Chapter 14 : It’s a foul

On the Threshold of Early Summer, a Night Slowly Soaking in Twilight.

The late spring night air still carried a chill.

A streetlight-lined uphill road stretched before me.

The yellow glow of the lights unfurled in succession, quietly dyeing the street.

The scenery of the street softened.

Each time the wind stirred the branches, the green leaves swayed gently.

Faint light seeped through them, making it seem as if the trees were holding the streetlamp’s glow within them.

As time flowed calmly, I quietly turned to my side.

Lee Jian was walking beside me.

At some point, we had begun walking in sync.

At first, she walked ahead with light steps, but gradually, her pace slowed until she matched mine.

I, too, naturally adjusted to her rhythm.

The same pace.

Neither too fast nor too slow.

Just walking side by side, at the same tempo.

The path we walked was an uphill road.

As we slowly ascended, the streetlights cast long shadows behind us.

Two shadows stretched out side by side, sometimes overlapping, then separating again.

With each of my steps, she took one.

With each of hers, I followed.

Strangely, the more we tried not to be conscious of it, the more we walked in the same stride.

She walked in silence.

I simply matched my steps beside her.

Even without words, it was enough.

Between the glows of the streetlights, we walked, quietly in sync.

“Today felt so long~.”

“Yeah, it really did.”

“It must be because of exams.

The tyrannical force that rules over students’ time!”

She stretched out her arms dramatically as she spoke nonsense.

“In that sense, exams should be abolished, don’t you think?”

“But the wish coupon still won’t disappear.”

She wiggled her fingers playfully as she said that.

“I’ll bite your finger off.”

Lee Jian playfully made a motion as if to bite my finger.

For a brief moment, her lips touched my fingertip before pulling away.

Startled, I quickly pulled my hand back.

A small warmth lingered where she had touched, spreading from my fingertips, like a tiny ember, slowly.

I pulled my hand away in surprise, but the warmth didn’t fade.

Rather, it spread slowly—from my fingertips to my palm, then toward my heart.

It was no longer just warmth; it turned into a stronger heat.

And before I knew it, that heat surged up to my face.

Our synchronized footsteps broke.

She continued forward while I stopped in place.

Turning back to me, Lee Jian smiled.

“You can’t just act on it right after giving a warning!

Even thieves give out advance notices.

You should send a warning letter and at least give me time to prepare.”

“Thieves are meant to be hated anyway.”

She laughed, completely unbothered.

I was just relieved that she hadn’t noticed my flushed face.

Trying to suppress my shaken heart, I teased her.

“You got spit on me.

What are you going to do about it?”

“My spit is holy water.

Treasure it.”

She puffed out her chest proudly.

“That sounds familiar.”

Lee Jian tilted her head, seemingly unable to recall.

“From the entrance ceremony.”

“…You remember everything, don’t you?”

“How could I forget?

A handsome guy and a beautiful girl saying weird things to each other.”

Feeling guilty, she whistled while averting her gaze.

Except the sound didn’t really come out, so she just ended up pursing her lips awkwardly.

“What are you doing?”

“Waaah!

The weather is so nice!”

She spread her arms wide and ran ahead like a child.

She must have been embarrassed.

Just moments ago, she seemed down, but now she looked a bit better. That was a relief.

She stared at a stone pillar on the road.

“Help me up.”

“Why?”

“So I can climb up.”

“Are you a kid?”

“I’m not an adult yet, am I?”

I couldn’t think of a good response, so I quietly held out my hand.

The pillar was quite high, making it difficult for her to climb.

She pressed down hard on my head and finally managed to get on top of it.

“Now I’m taller than you!”

“Wow, good for you.”

She pushed my head down again.

“What are you doing?”

“Oops, my bad.”

Despite her words, it didn’t feel like an accident at all.

I adjusted my glasses and asked,

“But aren’t you wearing a skirt? Is that okay?”

Her hopping footsteps came to an abrupt stop.

Then—thud.

Something soft landed on my back.

A gentle warmth pressed against me.

Her breath lightly rested on my shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“Suddenly, I feel embarrassed.”

This seems more embarrassing, though.

I could have just let her walk, but strangely, I didn’t want to.

Maybe this was the only way I knew to comfort her when she was feeling down.

So, without a word, I carried her on my back and walked.

A road illuminated by a string of streetlights.

Her shadow merged with mine on the pavement.

At least for this moment, we were walking in the same stride.

I adjusted my grip, securing her legs.

She settled her weight onto me little by little.

But I naturally adjusted, carrying her with ease.

Her fingers brushed against my clothes hesitantly, then let go.

I could feel the rhythm of her heartbeat against my back, slow and steady, just like the soft glow of the streetlights we walked past.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“Yeah.

You’re surprisingly heavy.”

“What?!”

I felt her fingers clench into a slow fist and release.

“Well, too bad.

I have no intention of getting off.”

“Seriously, you’re too much.”

“I’ll play a work song for you in return.”

“Oh no, that tone-deaf—”

Thud.

I got hit before I could finish my sentence.

It didn’t hurt much, but my heart felt strangely ticklish.

She rummaged through her pocket, pulled out earphones, and placed one in her ear and one in mine.

“Wired?”

“My ear canals are small, so I always lose wireless ones.

You’re using wired, too.”

“I just like the feeling of being connected.

I like the sense of being linked by the cord.”

Suddenly, Lee Jian lowered her head, resting against my back.

“…That’s cheating.”

“What is?”

“Just… things.

