Chapter 343

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Suddenly, I opened my eyes upon seeing the piercing orange light. When I looked up, a streetlamp, emitting bright light against the dark night sky like a spotlight on stage, came into view. Meanwhile, the wind that swept past my cheek turned quite chilly. Looking up at the streetlamp with my mouth wide open, I switched my gaze to someone's back before me.

I couldn't remember what happened before I got up on this person's back. It was disconnected as if someone had cut it off; however, I wasn't that surprised since the person's back, which I was riding on, was very familiar.

Lowering down my head, I buried my cheek onto his back and took a deep breath. I could feel his body suddenly stiffening over his clothes. Curling up my hands, I murmured, 'It's indeed a familiar scent.'

When I took another deep breath, dim memories surged into me at the same time as if the familiar scent had been a hook.

'That has alcohol inside! It's the leftover we brought from the retreat last time...'

It was an urgent remark from one of the girls who were surrounding me. The memories afterward were all entwined as if it was messed up with a crayon.

My brows met in the middle, wondering, 'Hold on, did I say something?' Nothing came into mind. The only thing I could remember was people collapsing on the floor fitfully whenever I said something. Recalling to that extent, I suddenly gathered my senses as if someone splashed cold water into me.

Covering my mouth, I murmured, 'Oh, my god! What on earth did I do?' Once I had that thought in mind, Yeo Dan oppa, who was carrying me on his back, halted his step. He turned his head to look at me and said, "Are you awake?"

I tried to pick the most proper word at this moment. Since I committed a sin, my heart pounded hard even at his trivial question as if he was interrogating me. Putting my fist on my chest, I replied, "Uh-huh."

"You..."

Yeo Dan oppa tried to say something; however, he heaved a sigh and suddenly changed his response.

"Don't drink anything thoughtlessly that people give you."

"Okay."

I nodded at his unusual way of speaking, which sounded like a preach. 'But honestly, not everything is just my fault,' I murmured in my thoughts. How would I know that the beverage on the karaoke table had alcohol in it?

That was when Yeo Dan oppa uttered, "Especially, don't drink anything my friends give you. No, if you see them from a distance, just run away immediately."

I giggled upon hearing his words while forgetting how tense I had been just now. Once I began to laugh out loud, Yeo Dan oppa heaved a sigh as if he couldn't help it. He might be thinking that I was still drunk. Anyway, thanks to that thought, I managed to avoid his scoldings.

When I put my arms around his shoulders more lightheartedly, he turned his head back and began to walk again. I placed my cheek on his swaying back and made an excuse to myself, 'If it isn't this time, when will I get to ride on his back?'

Yeo Dan oppa would, of course, give a piggyback to me whenever I asked him for it. He would perhaps not even ask why. No, maybe he would, at least, ask me the reason why I wanted to ride on his back. However, that would happen because he's concerned if I had hurt my legs.

Leaning onto him more deeply, I thought, 'Perhaps Yeo Dan oppa is gonna do everything he can do for Yeo Ryung and me such as taking us somewhere, getting us away from bullies, or bringing umbrellas and picking us up or something like that...'

Since I had seen him for a long time, I had no doubt he would treat me well. Still, he was Yeo Ryung's sibling, not mine. I hated that fact at first, but I got over it.

The only person who could ever like me...

The only person I was ever allowed to have a crush on...

There was a time back then that I had those thoughts in mind.

"Donnie."

I quickly raised my head upon hearing his voice that suddenly penetrated my thoughts. Being on his back absent-mindedly for a moment, I replied, "Um, yeah."

"What you said in the karaoke..."

"Huh?"

Listening to his subsided voice, I scratched my forehead. 'Is he talking about the conversation I had with the unnies?' I could only remember eating snacks while feeling like a Casanova and falling asleep in the end.

I did talk about Yeo Dan oppa with those girls a little bit... only a little bit, but it would hardly reach Yeo Dan oppa's ears in the incredibly noisy karaoke.

