“I was thinking about it and got courageous.”

Yi Hwan folded his eyes as if he was shy. It’s because Taekyung is such an unrealistic being, but Yi Hwan was also a man who was a little short when compared.

“Courage…”

Soyoung smiled awkwardly haha. Her attitude became stiff by itself with the addition of shyness and an indifferent personality. However, Yi Hwan actively led the conversation as if he cared little.

“Is it okay to work that much? No matter how much you like it, you tire of it if you do too much work.”

“Hmm… It’s a little hard.”

He’s not asking because he’s curious, but anyway, So-young answered with her own sincerity after thinking sincerely.

“It may sound a little funny, but I still want to find a reward at work. Working overtime is hard, but the work itself is fun.… It’s okay so far.”

So-young smiled awkwardly and added it as a joke.

“People don’t like this. It’s rare for someone to say it’s fun.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“…….”

“You must like work for some reason.”

When Yo Hwan said with a smile, So Young smiled awkwardly and looked away. Yi Hwan’s expression was blurred by the blatant appearance.

“Manager.”

With a hesitant look, Yi Hwan put down the fork he was just holding. Feeling the atmosphere of sinking awkwardly, So-young felt vague anxiety.

“This may sound a little strange, but I want you to feel more comfortable with me.”

“Oh…”

“I want to be close to you. Are you uncomfortable with me?”

So-young, who didn’t know Yi Hwan would be so straightforward, was surprised and raised her head. Being embarrassed, an unthinkable question popped out.

“Why do you want to be close to me?”

It was a very social question. So-young belatedly made a mistake when she saw Yi Hwan, who was embarrassed, but that didn’t mean what she said.

Yi Hwan, who was rubbing his lips as if he didn’t know he would be asked such a question, swept up his hair. Then he gave an unorganized answer.

“So, you’re… A good person. Always sincere and kind to anyone. Whenever we talk together, I feel better.… I think that’s why I wanted to be close to you.”

Am I a kind and good person?

Soyoung felt weird.

Of course, some of Soyoung would agree. But that wasn’t the only adjective that explained her.

When asked a similar question to Taekyung, a completely different answer came out. He never said he liked So-young because she was a kind or good person. No attempt was made to hastily define her.

So-young knew she had shown a lot of things she couldn’t show to Taekyung. She showed him a desire, was ridiculous, ‌and was confused by the ambiguous affection she gave him. Tae-kyung only admitted that aspect of Soyoung.

Since Taekyung did not make any judgment, Soyoung could show her natural appearance. As if…… He was confident that no matter how pathetic she was, she wouldn’t be hated.

When she reached that point, the vague sincerity seemed to be a little clearer.

Looking back, So-young was always defensive. She has never been emotionally swayed by others or encouraged by impulses without thinking about the future. Only Taekyung was the exception. So far, all the experiences and feelings she shared with him have been like that.

So-young smiled faintly at Yi Hwan, who still looked embarrassed.

“I’m not just a nice person.”

“…….”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

So-young did not stop talking even when she saw Yi Hwan’s face as if she had sensed something.

“I don’t think I’m the ‌person you think I am. So… I thought it’d be better to say this just in case you expect something.”

She didn’t mean to humiliate Yi Hwan, but she didn’t want to ignore his honest favor.

“Oh, I see.”

Yi Hwan had his ears dyed red and busily dug his head with a large hand.

“I made it very obvious.”

“No, it’s not like that.”

So-young, who was also embarrassed, waved her hands. Yi Hwan was still red, but he quickly recovered his embarrassment and smiled awkwardly.

“It’s a lie if I say I wasn’t interested… But I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured, but I’m sorry if I did.”

“No. I kept thinking about whether it would be better to talk it out too. I created an embarrassing situation.”

“I’d rather be clear about it.”

The two exchanged excessive thanks and apologies. So-young sighed quietly so that Yi Hwan could not hear her. It hasn’t been a long time since she had a meal, but she felt exhausted.

Yi Hwan, who had been smiling awkwardly, carefully started talking.

“I don’t know if I can ask this question, but are you dating someone else?”

“…….”

“If the problem is if you’re not, I think there’s still room for reconsideration towards me.”