HWAMB — Chapter 39

And the smile he gave me afterward showed no trace of dishonesty.

Having popped the most balloons, Hyun-seo won the largest prize from the booth.

The huge pink teddy bear he picked up looked hilariously unfitting for him.

When he tried to hand it over to me as a gift, I shook my head and refused—accepting it would only set Hyun-woo off. Lowering my voice as much as I could, I whispered,

“I’m fine. …But seriously, do something about it. Hyun-woo must’ve gone through a lot because of you to be sulking that hard right now.”

“He’s sulking? Hyun-woo?”

“What else would you call that face if not sulking?”

“….”

He turned back to look at Hyun-woo, then gave me a cryptic smile and asked, almost in disbelief,

“That’s what you call sulking?”

“…? Sorry?”

“You’ve been told you gush a lot, haven’t you?”

“What’s with that all of a sudden…”

“…You two are a match made in heaven.”

Hyun-seo shook his head as if he couldn’t understand, muttering, “Enjoy it while it lasts, that’s how it is,” before patting my back in what seemed like genuine envy.

Was there something wrong with my eyes?

I studied Hyun-woo’s expression again, but it didn’t look any different than before.

Feeling unfairly misunderstood, I muttered under my breath, “If you look closely, you’ll see it.”

After finishing the game, the three of us walked side by side, each sipping on grape slushies through straws.

It was Hyun-seo who broke the suffocating silence first.

“On a date, are you? Good times.”

A chunk of crushed ice caught in my throat at his words.

W-what the hell… He knew?

As I coughed and choked, Hyun-woo patted my back, but his eyes stayed fixed on his brother.

His narrowed gaze sharpened instantly. Unlike my shocked face, Hyun-woo’s expression was full of irritation.

“If you know we’re on a date, then leave us alone. Get lost.”

“Hyun-woo, you should use nicer words in front of your partner.”

“Mind your own business and worry about your own partner. Don’t come crying to me when you get dumped later.”

“I only stopped by because my partner asked me to.”

“What the hell would they even…”

“Uh, excuse me…”

Cutting in on their heated exchange, I opened my mouth. Both of them turned their eyes on me.

But that wasn’t the issue right now.

“S-so… since when did you know…?”

“Hm? Know what?”

I stammered, unable to finish my sentence.

If this kept up, I’d forever be remembered as a bumbling mess who couldn’t string a sentence together, but my shocked mind refused to settle.

Doing my best to stay calm, I asked again,

“…That we’re dating…”

“You’re actually dating? Ah… I just guessed as a joke…”

His casual laugh froze me even stiffer with shock.

Noticing, Hyun-seo gently patted my shoulder, lowering his voice as if to reassure me, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. If you want, I can pretend I never heard.”

But his words didn’t even register. All I could hear was Hyun-woo’s quiet sigh beside me.

Then, somewhere close by, a vibration rang out.

Hyun-seo smoothly pulled out his phone to check the caller.

Catching my eye for a split second, he gave me a light, practiced smile before answering the call.

Suspicious, Hyun-woo asked curtly,

“What, is it Dad?”

“No. I parked nearby and it looks like there’s a bit of a problem with the car.”

I thought he might hesitate for even a moment, but he spoke quickly, almost too smoothly, like he was ready for it.

Without ending the call, Hyun-seo mouthed, “Have fun, you two,” then left in a hurry.

While I accepted it easily enough, Hyun-woo clearly wasn’t convinced, glaring in the direction his brother had gone.

“…Hey, Eun-jae.”

“Yeah?”

“Was your brother close with that guy?”

“I don’t think so… Why?”

I remembered the first day I met Hyun-seo, the conversation we had, and the time before the sports festival when I asked my brother about their relationship.

Close? Not even remotely…

“To be honest… my brother really seems to hate him.”

“…Of course.”

Hyun-woo muttered an apology, saying he felt bad for making things so uncomfortable.

Then he told me to forget about his brother and just have fun, before leading the way toward another game booth.

I followed quietly behind him without a word.

* * *

Clink—the sound of round rings catching onto poles was followed by clapping.

It was the same group of little kids who had been following me ever since the dart balloon game.

