Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Chapter 123
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He continued, “I’ve been pretty obvious, but she really has no idea. How can she not notice that for the whole year? When Woo Jooin hugs Ham Donnie, I tell him not to do that because he can break her bones. I show Donnie how much I hate how he does that to her. I even went to her house that often, but she never noticed my crush on her. She just thinks that I’m hanging out at her house because I’m free. Isn’t that funny? You know, I once ate ice cream Ham Donnie just had, and Ban Yeo Ryung almost killed me. Still, she is completely unaware of my acts. How can she be so dense?”
“…”
“As I get to learn more about her, I can clearly tell what she likes and hates just by looking at her face. You know how honest her facial expressions are. Do you remember when Jooin told me that I changed so much after my sophomore year in middle school?”
“Yeah.”
Eun Jiho swept his hair back to show his embarrassment.
“I changed because of Ham Donnie. She couldn’t stand me acting cool or talking flauntingly, so I changed myself to speak comfortably. Later, I also found how convenient it was. I admitted that I was trying hard to mimic my father before. What’s funny is that I changed a lot about myself because of her. Still, she thought that I’m doing it for my reputation. Isn’t that so ridiculous?”
After that remark, Eun Jiho heaved a long sigh. Yoo Chun Young couldn’t respond at all. No one would dare say that Eun Jiho was ridiculous when he changed his behavior and the way he talked just to please Ham Donnie, whom he liked.
Yoo Chun Young recalled that Ham Donnie would often tease Eun Jiho by calling him Jekyll and Hyde. In Eun Jiho’s point of view, it would be such a speechless situation.
Eun Jiho swept his hair back as if he was hesitating a bit. He then continued his words.
“So, I thought I should tell my crush on her. I really should do that but… I didn’t know what to do at all. That was the first time I fell for someone so much. Why do I have to care about how I should confess or when the best timing is? Therefore, I was just vaguely thinking about telling her that I had a crush on her…”
“Uh-huh,” Yoo Chun Young answered shortly with a nod. When he lifted his eyes to glance at Eun Jiho, he had his eyes closed in a grimace. His sliver lashes shone under the moonlight. Eun Jiho continued with his eyes closed.
“Do you remember Yoon Sarah?”
“I do,” without adding any comments, Yoo Chun Young replied briefly. Her name was also quite familiar.
Regarding Eun Jiho or the other Four Heavenly Kings’ fame, there were always female followers. Yoon Sarah, however, went a little too far. Wandering around his house, she finally bumped into Eun Jiho over ten times. Every morning, she called Eun Jiho to come outside and gave gifts to him; therefore, it was such a pain in the ass for Eun Jiho to deal with her.
One day, when Kwon Eun Hyung asked Eun Jiho quietly if he was okay, Eun Jiho sighed and said, ‘My father told me to never treat a woman bad… but no matter how many times I tell her in a good way, she never seems to understand. What should I do, for real?’
‘Jesus…’
Since Eun Jiho was young, his father’s words were like a bible to him; therefore, Kwon Eun Hyung couldn’t help but smile ambiguously.
Then one day, she didn’t appear anymore, so everyone just thought that Eun Jiho successfully escaped from her. Later, when others asked, Eun Jiho showed an uncomfortable look on his face without any words.
His eccentricity continued afterward. He began to date a girl and had a relationship for about two months. He then broke up and stayed single for a month then repeated the same process. Eun Jiho did that with three girls. When the other boys asked him about what they did, he said he walked around the streets while holding hands, but nothing special happened other than that. ‘For what reason?’ Yoo Chun Young furrowed his brows.
For a while, it was kind of uncomfortable to mention the overall situation, so no one really asked him about it. As a result, people seemed to forget the entire thing. Now, Eun Jiho began to talk about it directly, which was unbelievable.
Eun Jiho put a smile on his exhausted face.
“Yoon Sarah. The girl followed me in the hallway on that day too. She kept asking me, ‘Why are you not dating me when you’re not seeing anyone.’ So, I replied, ‘I like someone else,’ as always. She then told me to bring that girl in front of her. She added that I couldn’t because I was lying.”
