Yi Soo couldn’t distinguish whether the pounding heartbeat in her ears was Ji Ho’s or her own.

As her heart that felt like it would burst began to calm a little, Yi Soo slipped out of Ji Ho’s embrace.

She looked at Ji Ho with eyes full of shyness.

“I was afraid that I would end up liking you.”

Yi Soo decided to confess honestly.

Including all the reasons why she had tried to avoid Ji Ho until now.

Words that she wouldn’t have had the courage to say if she wasn’t drunk flowed calmly from Yi Soo’s lips.

“I won’t lie anymore. Honestly, I missed you, thought about you, and cared about you. I felt excited and my heart raced when I saw you. These feelings were new to me, so I was flustered and… scared, so I tried not to be swayed by you.”

Ji Ho nodded as if telling her to continue.

“I can’t tell you everything, but I know how hard it is to endure the pain from someone precious. Because I know what that’s like, I wanted to avoid it if I could. I was afraid of liking you and then getting hurt and struggling later. I thought it would be better to do nothing at all than risk that.”

Yi Soo lowered her gaze as she spoke.

“I was incredibly grateful to you and I knew you were a good person, but I didn’t have the confidence to acknowledge my feelings and meet you. It’s true that you were burdensome to me and also…”

Yi Soo spoke calmly.

“I felt like you would turn away nonchalantly when we broke up, as if nothing had happened… If such a moment suddenly came after I liked you, I thought it would be too painful for me. So I tried not to like you, but…”

As she said the last words, Yi Soo added an embarrassed laugh.

Yi Soo’s voice wasn’t shaky, and her expression and gaze were calm enough to forget she was drunk.

Ji Ho felt happy at Yi Soo’s honest confession, but also felt a heaviness in his chest.

The image of Yi Soo crying miserably overlapped with her calm face before him.

His heart ached at the vivid memory that seemed to appear before his eyes.

Ji Ho gently caressed Yi Soo’s face with a sorrowful heart.

“So you didn’t want to do anything with me?”

“If you do nothing, nothing happens.”

“Is that possible just by trying?”

“If it’s okay with you… I wanted to keep a proper distance and stay friends.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say “Let’s be friends” while knowing she liked him, but she had thought about it.

“I’m not okay with that…”

Ji Ho chuckled.

“How can I just be friends with the woman I like? I don’t want to be your friend, I want to be your man.”

“…”

“I won’t make things difficult for you. So don’t be afraid… Like me.”

Ji Ho’s voice, looking at her tenderly, was sweeter than ever.

“Let’s date.”

Though she knew the answer was already decided, Yi Soo couldn’t easily open her mouth.

‘So it’s come to this after all.’

Her heart started racing again.

“…You don’t want to?”

For the first time, impatience could be felt in Ji Ho’s eyes as he waited for an answer.

Yi Soo’s lips slowly parted as she watched him.

“…No. I want to.”

It was a drunken truth.

**

Yi Soo opened her eyes to a noisy clamor.

When they had returned to the lodging last night, most were quite drunk.

Yi Soo said she would go to bed early and fled upstairs immediately.

She had deliberately come in before Ji Ho, but her heart pounded wondering if he might find it suspicious.

Due to her unsettled feelings all night, Yi Soo barely fell asleep as dawn approached.

More than the difficulty of her hangover, her heart felt heavy at the thought of seeing Ji Ho again.

As she carefully recalled yesterday’s memories, Yi Soo frowned.

She inwardly screamed, thinking she didn’t need to be that honest and said too many unnecessary things.

‘Aaargh!’

The clearer her memories became, the more her face burned.

“Yi Soo, are you up?”

Ae Ra tapped Yi Soo’s shoulder.

“Huh? Oh! I’m barely keeping my eyes open.”

Yi Soo, who had been lying on her side, sat up with a start.

Of the six women, only Ae Ra and Yi Soo remained, the others had already gone downstairs.

“The others already went down.”

“They’re so diligent. I saw Juhee up at dawn washing her hair and putting on makeup. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Really?”

Yi Soo stretched her arms out wide and yawned.

Perhaps because she hadn’t slept well, her head felt dull and her shoulders heavy.

“Where did you go with Seo Ji Ho yesterday?”

Ae Ra had only exchanged eye greetings with Yi Soo when she returned, as she was in the middle of a game.

“You know the Gapyeong Stream in front of the pension? We went down there to get some fresh air. The sound of water at night was nice. We also looked at the moon and stuff.”

Yi Soo turned her head slightly as she spoke, feeling oddly guilty.

Her face felt like it was burning again as she spoke.

“Really? For two hours?”

Was it really two hours?

She hadn’t realized it took that long.

“Ah, I guess we were there that long. We just sat there blankly and lost track of time. Zoning out by the water. Haha.”

Yi Soo laughed awkwardly as she made up an excuse.

“You two zoned out by the water in the middle of the night? Just zoned out? Tsk! Seems a bit suspicious?”

Ae Ra narrowed her eyes as she activated her intuition.

“What’s suspicious about it.”

“I noticed Ji Ho was obviously taking care of only you yesterday. Looks like I wasn’t wrong all along. Right? I’m correct, aren’t I?”

In fact, Ae Ra’s intuition was almost entirely correct.

But Yi Soo couldn’t confirm it here.

She would tell her someday, but not today.

Yi Soo was still in a daze herself.

Yi Soo smiled ambiguously, neither denying nor confirming.

“After you left yesterday, Juhee said she had asked Ji Ho to go out for fresh air first. But he didn’t go with her and took you instead, so she was totally upset. She got drunk and whined all night yesterday.”

“Ah. I see. I didn’t know that…”

Yi Soo recalled what she had said to Juhee last night.

“Why? Did you want to come along too?”

