Chapter 359

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While I had those thoughts in mind, our dexterous Ruda stretched out his hand to my head, quickly released my tangled hair, and gently tied it on my palm.

"Here."

'Ah, thank you,' before I had the chance to express my gratitude, Ruda gave Yeo Dan oppa a nod politely while saying, "Please look after her for a while."

Yeo Dan oppa didn't respond at all. Still combing down my pesky tangles, I murmured to myself, 'Yeo Dan oppa looks weird again.'

Ruda went back to his friends briskly; I grimaced again at Yeo Dan oppa's remark.

"I'm feeling bad again."

'Ah, why? What is wrong this time?' I wondered.

In the end, Yeo Dan oppa had a mood swing again despite my apple hair effort. He was still in a bad mood even when we left the café and headed to our house. He later lightened up once I uttered this way, "Let me be your honorary weather service."

"What do you mean?" Speaking that way, he grinned stealthily.

"Eh? You smiled!" While I made a fuss, Yeo Dan oppa pressed down my head firmly as if he was doing that instead of covering my mouth. Since it was an affectionate reaction, I didn't feel upset at all. With a giggle, I removed his hand from my head and opened my mouth again.

"The significance of weather service lies in the fact that their forecast is often wrong."

"What does that mean?"

"I can't help even if I won't please you all the time."

'Of course, it's something I can't help,' I nodded confidently. Yeo Dan oppa burst into small laughter as if he became dumbfounded again. However, that smile didn't last long. What he said made my eyes widen.

"I don't care if you can't entertain me today or forever, even if you can't at all."

"Huh?"

Raising his hand, he gently touched my disheveled hair instead of pressing down my head. He continued, "I don't get what lies beneath my feelings sometimes. Especially..."

"Especially?"

"It especially happens more often these days."

Once he spoke that way, our footsteps halted in front of the door at the same time. Looking back and forth between the two doors, which were aligned only a few steps away, Yeo Dan oppa turned around.

Watching that sight, I asked abruptly, "Oppa, I think I know what you just had in mind."

He averted his gaze back onto me and said, "What is it?"

"Oppa, didn't you just think about why I wasn't your real sister? That's what you had in mind, isn't it?"

When I spoke that way while brimming with confidence, Yeo Dan oppa' eyes widened. However, it happened only for a second. Having returned to his nonchalant look, Yeo Dan oppa shook his head quietly.

Eh? I asked, "Am I wrong?"

"I told you I'm not sure now."

"Oh..."

'Yes, that's what he said,' I nodded. When I asked him if he still had the same thought as he did in the past, he replied shortly, 'Not sure.'

I regarded it as a vague answer in the affirmative. Since nothing had changed, I thought that Yeo Dan oppa didn't deny it. However, he wasn't even sensitive to his own change. That's why he always provided just one answer, "Not sure... more than ever."

"..."

Yeo Dan oppa was directing his eyes on me. No one spoke a word for a while. A moment of silence returned to the apartment hallway. Amid the situation, his voice slowly subsided.

"Even when it comes to you... I thought I was getting to know you more..." He squinted his eyes as he said those words. He then concluded, "The more I get to know something, the more unsure I become... about you and..."

"And?"

"And me, who's with you."

"..."

While there another round of silence permeated in the hallway, Yeo Dan oppa turned around, at last. Above his head, the sensor light came on with a spark and the orange light cast our shadow shadows on the ground.

He uttered, "Bye, take care."

"Yeah."

"Actually, I don't even like this word too."

With that last sentence, the view of his back disappeared over the door. Being left alone in the hallway, I stared blankly at my house door and fell into thought.

If he didn't like the words, 'Bye, take care,' which one would it be? Was it 'bye' or 'take care?' They were just expressions to bid farewell; however, it was strange that I could accept the meanings differently somehow. And regarding a person's state of mind...

Wondering about those things shortly, I soon shook my head, entered the passcode on the digital door lock, and pulled the doorknob.

Taking off my shoes, I quickly went into the living room and said, "I'm home." For some reason, my parents were both in the living room. Lately, my dad seemed busy at work. As soon as he returned home, he would head straight to the bedroom to sleep; only my mom would be sitting in the living room alone to watch TV.

My mom told me, "You're back home quite late these days."

"Exactly, it's already eleven o'clock."

I flinched at what my dad uttered next.

"Daughter, are you dating someone?"

Thank goodness I wasn't drinking water right now. If I did, I would have definitely been a human sprinkler.

Pulling myself together right away, I shook my head vigorously and replied, "No!"

It wasn't a lie since I was in a fake relationship! Haha! Laughing shamelessly in my thoughts, I stopped abruptly for a moment at my mom's following remark.

"I spoke with Yeo Ryung's mom the other day and heard that Yeo Dan is also coming home late these days. He's a sophomore in high school, you know."

"..."

"She asked him whom he had met, but he didn't say anything."

Listening to her story, my dad opened his mouth to drop a comment.

"He is a quiet kid, though."

"True, but since he's carrying his workbook, he might be going to the library," my mom responded. Switching her gaze back to me, she flung a question.

"Anyway, my dear, if you aren't dating someone, you're having some... something... you know that trending term, right? Anyway, you ain't having that going on too, right?"

Standing foolishly until that moment, I quickly shook my head to avoid arousing any more suspicion. I laughed loudly while saying, "That won't happen, haha."

"Well, we should have matched her with Eun Hyung to become a couple earlier."

As soon as my dad responded to my remark, my mom smashed him, saying, "Honey! What's wrong with you? You're discouraging Donnie."

"Ah, where can you find a perfect husband like Eun Hyung? She has kicked her own luck away. When she had a chance, she should have pushed ahead," my dad grumbled while changing his posture into a more comfortable one.

My mom struck a retort again, "Oh, come on! Eun Hyung and Donnie are still good friends."

Listening to their conversations, I added timidly, "Right. If other people heard what you said, they would think I've had something going on with Eun Hyung. We aren't in that kind of relationship, and that won't change anytime soon."

Speaking that way, I suddenly recalled the recent incident and dropped my gaze onto the floor. Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young had been avoiding me. They were even hiding their shadows. Thinking about their behaviors, my chest felt cold. I also didn't see Eun Hyung for quite a while, perhaps because he had the same reason or maybe he's just busy preparing for the Sports Festival.

Thinking to that extent, I shook my head in my thoughts. 'No, this is just temporary. Although we had a big fight, have we ever carried it on over a week? No, we didn't. So yeah, things will get better soon,' I murmured to myself.

My dad rolled onto the other side upon hearing my reaction and grumbled again. Listening to it further would only make me distracted, so I hurriedly went to my room and put my backpack down. Finally changing my school uniform, I mumbled, "That freaked me out!"

How could they talk about Yeo Dan oppa right after speaking about me? I thought they caught our relationship. However, Yeo Dan oppa was indeed a homebody who would return home immediately after school, so it wasn't strange for his family to talk about his new behavior.

These days, hanging out with me might have been the reason Yeo Dan oppa parents' started getting suspicious. I murmured with a sigh, "If both families learned about us, it's gonna be big trouble."

'Wouldn't they hang a huge banner in front of the apartment? Please, no one in our school should tell neither my parents nor Yeo Ryung's family. I must pray and beg through my heart...'

Thankfully, this ridiculous, fake romance wouldn't last long. I threw a glance at the calendar.