“Uh-huh,” replying to Eun Jiho, Yoo Chun Young tried to recall the exact time as to when this happened. Yoon Sarah almost stalked Eun Jiho a few months after they became seniors in middle school. In this regard, this happened exactly a year ago from this day.
Eun Jiho continued with a smile.
“Then I saw Ham Donnie walking toward us from the other side of the hall. Luckily, she was alone, which could be my only chance to get away from Yoon Sarah, so I grabbed Donnie impulsively. Ham Donnie looked surprised as if asking me why I was suddenly grabbing her when she was about to just say hello and walk away from us. Why is she so… cute… you know?”
Eun Jiho paused and sighed. He then raised his hands and covered his forehead. In a tired voice, he kept on with his story.
“I hugged her shoulders in my arm and told Yoon Sarah, ‘Look. She’s the one I’m into.’ Yoon Sarah then scowled at us for a while then strode away. Ever since then, she didn’t follow me anymore. When she left, Ham Donnie looked at me to ask me what I was doing. Do you know what she said to me after that? The first thing she said was, ‘Hey, do you think it’s okay to use a person as a tool?’ So, I replied, ‘I wasn’t joking. I really like you,’ sincerely.”
“Uh-huh.”
“She kept on telling me not to lie, so I tried to express her a few more times just how much I like her. I want to tell her that I’m not joking around. I’m serious about her.”
Eun Jiho’s eyes were on the other side of the waving ocean. From the sigh mixed with his words, it was evident that saying those words were very difficult for him. He, however, raised his hand to dishevel his hair sometimes out of anxiety but never stopped telling his stories.
“After quite a while, Ham Donnie, at last, looked as if she understood what I meant. You know, her face told me that she realized how serious and sincere I was. She stared at me with her eyes wide open. I waited for her answer, but do you know what she said?”
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘I have to go to the hospital,’ out of the blue.”
Yoo Chun Young frowned while wondering, ‘Hospital? Why?’ Eun Jiho then kept on.
“Dude, can you believe that? She heard my confession then told me that she should go to the hospital immediately. How on earth could someone respond to a love confession like that? I became so puzzled that I thought I should first grab her and tell her not to go. Ham Donnie then tried to say something to me. I was like, now you’re gonna give me a clear answer, but do you know what she told me?”
“…”
“She said that she would go see a doctor check if she has cancer, but she could have a car accident on her way. In that case, she could suffer from amnesia too. If she encountered a loss of memory, then I should tell her to go check if she has cancer. Can you understand that?”
While talking about that time, Eun Jiho’s voice began to heat up. The conversation he had with Donnie that day was still clear and vivid to him as if it was yesterday.
He confessed his love, at last, after having a crush on her for a year and a half; however, the response he heard was so ludicrous that he could never forget. In fact, more outrageous things happened next, which he didn’t tell Yoo Chun Young.
The sunlight from the wide window in the hallway poured into Ham Donnie. Her hair and eyes shone a bright brown color; however, her face turned so pale that she looked like a dead person.
After pausing, she blinked a few times then continued her words.
“Oh, maybe I would not suffer from amnesia after a car accident, but I could be a little sick mentally.”
“What?”
“Cancer cells are also life, living things. I should give my cancer cells the right to live, so I don’t want to receive chemo treatments… if I say something like these, beat me to get the treatment.”
“What!?”
“I’m really going to see a doctor.”
Eun Jiho refused to think further but fetched a deep sigh. Something seemed to be pounding in his head, and he continued while furrowing his forehead.
“Her attitude was so serious that when she turned back to leave, it looked as if she was seriously heading to the hospital right away. If she saw me… as a guy, at least sometimes, she would never say something nonsensical like that. That’s why I yelled and told her that it was just a joke.”
“How did she react?” Yoo Chun Young asked, knitting his brows a little.
Eun Jiho shook his head then showed a face, and one could hardly tell if he was smiling or crying.