Chapter 24: Love Confession and Holding Hands

Jin Woo’s words, no matter how softly and almost inaudibly he said them, effectively muted Ha Ni.

After an awfully long moment of silence, Jin Woo repeated more zealously. “Oh Ha Ni, I like you. I like you very much.”

Ha Ni stopped walking and reluctantly turned to Jin Woo, her eyes on her toes.

He continued, “I told you before that I had an idea of who you might be in Seung Jo’s life. But when Seung Jo told it to my face… hearing it directly from him… and then hearing it from you…”

She tried to think of the right way to phrase her thoughts. She had to choose her words carefully to avoid hurting Jin Woo, but she was too cornered and surprised.

“You know that I can’t…” she settled for a straightforward answer, still unable to look him in the eye.

Jin Woo sighed. “I know. But I am not expecting you to do something. I only want to tell you how I feel.”

Ha Ni looked up, confused.

“I told you I like you not to make you like me back. I know it is not possible with your current situation. I just want to stay by you side, even as friends. I hope my confession will not complicate our friendship.”

“Of course.” Ha Ni said. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, she was a little relieved. “You should know we can always be friends. You are the first friend I got in Seoul and I am grateful.”

Jin Woo hesitated before adding, “And if by chance you develop feelings for me in the future, we will find a way around your promise to Baek Seung Jo and his father.”

Discomfort returned. Ha Ni gave no instant reply. Why must you say that, Jin Woo-ah? >_<  She thought.

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Seung Jo went after everyone was sure that Ha Ni and Eun Jo were okay. It was just before dinner when he grabbed his guitar and walked away to find a quiet spot. He tried strumming to a few lines in his favourite song but he kept messing up because his mind was wandering too far off.

He relived that moment when he was reaching for Ha Ni in the water. When she passed out just when he got hold of her. He was worried. When he brought her to the poolside. And when Jin Woo gave her CPR. He got livid.

Damn. Sure, that was a life-saving mouthlock and I should not stress myself out for it. But I wouldn’t go as far as thanking him for it. Damn it.

The thing was, Seung Jo was as capable of first aid as Jin Woo, but he hesitated in that crucial moment. And he was mad that Jin Woo beat him at it before he made up his mind to do the CPR himself. No, actually, he was mad at himself for even hesitating to do it himself. It was about time he stepped up in his role as her future fiancé, no matter how unwilling he was in the beginning.

Seung Jo decided to head back to their hut to inquire about Ha Ni, but when he saw Ha Ni and Jin Woo walking off towards somewhere, he followed them. Stealthily. He had no idea why he was following them or why he’s trying not to be found out eavesdropping on them like that, but his feet pulled him to where they went. He also stopped when they stopped walking.

Seung Jo did not catch Jin Woo’s first declaration of love. He was a bit distracted at how to make himself inconspicuous while following them. But when they stopped walking and Jin Woo repeated his word to Ha Ni, Seung Jo heard him clearly. He heard Jin Woo’s love confession.

Damn it Park  Jin Woo! You never learn, do you?

Ha Ni’s response to Jin Woo’s confession did not appease Seung Jo a bit.

Stay friends? Friends my ! He can seduce you out of your promise to my father. That’s not going to happen! Not again.

Seung Jo was debating to himself whether or not to show up and give them a piece of his mind when he heard Ha Ni speak again.

“Jin Woo-ah… I do not break promises. In the future I will be publicly engaged to Baek Seung Jo and I will marry him. I will not develop feelings for you other than as a friend. You are a good guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you. But for me, love is not just an emotion. It should always be guided by the mind. And I’ve already made up my mind about my impending marriage to the Baek family. So please don’t make it hard for me to stay friends with you… please do not wait for me in vain. I’m sorry.”

Seung Jo did not expect Ha Ni's respons to Jin Woo. It made him smile, and he decided to come out of hiding.

“Oh Ha Ni, are you okay now?” Seung Jo asked in an obviously pretend innocent tone. He was trying to make it look like he walked in on them accidentally and at the same time give Jin Woo the vibe that he heard everything he said.

Ha Ni’s look of shock at his sudden appearance did not escape Seung Jo. “Have you been there for long?” she asked.

Seung Jo lied. “If you mean did I overhear something I shouldn’t have, then No.”

Ha Ni sighed in relief. He would have made a very big fuss if he heard Jin Woo’s confession.

“Where have you been? Ommoni was asking for you at dinner…” Ha Ni asked, a bit flustered.

