“…Huh?”

Lee Ju Eun’s face visibly showed confusion.

“W-What do you mean?”

I watched her for a moment.

My subsequent actions were impulsive.

I took Lee Ju Eun to school. To the infirmary. The place where I first became truly aware of her existence.

Lee Ju Eun still seemed awkward, unable to meet my eyes properly.

“Lee Ju Eun.”

I called her name.

Those three syllables felt special, simply because I had become aware of my feelings.

“What are you thinking about?”

In response to my question, Lee Ju Eun said she was thinking about when we first met.

The events of that day came flooding back. An absurd first encounter. A strange girl. And somehow, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

A thought suddenly struck me. Perhaps I had liked Lee Ju Eun from that moment.

If so, this current situation might be a natural outcome.

As we chatted, pretending everything was normal, my mind gradually calmed down.

It wasn’t that my feelings had faded. Rather, my confused and muddled thoughts had become clearer.

I like Lee Ju Eun.

That fact is all that matters.

It might remain a one-sided love forever. Or conversely, these feelings might cool down someday.

But right now, I like Lee Ju Eun, and I want to be true to that emotion.

That was enough.

“But why did you bring me here?”

Lee Ju Eun asked me. After a moment’s thought, I answered.

“Just because. I wanted to tell you here.”

“Tell me what?”

I looked at Lee Ju Eun. What words could convey my current feelings exactly?

There might have been grander or more plausible things to say, but in the end, I chose these simple words:

“I like you.”

Lee Ju Eun echoed in surprise.

“…Huh?”

I couldn’t help but smile at her startled, frozen face. I repeated myself.

“I said I like you, Lee Ju Eun.”

Saying it out loud made the emotion feel truly complete.

It felt as if all the inner turmoil I had been experiencing had vanished. Even if we might become less than friends from now on, just conveying my feelings made me feel at ease.

But then.

“Huh?”

Lee Ju Eun cried.

Because of me.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

Upon hearing my confession, Lee Ju Eun stared blankly as tears streamed down her face.

Lee Ju Eun, flustered, wiped her cheeks with her palms. But the tears wouldn’t stop. I approached her and asked.

“Are you okay?”

At my words, Lee Ju Eun nodded while crying. She seemed to be trying to act fine, but seeing her cry so sorrowfully made my heart sink.

Only then did I start to regret my actions.

I couldn’t tell exactly why Lee Ju Eun was crying. But one thing was clear: my confession had been the trigger.

Should I have said nothing at all?

Should I have continued as before, suppressing my feelings and pretending to be just friends? At least then, I wouldn’t have made her cry.

I embraced Lee Ju Eun and said softly,

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

Even at these words, Lee Ju Eun still didn’t stop crying. The sight made me even more distressed.

* * *

I’m not sure what state of mind I was in after that.

After seeing Lee Ju Eun cry, I was out of my mind. I spent each day with mixed feelings of regret and lingering attachment. There was a conflict between the thought that I should give up now that I had seen her like that, and the fact that I still liked Lee Ju Eun.

Then one day, it happened.

“Lee Ju Eun!”

A truck came out of nowhere, rushing towards Lee Ju Eun, and I pushed her out of the way.

It was an unconscious action, with no time to think. It was instinctive. Even though I was far away, I immediately realized what was happening, as all my attention was focused on Lee Ju Eun.

And so, I fell into a coma.

To cut to the chase, I woke up safely.

There were no aftereffects, and my body was fine. A coma is, of course, a serious matter, but I barely remember that period and didn’t really feel anything. That’s how good my physical condition was.

Perhaps because of that, the days in the hospital were tedious. I felt like I was already fully recovered, but how much longer did I have to stay like this? The doctor said I couldn’t be discharged yet, so I stayed put, but I was getting restless.

During that time, many people came in and out of my hospital room under the name of hospital visits. Sung Ji Chan, Ban Ha Min, and Yoo Hee Na all came and said a few words. You almost died, they said. It’s good that you survived.

But the one person I wanted to see most never came.

Why isn’t she coming?

Perhaps she felt burdened that I had saved her?

Even so, I had no regrets. If it hadn’t been me, Lee Ju Eun would have been hurt. If I had seen that scene and done nothing, allowing Lee Ju Eun to get hurt, I would have regretted that more.

It was rather fortunate. Yes, maybe it’s better to sort out my feelings now. I tried to convince myself and push away these thoughts, but the more I tried, the more Lee Ju Eun’s smiling face came to mind.

