Chapter 61
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61
Exactly two days had passed since the day they had shared their feelings and made their promise.
Today was the day they had decided to go out and buy a tree for the upcoming Christmas.
Dokyun, who had finished getting ready and was waiting for her in the living room, turned his head at the sense of a presence.
“Eun-ah?”
He called out to Eun-ah, who was hiding in the hallway behind the living room, peeking just her head out.
“A-Are we really going...?”
Beneath her hat, he could see her eyes trembling with anxiety.
Dokyun watched her for a moment before speaking, a troubled smile on his face.
“You don't want to go?”
“Th-That's not it...”
She mumbled, her head drooping.
Dokyun felt another wave of helplessness wash over him.
Is this still too much for her?
She had seemed fine when they decided to go buy tree decorations and while they were getting ready. She had acted normally after breakfast, after her shower, and even while changing her clothes. But now that the moment to actually leave had arrived, she was starting to shrink back.
He felt a surge of pity, wondering if she hated the outdoors that much. But he steeled himself, thinking that letting her stay like this wasn't good for her either.
“Eung...”
But seeing her crestfallen face made his resolve weaken, and the thought of just staying home grew stronger.
Dokyun watched her tearful expression for a moment longer before letting out a resigned laugh and walking toward her.
It's not like today is our only chance.
It seemed they would have to try again another time. Just as he approached her with that thought, ready to speak.
“L-Let's go...”
She began to walk toward him, one small step at a time.
Eun-ah slowly approached until she was standing beside Dokyun, then linked her arm with his and continued.
“The t-tree...!”
Her head was held high. Beneath the brim of her hat, her eyes, filled with determination, shone with a resolute light.
Watching her, Dokyun felt a sense of pride welling up inside him. Overcome with emotion, he stroked her cheek and spoke.
“Yes, let's go. It looks like you're my bodyguard today, Eun-ah.”
“Mhm...!”
Her eyes sparkled as she replied to his playful words.
“I-I'll p-protect you, Honeybee...!”
The proud look on her face as she puffed out her chest was incredibly cute.
A wide smile spread across Dokyun's face at her answer. He nodded and replied.
“Alright, I'm counting on you, Ms. Bodyguard.”
“Okay...!”
Was she feeling a little better? Her eyes crinkled into lovely crescents.
Those captivating eyes.
Dokyun felt himself spacing out for a moment before he snapped out of it and gave her outfit a final check.
As always when she went out, she wore a thick cardigan over her dress, with a hat pulled down low.
After checking, Dokyun gently unlinked her arm from his and spoke.
“Can you wait here for just a moment?”
“Unng...?”
Leaving her standing there tilting her head in confusion, Dokyun walked quickly to the dress room and opened a wardrobe he had noticed before.
He soon emerged with a blue scarf, walked back to Eun-ah, who was still standing there blankly, and wrapped it around her neck.
“It's the middle of winter now, so you have to dress warmly. What will you do if you catch a cold?”
“Ah.”
At his words, she nodded as if just realizing.
A laugh escaped him at her somewhat dazed expression.
“There, all done.”
Dokyun finished meticulously tucking the ends of the scarf in. As he spoke, she fiddled with the bundle of fluff around her neck and let out a small laugh.
“Hehe...”
She looked so charming and adorable.
Dokyun thought to himself that she looked good in anything, then spoke.
“Shall we really get going now?”
“Yes...!”
Her voice was laced with joy as she linked her arm with his again.
It was so satisfying to see that it made his heart flutter once more.
*
He drove down the now somewhat familiar road, opened the garage, and drove Go Eun-sam's car out into the city.
He was no longer afraid of scratching the car somewhere, like he had been the first time. In fact, if she came out, he'd be grateful.
At the sudden thought of Eun-sam, Dokyun ground his teeth, his resentment flaring.
Just you try and show yourself...!
That would be the time to avenge the coin steeped in his blood and tears. A week was nowhere near enough time to forget a loss in the hundreds of millions of won. He wouldn't intentionally scratch the car just to summon her, but if an accident happened and that brat appeared, he would absolutely not let it slide.
Ah, the back of my neck is getting stiff again.
Even when he tried to forget, the dizzying memory of that day would surface from time to time, automatically sparking his anger.
He was fuming with that rising anger for a moment when he felt Eun-ah, who was standing beside him, link her arm with his again. He turned his head to see her looking at him with a worried expression.
“H-Honeybee, are you in pain...? Sh-Should we go home...?”
Realizing his mistake, Dokyun calmed himself and forced a smile.
“No, it's nothing. I just had a bad thought for a second.”
“Unng... Y-You have to tell me if you're in pain...!”
“Okay. Shall we go, then?”
“Mhm...!”
She nodded with a smile.
Watching her, Dokyun calmed himself again and steeled his resolve.
He had to calm down.
This was their first outing together. He had to be careful with his expression and tone of voice. If he showed even the slightest sign of being upset, she would associate this outing with negative feelings.
Dokyun glanced down at Eun-ah, who was clinging tightly to him again.
She was hunched over, constantly darting her eyes around.
She looked just like a terrified hamster, and a laugh escaped him before he could stop it. A playful mood rising, Dokyun spoke to her in a teasing tone.
“Ms. Bodyguard. You're not scared, are you?”
She flinched.
A tremor traveled up his arm, and she lifted her head to face him, her expression pouting as she denied it.
“N-No, I'm not...!” she said, straightening her hunched posture.
“Hmm... Can I trust you on that?”
When Dokyun questioned her again, she furrowed her brow, straightened her back completely, and started walking.
