Became an Observer in Love Company

Back and forth questions.

How much truth is mixed in there?

——BEEP——BEEP——

The lie detector, noisy as it is, is nothing more than a toy.

It cannot be trusted.

Yet still—

“Do you like Hyun Yeon-nim?”

I raised my gaze to look at her.

Lee Jian asked her question with evident tension.

She had been sitting with her knees upright, then crossed her legs, and swayed back and forth like a seesaw toy.

She moved more restlessly than the machine itself.

Her inability to stay still showed she couldn’t calm her own heart, which was clear as day.

I silently observed her for a moment before slowly opening my mouth.

“No.”

——BEEP——

Truth.

At that moment, her body that had been so tense suddenly loosened.

Her rigid shoulders slackened and her trembling fingertips stilled.

“……Phew.”

A small sigh escaped her lips.

That was the beginning.

“Aah, whatever. Aah, really.”

Her laughter burst out.

It was a laugh of a fool.

With the tension gone, she laughed with a vacant expression.

She tried to cover her mouth, but it was too late.

She tried to lower her head, but it was already noticeable.

She hid her face with the sleeve of her gym uniform.

The more she tried to hide, the more awkward it became somehow.

I quietly smiled.

Lee Jian’s that expression was—

Cute.

Really, infinitely so.

Then, she peeked at me with only her eyes.

She asked in a small voice,

“……Really?”

Instead of answering, I just looked at her.

At that moment—

SQUEAK.

It felt as if carbonation had burst within the room.

Even though no carbonation was spurting in front of me, it was like a refreshing breeze swept through and shook my heart.

Tok, tok.

My heart began to beat.

Though I didn’t understand the meaning of this sensation, I pretended not to notice.

I simply briefly curved my lips upward and said,

“Really.”

She buried her face in her gym uniform once more.

I silently looked at her a little longer.

“……Why did you have such a misunderstanding?”

Lee Jian’s face was still hidden within her gym uniform.

Unlike before, she wasn’t hunched over, nor fidgeting with her fingertips.

Instead, with a calm voice, she responded,

“……Isn’t everyone likely to misunderstand that way?”

I slightly raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t you keep staring at Hyun Yeon-nim?”

“……”

“You just froze and couldn’t even move whenever you were with Yoon Jihoo.”

For a moment, I faltered.

That was an inevitable occurrence.

Since the system automatically fixed my gaze.

It’s understandable that it could be misconstrued that way.

But…

“……Phew.”

I ultimately burst out laughing.

“Haha. Have you misconstrued me this way all this time?”

Lee Jian didn’t reply at all.

Or rather, she couldn’t.

Her face was still buried in her gym uniform.

Nevertheless, she seemed somewhat vacant.

I suddenly realized that she hadn’t been speaking at all.

And quietly—very quietly—

I muttered so low it was barely audible,

“……Did you know this is the first time I’ve seen you laugh like this?”

I looked at her instantly.

“……What?”

But Lee Jian was still lazily smiling, clutching her gym uniform.

“……Okay.”

I blinked.

“……Eh?”

Was it a confession? So suddenly like this?

My eyes went wild with confusion. Words floated around, but I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

Her lips naturally curled upward.

“It feels good when you smile. It looks like you’re at ease.”

Her gaze met mine.

Leaning on her knees, she looked up at me.

“You’ve just been awkward all this time.”

Her lackadaisical eyes quietly observed me.

“You finally seem human.”

“……”

For a moment, I couldn’t say a word.

Somewhere deep within me, I felt a strange tug.

As if—

Carbonation had popped, just like that.

I tried to ignore this sensation.

But strangely, it wouldn’t go away.

I just gazed at Lee Jian.

Unable to produce a proper sentence like a broken machine, I finally managed to form one word.

And released it as if it were a sigh.

“I like you.”

——BEEP——

Truth.

Lee Jian froze once again.

Her expression remained stalled.

I didn’t miss how she stiffened right to her fingertips.

Even the hands gripping the gym uniform, as if they were holding a blanket, slightly trembled.

Her eyes fluttered ever so slightly.

They gazed at me.

Her lips, trembling delicately.

I thought I understood that emotion.

Lee Jian quietly, very quietly, asked in a feigned calm,

“……Joke, right?”

But her voice was softer than usual.

Hope, it lingered.

I merely stared at her.

Silence ensued.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.

I slowly inhaled, and with a tiny smile, opened my mouth.

“Joke.”

——BEEP——

Truth.

She blanked out.

Her breathing hitched slightly.

