Paranoid Love Affair

“Yoon-woo, where are you going now?”

Hye-rim asked me as soon as the modern business class was over.

“I am going to the library. We still have a lot of time until dinner.….”

Yoon-woo’s voice trembled because he was afraid that Hye-rim would pressurise him again.

“I see.”

Fortunately, Hye-rim was packing quietly without saying much.

She must have felt very bad about me refusing her favor at lunch with sloppy excuses.

I didn’t sleep and agonized throughout the class, but that was the only answer.

Yoon-woo’s excuse lost its credibility because the hospital was near to university.

Hye-rim said she was going to eat dumplings with Ji-eun. So, I assumed it was right for her to talk for a long time while drinking coffee after eating, and then come to the management class later. That’s why I thought she would be late to class so I came early.

“Then let’s go, Yoon-woo.”

“Huh? Where?”

“I heard you’re going to the library.”

“Huh…? Are you coming with me?”

“I can’t?”

“No, of course you can. But, uh… I’m going to go to the library at the corner of the building.”

“So?”

“It’s a little far from your house, right?”

“Do you not like it if I come with you?”

“Oh, no, not at all. I just thought Hye-rim would have a hard time.…. ”

“It’s not hard at all, so let’s go.”

Yoon-woo thought that he should just shut up and talk less today because missiles kept flying from unforeseen places.

Yoon-woo and Hye-rim arrived at the library which had a piano room and not a reading room.

The piano room had desks and chairs in an open space with a grand piano in the middle, so that anyone could play the piano.

Since they came to the library together anyway, they decided to go to a piano room where they could speak and talk to each other to solve the problems of this week’s economics class project.

“Oh, Yoon-woo’s solution is more understandable. Should I do it again…?”

“I think your answer and explanation is also correct. Let’s move on.”

“But I don’t think I’ll get extra points.”

“I don’t think you have to go after it on purpose. It’s not that the score is so important.”

“Ah, okay.”

It was another easy question for those who knew the subject, so Yoon-woo and Hye-rim reviewed it quickly and easily. After that, they were taking out their own books, reading their own subjects.

A couple came to the piano and sat shoulder to shoulder.

The woman played the piano beautifully. Since she majored in piano, there was no awkwardness in her music and she continued to play classical songs one after another.

In fact, the reason why Yoon-woo didn’t come here often was because he could only play ordinary songs and his piano skills were completely random.

In the past, I came without much thought because there were no people, but it was difficult to concentrate on the book because of the mistakes that some piano major students made while practicing , so I thought I shouldn’t come again.

There were very few great performers like today.

Hye-rim also took her eyes off the book and looked at the piano for a long time, as if she liked the sound of music.

It looked good up to this point. After the performance, the woman kissed the man on the cheek and turned her head to another direction and rubbed her cheeks as if she was shy.

When she came in, I wondered if she’d seen me and Hye-rim here.

Although people say that that is a form of greeting each other overseas, what they did is a bit inappropriate to do in public, and it was more like lovers’ affection.

After a while, the woman who barely stopped rubbing her cheeks told the man to play the piano keys one by one.

The man really played whatever he wanted, regardless of the black and white keys, but the woman strangely continued to play the accompaniment that matched his notes, turning the music that the man played randomly into a beautiful tune.

A man who admires a woman in wonder, a woman who looks at a man like that with pleasure…….

Then, the man’s hand wrapped around the woman’s waist and the woman stroked the man’s thigh, and their faces got closer.

Hot, passionate eyes looking at each other, and then…the physical affection between those two grew to a point where Yoon-woo couldn’t look at them anymore.

“I can do that, too.”

Hye-rim said.

When their tongues were tangling with each other, she spoke. I wonder what she was talking about.

I think she was not talking about the kiss but piano.

“Huh? Uh…… Hye-rim is amazing. You can play the piano, too.”

“Do you want to go and try?”

In the beginning, I listened to the performance with admiration, but I was embarrassed because it was hard to see the increasing physical affection.

If it wasn’t for Yoon-woo and Hye-rim, they wouldn’t have just stopped at the kiss.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder with Hye-rim on the piano right there after seeing that scene…….

“Uh…… I………That’s what I’ve just seen, so I’m embarrassed to sit there.….”

“Well, you always refuse everything that I say.”

“Huh? Hye-rim?”

Yoon-woo’s face was burning with embarrassment.

