# Chapter 108
As soon as we returned to the villa, I headed to the bathroom. I enjoyed a bath with the bath salts Kwon Dojin had recommended. I only realized it today, but it seemed I quite liked spending time soaking in warm water and spacing out.
I dragged my languid body downstairs to the first floor where Kwon Dojin would be waiting. Leaning against the stair railing while using his phone, Kwon Dojin looked impeccable.
Unlike him with his completely dry, fluffy hair and neat clothes, my hair was still damp, and my outfit was slightly disheveled.
Somehow embarrassed by the contrast, I quickly shook my hair and smoothed out my clothes, but not much changed.
“What are you doing?”
I looked toward where Kwon Dojin’s voice came from, full of amusement. The sound of me fixing my appearance must have been quite loud, as Kwon Dojin was looking up at me from the bottom of the stairs.
“Uh, nothing.”
I lowered my gaze in embarrassment. Taking large strides up the stairs until he reached me, Kwon Dojin stretched out his arm and brushed back my wet hair. I closed my eyes slightly at the warmth felt between my hair strands. He only withdrew his touch after smoothing my hair and then even my clothes.
“Let’s go. I think we should start preparing dinner soon.”
“What are we having for dinner?”
“There’s braised short ribs. We just need to heat it up.”
“Braised short ribs sound good.”
I slowly went down the stairs, following behind Kwon Dojin. All I knew about this villa was the room I was using, the bathroom, and the path to the garden.
“There’s a door in the dining room that connects to the garden. If we go out through there after dinner, we should be able to see the sunset.”
It was just after 6 o’clock, so the sun hadn’t set yet. As he said, going after dinner would be perfect.
Unlike at lunch, I quickly helped Kwon Dojin set up dinner. Though we hadn’t played vigorously at the beach, just moving in water required quite a lot of energy, so I was hungry.
“I think I’ll be able to sleep early today.”
“Really? Then we won’t be able to talk for long tonight.”
“We’ve been talking all day today, haven’t we?”
“I want to know everything about Habin. And for that, I need to spend a lot of time.”
My arm, reaching out to pick up some food, stopped in mid-air. I had heard words with this kind of nuance quite often, but today it was particularly hard to brush it off. It’s probably because I now knew how Kwon Dojin felt.
I found myself smiling bitterly at the thought that it seemed easier when I didn’t know, or rather, when I was pretending not to know. Moreover, my chest felt pricked because I was planning to do something unkind to him.
“…There’s still plenty of time before graduation. You might end up knowing things you’d rather not know.”
Though my response was somewhat slow, Kwon Dojin just smiled casually.
“I’m just greedy.”
I let out a frivolous laugh at his subtly whispering voice. Should I say that since I realized his feelings, I started seeing things I hadn’t noticed before? I realized that everything he had been doing was intentional, since there was no way Kwon Dojin wouldn’t have noticed that I had caught on.
I withdrew my awkward arm and put the chopsticks in my mouth. When I stared intently at Kwon Dojin, he tilted his head slightly.
“I get it, so let’s eat.”
It’s all fine, it’s all fine, but first I needed to fill my stomach. Having suddenly stopped eating, I raised my eyebrows sharply.
“Ah. Yes, let’s do that.”
He opened his eyes wide and then immediately chuckled, nodding his head. Then he placed a neatly trimmed piece of rib on top of my rice bowl. By the looks of it, he didn’t seem like he would try to probe me further during the meal.
My prediction was correct, and we emptied our rice bowls while making small talk. It was fortunate; otherwise, I would have certainly had indigestion. After clearing the table with Kwon Dojin, I looked out the window and saw that the sunset was beginning.
While admiring how Kwon Dojin’s calculation had perfectly aligned, I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Though watching the sunset was important, this was also necessary, just in case.
The funny thing was, Kwon Dojin must have had a similar thought because when I got to the sink, he was already brushing his teeth. After clearing all the dishes, I couldn’t see him and thought he might have gone to get something, but seeing him brushing his teeth made me laugh.
“If you were going to brush your teeth, we could have gone together.”
With his mouth full of foam, he showed me his palm instead of answering. I nodded at his signal to wait a moment and took out my toothbrush.
“I thought Habin would want to see the sunset first.”
A belated response came, but this time I was brushing my teeth and couldn’t speak. Anyway, Kwon Dojin didn’t seem to expect an answer and just stepped aside to make room for me.
We stood side by side in front of the sink, which was too narrow for two people, and finished brushing our teeth. As we moved to go outside, Kwon Dojin took my hand as if it was the most natural thing.
