“Why? You said you’d get me a perfect shot for my life highlight photo.”
“Exactly. If you want that big cherry tree to show up in the picture, you have to stand pretty far away from the tree to take it.”
Despite my very convincing argument, Do Jihoon didn’t let go of the hand he was gripping tightly. The hand touching mine was cold.
“Are you cold?”
“Not really. My hands and feet are usually cold.”
“Is that so? I run pretty hot.”
“Yeah. Your hand’s warm, so it’s nice.”
“…….”
What the hell is wrong with this bastard today?
Every time Do Jihoon said something, the area around my chest kept tickling. I couldn’t tell whether there was something wrong with him or with my ears, but everything he said sounded strangely sweet.
Do Jihoon stopped a woman who was passing by nearby and asked her to take a photo for us.
“Excuse me, would it be okay if we asked you to take a picture for us?”
She readily said yes. Do Jihoon handed her his phone. Only then did he finally release my hand.
Then he grabbed it again.
This time, interlacing our fingers.
“Please look over here!”
The woman knelt down on one knee on the ground and took the pictures with great enthusiasm. She snapped several shots, asking us to tilt our heads a little, stand a little closer together—there wasn’t just one request.
Before I knew it, I had come to my senses and realized I was standing right up against Do Jihoon, facing him.
The sight in front of my eyes was truly beautiful.
With cherry blossoms scattering like snow in the background, there stood Do Jihoon, more handsome than a sculpture. Just as I was staring blankly at him, Do Jihoon kept looking at me as well.
Maybe I had been spacing out.
“Here. I’m done taking the pictures.”
The woman walked over holding Do Jihoon’s phone. I flinched in surprise.
“Thank you.”
We thanked her and then looked through the photos where we had our heads leaned together.
“Wow… Is that really me?”
The woman was practically a professional photographer. I mean, Do Jihoon was already handsome and tall, so that was one thing. But she even managed to make me look just as tall as him in the pictures. Thank you. May you be blessed.
There were nearly ten photos. As I flipped through them one by one, my expression—something I hadn’t noticed at first—came into view.
Because the photos were taken from far away, I couldn’t see clearly, but it looked like I was smiling incredibly wide. What was I so happy about? And the same went for Do Jihoon.
Looking at the photos for too long started to make me feel oddly embarrassed, so I nudged Do Jihoon and snatched his phone.
“Alright, since we got a couple shot, now it’s time for Do Jihoon’s solo shots.”
I enthusiastically took pictures of him. When the subject looks this good, your body just moves automatically. I could understand the enthusiasm that woman had earlier.
“I’ll take some of you too. Stand there.”
“Really? I wasn’t even expecting that. What’s the occasion?”
“……Sometimes I wonder what kind of person you think I am.”
And just like that, my solo shots were finished too.
We walked along the cherry blossom road again. Whenever we spotted a pretty spot, we leaned our cheeks together and took selfies.
Do Jihoon grabbed my hand again. I almost pulled away, but I just left it. His hand felt cool, which was nice, and he did say he had cold hands and feet… It definitely wasn’t because I wanted to hold his hand.
“Doesn’t it feel a bit crowded?”
Even though it was Friday, once it passed five o’clock people started to gather more and more. Our sleeves kept brushing against other people as we walked.
At this rate, we’re going to bump into someone.
Wasn’t there a saying about being careful even with your thoughts? The moment I worried about it, I collided with someone walking toward us.
“Ah!”
And the coffee that person was holding spilled onto my knit sweater.
“…….”
It was new clothes… My ivory knit sweater was instantly stained brown.
“Ah… I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Go ahead.”
I forced a smile and let the man go.
My mood wasn’t great. But it looked like they were a couple too. It was better than picking a fight and ruining the atmosphere.
“Are you okay?”
Do Jihoon looked at me with concern. The warmth in his gaze felt unfamiliar.
“I’m fine, I guess. But what do I do now? I’m only wearing this one layer. And it’s all greenery around here, so I doubt there’s anywhere nearby selling clothes.”
“I’ll give you my coat. Put it on.”
“Forget it, man. You’ll be cold and I’ll be hot. I wanted to grab dinner since we came out anyway, but I guess I’ll just head home.”
