Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Childhood Friend Steals the Ex-Boyfriend’s Kiss

—

“Han Yerin, please, wake up!”

Performing CPR took a lot of energy.

Thirty compressions at a rate of two per second.

After four rounds of it, Si-hyun, exhausted, mustered his last ounce of strength for another breath.

And then, finally—

“Ugh…!”

With a cough, Yerin spat out the water that had filled her lungs and slowly opened her eyes. Si-hyun gripped her shoulders tightly, his voice urgent.

“Yerin, are you awake?!”

“Si-hyun… I…”

It seemed her consciousness had returned. Overcome with emotion, Si-hyun immediately pulled her into a hug.

She squirmed in surprise, but as he gently stroked her hair, her body gradually relaxed.

“Don’t say anything… I’m just so glad you’re okay…”

Yerin nodded, and wrapped her arms around him, prompting cheers from their classmates. Before long, the paramedics arrived.

Exhausted, Yerin was lifted into the ambulance, and Si-hyun climbed into the seat beside her, holding her hand tightly, still visibly shaken.

“Si-hyun…”

Noticing that his hand was trembling, Yerin smiled softly, squeezing his hand in reassurance as she patted his head gently.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…”

The warmth from Yerin’s hand, the feel of her alive and safe, washed over him. He finally let go, tears spilling down his cheeks.

“Why are you crying…? Were you that worried?”

“Of course! I thought you weren’t going to wake up. Do you have any idea how…”

Overcome with emotion, Si-hyun couldn’t finish his sentence. But perhaps she understood his heart without needing the words. Yerin hugged him close, soothing his back.

“I’m not going anywhere. As long as you’re here, I’m not going anywhere.”

As she comforted him, his shaking gradually subsided. Just then, one of the paramedics approached them from the back of the ambulance.

“We’re ready to go now.”

“Okay,” they replied in unison.

As the paramedic closed the back door, Si-hyun noticed someone running barefoot toward them.

“Si-hyun! Si-hyun!!”

It was Chae-yeon, sprinting frantically toward the ambulance.

Why was she running so desperately?

The distance made it hard to hear what she was saying.

“Don’t… Si-hyun, wait…!”

As she got closer, her words became clearer, but by the time she reached them—

Thud.

The paramedic, unaware of her presence, closed the door.

—

The doctor’s examination confirmed that, thanks to the swift CPR, Yerin was physically fine.

The jellyfish that stung her had only caused temporary muscle paralysis, and Yerin laughed sheepishly, saying her legs had felt like jelly.

After buying a cream for her stings, we headed back to the pension by taxi.

On the way there…

“Driver, please let us out here.”

Even though we hadn’t reached our destination, Yerin insisted on getting off at a nearby beach.

Before I could stop her, she’d already paid and stepped out, hobbling slightly on her crutches.

“Why’d you do that? Your leg’s hurt, and you’re going to walk?”

“Yeah. I wanted to get a closer look at the sea.”

“After all that, you still like the ocean…?”

“I do. I’ve made such a precious memory here.”

Maybe it was the sunset, but her face looked flushed.

As she stepped onto the sand and looked out at the waves, I followed her, keeping close in case she stumbled.

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of sand shifting beneath our feet mingled with the gentle waves.

Usually, Yerin would be chatting away, but today, she seemed lost in the beauty of the view, walking in silence.

After a while, we arrived at the spot where our friends had been earlier.

She finally stopped and asked quietly, “Si-hyun, where was I when you found me?”

“Probably… right about there.”

Following my pointing finger, Yerin’s mouth opened in surprise.

“I was pretty far out… It must’ve been hard bringing me back.”

“I won’t deny it. I was so tired I nearly drowned right alongside you.”

“Pfft… I guess we’d have become ocean ghosts together?”

I gave her a playful knock on the head, telling her not to say such nonsense.

“This time, you were lucky. But from now on, be more careful. Why are you always so reckless?”

“Sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Yerin, unusually subdued, sat on the sand, hugging her knees.

She looked so different from her usual self that I felt a bit awkward.

Scratching the back of my head, I decided to sit beside her. Silence stretched between us once again.

Just as I was about to break it, Yerin spoke first.

“Si-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

“Remember what the doctor said? That I survived because you gave me CPR?”

“Right. Why?”

She was facing forward, but then turned to look at me, her cheeks turning pink as she asked shyly,

“Then… you gave me mouth-to-mouth, didn’t you?”

