HWAMB — Chapter 48

“What about your uncles?”

“Ah, something urgent came up. They had something they needed to take care of immediately, so they told us to just go on the trip by ourselves.”

Saying, “They were really disappointed,” Hyun-seo started the engine. My brother’s gaze wavered slightly as he looked at him.

Meanwhile, Hyun-woo, who had been staring at my leg like he was trying to burn a hole through it, tapped his knee.

When I just blinked at him, he said in a flat voice,

“Put it here.”

“What?”

“Your leg. Stretch it out here.”

I realized he was worried about the leg I’d injured before.

Saying it was fine now, I fastened my seat belt. Hyun-woo gave me a suspicious look but didn’t say anything further.

After arriving at the airport, we parked the car and boarded the plane. Since it was domestic, we arrived in no time.

While my brother and Hyun-seo went to register the rental car, Hyun-woo and I set his family’s villa as the destination on the smart navigation.

As we did so, I asked Hyun-woo,

“When did you guys even buy a villa?”

“I don’t know. That bastard—no, my brother said he wanted one for a long time, so he bought it a few years ago.”

“So now you’re calling him hyung?”

“…No. Only until the end of vacation.”

With a cold look, Hyun-woo glared at the back of his brother’s head and spoke bluntly.

After hearing the story, I found out it had started because Hyun-seo had provoked him into a bet, and Hyun-woo had lost. As punishment, he had to call him “hyung” with sincerity until the end of summer break.

It was just the kind of order Hyun-seo would come up with.

“What kind of bet did you take so seriously?”

“…Jenga.”

“You lost at Jenga?”

Surprised, I repeated his words. Hyun-woo pouted and leaned his head against my shoulder, rubbing it like he wanted comfort.

Hyun-woo was so good at Jenga that I had never beaten him before.

At a loss, I simply patted his head instead of offering words of consolation.

Whatever the reason, the fact that they were still playing games together meant that despite all the harsh words, they were on good terms.

Of course, Hyun-woo would’ve jumped up in protest if he’d heard me say that.

Once the rental process was finished, we got into the car. This time, my brother took the driver’s seat instead of Hyun-seo.

When I opened the window in the moving car, the salty scent of the sea rushed in.

The vast blue ocean spread out before my eyes, much broader than I had imagined, leaving me dazed.

The endless road stretched ahead, yet strangely, there weren’t many other cars. I thought it would be crowded since it was summer vacation, but it wasn’t.

“There aren’t many people.”

“Most people don’t know about this place.”

As I leaned out the open window, Hyun-woo pulled me back into my seat.

After a winding twenty-minute drive, we finally arrived at the villa.

It wasn’t too big or too small—just the right size.

“Wow, it’s bigger than I thought.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.”

With a grin, Hyun-seo looked at Eun-hyeok. My brother scowled and strode ahead first.

The villa was located fairly deep in, away from most facilities, but it looked like a nice place to take walks and exercise.

The neatly maintained lawn glistened green. Artificial grass?

Curious, I crouched down to touch it. Hyun-seo smiled gently and said,

“Hungry? Let’s unpack, wash up, and grill some meat.”

At the word “meat,” both Hyun-woo and I perked up and hurried inside the villa to unpack.

There were four rooms—just enough for everyone. After unpacking, I went into the bathroom and found it fully stocked with toiletries: disposable toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash… and everything looked expensive.

“Ah, no towel.”

I’d have to ask Hyun-woo for one.

Forgetting to knock, I swung open Hyun-woo’s room door.

“Hyun-woo, I need a—”

His shoulders jerked in surprise. At the same time, I saw something fall to the floor with a clatter.

It was a small black box.

My eyes went to it instinctively. The box was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, slightly open.

Something sparkled inside before Hyun-woo snatched it up at lightning speed and shoved it into his bag.

Zip—the zipper closed tight.

A heavy, awkward silence filled the room.

“…”

“…”

I had clearly seen him hiding “something,” and he realized it too.

At this point, saying “Uh… sorry! Accident!” felt way too late.

While I hesitated, Hyun-woo smiled smoothly, as if nothing had happened.

“What do you need?”

“Oh… the bathroom over there didn’t have a towel.”

“Really? Hold on.”

He went into the bathroom, and I stared blankly at his bag.

That small black cube-shaped box. When it had fallen and opened…

“…No way.”

A ring case?

Then that sparkling thing I saw inside…

“A ring…?”

Was it real?

As imagination piled on imagination, my face grew hot.

I shook my head hard. “Why a ring? Don’t be ridiculous.” But then the word “couple ring” slipped in uninvited.

Hyun-woo? Giving me a couple ring?

The thought alone made me feel giddy.

“Wait. If that really is what I think it is… shouldn’t I just pretend I didn’t see it?”

As I worried with a serious face, something soft dropped onto my hand.

A towel.

I felt Hyun-woo’s gaze on me as I looked up.

Grinding my teeth, I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen anything.

“Wow… this towel is so soft. Haha…”

“That’s good. Eun-jae, go wash up.”

Both his smile and mine felt awkward.

In the end, I was practically pushed out of the room. With the towel in hand, I trudged back into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Even without the hot water, I felt flushed like my body was burning.

