Chapter 268: In Korea (Part 2)
People chasing dreams are cruel. They have no time to look back because they're only focused on their dreams.
That's why Yuri thought Ha-neul was a cruel person.
Even though Camila and Valentina had been sending him overtly affectionate glances for the past few days, Ha-neul hadn't noticed at all, still acting playful as usual. Clearly, he didn't know that his friends were looking at him with those eyes, since he was always immersed in football.
On the day they confirmed each other's feelings for Ha-neul, after declaring he wouldn't be on guard anymore, Camila and Valentina always looked at Ha-neul with eyes full of affection, but Ha-neul, unaware of the situation, just treated them like friends as usual.
And that situation terrified Yuri. She was afraid her eyes might be looking at Ha-neul with the same gaze as her friends, afraid Ha-neul might notice, and afraid he might subtly push her away like before. So, sometimes she envied Camila and Valentina for being able to show their love for Ha-neul without failing before, without experiencing that pain.
But one good thing was that even if friends looked at him that way, Ha-neul didn't notice. But that's why Ha-neul was even crueler. Because he would keep running forward without noticing his own heart, just like always.
The crueler truth was that Ha-neul would never notice his own heart, but that he would run to meet Ha-neul whenever he called, carrying an emotion he would never receive repayment for his whole life.
Yuri, thinking this, let out a soft laugh unconsciously.
'Tired, so thinking all sorts of things.'
Ha-neul being cruel? Probably because he was tired from flying late at night and moving from morning.
Actually, Ha-neul didn't matter much to Yuri. What mattered was this moment, pressing the doorbell, and her heart still fluttering.
She had no idea when Ha-neul would notice her feelings, but she was willing to wait until that moment, whatever it took.
Ding, the doorbell rings.
'He can't still be sleeping, right?'
After waiting a minute without response, Yuri started worrying if Ha-neul was sleeping, and if he was, she didn't want to ring again to wake him. Waiting was familiar, as always.
But soon, the door burst open.
"Haaam... You're here?"
His hair was messy, the white t-shirt he wore to bed was thin, so thin that if you focused, you could see through it. Seeing Ha-neul's half-open eyes, Yuri's heart started beating even harder.
"Just woke up?"
Yuri held back the urge to lower her gaze and spoke normally.
"Uh..."
Ha-neul was still groggy, mumbling. Ha-neul, who always went out first for jogging in the morning to wait for friends...
This was the first time seeing Ha-neul like this, and it was cute... and a bit, no, quite lewd.
But Ha-neul wasn't thinking anything about her gaze, so he came out like this. As if he didn't see her as a woman.
'But Ha-neul sleeping until this time... Could it be that he couldn't sleep because of me, like I couldn't?'
Of course, thinking of Ha-neul's personality, that wouldn't happen. Probably he slept a lot on the plane and stayed up late yesterday.
'Just playing like usual... Maybe I was the one he was expecting.'
Thinking this again, the fluttering in her chest calmed.
"What? Couldn't sleep because you were thinking about playing with me?"
"N-no, that's not it."
Calming her fluttering heart, she spoke with her usual playful sincerity, and Ha-neul seemed to wake up more. And Ha-neul's face slowly turned red. Probably realizing his outfit now.
Even so, it wasn't because he saw her as a woman. If he saw her as a woman, no matter how sleepy, he wouldn't have come out in that outfit.
Still, the sight of Ha-neul, now clear-headed and embarrassed, was quite satisfying.
"...Come in."
Following Ha-neul's gesture, entering the house, the familiar Ha-neul's house welcomed Yuri. It was different from the house they played in when young, but since she remembered coming over every time they went on vacation in Korea, it wasn't awkward.
But the difference from then was that Ha-neul's father, who always greeted her, was no longer there.
The first time she was alone with Ha-neul in his house....
"Well, can you go to my room first? I'll shower and come back."
"Eh? Uh..."
Even though she had entered Ha-neul's room many times, unlike before, it smelled good and familiar. And Yuri immediately realized what the scent was. It was the cologne Ha-neul sprayed every time he went out.
'...But it's quite strong... Did the bottle break?'
Ha-neul wouldn't spray cologne in his room, so either the bottle broke or it leaked somewhere. Taking a deep breath, the strong cologne scent hit her.
"Ha-neul?"
She called him to talk, but Ha-neul had already left the room alone and was heading to the bathroom.
"Why? Did you call?"
"No, it's nothing. I'll tell you after I shower."
"Okay. Hey, don't mess around with my room."
"I'm not a thief, why would I rummage through your room? Just hurry up and shower."
As the words ended, the sound of the door closing came. And the sound of water.
While smelling Ha-neul's cologne in his room and listening to the water sound, perhaps...
A vivid imagination came to Yuri, and the room felt a bit warmer.
And at that time, when Yuri's body was getting slightly hot.
'Ah, idiot. I should have gotten up and waited.'