I could hear it clearly even in that moment.

“……What?”

She bit her lips.

“Which one was true?”

I said through a forced smile,

“Simple.”

I slowly leaned in closer to look at her.

Her eyes flickered momentarily.

“The probability is fifty percent, right?”

I said in a low voice, with a playful tone.

At that moment, her eyebrows twitched.

“……A quiz?”

She glared at me.

“Can I answer now?”

I shook my head slowly while smiling.

“Not yet.”

Our eyes met.

“Just a little longer.”

Her breathing wavered ever so faintly.

“……Why?”

My fingertips stiffened ever so slightly.

After a brief silence, I casually smiled and said,

“Just, not yet…”

At that moment, her eyes trembled deeply.

A complicated mixture of expectation and fear.

“Another day.”

I looked at her very slowly and quietly finished my sentence.

“……Later.”

——BEEP——

Truth.

I slowly turned off the lie detector.

Then I casually pushed the machine aside.

She seemed to have held her breath. The grip on her gym uniform tightened.

I exhaled slowly.

I awaited her reaction.

Her eyes looked at me.

I didn’t let go of that gaze.

What she was thinking,

What she wanted to say.

And—

What she hoped I would say to her.

I knew.

But—

“……Idiot.”

She murmured.

Those words made me smile.

At that moment, I saw her ears, behind the gym uniform, turn red.

And involuntarily—

My heart,

Thumped, in excitement.

The last BEEP of the lie detector faintly lingered in my ears.

I couldn’t shift my gaze.

Lee Jian, hiding her face beneath the gym uniform.

It seemed her hidden face was even redder than I imagined.

“Really?”

A cautious voice, yet filled with honest anticipation.

At the moment I met her gaze, I felt a certain emotion.

An unfamiliar feeling.

Something strange and foreign, squeezing my chest.

I smirked.

“Really.”

I muttered while averting my gaze.

“You know I’m just slow. Just, just wait a little more.”

I turned my head to avoid Lee Jian, but she kept coming.

As if observing me with interest.

My face involuntarily turned red.

At that moment, there was no need for the lie detector.

I gave an answer, right here and now, without a lie.

Even wrapped in the guise of a joke, something seemed to seep through.

Lee Jian’s smile was branded in my mind.

But suddenly, a subtle unease crept into a corner of my mind.

This moment was too good, and that made me anxious.

I wanted to hold onto this instant, but it felt like slipping through my fingers.

It was as though the warm air was gradually cooling.

Just stepping back from warmth, it felt as if the whole world had gone cold.

As the sensation came, I quietly inhaled.

And only then did I realize.

That I had grown too comfortable with time here.

Am I really okay to be here?

Is it all right to stay here?

My thoughts were boiling, yet oddly, my heart was cold.

I slightly raised my head.

The strong sunlight. A strikingly clear sky. The scenery of the shaded living room.

The stronger the light, the shorter the shadow, and the more my presence felt swallowed by it all.

As if, once this moment ended, all the warmth and the sensations that had held me here would vanish.

I had thought living here was natural, but suddenly, I felt afraid.

If this world weren’t of my choosing—

If I couldn’t even stay by choice—

My eyes slowly blinked.

Somehow, I wanted to seize this moment. I wanted to hold onto it for a longer time.

A creeping fear overshadowed me in the strong light, fearing I would become invisible.

I felt like I would disappear.

It was as if I might be erased right before my eyes.

Which is why—

I softly smiled.

Casually.

With a very tranquil face.

I needed some time to sort through my thoughts.

I needed time to quell this anxiety.

I felt at ease here.

I was free.

I was gradually putting down deeper roots in this world.

But the deeper I went, the bigger the fear that one day I might be uprooted grew.

I needed certainty.

Whether it really was okay to stay here.

Whether it was truly possible to stay.

……Yet,

I didn’t want to go back.

I wished this home’s warmth had always been mine, since the beginning.

I wanted to stay here with you for much longer.

“……Kim Dohyun.”

A familiar voice called out low.

I slowly turned my gaze.

She was already close.

Very near, looking at me.

“Why the glum face?”

A gentle voice, yet trembling.

I couldn’t say anything.

At that moment—

Her warm hand clasped my wrist.

As our eyes met, the hold on my wrist strengthened subtly.

Almost like holding on tightly, ensuring I wouldn’t disappear.

I needed to say something, but nothing came out.

It felt like standing on the boundary between reality and unreality.

Am I really here?

Am I really—

able to stay?

I want to continue staying with you.

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