Chapter 31
"......"
I just sit beside Hyunwoo in a daze, watching the drama on TV with him.
- I hope you'll be happy. Just seeing you smile is all I could ever ask for.
It's such a tedious, painfully predictable melodrama.
A morning drama for housewives to enjoy on a weekday morning.
Beyond the screen, a tender soundtrack plays as the two leads share a kiss in a distant two-shot.
'...Does Hyunwoo actually enjoy this?'
Maybe it's because I've never been in love, or had the time for it?
Honestly, I couldn't get invested in the story at all.
Maybe I could've understood if I'd started from episode one, but I hadn't; it began with a reunion scene that looked close to the final episode.
I sneak a glance up at Hyunwoo and see him gazing at the screen in a daze, cheeks flushed, as if he finds it wonderful.
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
Even while watching, Hyunwoo's hand has been stroking my head nonstop for some time.
I couldn't help marveling at how well he managed to multitask.
"Hyunwoo, is this fun?"
In the end, after the drama finished, I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked him outright.
I never imagined Hyunwoo would be interested in dramas about romance, too.
From the way he acts, he seems like a loner who's shut himself off from love...
"...Huh? Oh, there was nothing else on. I don't usually watch TV, either."
"Really?"
And that was all.
I'd asked out of curiosity, but the conversation ended with him saying he'd only watched it to kill time because there wasn't anything else on.
There were plenty of other things he could do besides watch TV.
If anything, I wondered why he'd turned on a TV he hardly ever watched today of all days.
"But... don't you think that kind of thing is nice?"
I lost interest again and turned my head away, starting to zone out, when Hyunwoo said something unbelievable.
Did he just say he liked it?
Hyunwoo, who'd always insisted he wasn't interested whenever I asked if he wanted a girlfriend?
"...Are you sick?"
Had the heat finally made him lose his mind?
Come to think of it, we'd been pressed right against each other for an hour or two with no air conditioner or even a fan.
And, according to Hyunwoo, my body temperature was pretty high.
I could understand if his head had started acting strange in this stifling heat.
"It's not that. Well, I've been into that kind of thing lately. Love stories, fate, stuff like that."
"Did you meet a girl you like?"
In the end, I asked Hyunwoo point-blank.
If he hadn't gone crazy, there was no reason for Hyunwoo to suddenly start talking like someone starved for love.
Unless he'd recently fallen for someone.
"...Mm."
Hyunwoo lowered his head for a moment, and our eyes met.
As if he'd only been looking for somewhere to rest his gaze, he gently closed his eyes and started thinking hard.
Hyunwoo's lips curled into a faint smile, his cheeks turning strangely red.
...Seeing him like this, so relaxed, I found it a little creepy.
What the heck. Give me my friend Hyunwoo back.
He slowly opened his eyes and gave me an awkward smile.
"...Well, yeah?"
Anyone could see that look was saying, 'I'm in love,' and my jaw nearly dropped.
...Hyunwoo has a girl he likes?
If another friend had said he liked someone, I would've teased him first, but because it was Hyunwoo, my thoughts just stopped.
I couldn't picture it. Hyunwoo in love.
'Ugh...'
I briefly imagined some kind of scene, then covered my mouth as if I were about to throw up.
I can't... It'd be really rude to act like this in front of a friend who's being serious.
"She's an old friend. We got back in touch recently. Her style's changed a lot. Should I say she's gotten cute, or mysterious...?"
Hyunwoo suddenly launched into a discussion about his love life, staring right at me.
W-What? Why are you telling me this?
What did I do to deserve having to experience my friend's love story vicariously...
"I always thought she was small, even back then, but now the height difference is on another level compared to before. Should I say it's like looking at a cute kid?"
"...I see."
In the end, I realized there was no way to escape while Hyunwoo's hand had claimed the top of my head, and gave up my futile struggle.
If I listened to a little of his love talk, Hyunwoo would probably come to his senses and stop soon.
He probably tells me these things because he thinks of me like a pet.
I mean, you can talk about your life to a cat while petting it.
"When she smiles, she's like an angel. It's like I can see her soul beyond that lovely, childlike smile...? Some mysterious charm I can't quite explain."
"......"
"And yet I can still see her as a woman, and when I look at her, my heart races. Strong enough to make me realize this is love."
As expected, there may be no more agonizing role than listening to a taciturn friend's love life.
