Chapter 28. Our Lips Brushed

“Why are you here…?”

Haeyoung whispered in shock, eyes wide with surprise.

Taeseong casually shrugged and sat down.

“Why else would someone come to the library? To study, obviously.”

Their casual exchange left Chakyung and Hyuk glancing around, puzzled.

Hyuk nudged Taeseong’s side and gestured toward Haeyoung.

“That girl…”

Understanding what Hyuk was implying, Taeseong gave a small nod.

Meanwhile, Chakyung nudged Haeyoung’s side and whispered.

“Do you know them?”

“Uh, yeah. A… friend. I knew him from when I was a kid, and turns out he goes to the neighboring school. We just ran into each other recently. Haha…”

Haeyoung improvised her explanation.

She couldn’t very well tell Chakyung the truth—“The guy sitting across from me is my legal husband.”

“Ohh, I see.”

Even though the excuse was shaky, Chakyung nodded along kindly.

Haeyoung sighed in relief and turned back to her desk—only to meet Taeseong’s gaze as he mouthed exaggerated words.

‘Study hard, ooold friend.’

He added a mischievous smile to it.

Haeyoung quickly bowed her head and pulled out her textbook.

That same smile, which used to just annoy her, now made her heart pound recklessly.

How could the same grin feel so completely different?

That’s the danger of a one-sided crush.

About an hour passed, and Taeseong, who had been studying with near frightening focus, finally looked up.

He stretched his stiff neck, scribbled something on a sticky note, and passed it to Haeyoung.

We’re going to grab drinks. What do you want? Ask your friend too.

I’ll have coffee milk. She wants strawberry milk.

Haeyoung, knowing Chakyung’s preferences perfectly, wrote the reply without hesitation and handed the note back.

Taeseong checked it and left with Hyuk.

Once they were gone, a note slid across the desk from Chakyung.

He’s handsome, Haeyoung.

“Huh?”

Forgetting they were in a library, Haeyoung blurted out loud and quickly covered her mouth.

Had Chakyung fallen for Joo Taeseong at first sight?

That would complicate things.

Worried, Haeyoung’s eyes darted nervously until Chakyung reached out and hastily scribbled an explanation.

Not the guy in front of you, the one in front of me.

“Oh…”

Haeyoung let out a relieved sigh.

“You almost caused a major misunderstanding.”

Chakyung whispered with a mischievous grin.

Her smile, always so angelic, had a teasing glint to it now.

Even among close friends, having your crush found out was embarrassing.

Thankfully, Chakyung was considerate enough not to ask more questions.

She just nodded, as if she already understood everything.

Still, Haeyoung’s flushed face wouldn’t cool down.

Whenever she thought of Taeseong, her emotions seemed completely out of control.

Just then, while Haeyoung was fanning herself to calm down, a girl came by and placed a banana milk with a note on Taeseong’s desk.

Haeyoung stared as the girl adjusted the angle of the milk like she was staging a photo shoot.

Seriously? Sitting together like this doesn’t even make her think we’re a couple?

She knew she had no right to interfere with Taeseong’s romantic life. His heart was his own.

Still, the fact that she didn’t even seem like a possibility in that girl’s eyes bruised her pride.

Okay, I get that Taeseong is good-looking. But I’m not bad either, right…?

Haeyoung tried to comfort herself with that thought as she bit her lip and glared at the banana milk.

Eventually, she turned it slightly to read the note stuck on it.

You’re seriously good-looking. Totally my type. 010-XXXX-XXXX. Call me.

A short and bold message.

Haeyoung gave a dry laugh, ripped off the note, and crumpled it.

There was nothing she could do about crushes that started before he met her.

Still, they were married—even if only on paper. Creating scandal was off-limits.

That’s probably why Taeseong had warned her about staying away from Kijoon too.

So let me handle this, Joo Taeseong.

With that justification in mind, Haeyoung opened the banana milk and downed it in one go.

