WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
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◈ The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection ◈
Chapter 24
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Chaewon looked at him silently. Even without whining or tearing up, it was easy to tell that she had been hurt. Yu Chaewon was not stupid enough to miss what it meant that he would no longer have any reason to spend the night at her house.
Whatever Chaewon thought was the reason he no longer went into that house, he would not correct her. There would never be a day when he told her himself that he did not want to take his hand from the back of her neck, or that he had begun wanting to breathe in her scent from up close.
“Congratulations on getting into college.”
Uihyeon offered his belated congratulations. But one short sentence could not make Chaewon feel better. Realizing that she had already been pushed outside the boundary, Chaewon got out of the car looking even paler than she had before going to the hospital.
Chaewon walked away slowly, passing through the building entrance without looking back once. Uihyeon watched through the glass doors until she got into the elevator and went up, then started the car. The car moved smoothly ahead, but tangled thoughts swarmed through his mind like summer night insects.
Did he feel sorry? He did.
Did he regret it? He did not.
Why? He could not stay at that house forever anyway. He had only moved up the time to cut things off.
Did he want to turn the car around? He would like to go to Chaewon's house right now and watch her eat, take her medicine, and fall asleep.
Why could Yu Chaewon not be an option? Because she was young. He had only acted as her temporary guardian in Yu Dogyeom's place, and it was nice that she listened to him so well. He did not want anything beyond that.
Would that change once Yu Chaewon became an adult?
...He could not think of an appropriate answer to that last question. It was only a month's difference. Something he could not accept in December would suddenly be allowed in January. It was the height of self-deception.
On top of that, his own feelings were unclear. Had he simply grown attached to her after spending so much time together? Was he confused by the sense of gratification he got from a girl who had never once gone against him? Or was it an entirely new desire, unlike anything he had felt before?
Uihyeon decided there was no need to dig into it too hastily. There was plenty of time. Chaewon's devotion would not change, and the terms of their exchange would continue. He believed the only issue was the change in his own heart.
That was why he did not refuse the blind date Seongmin suggested. If he felt a similar attraction to the woman who showed up, he could conclude that his condition was no more than unsatisfied desire. If not... then he could think it over again from there.
Jeong Sujin was pretty and kind. His first thought was that she would not be a bad girlfriend. His second was, What is Chaewon doing right now? His third was, What would Yu Chaewon think if I showed up in front of her with this woman?
He had come to find out what he felt, only to get lost in unrelated thoughts. First, he could easily picture Chaewon's shocked face. He could picture her eyes filling with tears, her shouting at him in anger, or her simply going pale and being unable to say anything.
A desire rose in him to watch every one of Yu Chaewon's reactions. Her surprise, disappointment, hurt, her wondering whether she should give up on him, and even then, her inability to let him go in the end. Every last bit of it.
As he imagined Chaewon following his expectations exactly, the tension naturally left the corners of his mouth. She had never once strayed from his predictions, so it would be the same even if he got a girlfriend.
The same place, the same attitude, the same Yu Chaewon. Uihyeon valued the solid stability of everyday life above all else, and Chaewon's one-sided affection had always brought him comfort. Her feelings had not changed for over a decade. They were the only feelings another person had that Uihyeon could control completely.
His mind, which had wandered despite the fairly decent woman before him, finally returned to where it belonged. Uihyeon looked straight at Jeong Sujin and let a soft smile curve his lips.
“Tomorrow is my birthday.”
“Oh, really?”
“I’m meeting my friends for dinner. Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes, I’ll go. I’ll celebrate with you too.”
There, he would see just how solid Chaewon's devotion was. Whether she got angry, cried, or stayed silent, Chaewon would not be able to hide her feelings. She would remain within his expectations without the slightest deviation.
He felt nothing special toward Jeong Sujin, so Uihyeon's worries had returned to square one. Still, this meeting had value as a way to confirm Chaewon's feelings once more. He even presumptuously thought that from now on, he could place Yu Chaewon and Jeong Sujin on either hand and test his feelings.
The one thing Uihyeon had overlooked was the unexpected option named Han Jio. It was understandable that Chaewon had saved the man's number in a burst of anger. It was understandable that she had eaten with him once, since Uihyeon had been the one to provoke her by bringing Jeong Sujin around first.
But when she fought with Dogyeom and got lonely, calling Han Jio rather than him and inviting the man to her home was not understandable. Casually complaining to Han Jio the way she did to him, or looking through that man's social media at the times when she should have been contacting him, were both unacceptable.
If Chaewon dangled Han Jio in front of his eyes like bait on a fishing rod, Uihyeon was willing to watch with as much interest as she wanted. But if she developed pointless feelings for the bait, he could no longer play along.
Yu Chaewon needed to know that there were things he could do that she could not, and that if she tried to slip out of his grasp again, this time he would seize the back of her neck tightly.