Seung Jo calmly replied. “I just sat somewhere for fresh air. I’m about to head back to the hut. Come on, Oh Ha Ni. You shouldn’t be wandering around at this time. You might catch a cold.”

Seung Jo threw an irate gaze at Jin Woo’s direction, like suggesting that it was Jin Woo’s fault if Ha Ni caught a cold while walking with him.

Jin Woo interfered. “But she wanted to walk around after the meal…”

Seung Jo raised his eyebrows. “Is that so? Then come, I will walk with you, Oh Ha Ni.” He turned to Jin Woo and said, “You’ve done enough today, Park Jin Woo. You can now leave my future fiancée to me.”

Seung Jo emphasized the word fiancée and left Jin Woo no choice but to go. He excused himself from Ha Ni and went to the direction of their hut.

“Yah! That was rude!” Ha Ni said when they were sure that Jin Woo was safely out of earshot.

Seung Jo shrugged like he did not do anything wrong. “I was just telling the truth. You’re my going to be my fiancée soon.”

He unexpectedly took hold of her hand and it made Ha Ni look at their joined hands in shock.

“What are you doing? What if someone sees this?” she asked, half-scolding, half-disbelieving.

“Yah! Why are you complaining so much? I just thought maybe we should start practicing since it’s bound to happen soon. Come!” He then jerked her closer to him and made her continue walking while holding her hand.

He did not let go despite Ha Ni’s attempts to break free. Taking her hand was done on impulse, he did not even know what made him suddenly do it. And when Ha Ni asked her why, he told her it was just a practice, the same reason he told himself to explain his sudden action.

Nevertheless, he was unexpectedly enjoying the moment, and he tried to conceal his smile. He had not imagined that behaving in a way a future fiancé should was not as bad as he initially thought. Holding hands with Oh Ha Ni was actually comforting. It even took out some of the resentment he felt when he heard Jin Woo’s confession earlier.

 After a while, Ha Ni stopped jerking her hand away and let Seung Jo keep her hand in his.

This time, Seung Jo did not even bother to hide his smile.

“Thank you for rescuing me. Eun Jo and Ommoni said you were the first to respond to Eun Jo’s distress calls,” Ha Ni said, oblivious to Seung Jo’s silent grin.

“Saving another person is what any human being would do. No need thank me,” Then he added with a bitter hint, “And besides, it was Park Jin Woo who truly saved you with CPR.”

Ha Ni blushed at the mention of Jin Woo’s name. His confession still fresh in her mind.

“You both saved me. I’m grateful.”

Seung Jo weighed whether to tell her or not, not wanting to spoil a good mood. Then he decided to tell the truth, “I’m sorry for hesitating back there, Oh Ha Ni.”

She turned her head to look at Seung Jo, confusion clearly outlined in her face. “Hesitating? What are you talking about?”

Seung Jo explained. “I know how to perform CPR as competently as Park Jin Woo. But it took me longer to decide to do it or not. Good thing Jin Woo had more sense than I had.” He said apologetically.

“Why did you hesitate, then?” Ha Ni asked.

“I don’t know.”

Ha Ni pouted and murmured sarcastically, “Aish. I guess I’m really lucky to have invited Jin Woo. I would have died if I left my fate to you.” She pulled her hand from his hold and walked in advance.

“Yah! I heard that!”

“Good! I meant for you to hear that, jerk!”

Seung Jo’s nose flared. The relaxed mood between them was too good to last long. “Did you just call me a jerk? After I rescued you from the water?!”

“Well, you as good as killed me when you refused to give me CPR when I needed it!”

“I said I’m sorry, didn’t I?!”

 “Would your apology matter if I had died?”

“But you’re still alive!” Seung Jo barked.

He had to work on his short patience. He was just frustrated; someone like him is not used to making mistakes and apologizing for them. Added to that was the truth that Oh Ha Ni was someone who easily frustrated him.

Ha Ni huffed and walked faster, leaving him farther back.

Seung Jo scurried after her and tried masking his impatience. He figured out it would not do them good if they kept fighting at every turn.  Inhaling deeply, he apologized again. “I’m really sorry. What do you want me to do?”

Ha Ni smiled inside. Her irritation only lasted a minute when she observed how Seung Jo tried to control his temper. She pretended to be angry still and kept her annoyed look.

“What do you want me to do?” Seung Jo asked again when she did not answer.

