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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Falling into a Trap
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It was a year ago.
A classmate from his department had suddenly come down with acute gastroenteritis and had no choice but to be hospitalized. He’d asked Kwang-hyun to fill in for him on drums.
The Korean history exam was the day after tomorrow, but Kwang-hyun couldn’t refuse, knowing how hard it was to find a drummer on short notice. So he’d arrived late to school on the first day.
“Hey! Quiet down. If we get caught, we’re done for!”
That’s when he heard a suspicious noise.
He approached the source of the sound and spotted three female students sneaking out of the building like stray cats.
These were kids trying to escape the annual camp—and they hadn’t missed a single one.
Since participation was voluntary anyway, quitting midway wasn’t a big deal.
The problem was they always vanished without a word.
Cleaning up the mess was always left to the helpers.
He put on a smug grin, thrilled at the perfect timing, and called out to them.
“Ladies, where are you off to?”
The three froze like convicts caught escaping prison.
Their expressions were so funny he couldn’t help but chuckle.
He’d been planning to give them a proper scolding they’d understand, but thanks to one obedient girl in the group, no long lecture was needed.
That was his first impression of A-jin. The whole thing.
Nothing particularly memorable about her, and she didn’t stand out much during the rest of the camp either.
With his drumming gig done, he left school a day early to study for the Korean history exam the next day.
A few days later, his friend came up to him.
“Hey! Didn’t you see that girl bawling her eyes out when you said you were leaving?”
“Who?”
“Don’t know her name exactly... Wears glasses and braces.”
A-jin had stopped him before he left school.
But he hadn’t seen her crying.
He’d been in a rush to leave.
“Damn, Kim Kwang-hyun. Now you’ve got high school fangirls too?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Someone posted on the school forum asking for your contact info.”
“My contact info?”
His friend pulled up the school app, found the forum post, and showed it to him.
“Here, isn’t this the girl who was sobbing?”
“Kang A-jin?”
He hadn’t even known her name until then.
“She’s the one you caught trying to sneak out the first night.”
Yeah, she seemed like the girl he’d caught.
“Looks like it.”
“You gonna hit her up?”
“I wasn’t even the main helper. Don’t really know her—how am I supposed to contact her?”
He shook his head no.
Right then, a message popped up on his phone.
[Hello. I’m Kang A-jin, a first-year at Seowon High School. You caught me trying to sneak out—remember me?]
How did she get his number?
He stared at his phone suspiciously when his friend leaned in, saying they should check it out together.
“Whoa! That’s her.”
“How did she get my number...”
No matter how he thought about it, he’d never given it to her.
Then his friend suddenly flashed a cheeky grin.
No way...
“You?”
“Yeah, I gave it to her.”
“What?”
He’d suspected it, but the instant confession left him speechless.
“It’s fun, right? And she was searching so desperately—couldn’t you just break a high school girl’s heart?”
“Hey! You didn’t even ask me first.”
In the end, his friend took a punch.
After that, he and she messaged back and forth quite a bit.
It was mostly one-sided from her, and some days it annoyed him, but other times he’d message first, and on days with no messages, he wondered about her.
They met in person exactly twice over six months.
On her birthday and the day before his.
The sweet girl never showed up unannounced to avoid burdening him, and she never demanded anything.
She’d asked first if it was okay to visit the day before his birthday to give him a present. He’d said sure.
They had dinner and went for a walk.
“But why today? Your birthday’s tomorrow.”
At his question, she smiled innocently.
“I figured you’d spend your birthday with friends.”
Her thoughtfulness warmed his heart, but it also made him feel guilty.
He’d thought of it as just a schoolgirl crush, like admiring a teacher.
But her feelings were neither light nor playful.
He kept thinking he should end it properly.
But the words never came easily.
As they walked, she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
They stung so bad she could barely open them.
“What? Something in your eye?”
“Guess so.”
“Let me see.”
He gently pulled her hand away to blow on it.
“Phew, phew. Better? All good?”
She blinked a few times at his question, then beamed and nodded.
Big mistake.
Shouldn’t have blown on it.
He hadn’t realized her eyes were so pretty behind those glasses.
His face slowly hardened.
He’d thought if she was okay with it, they could just keep messaging occasionally and stay good oppa-little sis friends.
But now he didn’t think he could.
No, he knew he shouldn’t.
The next day, Kwang-hyun told her he had a girlfriend.
* * *
“What’s the shooting schedule this week?”
At A-jin’s question, Cho-hee turned around from trying on clothes in front of the mirror.
“Saturday. Wanna come? It’s in Hongdae.”
Even after hearing Jun-woo’s confession, Cho-hee’s attitude hadn’t changed.
She put on a mask like she’d heard and seen nothing, treating A-jin the same as always.
She’d agonized over it plenty.
Should she make a move, confessing she liked Jun-woo too?
But she dropped it—what if that sparked A-jin’s interest where there’d been none?
All she could do now was stick close and sabotage the two of them.
“Hongdae? Sounds fun, but I’ve got plans this week.”
“Plans? What kind?”
“Jun-woo asked me to see a movie.”
“Park Jun-woo? The one from your class?”
She hoped she’d misheard.
“Yeah.”
“Why’s he going to a movie with you?”
“He said I’m the only one with free time or something. That’s how he always talks. You’ve watched with him too when you’re not shooting.”
