Chapter 26: 14.1

“I ran out of ramyeon.”

“…”

“I forgot to buy it on the way home. So let’s go and buy it together. And buy kimchi too.”

“…”

“If it’s difficult, you don’t have to.”

Woo-hyun turned around.

“… No. Let’s go.”

Yoo-hwa stopped Woo-hyun without realizing it.

“What I mean is… I’m going to buy kimchi too.”

Woo-hyun’s eyes, which were staring ahead, turned to the side as the small voice stopped him. He couldn’t see Yoo-hwa, but he looked towards the direction where she was sitting. He expected that Yoo-hwa would not refuse anyway.

“Alright. I’ll change my clothes and come out.”

After Woo-hyun entered the house, Yoo-hwa turned her gaze forward again. She didn’t realize that her expression had become brighter than before.

To get to the mart quickly, they had to pass through a narrow alley. Yoo-hwa was accustomed to descending the dark and dirty alleys that were not visited by other people. Woo-hyun followed behind, looking at Yoo-hwa’s back figure, with her hat pressed down.

Since leaving the house, there had been no conversation. Yoo-hwa was not very talkative, and in general, she was the type to answer questions when asked. Considering that, there wasn’t much conversation going on. Yoo-hwa was very nervous, like someone who had mustered all their courage to get this far.

“Ah.”

Yoo-hwa’s body staggered and quickly regained its balance, but she did not move forward. Following Yoo-hwa’s gaze, Woo-hyun’s head turned downwards, and he saw that the laces of her sneakers were untied.

When Yoo-hwa was crouching down, the wind blew, and she saw a large hand holding the shoelaces she was about to grab. Deprived of what she was going to do, Yoo-hwa looked at the person sitting opposite her.

The eyes that were looking down were the first thing she saw. The beautiful, long eyelashes, and the cheeks that shone exceptionally brightly, touched by the afternoon sunlight.

She wanted to touch him.

Then, startled by the impulse she felt, she clenched her fists tightly.

“I can do it myself.”

Contrary to her words, Yoo-hwa was unable to move. To take the shoelaces from Woo-hyun, she had to remove his hand, and for that, she had to touch it. Recalling the people that were startled whenever she touched them, Yoo-hwa couldn’t hold his hand. However, when she pulled the shoe back, the shoelaces were held tight.

“Payment for taking me to the mart.”

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“I’m going because I need something too.”

“Then, next time, you tie my shoelaces.”

“…”

Yoo-hwa was speechless at Woo-hyun’s unexpected words and looked at him silently.

“The other foot.”

“… I will do this one.”

“I don’t think you can’t tie them up like this. It’s a special knot.”

Woo-hyun looked up. For a moment, their eyes met. Yoo-hwa, who had been exhaling shallowly, stopped breathing and looked at Woo-hyun. His eyes were clear. There was no hostility, no contempt, no anxiety.

In front of Woo-hyun’s transparent eyes, Yoo-hwa felt an unbearable feeling. As if she couldn’t stop the clean, soft, first ray of light in the morning from touching her cheeks.

Then, suddenly, she realized that Woo-hyun was also looking at her.

Yoo-hwa quickly looked away without saying a word.

“It’s alright. I’ll tie up the other one.”

Yoo-hwa said, possessed by a strange feeling as if she was being strangled. Woo-hyun did not insist again. It was only after he backed away that Yoo-hwa was able to tie the laces on the other sneaker. Yoo-hwa got up to resume walking and looked at her sneakers.

On the left was a big butterfly-knot she had never seen before, and on the right was a familiar knot. With each step, the knot on the left swayed lightly as if flapping its wings. Because she was able to see it surprisingly well in the dark, Yoo-hwa’s gaze stayed on the left knot instead of the floor for a long time.

On one side of the mart, numerous ramyeon packets were lined up. Woo-hyun stood in front of her.

“… Let’s each buy what we need and meet at the front of the mart.”

Before entering the mart, Yoo-hwa stood a few steps away and said that without making eye contact. When he asked her to walk around together because he didn’t have much to buy, Yoo-hwa adamantly refused, unlike usual.

Woo-hyun agreed to do so after a moment of silence, and Yoo-hwa headed inside the mart without looking back.

Woo-hyun picked up five packets of ramyeon that were bundled together. He could get this ramyeon anywhere. He could tell Jun-kyung in advance, or he could have someone do it.

Still, Woo-hyun came to the mart to purposely walk around and show him. To show Yi-woon, who is hovering around this area to approach Yoo-hwa, the fact that his older sister is with a man.

According to reports, since a long time ago, Yi-woon had been particularly fond of Yoo-hwa. No, he was so obsessed with her that words couldn’t describe it. He told her male co-workers, her male neighbors, and even the male boss who had worked with Yoo-hwa, that if there were men approaching her regardless of who they were, he would get rid of them in some way. Even if he had to do a background check to threaten them.

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