Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

What expression should I make at times like this?

I was happy that Cha Yeowoon ran well. Seriously.

After he ran up to me and held my hand, I almost burst into tears.

If it was a long distance rather than a short distance event, I might have shouted and cheered from the excitement.

So, the reason I was flustered wasn’t because of his race…

“…Is it delicious?”

[ Calculating Cha Yeowoon’s favorability. ]

[ Favorability: 5 ]

It was because of this.

Cha Yeowoon, who was diligently eating the dak-galbi, nodded as he looked at me. Maybe it was because he had cried a lot, but his eyes were a bit swollen, making him look even more adorable.

“Yeah. I’m glad it’s delicious.”

It was great that his favorability had increased. Finally entering the positive territory I had been hoping for was really great.

“Why isn’t senior eating?”

“…I’ll eat.”

[ Calculating Cha Yeowoon’s favorability. ]

[ Favorability: 8 ]

Diing–

The now familiar sound effect rang out cheerfully.

My favorability would go up every time I did something. To the point it was really embarrassing.

Just by saying something. No, even without saying anything.

Cha Yeowoon, who had been watching me with a fixed gaze, picked up his chopsticks and carefully distributed the cooked meat and cabbages onto the plate in front of me. It was a meticulous arrangement to ensure everything was included.

Accompanying the stacked dak-galbi plate was Cha Yeowoon’s attentive gaze.

At the silent urging from him, I held up my chopsticks. The dak-galbi was spicy, salty, and delicious, but I couldn’t savor it properly because my thoughts were elsewhere.

Cha Yeowoon stopped eating and watched how much I ate.

“Y-Yeowoon?”

“Yes?”

“You should eat too.”

“I’m eating.”

“Well, okay…Even so, eat more. You need a full stomach for your workouts. You ran so hard today.”

[ Calculating Cha Yeowoon’s favorability. ]

[ Favorability: 11 ]

What did I do to make it increase again?

It was absurdly easy. I questioned the purpose of all the effort and struggle I had been putting in until now.

I knew when it had started. Earlier, when Cha Yeowoon was running, I also felt an overwhelming emotion.

He had even cried, so it was strange that my favorability had increased. I hadn’t expected it to rise steadily like this.

Was it really great that I had come to cheer him on? I gave up quickly after thinking about it. In any case, it was good that he liked it.

“I’ll have fried rice.”

“If senior wants to eat, go ahead. I’ll pay for it.”

“I can’t accept a meal from a child. After all, we’re eating this as a post-match celebration.”

“But track spikes are expensive.”

Cha Yeowoon’s cheeks flushed red as he said that. No matter how he blushed, he blushed beautifully. Was that what people meant by natural beauty?

“I heard that you bought it with your part-time salary.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Cheong Sangwon said so.”

“Ha, really, that child. Why did he even mention that?”

“I would have known even if he didn’t tell me.”

“Huh?”

“When you see shoes, you can roughly estimate their price range. But senior doesn’t have much money.”

“Aren’t you seeing me as too poor?”

“I don’t see it that way, I just know it. Because our situations are similar.”

I had nothing to say and could only smack my lips.

“Don’t buy me things like this from now on.”

“You shouldn’t say that. We’re in a grandma and grandson mood right now.”

Whether to buy or not, it sounded like a reasonable argument, but Cha Yeowoon’s expression turned sour.

“Do the shoes fit well? Actually, a fan of yours helped pick them out with me.”

It was the perfect time to bring up this topic. It was the first time the favorability had ever reached the positive range, and since we were talking about shoes, it was a suitable opportunity to shift the subject to Ahn Sia.

“Shoes…My fan?”

“Gyeonghun, you know, my friend from class. He has a younger sister and her name is Ahn Sia. She’s your fan.”

“…”

“She said she competed in the same race as you in middle school. Wow. That’s cool. Cha Yeowoon.”

Although I was trying hard to lift the mood, Cha Yeowoon suddenly became less talkative. He spent a long time poking at the remaining cabbage on his plate.

“The person who picked out the shoes was that person?”

“She didn’t lend me any money; she genuinely just helped choose them, just so you know.”

“That’s not it.”

Cha Yeowoon’s chopsticks, which had been rummaging through the plate of wilted cabbages, suddenly stopped.

“She’s a woman.”

“Didn’t I just say younger sister?”

“Is senior close to her?”

“Just so-so? Anyway, she wants to meet you.”

Cha Yeowoon’s face stiffened. I realized my mistake. Didn’t this make me sound like I was arranging an escort?

“It’s not an improper meeting! It’s as a fan. She said she wants to meet you and get an autograph.”

I tried to explain, but I didn’t know what I had said wrong, as his stern expression didn’t ease.

“No good? Should I say no?”

“Do you two meet often?”

Meet often? If I counted the times we had met on set, I had seen her more often than I had seen Cha Yeowoon over the past few days. However, off-site we had met exactly once, which was to pick out shoes.

“Then I want to meet her too.”

While I was thinking about it, Cha Yeowoon spoke first.

“Oh, you will?”

Surprisingly, I got approval readily. Considering his shyness, I thought he would definitely refuse.

We had to walk quite a bit from the dak-galbi place to the bus stop. Maybe because it was a weekday, and at this odd hour, there weren’t many people outside.

“Are you injured?”