She had casually thrown out those words because Juhee often did annoying things, but given the situation, it was understandable that Juhee would be upset.

“You noticed how Juhee has been obviously hitting on Ji Ho since the start-of-semester party, right?”

“It did seem that way a bit.”

“Juhee thinks of herself as a goddess, you know. But seeing Ji Ho take care of you instead of her, her pride was hurt… Tsk tsk tsk.”

Ae Ra clicked her tongue.

“She should know her place. As if she could do anything with a guy like Seo Ji Ho. Juhee’s confidence is really something else.”

Yi Soo’s chest tightened hearing Ae Ra’s words and she swallowed dryly.

If they talked any more, she felt like she would have to spill everything.

“Ae Ra, let’s go downstairs now.”

“Girls, come down for ramen!”

Just then, a voice called from downstairs telling them to come eat breakfast.

Ae Ra and Yi Soo finished tidying up the bedding and went down to the first floor.

**

Yi Soo finished breakfast and went back up to the second floor to prepare for the hiking trip, the last item on the MT schedule.

Suddenly, Ae Ra who had followed her upstairs let out a groan.

“Yi Soo.”

Ae Ra was bent over halfway, clutching her lower abdomen with one hand.

Just looking at her contorted face, the intensity of the pain was apparent.

“Does your stomach hurt?”

“Yeah. My stomach suddenly hurts so much. I think I have an upset stomach.”

“Oh no! What should we do? I brought some emergency medicine, wait a moment.”

Yi Soo urgently opened her bag and took out an emergency medicine pouch containing various items like headache medicine, digestive medicine, painkillers, and even ointment.

“As expected of Jung Yi Soo. Your preparedness is top-notch. But, I need to go to the bathroom first…”

Ae Ra, who had been smiling faintly while clutching her painful stomach, rushed to the bathroom without finishing her sentence.

Yi Soo prepared medicine for Ae Ra while also taking out a headache pill for herself.

‘Why didn’t I think of hangover medicine? That’s what I need most…’

Yi Soo regretfully took one headache pill.

“Are you okay?”

Yi Soo asked worriedly in front of the bathroom door.

“Yi Soo, you go up first. I don’t think I can go hiking today. It would be a big problem if I suddenly needed the bathroom while climbing.”

“Okay. I got it. I’ll leave the medicine on the dining table, so take it as soon as you come out.”

She didn’t want to go hiking in the first place, and now without Ae Ra, what fun would it be?

She felt bad pretending to be sick too, as it would seem like she was just trying to get out of it.

Yi Soo put on her shoes reluctantly and slowly walked out the front door with a dejected face.

“What are you doing not going?”

As soon as she stepped out the front door, she saw Ji Ho leaning against the pillar at the entrance to the yard.

“Oh, Ae Ra said her stomach hurts so I was giving her some medicine.”

“Are you okay? You look tired.”

“I am a bit tired, but I should go. We all agreed to go together, so it would be rude to skip out on my own.”

“You’re going out of loyalty even though you’re tired?”

“Yeah. We’ll take it slow, right?”

Yi Soo had deliberately sat away from Ji Ho during breakfast.

It was because her face kept flushing whenever she recalled last night’s events.

Moreover, she wanted to avoid Ji Ho if possible, feeling she wouldn’t be able to control her expressions in front of him.

“Yi Soo. You’re not running a fever, are you? Your face color…”

Ji Ho asked worriedly as he examined Yi Soo’s complexion.

“Huh? Ah, no I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

Sure enough, her body reacted immediately upon seeing Ji Ho.

Yi Soo pressed her cold hand against her cheeks.

As the day changed and her mind cleared, an unbearable embarrassment washed over her belatedly.

Her ability to remain composed in front of Ji Ho yesterday was all thanks to the alcohol.

Yi Soo found it difficult to look Ji Ho directly in the face.

“Tell me if you’re having a hard time.”

“…”

With only a bottle of water in hand, there was no luggage to carry for her, and even if she was struggling, there wasn’t much he could do to help.

“I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”

As Yi Soo laughed in disbelief, Ji Ho also chuckled.

“Why? You think I can’t do it?”

Hearing Ji Ho’s words, Yi Soo had a different worry.

‘It would be troublesome if Ji Ho acts noticeably in front of others.’

“Um, Seo Ji Ho.”

She felt she should make a request in advance while she had the chance.

They might not have time alone like this again.

“I’m really uncomfortable with being the center of attention. I prefer to live inconspicuously. So I’m asking just in case, but I hope no one knows about our… thing.”

“Our thing? What thing?”

Ji Ho smiled slightly as he saw Yi Soo’s nape turning red.

“Hah.”

Yi Soo sighed after biting her lower lip lightly.

Yi Soo glared at Ji Ho, who was pretending not to know on purpose to tease her.

“Don’t do anything that might cause misunderstandings in front of others. Like holding hands or things like that. They probably thought it was strange yesterday too.”

Given Ji Ho’s indifference to others’ gazes, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t do such things during the remaining MT schedule.

“Hmm… Alright.”

Ji Ho nodded as if granting a favor.

“Then you mean I can only hold your hand when we’re alone?”

Ji Ho asked with a smile playing on his lips.

“No. When did I say that?”

“You have to let me do one of the two. Which one is it?”

“…”

“If you don’t answer, I’ll do as I please?”

Before Yi Soo could say anything, Ji Ho intertwined his long fingers between Yi Soo’s, holding her hand.

“Like this!”

As Yi Soo looked up startled, Ji Ho’s large hand grasped Yi Soo’s hand firmly.

It was just holding hands, but Yi Soo felt electricity coursing through her body and her heart fluttering.

It felt as if all her nerves were on edge through the palm of her hand touching Ji Ho’s.