Danmok-bi’s face twitched slightly as he listened to me. It seemed like he was holding back something, his expression showing restraint. After gazing at me for a moment, Danmok-bi avoided eye contact and spoke.

“Stop making such pretty sounds all the time.”

“What? What?”

Not realizing the meaning, I blinked my eyes and took a step closer to Danmok-bi. In a low voice, Danmok-bi whispered.

“I mean, I want to kiss you.”

Even after hearing those words, I blinked a few times in surprise, then took a step back.

“Not here.”

“That’s why I told you not to make pretty sounds.”

“But it’s true.”

“…….”

In response to my words, Danmok-bi lowered his gaze to my face. For some reason, it felt like ripples were shimmering in his black eyes. Anxiously fidgeting with my fingers due to his silence, I cautiously asked, tilting my face.

“Nanggun-nim?”

As I called him cautiously, stars seemed to sparkle in Danmok-bi’s eyes. Grabbing my hand, he said.

“…Should we at least buy an umbrella?”

What reason could there be to suddenly buy an umbrella in this weather? Unfurling it and covering us, his determination to kiss me was clearly conveyed. Blushing, I used my palm to block Danmok-bi’s lips.

“It’s not allowed.”

When I suddenly covered his mouth with my palm, Danmok-bi’s eyes widened in surprise. But soon after, like a crescent moon, his eyes narrowed.

Wasn’t he kissing the inside of my palm?

“Ouch!”

Screaming, I tried to pull my hand away, but Danmok-bi firmly gripped my hand. While gently biting the inside of my palm, his black eyes stared at me.

It felt like my heart was being nibbled on.

As we stood like that, Ji-ho, who was far ahead of us, shouted loudly.

“Why are you two acting like that? Come on, hurry up.”

Only then did Danmok-bi release my hand. With a red face, I shook my foot playfully.

“Look, look, look. It’s not just the two of us here!”

“Is it okay if it’s just the two of us?”

“Don’t ask such things!”

Why did I suddenly become so assertive? I had nothing to say when our grandfather saw us acting like a straight man.

‘There’s a one-way straight man here.’

My face was so hot that it felt like sweet potatoes would be roasted. While fanning my face with my palm, I walked, and from behind, Danmok-bi’s voice echoed.

“I like it too.”

“What?”

What did he mean all of a sudden? When I turned around, Danmok-bi smiled brightly and said.

“I’m happy to walk with you.”

How lovely he looked while smiling made everything around me seem to fade to a light hue for a moment. I murmured absentmindedly.

“Why you said that earlier makes sense now.”

Because I wanted to hold his handsome face and kiss him right away.

There were just enough people on the street. After walking for a while, Jegal-min pointed to a stall with his finger.

“There’s a candy shop here.”

“Oh, really?”
It was a fairly large store. Various colorful candies were arranged on wooden trays. As I entered the shop, the owner, with rolled-up sleeves, was skillfully cutting taffy-like candies with a wide knife.

I asked the owner, “Do you have yuga candies?”

“Of course, we do.”

Glancing at us, the owner recognized Jegal-min at the front and immediately approached, wiping his hands.

Jegal-min seemed to be trying to buy everything that Rye would like, and he started various conversations with the owner. Holding a bag of yuga candies, I had already stepped outside the store, watching the interesting sight.

‘I wonder if they taste good. The color is a bit different from what I made.’

As I was about to put one in my mouth, Danmok-bi suddenly extended his face over my shoulder and asked, “What is this?”

“It’s yuga candy. I made it for you several times when you were young; do you remember?”

I handed the candy I was about to eat to Danmok-bi.

“Oh, go ahead.”

Danmok-bi opened his lips without much expression. Just because those faint pinkish lips bothered me, I quickly pushed the yuga candy into his mouth.

Ji-ho, who was watching us with a pleased look, tilted his head and asked, “Danmok Sogaju seems to dislike sweet things; do you like it?”

Perhaps because of the yuga sticking to him, Danmok-bi answered a moment late.

“I’m not really into it.”

In response to his answer, I burst into laughter and said, “Hey, when I made jeolpyeon, you ate up even the ends.”

“Right.”

Danmok-bi responded gruffly again.

‘He says he doesn’t like sweet things, but he probably denies it for image management.’

Even that stoic Danmok-bi seemed cute to me. I covered my lips with my sleeve, chuckled, and then went back into the store.

“Come to think of it, there might be something here that Grandfather likes. I’ll look for it.”

It would be good if there were candies that could revive Grandfather, who was lying sick. As I entered the store, Ji-ho, who followed me, whispered on my shoulder.

“Yeon-ah, you’re usually quick-witted, so why are you slow when it comes to matters of love?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You don’t really like sweet things, but you said you ate them up because I made them.”

“…Huh?”