Love for Love’s Sake - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The fierce yet sensitive-looking face reminded Cha Yeowoon of cats and carnivores. When those sharp eyes found him, they softened and became round, with the deep-colored irises shaking slightly.

Cha Yeowoon flinched and raised his hand. Should he say hello?

But before he could wave his hand, Tae Myeongha ran straight out to the other side of the hallway.

“What?”

Cha Yeowoon muttered softly.

“Why did he run away just now…?”

He was dumbfounded.

What happened? What was going on with Tae Myeongha?

Avoiding him as soon as he saw his face? Was it because he had sent Tak Jungyeong to apologize?

What the hell?

“Ha…”

He gritted his teeth and kicked off the ground.

Cha Yeowoon, with a personal best of 10.17 seconds in the 100m, was the fastest active runner in the high school track and field team.

Gold medalist in the Men’s National Athletic Championship 100m and 200m, and the winner of the National Track and Field 100m.

An 18-year-old sprinter, often referred to as the future star of short-distance running in South Korea, crossed the hallway.

Despite the hallway not being his usual track and the students had become obstacles, he was overwhelmingly fast.

Tae Myeongha widened his eyes when he looked behind his back. The distance had already narrowed considerably.

“Hey, don’t run in the hallway! Stop chasing me!”

“So why are you running away?”

“I can’t be near you right now!”

What the hell was Tae Myeongha saying?

It sounded like nonsense. The figure of Tae Myeongha running down the stairs without looking back made Cha Yeowoon impatient.

Tae Myeongha’s back was quickly becoming distant as he held onto the railing and slid down to the floor below. Cha Yeowoon unconsciously jumped after Tae Myeongha.

Just as his foot was about to come off the stairs, something grabbed at his ankle.

A cold, gripping sensation, like a hand, sent shivers down his spine. His balance was lost in an instant.

His head tilted forward and the floor drew nearer. Aware that he was falling, he braced for the impact.

And then…

“That’s why I told you not to chase me.”

Cha Yeowoon felt firm arms embracing him. Tae Myeongha, the senior he had only seen from behind, now stood directly in front of him with a piercing gaze.

His thoughts briefly froze when he realized their position.

Tae Myeongha, who carefully supported the stiffened Cha Yeowoon, suddenly knelt down in front of him. Cha Yeowoon’s mind, which was about to recover, stopped again.

“Are you hurt? Did you twist your ankle? Does it hurt?”

Tae Myeongha rolled up Cha Yeowoon’s pants leg and gently held his ankle.

There was a sharp static electricity where his hand touched. Cha Yeowoon pulled his foot away.

“Enough, get up.”

As Cha Yeowoon felt his ears heating up, he bit his lips. Although Tae Myeongha had been told to get up, he still seemed genuinely worried about Cha Yeowoon’s ankle.

“Tell me why you ran away.”

Tae Myeongha raised his head and looked up at Cha Yeowoon. Such a sight was uncomfortable enough to make Cha Yeowoon want to curse. He couldn’t understand why his mood had become erratic.

“You ran away to avoid me didn’t you? Why did you do that?”

Tae Myeongha stood up and hesitated to answer. Their eyes suddenly met and Cha Yeowoon flinched as Tae Myeongha’s face drew nearer.

“For me to stay close to you, you have to like me more.”

It was a strange statement.

Despite the strange content, Tae Myeongha’s tone and attitude were sincere, leaving no impression that he was lying. Cha Yeowoon exerted more force in his throbbing foot as his heart raced.

It felt as if the floor was a rocking boat and that he was going to fall over if he didn’t hold on.

Why had Tae Myeongha said something like that?

And to him?

Tae Myeongha, having silently observed Cha Yeowoon, who was speechless, revealed a faint smile.

In his playful smile, there was a sharpness. His narrow eyes rose with a big smile.

Something thin and sharp had pierced Cha Yeowoon’s lungs. He found it very unpleasant.

So…He simply watched as Tae Myeongha rustled his hair before tumbling down the stairs in a haphazard manner.

Only after Tae Myeongha had completely disappeared from Cha Yeowoon’s sight did he finally exhale the breath he had been holding. Although he wasn’t actually nauseous, his throat felt dry and sour.

Leaning against the railing, he adjusted his disheveled hair. With each breath, his lungs expanded and then deflated. It felt incredibly uncomfortable.

He should have asked about Tak Jungyeong, but he couldn’t bring up that topic. He brought his hand to his face.

“Annoying.”

He muttered softly as he plucked a stray strand of hair that had jutted out between his fingers. He had no idea what was happening.

The warmth of the gaze pressed against his palm felt hot. Like him more?

“What is he saying, the hell?”

His eyes, trapped in the darkness, narrowed. His fingertips, trembling with excessive force, numbed.

A strange, strange, strange senior.

* * *

Today’s lesson. Cha Yeowoon was frighteningly fast. Almost like a cheetah navigating the jungle.

It was no wonder he was a national athlete. I used to be rather good at sports in my middle school days, but he seemed to be in a league of his own.

Anyway, now what?

As soon as I got home and washed up, I sat at my desk and became engrossed in the thought of Cha Yeowoon. Thanks to one of the books scattered beneath my desk, which I had opened as if it was a workbook, my grandma was taken aback when she saw me and mumbled about visiting a fortune teller.