That simple action felt so novel that I kept looking down at our joined hands throughout our walk.
“Is it okay to sit on the swing?”
“Yeah.”
When we both sat on the swing, it made a creaking sound. Happy to hear a sound I hadn’t heard in a long time, I tapped the swing and turned my gaze forward.
The garden, filled with a vermilion hue, had a different charm from the scenery we saw during the day. It was so beautiful that it naturally evoked admiration, but I regretted that it didn’t have that feeling I had experienced at the beach.
Rather, it felt like it was urging me that it was time to face reality, so I couldn’t fully enjoy it. Feeling like I might sigh, I squeezed my eyes shut.
“What time did we say we’d leave tomorrow?”
“There’s nothing specifically set, so we can do whatever Habin wants.”
“Then let’s decide after we wake up.”
“How late are you planning to sleep?”
“We’re on a trip. This much laziness is okay.”
A low laugh rang out. There was playfulness in it. When I stamped my feet in embarrassment, the swing moved slightly in response.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“When the sunset is over, I want to go to sleep.”
“So early?”
I could feel his gaze turning to me in surprise, but I steadfastly looked ahead. If I faced him now, I might waver and take back my words.
“I think I played too hard at the beach. My eyes are getting heavy.”
“If you’re tired, it can’t be helped, but—”
Kwon Dojin expressed his regret, but I pretended not to notice. When the sun completely disappears, I need to calm my floating feelings and organize my thoughts. And I also needed to consider whether it was right to follow the decision I made even before the vacation began.
Since I had decided to tell him tomorrow, I couldn’t postpone it any further. Despite my burning desire to enjoy the trip more, there wasn’t enough time. And since being with Kwon Dojin would only make me waver rather than think, I had no choice.
“We can come again next time, so I’ll retreat today.”
“Hmm? Did I say anything about coming again?”
I deliberately acted nonchalant. Actually, I hadn’t promised to come again. I had said for him to try to persuade me to want to come back.
At my response, Kwon Dojin drooped his eyebrows, saying it was too much. I tore my gaze away from his face, which skillfully evoked pitifulness. I had to be careful not to be enchanted by his face.
“You won’t come again?”
“I told you to try to persuade me to want to come back.”
“I think I tried hard to persuade you today. Was it not enough?”
“Well—”
To be honest, it was more than enough, but I couldn’t say that. I didn’t want to make a promise that I might not be able to keep.
“What else should I do?”
“I don’t know.”
Kwon Dojin responded so well that even silly jokes were fun. As I lightly kicked my feet and tilted my head, Kwon Dojin also rolled his feet to match my movements, causing the swing to rock back and forth.
“I can’t believe we’re going back home tomorrow.”
“Then should we stay one more day?”
“Mmm, no.”
Thanks to Kwon Dojin who readily took the bait, I shook my head. The promised time was one day, and the grace period I had given myself was also one day, so I couldn’t extend it.
“You’re so firm.”
“I need to study even though it’s vacation, so one day is enough.”
“Habin seems to like studying too much.”
“Maybe.”
Certainly, compared to others, I did enjoy studying. Thanks to that, I had less stress and could enjoy it moderately.
After that, we said nonsensical things and brought up random topics. It was amazing that despite spending so much time together and having countless conversations, we still had things to talk about. Of course, there were times when the conversation paused, but it was nice because it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.
As we continued our conversation under the gradually changing sky, enjoying the cool breeze, the sun completely set. It must have been more than 30 minutes since we sat on the swing.
“It’s gotten dark.”
“Yes, it has.”
The lights in the garden emitted a soft glow. It wasn’t as bright as daytime, but it was bright enough.
“Shall we go in now?”
“Yeah, let’s.”
Ironically, although I was the one who said I’d go to sleep after sunset, I wanted to linger out of reluctance. But knowing I couldn’t, I abruptly stood up and looked back at Kwon Dojin, who was still sitting on the swing, and he leisurely got up.
We headed back to our rooms. As if prearranged, we walked at a slower pace than usual. I was doing it because I wanted to stay with him a little longer, but I wondered what his feelings were. I was curious, but there was probably no way to know right now.
No matter how slowly we walked, if we didn’t stop, we would eventually reach our destination. Standing in front of the door that was immediately visible after climbing the stairs, I grabbed the doorknob, and Kwon Dojin called out to me.
“Habin.”
“Yeah?”
“Sweet dreams.”
The greeting he gave while brushing back my hair was something I hadn’t heard in a long time. It resonated pleasantly, and though unintended, a bright smile formed on my face.
“You too.”
