Lunchtime.

Yoo Mi was sitting in the restaurant with three friends, waiting for the food to arrive.

“Yoo Mi, why didn’t you come to the Ski Club pub last week? We agreed to go together. We kept waiting for you……”

Friends who had heard rumors that Ji Ho was serving had begged Yoo Mi several times to go together.

The friends wanted to go even more because they thought Yoo Mi and Ji Ho had a special relationship.

Thanks to going with Yoo Mi to the basketball game, they had exchanged greetings with Ji Ho before.

If they met at the pub, there might be a chance to sit together and have a drink and conversation.

But Yoo Mi didn’t show up that afternoon without any contact.

“Sorry! I wasn’t feeling well that day. Did you all go? Was it good?”

In fact, Yoo Mi wanted to go badly, but she tried hard to hold back.

Yoo Mi had never imagined Ji Ho serving drinks and food to others, and her heart was more bitter than anyone’s for missing out on that good sight even though she knew about it.

Yoo Mi was trying to restrain herself, remembering Ji Ho’s words to not cross the line with him.

She was also hurt by Ji Ho’s rejection.

After that incident, she didn’t have the courage to see Ji Ho as if nothing had happened.

But that didn’t mean she had given up on Ji Ho at all.

Yoo Mi was enduring with the mindset of taking one step back for two steps forward.

Even if Ji Ho had a girlfriend now, no one knew when or how they might break up.

They could fight or have misunderstandings.

Maybe it was just a passing relationship for Ji Ho.

She thought the true winner was the person who remained by Ji Ho’s side until the end.

She comforted herself that since she had already missed out on being Ji Ho’s first love, being his last love would be enough.

“Of course! It was great. That day was totally awesome. You should have come with us.”

A friend said with an excited expression, recalling that day.

“Why? Did something happen?”

Yoo Mi asked with wide eyes.

“Yes! Actually, it was good enough just to see Ji Ho’s face, but guess what? He even sang for us! It was a surprise live performance.”

He sang?

Ha. Yoo Mi could imagine how people reacted.

Yoo Mi knew better than anyone because she had already fallen for that sight long ago.

“He really seems to be good at everything. I thought my ears were melting. He was singing while playing the piano himself, wow… Really…”

The friend couldn’t continue speaking, looking excited as if recalling the emotion from that day.

“I have a video. Do you want to see it?”

The friend held out her phone to Yoo Mi with the video from that day, before Yoo Mi could even answer.

Ji Ho sitting at the piano could be seen smiling at one spot throughout his singing.

Because the camera was only filming Ji Ho, the person off-screen couldn’t be seen.

The faces of the three friends gathered over the phone screen Yoo Mi was watching.

“But there was a woman he kept making eye contact with while singing that day. Did you see her too?”

“Yeah. The woman sitting right next to the piano. He kept looking only at her, didn’t he?”

The friend who suddenly spoke up looked at Yoo Mi’s reaction.

The friends who had believed Yoo Mi and Ji Ho were developing a relationship had suspicious looks.

“Yoo Mi, don’t you know anything?”

The gazes of the three friends turned to Yoo Mi.

“No. I’m not sure… You must have seen wrong.”

Yoo Mi was flustered by her friends’ reactions.

Yoo Mi was also puzzled after watching the video.

‘Could he have invited his girlfriend to the pub? Ah. I should have gone to see for myself that day… I wonder what kind of woman she was.’

In fact, Yoo Mi was more curious about this woman’s identity than her friends were.

“No… He really only looked at that woman blatantly.”

“Right. I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt that way that day.”

“I was too busy listening to the song that day to think much of it, but watching the video now makes it even clearer. It was the woman sitting at the bar next to the counter.”

“Yeah. If I had been that woman that day, I think my heart would have melted completely. He kept looking at her with a gentle smile throughout the song… Even though he wasn’t looking at me, my heart was pounding.”

“Right? All the songs he sang that day felt like serenades dedicated to that woman. And the lyrics were so passionate. He only sang love songs, didn’t he?”

The friends put their hands together and clutched their chests with excited expressions.

The atmosphere was already certain that woman was Ji Ho’s girlfriend.

“Yoo Mi, are you okay?”

The friends who belatedly considered Yoo Mi’s feelings had worried expressions.

Yoo Mi felt like her relationship with Ji Ho being nothing had been exposed.

The looks in her friends’ eyes were gradually changing to pity as they looked at Yoo Mi.

“Hahaha, of course I’m fine. I told you oppa and I aren’t like that yet.”

Though extremely embarrassed at seeming to have been caught in the truth, Yoo Mi forced a casual laugh and asked about that woman.

“But what did she look like? I’m curious too.”

“She was in front of us so we couldn’t see clearly, but from what we glimpsed, she had a sophisticated aura and was pretty. Right?”

“Yeah. I think her short bob haircut made her look even more like that.”

Yoo Mi’s face hardened at her friends’ words.

A short bob?

It might be a coincidence, but Yi Soo immediately came to Yoo Mi’s mind.

She couldn’t agree with the sophisticated description, but maybe that’s how others saw her.

Since it was the Ski Club pub, Yi Soo would have been there too.

‘No way, it couldn’t be.’

**

Yi Soo started studying for final exams, tightening her relaxed mindset from the festival period.

Several hours into sitting in the library.

As her concentration waned, Yi Soo squeezed her eyes shut due to thoughts of Ji Ho invading her mind again.

After hearing Ji Ho’s song.

Yi Soo kept thinking of Ji Ho at all times.

