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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Thank You
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On the white plate sat a pork neck rice bowl, a neatly arranged salad of tomatoes and chicken breast, and a thick rolled omelet. The table spread looked nothing like something whipped up in a short time, so Jun-woo figured it must be the work of A-jin's mother, not A-jin herself.
“Since I didn’t have much in the way of ingredients, I just made do with what was around. I hope it suits your taste.”
“You made this?”
But she said she’d cooked it herself, and Jun-woo asked again in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“Is this actually edible?”
She’d expected him to say something like that.
She hadn’t been expecting compliments like ‘This looks delicious,’ but his predictable tone made A-jin pout as she pushed the side dish plates closer to him.
“Try it first before you say anything. You’ll be surprised.”
Her expression looked more confident than ever.
It was the first time he’d seen such a self-assured look on her face, so he found himself looking forward to it a little.
On the other hand, he thought, *How good could food made by a high schooler really be?* and shoveled a big bite of the rice bowl into his mouth.
It was better than he’d expected—way better.
In fact, it tasted better than stuff you’d buy off the street.
He let out a chuckle of surprise at her unexpected culinary skills.
“Tasty, right?”
A-jin’s eyes sparkled as she waited for praise.
“It’s decent.”
But he replied bluntly.
He was still no good at expressing his honest feelings.
Her eyebrows drooped in disappointment.
“Not tasty?”
“That’s not it.”
He didn’t say anything more about the food.
Instead, his empty plate—not a single grain of rice left—spoke for him.
Proud of his clean plate, A-jin peeled some fruit and brought it to the table as dessert.
“Not bad.”
With the apple smoothly peeled and the melon neatly sliced into half-moons, Jun-woo felt like he was being treated like an honored guest.
“I bought them yesterday, and they’re super sweet. Need anything else?”
“No. Just sit. You don’t need to bring me anything.”
He reached out to stop her as she started to get up.
The two of them just munched on the melon.
A brief silence followed.
Then A-jin, who’d been chewing her lip, spoke first.
“Um… thanks for today.”
As she said ‘thanks,’ tears welled up in her eyes.
She’d pretended to be fine while cooking and peeling fruit, but her heart still hadn’t calmed from the shock.
Thinking back to what happened made tears pool up again.
She was grateful to him.
If he hadn’t shown up then, she would’ve been grabbed by those guys and forced to take photos she didn’t want.
The mere thought was horrifying.
“If it weren’t for you… Just thinking about it is terrifying. I’ll definitely repay you for today’s favor.”
“Sorry.”
He apologized.
A-jin raised her eyebrows, her face full of confusion.
“Why are you sorry?”
“If I’d just kept my promise, none of this would’ve happened.”
“No. Even if you had, I still would’ve gone to the part-time job.”
“But why did you go there?”
She hesitated at his question before answering.
“Someone asked me to.”
“Who?”
His gaze sharpened.
“Oh, uh… Someone I know.”
His brow furrowed tightly at her lie.
His eyes grew even keener.
“It was Han Cho-hee. The one who asked you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise at how he knew.
“How did you know? Did Cho-hee tell you?”
“No, not that…”
His eyes were filled with hesitation.
He hadn’t heard the full story from Jong-min, and his expression said he didn’t want to confuse her with rash assumptions.
“What did Han Cho-hee say to send you all the way there?”
“She just said it was accessory shooting. Only my hands and ears would show. But…”
“But they made you wear clothes like that?”
“Yeah.”
“You think Han Cho-hee really didn’t know?”
“What do you mean?”
A-jin furrowed her brow at his loaded question.
“I just have a feeling she might’ve known.”
“No way.”
Of course, she resented Cho-hee for sending her to that studio.
She wondered if Cho-hee had been doing shoots like this all along, but she’d seen the photos Cho-hee had taken before, so she figured Cho-hee had been tricked too.
She was even relieved that Cho-hee hadn’t gotten caught in something like that.
She never dreamed that Cho-hee, her closest friend, would deceive her.
“Come on. She must’ve seen the concept or samples beforehand. No way she didn’t know.”
“Those guys could’ve tricked her. They looked shady. Cho-hee can be prickly, but she’s not the type to deceive anyone—especially not me.”
She could be snappy and aloof at times, but she was always kind and sweet to A-jin.
When they were together, time flew by, and A-jin could share every secret in her heart.
A-jin shook her head, feeling guilty even for suspecting her.
Jun-woo found her naivety frustrating.
Was there really no deception?
Contrary to her faith, it seemed to him like Han Cho-hee was hiding a lot from A-jin.
He sank into his own thoughts.
He replayed Han Cho-hee’s actions in his mind.
Then she tilted her head and asked.
“What’re you thinking about?”
“Nothing. Just…”
He shook his head, then spotted the neck pillow they’d won together at the escape room cafe hanging on the drying rack.
