# Chapter 15. Yeonho.
“You’ll catch a cold.”
Yeonho said as he grabbed the upper part of the umbrella handle and tilted it more toward me. He also added asking if I was cold, in a concerned tone as if mistaking me for the one who had run through the rain.
‘You’re the one who’s soaking wet…’
I took tissues out of my bare bag and handed them to Yeonho, who took the umbrella handle we had been holding together and then lowered his head toward me.
“Since I don’t have hands, wipe it for me.”
“…”
That’s ridiculous. It seemed pretty clear he was just trying to tease me, but Yeonho didn’t look like he had any intention of backing away. I quickly surveyed my surroundings. We were still before the school gate, so there were many students around. Because of the umbrella, I couldn’t tell where their eyes were looking.
‘Is that fortunate…?’
After I exhaled a small sigh, “Whew,” Yeonho, who had been bending down the whole time, asked:
“Aren’t you going to wipe it for me?”
in a whining tone.
‘Whining? Oh my god…’
Yeonho made the most pitiful face he could, just like last time. Like a puppy wet in the rain. Normally I wouldn’t care much about such things, but Yeonho looking like a puppy bothered me.
‘Why am I so nervous over something like this?’
I gripped my bag tightly and carefully wiped Yeonho’s face.
Then I remembered my second older sister saying that when wiping moisture from the face, you should press gently rather than rubbing, so I tried to press as softly as possible.
‘Pat pat… Is this the right way…?’
Yeonho smiled brightly the entire time I was wiping his face. If Yeonho were a real puppy, I would have firmly grabbed these soft, squishy cheeks and showered kisses all over—forehead, cheeks, nose bridge, anywhere.
Yeonho opened his eyes, which had been briefly closed when I wiped around them, and smiled radiantly without saying anything.
As I was wiping under his chin last, Yeonho whispered softly:
“Seungwoo, you really like my face.”
“…Huh?”
“You’re so cute, focusing so hard.”
“…”
Th-that’s not it. I was so nervous that I couldn’t think of anything.
‘…Or was it? Did I focus? How many strands of eyelashes did Yeonho have? What color were his eyes? Were his lips chapped?’
I couldn’t tell if I had been focusing or just blank-minded. I was just thinking about kissing Yeonho’s face…
‘No, was that also because I was focusing?’
When my walking slowed due to my increasingly stiff legs, Yeonho pushed my back to hurry my steps. We had left the school gate long ago and even passed the bus stop. While passing, the bus I was supposed to take was just departing. Only after walking for quite a while did I realize I was still walking and looked at Yeonho.
“I-I need to take the bus…”
“Let’s take it at the next stop.”
“…Why?”
“Because I want to walk with you more.”
‘Yeonho’s eyes rise like that every time he smiles. How cute…’
The sound of his breath when he smiles feels good too. The sound of rain hitting the umbrella is nice, and so is the sound of stepping in small puddles. Even the sound of a bicycle rushing past just now and the sound of my heart right now. Just everything here, being with Yeonho, felt good. I was about to say something impulsively, but instead of the words caught in my throat, I mumbled a response.
“…W-we can… go further…”
The rain was so loud that I’m not sure if Yeonho heard. I looked at Yeonho’s shoes that appeared ahead with each step, followed by my own shoes popping out next, and then I tightly hugged my bag with both arms. Yeonho said, “Shall we?” Without mentioning an endpoint to where we should go.
‘So even if we reach the next bus stop, we’ll keep walking like this, right? It means we can stay together longer, right? Anyway, if the rain doesn’t stop, Yeonho will need the umbrella too. Getting rained on can cause hair loss and isn’t good for the skin, plus you might catch a cold…’
My heart wants to keep walking together like this, no matter where we end up.
While I was thinking of various excuses, Yeonho’s phone ringtone sounded. It was a message notification, and judging by how it kept ringing consecutively, it seemed urgent. After ignoring it for a while, Yeonho unwrapped his arm from around my shoulder and adjusted his grip on the umbrella. The part that had been warm instantly cooled down and felt cold.
‘The umbrella… should I just hold it?’