I'd rather just shake off his hand and go lie down in Hyunwoo's room, but...
It's not as if my hair will wear out, and I'd once resolved to do a proper job playing Hyunwoo's pet.
But he's been stroking me for so long. Doesn't his wrist hurt?
"I don't know. She only sees me as a friend, not as a romantic prospect... How do I win her heart?"
"You can tell me that..."
Love advice means nothing to someone like me, who has absolutely no experience with women.
If anything, it feels like a popular guy who's better-looking and in better shape than me is just gloating.
And here I am, already a loser in life, turned into a girl who can't do anything and can't even stand on her own...
For no good reason, I felt spiteful and wanted to say something harsh, even though he was the one who'd saved me.
"At your level, you could just go over, pin her against a wall, bang! Then say you two should date. That'd probably do it."
I gave him a totally half-assed suggestion from some old movie, something that could never actually work.
Hyunwoo listened to me and stared at me, apparently just as dumbfounded.
"...Would that make her heart flutter?"
Actually, rather than being dumbfounded, he seemed to be taking it seriously.
He was definitely good at studying...
But ever since we started living together, all I could see was an idiot...
Though I guess making a kidnapping plan so he could bring me home quickly wasn't exactly normal to begin with.
"How would I know?"
"......Minseo."
When I gave him such an irresponsible answer, Hyunwoo looked at me sternly.
With an expressionless face that still somehow seemed to glare at me, Hyunwoo slowly leaned closer.
When he said my name in that low voice, I felt my heart pound.
I-Is he mad...? Because I answered so casually...?
"Eek..."
Maybe because we'd already been pressed close together on the same sofa, Hyunwoo leaned toward me, and my body slowly tipped sideways.
When Hyunwoo swung a leg up onto the sofa, I felt myself fall back against the cushions as he moved closer.
He was scary... He was saying my name in that low voice and coming closer without a word...
Bam!
As I trembled, thoroughly frightened, Hyunwoo clenched his fist and slammed it down hard right beside my head.
W-What is this...?! You're really scaring me...
Are you really getting this mad just because I said that as a joke?
Hyunwoo is surprisingly serious about love...?!
"Eek... Sorry..."
"...flutter?"
His voice overlapped with mine as I started to apologize, so I missed what Hyunwoo said.
What...? What did he say...?
He wasn't saying he might smash my head in right here, was he...?
"I'm asking if your heart races. How does it feel?"
"...Huh?"
"I did what you told me—cornered you, slammed my fist against the wall, then confessed. I tried it once. Does it make your heart race?"
In the end, I was relieved when I realized I'd been the test subject.
At least I'd figured out Hyunwoo wasn't angry at me or trying to hit me.
But, well... normally...
"I don't think experimenting on another guy means anything..."
"You're a girl now. You never know. Maybe your heart's become a girl's, too."
"...No. Surprisingly, it's the same."
"......"
Even after I'd said that much, Hyunwoo still didn't move aside, as if he couldn't accept it.
I couldn't handle facing him from this close, so I looked away.
No, couldn't he give up already...? He'd gone far enough.
"So, what about you? I need to hear it. Did your heart flutter? Does it feel like it's beating faster?"
Hyunwoo's determination to collect my data and save it as a case study was starting to look like madness.
The utterly ridiculous idea that, since my body was a woman's, he'd categorize my reaction as a woman's response.
Though that probably wouldn't work at all with the girl Hyunwoo liked.
"It did make my heart race..."
"...!"
"Not because I was excited, but because I was scared..."
"......"
Hyunwoo's expression changed dramatically with every word I said.
It was the first time I'd seen him act like this, too, so it was pretty fascinating.
"To begin with, I'm not a woman, so I don't count as data... Don't be too disappointed..."
"So I need a different approach... Coming on too strong is scary, huh..."
"...Are you even listening?"
As if he hadn't heard my last words at all, Hyunwoo used my reaction to think up a new strategy, crossing the wall-pinning approach off his list.
Is it okay to just casually eliminate a candidate like that...?
Based on one reaction from a guy his own age?
"H-Hyunwoo... Could you move away for a second?"
I wish he'd at least spare my poor, timid heart, having to face Hyunwoo from this close for so long.
"...A way she'd like... A way to win her over..."
"Hey, Lee Hyunwoo...!"
Even as time went by, he really did live life however he pleased.