But looking at Hye-rim’s lips that went up smoothly, fortunately, this must have been a joke.

Afterwards, they were able to spend time focusing on their studies without any particular argument.

“Yoon-woo, let’s go eat now”.

The time had finally come. Since Hye-rim’s persuasion itself became irresistible, Yoon-woo was going to ask her to eat something as cheap and light as possible.

First, ask Hye-rim if she has a place in mind, and Hye-rim will ask Yoon-woo’s opinion, so wouldn’t it be appropriate to answer it like a hamburger?

Then, I will feel less pressure to repay her later. He asked Hyerim with that thought.

“Hye-rim, where are we eating?”

“I already made a reservation.”

“Huh? When?”

“I went out for a while after watching the couple play the piano.”

“Oh my… Where did you make the reservation?”

“Come and see.”

Where the hell is it? It should be a place where the amount of money is suitable for me to repay you.

But a restaurant that gets reservations in this neighborhood, is there such a place?

Unfortunately, all hamburger restaurants will be excluded.

And since it’s crowded everywhere in the evening, they won’t accept reservations unless it’s a group, but if it wasn’t too expensive.

Yoon-woo’s footsteps following Hye-rim were heavy.

“Hye-rim… This is…Are we really going there?”

“Yes, let’s go in.”

“Hye-rim, I have a really small appetite. It would be a waste to take me to places like this. Even if I go to eat something like a school lunch box…….”

“Yoon-woo?”

“Uh, huh?”

“If you don’t come in, I will think you don’t like me, ok?”

“Hye-rim…………….”

In the end, Yoon-woo had no choice but to follow Hye-rim inside because he could not overcome her fierce gaze.

Hye-rim made reservation at Tour de Gusto.

It was an expensive restaurant in the university district, but students couldn’t get in easily.

“No… The cheapest menu is 18,000 won?”

It was more expensive than Yoon-woo’s four meals combined. I was going to order the cheapest menu anyway, but my lips were falling off at every item in the menu because it was much more expensive than I thought.

But if I try to starve for a few days and save some money…….

“Yoon-woo, why are you looking at the menu like that? Did you not know that I already placed the order when we came in?”

“Uh? Already did it?”

“Huh. Even if I asked Yoon-woo to pick it, I thought you would pick the cheapest dish anyway, so I made the decision on my own.”

“What did you order?”

“Oh, would you like a bottle of wine too?”

She ignored Yoon-woo. Looking at the menu, the cheapest wine is 80,000 won.

“… … Hye-rim, isn’t it Monday? Do you drink on Monday?”

“Yoon-woo, do you have a first period tomorrow?”

“Yes… … uh”

It wasn’t true, but I couldn’t help it. This is a serious matter to lie about.

“Then there is nothing we can do. We will have wine next time we come to eat.”

Next? There was no way Yoon-woo sas coming back to this place ever again in his life.

A salad topped with yuzu dressing was served, and after a while, the main dish was brought in.

Yoon-woo chewed the salad a little, but he didn’t know if it was going through his mouth or his nose.

“I got a sirloin steak with truffle flavor.”

‘What kind of steak?’

“Tell me if you need anything else,okay?”

“No… … this is enough… … .”

It was a sufficient amount for Yoon-woo, who had a small appetite.

Rather, it seemed that it was not enough for Hye-rim.

While slicing the meat, I glanced at the menu and found that the price was 38,000 won, the most expensive dinner menu in the restaurant.

This was not a menu created with the assumption that students would come here to eat.

“No matter how much I think about it, Yoon-woo should eat more meat. How can an adult man live on only salad and tuna?”

“I bought a lot of it because it had a high percentage of lean meat and protein, so if I eat it, I will be more full than you think.”

“Aren’t you tired of eating that every day?”

“I like canned tuna, so that’s okay.”

Of course, I’m tired.

However, Yoon-woo was eating as if he was eating only to live.

Eating for pleasure is permitted to only those who can afford it to some extent.

Such a pleasure is not something that a beggar like Yoon-woo should consider having.

However, the 38,000 won steak that went into Yoon-woo’s mouth now clearly exceeded the level of extravagance that was allowed for Yun-woo.

But not eating this meat was impossible under the current circumstances.

Thinking that he was going to pretend, Hye-rim asked when Yoon-woo completed more than half of the meat.

