.

I tilted my head. Furrowing my brows for a while, I tossed him a question.

"What?"

"You make me confused. I get to think about something I shouldn’t, like having silly hopes."

"…"

"What’s with that look?"

As if I had made a weird face at him, Eun Jiho called me out. Only then did I shook my head twice like a person who just awoke from sleep.

"I mean, it sounds quite interesting to hear from you that you’re having silly hopes," I replied.

‘What you just said was also exactly the same as what I had in mind just now…’ however, I didn’t say this part but kept inside my mouth.

Honestly, I thought the statement of ‘having silly or stupid hopes’ wouldn’t apply to me. That was because falling into someone in this world was such a presumptuous thing for me to even attempt; therefore, I wasn’t able to use that to describe my feelings in the first place.

Having some different thoughts in mind, I stared at Eun Jiho. How could the words of ‘having silly hopes’ slip out of his mouth? I never even thought about it since he was a person who could always have things that he desired overflowing around him. That Eun Jiho dropped the word ‘silly hopes,’ which made me wonder whom he had those hopes for.

I really began to get curious about who it was.

As soon as rambled those thoughts, Eun Jiho’s lips opened at a slow pace. Then at the next moment, what lingered on his lips was a dark smile. Tilting his head at a rakish angle, he answered back.

"Why would I not have any silly hopes for such things?"

"Oh."

"You look really curious, but I’m not gonna tell you anyway."

The words that he spat out while pushing my forehead made me pout my lips. I rubbed my face where his hand just touched and left.

Well, Eun Jiho that bastard wouldn’t let me know with ease. That was when I had thought in my head.

"… But, at least, a day seems to be fine though."

"…?"

What he just spoke out was closer to being said to himself than me.

Turning my head with a furrow, I got surprised that Eun Jiho had his penetrating gaze at, none other than, me. While I was at a loss of words for a second, Eun Jiho slowly opened his lips. What escaped from his mouth then made me tremble my shoulders.

"Hey."

"H…uh?"

His eyes looked still out of focus. They seemed to belong to a person who could hardly hear any noises while being lost in thoughts. Directing those eyes on me, he slowly continued his remark.

"Hey, you. Would you mind treating me like it’s my birthday today?"

"What?"

Your birthday was in January…

However, I didn’t bring those out of my mouth. Eun Jiho kept on at a slow pace.

"Just pretend today is my birthday and giving me a gift or so, would you?"

"What do you mean by giving you a gift?"

"Just…"

"Just?"

I tossed the word back to him. His brows slightly met in the middle.

Eun Jiho replied, "Just… be a little sweet."

"That’s what I always… oh, never mind. Okay, I will."

I thought that I was treating him well in my own way, but maybe it was not for Eun Jiho. His brows were deeply furrowed. As soon as I hurriedly corrected my words, he returned to the blurry, yet a little softer Eun Jiho than usual.

"Okay, fine, I will… for your birthday gift or whatever it is," I declared as if fetching a sigh.

"Cool."

Eun Jiho, who was staring at me until that moment, smiled with a look of satisfaction. Looking at his surprised face vacantly, I thought, ‘Was he able to smile like that?’

Frankly speaking, I thought I was now used to the overwhelming appearances of the Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung as it has already been three years with them; however, when I saw Eun Jiho’s smile just now, I came to think about maybe I should adjust my thoughts. I rolled my eyeballs.

Did Eun Jiho smile with that vibe before? Did he ever smile with a melancholic look that made even others get nervous?

Having those thoughts, I leaned my head to the side. The desperate look on his face never existed in my head even when digging up the three years of memories about him. What it meant was that there was something going on inside him over the last three years…

Having got immersed in thought, I didn’t realize that he carefully lifted my hand and placed it on his hand. When I suddenly raised my head in surprise, Eun Jiho already put his hand on mine without compunction while leaning back leisurely.

As our eyes met, he turned his head to look at me with his body still leaned back. He then just threw one word out from his mouth.

"Birthday."

"Hey, I didn’t grant your wish to…"

"Oh, it’s just for one day, and can’t you do this for me?"

As he soon spoke back in a grumbling tone, I quickly closed my mouth. All I could do for now was just dropping my complicated gaze at the back of his head.

I knew that he was only joking around with us, but not in front of others. He behaved in perfection, which looked too excessive sometimes, toward his father and those in his hierarchical relationship. That Eun Jiho was now acting like this…

I narrowed my eyes. Honestly, a mother, who had a whining kid in the groceries, might feel the same as I was right now somehow…

However, I decided to just let him hold my hand after thinking about what to do with it. As if he felt the release of tension in my hand, Eun Jiho showed a faint smile on his lips. Looking at his face at an angle, my eyes began to show a sign of complicatedness again.

Anyway, what he was doing to me might have meant how comfortable I was to him.

That was when I heard Eun Jiho saying something ungraspable.

"After today, I would take care of myself."

"About what?"

"Having silly hopes."

Eun Jiho left only those words then turned around to shove himself more into the seat. I stared at him in a deeper confusion.

* * *

Like a child having a nightmare, Eun Jiho was asleep, holding my hand tight. Thirty minutes after, he finally opened his eyes.

In the meantime, I tried to play some games with my phone; however, fearing to wake him up, I just spent time looking outside the window.

The birthday gift thing already felt quite challenging, but if it was just for one day, there was nothing I couldn’t do. Besides, he would’ve been too exhausted from preparing the party. For me, it has also been quite a while to see Eun Jiho’s sleeping face as he didn’t sleep a lot.

Taking a closer look at him deeply asleep with my chin resting on my palm, I heard a voice as the car suddenly pulled over.

"We have arrived."

I turned my head. The driver got off the car and opened our doors. I wondered what if Eun Jiho was still asleep, but thankfully, he was already awake as if being a light sleeper. Rubbing his eyes, Eun Jiho straightened his clothes then pointed outside with his chin.

"Let’s go."

"Uh, yeah."

Nodding my head, I carefully got off the car to avoid any footprints left on the threshold. My jaw then dropped as I glanced around.

I thought, ‘Of course, I knew that Eun Jiho was planning something as he said earlier, ‘I will take care of it,’ when I asked him about my outfits; however, I thought we’re just going to the mall at best, not this…’

I stared blankly at the view in front of me with my mouth opened wide in amazement.

The building was, particularly, dazzling gold among the skyscrapers in Seoul. It didn’t have any signs as if to emphasize its architectural aesthetics. Looking at the corner, I barely found something written on it at last.

‘Beauty Shop,’ I read it out loud.

What I’ve seen only on TV shows was now in front of my sight. It was such an unimaginable place for me, a high school student, to step into.

Eun Jiho, walking after me, pulled my arm and said, "What are you doing? Come on, let’s go."

"Huh? Um, yeah…"

Okay… From the moment when the car stopped at this place, I was stammering like a broken doll for the whole time. Eun Jiho, however, looked quite excited to have me like that in front of him. He grabbed my hand affectionately like what he did in the car, so I took it off in surprise. He then dropped the word ‘birthday’ fiercely, which made me hold his hand back.

Oh, birthday my arse!

I swallowed my tears while gently lending my hand to him.

Eun Jiho then said, "It’s not just for me. I’ll make it a birthday for you too."

So that’s why you brought me to a beauty shop…?

‘What’s the criteria of a birthday for the male lead in web novels?’ I felt deeply apprehensive.