“You’re curious about that?”

Seo Hee’s head throbbed. She shook her head as she looked at Kang Mo, who seemed to imply that he already knew a lot. She didn’t have the nerve to listen to the answer she would hear from him, as it didn’t seem like it would be ordinary. But Kang Mo opened his mouth again.

“Just know that I wasn’t just sitting around waiting from morning until now. So, tell me now. The reason why you can’t help me.”

While waiting to meet Seo Hee until the evening after meeting her, he had urgently conducted an investigation on her. Currently, she had quit her job here and there were rumors among her former colleagues that she would be returning to her home country for a break for the time being.

It was just a rumor, but to Kang Mo, it was like a ray of light.

If she would go back and forth to her own house like before, whether out of sympathy or whatever, if he could get a chance to see her often, there would be nothing more he could wish for.

“……”

“You’re the one who got me used to your cooking, you know. I often thought about the food you made.”

Seo Hee’s heart soon weakened. It wasn’t just because the food she made was delicious, but perhaps because he missed the warmth of family.

Kang Mo had to see his elder sister pass away first, and not long after, he had to see his mother, who was suffering from a mental illness, ascend to heaven as well.

And that’s not all. Even his father, whom Kang Mo relied on the most, had to be separated from life for several years due to an unpleasant incident.

Knowing that hollow loneliness and longing too well, it was difficult to refuse coldly.

But even so, she couldn’t readily agree either.

A long time ago, when she truly had feelings like an elder sister, she could reach out a helping hand without hesitation, but now that a change of heart had occurred towards him… she wasn’t sure.

Over the past few years, Seo Hee had unknowingly thought of Kang Mo from time to time.

The day she found Kang Mo covered in blood in the flower bed of her studio apartment on a cold winter day when the chilly wind was raging, and took him into her house; the days when she took side dishes to his apartment and bickered with him.

The days when she lived with him, not as cohabitation but to take care of Kang Mo, who had become inconvenienced in his arms and legs after a major accident; the subtle atmosphere when she washed his hair.

Kang Mo’s appearance of casually walking around topless in front of her, and various other aspects of him – laughing, getting angry, sometimes being cynical, and sometimes being affectionate – suddenly popped up in her memory out of the blue.

Above all, the moment when he boldly confessed to her and approached her as a man the night before she left him, the more she tried to forget, the more tenaciously it dug into her memory and stirred up ripples in her calm heart.

Would it be wise to interact with Kang Mo again like before, even from a distance, when he shook her heart like this?

Her mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts and worries.

“Kang Mo…”

“Why, did you change your mind? You don’t want to help anymore?”

That’s not it, Kang Mo. Unable to reveal her inner thoughts, Seo Hee suppressed her frustration, found her own compromise, and answered with a pure heart.

“Alright then. I’ll contact you when I go to Korea. I do have quite exceptional cooking skills, taking after my mother. I’ll make and send you the things you like.”

Kang Mo, with his head bowed, silently stretched his lips into a smile.

Seo Hee is trying hard, trying so hard. The effort is commendable, but that’s not the answer I want.

The smile on Kang Mo’s lips disappeared without a trace in an instant. Kang Mo’s gaze, slowly closing and opening his eyes, flew sharply and pierced into Seo Hee.

“Why bother sending it? You can just come directly like before. Why, are you afraid to come to my house now?”

“Afraid… no way.”

“Or, by any chance, do you see me as a man?”

“…What?”

“I’m asking if you feel like I’m a man.”

Ahem. A fake cough burst out. As if the alcohol was rising belatedly, heat rose to Seo Hee’s face.

“Hey, talk some sense. What do you mean I see you as a man? I’ve said it repeatedly, you’re not a man to me, you’re younger.”

Kang Mo’s voice dropped to the floor, his expression hardening.

“Are you sure?”

It was a voice that sounded even ominous. Receiving his meaningful gaze fully, Seo Hee had to swallow hard.

“……”

“What should I do? I can’t believe those words anymore.”

Seo Hee’s pupils, unable to find words to refute, trembled finely.

“Do you remember the conversation we had the day before you left?”

“…That was so long ago, how do you still… remember it.”