Maybe they were amazed that I had swept up almost all the game prizes, because their small round eyes looked up at me with awe.

“Wow… That’s amazing.”

“Mister! You’re cheating, right? Aren’t you? How can one person win this much?”

Then, among the noisy bunch, the youngest-looking kid clasped his hands together politely and began pleading with me.

“Mister, can you give me that starfish doll you just won? Please? Pretty please…”

I looked over to where Hyun-woo was buying drug-butter corn on the cob.

All of it was food he meant for me.

Grinning mischievously, I leaned down and whispered to the kids,

“Nope, can’t do that. These are all for my boyfriend~.”

“Boyfriend?! You already have someone you’re dating?”

“Tsk… stingy. Because you took everything, we couldn’t win a single prize!”

What whiners.

I had only taken two prizes per booth at most, just so other customers could have their chance, but they were making sly excuses.

When I didn’t give in, the kids huddled together like they were plotting and then all at once turned toward Hyun-woo.

And just like a plan in action, they swarmed over to him.

Hyun-woo, with both hands full of food meant for me, looked down at the flock of kids.

Then one of them, standing on tiptoe, whispered to him,

“Mister, are you that guy’s boyfriend?”

The finger pointed straight at me.

Not hearing what they said, I tilted my head curiously, but Hyun-woo looked at me once, then stiffly answered,

“…Yeah.”

“Give us just one, please? Yeah?”

“No. They’re mine.”

Hyun-woo walked over, shoved the butter corn into my mouth, and hugged the rest of the food tightly against his chest as if he was afraid they might snatch it away.

To the kids’ grumbling, he answered firmly and refused to hand over a single thing.

Watching him so dead serious, not giving up even a crumb, he actually looked more childish than the kids.

After we had gone around every game stall once, quite a lot of time had passed.

The kids, who had been throwing tantrums for ages, were finally pulled away obediently by their parents once it got dark.

Stretching my stiff body, I let out a satisfied sigh.

“Ah, that was fun!”

“Good. I’m glad.”

“What did those kids say to you earlier?”

“…They asked if I was your boyfriend.”

“Oh.”

I had only overheard the part about giving or not giving, but the first half of the conversation had been too far away for me to catch.

So that’s what they were talking about.

Scratching my cheek awkwardly, I laughed.

“Uh… is it really that obvious…?”

First Hyun-woo’s older brother, and now even some random little kids I didn’t know…

At my troubled expression, Hyun-woo quietly asked,

“Does it bother you?”

“If I said it didn’t bother me at all… well, that’d be a lie.”

Of course, other people’s stares mattered too, but what weighed on me the most were my brother and Hyun-woo’s parents.

I felt the same way about classmates, but the last three people I wanted to find out were exactly them.

Well, except for the fact that my brother had already caught me once.

“…Don’t worry. Even if that bastard’s personality is crap, he’s not the type to tell our parents first before either of us do.”

Hyun-woo patted my back gently as if to reassure me, and I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I figured as much, so I’m not worried.”

He might not have the best temperament, and he seemed a little mean-spirited, but I didn’t think he was a bad person.

Maybe it was because those mischievous sides of him reminded me of Hyun-woo.

Even if he acted rough, Hyun-woo was soft-hearted and caring toward the people inside his circle.

Just earlier, he’d been feeding me food nonstop like a mother bird bringing food to her chick.

“By the way, did you really not want to give those kids anything?”

“Of course not.”

“Not even one?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Wow. Greedy.”

I teased him with a laugh, and Hyun-woo pouted as if defending himself.

“It’s something you gave me. Of course I’d be greedy about it.”

“Something I gave you? Has it really been that long?”

When was the last time I had given Hyun-woo something…?

Aside from sharing tasty food, I couldn’t think of the last time I’d given him something like a gift.

‘Other than birthdays… not really…’

Just then, I tripped on a stone sticking out of the pavement.

I stumbled hard, nearly falling, but Hyun-woo caught me just in time. My ankle throbbed.

Whether it was a pulled muscle or a sprain, I couldn’t keep my balance and sank down. Hyun-woo crouched down beside me.

“You okay? Did you hurt yourself?”