Jiho’s long strides quickly aligned with Hye-yoon’s steps.
“It’s because my muscles are pumped right now. Today, the trainer wanted more, so I did a bit extra.”
Although she nodded her head slowly, she glanced again. Jiho, who had been grinning, placed Hye-yoon’s hand, which he was holding, on his chest. At the same time, he covered her hand with his own, preventing her from pulling it away.
“Oh my…”
“Why do you keep secretly looking at it? If you’re curious, you can touch it.”
Still smiling at Jiho, her small mouth twitched. While doing so, whether out of curiosity or not, Hye-yoon pressed her fingertips firmly. As always, she also tried hitting it with her fist, unable to understand the hardness.
But her weak hand only made noisy movements.
“Well… um…”
“Well, um?”
While eagerly tapping, her eyes turned away again. This time, instead of the Civil Law textbook, she was playing with a book about police officers.
And as much as the small gesture, her shy thoughts oozed out stealthily.
“Of course, I like your taste in clothes, but I thought… well, that clothes hide the body shape a lot, so let’s go with pretending not to have heard.”
Hastily unfolding the book and even muttering, “Police officers have such cool names.” She had boldly opened the book, but covering it naturally seemed impossible. So Jiho decided to cover it himself.
Since he had just received a compliment, it was a reward.
“Oh, was that okay?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Taking away the book and gaze, sparkling eyes full of curiosity looked up at Jiho. Jiho, with one hand, leisurely covered the book while never diverting his gaze.
“So, now it’s books and…”
“…”
“I just want to take you home, pretending not to have heard anything.”
The gentle tone, as if soothing a child, was as soft as always. Hye-yoon made a small snorting sound in her shyness. The curiosity growing in unexpected places, the embarrassment that inexplicably emerged, and Jiho, who lovingly cared for the countless rapidly opening and closing emotions, were all appreciated.
“Yeah, let’s pretend not to have heard both.”
Expressing her gratitude, Hye-yoon nodded a little more vigorously. This time too, Jiho, finding even that gesture adorable, lovingly observed it. He slowly stroked the back of the hand they were holding.
A few steps away, Jiho was the one who first opened the book. Inside the roughly opened pages were emerald-colored seas and blue islands. Hye-yoon also peered into that blue.
“Oh, right. Jiho, you mentioned going on a trip, right? When are you going?”
“When would be a good time? Is there anywhere you want to go?”
A gaze that moved beyond the obvious. Hye-yoon pondered his words for a moment.
“…Me?”
“Yeah. Then, do you want to go together?”
The gaze that questioned beyond the obvious tilted, as if it went beyond the obvious to the absurd.
A journey with Jiho. Of course, there was no reason to refuse whenever the time matched. A trip with a loved one seemed too happy just by looking at the words, because it was something I had never experienced.
Since the romance was more than enough, I decided to take a brief look at reality. Then, embarrassment rushed in immediately.
“But as a travel companion, I’m not that great. I’m bad with directions and can’t even read a map, so I always wander around. Hehe. The more I think about it, the more foolish I seem.”
A dewy smile descended upon her innocent face. Jiho had been gazing at that face. The fleeting gaze that had been daydreaming for a moment was nice, and the sight of him stepping into reality now was also nice.
Actually, everything was nice. As long as it was this woman.
“It’s so nice. If we get lost and can’t find our way back… we can just live there together.”
His exaggerated statement was met with large eyeballs peering at him. Jiho couldn’t read every moment as well as he could, but Hye-yoon could still somewhat sense his thoughts.
That Jiho had been talking like this for a while.
The words that had passed momentarily echoed. The voice that held onto him not to leave and the joke about pretending to live together. Of course, it was a joke, but now I understood. That he wasn’t someone who just spoke empty words. That he wasn’t someone who only filled his jokes with jokes.
Although she thought she had dredged up some memories for a moment, it seemed that a few more seconds had passed. Startled, she came to her senses with a gentle touch on her head. When she focused again, Jiho was sending a gaze as tender as his touch.
His tone of speaking was no different from a child.
“That’s right… I don’t play jokes that I don’t mean.”
“Oops! Stop reading my mind all the time.”
Throughout the time he watched, he had accurately read every moment. Hye-yoon hurriedly covered her forehead. It was due to a whimsical imagination that her emotions might be written on her forehead.
Seeing her cute gesture, Jiho raised the corner of his mouth. In the end, both of them laughed, but the silent exchange of glances coming and going was clear. It was no longer just a joke.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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