Then one day, Lee Ju Eun finally came to see me.

“Haha… Hello.”

Lee Ju Eun greeted me with an awkward smile.

My heart raced at the sight of her face after so long. I silently looked at Lee Ju Eun’s face. The truth was, despite saying I would forget, I had wanted to see her all along.

“I have something to say.”

Lee Ju Eun began to speak with a face that seemed to have made a firm decision.

“First… thank you. For saving me.”

So it was that kind of conversation after all. While I thought it was natural, I felt a bit disappointed. But I said nothing and listened silently.

“And I’m really sorry. That you got hurt because of me. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have to go through this now.”

What followed was Lee Ju Eun’s apology. Even though I said it was okay, Lee Ju Eun persistently apologized to me.

“But what I’m about to say next has nothing to do with that.”

At those words, I paused. Lee Ju Eun said,

“While you were in a coma, I thought a lot.”

Her face was tense with nervousness. What was she going to say?

While thinking I shouldn’t get my hopes up, some expectation kept leaking from deep within my heart. But knowing that greater expectations lead to greater disappointments, I forcibly suppressed these feelings.

“Because I… had to make a choice.”

Lee Ju Eun carefully continued.

“A choice that I had to make very carefully.”

I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I only thought that perhaps something serious had happened to Lee Ju Eun.

“At some point, everything else started to feel meaningless.”

Saying this, Lee Ju Eun raised her head. Then, looking straight into my eyes, she said,

“I just wanted to see you.”

That one sentence struck my ears.

At first, I didn’t quite understand. But the moment I fully grasped the meaning of those words, I finally realized.

Lee Ju Eun had the same feelings as me.

My heart began to race. I felt a sense of expectation and excitement, and a little fear. Maybe this time, really…

Then, Lee Ju Eun mumbled with a bright red face.

“So I… What I want to say is…”

I interrupted Lee Ju Eun and said,

“Can I say the rest from here?”

Lee Ju Eun nodded.

“You like me. Right?”

At those words, Lee Ju Eun looked like she was about to cry. I smiled playfully.

“I like you, Lee Ju Eun. Really.”

It was my second confession.

But this time, Lee Ju Eun didn’t cry. Instead, she answered me with a bright smile.

“Yes, me too.”

* * *

“What are you thinking about?”

At Lee Ju Eun’s words, I slowly came back to reality.

Seeing her tilting her head curiously, I couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked.

“I’m not thinking about anything.”

“Really?”

It doesn’t seem like it… Lee Ju Eun muttered as she put the straw in her mouth.

We came to the fast food restaurant together because Lee Ju Eun didn’t want to eat cod rib gangjeong. Come to think of it, wasn’t this the first place we ate together? I rested my chin on my hand and looked at Lee Ju Eun’s face.

My strange girlfriend.

Sometimes she does quirky things and sometimes she says incomprehensible things, but including all these aspects, I like Lee Ju Eun.

“…What, why are you smiling like that?”

Perhaps I had been staring too long, as Lee Ju Eun looked at me suspiciously. Looking at her face, I thought,

Do you know? How much I liked you, and how much I like you now.

And I will continue to like Lee Ju Eun in the future.

“Why are you smiling, I asked?”

Lee Ju Eun urges for an answer, as if frustrated. Seeing her usual self, I burst into laughter.

And I said,

“Just because. Because I like you.”

At that, Lee Ju Eun’s face turned slightly red.

After finishing our meal, we went outside again.

We naturally held hands and walked down the street. The path to school had never felt so enjoyable, probably because of the person I was with.

“Shall we go to the academy together during the vacation?”

These days, Lee Ju Eun’s interest is studying. After being busy running around here and there for a while, it seems she’s now trying to live like a model student, as she said.

“I’m not really into academies.”

“Really?”

Lee Ju Eun thought for a moment and then said,

“Well, I guess it doesn’t suit your character.”

Sometimes I wonder what she thinks of me, but I didn’t bother to ask.

Lee Ju Eun chattered away the entire way to school. I quietly listened and responded appropriately.

It was a peaceful afternoon. So peaceful that I wished this moment could last forever.

Then, we could see the school in the distance. Upon seeing the school gate, Lee Ju Eun hesitated for a moment, then gestured for me to come closer. I bent down.

And then.

Chu.

Lee Ju Eun kissed me on the cheek and grinned.

“Alright, let’s go.”

I widened my eyes in surprise for a moment, then smiled and walked to school with Lee Ju Eun.

It was a perfect day.

Side Story Conclusion