For the past few days, I’d been avoiding Wonbin little by little.
To be exact, it wasn’t that I was trying to avoid him.
It was just that when I ran into him, I’d get unnecessarily conscious of it and end up moving away first.
When Wonbin texted, I replied.
Unnie, what are you doing?
Homework.
Is it hard?
A little.
Should I help?
It’s okayㅋㅋ
We talked like before, too.
But things were different when we met.
Whenever our eyes met, my heart would race for no reason, and when Wonbin came close, I didn’t know what to say.
Especially after I saw him with that female classmate.
He was so awkward with me.
I found it annoying how he could laugh and joke around with other people.
*
Today, too, as soon as class ended, I was going to leave first with my friends.
But the moment I stepped out of the classroom door, I met Wonbin’s eyes.
Wonbin was with some classmates.
And beside him was that girl again.
"Wonbin, are you really not going this weekend?"
"I still don’t know."
"It won’t be fun without you."
The girl smiled and lightly touched Wonbin’s arm.
Wonbin laughed without much reaction.
The moment I saw that.
Something in my heart felt weird again.
I just turned my head away.
"I’m leaving first."
"Huh? Come with us."
"It’s okay."
I answered my friend vaguely and walked quickly.
But before long, I heard footsteps behind me.
"Unnie."
I pretended not to hear it.
"Unnie."
This time, it was right behind me.
In the end, I stopped.
"Why are you following me?"
Wonbin looked at me.
"Because you suddenly left, unnie."
"I was going with my friends."
"I know."
"Then weren’t you going to hang out with them too?"
Wonbin glanced back for a moment.
His friends were still standing in front of the classroom.
Then he looked at me again.
"I wasn’t going to go."
"Why?"
Wonbin was quiet for a moment.
Then he said carefully,
"I was going to go with you, unnie."
"...What?"
"I came right over after I saw you earlier, unnie."
For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.
Maybe it was embarrassing to have me looking at him like that, because Wonbin lowered his eyes.
"I want to hang out with you today, unnie."
My heart thudded.
It wasn’t like he was saying something like that so casually, either.
If anything, saying it so seriously made it even more exciting.
"With me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Just because."
Wonbin thought for a moment.
"I wanted to see you."
In the end, I looked away.
"...You’re pretty good at talking lately."
"I’m not."
"You are."
"I only say things like that to you, unnie."
This time, my face really got hot.
I deliberately started walking first.
"Let’s go."
"Where?"
"Home."
Wonbin followed right away.
*
On the way home.
We didn’t say anything for a while.
Then Wonbin carefully spoke up.
"Unnie."
"Yeah."
"You’ve been avoiding me lately, right?"
I stopped walking.
"No."
"You have."
"I said no."
"Then why do you keep leaving whenever you see me?"
"..."
I couldn’t answer.
Wonbin stood in front of me and looked at me.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No."
"Then what?"
I bit my lip hard.
And in the end, I said it.
"I just hated that you were with another girl."
After saying it, I was the most surprised of all.
Wonbin’s eyes widened too.
"...Really?"
"I don’t know."
"Unnie."
"What."
"Was that jealousy?"
"Maybe."
The corners of Wonbin’s mouth lifted.
"Don’t laugh."
"Sorry."
He looked anything but sorry.
"But..."
Wonbin stared at me for a long time, then said,
"I like it."
"...Like what."
"You getting jealous."
I hit Wonbin’s arm once for no reason.
"You’re really annoying."
Wonbin laughed.
Then the laughter slowly faded.
"Then..."
"Mm?"
"Do you have even a little bit of feelings for me?"
This time, he wasn’t joking.
I looked at Wonbin’s face.
At first, he was a kid who couldn’t properly say even one word to me.
I thought he was cold.
I thought he was a prickly rich boy.
But it turned out he was more shy than anyone else.
He only started to relax a little in front of me.
He confessed that he liked me.
And without me even knowing, he’d kept liking me all along.
Thinking about Wonbin like that.
I finally understood.
Why I kept looking for him.
Why I waited for his messages.
Why I hated seeing him with other girls.
I nodded slightly.
"...Yeah."
Wonbin went still, like he’d stopped breathing.
"I think I like you too."
"...Really?"
"Yeah."
Wonbin didn’t say anything for a long time.
"Park Wonbin?"
"Wait a second."
"Why?"
"I’m too happy right now."
Wonbin lifted his head and looked at the sky.
His neck was red all the way up.
At that sight, I laughed.
"You’re still such a dork."
"You said you like me, unnie."
"So?"
"How am I supposed not to tremble."
That was so cute that I laughed without meaning to.
A little later, Wonbin carefully reached toward my hand.
Then he stopped.
"Can I hold it?"
Instead of answering, I held out my hand.
Wonbin took my hand.
Each finger was careful.
As if if he held on too tightly, I’d disappear.
On purpose, I moved my fingers and slipped them between his.
Wonbin looked at me.
"Unnie."
"Yeah."
"This isn’t a dream, right?"
"No."
"Then..."
Wonbin smiled very slightly.
"Are we dating?"
I smiled too.
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Wonbin tightly squeezed my hand once again.
And after walking for a while, he said,
"I’ll really do my best."
"Do your best at what?"
"Being a boyfriend."
I looked at Wonbin, holding back my laughter.
"I’m looking forward to it."
At that, Wonbin’s face turned red again.
The Park Wonbin who had seemed so hard at first.
Was now holding my hand.
And strangely enough.
I felt the same way about not wanting to let go of that hand.
