How Bold
How bold. ...I thought Oppa would like it even more if I went this far.
The reaction that came back was somehow more lukewarm than I’d expected.
I already knew Oppa wasn’t the type to make a big fuss, but still… still… was this really the end?
Just one word of thanks and nothing more?
They say gratitude is better expressed through actions than words, so I wished he would show something.
A kiss, maybe… or if not that, at least hold my hand.
Watching him do nothing at all left me feeling oddly disappointed.
…That was probably just my greed talking.
But I knew it myself. I’d seen Oppa looking happy. Shouldn’t that be enough?
“It’s fine. As long as Oppa’s happy, that’s all that matters. I’ll go clean up the table outside.”
I headed to the living room to tidy up, trying to hide the lingering regret. I usually chased away stray thoughts by throwing myself into work.
I didn’t want to burden Oppa by asking him for anything. Doing something under pressure would have made it meaningless anyway.
The moment I gave up and opened the door—
I felt a hand—not too thick—wrap around my waist.
It was what people called a back hug.
There was only one person who would pull me into his arms from behind.
“…Oppa?”
His unexpected move left me so flustered that my voice came out trembling.
The soft sound of breathing against my ear. The warmth of his body pressed to my back.
The faint, sweet scent of raspberry fabric softener drifted around us.
My heartbeat and his blended together until I couldn’t tell which was which.
It felt like every drop of blood in my body was racing at full speed.
I never imagined Oppa would repay me like this.
Caught off guard by the counterattack, I had no idea what to do.
“Thank you. For working so hard for me today.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but every word rang crystal clear against my ear.
Being held completely in his arms while he thanked me made my head spin.
His breath brushed my ear with every word, sending ticklish shivers through me and making my body grow warm.
…What is this?
Where did this sudden move come from? This is completely unfair!
I was thrown off by how different this was from his usual gentle, herbivore-like demeanor.
To be honest, this was exactly what I had wanted, but now that it was actually happening it felt completely different from what I’d imagined.
My legs trembled so badly I thought I might collapse right there.
“…N-no, it’s okay. I did it because I wanted to.”
Even as I spoke, I soaked in every second of this happiness.
Everything felt perfect.
Oppa’s gentle tone, the way his hands held my waist so carefully—like he was afraid I might break. The matching raspberry scent. And the warmth of his body, so much warmer than mine.
I could barely stop the smile from spreading across my face.
Couldn’t we just stay like this for an hour?
If I could stop time, I would freeze us exactly like this.
I don’t know how long we stayed that way.
“…We should probably clean the table now, right?”
After what he must have thought was a long time, Oppa spoke in a slightly embarrassed voice.
His hands gently loosened around my waist.
Already…?
I hadn’t had my fill yet.
A feeling of disappointment slowly crept up inside me.
Oppa was already preparing to pull away.
This wouldn’t do. I grabbed his hand before it could leave my waist and guided it back into place.
It was embarrassing to admit, but I refused to let anyone steal this happiness from me.
“…Can’t we stay like this for ten more minutes?”
Oppa’s ears flushed red again at my words.
Haaa… how awkward.
But the results of effort are always sweet.
When his hands settled back around my waist exactly as before, I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.
*
“I’ll clean up. You worked hard making everything.”
“What? No way. You’re the guest, Oppa. Just stay put.”
Quite a bit of time had passed since our intense hug ended.
It was around the point where my legs were starting to ache.
I wasn’t sure exactly how long we had stayed like that, but that wasn’t what mattered.
What mattered was that both Yuna and I were incredibly satisfied.
Only now were Yuna and I finally cleaning up the table where we’d eaten.
I felt bad and tried to handle the cleanup myself, but Yuna was surprisingly stubborn about things like this.
“Whew… I think we’re mostly done now?”
We had put the side dishes back in the fridge and finished the dishes.
I had tried to do the washing too, but Yuna refused so firmly that I ended up losing the spot entirely.
We had eaten, received our congratulations, and finished studying—which had been the original goal.
There was nothing left to do. I supposed I should head home now.
Yet the feelings from earlier still lingered, and I found myself desperately wanting to spend more time with Yuna.
Still, I wasn’t bold enough to overstay my welcome at her place without a good reason.
I wished I had a personality like Jae-min. He would have come up with an excuse to stay without batting an eye.