As I was thinking that and glancing at Yeonho, I saw a name I had heard earlier on his phone screen. It was a name that had been bothering me all day.
“Oh, Yun Heurum…”
“…You know her?”
I must have spoken the girl’s name without realizing it. Yeonho stopped walking and stared down at me.
‘Um… should I say I know her?’
I had seen Yeonho receiving a confession today, and the girl who confessed to Yeonho was Yun Heurum… I had heard about Yun Heurum from what Kim Jungwoo was rambling about.
“Today, our Yeonho received a confession of love from Goddess Yun, everyone!” he’d said. I also heard him asking for thoughts on it, but I couldn’t hear what Yeonho answered because of the noise from other students.
The loudest among them was Kim Jungwoo. That nosy guy even had a loud voice. Jungwoo showered praise, saying her name was Yun Heurum, that she was the prettiest in the second year, and that she was a gentle goddess with a good personality. He also said that among girls who liked Yeonho, he would approve of Yun Heurum, and there were even girls who cried.
Anyway, since I did know her indirectly, I nodded, and Yeonho said with the face I always saw:
“Seungwoo, how do you know her?”
I felt like my heart dropped. When close to him, I couldn’t tell what Yeonho was thinking, but right now he clearly seemed displeased.
‘Why is he suddenly like this? Is it so upsetting that I know Yun Heurum? Everyone in our class probably knows her.’
I avoided Yeonho’s gaze and turned my eyes to the ground.
So, it seems that girl has become Yeonho’s girlfriend. That’s why he was upset that I knew his girlfriend. I didn’t know Yeonho had such strong possessiveness.
‘He didn’t really show it much…’
Then why did he share an umbrella with me? Why did he say he wanted to walk more with me? Why did he ask me to wipe his face?
I stepped on a small pebble on the ground with my toe and rubbed it as if crushing it. Yeonho wasn’t looking at his phone anymore, nor did he add anything more. The silence became more frightening, so I told him what he wanted to know.
“Earlier… I s-saw in the hallway… You and Yun Heurum together… I-I also heard about it in class…”
“…Oh.”
“S-so I only know her name. I couldn’t… see her face clearly.”
Even if she walked right in front of me, I wouldn’t know if it was her. Really. While I was desperately defending myself about how I knew that girl, I could see Yeonho’s expression gradually softening.
He’s usually someone who can control his emotions as easily as eating rice cakes lying down, but it seems he couldn’t do that well when it came to talking about his girlfriend. It felt tight and suffocating, as if something was pressing hard below my chest.
‘No, does it hurt?’
The tingling sensation at the tip of my nose was not unfamiliar. Afraid I might end up crying in front of Yeonho if I stayed like this, I covered my eyes with my bangs as much as possible. While I was still thinking if there was anything else I could explain, I heard Yeonho letting out a small sigh. I was afraid of what Yeonho might say. I hugged my already crumpled bag even tighter. The textbooks and notebooks inside probably wouldn’t survive, but I had nothing else to cling to.
Yeonho leaned toward me with the umbrella. I could see the edge of the umbrella catching on his head. Ah, his back would get all wet like that.
“Seungwoo, you must have been thinking strange thoughts again by yourself.”
“N-no… I wasn’t…”
“I rejected her.”
“…Huh?”
When I stupidly stammered a question back, Yeonho snickered and pushed my bangs back that were half-covering my eyes as he said. That touch was so careful that my anxious heart foolishly began to pound.
“You were curious, weren’t you? About what I did.”
“…”
“Would you have preferred if I hadn’t rejected her?”
Why would I think that? I’d barely just become one of the numbers saved in Yeonho’s phone instead of just another classmate.
Yeonho didn’t like me, yet his outward appearance was too affectionate, and his words made me feel like they contained affection. This was how he treated not just me, but other students too.
In reality, these were just acts with not even a grain of truth in them, but the people around Yeonho mistakenly thought he was showing interest in them.
The difference between me and those people was whether or not we could distinguish if what Yeonho showed was an act or not.
Since I know Yeonho’s true self, I will never even stick the tip of my toe within the line he has drawn.