“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”

“Huh. It’s very tasty. I’m eating something so delicious for the first time. Thank you, Hye-rim.”

One meal costs 38,000 won, and you have to tell it’s delicious even if the meat tastes like mint chocolate.

Of course, the meat was really good. But, it was a waste.

Even with a much cheaper food, I would have been able to create the same sentiment within myself.

“Really? Heh, I’m glad.”

“Still… … No matter what I think about it, this place is too expensive for me.”

“Don’t start saying it’s a burden and what not, okay?”

That’s right. It was unbearably burdensome.

It is burdensome to eat with Hye-rim, and it is burdensome to eat such an expensive meal, and now both scenarios were taking place at the same time.

Hye-rim’s brow frowned as it was expected what would come out of Yoon-woo’s mouth.

Still, this shouldn’t happen again.

For the remaining three years, the most important thing for Yoon-woo is a calm mind, and there is no need for pleasure in eating.

“Honestly, yes. Hye-rim. It’s not because I really hate you. Which man in the world could hate you?”

“A man like Yun-woo.”

“I told you I don’t… … .”

“Then why do you keep avoiding me? Ji-eun unnie also bought Yoon-woo alcohol, showed you a movie, and even cooked for you, but why are you avoiding going out with me for a meal or anything?”

“I know that. I just need to pay back about 15,000 won to Ji-eun noona.”

At a chicken restaurant, roughly 10,000 won per person and 10,000 won for a movie ticket, Yoon-woo bought an Oreo Shake, so I thought it would be about that much.

Curry made by Ji-eun noona herself… … . I didn’t know how to do the calculation, so it was on hold in my head.

“Uh… … Have you been counting it that far? Ji-eun unnie forgets all those things after a day, do you know?”

“Huh? If I don’t calculate and repay her, I won’t be able to live comfortably.”

Otherwise, it seemed that the other party would immediately curse and criticize him at any moment.

Just like the girls who continued to gossip about Yoon-woo since I didn’t return the chocolate at White Day in high school.

“Because of assignments and classes, Hye-rim was able to see Ji-eun more often than me, weren’t you? But every time you took me to eat with Ji-eun, it became difficult for me to repay her, and I will look pathetic if I can’t even repay her. I won’t be able to hold my head up if that happens. And, this meal… … .”

“I don’t think Yoon-woo is pathetic at all! So for me it’s just… … It’s okay to take it comfortably without thinking about repaying as if a knife is chasing behind you. I’m just giving because I want to give, so don’t worry… … .”

“What should I do? I’m worried… … While eating this delicious meal, this steak, which has exceeded my budget, all I could think about was how to pay it back.”

“Is it necessary to give and take money from each other for meals in such a way that would make me feel uncomfortable? That’s just a deal, right? I didn’t come to lend money to Yoon-woo so that you could repay me. I’m really just here to feed you meat. To see you enjoy eating this delicious meat.”

“Thank you, Hye-rim. Really, thank you for saying that. But I’ve been living like this all this time, and all of a sudden, I can’t change the way I have been living.”

Everything in the world is a transaction.

Yoon-woo knew, there was no favor that does not involve debt.

Even so, Yoon-woo did not believe Hye-rim who said that.

Even if Yoon-woo accepts other people’s favors as Hye-rim said, he will doubt Hye-rim’s favor until the very end.

Hye-rim’s kindness seemed too sweet.

A beautiful college classmate who suddenly appeared wanted to do him a favor without asking him for anything in return.

This was like an oasis suddenly appearing in the middle of an endlessly wide and barren desert.

That is to say, it is a hallucination.

“Then what do I do? I want to eat together with Yoon-woo, and I want to play together on the weekend. If Yoon-woo has no money, you eat salad alone at home. What should I do?”

“I’m grateful for your thoughts, but instead of doing something expensive like this, call me every now and then whenever you think of things like climbing a mountain or going to the gym. It’s not that I hate you, so if it’s like that, I can come with you.”

I don’t know on what kind of a whim Hye-rim is trying to get along with me, but I didn’t have the mental or financial space to hang out with Hye-rim like that.

You can do that with other cheerful and rich friends who fit your class.

It’s going to be difficult to keep up with the time in the gym anyway, and wouldn’t it be bothersome to go hiking?

Whether it’s bowling or climbing, there are many other interesting things in the world as long as you have money.

