Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 54

Chapter 54

“When did I do that?”

People with a guilty conscience had no need for accusers.

“Do you have naughty thoughts whenever you see me?”

“No.”

The answer was too quick. This was a hundred percent confirmation.

Cha Yeowoon was a hot-blooded 18-year-old. It was awkward imagining what he might be thinking, so I thought I would leave that as uncharted territory.

“Last time, you said you couldn’t sleep with me. Why the change today?”

“Well…”

“Did you blurted out anything because you wanted to be with me so much?”

“…”

“Or is it okay to sleep together now?”

“…Senior brought up the topic of watching a movie.”

“And that’s unfair?”

“Because you keep teasing me…Without knowing my feelings…”

Cha Yeowoon muttered to himself. I could hear everything, but it was quite cute how he muttered quietly.

“When was the autumn national competition we talked about last time?”

“It’s from the day of the vacation; 5 days and 4 nights.”

“That soon? And 5 days?”

“It’s the national championship.”

Was that so? The national championships lasted 5 days it seemed. The reason probably had something to do with it being track and field.

“Is the track and field team going together?”

“All starters are going.”

“Are you staying together? You’ll be sleeping next to other guys, Yeowoon.”

“Stop teasing me.”

Cha Yeowoon walked ahead as if he wanted to run away, but I quickly caught up with his pace before he could get too far.

“If you’re going home, you have to go that way.”

On the deserted road, we had to leave the side street and navigate through the buildings now. Stores displayed large signs on each floor. The most eye-catching was a sign on the first floor for a new shaved ice shop.

“It’s hot, want to eat shaved ice before we go?”

Since we couldn’t watch a movie. I wanted to say that, but I held back because I was afraid Cha Yeowoon might run away again.

He immediately agreed. The cool breeze from the air conditioner could be felt as we entered the shaved ice shop. I hadn’t realized how hot it was outside while walking with Cha Yeowoon.

Leaving the menu selection to Cha Yeowoon, shaved ice on a tray piled high with rice cake arrived soon after.

“Why Injeolmi shaved ice?”

“Senior has the taste of an old person.”

“Even though you eat red bean ice cream.”

“That’s why I added red bean to the shaved ice.”

“Daring.”

“You don’t like it? Should we have chosen strawberry shaved ice instead?”

With a visually abundant stack of rice cakes, there was also a set of plates. Cha Yeowoon playfully used a long spoon to scoop up my share of shaved ice.

He offered me a plate as if it was natural and then took his share. Lately, his actions seemed very natural like he was already accustomed to serving me first. Maybe I’ll get used to the special treatment as well.

“If you don’t eat quickly, it’ll melt.”

Cha Yeowoon signaled my plate with his eyes. I slowly ate the shaved ice. As I swallowed the ice, a chill spread through my stomach.

[ Mission: Make Cha Yeowoon happy. ]

[ Time Remaining: 208 days ]

[ Penalty: Death ]

While diligently eating, the comforting message window appeared over Cha Yeowoon. As time passed, the number was steadily decreasing.

I had only 208 days remaining to be with Cha Yeowoon.

“Where is the national championship held?”

I asked impulsively. Cha Yeowoon’s spoon, which was scooping the shaved ice, slowed.

“Boeun County in Chungcheong.”

“Where is the lodging?”

Cha Yeowoon’s eyes widened.

“Are you coming?”

“If I go and cheer for you, won’t it give you extra strength?”

Like when Cha Yeowoon had run while stepping on rainbow-colored ripples at the competition held in Hwaseong. The thought of witnessing that scene again made me unexpectedly excited.

“Aren’t you busy with work these days?”

“I’ve saved enough money to take it easy.”

“What was the money for?”

“Oh, um…”

Money for you?

There were many things I couldn’t say to Cha Yeowoon, so naturally I found it difficult to answer.

The $2250 I had earned after completing the Sub-Mission remained in my bank account.

Since I had a vague idea that it was a money problem, I thought I would discover a story that could be solved with exactly $2250 as a mission reward. It wasn’t entirely the case.

“Was it for college tuition?”

“Huh?”

I asked back in a daze.

“Considering how hard you’ve been saving during this time, maybe you were saving for tuition.”

To others, it might have seemed that way. But since I wouldn’t need to go to college, it had become extra money.

I did everything I could to gather money as quickly as possible. It reminded me of the time I worked hard to make money doing all kinds of things, so I couldn’t spend it carelessly.

Actually, I was still worried about Cha Yeowoon’s situation. For now, I thought of keeping it and maybe giving it to my grandmother later…

“No matter why, senior use it for yourself.”

Cha Yeowoon put down his spoon in the empty bowl.

Clink–

The clear sound was similar to the message window’s alert.

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“Senior don’t really think about yourself.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Senior. You should take care of yourself more.”

“To hear this from a child…It feels strange.”

“You invited me to eat, but you haven’t even eaten your shaved ice properly because you were talking about my upcoming competition.”

Cha Yeowoon pointed to my bowl.

While lost in thought, my serving of shaved ice had melted, turning into a porridge-like consistency. Even if I stirred the shaved ice that had turned into a reddish brown colored liquid, it would never return to its appetizing form.

The time spent with Cha Yeowoon would never return once it passed.

As we left the shaved ice shop, the humid air of July greeted us. The days were getting longer and it was still as bright as an afternoon outside.

Cha Yeowoon, who had been squinting due to the sunlight, said something to me. However, I didn’t catch what he had said.

