“I heard you’ve been going to the hospital. Is fast food like pizza okay? There’s a Korean diner next door, should we go there instead?”

 

Yiseo had brought Dowon to a decent-looking pizza place near the school, but the moment she saw the menu, she felt a bit awkward and asked. 

 

Just looking at him, he didn’t seem sick at all—in fact, he looked overly sturdy, so she’d forgotten.

 

“No. You don’t have to get up. I like pizza.”

 

Dowon stopped Yiseo, who was about to stand up from across the table.

 

“The illness was completely cured back in middle school. Going to the hospital now is just for regular check-ups.”

 

“I heard you were hospitalized a few times just last year.”

 

“That was because of growing pains. I didn’t grow until middle school, then grew all at once.”

 

Come to think of it, you’d probably have to stretch that little kid from the photo almost twice as tall to get this size.

 

Yiseo muttered without thinking.

 

“You really did grow a lot….”

 

“Did I? Did I grow too much? Is being tall not good?”

 

“No. Why would it not be good? Growing is great. I’m on the taller side among girls, but there aren’t many people I have to look up to like I do with you, so it’s just fascinating.”

 

“…You’re on the taller side, noona?”

 

Yiseo was looking down at the menu and didn’t notice the subtly delayed response, so she just replied.

 

“Yeah. I’m almost 170.”

 

“You don’t look it. You seem tiny….”

 

Yiseo looked up at Dowon’s murmur, which was quiet enough not to be heard.

 

“Huh? What did you say?”

 

Dowon shook his head and leaned toward Yiseo.

 

“No. Have you chosen the menu?”

 

“You should pick. This, this, and these are good here. Anything you want from these?”

 

Dowon grabbed Yiseo’s hand that was holding the menu open and pulled it away. Then he brought the menu toward himself and asked back.

 

“What about you, noona?”

 

Yiseo lowered the hand Dowon had grabbed under the table. 

 

It was nothing big, but it kept feeling strange.

 

Did he really need to grab it and pull it away? Couldn’t he just ask for it, or pull the menu over?

 

Is he usually this touchy-feely?

 

“My dad gave me his card and told me to eat something delicious. Can’t we just order all three?”

 

“No way. That’ll leave way too much. If you’re okay with anything, how about this one?”

 

Yiseo casually rubbed the hand Dowon had grabbed over her jeans, pretending to be calm. 

 

Even after wiping it, it felt like something lingered on her hand.

 

“I’m good with it.”

 

While waiting for the pizza to come out after ordering, Yiseo chattered about meaningless small talk. 

 

Honestly, it was awkward. She had no idea what topic to pick with this ambiguous relationship where they wouldn’t see each other again, so all she could say was something like the weather.

 

At least Yiseo had some social experience, but how uncomfortable must this kid feel with a woman seven years older than him?

 

…Though for that, he did have quite a few questions.

 

“So, noona, the first two letters of your name are the same? Lee-Yiseo?”

 

“Huh? Yeah. That’s right. Mom wanted to make it one syllable, but Dad opposed it…. So Mom still only calls me Seoya to this day. She’s totally stubborn, right?”

 

“Why? Yiseo is pretty, but Seoya is pretty too.”

 

This kid says things that are too embarrassingly flattering.

 

Yiseo paused for a moment and then smiled, saying thank you. 

 

Fortunately, the food came out just then, so she didn’t have to continue the conversation. 

 

Yiseo wanted to feed Dowon something as quickly as possible and leave. 

 

Of course, the twenty-year-old in front of her was kind and handsome, unlike his first impression, but for some reason, the more time they spent together, the more uncomfortable it felt.

 

How to put it, it kept… though it shouldn’t happen, it kept feeling like he was hitting on her. 

 

And in a somewhat creepy way.

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

“Ah, okay….”

 

Yiseo froze when he grabbed her hand that was holding the pizza cutter and took the cutter from Dowon’s hand.

 

It was just natural contact to take the item, but Yiseo couldn’t shake the strange feeling. 

 

It was just natural contact, so why did it feel like she was being touched?

 

Is it because the kid is handsome that even small things make her conscious like this?

 

Even though he’s just a kid?

 

Yiseo looked at Dowon with a somewhat uneasy feeling. When their eyes met, Dowon raised the corner of his mouth. 

 

The awkward way only his mouth curved up while his eyes didn’t smile didn’t seem like he was laughing because being with Yiseo was fun.

