Chapter 35: Be Careful Not to Get Her Stolen

Was this a situation where I should run away or not?

Hyunwoo’s brain was working at the fastest speed of his life.

‘What era is this? Was I too stuck in my ways?’

He wasn’t after Chaea, but Hyunwoo?

It was too late to regret not keeping up with the younger generation.

‘First, I need to assess the situation and run away with Yoo Chaea and Yoo Chae-rin…’

He was making a plan in his head when.

He suddenly noticed the muscles bulging on Tae-yang’s clothes.

‘…Can I even run away?’

Before losing his memories, Chaea used to nag him to work out together.

He should have listened back then.

He had been sticking close to Chaea under the pretense of helping her when she had her cast on.

And now, most of the muscles he had built up in the past were gone.

Even if he ran at full speed, he felt like he would be caught in five minutes.

Besides, even if he ran away, there was a problem.

Tae-yang said he was behind Chae-rin.

And he already knew where the club room was.

‘Running away is not the answer.’

Gulp.

Hyunwoo swallowed.

He carefully chose his words to navigate this situation wisely.

“I’m really sorry, but I like women, so I can’t accept this—”

“Please! Please help me with my Korean studies!”

Thud!

Tae-yang suddenly knelt down.

“…?”

Thanks to that, Hyunwoo’s brain, which was simulating the situation that could unfold after the rejection, stopped.

---

Only then did Hyunwoo realize that the letter Tae-yang had handed him…

‘It was a test?’

…was a test paper.

“…Korean?”

“Yes, I heard that you’re the top Korean student in our school, and you got a perfect score on the mock exam this time.”

“I did, but who told you that?”

“When I went to the Korean teacher, they said that you have good grades and teach really well.”

“No, why would the teacher…”

Hearing Tae-yang’s words,

He remembered the compliments he had received from his Korean teachers over the years.

-Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher in the future?

After a presentation he gave in the first grade,

The Korean teacher even called Hyunwoo out separately.

-Hyunwoo, I’m a little busy today, so can you teach the class for me?

-Yes? Isn’t that not allowed?

The second-grade Korean teacher, who even took on the role of his homeroom teacher, had actually passed on the class to him before.

He didn’t have a clear career path yet, so he thought about doing a tutoring job at a private academy later.

But that didn’t mean he had the enthusiasm to teach a junior who suddenly appeared.

“Wait a minute. But you could have just asked for help when we first met, right?”

He had already made all sorts of misunderstandings.

Why was he only bringing up his real purpose now?

If he had rejected him in advance, thinking he was confessing, wouldn’t he have looked like a crazy person?

“Actually, I was going to tell you naturally after getting a little closer. I thought you would refuse if a junior you didn’t know suddenly came up and asked you to teach them…”

“Hmm.”

That was true.

Hyunwoo wasn’t altruistic enough to help a junior who suddenly appeared and shouted for help.

And right now, his priority was to help Chaea regain her memories.

“But you were so nice to me today that I felt guilty keeping my mouth shut.”

“What did I do for you?”

Hyunwoo tilted his head.

All he remembered was observing and keeping Tae-yang in check today.

“Didn’t you pay for the escape room?”

“…That’s it?”

“Oh, that’s more than enough. I saw earlier that the price was almost 30,000 won.”

Hyunwoo, who had lived a life where he didn’t lack money, didn’t know.

That paying for an escape room for a high school student as a test was a great favor.

“Well, yeah. But these aren’t the grades you need to ask for help, are they?”

Hyunwoo fluttered Tae-yang’s test paper.

He wondered if he needed to ask for help with a good test paper with only four mistakes.

“Aren’t these grades not good enough to get into medical school?”

“That’s a different level.”

He decided to listen to the story first, given the huge goal that suddenly popped up.

---

“I’m a country bumpkin who grew up in a remote village my whole life. My head has been like this from the start because I’m mixed.”

Kim Tae-yang, with a Korean father and a British mother.

The farming couple, who had settled in a small rural village, gave birth to a blond boy.

Tae-yang naturally helped his parents with farming from a young age.

The boy, who had adapted to the work until his skin turned bronze, planned to become a farmer without thinking much about it.

“My mother passed away from cancer three years ago.”

That was until his mother passed away after a battle with the disease.

Hyunwoo listened without carelessly sympathizing.

He knew that he didn’t need other people’s sympathy because he had grown up in a single-parent family.

“So you started studying to become a doctor?”

“Yes. I want to reduce the number of patients, even by a little, because I saw how much my mother suffered. But studying suited me better than I thought.”

Tae-yang, who would plow the fields as soon as he opened his eyes.

And play ball with his friends when he had nothing to do, found a talent he didn’t even know he had.

He had never missed a perfect score on a test, studying only with textbooks without any help.

Except for one subject.

“That’s Korean?”

“…Yes.”

Except for Korean.

“My father sent me to school in Seoul with the money he had worked hard to save. But no matter what I do, my Korean doesn’t improve.”

“Uh… does that have anything to do with the school?”

He didn’t know what kind of fantasy he had about Seoul.

But moving schools didn’t improve grades.

‘I would understand if he said he came because of the private education district.’

However, Tae-yang was in a situation where he couldn’t afford private academies, tutoring, or even online lectures.

He was just paying expensive rent for a room.

He wasn’t really benefiting from it.

“I understand your situation. So get up for now.”

Hyunwoo raised Tae-yang, who was still kneeling.

Anyway, he understood why Tae-yang wanted to become close to Hyunwoo.

And why he was so sensitive about money.

But.

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can help you.”

Hyunwoo may have had financial freedom.

But he didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity.

He just didn’t say it out loud.

But he was worried every day about how to help Chaea regain her memories.