“Why’s that there?”
“Oh. I washed it.”
“…”
“I hug it every night when I sleep.”
Hugging a couple’s neck pillow to sleep—Jun-woo felt a strange mix of discomfort and pleasure.
“You? Do you use it?”
“Just… yeah.”
Truth be told, he kept his on the bed beside hers too.
But he felt embarrassed to admit it and brushed it off vaguely.
“I use that one a lot too, and the charger you gave me—I use that all the time.”
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t explain why hearing that she used his gifts made him so proud.
He pulled down the corners of his mouth, which were twitching upward, and forced himself to calm down.
Despite his inner feelings, he replied indifferently, and she asked.
“But there’s something I want to ask you.”
“What?”
“Did you really throw away my battery?”
“Why would I throw that away?”
“Then, that time… did you give my gym clothes to Cho-hee too?”
“Yeah. They were soaked from the rain.”
“I see…”
He could be prickly, but he didn’t seem like the type to toss someone else’s stuff without permission.
And Cho-hee probably hadn’t lied either.
So she really wanted to ask.
“Did Han Cho-hee say that? That I threw away your battery?”
“Oh… I might’ve misheard.”
It had been a while ago.
Maybe it was a misunderstanding.
Without a three-way talk, she’d never know the truth.
She didn’t want to dredge up the past and hurt feelings, so A-jin dropped it.
* * *
“Did you get the photos?”
Cho-hee cut straight to it the moment she picked up the phone.
*-Couldn’t get a single one.*
The tattooed man spoke apologetically.
His voice carried a hint of fear that she’d chew him out.
Sure enough, Cho-hee snapped irritably.
“Seriously! What the hell! I told you I needed those photos!”
*-We told you we were just stalling for time.*
“That’s obvious! I needed photos!”
*-We didn’t expect the cops.*
“The cops? Who reported it?”
*-Either the girl or the guy who came with her and ran.*
“Guy?”
Cho-hee’s brow furrowed deeply at the news that someone had come to rescue A-jin.
*-Yeah. Thought she was alone, but she grabbed some guy’s hand and bolted.*
“Don’t know who?”
*-Of course not. Anyway, that guy might report us. What do we do? Can’t you talk to her?*
“Don’t worry, she doesn’t have the guts.”
*-Still, you never know. Or give us her number and we’ll…*
Cho-hee hung up without hearing more.
She was dying to know who came for A-jin and how they even knew where she was.
Who could it be? Jun-woo?
But he’d said he was at the hospital because of his dad’s accident.
Then Choi Jong-min?
Had he overheard her call?
She had no idea who’d gone to A-jin.
Nothing was going right.
Cho-hee bit her lip in frustration.
At first, she’d just wanted to ruin their time together.
But she’d gotten an idea from Min-hyuk.
She’d thought she could show Jun-woo A-jin’s photos at the right moment to disappoint him, and if Min-hyuk used photos to mess with her, she could cover it with A-jin’s pics.
But these idiots couldn’t even follow simple instructions and ruined everything.
Frustrated by how nothing was going her way, her body trembled with anger.
* * *
The movie they’d missed today was luckily airing on TV at the same time as its theatrical release.
She set out snacks instead of popcorn and tea instead of cola on the table.
Sitting side by side felt awkward, so Jun-woo fixed his eyes on the TV.
He focused extra hard on the movie to avoid stray thoughts.
She seemed focused on it too, staying quiet.
After 30 minutes of silently watching without a word, the awkwardness got to him, and he turned to say something.
“It’s definitely different from watching in a theater…”
But she was asleep.
Whether from exhausting all her energy after the ordeal or from relaxing now that he was there to protect her, she was curled up on the sofa, face buried between her knees, breathing softly.
He couldn’t focus on the movie anymore.
He gazed at her eyelashes peeking over her arm.
The half-moon shape was truly beautiful.
It was supposed to be today.
He’d planned to confess to the student teacher so she wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.
He never imagined things would go awry like this.
“I like you.”
He murmured to himself in regret.
He carefully tucked a strand of hair covering her half-moon eyes behind her ear.
Part of him wanted to poke her fair skin.
*Should I leave her like this? Move her to bed? She’d wake up. Or just head out?*
She’d had a rough day—he wanted her to rest comfortably.
As he pondered, she slowly lifted her eyelids.
Her half-awake eyes were dreamy and mysterious.
Had she heard his confession? He panicked but found himself drawn into her gaze, as if his pride was on the line.
They stared silently into each other’s eyes.
Then she spoke first.
“Thanks. Jun-woo. Really…”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
A-jin smiled softly.
Her hazy gaze curved seductively.
His throat bobbed with a gulp.
Now seemed like the time.
He was drawn to her lips like a magnet.
