Unrequited Love Obsession Diary - Chapter 77

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

Chapter 77

Hyeonoh doubled over with laughter.

He was laughing so hard his face was almost on the verge of tears. Yeon-jae’s previous statement seemed incredibly amusing to him.

Thanks to that, only Yeon-jae’s face, the cause of that laughter, was burning bright red as if it might explode.

‘Ah, damn. This is embarrassing. I really shouldn’t have said that…’

As Yeon-jae stood with her head hung low, Hyeonoh approached her. He bent his knees to match her eye level.

“Look at me.”

“I don’t want to…”

“Ah, why.”

“Because I don’t want to…”

“I won’t give you a kiss then.”

“Ah. Why are you being so petty and threatening me with something like that!”

“Oh. So even though you can’t hold hands in the middle of campus because of other people’s eyes, you’d kiss? Doesn’t something seem different?”

Yeon-jae’s head shot up.

“N-no! Who said I wanted to kiss here right now…!”

“Finally, you’re looking at me.”

Thanks to his bent legs, Hyeonoh was right in front of her nose. Hyeonoh looked around, then kissed Yeon-jae’s lips with a smacking sound and stepped back.

And as if nothing had happened, he dusted off his hands and said.

“Nobody saw.”

* * *

Even after entering the restaurant, Yeon-jae remained half out of her mind.

During the process of getting meal tickets and receiving food, Yeon-jae kept fumbling around with a dazed expression, so Hyeonoh, unable to watch anymore, ended up carrying both trays.

But even after sitting down, the situation wasn’t much different. The food just wouldn’t go down her throat. It was because of what had just happened.

Hyeonoh finally spoke up to Yeon-jae, who was picking at her rice as if counting each grain.

“Won’t you snap out of it now?”

Hyeonoh, who had actually caused Yeon-jae’s inability to eat, was eating his meal just fine.

“…Is it good?”

“Not bad.”

The entire process of quickly kissing while avoiding people’s eyes and stepping back was so natural that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were conscious of it.

In fact, it felt so much like a dream.

But the warmth still felt on her lips reminded her it wasn’t a dream.

“…Nobody really saw, right?”

“I told you they didn’t. I checked the surroundings thoroughly before doing it…”

“Ah, shh!”

But it seemed like Yeon-jae was the only one who took that kiss seriously. Hyeonoh was just grinning happily for some reason.

“Are you going to study for exams after school?”

“Yes. Since exams start next week.”

“Should we do it together?”

“Where?”

“Well, Jungdo. The Business Library is fine too. We could just go to a cafe, or um, our house?”

“Ah, senior!”

Yeon-jae burst out at the last words ‘our house’. She thought this was undeniably teasing.

But when she turned to look, Hyeonoh’s expression surprisingly showed no trace of mischief.

It was just a face that genuinely didn’t understand why Yeon-jae had raised her voice.

“Why?”

“S-senior’s dormitory is still a bit…”

Her words trailed off.

Hyeonoh nodded with an “ah.”

“Ah, I really thought it would be good for studying.”

“…”

“I guess it could be interpreted that way. Sorry.”

…Suddenly, Yeon-jae had become a complete pervert who let her imagination run wild just because ‘dormitory’ was mentioned.

Looking now, Hyeonoh in front of her was biting his teeth hard, trying to hold back laughter.

“Yeon-jae.”

“What…”

“You’re really cute.”

“…I didn’t mean to be.”

“I know. That’s what makes you even cuter.”

“Thank you…”

Hyeonoh picked up his spoon again nonchalantly.

Yeon-jae spent a while longer cooling her face, then ended up laughing because the fantasy she’d had earlier was so ridiculous.

“Eat your food. Don’t blame me later when you’re hungry.”

“Right now it is senior’s fault…”

“Oh, then I’ll have to take responsibility and live with you forever.”

“…We’ve only been dating for a week, you know?”

“Originally, couples at the one-week mark are the most brave.”

“What about the one-year mark? Do they like each other less by then?”

“I don’t know since I haven’t tried it either.”

That statement was a bit unexpected.

