Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 47.2

It was on Yoo-hwa’s first day at work that he became interested in her.

The slender physique and delicately beautiful features, the serene, emotionless expression that contrasted with that, and the calm voice that occasionally replied. She didn’t speak easily, and the fact that she thought about it carefully when saying something was also good.

When he thought that he liked her, he started falling for her even faster. He voluntarily brought down the boxes in order to see Yoo-hwa, deliberately killed time there, and always bought snacks for Yoo-hwa and Yi-seul too. The other employees said he didn’t have to look after Yoo-hwa and Yi-seul too, but Dong-min only smiled and didn’t answer.

He couldn’t say that he was buying snacks for the office staff so that he could give them to Yoo-hwa and Yi-seul.

He felt good just from walking together with her right now, and his steps became lighter. Dong-min tried to hold back and turned his eyes to the side.

Yoo-hwa was silently looking ahead. She didn’t really talk to him, but she wasn’t pushing him away either, so that was a good thing.

Her brown eyes were shining.

The brown eyes under the long eyelashes caught his attention. He glanced at the lips that were closed in a straight line and at the steps she took without making a single noise.

“If you have anything to say, please do so.”

Don’t look at me like that.

He could hear the words she didn’t even say.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

When he realized that Yoo-hwa was uncomfortable, Dong-min urgently apologized.

“Are you going to continue following me?”

It was at the entrance of the redevelopment neighborhood, after walking for about 30 minutes, that Yoo-hwa stopped Dong-min. There was a breeze at the entrance of the alley, as if a line had been drawn. Yoo-hwa asked with her back to the gray world where all the colors had disappeared.

“My house is this way, too.”

Dong-min waved his hands as if telling her not to misunderstand.

“Mr. Dong-min, you live in a different neighborhood.”

Yoo-hwa said, placing her hands inside the pockets of her thick padded jacket.

“… Haha, that… huh? How do you know where I live?”

Dong-min, who was bewildered by the fact that she had caught his small lie, asked in surprise. They hadn’t even spoken properly with one another, but she knew where he lived? Wondering if she was interested in him, Dong-min’s face brightened.

“I heard from Yi-seul today. She said she lives in the same neighborhood.”

She said that she thought it was weird because Dong-min lives in a nice apartment in that neighborhood and has a good car despite being young, so he must be from a rich family. She had heard it more than five times, so she couldn’t help but remember it.

“Ahh.”

Dong-min looked disappointed.

“Then you must have known that I was lying from the beginning.”

“Yes.”

“Ah… This is a little embarrassing.”

“…”

“You must have been scared.”

Dong-min looked embarrassed.

“A little.”

“But you didn’t say anything until now.”

“You could have had business elsewhere, or you could live in a different house from your family.”

So she let it go. No, actually, she didn’t want to care about whether he followed her or not because she was tired. It was a street where people walked around anyway, and he didn’t look like someone who would do something bad. In Yoo-hwa’s eyes, who guessed roughly just from looking at people, Dong-min grew up peacefully in a wealthy family since he was a child and was full of love. Based on that stable background, he became a young man with an upright personality. That was why he was fearless and seemed completely unaware of the scariness of the words suffering or adversity.

“Then… aren’t you curious? About why I am following you?”

“…”

She wasn’t curious. She thought that if she acted indifferently, he would stop following her.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to Miss Yoo-hwa about this and that.”

Dong-min, who frankly confessed even though she didn’t ask, smiled awkwardly.

“Since we work on different floors, I never see you.”

Was it only the floors they worked on that were different? It seemed that she had nothing in common with Dong-min, to the point that it was even more difficult to find a common aspect. The moment Yoo-hwa was thinking about whether to say this, Dong-min continued as if he were telling her a great secret.

“And this neighborhood is dangerous nowadays. I heard from an employee whose house is in that direction that there are people who he doesn’t know if they’re gangsters or scoundrels, so I did it.”

“…”

“Probably because of the redevelopment, right? They usually hire people like that if things don’t go smoothly.”

“…”

“It’s fine during the day, it’s dangerous at night. If you don’t mind, I’ll take you home today. Of course, you’ll feel burdened. Since we don’t see each other often. But it got dark, and I was worried. Rest assured that I have no other thoughts. Of course, since I meant well, I’d be happy if you gave me extra points.”

Yoo-hwa, who was looking at Dong-min who was smiling nicely, turned her head and looked at the road.

She wanted to say that although he talked like he was doing a great job, the gangsters or scoundrels that walked around on the street were not that big of a deal.

Since she lived next to that kind of person.

Above all, she vaguely expected that the gangsters or scoundrels that often appeared in the neighborhood these days were sent by him.

Since it was something she didn’t have to tell him, Yoo-hwa looked at Dong-min to roughly make something up.

Dong-min’s eyes were wide open. But his gaze was not directed at Yoo-hwa, but at the deep darkness beyond her shoulders. She didn’t hear any footsteps because of the wind, but the person who could approach…

The following thought was suddenly cut off.