.

I raised my hand to touch my bangs and replied, “It’s just that… when it comes closer to March 2nd, I might behave quite weirdly, so it seemed better to tell you in advance. You’ll feel anxious if I act that way without a reason.” In fact, Yeo Dan oppa had noticed that my attitude was strange again this time.

As I spoke that way, he stared at me while biting his lips tightly. My heart broke at that moment. I felt like a fish in the tank, and Yeo Dan oppa a person looking at me from the outside. It was the first time to feel that distance between us ever since we began dating.

I pressed my arm firmly for a second then turned around.

“Sorry to say such a thing. Good night,” I uttered.

“Hold on,” said Yeo Dan oppa while grabbing my arm.

I looked back. He was still looking at me under the pouring orange sensor light.

A facial expression of someone looking at something incomprehensible… I didn’t want to see that anymore. After hesitating for a second, I tried to avoid the situation by saying it was too late, so we could continue our conversation tomorrow. However, at that moment, he lowered his head.

It was, as always, on the cheek, not the lips. With my eyes wide open, I became frozen at the spot then closed my eyes. Losing my center of gravity, I took a step back involuntarily. My backpack then touched the door with a thud. That was when my mom’s voice came out through the door, asking, ‘Is there anyone outside?’

Yeo Dan oppa took his lips off my face. Looking down at me, he said, “What I said earlier… that I won’t be able to stay well without you…”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s not that I just say things like that.”

‘Of course, you are,’ I nodded while being very aware that Yeo Dan oppa never just spoke things like that as a joke.

At that moment, there was a rustling noise from the inside of my house. Yeo Dan quickly stepped back and hid in the darkness; I opened the door voluntarily.

I opened the door only a little bit on purpose. The lamplight in the living room poured into a square and illuminated the hallway. Just as I expected, my mom, who was standing in front of the shoe rack, opened her eyes wide.

My mom asked, “You’re late, huh? Didn’t you say you’re returning earlier?”

“Both Eun Hyung’s father and Yoo Chun Young’s father woke up from a coma. I stopped by to see them, so I was late,” I replied.

“Oh, really? That’s good news!”

Speaking that way in surprise, my mom turned around toward my dad and began to rattle on, ‘Honey, did you hear that?’

Quietly watching that sight, I soon turned around and stuck my head out through the door to look at Yeo Dan oppa. He slightly waved at me; that was when I got to smile in the end.

Once I came back to my room, I didn’t change my clothes but just sat on the chair while pulling my knees in my arms then dwelled on the conversations we had in the hallway. Thinking over and over about oppa’s remark, I shoved my face onto my knees and murmured in a small voice.

“That won’t happen at all…”

He would not live happily ever after without me…

Becoming miserable and unhappy because of someone you couldn’t even remember––That was like asking a person, who was absent, to raise your hand while taking attendance. In other words, it was impossible.

‘But why am I…?’

I buried my head onto my knees again.

“I really want you to become that way.”

It was my first time to long for a person whom I like to become unhappy and miserable. I soon crouched down and wailed quietly.

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My life went on just like usual even after confessing my secret of March 2nd to Yeo Dan oppa. However, thankfully, he sincerely trusted my words and was serious about my confession. He held my hand more often than before and even hugged me sometimes in the street where people we know could walk pass by us, but other than those things, he treated me just the same as usual.

Since both Yoo Chun Young’s father and Eun Hyung’s father recovered from unconsciousness, my trip to the hospital reduced to just going there once in a week. Meanwhile, I was struggling to catch up on my study; our school’s opening ceremony was only a week away too.

And one day, I woke up in the middle of the night.

“…”

Having no idea what made me wake up from sleep, I just rolled my eyes here and there in the blueish darkness for a while.

Did someone come into our house? Maybe something fell on the floor or the bathroom faucet might be leaking. My ears were sensitive than I thought, so sometimes I was awakened from sleep just by hearing the faint sound of the leaking faucet in the bathroom located the most far away from my room.

I paid my attention to sense any unexpected changes around me, but nothing was detected at all. It would be better if I could fall asleep again then; however, for some reason, I wasn’t able to sleep no more. Someone seemed to splash some cold water on me, who had been dropped off into a deep slumber. My eyes wandered around the quiet space for quite a while; the calendar then suddenly came into view.

Our school’s opening ceremony was taking place on March 2nd this year, as always. And now it was February 23rd after midnight, exactly a week before March 2nd. Something then flashed through my head. Just in case, I turned my head and looked at the spot where I put my clock on.

‘Ha…’ I blurted out with a hollow smile. Even though it didn’t happen just once or twice, I couldn’t help but feel dejected.

“Again…” I murmured.

The weird-looking clock that Jooin gave me as a gift before, had turned into a humdrum one. My mom wouldn’t throw out the previous clock, which was in perfect condition, and changed it into a new one, so that was already enough to explain the situation.

I took out my phone and checked the time. It was 3:22 in the morning. I had to wait for, at least, four hours, to call Eun Hyung in the morning.

Being absentminded for a second, I soon had my head in my hands then murmured, “Ah, I hate this, so much…”

Today, which was a week before March 2nd, the world had changed again.

Article 33. I Guess Now I’m More Used to the World of Web Novels

Dropping my gaze slowly to the floor, I heaved a sigh, “Geez…” then I lifted my hand to dishevel my messy hair and sat straight.

I shouldn’t skip any daily routine, especially, at such a time like this. A person like me would soon collapse if I kept messing around whenever this thing occurred. I didn’t want that to happen.

Above all, they would have utterly forgotten my existence and might be proceeding with their every task, as usual, so if I was the only one behaving the opposite, I would feel like being very left behind.

‘Cheer up!’ I murmured while shaking my head then came out of the comforter.

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The air was still very cold since it was February, not March.

Rubbing my arms in the chilly air, I washed my face and hair. My mom wasn’t able to prepare my breakfast today, so I had to make my own meal. However, I just came out of the house with an empty stomach with a plan to grab something in the convenience store on my way.

As soon as I stepped outside the house, a cold wind struck my cheek. Closing and opening my eyes shortly, I looked forward. The apartment hallway vaguely appeared through the fogs that were becoming cleared out from the daybreak.

Through the familiar sight such as the white painted walls, balustrades, and gray hallway with smelling of rust, an electric scooter came into view in front of the house that belonged to Yeo Ryung’s family. It was something I had never seen before. Staring at the unexpected device for quite a while, I soon raised my hand to rub my eyes.

Ever since we started dating, Yeo Dan oppa was always standing like a beautiful landscape in front of my house whenever I opened my front door. However, he wasn’t there anymore. The situation had been expected, but it was very sad and much painful than I thought. Standing still at the spot for a long time, I just rubbed my eyes. Then I took off a step determinedly.

It was the beginning of my day.