HWAMB — Chapter 62

“No! No, it’s fine! Thanks! I’ll enjoy it! I didn’t think you were being weird!”

I hurried to calm him down as he stumbled over his words. Only then did he exhale in relief.

With a gentle smile like soft down, he said, “Then see you later,” before getting on the bus and taking his seat.

I headed toward the back, where my friends including Sang-su were already seated.

“Oh? You bought a drink?”

At Young-ho’s teasing, I brushed it off and sat down. But there was already a Coke bottle neatly set in the holder.

“This isn’t mine. I didn’t bring one today.”

“Shim Hyun-woo came earlier and left it on your seat.”

“Hyun-woo did?”

“Yeah. Then he took a selfie and left. Didn’t you ask him to?”

I picked up the Coke bottle. Judging by how cold it still was, he had just bought it.

‘Wow.’

Checking my phone, I saw a message from Hyun-woo.

[Ta-da ^-^v]

Attached was a photo—Hyun-woo sitting in my seat, holding up the Coke with a bright V-sign and a pretty smile.

I couldn’t hide the way my lips twitched upward.

Next to me, Sang-su, wearing earphones, half-opened his eyes and stared at me.

When we arrived at the lodging, we changed clothes and gathered again a few hours later.

“From now on, you’ll move in groups of seven. Each group picks a leader, and the leader will check attendance frequently. Got it? Once you’re set, the leader comes to me.”

The students replied in lazy unison.

The teacher handed out papers with the group missions. Whichever group completed them first would win prizes, including gift certificates.

“And more importantly, you’ll get to eat dinner first.”

“That’s what matters most?”

“Of course it does.”

Young-ho nodded seriously. The winning group would take the prizes, but their whole class would also eat first.

The faster you ate, the more free time you got.

“So what do we have to do?”

“Looks like collect stamps by completing missions?”

“Let’s see… the team with the most stamps wins. If it’s tied, the fastest team wins.”

Looking through the paper, there were quite a few missions that required physical strength.

“Seven per group, huh? That’s a lot.”

“Well, it’s all the second-years. Look around, it’s packed.”

“So how many are we short?”

“Our class? One.”

“Do we even have someone in class who’s always alone? Even if we did, they’d be hard to bring in.”

Everyone fell into thought, until Sang-su suddenly spoke up.

“Hey, our class has twenty-seven people. One group will have to be six anyway.”

“Perfect then.”

“Yeah, if someone else joins us, great, if not, whatever.”

Just like that, we went with a six-person group. At the whistle, everyone scattered to start.

I looked around, hoping to spot Hyun-woo, but there were too many people.

The missions were all sorts.

It was basically a treasure hunt. Solve riddles or challenges at each station to learn where stamps were hidden, then collect them.

In short, the stamps were the treasure, and the more the better.

“Once a team gets a stamp, it’s gone, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then moving in a big group is inefficient.”

“Should we split up? Three pairs of two?”

“Oh~ Young-ho, using his head?”

“This guy just really wants dinner.”

Everyone gave him a thumbs-up.

So we split: Sang-su with Ji-ho, Seong-han with Jae-min, and me with Young-ho.

Other sharp groups were also dividing up like us.

Since I handled the quiz-type missions and Young-ho the physical ones, we made good progress, collecting five stamps quickly.

“I think there’s another one nearby…”

“Did you find the spot?”

“No, the map doesn’t make sense.”

The map was covered with stars—probably around ninety total. The recreation staff had hidden them seriously well.

Young-ho leaned over to check.

“Where are we?”

“Here.”

“Then shouldn’t there be one here?”

“Exactly.”

He tilted his head.

“We got here first. No way another team took it.”

“Let’s just look harder. I’ll check here, you check over there.”

“Got it~”

He followed my direction obediently and walked off.

Only the two of us had gotten here this fast. Since there was no shortcut, no one else could have taken it.

Maybe they’d hidden it somewhere unexpected to make it harder.

I knelt and searched through the bushes but found nothing.

“Ow.”

As I stood up, something hard knocked against my head.

I rubbed the sore spot and looked up.

Right beside me was a large old tree, like a zelkova, its green leaves stretching high into the sky, fresh and vibrant.

‘Could it be up there?’

On tiptoe, I circled the tree, scanning the branches. Halfway around, sunlight glinted off something dangling.

A stamp made of golden, transparent plastic.

Unlike the others, this one had color.

“Worth more points?”

It dangled on a fishing line, swaying with the breeze, yet firmly secured.

I reached for it.

Couldn’t reach.

Of all times, Young-ho wasn’t here.

Then again, if he were, he’d only laugh at me for not reaching.

I glanced around—no one was nearby. Rising on tiptoe, I stretched desperately.

No use.

‘Damn it.’

I was average. Average height. So why couldn’t I even reach the average high school level?

Even jumping, I barely brushed it.

Then I heard rustling in the bushes—someone was coming.

“Hey, Young-ho, perfect timing. Help me—”

Before I could finish, a long arm reached past me and plucked the stamp free.

A shadow fell over me. The steady sound of breathing from behind was familiar.

I turned my head. It was Hyun-woo. His arm still extended, he looked down at me.

His tightly shut lips parted.

“Why are you struggling alone?”

His sharp, beautiful eyes crumpled with worry. I couldn’t look him straight in the face.

Whether it was the sunlight or Hyun-woo himself, I couldn’t tell.

“Damn, so close…”

“Close? You didn’t even come near.”

He chuckled, teasing, and patted my head as if I were cute. It annoyed me.

“And what about you, why are you alone?”

Snapping, I asked, but he didn’t seem bothered.

“They wanted to split into threes, but it was annoying, so I snuck off alone. Too noisy.”

“Is that okay? What if they’re searching for you?”

“Don’t care.”

He scoffed lightly. After teasing me some more, he pressed the stamp into my hand.

Even when I tried to give it back, he wouldn’t take it. Only when he threatened to throw it away did I reluctantly keep it.

“Don’t overdo it. Don’t get hurt showing off again.”

“Showing off? Hey, I’m perfectly well-behaved.”

“Be honest. You were going to climb the tree, weren’t you?”

“Of… of course not.”

Though it stung, I had only thought about it for a moment—I hadn’t actually done it.

Hyun-woo smirked knowingly.

Maybe from all the jumping, maybe because the breeze stopped, my face flushed with heat.

“God, it’s hot.”

Or maybe summer wasn’t gone yet, the heat still lingering.

“Yeah.”

Fanning himself, Hyun-woo pulled out a water bottle and drank.

Droplets trickled from his lips to his chin. The way the water slid down looked strangely… sensual.

An odd, indescribable feeling filled me.

Then Hyun-woo held the bottle out. I took it, staring at him, and he stared right back.

His glossy lips looked so soft I wanted to bite them.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“You were thinking something dirty.”

“I wasn’t.”

He read me like a book and only smiled. He didn’t stop staring, either.

Finally, I blurted out,

“Then why are you staring at me like that?”

“You were thinking something dirty.”

“Ugh, seriously.”

He was getting cheekier by the day. I thought, at this rate, he’d grow into a sly serpent when he got older.

I took a sip from the bottle, then grabbed his collar and kissed him suddenly.

Our lips pressed together, the cold water warming instantly as I pushed it into him.

His eyes widened, but he obediently swallowed every drop. His throat bobbed as he drank.

I grinned triumphantly.

“Don’t mess with me.”

“Damn, that was bold.”

Surprised but pleased, he hugged me, burying his face in my chest.