Chapter 33.2

Mallory asked me with a surprised face.

“Hold on, you’ve become close with Senior Gloria?”

“Mm, yeah…… she doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

I handed her a caramel as I answered evasively.

The issue was left at that, while we continued chatting until we reached somewhere far from the candy shop. All of a sudden, my friends, who had been observing me, grabbed me by the hand and led me somewhere. At the rough grab, the lollipop I had been holding fell to the floor. With my eyes rounded in surprise, I was dragged like a doll with no knowledge of what was happening.

“Uhh…”

Finally, we stopped inside a cafe, sitting at a table that was isolated by a dark curtain.

“So, Kate. You know… There’s something we wanted to ask…”

My friends finished ordering our drinks, and began exchanging several glances. Finally, Dora spoke, as if she was their representative.

“How are things going with you and Senior Noah? Did he really reject your confession? Are you sure he is not just playing around with you?”

“Ah……”

There were my really close friends, but I couldn’t tell them everything. They would find it hard to believe the whole story.

“Thank you for worrying about me. But it’s really nothing. Really, everything is okay.”

In the end, I could only shake my head and say those words.

“It’s just my greed. I know things will not work out the way I want them to, but I still want to be by his side. He is such a good person, and I’ve liked him for so long.”

I continued calmly, sipping my hot cocoa. Strangely enough, perhaps because I was speaking with people I was comfortable with, I was able to say all that smoothly.

I know Senior Noah is not such a person, but even if he decided to just play around with me, would I do anything?

“It’s not like we’ll be seeing each other everyday for the rest of our lives, so things will be okay someday.”

I put down my cup with a relaxed look on my face, only for it to stiffen again when I raised my head.

“……why do you all look like that?”

“You……”

Aiko had her eyebrows raised and had covered her mouth with her hand. Mallory and Dora were pretty much in the same state.

“Kate…… you are so slow.”

“What’s wrong? Why are you all like this?”

I shuddered at their gazes that seemed like they were looking at the heroine of a tragedy. It felt so uncomfortable.

“Come here. I’ll order one more for you.”

“I said it’s fine though.”

I pushed off the menu Mallory was handing to me with a fed-up look.

“Are you really okay?”

“I just said I am.”

When someone you like treated you like that, there was no way your heart could remain immune to that. Each time, it was hard to pull myself together afterwards, but it wasn’t some global tragedy. Afterall, even though I hadn’t gotten rid of all my feelings, I had resigned myself to the way things were.

Maybe later, when I see Senior Flora and Senior Noah, I will no longer run away crying?

“And besides, I have been enjoying it myself.”

The heavy atmosphere finally broke after I spoke, and my friends’ faces finally relaxed a little.

“Yeah, in any case it’s all up to you. Next time you come crying to me, I won’t hug you.”

The cake we had ordered came out and Aiko pushed it towards me as she said. I mumbled my response with cake in my mouth

“Mhmm……”

* * *

“Phew, I am so full I could burst.”

“Of course you would be, seeing how much you ate.”

I nagged at Dora who splayed out on her bed the minute we returned.

I changed my clothes, organised the candy I’d bought, before lying on the bed with a book when someone knocked on the room door.

“I’ll go see who it is.”

Seeing how Dora was fully prostrate on her bed, I walked up and opened the door in her stead.

Who could it be at this hour?

“……sunbae?”

Senior Noah was in front of the door.

For a moment, it felt like my heart would jump out of my chest, but I could only bear it.

“Is something the matter?”

It felt a bit sad to watch myself instinctively begin to put my hair in order once I saw him.

“I… this.”

What he held out to me after hesitating for a while was a giant bucket of caramel candy. The bucket was so big that I wondered if I could ever finish it.

“I’ll be very happy if you accept this.”

“Ah……”

As I stood shyly, not knowing what to do, Senior Noah added on.

“It’s bigger than the one Gloria gave you.”

My goodness, too cute.

I swallowed loudly, and then laughed as I took the bucket.

“Yes, it is quite big. I will savour it.”

Now that it was in my hands, I could feel the considerable weight of the bucket. I shook the bucket, causing the caramels inside to knock against each other and make a loud sound.

It must have been pricey. Is it okay if I just accept it?

“One second, sunbae.”

Suffering from some momentary guilt, I searched my pockets and gathered the mint candies that had been in the candy set I bought earlier.

“Ah.”

My fingers touched his palm as I gave the mints to him. The parts that had touched him seemed to tingle, so I placed both hands behind my back.

“Thank you.”

Senior Noah smiled softly as he received the mints.

He looked just as beautiful as always.[2] Maybe because he had let his hair loose, but the sight of his silver hair fluttering in the night wind, set against the backdrop of the dark hallway, was breathtakingly dreamy.

I released the breath I did not know I was holding. [3]

“Uh…… it’s late now, so I think you should return now.”

“Ah, yeah.”

With one hand holding the candy I had given him, Senior Noah turned to leave, before stopping to say goodnight.

“Goodnight.”

“You too, sunbae.”

After the short goodbyes, I carried the bucket of caramels into the room. Dora, with her top-half raised from the bed, asked me with a curious look on her face.

“What’s that? Who was at the door?”

I shook the bucket as I answered.

“Senior Noah gave it to me.”

“Hold on, you……”

“Not to worry, I have decided not to read too much into it. Eat, let’s just eat.”

I laughed drily as I handed a few caramels to Dora, who had a puzzled expression. After that, I lay on my bed, staring off blankly as I put some in my mouth as well.

Sweet. They were so sweet my tongue stung. But strangely enough, I was not sick of them.

Notes:

[2] beautiful: the word that is used here is , which is a ‘beautiful spotted deer’ according to Naver dictionary.

[3] Literally my least favourite line in the entire romance genre lol. Seen it one too many times man.