“If you wanted dinner, go change and come back out.”
“That’s a long walk though.”
“Just think of it as getting some cardio for once in a while.”
“You bastard. Are you a gym rat?”
Seeing that I looked a little down, Do Jihoon comforted me in his own way. Right when the coffee had splashed on me my mood had been terrible, but when he worried about me, I felt a little better.
“Hey. Then I’ll just run home real quick by myself. You look around for a bit.”
“Forget it, I’ll go with you. What am I supposed to look at by myself?”
“I feel bad, that’s why. I’ll call you when I’m close! If you go a little further from here there’s a food alley. Your hyung already found a great gopchang place, so let’s go there.”
Before Do Jihoon could say anything else, I ran toward my house. It had taken over twenty minutes to walk earlier, but running, I arrived in less than ten.
I quickly changed into a knit sweater with a similar color and headed back to Seongye-ro Park. I thought about grabbing a taxi, but then realized it was rush hour—so I ran like hell again.
Once I arrived at Seongye-ro Park, I called Do Jihoon.
“Where you at?”
“I’m by the place where the Seongye-ro Park sign is.”
“Okay, wait. I’m heading over.”
Looking at the map app, I walked toward where Do Jihoon was. I thought I could vaguely see his figure in the distance. I was about to drag my exhausted body toward him when—
“Huh?”
Do Jihoon wasn’t alone.
He was talking with another man. Since the park was near the university, it seemed like he had run into a classmate.
Wouldn’t it be a little awkward if I went over now? I waited until he finished talking.
A few minutes passed like that.
That bastard Do Jihoon said he didn’t have any friends at school. What a liar. I felt like I’d get varicose veins if I stood any longer, so I finally started walking toward him.
The closer I got to him, the clearer the person standing in front of Do Jihoon became.
But that figure looked extremely familiar.
“Doji Doji.”
It was him.
The person who had marked Do Jihoon.
By the time I finally stood in front of them, I had to force strength into my stiffening face and create an artificial smile.
A faint pheromone scent spread into my nose. Back then it had been so intense I hadn’t noticed, but this person’s pheromone smelled like peppermint.
“You took longer than I expected, Yuri. Did you crawl here?”
“I ran like hell, you know?”
“Your face looks really fresh.”
“That’s because you—”
“Because I what?”
“Forget it, you punk.”
I kept my eyes firmly on Do Jihoon. But I couldn’t ignore the other person forever.
“So. Who is this?”
Only then did Do Jihoon seem to realize someone had been standing in front of him. Putting on a polite smile, he introduced his classmate to me.
“Ah. My classmate.”
“Classmate?”
“Yeah. Min-young. I should get going now. The person I told you about earlier—the one I had plans with—has arrived.”
Min-young?
Do Jihoon’s words echoed in my head.
Min-young. Min-young…
Ha Min-young?!
My heart pounded like I’d seen a ghost. A cold sensation swept through my entire body.
Ha Min-young. He was the main omega in the novel.
The one who had been drenched in endless misery because of Yeon Yuri’s cruelty.
But why would Ha Min-young—the main omega—mark Do Jihoon? Was there ever a development like this in the novel? It had already been several months since I possessed this body, so it was hard to remember the story details exactly.
Still, this was strange.
Ha Min-young, who had mostly played a passive role being bullied, had proactively marked Do Jihoon?
“Alright then. See you next week. Get home safe, Jihoon.”
Ha Min-young’s clear voice broke through my thoughts as he smiled brightly. He was small and pretty. Simple-looking, yet there was something about him that made you want to protect him.
He slightly bowed his head to greet me as well before leaving.
“Alright, let’s go, Yuri. You said you found a gopchang place.”
I bit down on my lip and stared at the ground. My head felt incredibly complicated. The concepts I knew were colliding with each other, giving me a headache.
“Hey. Are you close with that classmate?”
“I told you. It’s not like we’re particularly close or anything.”
He’s the one who marked you.
The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them back down.
I couldn’t say it because I wasn’t sure if this was part of the original story’s flow.
What if this ended up making Do Jihoon start paying attention to Ha Min-young?
