Is It Spring After All? -2

The recollection of memories begins from just a moment ago, when she returned to the accommodation with Taehwa.

+++++

“Ugh… I’m tired…”

“Whew… I ate well…”

Noah and Taehwa dragged their exhausted bodies back to the accommodation.

“Ahh… so spacious…”

Though not particularly luxurious, compared to the gosiwon (small studio) where they usually lived, it was practically a palace.

Noah wanted to throw herself onto the big, fluffy bed right away, but she held back for a moment.

“Ahh… so soft…”

“…”

“Noah, why aren’t you lying down?”

Why not lie down? The reason was simple, wasn’t it?

“Dad said if you lie down right after eating, you become a cow.”

“A cow?”

“Yes. Eat, lie down, eat, lie down… if you live lazily, you get punished by becoming a cow.”

“Hmm…”

“Then you have to work your whole life, which wouldn’t be nice, would it?”

Of course, she was just joking.

Reality isn’t a fairy tale, and people don’t turn into cows.

But Taehwa grinned at the mention of becoming a cow.

“Noah, what are you doing! You should lie down quickly too!”

“I told you we’ll become cows!”

“We should hurry and become cows.”

“Why?”

“If you become a dairy cow, that’s fine.”

“…What are you saying!”

Waaah!

Noah screamed.

“Are you going to keep doing that!?”

“Hehe, this is allbecause of Noah. You’re openly being lovey-dovey, so it fires me up.”

“How is that my fault…”

It was absurd. Lately, Taehwa’s jokes had been confusing, but to say they were openly being lovey-dovey—who was doing that?

‘Me and mister…?’

Did it look that way to others? They were just being friendly, feeding each other, that’s all.

‘For mister and me, this is just normal.’

She recalled the times with mister.

Him patting her head, feeding her, going out together, occasionally holding hands and comforting her…

‘Huh?’

And today, the kiss under the pretext of medical treatment—

“…Eh?”

Thinking about it this way, to others, it might well look like they were being lovey-dovey?

No, was it already crossing the line at the point of kissing…?

“…Haauh…”

Noah’s cheeks turned red.

It was because she recalled the medical treatment called a kiss that had happened at the amusement park.

She felt as if the sensation still lingered.

The soft pressure that had pressed against her lips.

And Taehwa wouldn’t miss such a change in Noah’s state.

“Our Noahwhy are you blushing again?”

“Ugh…!? Ah, it’s nothing!”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing… you were touching your lips…”

Taehwa approached Noah with a mischievous smile.

Grip, she gave Noah a firm back hug from behind.

“What? Let go!”

“No way. I need to hear why our Noah is acting like this.”

Noah struggled, but in her untransformed state, she couldn’t win.

Unlike Noah, who was on the shorter side, Taehwa was quite tall among girls.

Helplessly dragged onto the bed, Noah began to be interrogated.

“What did our Noah do to make such an expression?”

“I can’t tell you…!”

“Hmm… perhaps you did that?”

“That…?”

“When lips meet lips—”

Whoosh.

Noah’s cheeks burned like fire.

Seeing this, Taehwa squealed with a smile.

“Really!? How did it happen!?”

“It wasn’t a kiss… it was medical treatment…”

“Either way, your lips touched, right!”

Noah silently nodded.

Taehwa squealed for quite some time before her eyes sparkled.

“So? How did it feel?”

“What…?”

“They say first kisses are sweet, is that true!?”

Sweet… she wasn’t sure about that.

“…I don’t know, but I keep thinking about it.”

It just wouldn’t leave her mind.

“…This won’t do.”

“Why now? I’m tired.”

“I demand a more detailed explanation!”

So Noah was caught again.

She was in a situation where she had to recall and explain her first kiss with no escape.

What saved Noah from this crisis was:

‘Kyu, Noah. Are you sleeping?’

‘Kyukyu?’

“Noah, how was it? Did mister use his tongue—”

“Enough! Kyukyu is contacting me, so back off a bit!”

“Hmph.”

“Phew… Kyukyu, you can speak again.”

Kyukyu sent a telepathic message with perfect timing.

Why a sudden telepathy? Is it something serious? Noah wondered.

Soon she made an incredulous expression.

‘Noah, press your ear to Mr. Shin Hyun’s door and listen carefully. You’ll hear an interesting story.’

‘What?’

‘You must! You absolutely must!’

It was because Kyukyu was asking her to do something strange.

Pressing her ear to someone else’s door? That’s completely insane.

‘…But why am I so curious?’

However, it was hard to simply ignore it.

While Kyukyu’s actions and speech were strange, they ultimately benefited her. Even when things seemed odd, they usually turned out well.

‘If I get caught, I’ll be labeled a pervert…’

Being called pervert pervert, and now engaging in eavesdropping herself?

“…Let’s go.”

After thinking briefly, Noah got up.

Kyukyu must have some reason. That was her reasoning.

She put on slippers, went into the hallway, and immediately to the right.

When she saw the firmly closed door, that was mister’s room.

So, she was supposed to press her ear against it now?

‘…I’ll look really weird.’

Noah chuckled wryly and pressed her ear to the door.

The thick metal door made it hard to hear clearly, but when she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could somehow make out the sounds.