Thinking about their comments about Yeo Dan oppa being a non-binary person to them, I tilted my head. That wouldn't be what he was trying to bring up right now. What would it be then? His following words soon made me blush.

"You said I have to be responsible for you..."

"W...hat?? When did I say that?!"

"Huh?"

Looking at him blurting out that word, unusually, in bewilderment, I suddenly forcibly swam out of the surface of my forgotten memories. With an instinctive m.o.a.n, I suppressed them hard, saying, 'No! Go back inside! GO BACK INSIDE!' However, it didn't work at all.

A dark history, the embarrassing moments in the karaoke flashed through my head eventually. Touching my forehead, I was in agony.

'Oppa... if you didn't want to cause me any trouble, you should have not lived next-door!'

'Because of you, Yeo Dan oppa... I... I'm not tall, but my eyes... my standards are... as high as the stratosphere... Huh?'

'If a person wants to be the bigger person... he must be responsible! But oppa made my standards so high up in the stratosphere, and he isn't taking any responsibility at all...'

ARGH!!! I rubbed my lips while writhing in pain. Did those words really escape my mouth? Did I really say those words in the karaoke that was not only crowded with Yeo Dan oppa's friends but were also filled with strangers? Holy Christ! How shameful it would be if I ever saw them again someday?

Geez! Urgh!!! Shrieking only in my thoughts, I shook my head. Yeo Dan oppa asked, "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Uh... no... nothing... sir," I replied weakly. Yeo Dan oppa just frowned wordlessly. He didn't seem to think that I had totally forgotten those remarks.

Turning his head to the front again, Yeo Dan oppa bent his steps with me on his back. He continued, "So... what you said to me in the karaoke..."

'Let's just put it to rest,' rambling such thoughts, I couldn't pay attention to his words. Frankly speaking, I didn't want to listen to him at all. I was so afraid of his response that my heart was about to burst out. However, since I was riding on his back, I couldn't avoid his words.

"Yeah... sir..." I replied with a sinking heart. Yeo Dan oppa flung a question as if he felt a little confused.

"Why are you speaking politely out of the blue? I mean... anyway, what I want to say is that..."

"Uh-huh."

His following words, which I did not expect at all, made my eyes pop.

"The reason why I didn't ask you for help with the stalker thing..."

"Huh? Oh..."

Nodding meekly, I couldn't help the questions arising in my head. Now that I had come to think of it, I remembered him talking about something like this before.

'I don't want to cause her any troubles.'

When thinking about what I responded to that remark... Eww, when I shuddered at my behavior again in the karaoke, Yeo Dan oppa kept on speaking.

"The reason why I denied it when my friends asked me if we were going out..."

"Yeah..."

Nodding again, I rolled my eyes. I had no idea what he was trying to say.

"Speaking about that thing..."

"Uh-huh."

"It's not because I hate you."

My eyes widened at his sudden words; it sounded out of context. Hesitating for a second, I responded, "I... I'm aware of that too."

As I mentioned frequently, I thought Yeo Dan oppa was only taking care of me so much because I was his sister's best friend and a close acquaintance living next door. I continued, "I never thought you responded that way because you hate me. You literally didn't want to get misunderstood. That's all, isn't it?"

Yeo Dan oppa uttered a sigh.

"No... that's not what I'm trying to say..."

"Eh?"

"You told me that your eyes are high up in the air like it's sitting right beside a satellite."

"What? Um... ah..."

'What's wrong with that?' Before I got to drop that question, his response returned.

"When you say that something is so high up in the air, that only means you think you're sitting somewhere low."

"..."

"I think you're undervaluing yourself."

I didn't know he could read and interpret my words that way. Closing my mouth, I quickly thought, 'But... if a person like Yeo Dan oppa lives next-door, how else could anyone stop themselves from undervaluing their worth?'

That was when Yeo Dan oppa uttered the following words.

"People sometimes think we're dating..."

"Um, yeah."

"I didn't hate that at all."

"..."