“Why would I tag along there?”
“Why not? You’re tight with Jong-min, and you’ve eaten with Jun-woo a few times.”
“Still... But he hasn’t said anything weird to you? Like, really no one else to go with?”
She worried he might’ve confessed by now.
“Nope.”
A-jin nodded with an innocent face.
Is she clueless, or just pretending?
At this point, even Kang A-jin seemed impressive.
‘Yeah, keep being oblivious. What’s so great about her anyway?’
She glanced back and forth between her reflection and A-jin behind her.
No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t accept him choosing A-jin over her.
* * *
He woke at 5 a.m.
Excited for his first date, he’d barely fallen asleep at 2, and now his eyes were open again after just a few hours.
But he wasn’t tired at all.
His eyes wide awake, he grabbed the book by his bed to read.
Not a single word registered.
‘Confess, you idiot.’
Jong-min’s words kept echoing in his head.
He’d never done it before—didn’t even know how.
How could something like a confession shrink his heart from dawn?
“Ugh. How am I supposed to wait till 1?”
Only ten minutes had passed.
The clock hands felt impossibly slow, even after half a turn.
“Why’re you up so early on a weekend?”
Hee-jin, who’d been watering the flower beds since morning, heard him and came up to the second floor.
“Just woke up.”
“What should I make for breakfast?”
“Anything’s fine.”
“Omelet after so long?”
“Sure.”
Jun-woo sat at the table, saying anything was okay.
Picking the menu had always been Hee-jin’s job anyway.
“Heading to the library?”
“No.”
“Staying home then?”
“No.”
Hee-jin turned around, pulling out veggies and eggs.
“Wanna go shopping with Mom?”
“No.”
Her consistent answers drew a hurt look from Hee-jin.
Seeing it, Jun-woo explained his schedule.
“I’ve got plans.”
“What plans?”
“Just...”
If he said movie, she’d grill him on who and what their relationship was.
Jun-woo substituted words with an awkward smile, lips curling up.
“Date or something?”
Hee-jin caught his flustered expression instantly and asked.
Her eyes brimmed with curiosity.
“No!”
Jun-woo denied it way too emphatically without thinking.
Hee-jin narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“Just meeting a friend.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.”
Hee-jin looked like she wanted to pry more but held back.
Pushing might make him hide even more from her.
“Didn’t realize you had no decent clothes...”
It wasn’t like he’d grown out of last year’s stuff, but nothing wearable remained in his closet.
Too busy studying, he’d stuck to comfy clothes—his wardrobe was all sweats.
Hee-jin had bought him some nice ones, calling them cute, but they were all logo-heavy and overwhelming.
Fashion’s all about the face, so clothes didn’t matter much, but still, it was a date—he wanted to care a bit.
They say wear your favorite when you don’t know what to pick.
Jun-woo pulled out his most prized one.
The limited-edition uniform he’d gotten in a deal with Jong-min before.
“No, not this.”
He shoved the uniform back in the closet and headed downstairs.
“Mom.”
“Yeah?”
“Um... buy me some clothes?”
“Huh?”
Hee-jin’s eyes went wide at his request.
In 18 years raising him, she’d never heard that before.
She’d envied parents with daughters so much back then.
If she’d had a girl, the house might’ve gone bankrupt decking her out head to toe daily.
“What do you want?”
“Clothes.”
“Those things we wear on our bodies?”
“Yeah. Clothes.”
“What’s this? Asking for clothes? You always hate it even when I buy them.”
“Don’t have anything good for going out.”
Hee-jin sprang into bustling action.
Too excited to contain herself, she flitted about.
“Of course I’ll buy them. My son asks for clothes—I have to!”
Jun-woo instantly regretted it.
Had he lit a fuse for no reason?
He worried they wouldn’t escape the department store before his meetup time.
His prediction was spot on.
He was already on his tenth outfit.
Visibly exhausted, Jun-woo stopped Hee-jin with a face full of complaint.
“Mom, please...”
“This is the last one.”
Finally, after forcing an eleventh on him, Hee-jin’s dress-up game ended.
The department store staff handed over shopping bags in both hands and loaded them into Hee-jin’s car, marking the shopping complete.
He let out a sigh, calling it torture.
“Where you headed? I’ll drive you.”
“I can go alone.”
“Worried Mom’ll run into your friend?”
“No...”
She read his mind too well—Jun-woo flinched.
“I’ll drop you at the subway station.”
Hee-jin desperately wanted to ask who the friend was but barely restrained herself.
From the vibes, it didn’t seem like a long-time pal.
Jun-woo nodded okay, and they got in the car.
Just then, Hee-jin’s phone rang.
* * *
When the movie day actually arrived, his feelings felt off.
He’d thought sure, friends can watch movies, but now it felt weirdly like a date, heart all fuzzy.
Pondering his closet, he pulled out the dress he’d bought for his cousin’s wedding.
A pink dress with white lace wrapping the waist.
“This might be too much.”
It’d look like he’d tried way too hard, as if it were a real date.
A-jin switched to her usual jeans and short-sleeve tee.
Then she ditched the jeans for a denim skirt instead.
Not too fussy, not too sloppy.
Satisfied with her outfit, A-jin left the house.
Right then, her phone rang.