“Whew, whew…”

“Haeyoung, you’re going to choke…”

Chakyung paused mid-sentence, startled by the gleam in Haeyoung’s eyes.

“Haeyoung, your eyes look weird.”

Haeyoung waved her off.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. My airways are intact.”

After Haeyoung’s bold move, the other girls who had been eyeing Taeseong quietly stuffed their drinks back into their bags.

As the sun dipped low, the four of them began packing up.

Haeyoung, who was the first to step outside, let out a long sigh.

“Whew— Haven’t studied this hard in a while.”

“If this is ‘studying hard’ for you, what do you usually do?”

Taeseong’s familiar, teasing voice came from behind.

Haeyoung spun around and glared up at him.

“Do you live to pick fights with me?”

“Yup. It’s fun.”

He flicked her wrinkled brow with his finger.

“Relax that frown. You look like you’re about to eat someone.”

“As if you could handle it if I did.”

As they bantered, Hyuk came out and stood next to Taeseong.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey…”

Haeyoung replied nervously.

Her sudden change in tone made Taeseong shake his head and speak up.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce you guys. This is Cha Hyuk, my best friend.”

“Nice to meet you. I’ve been friends with Taeseong since elementary school.”

“Hi, I’m…”

“I know. Cha Haeyoung. You go to the school next to ours. And you’re married to Taeseong.”

“How do you know that?”

Haeyoung shot a glare at Taeseong.

Remembering their agreement to keep the marriage a secret, Taeseong scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“It just… sort of slipped out…”

His excuse hung awkwardly in the air—until another voice interrupted.

“…Haeyoung?”

It was Chakyung, her tone two octaves lower than usual from the shock.

“You’re… married?”

Oh no.

Chakyung had returned from the bathroom early.

“Chakyung! I can explain—I’ll explain everything at school!”

And with that, another person was added to the list of those who knew their secret.

Haeyoung gave Chakyung a brief explanation and promised to tell her the full story at school.

She’d wanted to keep the marriage secret, but oddly enough, it felt like a relief to tell Chakyung.

Maybe that’s why, even on the bumpy bus ride, Haeyoung couldn’t resist closing her eyes.

She hugged her school bag and dozed off, nodding off gently.

Taeseong clicked his tongue beside her.

“Her head’s spinning like a top.”

Even so, he carefully reached over and guided her head onto his shoulder.

Once stable, her breathing calmed.

Taeseong turned his head to look at her.

“It’s so weird. How does she sleep like this, even on a bumpy bus?”

It was the same on the way back from Gapyeong.

As he muttered to himself, he noticed two strands of hair stuck to her cheek.

It bothered him.

He slowly reached for her face, thumb and finger coming together carefully to pluck them away.

“Mmm.”

Haeyoung let out a soft murmur, and Taeseong froze.

Like a paused scene in a movie, he stayed completely still, hand midair, gaze locked on her.

“Mmh…”

As she exhaled again and settled deeper into sleep, he slowly lowered his arm.

Once he confirmed she was truly asleep, he finally let out a breath.

“Haah…”

He should’ve looked away now.

But his eyes lingered on her face.

Have I ever looked at her this closely before?

He studied her carefully—round forehead, faint eyelids, surprisingly long lashes, and small, cherry-like lips.

His gaze, which had glided over other features, suddenly stopped at her lips.

It was like hitting something sticky—he couldn’t move past it.

No lip balm, yet her lips glowed with a natural, translucent red.

What would they feel like if I touched them…?

A reckless thought surfaced. His breathing grew shallow.

“…I’m insane.”

Curious about Cha Haeyoung’s lips?

It was a ridiculous, unacceptable thought.

But fate always tests people in moments like this.

“Driver! Please stop! I need to get off!”

Screech. Thud.

As the bus came to a sudden stop, Taeseong’s head jerked forward—

Tap.

And just like that, their lips brushed.