At that moment, my attention was completely focused on him. His facial features, body, posture, and liveliness permeated in every corner by the sun were breathtaking.

As we passed through the street filled with stores, a familiar sight soon appeared. The road I walked up and down to get to Cha Yeowoon’s home. Was there a place like this in the world where I originally lived? Perhaps there was.

The city’s geography wasn’t significantly different from what I had seen. The only thing missing was Cha Yeowoon.

We were soon in front of his home. He wavered in front of the stairs where we had our awkward kiss. He seemed hesitant about inviting me in, even if it was just for a moment. It was easy to tell.

“I’ll sleep here tonight.”

As we walked, I yielded to the persistent impulse.

I constantly reminded myself of moderation, aiming for a balance that would minimize his hurt when I eventually disappeared.

“Really?”

“Why? Thinking about it, you can’t sleep without me?”

“Saying something like that…Senior made it sound like you weren’t going to sleep here.”

“I changed my mind.”

Seeing Cha Yeowoon becoming excited, I questioned what I was doing.

I wanted to make him happy.

That was how I had arrived here.

As my thoughts returned to the beginning, things that were complicated became a bit clearer. I didn’t want to torment Cha Yeowoon. For that, right now, this seemed to be the right thing.

Cha Yeowoon’s home was peaceful. The interior, which had been in disarray, was neatly arranged again.

After Cha Yeowoon graciously offered me the opportunity to shower first as a guest, he waited for me to come out before going into the bathroom himself.

Meanwhile, I laid down in the living room where the long sunlight was streaming in and checked my accumulated messages. It was probably sent while I was walking with Cha Yeowoon, yet I didn’t even notice my phone vibrating.

[Ahn Sia] : Big brother really sold your social media account?????

The sender was Ahn Sia. I could almost hear her voice from the messages.

[Tae Myeongha] : Yeah, from the start I said I was going to raise and sell it

[Ahn Sia] : Crazy, it was getting close to 10,000 followers

[Ahn Sia] : Isn’t it a waste?ㅜ

[Tae Myeongha] : Don’t be obsessed with things like social media followers…

[Tae Myeongha] : It’s all an illusion…

[Ahn Sia] : Is big brother a monk?

[Ahn Sia] : That’s not the problem, big brother

[Ahn Sia] : Now those illusions are looking at big brother

[Tae Myeongha] : Tell those illusion I’m cutting my hair now

[Ahn Sia] : Ah!! Don’t jokeㅜㅜ

[Ahn Sia] : I kept tagging big brother

[Ahn Sia] : So now people are asking me about big brother’s whereabouts

[Tae Myeongha] : Just say I’m busy…

[Tae Myeongha] : Say my dharma name is Hosangseu (false/illusion monk)

[Ahn Sia] : Big brother, that kind of humor..really not good

[Ahn Sia] : Not my cup of tea

[Ahn Sia] : Really, don’t do it

[Tae Myeongha] : Fine

[Ahn Sia] : Are you really not going to save your social media account?ㅡㅜ

[Tae Myeongha] : Am I some kind of account merchant?

[Ahn Sia] : Sell the account, make a new one, sell the account

[Tae Myeongha] : I don’t usually do that

[Ahn Sia] : Then just this

[Ahn Sia] : Big brother, don’t you want to be the face of our online shopping mall?

[Ahn Sia] : But big brother we need to quickly boost your followers

[Tae Myeongha] : Did you put my social media account on your shopping mall model page?

[Ahn Sia] : But now, on the account big brother had sold, there are posts like selling three sets of men’s pants for $15;

[Tae Myeongha] : It suddenly became a home shopping front for pantsㅡㅡ;

[Ahn Sia] : Anyway, so..to promote to big brother’s 10,000 illusions

[Ahn Sia] : The fall outfit photo taken last time

[Ahn Sia] : Big brother, can I post your selfie just once?♡

I stopped the fast-paced exchange of messages.

My face? Now? To her 240,000 followers? Pictures posted on the internet could never be deleted.

“What’s the matter?”

Cha Yeowoon, who had just finished washing up and looking quite serious, approached me.

“Ahn Sia asked if she could post a picture of my face.”

“What are you talking about?”

I explained roughly the situation to Cha Yeowoon. Aptly, the story of Tae Myeongha’s account selling. In what seemed like an epilogue, the ambitious young CEO planned to promote his shopping mall to people who had come to follow him through home shopping pants.

“You can’t.”

Cha Yeowoon made a firm ruling.

“You might become entangled with weird people, and it’s tiring. Absolutely not.”

“That much just from showing my face once?”

“I’m saying this because I’ve experienced it. It’s easy for senior to be doxxed because of Sia.”

According to Ahn Sia, Cha Yeowoon had faced numerous problems when he gained popularity on the internet as a handsome track and field athlete. But that was because it was Cha Yeowoon.

“That’s because you’re handsome.”

“…”

Cha Yeowoon sighed heavily as if he was frustrated.

“Senior…aren’t you a bit oblivious?”

“Oblivious?”

“What do you think when you look in the mirror?”

“It’s a mirror.”

“…Am I handsome?”

“Yes.”

“Ahn Sia?”

“She’s pretty.”

“More than me?”

“My Yeowoon is the best.”

“Oh, no… the question was a mistake just now. You don’t have to give such an answer. Hearing senior’s answers, you also have eyes, so why are you like this?”

“Are you insulting me?”

To me who was dumbfounded, Cha Yeowoon shook his head.

“Anyway, senior can’t. I don’t like other people seeing your face.”