Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Show Me Your Phone
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My resolution to become a man worthy of Yerim felt meaningless as a whole year flew by in the blink of an eye.
Of course, it wasn't like I hadn't put in any effort during that time.
Studying, which I used to think was fine as long as I stayed in the middle of the pack—I worked pretty hard at it.
Now I could aim for the upper-middle ranks without too much trouble.
Cooking? I handled dinner almost every day at either Yerim's place or ours.
Sometimes I craved a home-cooked meal made by someone else.
But whenever that happened, Yerim would step up, looking apologetic and insisting she'd do it, forcing me—haunted by memories of the past—to tearfully hold her back.
There was even a time I suspected she was faking it just to dump the cooking on me.
But after eating her so-called homemade omelet rice that day and getting a stomachache, I never doubted her again.
All that practical, crash-course cooking experience piled up until I could whip up a delicious meal from whatever was in the fridge the moment our house pig said, "Oppa, food."
At some point, Yerim started watching food videos on YouTube and such, then scampering over to me with hopeful eyes.
"Oppa, do you think you could make this...?"
How could I say no when she looked up at me like that?
Especially since she always devoured my cooking like it was the best thing in the world.
My repertoire of doable recipes had no choice but to grow every single day.
Finally, exercise. Workouts that once left me sore with muscle pain became a breeze—even two hundred reps a day felt easy now.
...Honestly, don't I look kinda cool?
Once the lean muscle started showing, my confidence followed suit.
I'd strike poses in front of the full-length mirror, stripping off my shirt even when it wasn't that hot.
And whenever Yerim and Han Sea poked at my arms from both sides, cooing "Ooh..." in amazement, I couldn't stop grinning.
That was how it went.
I'd worked hard to change myself.
But as if refusing to give me time to catch up, while I was running, Yerim was soaring.
Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.
It hit me one morning over breakfast.
"Mom. How old were you when you stopped growing?"
"What's this? My son suddenly interested in his mom~?"
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in you."
Ah, was that too cold? But it's the truth—what can I do?
A twinge of guilt hit me as Mom stared at me like I'd gone too far.
Under the table, Han Sea was kicking my leg, as if to say why talk like that?
"Hmm~ I think I grew until around 16? Before that, my bras kept getting too tight every cycle, so I had to keep buying new ones, but from 16 on, they stayed D-cup..."
"Got it. Stop. Please."
I had zero interest in Mom's bra size, and no desire to know.
"But why the sudden question~?"
"...Just wondering. When will Han Sea stop growing?"
Han Sea, suddenly put on the spot mid-bite, froze with her chopsticks in her mouth, eyes wide, staring at me.
Then she smirked, like she got it.
"Oppa?"
"...What."
"Since when did you get so interested in me~?"
"...Shut up."
I nudged her foot under the table to shush her, and she let out an exaggerated "Ow!" before winking at me with a grin.
Ah, geez.
It was health class, right? I suddenly remembered something from back then.
Girls grow faster than boys, both in timing and speed.
Proving that point, I'd grown some height compared to last year.
But Yerim had changed by the day.
She used to be cute and pretty... now she was pretty and cute, like the priorities had flipped.
It was inevitable.
Her already slender limbs had lengthened even more, her sharp features grown even sharper. And in proportion, her body was starting to curve in all the right places.
It felt like she was whispering to me that she was becoming a woman, not just a girl.
Even when I first saw her, I'd been blown away by her beauty—but if that was the pupa stage of a butterfly, who would believe it?
Today's Yerim was more beautiful than yesterday, growing more stunning with each passing day. No—more radiant.
The reason I was thinking about this now?
—She'll grow until 16?
We'd spent no small amount of time together over the year.
Our relationship had gotten closer.
The problem was, so had our physical distance.
What used to be a casual, natural closeness now meant some soft part of her body brushing against me somewhere.
She'd started sticking to my side all day, every day, and it was killing me.
"Yerim, aren't you a bit too close...?"
"This is just right..."
Whether she knew or not, when I pointed it out, she'd blink innocently like why? and I'd start wondering if I was the weird one, so I gave up mentioning it.
All I could do was hunch over and recite the national anthem in my head.
But more than that...?
From my perspective last year, when she was 14, it was already hard to believe she still was—even compared to the 14-year-old girl at our house right now.
Was she going to end up like that photo in a frame I glimpsed at her house, of her aunt?
...She was stacked.
If so, it was an exciting... no, a happy dilemma.
You might say I'm getting ahead of myself, but hey, a guy can dream, right? Yeah.
It's a happy thing when the person you like is beautiful.