If Hye-rim goes back to her bright and colorful world after pretending a few times to fit in with a stubborn beggar like me, I will be able to fall into a heavy and comfortable depression while repeating, ‘Of course, that’s it.’

“No! I don’t like it at all… … . Wait? Wait a minute.”

“Uh?”

“So Yoon-woo, you’re okay with anything as long as it doesn’t cost money, right?”

“Anything? Maybe,yes?”

“Then, can we just go to your apartment and eat together?”

What the hell is Hye-rim talking about now?

“Uh… … ? No, my apartment is very small. It’s a one-room only in the name, it’s just a goshiwon. There really is no room for two people.”

[ Goshiwon: A small room with everything that you need to live ]

“Then it will be my apartment.”

“Huh?!”

“My apartment is a new building, so it’s spacious and Yoon-woo, your room is in the dorm in the economics department building, right? I live in front of that building. Then we can meet and eat together even if we don’t have class together!”

“Oh, Hye-rim? Wait a minute.”

“Can we just have the Yoon-woo salad delivered to my house? Also, let’s move the contents of your refrigerator altogether. By the way, shall I eat that salad with you? Save money, manage my diet, and eat together. Am I not a genius?”

“Hye-rim? Hye-rim Cho? Can you hear me?”

“What? Is there any reason to refuse? If the two of us order, maybe we can eat a little more variety at a cheaper price? If we also call Ji-eun unnie and eat… … Ah, she says that she doesn’t like to eat salad. But… … We can order something, right? It would be easier to monitor her so she doesn’t drink.”

“Hye-rim… … Anyway, that’s a bit… …?”

“What now? What is the reason this time?”

“I… … I’m embarrassed.”

Keeping ingredients in Hye-rim’s refrigerator and sharing means that Yoon-woo has to visit Hye-rim’s house for every meal.

Even if she said that Ji-eun would come to her, it wouldn’t be every day.

I can’t believe I have to visit an apartment where a woman is alone.

It was too difficult for Yoon-woo. Won’t it be enough for me to be reported as a criminal?

“It’s okay… … Yoon-woo is joking,right? Now, let’s finish what we can and take leftovers and keep it in the refrigerator.”

“No, Hye-rim really. Do I have to visit the apartment where you are alone for every meal?”

“Why?”

“Don’t you feel any bit of a sense of crisis?”

At that moment, Hye-rim remembered the comment Ji-eun made about Yoon-woo.

“What is it, Yoon-woo, do you think I am a woman?”

“Of course. How can I not see you as a woman?”

“Uh?! Well… … okay then Come on. Let’s eat quickly.”

Hye-rim’s face heated up at Yoon-woo’s reaction, which was different from what she had expected.

She fanned her hands hard just in case her face turned red.

“Hye-rim? What if I was a bad guy? Huh? Just trusting others like that and bringing them into your apartment where you live alone, then… … .”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, Yoon-woo. I am confident.”

“Huh… … .”

‘Come to think of it, we lift the same weight in deadlift… … . Maybe Hye-rim might have learned martial arts.’

Yoon-woo took Hye-rim’s words as a sign that she was confident that Hye-rim would win even if she had a one-on-one fight with him.

In fact, even if Yoon-woo was slightly stronger in strength, if Hye-rim learned martial arts like jiu-jitsu, it would be difficult for Yoon-woo to defeat Hye-rim, who had a technical advantage.

Of course, Yoon-woo will not attack Hye-rim.

“What if you want to have lunch with another friend? Or maybe you just want to bring another friend to your room? If I’m in that room, I’ll get in the way.”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“I have no other friends. I have no friends except Ji-eun and you.”

‘Does that make sense?’, thought Yoon-woo.

“So Yoon-woo, are you doing this because you want to make plans with someone else?”

“Huh?! No. Aren’t I too poor to make plans with someone?”

“Then there is no problem. Hurry up, Yoon-woo.”

Yoon-woo was nervous at the thought that there was obviously something wrong, but he couldn’t express his anxiety in words right away.

Yoon-woo going to her place and having to repeat the ascetic diet, she would soon get tired of it and hate it.

However, she said that if I refused her for such an unclear reason, I would definitely offend her again, so I had no choice but to eat the leftover meat from the dish and think hard about other good excuses.

It was a delicious meal that Yoon-woo could not normally experience, but the figure of himself standing behind Hye-rim who was paying was so shabby. So, his heart was more uncomfortable than ever.

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