‘…But sometimes when Yeonho does things like this, I get confused about what answer to give…’
If I answered yes to Yeonho’s question, I felt he would laugh at me inside, but if I said no, it seemed like this conversation wouldn’t end.
‘I might also upset Yeonho.’
So once again, my answer was delayed as I pondered what response Yeonho wanted.
“From now on, instead of thinking by yourself, ask me, Seungwoo.”
Yeonho’s hand that had been touching my bangs now fidgeted with my earlobe. The fingers that had stayed on my earlobe soon covered my entire ear, and then moved further down. Yeonho’s hand slowly caressed the nape of my neck. Instead of my cooled shoulder, heat rose there intensely. It should have been ticklish, but it wasn’t.
‘Is it because I’ve grown used to Yeonho’s touch?’
Yeonho moved as if searching for a point at the back of my neck, then grabbed my hand that was clutching my bag. The heat that had transferred from the nape of my neck made the held hand hot too.
“Everything—what you’re curious about, what you’re dissatisfied with. Got it?”
‘So, when you’re this affectionate… what am I supposed to do?’
Why do you keep making me misunderstand? What happens to me after you get bored with this game? Can we still eat together, text, and call even after your game ends? Can we do that once a week, or if that’s too often, once a month? If I ask now while you’re pretending to be affectionate, will you agree?
“…Can I… call you…?”
“Hmm?”
“C-can I… call you… Yeon…ho?”
“One more time.”
“Can I call you… Yeonho?”
‘I said it. I said it. I said it.’
After calling Woo Yeonho as Yeonho, my hand curled up. Yeonho firmly held that hand of mine. I moved my avoiding gaze to face Yeonho’s face. The face with slightly upturned corners of the mouth, slightly parted lips, and prettily smiling eyes was something I had often seen somewhere.
‘So… where have I seen this face before…’
“Call me.”
“Ye… Yeonho…”
“Yes.”
“Yeonho…”
My voice rolling out of my mouth trembled too much. Come to think of it, I don’t think I had ever called Yeonho before. Such a pretty name.
‘Woo Yeonho, Yeonho, Yeonho…’
Ah, I remember. Yeonho’s face right now is just like when the male lead in a drama looks at the female lead…
“Yes, and then?”
Yeonho’s bright eyes seemed to literally sparkle.
‘With the sky this dark, how can they shine like that?’
Completely immersed in that, I let any words flow out.
“My hand hurts.”
“…Ha.”
Yeonho bowed his head deeply and laughed aimlessly. Sorry. I’m sorry. Saying that.
I’d seen him smile prettily many times, but it was my first time seeing him laugh like that. Yeonho loosened his grip on my hand and tickled my palm through the gap. Only my palm should feel ticklish, but that sensation traveled up my arm and made my chest ticklish too.
The rain seemed to be gradually subsiding, as the sound hitting the umbrella weakened.
‘Ah, that’s good. So Yeonho won’t get any wetter.’
“Seungwoo.”
“…Huh?”
“Can I kiss you?”
“Ah… n-no… I mean, um…”
Surprised by Yeonho’s following words, I only managed to let out sounds like moans.
Suddenly? Why? With me? Even though it’s not the first time we’ve kissed, those were all just jokes.
Is there really a need to do it now? Was my reaction that entertaining?
‘O-of course I want to too, but…’
Would it be better to do it when Yeonho offers? It’s still raining so there are no people around, and we have the umbrella…
“If you don’t like it, I’ll just kiss your cheek. The umbrella hides us. It’s okay.”
A gentle voice was heard. Just like that day when he asked if I disliked chocolate, in a sweet voice. So in the end, I nodded.
“Y-yeah.”
Yeonho returned the umbrella handle to me. Then he held my face with both hands and kissed my cheek. It was so slow and careful that it made me feel as if I had become something precious to Yeonho.
Yeonho, as he had said, only kissed my cheek, then faced me and smiled brightly. He looked like the most harmless and pure child in the world.
‘…Ah, you could have done more. You could have kissed my lips, not just my cheek.’
In that moment, I became so embarrassed at myself for thinking such thoughts.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