It belatedly occurred to her that maybe Hyeonoh, despite being naturally smooth, might be fumbling around similarly to Yeon-jae when it came to dating.

“You can tell me later.”

“Should I date someone else and then tell you?”

“Of course it’ll be me. What, are you planning to break up before we even reach one year?”

“No! Absolutely not! But why would I tell you? We’ll reach one year together.”

“I’m not really interested in that stuff. And why would I need to wait until then to know such things.”

“Earlier you said one-week couples are the most brave.”

“I’m on a different level from those people.”

“You don’t know that yet.”

“I know my own heart best. I’ve never liked anyone this much before. I thought I was someone who found dating bothersome for life. You’re my absolute exception.”

They say all couples who just start dating become brave.

Maybe Hyeonoh’s current words were also words that came from the early dating period when reason works irrationally.

Even so, Yeon-jae kept smiling bashfully.

Her heart was racing.

* * *

Even though it was early June, the weather was already hot like midsummer.

The two moved to the familiar campus cafe.

Hyeonoh was wearing short sleeves but still seemed hot as he flapped his t-shirt and said.

“Why is it so hot.”

It was unexpected that someone with such a cool face that didn’t seem to sweat a drop would be sensitive to heat.

“It really is almost summer. Oh, senior, your shoelace is untied.”

Hyeonoh crouched down in place to tie his shoelace. As Hyeonoh was tying the knot, Yeon-jae muttered.

“They say when your shoelace comes untied, someone is thinking of you.”

“Really?”

“…Maybe it came untied because I think about senior a lot.”

Hyeonoh’s hands paused for a moment.

‘Was that too childish?’

Yeon-jae felt embarrassed for no reason and added.

“Maybe I’m the one who likes you more.”

“Who’s ‘I’ here? Me or you?”

“Me.”

Hyeonoh lifted his head.

“You like me more?”

“It’s possible.”

Huh. Hyeonoh laughed as if it was absurd.

“Why are you trying to rank who likes whom more?”

“That’s what people say.”

“Don’t listen to them. People who say things like that are usually all idiots.”

Yeon-jae looked up at him silently. Hyeonoh added a beat later.

“And even if it were right to determine winners and losers based on who likes whom more, do you think I’d let you lose?”

Their eyes met briefly.

“I’ll let you win for life.”

What he meant now was that he would unconditionally like her more.

Right now, Hyeonoh was declaring that he would willingly like her more, without any sense of inferiority.

The saying that whoever likes more loses.

The anxiety that had been rising whenever Hyeonoh showed his experienced side, worried that she, who was dating for the first time in her life, might seem inadequate.

The fear that she might be rushing ahead alone and be left behind at some point.

All of Yeon-jae’s worries that she had been quietly harboring for a while completely disappeared with Hyeonoh’s single statement.

Yeon-jae had grown up watching the love of the person closest to her fail. So she had unconsciously and habitually assumed that Hyeonoh’s feelings might change someday too. It was a kind of self-defense.

But in front of someone who declared with honest eyes that he would like her more, all such assumptions became useless.

“Let’s go.”

Hyeonoh moved forward as if nothing had happened. He was holding Yeon-jae’s hand. Yeon-jae found herself smiling without realizing it.

Dating Hyeonoh would always be like this.

With a single word that instantly calmed Yeon-jae’s anxiety, he would make the thoughts she had been holding onto alone for so long seem like nothing.

In front of someone who said he would unconditionally let her win without any calculation, willingly taking the subordinate position in the relationship, Yeon-jae would stop questioning.

Instead, the voice and expression of the person standing next to her now would become clearer.

It would reassure Yeon-jae as if that was the only right answer in this world.

Even so, Yeon-jae’s anxiety wouldn’t completely disappear.

This was a fundamental issue. However, she was no longer afraid. Hyeonoh was by Yeon-jae’s side, and when she was with Hyeonoh, Yeon-jae laughed more than she could compare to being with anyone else.

If she continued to be with this person, there would be many more reasons to laugh.

That was enough.

One-sided Love Obsession Diary. fin

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