Kang Mo had never forgotten that day.

That day, when he had made up his mind to confess after a long conversation, to the question of what she would do if a younger man confessed, Seo Hee, with a prettily flushed face from being slightly tipsy, laughed and declared without a moment’s hesitation that she would cut him off cleanly.

Could she really do that? Could the Baek Seo Hee, who never hesitated to help him despite any risk, cut him off so coldly? Just because he was younger?

Kang Mo wanted to confirm it.

When she drew a line, saying he was like a younger brother, but occasionally avoided his gaze first when their eyes met, or tensed up and flinched when he approached.

When she awkwardly avoided the spot, feeling uncomfortable even when he was just topless, or her ears turned bright red at his steady gaze – it was enough to give the illusion that Seo Hee also felt him as a man.

Although he was afraid of rejection and worried about the severance of their relationship due to confession, it was also the day he had the most conversations with Seo Hee and saw the most new sides of her, so he thought he might be able to hear a drunken truth from her if he did well, and committed the act.

I like you.

At his plain confession, she merely blinked her innocent eyes.

I just like you.

Even at his following words, she, who had boasted that she would cut him off cleanly, only turned her face bright red, unable to even open her mouth.

“What about the kiss we shared that day? Don’t tell me you don’t remember that either.”

“Y-you. Did you eat something wrong? What kiss did we have? I d-don’t even remember.”

“You’re stuttering.”

The small tip of Seo Hee’s ear burned bright red. At the same time, a red tinge was slowly spreading on her fair, slender neck as well.

“Because it’s absurd. It’s absurd. Where are you spouting such nonsense.”

Aha, you’re going to pretend. I can’t forget that one kiss and am going crazy, but you don’t even remember?

“Should I make you remember? If we do it again, wouldn’t the memory become vivid?”

“Why would I suddenly do that with you… Why.”

“I need assurance. You already know my feelings, right? Oh, did you say you don’t remember?”

“Kang Mo…”

“Then I’ll say it again. Listen carefully.”

Kang Mo stared straight at Seo Hee, who was shaking her head, and continued speaking in a resolute voice.

“Even if I wasn’t a man to you, you were a woman to me. Even now, you’re still just a woman to me, not an elder sister. There was never a single moment when you weren’t a woman to me. From the moment I first met you at the age of thirteen until this very moment. My feelings for you have never changed. But now, I want to have conviction too.”

“……”

“The conviction that I’m not the only one floundering. Honestly, I’m confused. I just can’t believe your words that you don’t see me as a man, that you only think of me as a friend’s younger brother. So I need to check. If you’re so confident in your words, if you’re so sure of your feelings, prove it yourself.”

A faint sigh escaped from Seo Hee.

A quiet voice flowed from Seo Hee, who was rubbing her forehead with one hand as if troubled.

“I can’t turn my heart inside out and show it to you, so how can I prove it?”

Kang Mo promptly suggested as if he had been waiting.

“Let’s kiss. Like that day, like that time. If you’re so sure of your feelings, you won’t be shaken by a mere kiss, right? If there’s no change in your heart even after kissing, then… I’ll give up. I have no intention of forcing my feelings anymore.”

“……”

“Why, are you not confident?”

“……”

“If you hesitate like this, it only sounds like you have feelings for me. Can I interpret it as I please? Can I?”

Seo Hee’s gaze, which had been wandering the floor, turned to Kang Mo. After a moment of strongly intertwined gazes, Seo Hee, who avoided his eyes, let out a long sigh.

“Kang Mo, you really seem crazy.”

Kang Mo laughed as if saying it was obvious.

“You only realized now that I’m crazy? So, will you do it or not.”

“Fine… Let’s do it. But if I’m really not shaken even after doing it once, then stay as a younger brother without any lingering feelings.”

“Okay. Got it. Three minutes… Three minutes should be enough. To check your feelings.”

Seo Hee swallowed a startled breath.

“Wh-why would a kiss take that long.”

Kang Mo shook his head with a laugh as if she was hopeless.

“You’ve never had a proper kiss, have you? A mere three minutes is long?”

Is it not long? Is it really not long? Confused eyes trembled finely.