Ha-neul, turning on the shower and leaning his head against the wall, was scolding himself.
Not a child, but to be restless because Yuri was coming over, no matter how you thought, it was stupid.
That's why Ha-neul's cheeks were red just now, due to embarrassment. Yuri thought Ha-neul's cheeks were red because of embarrassment, but there was no reason for a 'man' like Ha-neul to be embarrassed by wearing see-through clothes.
But embarrassment was a different story.
Thinking that Yuri was coming over, he couldn't sleep, and Yuri had precisely pointed that out - it looked like a joke, but no matter how Ha-neul, it was embarrassing.
Swoosh, with the sound of water dripping from the shower, cold water wets Ha-neul's head. After wetting his head with cold water, his head felt a bit clearer.
"Haa... It got twisted from the beginning."
Actually, Ha-neul's plan was never to meet Yuri in pajamas.
Originally, Ha-neul's plan was this.
Get up about 30 minutes before Yuri arrives, shower properly, dress, and meet Yuri. No matter how comfortable the relationship, the atmosphere was important to confirm each other's hearts.
Seeing the messy hair from just waking up and the pajamas, the vibe would definitely drop.
"Haa, what should I do..."
The first button of the plan went wrong. While getting cold water, he pondered how to handle this situation, but no answer came.
Actually, approaching a woman this carefully was really hard for Ha-neul. After his first fresh romance, since he had settled as a football player, just approaching was enough for him to date women, which was really easy for Ha-neul.
And after becoming the world's best football player, he didn't even need to approach first. Just staying put, the women of his taste would come to him as a matter of course.
So, this situation was too unfamiliar for Ha-neul.
Valentina, who had drunk a bit and had the atmosphere, or Camila who approached first late at night, didn't help in this situation at all.
"Uwaaaaa."
Worried that Yuri might hear, he yelled softly in frustration, but couldn't find an answer.
What Ha-neul could do now was just wash quickly so Yuri wouldn't wait anymore.
'Well, let's try to loosen the atmosphere with some game? No, if I play game, it's just playing like usual. Or Netflix? But Yuri knows my movie taste... Would it be weird if I suddenly put on such a movie? Just, damn, blow it off?'
Even as the worry continued, time passed, and the shower was almost finished.
Now, the only thing left was to face it head on.
'...Don't dry my hair.'
In the previous life, men had a tendency to like women with wet hair, so leave hair wet, put on the prepared clothes, and go out. When he reached his room, through the slightly open door, Yuri standing there blankly came into view.
'Just sit comfortably.'
Was she standing the whole time during the shower? He wondered why she was standing, but since she might have been looking around the room, Ha-neul opened the half-open door and spoke to Yuri.
"What? Why are you standing?"
"Uh, uh...?"
And seeing the thing in Yuri's hand, he realized that all the worries during the shower were pointless.
"Uh..., I didn't do it on purpose... The cologne smell was too strong, so I thought it was leaking and looked around... No, this is..."
Seeing Yuri unable to finish her sentence, Ha-neul's body stiffened. And their reactions were, in a way, natural.
What Yuri was holding was a condom received from players in the male league who were playing in the dorm.
"T-that, why is it there..."
His mind panicked, words not coming out, but Ha-neul knew perfectly well why it was there.
When he became an adult, some male players in the dorm who said it might be needed someday gave him a few, and they were left in a corner of the drawer until then, but he remembered carrying 2-3 in his wallet in the previous life habit, thinking maybe this chance would come.
"T-that, that one... from noona?"
Yuri was also flustered in this situation. Condom and Ha-neul. From Yuri's perspective, this combination was an extremely mismatched one. So, after discovering it slightly protruding from Ha-neul's wallet, she thought what it was and took it out, but had to blurt out a weird comment.
Without a doubt, in this awkward situation, an awkward air swept between the two.
"To avoid misunderstanding, I never used it once."
And in the awkward air, Ha-neul spoke first.
There was no woman who would like to have a condom in her favorite man's wallet, and Yuri felt a bit of anger along with embarrassment, but hearing Ha-neul's words, the slightly unpleasant feeling eased a bit.
"Eh? No, why would you say that to me..."
But there was no reason to say that to herself, so Yuri couldn't hold back and spoke out.
"Why would you say that to me?"
Ha-neul was approaching gradually. Yuri, suppressed by that pressure, unconsciously backed away.
His expression seemed different from usual. No, it was an expression she had seen a few times.
Yeah, when Ha-neul made a decision, he made that expression.
Because he backed too much, he got caught on the bed and fell backward. The soft Ha-neul's bed felt. Because of the stronger cologne coming from Ha-neul than before, Yuri felt like she was going crazy.
But regardless of Yuri's state, Ha-neul, firmly decided, was approaching the Yuri who was sitting on the bed.
'Well, since it's like this...'
It was an unplanned event to be caught with the condom, but he didn't want to miss this naturally created situation.
"...Shall we try using it together?"