When he tried an earring he picked on Ina’s ear and she looked up at him with her big eyes, his heart started racing again.

Her small, pale face shone as brightly as the sparkling earrings.

Thump, thump.

Listening to his heart beating non-stop, Jiwon felt a strange emotion.

How should he interpret this unfamiliar feeling creeping into him…

Lost in thought and fiddling with his coffee cup, Jiwon saw Ina returning to the table.

Her cheeks were blushing as she sat down and glanced at Jiwon, then quickly looked away when their eyes met.

Seeing her reaction, a smile naturally appeared on Jiwon’s face.

He didn’t know why she was so startled, but it was too cute, and he almost reached out to caress her.

Ina, with her reddened face, reached for her coffee cup. Then her phone on the table vibrated.

Both of them saw the name ‘Kim Siwoo’ appear on the screen.

The smile that had lingered on Jiwon’s face faded as Ina picked up the phone and glanced at him.

“Why would Siwoo call?”
Ina, seemingly concerned about Jiwon’s thoughts, mumbled to herself and fell into a brief contemplation.

She felt awkward answering here, but stepping outside to talk seemed like it would imply a close relationship with Siwoo, which she didn’t want to portray.

Suddenly realizing this concern, Ina was startled.

‘Why do I care how it looks to Jiwon? Why am I acting like this today?’

As Ina scolded herself for being off-kilter, Jiwon tapped the table.

“Aren’t you going to answer the call?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I should.”

Ina bit her lip lightly, as if resigning to fate, and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[Siwoo] Hey, Ina. It’s me, Siwoo. I was about to hang up, but you answered?

“Oh? Ah… I saw it late.”

[Siwoo] Did you enjoy the movie?

“Yeah, it was really fun. Really great.”

[Siwoo] I see. I should watch it too. Where are you now? At home?

“Oh? No, I’m still out.”

Jiwon gazed at Ina as she spoke, which made her nervously shift her gaze to her coffee cup.

[Siwoo] Ah… Are you still with that friend?

“Oh? Uh…”

There was a brief pause before Siwoo spoke again.

[Siwoo] Then I’ll just quickly tell you my purpose. Did you ask Hyunju about dinner next week?

“Ah, yes. It seems Tuesday will work.”

[Siwoo] Tuesday? Okay. Then, get home safely… see you on Tuesday.

“Yeah. See you Tuesday.”

Ina ended the call and placed her phone gently on the table.

She sneakily glanced at Jiwon, who was resting his chin on his hand, gazing at her.

Startled, Ina fiddled with her cheek and said,

“Ah. That was Siwoo… a high school classmate. Just, you know, he called to ask if the movie was fun.”

After speaking, Ina felt embarrassed for rambling about something Jiwon hadn’t even asked about.

Jiwon removed his hand from his chin and said nonchalantly,

“I see.”

Ina couldn’t understand why his response bothered her so much. She grabbed her remaining coffee and gulped it down.

They continued talking, but Ina couldn’t remember what about. Around 9:30 PM, they got up and headed to the parking lot.

After about 30 minutes, Jiwon’s car stopped in front of the villa where Ina lived.

Exhausted by the onslaught of unfamiliar emotions throughout the day, Ina quietly unbuckled her seatbelt.

She turned slightly and looked at Jiwon.

“Today… was fun. Thanks for hanging out with me all day. And thanks for the earrings.”

Instead of replying, Jiwon gazed at Ina, then finally spoke.

“Are you meeting that guy alone on Tuesday?”

“Huh?”

“It sounded like you said you’ll see him on Tuesday during the call.”

Ina blinked rapidly and blurted out loudly,

“Oh? No! Not just the two of us! We’re meeting with Hyunju!”

Realizing Jiwon didn’t even know who Hyunju was and feeling embarrassed, Ina’s face turned red.

Seeing this, Jiwon burst into laughter.

He had felt inexplicably uneasy since seeing the name ‘Kim Siwoo’ on Ina’s phone screen at the coffee shop.

But seeing Ina flustered and shouting like she was at a speech contest, Jiwon found her cute and felt somewhat relieved.

Jiwon looked at Ina with a smile on his lips.
“Yeah? So you’re planning to meet with a friend named Hyunju and the three of you will have a meal?”

Jiwon asked in a playful tone, and Ina nodded with an embarrassed expression.

“Yeah… we’ve planned to have a meal together, the three of us.”

“Ah, I see. You must be quite close then?”

“Oh? No, I haven’t seen Siwoo since the first year of high school, and we just met again last Saturday.”

Jiwon’s brows furrowed at Ina’s words.

“First year of high school?”

“Yeah.”

Jiwon seemed to fall into thought and then checked his watch.

“Well, it’s late. You should head in. You must be very tired.”

“Yeah. You too, drive safely. Thanks for today.”

Ina waved and got out of the car, heading into her villa.

After Ina entered, Jiwon didn’t immediately drive off but remained lost in thought.

He couldn’t understand why the name ‘Kim Siwoo’ bothered him so much, but it left him with an uneasy feeling.

It felt like he was facing an invisible adversary, causing Jiwon to let out a short sigh before finally driving away.