Rather than that, it was better to pretend to be a fool.

Pretending not to know his feelings was the best option for her.

That way, she could stay by Geon’s side for a long time. She could maintain the current relationship.

Yeonwoo had come up with the best answer for herself.

“You called me your person, so you must mean that you like me as your person, right?”

“Hoo…”

Geon sighed at Yeonwoo’s cleverness.

Simultaneously stopping his steps, he spoke in a somewhat tired, mid-range voice.

“I’ve waited long enough to consider it waiting by now.”

Geon thought he had a relatively long patience based on his life experience.

However, after meeting Yeonwoo, he realized his patience wasn’t as long as he had thought.

Turning his body in the direction where Yeonwoo stood, Geon looked at her with black eyes.

As if determined not to spill a single emotion he had built up towards her, he clearly conveyed his feelings to Yeonwoo.

“I mean it when I say I’ve embraced Hong Yeonwoo in my heart.”

From the moment they first met on Baekaksan until now, Geon hadn’t forgotten Yeonwoo for a single day.

Since getting to know Hong Yeonwoo, his life had changed.

His world, which he thought would be black and white, became vividly colorful, and his once cold heart began to hold a warm glow.

Sometime in the past, Yeonwoo became Geon’s world.

Since discovering Yeonwoo’s true identity, he had been waiting for her to open her heart.

He had been prepared to accept her just as she was for a long time.

However, no matter how much he waited and hinted, Yeonwoo didn’t seem to show any signs of revealing her true feelings. Now, Geon had to take matters into his own hands.

Even with that alone, it seemed insufficient to move Yeonwoo’s heart, and she couldn’t hide her bewildered expression.

“I-I…”

As much as she wanted to convey that her feelings were the same as his, that she had kept him in her heart and desired him for a long time.
However, Yeonwoo couldn’t simply be excited about Geon’s confession; it was rather heartbreaking.

“I am not the person you think of.”

“I know what kind of person you are.”

“…Yes?”

Yeonwoo looked bewildered at Geon’s unexpected response.

“Isn’t it time for you to open up to me?”

“!”

Yeonwoo’s pupils shook.

“Could it be…?”

Geon’s reaction seemed like he knew Yeonwoo was a woman.

Did Geon really know about her true identity?

If so, everything, including the kiss and the words about liking her, was explained.

But when and how did he find out that she was a woman?

In the midst of a confused mind, Yeonwoo’s thoughts turned blank.

At that moment when she couldn’t figure out how to react.

A middle-aged woman’s voice calling Yeonwoo from behind the two was heard.

“Hong Yeonwoo?”

“!”

Yeonwoo’s body stiffened at the sudden appearance of the familiar voice.

If the owner of this voice was here, it shouldn’t have happened.

With a doubtful heart, Yeonwoo slowly turned around.

To her disbelief, there was Mrs. Park looking at Yeonwoo with an incredulous expression.

“Uh, how did you end up here…”

Yeonwoo’s face turned pale in unexpected confusion at Mrs. Park’s arrival.

But it wasn’t just Yeonwoo who was bewildered.

Mrs. Park’s gaze scanned Yeonwoo.

The rigidly raised military cap and the neckerchief tied like a soldier. Mrs. Park’s pupils trembled at the sight of Yeonwoo dressed in a soldier’s uniform.

Mrs. Park managed to move her stiffened lips.

“What on earth is going on here…?”