“Even when I got a jewel ring-ring, I wasn’t this embarrassed…”

I suddenly remembered when I was five years old and Hyun-woo had handed me a jewel ring-ring.

Ring-ring had been a popular cheap snack at the time, a plastic ring topped with candy instead of a gem.

Once you finished the candy, a jewel-shaped piece would be revealed. They were random, so you needed luck to get a pretty shape.

Most were just plain circles, but the rare one was a diamond shape.

Once, I’d gotten lucky and found a diamond-shaped one. After cleaning it, I gave it to Hyun-woo.

Not long after, Hyun-woo gave me the exact same diamond-shaped jewel ring in return.

He was so happy, saying we had matching ones.

It looked like a couple ring, but I let it slide, wearing it because Hyun-woo was so purely happy.

Even when kids teased us, asking if we were dating, I only smacked them on the head a few times and kept wearing it until Hyun-woo eventually grew tired of it.

I had felt secretly proud then, thinking I’d preserved his innocent childhood dream.

Now lukewarm water trickled down my hair.

I silently flushed red and fiddled with my fingers.

* * *

The taste of meat grilled outside in the yard was simple and savory.

Even as I ate, I kept sneaking glances at Hyun-woo’s face, just in case—but his expression was the same as always.

‘Unbelievable. So composed.’

How could he keep such a poker face? If it had been me, I’d have been a mess, thinking the whole plan had fallen apart.

‘Or maybe I imagined it?’

That was possible.

Maybe it wasn’t even a ring. Maybe it was something else… or not?

‘No, anyone could see it was a ring case…’

I sipped cola from a paper cup, lost in thought.

For a moment, I wondered if maybe the ring wasn’t for me, but I quickly dismissed it.

If it belonged to someone else, there’d be no reason to hide it from me. And if it wasn’t for me… that would mean Hyun-woo had feelings for someone else—

“…”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

That wasn’t possible. I’d had similar misunderstandings about Hyun-woo before, but every time, it turned out to be nothing.

Even if I never said it aloud, Hyun-woo’s heart had always been set on me alone.

People often said I was clueless about things like this, but even I could see this much was obvious.

‘I want to give him something too…’

Something meaningful, if possible.

Lost in thought, I ended up absentmindedly picking at my meat. Then a familiar voice spoke beside me.

“Eat more.”

“Huh?”

“You’re just poking at it, so I wondered if you were distracted. Normally you’d still be eating plenty.”

“Ah… no, I just had something on my mind.”

I quickly grabbed more meat that my brothers had grilled and ate it. Hyun-woo narrowed his eyes at me, looking displeased.

“What, what? What now? Why do you look so dissatisfied?”

“Who were you thinking about?”

“…Huh?”

“Other than me—who?”

His sulky tone made me laugh in disbelief.

“I was thinking about you.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. You. Who else.”

“….”

Surprised, his face briefly lit up before suspicion returned to his eyes.

“Really? You were thinking about me?”

“Am I always lying to you?”

“…Mm.”

Hyun-woo stacked pieces of meat on my plate like a tower, then cleared his throat and said with the kindest voice, “Keep thinking about me,” smiling softly.

It was obvious his lips were twitching upward.

After we finished eating our fill, Hyun-woo and I cleared away the empty dishes.

When everything was nearly done and my brother and Hyun-seo were tidying up the grill, Hyun-woo said to him,

“Eun-jae and I are going for a short walk nearby.”

“Alright. Just don’t go too far.”

Before I could even reply, Hyun-woo grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the yard.

Then, turning to me, he quickly asked, almost like checking my condition,

“Your leg? Is it okay to walk? You just got your cast off.”

“Yeah. As long as it’s slow, it’s fine. But where are we going?”

“You like swimming, but you can’t this time. So I’m going to show you the view instead.”

Following the winding road up behind him, I came to a spot overlooking the wide open sea.

I had already seen it plenty from the car earlier, but it never got old. A pleasant breeze brushed against my cheek.

“Not bad, right?”

“…Yeah.”

I quietly answered in awe.

Unlike earlier, the horizon now held the glow of sunset, and the atmosphere turned strangely moving.

The colors spread upward across the sky, guiding in the night. Just like Hyun-woo said, it was breathtaking.

After hesitating a while, Hyun-woo finally spoke.

“Eun-jae.”

“Yeah?”

“Give me your hand. Just for a second.”

My hand? Out of nowhere?

Watching him hesitate before speaking, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

The mood was perfect, just the two of us in a quiet place.

Could this be…

‘The timing for a ring…?’

Even though my rational mind scolded me not to jump ahead, my racing heart was impossible to calm.

I swallowed hard and stared at him.

Hyun-woo gently touched the knuckle of my ring finger, then quietly pulled a ring from his pocket.

Soon, a sleek silver band encircled my finger. It had no jewel, but under the light it sparkled beautifully.

My heart pounded so fast it felt like it would burst.

Just as I thought—! I’d suspected it, but it still thrilled me like it was brand new.

I was about to shyly thank him, hiding my burning face, when Hyun-woo muttered, “Yeah, it’s a little big…” He slipped the ring back off and tucked it into his pocket.