BTNF 16🔐

Chapter 16 …

“Sweet.”

If Woo-joo’s eyes hadn’t gone wide like a startled rabbit and her face hadn’t turned the color of an exploding tomato at his sudden action, Haebeom would never have realized what he’d just done.

The two of them froze there, facing each other awkwardly.

Haebeom, thumb still hovering near his lips.
Woo-joo, blushing furiously like a ripe tomato.

Myaam. Myaam.

Only the sound of cicadas filled their ears as the moment stretched on—until a faint laugh slipped from Haebeom’s mouth.

He had been startled by his own behavior as well, but seeing Woo-joo even more flustered than he was made a playful spark rise in him.

“Your face is red. You don’t have a fever, do you?”

When he leaned in close enough that their foreheads could nearly touch, Woo-joo jumped back like a startled cat.

“W-why are you suddenly coming so close! I almost spilled the milk!”

“Why can’t I get close? Why are you so surprised?”

Woo-joo seemed utterly thrown off, unused to the normally easygoing Haebeom acting like this, and quickly turned toward the house.

“Woo-joo.”

Haebeom caught her before she could escape.

“There are tons of girls who say they like me.”

Woo-joo let out a big sigh, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“You’re bragging about being popular right now?”

“I’m just saying you shouldn’t bother thinking about them one by one. There are too many to count.”

“Tch. Good for you.”

At her snippy reply, Haebeom plopped his hand on the crown of her head and ruffled it vigorously. Woo-joo shrieked and scurried away.

“Hey! Don’t do that! I’m gonna spill the milk!”

She yelled, but this time there was laughter in her voice. Her crescent-moon eyes were absolutely beautiful.

“See you tomorrow.”

Haebeom raised his right hand toward her.

He had managed to see her smile in the end. That alone was enough.

It was enough strength to last him until tomorrow.

jj0

The bowling alley they frequented wasn’t exactly high-end.

Haebeom had suggested going to a newer place with better facilities, but Woo-joo, whose allowance was limited, insisted on this older, worn-down alley.

Still, despite its age, it was close to her house and usually not very crowded—that much was nice.

But there was one thing even Woo-joo had a hard time putting up with: the faucet in the women’s restroom sink never behaved properly.

Today was no different.

The trickling water suddenly blasted out full force, splashing up to her chest. Her sleeves, her arms, even her chin dripped with water.

“Oh, come on. I’m soaked…”

Her wet shirt clung to her, outlining every curve underneath.

Of all days, why did she wear a white T-shirt with a gray bra.

And she hadn’t brought anything to wear over it—it was summer, after all. Truly the worst luck.

“Well… the air conditioner will dry it fast enough.”

At least the lighting in here was dim.

Woo-joo grabbed a paper towel and blotted her chest anxiously. The clingy, cold sensation of wet fabric on skin was incredibly unpleasant.

But when she returned, Haebeom’s reaction was noticeably startled. Woo-joo had never seen the always-calm Haebeom make a face like that, so she froze, too.

“You… you didn’t come back like that, did you?”

“Why?”

She glanced down, wondering if her underwear really was visible, but the lighting was too dark to tell.

Haebeom just stood there blankly like someone whose soul had fled. Even a ghost wouldn’t make him look that stunned.

‘Is the lighting… brighter to him?’

She thought she saw his ears turning red.

But she quickly dismissed the possibility.
Ji Haebeom was the kind of person who wouldn’t blush even if someone confessed to him in front of the entire school.

Then it happened.

“Yoo Woo-joo, are you stupid?”

Suddenly, Haebeom exploded, jumping to his feet.

“The restroom isn’t even close! And you walked all the way back like that? Are you out of your mind?”

It was the first time she’d ever seen him so agitated, so emotional—normally he was much more mature than their peers.

Already wet, uncomfortable, and now embarrassed, Woo-joo felt her frustration boil over.

“Do I deserve to be yelled at just because my shirt got wet? Why are you mad at me? Is it my fault the faucet is broken? I told the owner a hundred times but he never fixes it!”