The first words she heard were in Kyukyu’s voice.

“Do you like Noah, Mr. Shin Hyun?”

‘Kyukyu!?’

What on earth was he saying!?

What kind of conversation led to such a question!?

‘No, I must have misheard…’

Contrary to Noah’s hopes, Kyukyu delivered a killing blow.

“What I’m asking is not about ‘like’ but whether you have feelings of ‘love’.”

Not simply “do you like her?” but “do you love her?”

Noah, who couldn’t possibly misunderstand the difference, let out a silent scream.

‘Should I just run away…?’

The thought briefly crossed her mind, but her body refused.

As if turned to stone, it froze in place, making her ear focus on the sound.

Reason and emotion collided.

‘Get a grip! How will you face mister tomorrow!’

‘But aren’t you curious?’

‘What if he says no? Are you going to cry and throw a fit?’

‘If he says yes, I’d be happy. I’m sure I’d be happy.’

Back and forth.

While she was hesitating, unable to decide, mister’s voice came through.

“…I might still be closer to ‘like’.”

Ah—

So that’s how it is after all.

Her legs lost their strength.

She somehow managed to support her body, which felt like it would collapse at any moment, by grabbing the doorknob.

What was she expecting?

She was merely someone he needed to protect, a little sister. At the same time, just someone he needed to take care of.

Let’s go back.

Her heart ached slightly, but there was nothing she could do.

After all, she couldn’t force or threaten him to love or like her.

“…Haah…”

Noah sighed. Just as she turned her body to return to her room, a voice brushed past her ear.

“Because the future is uncertain.”

Uncertain.

‘Perhaps mister too…?’

She felt like she was going crazy.

Her chest tightened painfully. It was getting deeper and deeper.

Mister was entering her heart, rummaging through it, creating a space, and settling there.

Deep in a corner of her heart.

The voice continued to flow:

“Well, I know. Noah is still a high school student. She needs to see more of the world and experience more things.”

“…Even after that, if she still likes me, I’m more than willing to reciprocate.”

And finally, his last words flew like an arrow shot by a marksman and lodged in Noah’s heart.

“I really like her too, you know.”

“Ah… uh… auh…”

Bang!

Noah couldn’t hold her body up anymore and fell down in the hallway.

Her voice wouldn’t come out properly, and she couldn’t organize her thoughts.

All she could think was that she needed to escape quickly.

“Mister… ugh…!”

Noah, who fled almost crawling, threw herself onto the bed.

Taehwa, surprised by her appearance, asked:

“Noah, what’s wrong?”

“…”

“Noah?”

She couldn’t hear Taehwa’s concerned voice.

Noah was that focused on recalling the man’s words.

The one phrase that had seeped in so sweetly, that had struck her heart so strongly.

Mister’s confession that he liked her, almost loved her.

“Mister just confessed to me…!”

Noah was beside herself.

She had never imagined this. That mister would think of her this way too.

…How should she respond?

She should have prepared a reaction for times like this!

Should she act as usual? Or should she approach him more actively?

Instead of being kissed like this time… approach him first and…

No, should she prepare something even stronger?

Is there no way to bind him forever, to make him look only at her forever?

A dark part inside her heart was stirring.

It was Noah’s greed.

Perhaps because she was experiencing these feelings for the first time, it might have been even more intense.

‘Mister really likes me…’

That made her incredibly happy.

So happy that even just sitting still, yearning flowed from every part of her body.

However.

‘I wish he would like only me.’

At the same time, she felt anxious.

What if he starts disliking me, what if he falls for someone else?

It was only when she reached this point that Noah finally admitted:

‘I really like mister too…’

That she liked him.

A bit differently from what mister said, more in the sense of ‘love’ than ‘like’.

Just as Noah realized her feelings.

Knock knock, there was a sound of knocking.

“Noah, it’s mister.”

“…!”

Her breath caught with a gasp.

‘M-mister…’

He had come to her room.

‘What do I do, what do I do, what do I do…!’

Could he have noticed?

That she had eavesdropped on that entire conversation?

Thump thump.

Her heart felt like it would burst.

When she closed her eyes, his face appeared, and when she covered her ears, the words she heard still echoed in her head.

Having just become aware of her passionate, yet at the same time perverted and twisted feelings, she had no idea what kind of face to show him.

“Mister?”

“Taehwa, I came to see Noah…”

“Ah, yes. Noah is over there.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

Thud thud, the sound of footsteps approached and then stopped.

The sound stopped right next to the bed. Realizing he was beside her, Noah forgot even how to breathe.

“Noah.”

“…”

“Are you sleeping?”

Noah didn’t answer but responded by shaking the blanket instead.

If she spoke now, her voice would come out all melted.

Having confirmed this, Shin Hyun got to the point.

“Um… if it’s okay with you, Noah.”

“…Yes.”

“I heard there’s a park nearby, would you like to go there with me? I have something I want to say.”

Something he wants to say.

Hearing that, Noah slowly emerged from under the blanket.

Noah tried to assume a posture that looked as relaxed and casual as possible.

However, the girl didn’t realize.

“…Okay. Let’s go together.”

That her flushed cheeks were absolutely impossible to hide.