“This one kiss will determine my fate, but a mere three minutes is long? Besides, when we kissed before, we did it for more than three minutes, right?”

“No, we didn’t do it for that long back then?!”

Kang Mo’s eyebrows shot up.

“You remember.”

Seo Hee’s forehead instantly crumpled.

“Remember… No, since it doesn’t readily come to mind, it must not have been… long. That’s… what I meant. Enough, if you’re going to do it, just get it over with quickly.”

“You must want to do it a lot, huh? I don’t mind you urging me.”

Even the sharp gaze glaring at him was lovely.

They hadn’t even touched a single finger yet, but Kang Mo was already dying from the blood rushing to his lower body.

“Baek Seo Hee, it’s a bit difficult for me to get up right now, so can you come next to me?”

Seo Hee, who asked what on earth could make it difficult for him to get up, merely had Kang Mo glance down at his lower body once, but she cleverly understood his intention and closed her eyes tightly.

Pft. Kang Mo let out a breath.

“Won’t you come quickly?”

Seo Hee, who had her eyes tightly closed, carefully spoke.

“Kang… Mo. I don’t think this is quite… right. We don’t have to do it like this.”

“Are you joking right now? If I get up from here, I won’t end it with just a kiss. Should I go?”

“No.”

She really didn’t know what would happen or how things would unfold if Kang Mo actually got up from his seat. Seo Hee abruptly got up from her seat and slowly narrowed the distance in one step. Clearing her throat and composing herself, she gently sat down next to Kang Mo.

Kang Mo had to press down on his heart that was shaking like a broken washing machine with one hand.

“Look at me.”

Seo Hee’s face slowly turned towards him. Kang Mo first licked her with his eyes, unable to make eye contact, looking somehow anxious.

The round forehead slightly covered by neat bangs, the cute nostrils he wanted to bite, the prettily shaped ears, the plump lips he wanted to take into his mouth right away, the slender and long neck where a red tinge was surging, the gently rising and falling chest.

Ah… It’s straining my heart. Ha… I feel like I’m going to die just by looking.

Her hand, resting obediently on her lap, kept fidgeting, and her complaint tickled his ears.

“What… are you doing.”

“You have to look at me. Why do you keep looking down.”

Her gaze, which had been directed downward, lifted up little by little.

Kang Mo, who had been smiling brightly, captured Seo Hee’s wandering gaze with his eyes.

“I’m warning you, don’t avoid my eyes. Don’t look away, and don’t close your eyes for more than a second. Every time you do, the three minutes reset. Let’s play fair, focus solely on me. Don’t think about anything else. Do you understand?”

As soon as Seo Hee, who had let out a low sigh, let her gaze stray diagonally for a moment,

“Eyes.”

“Ah, seriously. Just… do it.”

How can I just do it? What kind of opportunity is this that I created? You want me to just let this golden opportunity slip away? No way.

Kang Mo, wiping the smile from his face, gently wrapped his large hand around Seo Hee’s slender neck. He gradually narrowed the distance, gazing at her trembling pupils.

He could clearly feel the pulsating blood vessels through her skin, softer than silk and warm. A gentle ripple arose on her neck as she swallowed. Soon, at a distance close enough for their breaths to be conveyed to each other, Kang Mo quietly opened his mouth.

“You have to breathe.”

“Ha…”

The moment Seo Hee’s lips parted and a hot breath flowed out, Kang Mo bit those lips.

“Hmm.”

They had only barely locked lips, but ridiculously, a moan escaped from Kang Mo. The sensation, more thrilling than he remembered, made adrenaline surge. A dizzying pleasure flowing through the blood vessels of his entire body made him momentarily light-headed.

Seo Hee’s eyelids, which had been trembling, slowly closed. Reset, reset, and reset again. The three minutes were meaningless from the beginning.

Seo Hee’s hand, grabbing Kang Mo’s forearm, tensed up. The painless force transmitted through her skin fueled his excitement.

He lightly bit her faintly vibrating lower lip. Taking advantage of the faint moan escaping, he tilted his head. Kang Mo’s breath gently dug into Seo Hee’s lips.