I couldn’t even afford to respond to her. I felt like my head would explode just thinking about how to deal with Cha Yeowoon from now on.

It was impossible to be close to Cha Yeowoon. Just today, my heart sank when he followed me and had nearly fallen down the stairs when the debuff message appeared.

Considering his low favorability, we shouldn’t meet face-to face. However, if I completely avoided him, the favorability wouldn’t improve either. Was it possible to break this vicious cycle?

As I laid my head on the desk, my vision darkened. Both metaphorically and literally.

After a while, my head snapped up.

There was a way.

“Hmm.”

But that method would require me to meet Cha Yeowoon at least once. My head sank again.

What should I do? Wait. Should I ask a child to pass him a note asking for his number?

We wouldn’t have to see each other and could talk over the phone, but I would need his number for that to happen.

Deep in thought, a short sound pierced my ears.

It was the sound of my phone vibrating.

[.] : What was that earlier?

A yellow messenger pop-up appeared on my pitch-black phone screen. I didn’t know there was something like this on my phone.

I turned on the screen and read the texts that had just arrived.

The sender was a plain period, and both the profile picture and background picture were the default. That was all, but I instantly knew who it was.

[Tae Myeongha] : Cha Yeowoon??

[.] : Yes

As soon as I sent the name that came to mind, sure enough an affirmative response came back. Well, it could only be Cha Yeowoon who would send me a text like this at this hour. But how?

[Tae Myeongha] : How did you get my number?

[.] : I asked senior’s teacher

Cha Yeowoon had walked up to a 3rd year teacher he barely knew and asked for my number?

I was curious what he had said to the strict homeroom teacher for him to give him my phone number and what he had looked like when he visited the 3rd year teachers’ office.

Wasn’t his feelings toward me unfavorable? Yet he wanted my number? Incredible.

[Tae Myeongha] : I see

[.] : So what is it

Cha Yeowoon didn’t give me time to get lost in my thoughts. Texts came in succession.

[Tae Myeongha] : What is what?

[.] : Earlier

[.] : Senior

[.] : Like or something

[.] : What is it

Right. To lift the debuff status, I needed to increase Cha Yeowoon’s favorability.

Unable to be entirely honest, I pondered how to respond as I changed Cha Yeowoon’s screen name. What should I say?

As soon as I changed the period to ‘Cha Yeowoon’ and pressed confirm, a new text appeared.

[Cha Yeowoon] : By any chance, do you like me?

“Cough…”

I almost spat out the water I was drinking.

[Tae Myeongha] : zzzzzzzzz

[Tae Myeongha] : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Cha Yeowoon] : Don’t laugh

[Cha Yeowoon] : It’s because senior make me confused

[Tae Myeongha] : ㅋㅋㅋSorry

[Cha Yeowoon] : So what is it

Cha Yeowoon’s way of talking in the messenger was formal. There were no emoticons or pretense. What a rigid person.

[Tae Myeongha] : Did you really text me because you were curious?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Cha Yeowoon] : Fine

[Cha Yeowoon] : I’m going to sleep

[Tae Myeongha] : No; Yeowoon

[Tae Myeongha] : It’s just a joke, why are you so serious?

Cha Yeowoon no longer read the texts. The (1) next to my text looked lonely.

I was contacted out of the blue, so I couldn’t let myself be ignored like this. I tapped on Cha Yeowoon’s profile, and after three beeps, the call connected.

“You picked up?”

– “It rang so I picked up.”

Hearing Cha Yeowoon’s voice made it sound more affectionate than reading the texts. Actually, that was a lie. The way he spoke was so blunt it was cold.

“You said you were going to sleep, so I thought you wouldn’t pick up.”

– “Did you want me to pick up or not? Should I hang up?”

“No, no. Don’t hang up. What do you mean, hanging up again.”

– “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Let’s talk on a restless night like this.”

– “Are you going to keep calling me until you fall asleep?”

“I guess that’s the plan?”

– “Why are you calling me in the middle of the night? We’re not even close.”

Had I truly been 19, Cha Yeowoon’s cheekiness might have soured my mood.

“I’m trying to get closer, of course.”

But I was 11 years older than him. I could take this much and thought of it as cute.

Cha Yeowoon had a somewhat grumpy personality. Today as well, he was just as critical and picky. It was cute.

He suddenly became quiet and soon changed the topic.

– “What did you say to Tak Jungyeong?”

“Jungyeong? We had a sincere conversation.”

– “With Jungyeong?”

Cha Yeowoon’s voice flipped. There wasn’t much going on with Tak Jungyeong. But I didn’t want to get into it with Cha Yeowoon, so I deflected the question.

“Did he say he wouldn’t bother you anymore? Did he apologize?”

– “Did senior hit Jungyeong?”

“Do I really look like the kind of person who would randomly hit someone?”

– “Do you look like it? That’s what it looks like.”

“Yeowoon, when talking to people, you should at least have some manners. It’s called social skills.”

– “Did senior really fight and defeat seven people?”

“No. It was eight people.”

– “…”

“You don’t believe me?”

– “I’m hanging up. Goodnight.”

“Hey, heeey. Yeoowoon. Am I some kind of New Leaf’s flame fist? What made you think I could defeat seven people?”

– “Then are the rumors false?”

“Um…”

– “What is it?”