* * *
“Huh? That’s Chaewon.”
Seongmin had been turning away after receiving his meal ticket when he spotted someone of interest and raised his voice. Uihyeon had noticed where Chaewon was from the moment they entered the cafeteria, so he was not particularly surprised.
“What’s with that guy?”
His friends' eyes widened as they looked at the man eating across from Chaewon. Naturally, the man's name was Han Jio. Chaewon and Han Jio had been appearing all over campus on what looked like dates for quite a while, yet it seemed this was the first time his friends had actually seen them together.
“I heard Yu Chaewon has been seeing another guy lately. Guess it was true.”
“Why did she suddenly change her mind? Wasn’t she crazy about Uihyeon?”
After adding their own comments, his friends turned their eyes on Uihyeon. Their interest was full of idle curiosity. They did not seem to care about understanding Chaewon's complicated feelings or sympathizing with Uihyeon for being suddenly abandoned.
In truth, nothing was more absurd than someone feeling sorry for Uihyeon. Feeling pity for a man made up entirely of strengths, without a single flaw. If he had escaped an obsessive unrequited love, he ought to be congratulated.
But Uihyeon wanted his friends to take this situation more seriously. Yu Chaewon testing the waters to switch to another man was not something to laugh off. She had invited that man into her home, gone on dates with him even on weekends, and complained to him over the phone without putting on an act. And since this was all new to Chaewon, they ought to feel some sense of crisis.
“Oh, are you finally escaping the noose?”
Seongmin casually draped a hand over Uihyeon's shoulder.
“Did the Sujin I introduced you to make Noose give up on you? See? I told you. It’s killing two birds with one stone. You get a pretty girlfriend, and Noose gets to find her own way forward.”
“Why is that killing two birds with one stone?”
Uihyeon tilted his head as he took a tray. He asked because he genuinely did not understand.
“Chaewon has never been a bother to me.”
Even when his friends called her a noose or talked about her obsession, he had never once wanted to shake Chaewon off. Everyone praised him for playing the older-brother role in Dogyeom's place, but it was not really admirable. He did it purely because it was fun. It was fun to nag her over every little thing and take care of her thoroughly, only for Chaewon to obediently do as he said without ever going against him. It was endearing too.
Uihyeon set his tray down next to Han Jio. Seongmin, looking displeased, had no choice but to take the seat beside Chaewon, while the other friends glanced at one another and sat down one after another. Chaewon, who had only eaten half her food, swept her displeased gaze over them.
“Hello.”
Han Jio greeted them first. Uihyeon gave a small bow as well. Chaewon continued eating as though she had not noticed he was there. She would listen to him in the end anyway, but every now and then she threw little fits like this. Snapping harsh words at him or deeply furrowing her brow like she was doing now.
“Oppa, eat this for me. I’m too full.”
Chaewon handed Han Jio the pudding that came with the meal and smiled sweetly at him with her eyes. She was doing it deliberately for Uihyeon to see. Either to make him annoyed for once, or to show off how fine she was. Yesterday had been exhausting, between her parents' death anniversary and Sujin's birthday. He had thought she would let it pass quietly without throwing a fit, but she was presenting him with the bill now.
That was why she was cute. He could see straight through her. There was no need to overthink things or weigh every possibility. If he met her separately later and soothed her properly, she would quickly calm down. Her anger would melt away, and she would smile at him again, calling him oppa.
Dealing with Yu Chaewon was not difficult. Contrary to people's common misconception, Uihyeon truly did not find her bothersome.
“It’s not good that you keep failing to eat properly. Summer is coming, so should we go get something nourishing? Like samgyetang?”
But Han Jio, blushing across from her, was extremely irritating. Watching him look so pleased with the pudding Chaewon had passed off on him, as though it were a birthday present, made Uihyeon want to twist his mouth. Even though Han Jio must have sensed inwardly that the depth of their feelings was plainly unequal, he was trying to interpret everything in his own favor. It was so ridiculous that Uihyeon wanted to click his tongue. Of course, he only thought that. His expression remained calm.
“I like scorched-rice samgyetang. Want to go get that?”
“Really? Chaewon, you’ve got such grown-up tastes. When should we go?”
“After exams.”
After making their next plan in plain hearing of Uihyeon, Chaewon set down her spoon with a satisfied expression. Her eyes were lowered demurely, but her mind was surely boiling with thoughts of Kang Uihyeon. She must have wanted to lift her gaze right away to see how he would react to this date.
“We’ll get going first.”
Han Jio stood, slipping the pudding into his pocket. Chaewon kept her lips pressed into a straight line and did not look at Uihyeon, apparently determined not to acknowledge him until the end.
“Chaewon, bye.”
So Uihyeon deliberately called her by name. He had been ignored enough.
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