You wouldn’t understand.

Or maybe you should, but not right now.”

“What are you even saying?”

Something about her felt a little off today.

Well, considering what she had seen earlier, it made sense.

After all, even in the original story, she had been deeply shaken.

A song played through the earphones.

[Under the streetlights, walking side by side,
You and I, on the same path.]

[You look ahead,
While I follow your shadow.
Though we walk in the same direction,
Our hearts do not meet.]

“Is this a famous song?”

“Under the Same Streetlights”

“It’s not that famous. It’s an old song.”

The distinct guitar sound and slight static noise characteristic of old songs made it all the more charming.

[If I take one more step closer,
Would you notice me?
But still, I follow behind you.]

“This song is nice.

What’s the title?”

“Now?”

“Just send it to me later in a message.”

“Alright.”

[We walk the same path,
Under the same night sky.
But you wouldn’t know—
It’s not just beside you that I want to stay,
I want to stop by your side.]

The lyrics seeped into our ears through the shared earphones.

After that, we walked in silence.

In the distance, the flickering lights of the bus stop came into view.

She let out a quiet breath.

Warmth brushed against my cheek.

And I, without a word, kept walking through the remaining distance.

Somehow, it felt strange to grow accustomed to her warmth.

I hadn’t expected carrying her to feel so light.

Or maybe, in some way, it was heavy.

We walked in silence to the bus stop, still maintaining the same rhythm.

“Today felt so long~.”

I lost a bet, found out Kim Dohyun liked Nayul sunbae, and received a book as a gift…

It felt like I had been losing all day.

Even as we climbed the uphill road, even as the streetlights cast long shadows behind us—

I kept thinking that this scene felt like a stage.

On this stage, it was just me and Kim Dohyun.

The streetlights shone down like spotlights, our shadows stretched long, merging and parting again.

It felt uncomfortable.

No, awkward.

This wasn’t a role I was used to.

I wasn’t someone who stood under the lights—I was someone who made the lights shine.

And now that the light was on me, I didn’t know how to react.

The glow of the streetlights, this illumination—

For some reason, it felt burdensome.

“The wish coupon doesn’t disappear.”

Kim Dohyun playfully wiggled his fingers.

For some reason, it irritated me.

Here I was, feeling restless, while he looked so unaffected.

So I pretended to bite him in a teasing gesture.

I had to keep my boundaries.

A director should exist outside the stage, not within it.

The stage wasn’t my place.

Keeping a set distance—

That’s how I had always been.

That’s how I thought it should be.

But—

The moment my lips brushed his fingertip,

The moment he flinched and pulled his hand away—

I realized.

The distance I had set.

The line I had drawn,

Was starting to blur.

“My saliva is holy water.

Treasure it.”

I said it to create distance.

To pretend it was all just a joke.

To act like I wasn’t shaken.

“The entrance ceremony.”

He suddenly brought up the past.

“…You remember everything, huh.”

He remembered.

The words I had spoken without thought.

The moment we first met.

He kept trying to erase the lines I had drawn.

I turned to look at him.

And as always, he was walking one step behind me.

Quietly matching my pace.

As if nothing was out of the ordinary.

And I—

I liked the fact that he followed me,

But I hated that it wasn’t enough for me.

He already had someone he liked.

That’s why I shouldn’t like him.

I didn’t want to be an obstacle.

I was afraid of being hated.

More than being loved, I preferred not being hated.

Loved?

Just the thought made me cringe.

I wanted to joke around, but today, for some reason, it didn’t come easily.

“Waaah!

The weather is great!”

I exaggerated my voice, acting more playful than before.

Acting like nothing was wrong.

I widened the distance between us.

Our shadows stretched apart.

But as the streetlights followed us, our shadows merged again, then separated, repeating over and over.

Two elongated shadows.

Each time they overlapped, they parted again.

So close, yet not quite touching—just like us.

I hopped onto a stone pillar, skipping along it.

The hem of my skirt fluttered, and my shadow swayed with it.

“But isn’t it a problem to be doing this in a skirt?”

His casual remark.

Heat rushed to my face.

Yet, he looked completely unbothered.

No sign of embarrassment, no reaction.

Does he not see me as a woman?

My legs felt weak, like I couldn’t take another step.

So I let him carry me.

“I just like the feeling of being connected.

The way the cord links us together.”

The cool touch of the earphones settled against my ear as he spoke.

“…That’s really unfair.”

The soda he handed me earlier—the lingering fizz still hadn’t faded.

Like tiny bubbles rising, like foam bursting—

The memory of that moment slowly spread.

I thought I knew the name of this feeling,

But I didn’t want to acknowledge it.

I just wanted to bury it.

Because if I crossed the line, if I took that extra step—

Our synchronized footsteps would break.

And the stage we stood on would vanish like a mirage.

So I stayed silent and leaned against him.

If, instead of standing outside the lights, I were the one shining within them… would you look at me?

You’re the one who captures the stage.

We were both facing the same direction, so we couldn’t see each other’s faces.

We could feel each other’s warmth, but we couldn’t see each other’s expressions.

We walked the same path, at the same pace, in the same warmth.

But whether our hearts were the same—

No one knew.

Or rather, no one told us if it was okay for them to be the same.

So I didn’t know.

[We walk the same path,
Under the same night sky.
But you wouldn’t know—
It’s not just beside you that I want to stay,
I want to stop by your side.]

Somehow, my heart was starting to resemble the song lyrics.

And before I knew it, the melody playing in my earphones was also playing within me.