Ha Ni’s secret smile grew. Thankfully Seung Jo did not see her face or he would have found out she was only faking. Ha Ni saw it as a chance to get back at him for all his rudeness to her earlier.

She faced him, her face still wearing that feigned furious look. “Would you do anything?” *Devil laugh*

“Anything within the bounds of logic and reason.” Seung Jo said. In an instant he suspected that Ha Ni might be planning to take advantage of the situation. “Yah! What are you thinking?”

Ha Ni giggled. “You’re too suspicious. Okay, you just owe me a favor. You can pay it later. And I take back calling you a jerk. Let’s go back, it’s cold.” Then she walked off laughing. Ha Ni – 1, Seung Jo – 0 *evil smile*

Seung Jo was left to ponder at what happened. At how Ha Ni wheedled out a favor from him. You’re really something, Oh Ha Ni.

His plan to talk to her about Jin Woo’s confession was set aside. Oh well, that would have to be saved for later, too. But I’m glad at how she wisely turned down Jin Woo. Abeoji seems right about her, afterall.

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Jin Woo walked away from Seung Jo and Ha Ni, but he did not go back to the hut yet.  He remembered Ha Ni’s honest but agonizing response to his confession. He told her the truth. He told her her feelings to let it out, not to pressure her. He knew Ha Ni’s predicament and he also knew that there was very little chance to change her situation. But it hurt him when Ha Ni squashed his hopes.

‘…for me, love is not just an emotion. It should always be guided by the mind. And I’ve already made up my mind… So please don’t make it hard for me to stay friends with you… please do not wait for me in vain. I’m sorry.’ Jin Woo recalled Ha Ni’s words.

‘Oh Ha Ni, I will stay by your side. Be your friend. No matter what you said, I will always hope. I will always wait… unless the time comes when you tell me that you will marry Baek Seung Jo not for business but because you love him. When that times comes, I will give up and let you go willingly.’ Jin Woo thought sadly.

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Oh Ha Ni had a hard time sleeping and it was not because of the slightly cramped bed. The events of the day kept her awake. Awake and thinking. First off, she almost drowned. Her clumsy self was unbelievably capable in the water. Years of practice made sure of that. And yet, her swimming skill was not enough in face of cramps. >_< You always have to be careful Oh Ha Ni!

Her shock of almost getting drowned in the pool was nothing to her shock of receiving Jin Woo’s love proposal. Sure, she had already been told more than once that Jin Woo might be harboring romantic feelings for her. And because of Jin Woo’s actions towards her, she even had some suspicions about it, no matter often she reminded herself not to presume anything. What made his confession a surprise was its timing, and it caught her unawares.

However depressing, an answer was required, and Ha Ni gave the truest she could say. She told Jin Woo the truth when she said he should not hold his hopes up because she was already decided in matters of her future. If Ha Ni were to be completely honest, she was also grateful that Jin Woo already told her his feelings to prevent any misunderstanding and assumptions that made her slightly feeling awkward and uncomfortable around Jin Woo. It just saddened her to cause pain to Jin Woo when all he had shown her was kindness ever since they met.

Mianhe, Jin woo-ah. But I should be honest with you as early as now. But I really want us to be friends, if you are okay with that. I hope you are okay with that….

Ha Ni’s last thought when sleepiness started to take over was Seung Jo’s behavior towards her during their short walk. And for reasons still vague to her, she felt warmth when he held her hand. That was why she stopped trying to take her hand back. Her logical and over-rationalizing self told her that maybe the warm fuzzy feeling was just because it was the first time a guy held her hand that way. Just like the feeling of her first kiss. Though taken unsuspectingly, thoughts of her first kiss gave her butterflies in the stomach.

The butterflies were rejoicing right now! He held my hand! Wae?! *_* (A/N: Yey! Improvement!)

Then she also recalled him explaining, ‘I just thought maybe we should start practicing since it’s bound to happen soon’

What did he mean we should start practicing? Practice pretending because we are going to be engaged anyway? Does he always have to be calculating in everything? Oh yeah, everything should be perfect for Baek Seung Jo. And practice makes perfect! Aish!

Somehow, her mood soured and gunned down the butterflies. (A/N: Aish)

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(A/N): Thankyu to readers who still visit to read/subscribe/comment despite my long absence. I'm working on the fic in my leisure time and it's taking me snail-slow. Mian! Again, you might want to read back a few chapters again to get the feel before reading the new update. Hehe. Enjoy reading. Thankyu again! :D