When Yeonwoo, who had been sitting curled up, stood up, Gun’s facial expression somehow looked darker.

Gun, who was about to say something, hesitated for a moment and eventually spoke.

“Actually, I sent her away.”

“What?”

Surprised by Gun’s unexpected answer, Yeonwoo asked in amazement.

The atmosphere seemed good just a moment ago, but why did he send Kihyang away? What did this mean?

“I wanted to be together, but I sent her away. I’m sorry.”

“Why… did you send her away?”

What could be the reason Gun sent Kihyang away?

Yeonwoo tried to calm his pounding heart.

To avoid revealing his excited feelings, he even bit his lip.

It probably wasn’t a big deal. Kihyang might have been sent away because she got cold while playing in the water.

It couldn’t be because of any reason she imagined. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions and excite herself alone.
I shouldn’t even have small expectations. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

On the other hand, Gun’s heart became heavy, misunderstanding her question.

As far as Yeonho knew, it was Yeonho who wanted to take a walk with Kihyang, but the one who sent her away was Gun. It was a voluntary confession out of a sense of guilt for sending Kihyang away without saying anything to Yeonho, but looking at Yeonho, who bit his lip, he seemed disappointed.

However, even if he went back, Gun would have made the same choice.

He would have sent Kihyang away just the same.

The more sorry he felt towards Yeonho, the more Gun thought he should be honest about the reason he sent Kihyang away.

“I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Disturbing…?”

Exciting.

Yeonwoo’s heart started to pound uncontrollably at Gun’s following words.

“I didn’t want to be disturbed during the time spent with Nangja.”

As Gun looked at her, Yeonwoo felt a tingling thrill.

Her breath quickened, and a sharp heat spread throughout her body.

After the day they kissed, Yeonwoo didn’t want to experience the disappointment of hoping alone and being disappointed alone again.

Therefore, when disappointed, she practiced how to comfort herself and not get hurt.

However, she had not anticipated how to react when her expectations were met.

Since she thought there was no possibility of her expectations being met.

Since she thought such a thing would never happen.

Therefore, when faced with unexpected excitement, Yeonwoo’s heart, unprepared for it, shook uncontrollably.

Deep within her heart, an uncontrollable tremor surged like a tidal wave.

While she hoped that Gun would show his heart to her, at the same time, she wished he wouldn’t.

Because the more Gun showed his heart to her, the more she expected from him. Because she kept becoming greedy for him.

Yeonwoo knew better than anyone that she didn’t have the right to wish for Gun’s heart.

To deceive the person who called her their own would be nothing but betrayal.

So, despite knowing this, Yeonwoo couldn’t push Gun away, who kept making her heart flutter.

After spending time with Gun, the day had already darkened.

Why did time pass so comfortably when only one person, Kihyang, disappeared?

It was time to part slowly. A stone bridge appeared in front of the stream they had to cross.

Yeonwoo and Gun began to cross the stone bridge one by one.

For Hong Yeonwoo, a soldier of the Gwangho Army unit, it was an easy stone bridge to cross, but since she was wearing shoes that were comfortable for training but not suitable for crossing a stone bridge, she didn’t adapt well.

When Yeonwoo started to cross the stone bridge hesitantly, Gun, who seemed uneasy watching her, silently reached out his hand.

Seeing Gun’s large hand, Yeonwoo swallowed nervously.
Even though I had tried holding this hand before, now that I’m actually trying to hold it, I don’t know why I’m so nervous.

As Yeonwoo hesitated to take his hand, Gun, who felt awkward, tried to withdraw his hand.

“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to hold it. I just didn’t want Nangja to get hurt…”

“No!”

Before Gun could retract his hand, Yeonwoo grabbed it as if catching a fish.

The hand Gun held again was still large, engulfing Yeonwoo’s hand in one go.

Although Yeonwoo’s hand seemed to disappear into Gun’s hand, the warm and gentle warmth enveloped her hand cautiously.

If she could continue holding Gun’s hand like this, Yeonwoo felt like she could walk across the stone bridge for hours.

After safely crossing the stone bridge, when the held hand was released, a sense of regret filled the empty space.

How nice it would be if this stone bridge extended all the way to their homes. Then, during the return, she could have an excuse to hold Gun’s hand.

It wouldn’t happen, but the time spent crossing the stone bridge seemed shorter than the blink of an eye.

Whether it was because they were holding hands while crossing the stone bridge or because the time to part was approaching, the conversation between the two gradually diminished.

As the number of words decreased, the pace of their side-by-side walking also slowed, and the distance between them narrowed.