And how to treat Chaea, who was approaching him without any distance.

Besides, wasn’t Hyunwoo a Korean student who had to take the college entrance exam?

His head felt like it was going to explode trying to take care of Chaea and think about his own career.

He didn’t have the ability to help a junior he had just met.

“I’m a senior in high school, so I don’t have time, and I’m busy with other things…”

“Ah, I know. But I heard from the teacher that the escape room club will be disbanded if there aren’t enough members…”

“So you’re going to threaten me with that?”

“No, no?! Why would I do that? Please listen to me for a moment.”

Tae-yang was startled.

He cleared his throat and spoke like a company employee who had prepared a presentation.

“I promise I won’t take up your time. If you let me study next to you, I’ll watch and learn on my own.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“Of course. So, can you just call me during exam periods? And just answer a few questions sometimes.”

“Hmm.”

Hyunwoo thought for a moment.

‘He’ll fill the club members. And if I just answer the questions, it’s not that much of a loss… or is it?’

He thought he was going to ask him to give a lecture or something.

But Tae-yang’s request was very small.

‘I think it would be nice to create a study group. I can call Lee Jin-hyuk and Jung Eun-bi, and make Yoo Chae-rin study a little.’

The club wouldn’t be disbanded, so it would be suitable for helping Chaea regain her memories.

And he wouldn’t have to stress about finding a separate space or time to study.

He was thinking that it was pretty good when.

“And I can help you get together with Chaea!”

He must have mistaken that Hyunwoo didn’t like it.

Tae-yang threw a curveball.

“What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”

“I heard rumors that you’re not making much progress with Chaea these days.”

“…Who keeps spreading those rumors?”

“I heard it from the health teacher.”

Oh, this teacher?

Hyunwoo found the culprit by accident.

He shook his head, vowing to take revenge someday.

“That’s a false rumor. I’m not dating Yoo Chaea.”

“Really?! You guys were so lovey-dovey today…”

“…When were we?”

Honestly, he felt a little guilty, so he answered a beat late.

Tae-yang said with his arms crossed.

“But you like Chaea, don’t you?”

“Who? Me?”

“Yes.”

Eyes with such deep conviction.

“What are you talking about? She’s just my childhood friend.”

Hyunwoo habitually denied it.

“If you’re just embarrassed, it’s okay. I have a girlfriend who I used to be childhood friends with.”

“You have a girlfriend?”

He couldn’t help but ask, hearing something he couldn’t ignore.

“Yes, I’m dating my childhood friend from my hometown. It’s become a long-distance relationship now, but she comes up to Seoul every weekend to see me.”

Is that why his Korean grades aren’t improving?

Hyunwoo almost asked that, but he quickly changed the question.

“Don’t you have any other friends in your hometown?”

“I do. My girlfriend and I always played with my best friend.”

“Is he a guy?”

“Yes. But why are you asking that?”

“Uh… no, just wondering.”

Lovers who developed from childhood friends.

Long-distance relationship.

A best friend who still lives in his hometown.

Thanks to that, the last bit of doubt that remained in his heart disappeared.

‘The one I have to be careful of isn’t me, but him.’

Tae-yang seemed more suitable for the tragic protagonist he had seen a few times in creative works.

“But what does you having a girlfriend have to do with me liking Yoo Chaea?”

“I used to pretend I wasn’t like you before we started dating.”

“……”

“If you keep it all inside, it festers.”

Tae-yang made a bitter expression, as if looking at an unfortunate soul.

“So you’re going to give me counseling or something?”

“I’ll do it anytime if you want! Ah, if I crossed the line… I’m sorry.”

He belatedly bowed his head.

But Hyunwoo was already seriously considering it.

Lee Jin-hyuk was the only friend he could confide in until now.

When Chaea showed him her underwear defenselessly.

When she woke up in the morning and hugged Hyunwoo.

Every time she kept sticking to him and making him uncomfortable.

How much of a concern was the desire that kept building up without being resolved for Hyunwoo?

When he couldn’t take it anymore and thought he was going to cause an accident, he would tell Jin-hyuk.

And he would only hear that he should pay more taxes.

But Tae-yang, who had already gone from childhood friend to lover?

“Then let’s add one more condition.”

It seemed like a pretty good choice.

“I like Yoo Chaea, like you said.”

“Yes?”

“I like Yoo Chaea. Since middle school. But I can’t confess right now because of the circumstances? I feel like I’m going crazy every time she approaches me without hesitation. It just keeps building up and I can’t release it. So…”

“C, calm down and speak.”

Tae-yang was flustered because his unrefined emotions were pouring out, unlike his cold and taciturn impression.

“…I’m sorry. Anyway, what I want to say is that I want you to listen to my concerns when I contact you. And it would be nice if you could tell me about your experiences.”

“Like I said before, I’ll do it anytime if you want.”

“Okay. Then give me your phone.”

Hyunwoo typed his number into Tae-yang’s phone and gave it back.

“We’ve negotiated. I’ll teach you Korean, and you’ll fill our club members and listen to my concerns.”

Now that he said it, it seemed like an unfair contract for Tae-yang.

“Thank you…! Thank you so much, senior!”

Tae-yang kept bowing, as if he was just happy to grant his request.

“Okay. Let’s meet in the club room tomorrow.”

“Yes! Have a good night, senior!”

Tae-yang smiled brightly and turned around.

“Oh, right.”

Hyunwoo was on his way to the cafe where Chaea and Chae-rin were waiting.

And he immediately sent a message that he almost forgot.

[I forgot to say this earlier. Be careful not to get your girlfriend stolen.]

There was a bit of room for misunderstanding.

So he had time to explain the next day.