Transit Love After Revenge Chapter 21

Haeyoung was doing the dishes.

 

Yoonhyuk leaned against the door and stared at her silently for a moment.

 

Should he say she hadn’t changed?

 

Yeah. Accepting this ridiculous plan had definitely been the right choice. Getting to observe Haeyoung’s every move up close, now that was an opportunity he wasn’t about to miss.

 

Yoonhyuk picked up the few glasses left on the table and brought them to Haeyoung.

 

“Ah! You scared me.”

 

Haeyoung flinched, startled, her rubber-gloved hands frozen mid-motion. Her reaction amused him.

 

“Why are you cleaning up everything?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Why are you doing all the cleaning and washing the dishes?”

 

“Anyone can do it.”

 

“I’m asking why you, of all people, are the one doing it when anyone could.”

 

Haeyoung tilted her head, as if she genuinely didn’t understand the question.

 

‘Such a good person.’

 

To Yoonhyuk, good people only existed in fairytales. Everyone around him either hurt him, cursed him, or resented him.

 

His parents had never told him to be kind. They had taught him to be quick on his feet, to get ahead. Good people were the ones who ended up trampled under others’ feet.

 

In Yoonhyuk’s world, kindness held no value. It barely even existed, until he met Haeyoung.

 

‘People like that really exist? Why?’

 

That was the first thought that crossed young Yoonhyuk’s mind when he met her.

 

A massive bubble of air had surged up, and through it came a small hand reaching out, Seo Haeyoung’s hand.

 

‘Is she crazy? She’s going to die too at this rate. Idiot. How can she throw her life away for someone she just met?’

 

He remembered that moment vividly.

 

Haeyoung clearly didn’t. But that didn’t matter. Whether she remembered or not wasn’t the point.

 

What mattered was that something had cracked in Yoonhyuk’s world after that day. A crack that made him wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had been living his life completely wrong.

 

Since that day, Yoonhyuk ind himself thinking about Haeyoung from time to time.

 

He wondered what would happen to that ridiculously kind girl. What had she turned into? Was she still the same, even now as an adult? Or had she become like everyone else?

 

That’s why every moment with her now fascinated him.

 

When he saw how badly her ex-boyfriend had treated her, he thought maybe she was still the same foolishly kind girl. But then she said she wanted revenge, and now, he was watching the moment she began to change.

 

Still… she hadn’t changed. She was still the same, stupidly kind person doing everything alone.

 

A quiet chuckle escaped him. He wanted to know more.

 

Yoonhyuk rolled up his sleeves and took the cup from Haeyoung’s hand.

 

“That’s enough. I’ll finish it.”

 

“Give it to me. I think I’m starting to understand why you volunteered to do this.”

 

Hm. No, he still didn’t get it.

 

Even after finishing the dishes, he couldn’t understand why she was taking on the work meant for the other cast members who had already gone to bed.

 

It was inefficient, uncalculated, and gained her absolutely nothing. If anything, it might make her come off as the nice one on camera, but how likely was that in a show with scenes like this airing every day? The chance is slim. And honestly, Haeyoung didn’t seem like the type to count on that small possibility anyway.

 

“I’m just doing it. That’s all.”

 

Haeyoung squeezed the dishcloth with practiced hands and wiped the sink until it gleamed like a model house display.

 

“It’s nice for whoever wakes up early tomorrow, right? Starting the day with a clean kitchen.”

 

So what if someone else had a nice morning?

 

Yoonhyuk didn’t argue. Instead, he grabbed her wrist as she turned to leave.

 

“Don’t go. Stay with me.”

 

At that time, there was a rumor that the PD in the editing room hit pause and broke into a dance of joy at Yoonhyuk’s comment, but Haeyoung had no idea.

 

Haeyoung looked at Yoonhyuk quietly.

 

“Okay.”

 

She answered calmly, but inside she was dizzy as she tried to guess why Yoonhyuk was holding her back.

 

Maybe he had something to say. It was the first day, after all. He might want to talk things through, or maybe he needed her help.

 

Haeyoung followed him slowly. Her gaze passed over Yoonhyuk’s straight back and moved to his straight neck.

 

Not a blemish in sight. Masculine yet beautiful. It was just his back, and yet…

 

Yoonhyuk sat down in the middle of the sofa, holding a glass and a water bottle.

 

“Sit down.”

 

He spoke informally out of the blue. Yoonhyuk seemed to know that there were no other guests nearby.

 

Should she sit with him?