It makes you look forward to the future after you win her over.
But being too beautiful meant a lot more people imagining that future with her.
It was around the end of last year. Han Sea brought it up one day.
"Oppa, you okay with this?"
Here it comes, I thought immediately.
You couldn't ignore the atmosphere in our age group.
Even a perfectly fine kid could end up ostracized if bad rumors started swirling like "What's up with her?"
That was what happened to Yerim.
Not because she was bad or mean, but because she was too outstanding, left all alone.
But once she started hanging out with Han Sea and her popular friends from class, that vibe faded away.
And if the ever-stoic Yerim started smiling? No need to say more. Girls or boys, anyone seeing that smile probably wanted to talk to her at least once.
Those who mustered the courage to approach soon realized what kind of girl she was.
I still remember it.
When the bullying seemed to stop.
Yerim, hugging me tight, shedding tears of relief and joy.
I held her trembling, fragile shoulders and truly thought it was a relief. She never deserved that treatment.
Of course, she was the type to bond deeply but narrowly, so she mostly hung out with just me and Sea afterward—but still, it was good.
...Until I heard she was getting a rush of confessions like her brother Jinhyuk.
I knew there had been confessions before, but now even the hesitant ones were jumping at the chance, so she was getting a ton.
Han Sea wasn't always by her side, and even she was telling me this much, so it was probably even more in reality.
...These bastards who ignored her before are pissing me off now. I've only had eyes for Yerim from the start, back when she was a loner—why now?
It felt like my secret indie band had suddenly blown up worldwide.
The same guys who ignored her when she was hurting now dared to confess to her—something even I hadn't done. It was ridiculous, but I tried not to care.
...Or so I thought. Until the next day, when Yerim asked with a worried look if something was wrong.
...Was it that obvious?
I played it cool, smiled, said nothing was up.
"...You're gonna lie to me?"
If she'd gotten mad, I might've held out.
But with her pouting like she was hurt, gently clutching my finger...
I spilled everything like a phone with the passcode unlocked.
"Confessions...?"
Yerim's eyes went wide, like she hadn't expected that at all.
"...Yeah."
"Heh..."
Jealousy from someone who's not even her boyfriend.
Unlike my worry that it'd upset her, she just kept tilting her head curiously, going "Heh..."
Smooth.
Smooth.
Smooth.
Smooth.
Maybe because of what I said—my face burned.
Too embarrassed to look at her, I turned away, but her gaze followed.
"...So cute."
"What?"
"Did it bother you, Oppa...? That I was getting confessions?"
—Bothered? I was jealous as hell.
Couldn't say that straight up.
But denying it felt wrong too, so I nodded cautiously.
Then Yerim beamed, rummaging around before handing me her phone.
"...? Why your phone all of a sudden?"
"Check the contacts..."
Contacts? But I went along.
At the top favorites: me, Han Sea, Jinhyuk, and her parents.
Below that, not many, but clearly girls' names.
"...Just girls?"
"You think I'd like boys...?"
"You? Why not?"
No way. I wanted to say no man on earth could make Yerim dislike him, but I held back.
"I ignore them when they talk to me..."
"...Why?"
She shot me a slightly resentful pink-eyed glance, like you know why.
"Because of someone's ideal type..."
"...Ideal type?"
Someone? Me...?
You are my ideal type.
...No, when did I ever tell her my ideal type? I racked my brain—no memory.
But Yerim changed the subject, like that was her last hint.
"There's only one guy I talk to and message with..."
Like there was no need to worry.
Her pink eyes stared straight at me, a loving smile saying don't be jealous. My face burned hotter.
That's probably why.
Embarrassed at being caught, I blurted something I didn't mean.
"...Still, you've gotten more popular now."
Couldn't quite bring myself to say "why not make some guy friends?"
...Will she get mad?
Yerim stepped even closer.
"Would you... like it if I got close to other boys?"
Far from mad, her warm voice asked if I was serious.
Her tiny hands enveloping mine.
Before those deep, clear pink eyes piercing my soul, I was stripped bare.
I confessed the truth.
"......No. Not at all."
A dazzling smile bloomed on her face.
If she had a tail, it'd be wagging side to side right now.
"Then you have to play with me even more to make up for it. Got it...?"
"...More than now?"
We were already together almost every day.
Yet she greedily demanded more, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, way more than now."
"...I'll make sure you're the only guy in these contacts."
She pouted like that's too easy, but her smile didn't fade, making me happy too.
"Then... shall we check Oppa's contacts now?"
Ah.
That day, my contacts became con/tacts, like some purple alien from Taxus had ransacked them.