Chapter 62: Proof

“Um, Dojin…?”

As I was wolfing down the kalguksu in front of me to quell my hunger, unni’s voice came from across the table.

“Um, sorry to interrupt your meal, but could you lift your face a little higher while you eat…?”

Unni said hesitantly, holding her smartphone horizontally.

However, only her voice was hesitant; her eyes were shining with a serious light, like a director shooting a blockbuster movie.

“Let’s eat first and then take pictures. It’ll get soggy.”

“Ah, I’m full just watching you eat, Dojin… Ah, that angle was good. Yes, yes. Look up like that and chew, chew, chew. Ah, you look so good.”

At her cheerful voice, I could feel the attention of the people around us focusing on me, but I couldn’t help it. I had told her to take pictures.

No, it wasn’t that I particularly wanted to leave a picture of myself eating.
I had just said one thing: if you’re going to take pictures, don’t do it secretly, do it openly.

“You even eat cutely. Our Dojin. Phew, hehe…”

“…”

Oh my, she’s determined to film my every move, 24/7.

“It’s fine to take pictures, but eat first. Otherwise, I’ll take back what I said earlier.”
“W-What!?”

Startled, unni finally started eating the soggy kalguksu. I let out a bitter laugh and spoke.

“Unni.”

“U-Uh, yeah. Why?”

Unni raised her head with an anxious expression. Her mouth was covered in broth from eating in a hurry.

“Eat slowly. We have all the time in the world.”

“U-Uh…”

I took out a few tissues and wiped her mouth as I continued.

“Is there anything else you want to do after we eat? Anything you want to ride…”

“Hmm, filming…?”

“Besides things we can do at home.”

Unni shook her head slightly.

“Then let’s ride one last thing and go home. The sun seems to be setting.”

“Yeah, okay. But what should we ride? Atlas? Fruit Revolution? Should I go and stand in line in advance?”

I shook my head at unni’s beaming smile.

She must be really excited, seeing as she’s even spewing out the types of things she used to be careful about saying because I disliked them.

That must be her true feelings, suppressed all this time.
And now, it was time to ask her about those true feelings.

****

“Dojin, cheeese~.”

With a click, a flash of light blinded me. Unni, who had finished taking the picture, smiled faintly, holding her smartphone.

“I won’t bother you anymore, so do what you want, Dojin. Ah, if you’re scared, be sure to tell me. Okay?”

With those words, unni sat down demurely and started looking at me.
The setting sun was dyeing her face golden.

We were currently floating 30 meters above the ground. In terms of building height, that was about the 6th floor.

The hot air balloon-shaped ride we were on was slowly moving along the rail.

The creaking sound was a little unsettling, but it wasn’t unbearable.

“…”

When I turned my head, the entire view of the amusement park came into sight beyond the net.
The rides that had seemed so big now looked like cute miniatures.

“It’s so small.”

Unni, as if feeling the same way, giggled and pointed to various places in the park with her finger.

“You fell over there, Dojin. What a shame, everyone here must have seen it.”

“So it seems. They must have also seen you walking around with cream on your nose like a fool.”

“That’s too small to see from here.”

Seeing as she retorted without even batting an eye, I must have teased her with the same repertoire too much.

I shook my head and looked at the park view again.

The only memory I had from my school trip was the scenery of stained tiles and a fountain spewing briny water. Now, I felt like I could rattle off related anecdotes for any facility in this place.

Would I have felt the same if I had come with someone other than unni?

Of course, I could have made just as many memories if I had come with Yu Garyeon or Han Yeoreum.

The smile I held while watching their silly antics, the comforting warmth from our clasped hands, the realization that pictures are frames that hold memories, and the joy of filling those frames.

All of that was possible not because of someone else, but because Lee Dasom was by my side.

It wasn’t a feeling that stemmed from guilt. It wasn’t a feeling bound by the shackles of responsibility.
It wasn’t something that seeped out from a special connection between us.

Because such a thing never existed in the first place.

But it’s fun to be with her. That’s all there is to it.

There’s no reason to justify it with other excuses, nor is there any reason to deny it.

I took a deep breath.
And I looked up at unni. I calmly looked at her eyes, which still had someone else’s image superimposed on them.

“Unni.”

“Yeah?”