 

Actually, after moving in for the first time, a sincere conversation between friends on their first night in the house was the kind of scene the show would love to include.

 

Haeyoung paused for a moment before sitting down. Where should she sit?

 

If she sat on the same sofa, it felt like she was sitting too close, and if she sat on a different sofa, it seemed like she was being too self-conscious.

 

In the end, she sat on the floor. Leaning back against the sofa, she felt satisfied because it seemed like she was at an appropriate distance from Yoonhyuk.

 

Yoonhyuk didn’t say anything. Didn’t he ask her to stay because he had something to say?

 

Haeyoung spoke first.

 

“Is it awkward?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then why aren’t you sleeping?”

 

Yoonhyuk’s lips formed a subtle curve.

 

“I wanted to talk to you.”

 

Yoonhyuk held out a glass of alcohol with ice. She hadn’t planned on drinking any more.

 

When Haeyoung hesitated instead of taking it, Yoonhyuk simply downed the alcohol into his mouth in one gulp and poured water into the glass that was left with only ice.

 

Before she knew it, she was holding a glass of cold water tinged with the scent of alcohol. Haeyoung fidgeted with the damp glass in her hand.

 

The soft clink of ice echoed quietly through the living room. It felt like an entirely different place from the boisterous space they’d been in just moments ago, surrounded by people and chatter.

 

“Didn’t you have something to say?”

 

Unable to bear the silence, she asked first.

 

Yoonhyuk stared straight at her. Did she have something on her face? She hadn’t checked a mirror in a while. Feeling awkward, Haeyoung rubbed at the spots his gaze seemed to linger on.

 

“I do.”

 

Yoonhyuk stepped in and sat down beside her.

 

Even though she had intentionally left space between them, his shoulder bumped against hers. But he didn’t seem to care about the closeness, his gaze remained steady and unflinching.

 

“Why, why…?”

 

“I’m a bit upset.”

 

‘Are you upset? By me? About what?’

 

Haeyoung was caught completely off guard. That was the last thing she had expected him to say.

 

Yoonhyuk tapped the table lightly with his long fingers. The rhythmic sound prickled her nerves.

 

He raised one eyebrow, expressing his discontent without any filter. However, it seemed less fierce than the expressionless face he had made when he was with the people earlier.

 

“I came all this way, but you didn’t seem all that happy to see me.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The conversation right now wasn’t what Haeyoung had asked for. If that’s the case, then Yoonhyuk must be pretending to be his close friend, role-playing for the camera.

 

If that’s how he wanted to play it, Haeyoung had to follow suit. Suppressing her surprise, she forced a calm reply.

 

“What are you talking about? Of course I was glad to see you.”

 

“You were sitting way over there, just watching everything. Flirting with Jo Seongjun.”

 

“Seongjun-nim.”

 

“Right, Seong-jun-nim.”

 

He saw all of that? No wonder he had been staring holes into her earlier.

 

“I just wanted to give you space. You seemed to be getting along well with everyone else. And… I was worried people might figure out we’re friends.”

 

Yoonhyuk narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn’t look convinced at all.

 

Haeyoung brought the glass to her lips again. The cool water grazed her lips.

 

“Really? Who did you go on a date with yesterday?”

 

His slow question somehow felt more like an interrogation. Maybe she was just imagining it.

 

“Seongjun-nim.”

 

“Seongjun-nim again? Did you have a good time?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

She had to say she enjoyed it. For the sake of the show, she still needed to appear as though she was choosing Seongjun.

 

“I always thought Seongjun-nim was really handsome, so I was surprised when the audience picked us instead in the pre-show vote.”

 

“….”

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“You lack aesthetic sense.”

 

Haeyoung widened her eyes in disbelief and shook her head.

 

That was clearly a jab at Seongjun’s looks. You shouldn’t say things like that in front of the cameras.

 

“Y-Yoonhyuk…”

 

She stuttered in surprise. Haeyoung licked her lips with her tongue.

 

“Why, Haeyoung?”

 

Yoonhyuk’s eyes narrowed slightly. It was clear that he was teasing her.

 

“Don’t say things like that. You know I have high standards.”

 

“No. I think your eyes are on the side of your head or something.”

 

Yoonhyuk lifted two fingers and brought them close to Haeyoung’s eyes.

 

When Haeyoung flinched and tightly shut her eyes, he lightly tapped her lids and pulled his hand back.

 

“Be honest. Where did you put your real eyes? Throw away these fake ones.”

 

“What are you even saying? Seongjun-nim is good-looking.”

 

“You’re way too good for him.”