“It’s obviously—!”

But Haebeom, overflowing with words he wanted to say, couldn’t seem to speak any of them. His mouth just opened and closed soundlessly.

Then, as if giving up on arguing, he sighed and began taking off the shirt he wore layered over his T-shirt.

He draped the large short-sleeved shirt around her small shoulders. A cool, clean scent swept past her nose as he covered her damp chest.

“Did you run into anyone on the way here?”

“…Huh? No.”

“Good. Then it’s fine.”

Haebeom stepped close, bending down—close enough that, if not for the thumping music rattling through the bowling alley, they might have heard each other’s breathing.

Without her noticing, he started fastening the buttons from the bottom upward with a surprisingly serious expression.

“If you stand under the AC while wet, you’ll catch a cold. Wear it.”

“But then your shirt will get wet…”

“I don’t care.”

He seemed entirely focused on shielding her body from sight.

But the real problem was something else—Haebeom’s large frame was hunched close as he buttoned the shirt, his hands gradually approaching her chest.

Her heart started pounding uncontrollably.
The closer his hands came, the hotter her face burned.

The shirt was big enough that his hands wouldn’t touch her… but she kept shrinking back nervously anyway. Maybe he noticed.

Haebeom suddenly paused.

His dark eyes lifted to meet hers.

“Do you want to do it?”

If she tried fastening the buttons herself, her trembling fingers would give her away.

“…No.”

So Haebeom resumed quietly and finished buttoning the shirt all the way to the collar.

“There. I’m going to bowl now.”

With that, as if nothing had happened, he picked out a ball and turned away.

Woo-joo, swallowed up in his oversized shirt like a kid wearing a blanket, watched him score a strike.

Something was off today.

Her fingers kept sweating inside the bowling ball holes.
Her chest felt ticklish.
And she couldn’t bring herself to look straight at Ji Haebeom’s ridiculously handsome face—the same face all the girls worshipped.

Her proud declaration that she’d play until dinner meant nothing. She barely finished one game before heading home early.

That day was the start.

The beginning of Woo-joo’s heart reacting to Haebeom again.

A little while later, she heard the faucet had finally been repaired, but Woo-joo never set foot in that bowling alley again.

jj0

Woo-joo clocked in at work looking even more exhausted than usual.

“Right. That’s exactly why I’m saying it.”

What Haebeom told her in the alley the previous night replayed in her head, keeping her from getting any proper sleep.

“Because you’re Yoo Woo-joo.”

No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she still couldn’t figure out what he meant.

She already knew, twelve years ago, that Haebeom didn’t like her—not that way. There were no possibilities there.

‘And of all times, Mom just had to show up.’

But even if her mom hadn’t interrupted, would she have been able to ask?

“Haa…”

Ever since Haebeom appeared again, not a single day had passed peacefully.

She felt like she had gone back to her teenage self, painfully aware of him every second of the day. She felt stupid.

Shaking her head, Woo-joo headed straight to the break room and made herself a coffee.

While the smell of it filled the room, she grabbed a handful of chocolate snacks.

Today, that alone wouldn’t be enough. She grabbed some caramels, too, stuffing them into her pocket.

“You a squirrel? Why are you storing so much?”

A voice spoke behind her.

She turned to see Kyung-soo entering, coat still on.

“Oh, Assistant Manager Gu.”

“With that expression, I can’t even bring myself to say ‘good morning.’”

“You can say it.”

“No. It’s not a good morning for me either.”

“Why? The kids misbehaving?”

Kyung-soo, who had young children in their peak troublemaking years, often joked that coming to work was the only rest he got.

Woo-joo inserted a coffee capsule for him and asked. He grabbed a chocolate snack beside her with a “thanks.”

“My kids don’t even include me enough to misbehave for me.”

“Aw. Did you fight with your wife again? I told you, just let her win.”

But Kyung-soo only stared at her with a strange expression, saying nothing.

“…Manager Yoo, did you go to bed early last night?”