“Oppa. Do you have anything to do when you get home?”
“Hm? No, nothing in particular.”
“…Then, do you want to hang out with me a little before you go?”
Great minds think alike.
I don’t know who came up with that saying, but it felt like Yuna and I were perfectly in sync.
Nice assist, Yuna.
I cheered inside and answered her.
“Sure. What do you want to do?”
“Let’s go into my room first. It’s too hot out here.”
Yuna fanned her face with her hand.
She had been cleaning and moving around, after all.
It was summer, so even the nights were humid and warm.
We stepped into Yuna’s room where the air conditioner was running.
The moment we entered, cool, refreshing air wrapped around us.
…So this was Yuna’s room. The one I saw every day on stream.
The room that occasionally appeared during her hand-cam or half-cam broadcasts.
The same room I had seen when I dropped her off at home.
I had been too nervous earlier to really look around.
Seeing it now felt completely fresh.
It was even more interesting viewing it from the opposite perspective than usual.
“Does it feel strange? You’ve seen it once before.”
“It’s still fascinating to see again. I was only here for a really short time last time.”
The nice microphone, the monitors, two computer towers—it wasn’t a sight you saw every day.
Yuna grabbed the thin white laptop from her desk and plopped down on the bed.
I knew that model was pretty expensive… at least a couple hundred, right?
It was the laptop every college student dreamed of owning—an ultrathin machine that weighed less than a kilogram.
“What are you doing just standing there?”
“What are we going to do? Watch a movie?”
“Yeah. I haven’t watched many of the new Netflix releases lately. No time.”
Yuna scooted backward until she reached the giant candy-shaped pillow.
The oversized pillow with a cat printed on it somehow captured Yuna’s personality so perfectly that I couldn’t help but smile.
She slowly lay down, then patted the spot right beside her.
“Oppa.”
She didn’t say it outright, but I knew she was calling me over.
Even so, her behavior left me completely flustered.
…Did she really want to watch a movie on the same bed?
“…Over there?”
Yuna gave a slow nod instead of answering.
We weren’t even dating yet.
Was I being too old-fashioned for thinking this was a big deal?
But the way her eyes refused to meet mine directly told me she was fighting through her own embarrassment and gathering courage.
The nice atmosphere from earlier must have helped her find that bravery.
“Then… excuse me.”
I swallowed my awkwardness and slowly climbed onto Yuna’s bed.
I carefully scooted over until I was right beside her.
The moment my body touched the giant cat candy pillow, Yuna settled in right next to me.
We were both clearly nervous, but we pretended everything was normal.
I kept my eyes glued to the laptop screen, afraid my flushed face would give me away.
“Oppa, what about this one? Looks like it could be fun.”
“Sure. Let’s go with that.”
Our mouths talked about picking a drama, but my mind was somewhere else entirely.
I was too aware of Yuna to focus on anything.
The drama she chose was a popular medical series that was trending lately.
“People say this one’s really good right now.”
So many viewers had recommended it during her streams.
It was riding the current wave. From what I’d heard, the beginning was a little slow, but once you pushed past that it was supposed to be amazing.
Oh. It actually was pretty interesting.
Maybe because it was so popular, the immersion level was high.
“Haaam…”
Next to me, Yuna let out an adorable yawn, covering her mouth with her hand.
Was I the only one enjoying it? Maybe it felt boring to her.
“Not interesting?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just a little tired. It’s fine.”
At Yuna’s words, I found myself getting sucked back into the urgent scene unfolding on screen.
The situation in the drama grew more and more intense.
The doctor calmly continued treatment on a patient who was inches from death.
Whoa. Was this character actually going to die?
Right as I was completely tensed up—
“…Huh?”
Something soft landed on my chest with a gentle thud.
It was Yuna’s hand.
I didn’t have the courage to look over at her.
…It would be way too awkward if I turned now.
Maybe the drama had gotten boring for her and she was just messing with me.
My heart rate shot up faster than the patient’s on screen.
Yuna’s hand resting on me while we shared a bed.
This had to be some kind of signal, right?
It was hard not to think so.
But that was only the first step.
“…Mmm.”
Soon after, with a strange little sound, Yuna’s arm wrapped tightly around me. A sweet fragrance washed over me.
Um… excuse me? Yuna?
Isn’t this a little too bold?