Cha Yeowoon, who had been silently following me, suddenly spoke up.

“No.”

“So why are you walking like that?”

I glanced down at the sore foot he was pointing at. I thought I had been walking normally.

“Is it here?”

Cha Yeowoon noticed quickly and stood in the direction of the injured foot.

“I sprained it.”

“You should have said so. Do you want to get on my back?”

“Are you crazy?”

I retorted without a second thought.

No matter how similar our heights and builds were, I wasn’t at an age to be carried.

“Senior treat me like a child and mimic a guardian, but you don’t rely on anyone even if it kills you.”

“Is this really a conversation about death? It’s not like I can’t walk, it’s just a minor sprain.”

I walked well the day before and yesterday, and I came here today by walking on my own feet. Despite my counterargument, Cha Yeowoon didn’t seem convinced.

“Anyway, it’s uncomfortable to walk like this, and it’s more comfortable to be carried.”

“It’s more uncomfortable to be on your back.”

“Body? Or heart?”

“Both!”

“Look at that. Senior absolutely don’t want to rely on anyone. Wasn’t that what you said?”

“Hey, don’t insist.”

Cha Yeowoon sighed heavily, as if he wanted me to hear, and then moved closer to me. He slipped his arm under my armpit and wrapped it around my back.

“Is this level of support okay?”

He was asking after having already done it…If he had asked in the beginning, it would have felt strange. However, after getting rid of the idea of being carried, it didn’t sound strange to be supported this way.

With our bodies next to each other like this, I could feel his size. I could lean my weight on him and he wouldn’t budge at all. An athlete was an athlete. He was sturdy.

To be honest, it felt comfortable. By the time we reached the bus, my foot had eased up quite a bit, and I belatedly realized that my foot had been stinging while walking earlier.

When we boarded the bus, Cha Yeowoon pulled me aside as I tried to get to the back seat and instead put me in a low seat with no high divider.

“Reserved seats for the elderly and handicapped? Aren’t you really overdoing it?”

“If you don’t like it, get in front of the back door to make it easier to get out.”

“Geez.”

Although it was awkward, I didn’t dislike it. Who would refuse when someone offered to take care of you when you weren’t feeling well?

“We should get off now.”

After changing buses twice, I could see Cha Yeowoon’s neighborhood approaching. He didn’t press the bell.

“I’ll drop senior off.”

“You’re going to send me back? Me? By you?”

My house was the last stop, so it didn’t make sense for him to take me there and then take the bus back.

“Why?”

“Just because I want to.”

Was it the power of favorability? He was treating me as if I was a patient, all because of a sprained foot. I couldn’t understand the situation because the child who had been running away for dear life was now acting like this.

“Are you really going to walk me to my door? It’s getting dark.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s dangerous at night, you know.”

“I’m not a child.”

I almost laughed.

Now that he was 18, he was no longer a little child. Yet his cheeks were milky and had baby fat, like a child’s.

“You were crying like a child earlier.”

“…It’s not mature to tease someone for crying.”

“Yes, I understand. Even if you want to walk me home, I’ll have to walk you home instead. I may not be mature, but I’m a year older.”

“Why is senior acting like such an old man?”

“It’s because I’m an old man. What are you going to do? I’ll walk you home.”

I wasn’t used to someone taking care of me. Cha Yeowoon’s words about me not depending on others might have been true.

That was how I had been living, so what could I do about it? From a young age, I was a lonely child with a lot of cracks, filtering out everyone else.

Cha Yeowoon, who had been looking at me with a worried expression, gave in to my stubbornness. Without complaining about what he was thinking, we disembarked the bus and he led me up the stairs to the rooftop home.

“Come in before you go.”

“Huh? Okay.”

There was no reason to refuse. I was curious if electricity had returned properly and if he was eating well.

Cha Yeowoon’s apartment was still the same. Neat and desolate. Like a home someone had just moved in, there was minimal furniture, almost nothing…no desk either?

“But where do you study?”

“At school.”

“Do you only study at school?”

“Where else would I study? I don’t go to cram school.”

Cha Yeowoon blinked absentmindedly.

I had a bad feeling after seeing his reaction.

In the novel, Cha Yeowoon was a member of society who made good money. Of course. He was the sub-lead, so there was no way he would be labeled a fool.

But that was Cha Yeowoon that had grown up on his own without me.

“Yeowoon, how are your grades?”

The Cha Yeowoon I knew was a prestigious university graduate. He quit track and field due to his leg injury and devoted himself to studying starting in his 2nd year of high school.

But the current Cha Yeowoon didn’t injure his leg. He was busy with training every day.

“About middle.”

“About middle? Exactly in the middle?”

“…Lower-middle.”

“It’s going down gradually?”

Seeing Cha Yeowoon avert his eyes without confidence, I felt uneasy. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, rather, it was my personality.

It would be great if track and field went well, but arts and sports were an unpredictable field. What if it didn’t pan out?

Children from well-off families could find other means after falling down, but people like me and Cha Yeowoon had limited options. Humans without a safety net would break their necks if they stumbled.

Cha Yeowoon’s grandmother had also passed away, leaving him alone. All he would have to his name was his records and awards from middle and high school. I felt a headache when I thought of the worst-case scenario unfolding.

[ !Sub-Mission triggered. ]

Alone in my worry, the message window shook me awake.