[Contest] Wait a minute, Sunyoung!

04. What's going on?

After saying that, Seung-kwan clicked his tongue and left the store, and the two of us, dumbfounded, just stared at each other blankly.

After school, I walked home with Soonyoung. It was strange to see that Soonyoung, walking next to me, was at a different eye level, so I broke the silence and blurted out.

김여주

"Soonyoung is already all grown up."

권순영 image

권순영

'"Huh, huh?"

Then yes,

Nothing has changed.

I played with Sunyoung's hair, covering her ears with both hands, which were as red as tomatoes, and poking out her lips as she looked at me.

At that moment, a female student wearing a different school uniform and with makeup so thick that her face was unrecognizable approached Sunyoung.

The face was as white as flour,

Her lips were bright red, as if she had eaten a rat.

I looked back and forth between the female student and Sunyoung.

Even though the child was much shorter than Sunyoung, he seemed to be looking down on her, and Sunyoung began to fidget and back away little by little.

For some reason, he seemed scared.

I grabbed the end of Sunyoung's school uniform sleeve and asked.

김여주

"Sun, do you know him?"

There was no answer from Sunyoung.

The one answering for him was a female student who scoffed as if I was being ridiculous.

???

"I know. Kwon Soon-young is my boyfriend."

Did I hear wrong? I'd never heard of Soonyoung having a girlfriend, especially one at a different school.

Even though it hadn't been long since I met Soonyoung again, I wasn't so foolish as to not know that much.

김여주

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’ll listen to what Soonyoung has to say first.”

???

"I see."

She was just looking at Sunyoung while giving a dry answer.

When a person speaks, he or she will look at you.

I grabbed Sunyoung's school uniform, who was blankly staring at the sky, and walked away from her.

We were walking aimlessly and ended up stopping in an old alley.

김여주

"……"

권순영 image

권순영

"……"

We remained silent for a long time. Then I broke the awkward silence first and spoke.

김여주

"Sun, is that your girlfriend?"

Sunyoung shook her head and spoke slowly and with great difficulty.

권순영 image

권순영

“Since middle school… he’s the kid who’s been following me around.”

My heart ached as I thought about how much Sunyoung, with her delicate heart and difficulty in saying no, must have struggled alone. I asked her directly.

김여주

"Soonyoung, do you like it when he does that or not?"

권순영 image

권순영

"…no."

Yeah. If you don't like Soonyoung, then you don't like her.

There is no need to unconditionally accept everything just because you are timid and don't express yourself.

I said something playfully to Sunyoung to try to cheer her up.

김여주

"That's when you say, 'No, I don't want to, don't do that!' Got it?"

권순영 image

권순영

“Yeah… I will.”

김여주

"Woohoo, my baby, you listen well."

I smiled while rubbing Sunyoung's cheek.

I thought Sunyoung's behavior was cute because it reminded me of a son who listens to his mother well, and I was proud because he seemed to have grown up well.

I wanted to protect this purity.

In fact, I was relieved to find out that she was not Soonyoung's girlfriend.

But I soon realized that this wasn't a situation I could be happy about. I was anxious.

What if Soonyoung hates me?

So, without realizing it, I blurted out the words that had been swirling around in my head.

김여주

"I like you. Do you like me?"