Chapter 62
After that, Seoyul made many attempts. But each time, it felt as if his throat was blocked, and the words wouldn’t come out.
Whenever he saw Dowoon’s face, he would freeze like an idiot, and his tongue would become as stiff as a robot’s.
Though he didn’t think of himself as having a particularly decisive personality, there was no progress, so he sought out an advisor, thinking he needed to try something.
“Um… I have a concern.”
The person he went to for advice was Minjun. He hesitated to confide in Sunjeong or Sunghun because they were too close to Dowoon.
So he chose Minjun. While Minjun was also connected to Dowoon through work, he was more neutral than the other two.
“Huh? Really? What is it? If it’s uncomfortable to talk about here, should we move somewhere else?”
Seeing Seoyul’s tense expression, Minjun quickly suggested. Seoyul nodded and headed to a café a little distance from the Association.
Fortunately, it wasn’t crowded, so he sighed with relief and slowly began to speak.
“Well…”
“What’s wrong? It’s nothing serious, right?”
Seoyul nodded in response. If even seeking advice was this difficult, he truly had no idea how to broach the subject with Dowoon—it seemed completely overwhelming.
But since he was a bit more comfortable with Minjun than Dowoon, he was able to just open his mouth.
“H-how should I go about c-confessing?!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
A long silence enveloped their surroundings. Seoyul, who hadn’t expected this reaction, felt his face turn bright red from embarrassment. Then he quietly spoke to the silent Minjun.
“Hyung…”
Noticing Seoyul’s bright red face, Minjun finally came to his senses and said:
“Ah, sorry. For a moment I thought you were confessing to me and was shocked.”
“What?!”
Seoyul rolled his eyes in confusion. Then, Minjun covered his mouth with his hand as if to whisper and quietly asked:
“You’re talking about Esper Cha Dowoon, right?”
Seoyul nodded with his head bowed low at those words. Then he heard a surprised voice.
“Wow! I didn’t think you’d be the one to confess first. That’s unexpected.”
“Ah… well…”
Seoyul trailed off, his face flushed, letting that serve as his answer. Immediately catching on, Minjun exclaimed:
“Gasp! Did you already receive a confession?!”
This time too, Seoyul just nodded in response. Even just conveying this much made his face feel like it would explode.
Only then did Minjun understand the situation and nod.
“So you received a confession but couldn’t respond.”
That was accurate. If only he had conveyed his own feelings then instead of just crying, he wouldn’t be struggling like this now.
Maybe he could have spoken when he was so overwhelmed.
“Great! This is exactly my expertise! Just trust me!”
Minjun proudly straightened his shoulders as he boasted in front of the distressed Seoyul. He instilled confidence in Seoyul, saying he had consulted on such matters several times before.
“R-really?”
“Of course! You just need to trust and follow me, Yu Minjun!”
Those words sounded truly reliable. Seoyul trusted Minjun completely. He was in such a state that he would believe Minjun even if he said he could make bean paste out of red beans.
With sparkling eyes, Seoyul recounted all his failed attempts so far. Minjun listened seriously, pondered, and then came up with a clear answer.
“If it’s hard to speak, create a situation where your feelings can be conveyed without words!”
“A situation where feelings can be conveyed without words?”
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say. Got it?”
Seoyul nodded vigorously. He absorbed every word Minjun said without missing a thing.
However, as he listened more, the plan was so explicit and embarrassing that his face turned bright red.
“D-do you think I c-can do it?”
“Of course you can! I’ll help you! Just trust me!”
He rolled up his sleeves and smiled confidently. Seoyul was anxious but had no choice but to trust him. After all, there weren’t many other options.
“I-I’ll try!”
“Great! Let’s start strategizing!”
“Yes!”
And so, the two of them began to develop the “Operation: Seoyul’s Confession!” right there.
* * *
The plan was simple. But there were quite a few preparations needed.
First, securing a venue.
He insisted it had to be a hotel. Especially, the more luxurious the hotel, the better the effect, he said.
Second were flowers, candles, and helium-filled balloons. Minjun added that rings would be good too, if affordable.
Yes, Minjun was recommending a conventional, stereotypical proposal to Seoyul.
Seoyul had thought he just needed to respond to a confession, but he never imagined he would be making such a formal attempt. The person who should be responding was now preparing a confession!
He mentioned this point to Minjun as well, but he confidently explained:
‘Look here. If you lay out candles in a heart shape on the floor, hold a red rose, and offer a ring—that’s it! It’s clear without saying a word. What could be more definitive than this?!’
…It was too embarrassing. Of course, as he said, the idea of not having to speak was appealing. But…
‘Can I really do this?’
Seoyul bowed his head, his face turning red. Just imagining it made him feel like he would vanish into thin air.
But since no better method came to mind, he cautiously lifted his head and steeled his heart.