The song Ji Ho sang often echoed in her ears like an auditory hallucination.

‘Ah, I must be crazy. Why am I like this…’

Yi Soo had been frequently trying to push thoughts of Ji Ho out of her head these past few days.

Not because she disliked it, but because she simply couldn’t concentrate.

Even while reading a book, the letters would suddenly become blurry and Ji Ho’s face would appear.

There were times she deliberately avoided seeing Ji Ho with the excuse of needing to study, but the more she did so, the more desperately she wanted to see him.

‘It’s like I’ve fallen lovesick.’

Is this what it’s like to fall for someone?

All day long, unable to focus on anything else due to thoughts of that person, her mind completely filled with them.

Everything she saw reminded her of that person, and every sound she heard made her think of them.

In a word, she was crazy.

She thought she liked Ji Ho before too.

If there was a measure for the size of one’s feelings, the size now was incomparable to then.

Yi Soo took a deep breath, trying to calm her excited heart that felt like floating on clouds.

‘I should go out for some fresh air.’

With a shallow sigh, Yi Soo quietly got up from her seat.

**

Yi Soo walked to the end of the corridor after leaving the reading room.

A cool breeze blew gently through the large open window.

“Yi Soo, what are you doing here alone?”

Turning her head, she saw Dong Woo striding over.

“Just trying to clear my head while studying. Did you just come to the library?”

“Yeah. Want to drink this?”

Dong Woo held out the coffee in his hand to Yi Soo.

“No. You bought it to drink yourself. How can I take your only cup?”

“I can go out and buy another one.”

Dong Woo didn’t withdraw his outstretched hand.

“It’s okay. You drink it.”

Yi Soo smiled and gently pushed Dong Woo’s hand away.

Only then did Dong Woo take back his offered hand.

Thoughtful and kind Dong Woo was the most comfortable and grateful friend to Yi Soo.

Sometimes she felt he was as dependable as an older brother.

“Yi Soo, nothing special going on these days?”

Dong Woo asked, leaning slightly against the windowsill.

“Nope. Same as always.”

“I saw you going together with Ji Ho a few days ago. On the rainy day.”

Though he already knew from Ha Joon, he still asked Yi Soo directly.

It was an unrequited love he’d never confessed, but a feeling he’d kept unchanged for quite a long time.

Even if he gave up, confirming directly from Yi Soo seemed like the right thing to do for his own feelings.

He also wanted to shake off the lingering attachment he couldn’t easily let go of.

“Huh?”

Taken aback, Yi Soo asked with wide eyes.

“You came to pick up Ji Ho.”

“Ah! Oh…”

So Dong Woo was there that day too.

There were quite a lot of people gathered, though she hadn’t had time to look at who was who.

‘Even though I wore a hat and covered my face with an umbrella, Dong Woo would have recognized me.’

Yi Soo felt embarrassed and shy towards Dong Woo, as if making a difficult confession.

But she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t true to Dong Woo.

“Dong Woo, actually I…”

Yi Soo swallowed hard.

“Ji Ho and I agreed to date.”

With her eyes downcast, she couldn’t see Dong Woo’s expression.

She thought he might laugh wryly, but Dong Woo said nothing.

Yi Soo slowly raised her head.

Dong Woo was staring blankly at Yi Soo with an expressionless face.

“What, you’re making me embarrassed.”

“Oh. That’s… It’s just unexpected.”

Though he knew, hearing it directly still hurt.

‘What was I doing like a fool during all that time spent with Yi Soo?’

His chest ached as he vividly recalled Yi Soo’s back as she was embraced by Ji Ho.

“I knew you’d react like this. Since I said with my own mouth not long ago that I didn’t want to date…”

Yi Soo laughed shyly with a blushing face.

“Is Ji Ho treating you well?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

Yi Soo nodded with a shy smile.

Her face full of smiles looked happy.

“I see.”

Dong Woo swallowed a bitter smile.

He felt empty, as if a huge hole had opened in his heart.

Though there was no use regretting Yi Soo who had already left.

Dong Woo blamed himself for not having the courage until the end.

**

Thursday afternoon.

Ji Ho called Yeon Soo.

[Yes, Ji Ho. Did your classes just end?]

“Yes, Mom.”

There was a message from Yeon Soo asking him to call when he had time.

[I forgot to tell you yesterday, but there should be a black box among the packages I sent. That’s for Soo Min, but I sent it together with yours because it was troublesome to send it separately.]

“Ah, yes.”

[It’s a bit bulky, so I think it would be good if you could deliver it directly to Soo Min’s house.]

Two days ago, a large overseas shipping package sent by Yeon Soo had arrived.

Yeon Soo, who liked shopping, often bought things Ji Ho needed in London and sent them to Korea.

Since it happened often, Ji Ho had left the package box untouched in a corner of the living room without even opening it yet.

“Yes…”

The answer came out with a long tail.

Soo Min’s house was now Yi Soo’s house too.

In the past he would have answered readily, but this time he had a lot to think about.

[Sorry for the trouble.]

“It’s okay.”

[When can you go?]

“Ah… I’ll go next week.”

[Okay. Thank you. But let me know before you go. Soo Min said she wants to feed you a meal when you come. Don’t refuse and make sure to eat before you leave.]

Ji Ho frowned.

When there was no answer, Yeon Soo asked again.

[Ji Ho, did you hear me?]

“Yes.”

Though he reluctantly agreed because it was his mother’s request he couldn’t refuse, he couldn’t help feeling reluctant.