Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 77-2

Yoo-hwa pulled one flower from the bundle and sat in a seat close to the starboard side, holding it in her hand. She took a sip of the coffee he had prepared and took a deep breath.

“You asked before, right? What was I going to do from now on? I decided today.”

Woo-hyun, who was raising his cup, looked at Yoo-hwa as she spoke.

“I found out that there’s a department of literature at the University of Broadcasting and Communications. I’m going to go there. You have to go out when attending normal universities, so I think it will take a lot of time and too long to prepare for it. I want to write a little while attending the literature department of the university, submit it, and see my work in a contest. I also want to go to a book talk that is held in the downtown area, when the time comes.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah. After thinking about it, I realized that what I want to do is write.”

“…”

“Reading is good, and imagining is good too.”

Yoo-hwa smiled softly, like someone who had found the right answer after searching for a long time.

“Of course, there’s something I want to do the most.”

As she continued, Woo-hyun, who didn’t miss a single word of what she said, tilted his head. Seeing his expression asking her what was going on, Yoo-hwa cautiously opened her mouth.

“Being with you.”

Woo-hyun paused and stared at Yoo-hwa with a suspicious look on his face. Despite Woo-hyun’s reaction, Yoo-hwa continued what she was saying.

“Thinking about it, I was happy when I was with you. Eating together, sitting face to face, looking at the sky together, talking about the past… No. It was good even when we didn’t do anything.”

Things like the warmth Woo-hyun conveyed to her, his gaze, and the occasional conversations they had in silence.

Following Yoo-hwa’s words, Woo-hyun felt like they had returned to before.

When he and Yoo-hwa faced the cold winter wind, when they sat side by side, when their gazes, looking at the gray sky, inadvertently turned to each other and made eye contact, the inexplicable feelings that came and went at that time.

As he recalled the memories that were as clear as a picture, a faint smile appeared on Woo-hyun’s mouth.

“So… what I want to say is…”

Yoo-hwa blurred her words and rubbed her palms against her pants.

“Shall we live together?”

Returning the words he had said to her, Yoo-hwa met his eyes. Hearing that, Woo-hyun’s expression was relieved. Woo-hyun, who was sitting stiffly for a moment, swept his face away with his hands and let out a long sigh he had been enduring. Only then did he realize that he was nervous.

When Yoo-hwa talked about what she wanted to do and the conversation about writing, he was suspicious that she might say something about breaking up even though he knew there was no way that would happen right now.

After all, she could have thought that it was hard to deal with the many limitations that came when staying with him.

“… You always act out of my expectations.”

Yoo-hwa tilted her head slightly at Woo-hyun’s muttering.

“You didn’t like what I just said? I thought about how to say it for over one hour.”

“No. I like that you are always like that.”

A smile spread across Yoo-hwa’s face at Woo-hyun’s words.

“I’m glad.”

“So, come today.”

“Today? Do you mean to move today?”

“Yeah.”

“This fast?”

When Yoo-hwa asked, surprised, Woo-hyun moved to sit next to her. His vision was filled with her face. A sense of satisfaction rose. At the same time, thirst rushed in. He wished everything had more of Yoo-hwa in it. This space, his own home, and even his vision.

“Move your things slowly. I left the things you used as they were. If you don’t like it here, we can move to another house.”

“…”

“Anything is fine with me.”

Woo-hyun lowered his head. He could see Yoo-hwa’s brown pupils, looking at him through the corner of her eyes without wavering.

It was also like that one day, during the cold winter last year. There was a time when Yoo-hwa’s brown eyes filled his vision and he felt like she was the only thing that existed in the world. He tried to ignore the urge to touch her cheeks and kiss her lips.

He didn’t want to be like that anymore.

“Let’s be together so that we don’t waste time.”

Woo-hyun’s lips slowly touched hers. At that moment, a, “Yeah”, flowed out of Yoo-hwa’s mouth. A slight tremor was transmitted through their touching lips.

Woo-hyun gladly received her answer.

Epilogue

Yoo-hwa sat on the back of the sofa and looked out the window. From the outside, it was not possible to look inside the large window that extended to the ceiling, but from the inside, a large garden with green grass could be seen.

After discussing it on the day she decided to live with Woo-hyun, they decided to move out. Woo-hyun gladly accepted Yoo-hwa’s intention to start anew in a place where there were no painful memories.

Unlike their easy decision, moving was complicated. The house, which they picked after looking around for one month, took more than six months to be repaired.

It was because he changed everything inside, leaving only the exterior frame. The most time-consuming of the whole process was the creation of a secret space hidden in every corner. Beyond the bookshelf, which seemed ordinary to others, there was a path leading to the basement, and on the floor, there was another path leading outside. Very few people knew of this.

So even if someone decided to come in, there were ten ways to go out without leaving a trace. Although they didn’t need this anymore, Woo-hyun said it was a habit to check this first when moving and making it.