‘O-okay. I’ll try it! Minjun hyung said he would help too…’
Minjun was more excited than anyone and helped with the preparations. Thanks to him, Seoyul was able to prepare with some peace of mind. The only issue was how to get Dowoon to go out with him on the day.
‘First, I need to… make an appointment, right?’
It seemed like he could just say he wanted to go out, like when they went to watch a movie. But this too wasn’t easy. Already having a big goal in mind, Seoyul kept saying strange things.
After several failures, Seoyul was finally able to speak.
“E-Esper-nim! Are you f-free this Saturday?!”
Dowoon tilted his head at the expression that somehow seemed determined. But soon he smiled and nodded.
Seoyul always had such expressions for trivial matters. Of course, they were always serious matters from Seoyul’s perspective, but this time Dowoon wondered what cute thoughts were behind this expression, so he smiled and said:
“Of course. If you’re asking, I’ll make time even if I don’t have it.”
“I-if you’re busy, you don’t have to…”
Seoyul shook his head hurriedly, but Dowoon approached with the same smiling face and opened his mouth.
“I’m not busy. I have lots of time.”
It was only natural that Seoyul flushed at those words. Dowoon’s smiling face was too harmful for his heart.
‘W-what should I do…’
Seoyul had to close his eyes tightly and soothe his loudly beating heart.
After such twists and turns, Seoyul was able to make an appointment and began to move busily. He first informed Minjun of this, and also reserved the hotel they had previously looked at. Since he had already purchased the props, all that was left was to choose what to wear that day.
Minjun had said that it must be the most stylish-looking outfit. But there were no stylish clothes in his closet…
“Alright! Let’s buy one this time!”
Minjun even joined Seoyul’s shopping trip. Of course, this being the first time Seoyul went out alone, there was a small incident where Dowoon gave him suspicious glances.
Though he seemed quite displeased, Dowoon still told him to have a good time. Since it didn’t seem like he suspected anything, Seoyul sighed with relief.
After finishing shopping, they also bought a ring at Minjun’s strong insistence. He couldn’t afford an expensive one, so he purchased an inexpensive one. But regardless of the price, the thought of sharing it with Dowoon made him happy.
‘Couple rings…’
Waiting with such excitement, the big day finally arrived. As planned, Seoyul spoke to Dowoon first.
“Esper-nim, I have an appointment during the day today, so I think we’ll have to meet outside.”
“Appointment?”
Dowoon seemed surprised by this unexpected statement. It seemed he had thought they would go out together.
Seoyul felt sorry, but it couldn’t be helped. He bowed his head deeply and conveyed his feelings.
“I’m sorry…”
“No, no. You should have your own time too… I… can’t… monopolize you all the time.”
Dowoon mumbled dejectedly. This appointment was also for Dowoon’s sake, but it was disheartening that he couldn’t tell him now.
‘Please wait just a little bit.’
In a few hours, he would be able to convey his feelings. Seoyul braced himself, thinking this was just a step back to move forward.
So he changed into the clothes he had prepared and headed to the hair salon. This too was an added schedule because Minjun had insisted he must go.
“It suits you so well.”
They say hair is a man’s life.
With a professional’s touch, his face seemed to glow. Additionally, wearing a shirt he rarely wore and a coat made that feeling even stronger.
“You must have an important appointment.”
The hairstylist said softly as she finished the payment. Seoyul blushed at those words and nodded.
“Yes. I have an important appointment.”
The smiling Seoyul was truly adorable. The hairstylist seemed to feel this too, as she blushed and encouraged him to come again.
‘Good. Now I just need to buy the flowers.’
Seoyul headed straight to the flower shop. Not knowing how many flowers to buy, he received help from the shop owner.
Seeing Seoyul dressed up from head to toe, the shop owner easily guessed what the bouquet would be used for and smiled. Just looking at his nervous appearance, it was obvious.
He wrapped the bouquet with more care than usual and handed it to Seoyul.
“Wow.”
Seoyul blushed at the beautifully wrapped bouquet. The young man holding an armful of large roses looked like a painting. The shop owner wondered how lucky the recipient of those flowers would be as he saw Seoyul off.
“Thank you. Please come again.”
“Yes. Thank you. Take care.”
After politely bowing, Seoyul stepped outside and finally felt like it was becoming real. The beautiful flowers he held made his heart flutter.
Seoyul moved with his heart full of excitement.
‘Let’s hurry.’
But perhaps because he was too excited?
Seoyul didn’t see the black hand that appeared behind him.
“Mmph…!”
A large black hand emerged from between a narrow alley and pulled Seoyul into the darkness.
The red bouquet he had been holding fell to the ground and shattered, and the ring case hit the ground and fell out.
A bouquet and a ring without an owner.
All that remained was pitch-black darkness.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