“Oh…”

I should’ve seen this coming.

I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now the embarrassment hit me like a wave.

“Just so you know, it was unavoidable. I hesitated a lot before doing it, okay? But what else could I do? If I hadn’t…”

As I stumbled over my words, my mind going blank, I suddenly felt something press against my lips.

Looking up, I saw Yerin’s finger resting on my lips, her playful smile softening her expression as she shook her head.

“I’m not blaming you. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died before I ever got to experience romance. Who cares about a first kiss?”

First kiss. The realization that I’d taken such an important experience from her made my heart pound, mingling with a bittersweet guilt.

Startled, I stepped back and tried to reassure Yerin, who might have felt embarrassed.

“Listen, let’s just pretend today didn’t happen, okay? A CPR kiss doesn’t count as a real kiss anyway. Got it?”

She seemed to find my clumsy attempt to comfort her funny, nodding with a small giggle.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I stood up quickly and started walking away, leaving her behind.

“Wait up!”

Yerin’s amused voice called after me, and she began following, hobbling along with her crutch.

But—

“Ouch!”

With her injured leg, she didn’t make it far before stumbling onto the sand.

“Are you alright?”

“Geez… I told you to wait for me…”

Her eyes misted up a little as she glanced at her injured leg. Sniffling, she looped her arm through her crutch and looked at me with pleading eyes.

“I can’t walk… Carry me?”

“Can’t I just help you up?”

“Nope. I want a piggyback.”

Yerin emphasized “want” as she stretched her arms out, waiting expectantly.

With no other choice, I sighed and turned around, letting her climb onto my back.

“Chauffeur, onward please!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

—

Once she was settled on my back, Yerin shifted closer, hugging me tightly.

The sudden closeness made both our hearts race, and her warm breath tickled the back of my neck.

As we walked, Yerin asked in a soft voice, “Si-hyun… did you feel bad when you were… um… doing CPR?”

Not this again.

I mentally cursed my past self for hesitating, then diving right in with that mouth-to-mouth.

But what’s done was done, and I figured it was best to be honest.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about whether it felt good or bad—I was just focused on saving you.”

The response seemed to both please and frustrate her, and after a moment, she took a breath and asked again.

“What if it hadn’t been an emergency?”

“Why do you keep asking stuff like that…?”

“Just answer me.”

Her serious tone told me this was a question I couldn’t brush off.

‘Could it be…?’

It was becoming impossible to ignore what my classmates had hinted at—that Yerin might have feelings for me.

As that suspicion hardened into certainty, my face grew warm. Reluctantly, I replied, “If we’re talking about like or dislike… then yeah, I’d like it. I’m a guy, and you’re… well, you’re really pretty, so…”

I ended up saying something that was way too easy for her to tease me about.

“Pfft…!”

As expected, I heard her laughing behind me.

I felt my face burn as a wave of embarrassment hit, and I couldn’t help but snap in frustration.

“Geez… You know what? You’re heavy. Get off already.”

“Heavy? That’s rude! Carrying a girl as pretty as me is a rare opportunity, you know?”

“Ugh, you…!”

At the end of my rope, I decided to speed things up and started jogging toward the pension.

“Ahh! Slow down!” Yerin squealed in surprise, clutching my neck even tighter, her voice ringing with laughter.

By the time we reached the top of the long stone staircase and arrived at the pension, both our hearts were pounding like we’d run a marathon.

“Alright, we’re here. You can get down now.”

“What? But I wanted to stay up here a little longer…”

Grumbling, Yerin carefully got off my back, balancing on her crutch.

I was just about to wipe the sweat off my forehead and catch my breath when—

“Huh?”

Her startled voice caught my attention.

I turned around to see her teetering backward, about to fall.

“Yerin!”

I lunged forward, grabbing her wrist just in time to steady her.

She froze, and for a split second, relief washed over me.

But then—

Swoosh!

Using the momentum, Yerin looped her arms around my neck and pulled herself close.

And before I could react…

Smooch♡

She pressed her lips firmly against mine, making a loud, unmistakable kissing sound.

The softness and warmth of her lips against mine caught me completely off guard, and I lost my balance, stumbling backward onto the ground.

“Han Yerin, you…”

Above me, Yerin smirked, her playful expression reminding me of a mischievous brown cat as she licked her pink lips.

Looking more captivating than ever, she brushed her fingers gently over my lips and murmured,

“This kiss… doesn’t get to be ‘no-count,’ does it?”