“Y-You can trust me...!” she said, her face once again hardening with resolve.
Had he teased her a bit too much? She had whipped her head away, which made him a little worried, but she didn't unlink their arms, so it seemed to be okay. However, the way she lightly pinched his forearm with the hand resting on his arm suggested she would get genuinely upset if he pushed it any further. He smiled and spoke gently.
“Then I'll trust you and follow.”
“Okay...!”
After bickering playfully like that for a while, the two arrived at their destination. As they opened the door and stepped inside the store, a clerk's greeting rang out.
“Welcome!”
Eun-ah flinched slightly at the greeting, and Dokyun was smiling at her reaction when...
“Ah!”
The clerk let out a surprised cry.
Dokyun turned to look at the clerk and saw someone he never expected to see here.
“You're the man who came to the department store last week!”
The person speaking to him, their face full of delight, was the somewhat clueless employee from the department store he had visited with Eun-seol last week.
Dokyun, feeling utterly baffled, offered an awkward greeting.
“Ah, hello?”
“Wow! Fancy seeing you here again.”
“I guess so?”
His words kept coming out as questions. He couldn't understand why that clerk was here.
Perhaps sensing it in Dokyun's tone, the clerk laughed heartily and spoke again.
“I work a second job. Department store on weekdays, party supply store on weekends.”
“I see.”
He's a hard worker.
As he nodded with that thought, the clerk smiled for a moment, then finally noticed Eun-ah beside Dokyun and spoke in a questioning tone.
“Huh? You changed girlfriends already?”
His heart stopped.
He couldn't breathe.
Fuck!
What the hell was this crazy bastard saying?
Startled, Dokyun whipped his head around to look at Eun-ah and saw the expression draining from her face.
“Hmph...”
A hum whose meaning he didn't want to know reached his ears.
This was a dangerous situation.
A chill of tension ran down his spine. Dokyun threw an arm around Eun-ah's shoulders, pulled her into an embrace, and blurted out at the clerk.
“This is my girlfriend! The person you saw before was her older sister!”
“Aha?”
The clerk nodded as if he finally understood.
Dokyun glanced at him before looking back down to check on Eun-ah.
“G-Girlfriend...!”
Her expression had already changed. She was quietly repeating the word 'girlfriend,' her face blushing. Thankfully, she seemed so fixated on the word 'girlfriend' that she had completely forgotten what the clerk had said just before.
Crisis narrowly averted.
Dokyun felt the sudden burst of tension subside and cursed inwardly.
Shit...
Did that clueless idiot even realize what he'd just said? A moment ago, he had narrowly avoided getting his head chopped off. No, but seriously, even if he had changed girlfriends, was it common sense to say that in front of the person? He knew the guy was clueless, but this was a truly astounding level of tactlessness.
Was this his fault for not denying it when the clerk had paired him with Eun-seol at the department store? He'd let it slide, thinking he'd never see the guy again, but it had come back to hit him like a boomerang.
His heart was still pounding from the dizzying sense of crisis when the clerk spoke again.
“Oh dear... I've made a mistake. I'm so sorry...”
A surge of anger.
Dokyun felt the blood rush to his eyes as he glared at the clerk. The man's face looked genuinely apologetic, but was it just his imagination, or was his tone of voice grating on his nerves?
As he was glaring at the clerk, he heard Eun-ah speak from beside him.
“I-It's okay...!”
“Oh! That's a relief. I really do make mistakes like this sometimes...”
“Unng... Because I'm his g-g-girlfriend...” she said, radiating a sense of pride.
It was a moment where his quick thinking had truly shone.
Finally letting out a sigh and composing himself, Dokyun decided that another incident was bound to happen if they stayed near the clerk any longer. He hastily ended the conversation and led Eun-ah away.
He led her far away from the counter and looked at her. She still had a goofy, happy smile on her face.
“G-Girlfriend...!”
Did she like that word that much? She kept repeating it, radiating pure happiness.
For the first time in his life, Dokyun felt a sense of gratitude toward a word. He turned to her and spoke.
“Eun-ah.”
“Yes...!”
She looked up at him, her face a canvas of smiles.
Dokyun let out another breathy laugh and continued.
“You like it that much?”
“Mhm...!” she replied, nodding her head emphatically.
After a moment, her expression changed as if she'd just thought of something. She glanced at him cautiously and asked a question.
“H-Honeybee...”
“Yes?”
She paused, looking up at him, her lips moving silently for a long moment before she finally spoke again.
“Y-You're my... my boyfriend, right...?”
She was looking for his confirmation.
In that moment, Dokyun felt a truly strange sensation.
“Yes, I'm your boyfriend. And you're my girlfriend.”
The words had tumbled out of him without thinking, and yet, they felt completely, utterly natural.
“Heeheehee...”
A smile bloomed across her face once more.
Watching her, Dokyun belatedly understood the meaning of his own words.
Ah.
Sometime, somehow, he had come to think of her as his lover.
He hadn't harbored a single doubt about it; he had accepted it as the most natural thing in the world.
Once again, she linked her arm with his.
“N-Now, let's go buy the tree...!”
“Ah, yes.”
Dokyun, who had been momentarily dazed by his sudden realization, finally snapped out of it and replied.
As they walked on, he could feel the strange sensation from moments before lingering in his body. A feeling that was somewhat awkward, but definitely not bad, swept through him. Thinking that his expression was out of his control, he brought a hand to his mouth.
“...”
He could feel the corners of his lips, twitching as they pulled up into a smile.