 

‘He just seems uncomfortable.’

 

Am I the problem after all? Is it because I haven’t dated in too long?

 

🦋

 

“You eat pretty slowly.”

 

That was what Yiseo said when they finished eating and were about to get up. 

 

Dowon just nodded. 

 

In fact, he didn’t even know what was going into his mouth. He had just been moving slowly on purpose because the woman sitting in front of him seemed eager to get up quickly.

 

“Shall we go now? The professor probably finished his meal and came back.”

 

Yiseo’s expression brightened as she stood up. 

 

As if she were happy to escape this uncomfortable situation.

 

Dowon stood up following Yiseo. After leaving the pizza place, Yiseo’s now lighter steps quickened. Dowon deliberately slowed his pace and pointed to a nearby café.

 

“Don’t you want some coffee?”

 

“Ah. Do you want to drink coffee?”

 

It was obvious that she thought it wouldn’t take very long at all. 

 

In fact, Yiseo’s attitude had been exactly the same since the moment they met in front of her father earlier.

 

A slightly uncomfortable child. 

 

Treat her moderately kindly and send her off quickly.

 

That thought was clearly readable beyond her smiling face.

 

Of course, Dowon had no intention of disappearing from Yiseo’s sight as ‘quickly’ as she thought. 

 

Because the true nature he had barely accepted while suffering from terrible self-loathing over the past weekend was holding him back.

 

“This café is fine. What do you want to eat?”

 

As he followed Yiseo’s back with his eyes as she opened the door and entered the café, Dowon admitted it.

 

He wanted Yiseo.

 

It wasn’t the fresh romantic feelings that peers have, nor the passionate love that only appears in dramas. 

 

At least, that’s how Dowon judged it.

 

The emotion of wanting to tie her beside him by breaking her limbs, ignoring the other person’s personality and will, was the most intense and the most unethical among the feelings Dowon had ever felt.

 

Dowon didn’t want to fall that far.

 

That’s why he had smiled and chatted in front of this woman while doing things he hadn’t even done….

 

“Noona, shall we eat here?”

 

“Huh? No need? Wouldn’t it be better to take it to go?”

 

Every time he saw Yiseo’s attitude of wanting to part with Dowon as quickly as possible, his patience was rapidly wearing thin.

 

“Do you want to eat a cake too? Shall I pack it? I…”

 

Before Yiseo could even finish ordering, the part-time worker at the counter spoke quickly first.

 

“If you’re going to eat here, please check if there are seats inside the store first.”

 

“It’s okay. We’ll take it out. One warm Americano, and Dowon, what do you want to eat?”

 

Dowon grabbed Yiseo’s arm. 

 

Yiseo flinched.

 

He found it somewhat fascinating that Yiseo reacted sensitively to his touch. Even though he didn’t know what she was thinking in her head.

 

“Can’t we eat here?”

 

Dowon deliberately pulled Yiseo’s arm that he was holding. 

 

The body that initially came easily soon stopped stiffly, close enough to almost fall into his arms.

 

“Uh? Ah…”

 

Dowon quickly pulled the flustered Yiseo away from the counter, pushed her back with his hand, and whispered.

 

“If noona finds a seat, I’ll order and come.”

 

This time, Dowon’s trick worked again.

 

Dowon consciously raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at Yiseo, who had eventually settled at a café table. 

 

He placed the tray down and sat across from Yiseo.

 

“Did you wait long?”

 

“No, you came quickly…”

 

Yiseo looked down at the warm Americano in a mug that couldn’t be taken outside and bit her lip uncomfortably, and Dowon quietly stored that sight in his mind as well.

 

“What did you order?”

 

Yiseo’s discomfort was fleeting. She spoke again so that Dowon wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, and Dowon raised the corners of his mouth. 

 

To see Yiseo awkwardly smiling back at him.

 

“I don’t know. It’s a new menu item, so I tried it. Noona, would you like to try some too?”

 

When he deliberately offered one of the two straws he had brought, Yiseo took a sip of Dowon’s drink through the straw and frowned.

 

“This, is it okay for you? It tastes really weird. What’s the menu name?”

 

Yiseo, who immediately removed the straw from her mouth, rummaged through the receipt.

 

“Avocado coffee? What kind of thing is this? Should I order something else? They keep challenging with unusual stuff because it sells well. Coffee just needs to taste good, why do this?”