There was a time when I thought those eyes were incredibly cruel.
There were times when I turned away because I didn’t want to see them.
Thinking about it now, it was an absurdly childish act.

Everyone looks at their own face through the eyes of others.
They try to fill the empty space, dropped somewhere, with those eyes.

I don’t have to look far. I was like that myself.

I tried to fill the hole left by someone who was no longer by my side with Chae Seolha’s eyes.

I tried to fill the hole I had dug in someone with Han Yeoreum’s eyes.

I tried to fill the hole I had dug in myself with Dasom’s eyes.

And yet, I felt betrayed when someone tried to fill a hole with my eyes. There couldn’t be a more petty person in the world.

Unni must have known. So she didn’t fill it.
She had endured for years with a large hole in a corner of her heart for me.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you call me because you have something to say? Ah, are you suddenly scared?”

With those words, unni carefully stood up and sat down next to me.
And then she held my hand, which was lying on the floor, and said.

“See, you’re not scared anymore, are you?”

I still don’t know what her intentions are for doing this.
But I know very well that this is an act that would never happen in a normal human relationship.

The time when I could pretend not to know and let it slide was now over. It wasn’t just about the two of us anymore.

I had a duty to say that this relationship was wrong.

“Unni.”

Unni squeezed my hand even tighter. She must have thought I was genuinely scared.

Or maybe it was because my voice was trembling.

“It’s okay, Dojin.”

Unni’s warm hand stroked my back.

“I’ll always be by your side, Dojin, no matter what…”

However, a faint tremor was present in her voice. It had the same quality as the one that had been in my voice just a moment ago.

“…”

Unni already knows. Even if she doesn’t say it out loud, she’s the one who knows better than me what’s wrong, and where it went wrong.

She’s different from Han Yeoreum or Yu Garyeon, who needed me to lead the way. There’s nothing to be gained by rushing someone who already knows the way.
If you rush to a conclusion, the direction will be distorted.

Even without that, a bandage will naturally fall off once the wound heals. And what’s needed for a wound to heal is time.

So all I have to do is sit by her side and be a support she can lean on. Until she has the余裕 to reveal her own wounds.

Just like Han Yeoreum did for me in the past.

Of course, it was clear that I would be crossing the line even more than now in that process.
I would scar the heart of her father, who had trusted me, and I would gouge out the smile from her mother’s face.

But I was on her side, not theirs.
If their wishes conflicted with hers, I had to take her hand.

I have no intention of justifying such an act. If there’s something to endure, I will endure it, and if there’s something to accept, I will gladly accept it.

I just won’t let her carry it alone. That’s my conclusion.

“Dojin?”

Unni’s anxious gaze searched my face. She must have been worried about me, who had been silently organizing my thoughts for a while.

“It’s nothing. Just had something to think about.”

“I-I see. I was just…”

As the hot air balloon entered a small cave in the center, a cool breeze blew from somewhere. I carefully removed a strand of hair clinging to her face and spoke.

“…Can I ask you something?”

“Mmm, what is it?”

“Today… how was it?”

Unni tilted her head at my words. I couldn’t help but let out a faint laugh at her small gesture.

“I had fun.”

“…Huh?”

“I said I had fun because I was with you.”

Unni’s eyes widened. She must have remembered why we were here today.
Waking up from her dream and returning to reality, she trembled and muttered softly.

“L-Lies. That can’t be…”

However, those words didn’t continue. Because she knew that the expression I was wearing now couldn’t come from the face of someone who was lying.

I threw a question at her eyes, which were slowly starting to fade.

“How was it for you?”

“W-What do you mean, how was it…”

“Did you have fun because you were with me?”

“O-Of course! Of course—”

Unni, who had answered reflexively, soon closed her mouth tightly. It was clear she had realized the meaning of her words.

I just proved it.
That I’m by your side not because of guilt, not to punish you, but because I genuinely like the person named Lee Dasom.

So if you’re okay with it, you can trust and rely on me as much as you want. That’s what I said.

“I-I…”

A small tremor flowed through our clasped hands.

“I…”

“Let’s not rush.”

I said, gripping her hand tightly.

“I’ll wait too. Right by your side.”

After that, until we left the park and returned home, unni didn’t say a word, her lips tightly sealed.