Love for Love's Sake - Chapter 23
Chapter 23
– “I’m in front of the bus stop. When will you get here?”
“Are you really near my home?”
– “Unlike senior, I don’t lie about things like that.”
“Yes, Cha Yeowoon is pure and clean, and I’m the one who lies about emergencies. Arrest me. I’ll get off soon. Three more stops.”
– “Yes. I’ll wait with the handcuffs.”
Cha Yeowoon hung up without saying another word.
Three stops. My heart raced slightly each time the bus stopped.
As the bus moved, a message appeared indicating that I was nearing Cha Yeowoon. He was a presence I couldn’t ignore.
Now, the protagonist of was Cha Yeowoon.
The bus soon reached the last stop. I didn’t have to look for long; Cha Yeowoon was standing under a streetlamp a little away from the bus stop.
Despite the inconspicuous lighting, his figure stood out in the dimly lit street. He was handsome, like the protagonist of a scene.
With his hands in the pockets of his loose hoodie, he was nervously kicking the ground.
[ Entering Love Supremacy Zone. ]
As I approached, he noticed me and took his hands out of his pockets. A black plastic bag was dangling from his wrist.
“Did you wait long?”
I greeted Cha Yeowoon as gently as possible, approaching him like I was taming a skittish animal.
“Don’t use that unsettling tone with me.”
“I did what, when?”
“Just now.”
It didn’t work for the cute and rude Cha Yeowoon.
“I’m doing this because you’re being grumpy, man.”
“Do as you always do.”
“Yes. I’ll do what I’ve always done.”
“Oh, really.”
Cha Yeowoon, who had been repulsed, suddenly lowered his head toward me. Our shadows merged in the elongated light.
His warm breath reached my neck and brushed against my sensitive skin, making my entire body tense.
“What, what is it? Why?”
“Nothing.”
What did he mean? It didn’t look like it was nothing.
He pulled his head back with an uncomfortable look.
Did I smell? I sweated a lot carrying the lights. I took a subtle sniff, but I didn’t know. It was difficult to know your own smell.
“By the way, what’s going on? This was out of the blue.”
“Here.”
Cha Yeowoon suddenly held out a bag containing ice cream.
“Why are you giving me this?”
“Senior is always talking about ice cream.”
“I asked if you wanted some. Children like ice cream.”
“Senior, you eat it.”
Perhaps feeling that his words were blunt, he hesitated before continuing.
“Senior bought various things for me last time.”
What was this? Cute.
Running away from me and not even going to and from school together, what came over him that made him act like a magpie returning a favor? He was becoming increasingly difficult to predict.
“Hey, did you come all the way here just to give me this?”
It was close to 11 o’clock. Cha Yeowoon’s house and mine weren’t within walking distance for him to walk back and forth.
The ice cream in the bag would have cost around $7.50. It wasn’t something he would give at this time while paying for the round trip fare.
“I’ve given it to you, so I’ll leave now.”
Instead of answering my question, he simply left it at that. Afraid that he would turn his back on me at any minute, my heels also fluttered along his faltering steps.
It felt strange. The fact that Cha Yeowoon, who had been avoiding me with a face like he might cry, had waited for me here with ice cream.
“It’s late, so you should just sleep at my place tonight.”
“I didn’t bring my school uniform for tomorrow, so how can I sleep over?”
“Oh…right.”
“Besides, I don’t like sleeping with senior because I can’t sleep well.”
“Do I snore?”
Cha Yeowoon frowned, showing reluctance to answer. He withdrew his wrist from my grasp.
I thought I had been sleeping quietly, but apparently the person next to me couldn’t sleep due to my snoring.
“Fine, fine. Go. I’ll wait for the bus with you.”
“It’s okay, so hurry up and go home. The ice cream will melt.”
“I got it. Hey, your shoelaces are untied.”
I noticed a white string trailing on the asphalt. Without waiting for Cha Yeowoon’s reaction, I immediately bent my knees.
This was also an opportunity to check his shoes carefully.
His sneakers were old and worn out. A stained and wrinkled shoe, as if it had been handled carelessly, caught my eyes.
Track and field shoes might be different from these, though.
There was a time when I felt sad that I couldn’t go where I wanted to because I didn’t have nice shoes. Even when I was getting ready for job interviews, I didn’t own a decent pair of shoes. I had to dip into my savings and buy them with my own money.
My heart ached as I brushed the dirt off the front of his shoes. Despite soiling my hand, I could always clean it later.
“Okay, it’s all tied. How did I do?”
I lifted my head with the intention of proudly showing off the nicely tied knot.
Cha Yeowoon was frowning as if he had endured something really unpleasant.
The bright white light from the lamppost spilled onto his head, sharply illuminating his facial features.
“Senior.”
After Cha Yeowoon called out to me, I caught my breath in confusion. I wondered if I had made a big mistake.
“Do you do this to everyone?”