first time. What will you have, senior?”
“I’ll have sundae soup.”
“Ma’am, one sundae soup and one bone soup please. And one bottle of soju too.”
Hyeonoh’s face was still full of questions.
“Why soju? You drink?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to drink.”
“…Well. Do whatever you want.”
Come to think of it, Hyeonoh always let Yeon-jae do whatever she wanted.
Even now it was like that.
He willingly responded even to her rogue-like behavior of calling him out without any warning.
Yeon-jae remembered the shallow breath Hyeonoh had let out when she pushed open the glass door of the store.
Only seeing that could she tell he had rushed over quite hurriedly.
All because of just one message from her.
Come to think of it, how many times had Hyeonoh run for her sake?
Except for those times, he was always someone who walked at his own pace, like someone who lived outside the world’s rhythm.
That person had run. He had rushed.
All for Yeon-jae alone.
When her thoughts reached that point, Yeon-jae’s heart began to race.
Like most soup restaurants, the food came out as fast as fast food, and Yeon-jae opened the soju bottle without even glancing at her soup.
Then she filled her glass modestly and downed it in one shot.
The alcohol hit her quickly.
She was nervous despite Hyeonoh having told her he liked her.
What if his feelings had changed in the meantime?
His declaration about giving up kept bothering her. Hyeonoh seemed like the type who would definitely follow through if he said he would, which made it worse.
In the end, Yeon-jae drank another glass of soju.
Hyeonoh, who had stayed quiet during the first glass, looked surprised at the second glass and reached out his hand.
“Hey! Drink a little slower…!”
Yeon-jae leaned back so Hyeonoh couldn’t stop her and downed the glass in one shot.
Setting down the soju glass with a sharp sound, Yeon-jae began to speak.
“Hyeonoh senior.”
Her voice was too resolute and determined for simply calling someone’s name.
“Yeah.”
“Is it still valid?”
“…”
“What you said to me back then, is it still valid?”
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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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