Chae-yeon's cries, almost like screams, continued without pause. Every time she heard her name called out desperately, Si-hyun, listening from the shoe cabinet, felt as if his heart was burning.

‘This is so messed up…’

Their first love was painfully immature. If they had communicated openly, or if Chae-yeon had mentioned her trauma even a bit earlier, their first love might have lasted.

"Sigh..."

Si-hyun sought relief from his complicated emotions by rubbing his face with his dry hands. As he sat there for a while, comforting sounds from nearby residents reached his ears.

Thanks to the neighbors' support, Chae-yeon's cries gradually faded away. Recognizing his ex-girlfriend had left, Si-hyun went to the kitchen and drank a glass of cold water, which helped to cool the burning sensation inside him.

"Why do all the women around me have complicated stories?"

Both Ye-rin and Chae-yeon had unfortunate family histories. He felt sympathetic towards both and wanted to help, but Si-hyun could only be responsible for one person.

"Being kind to Chae-yeon would only be false hope. So I have to end it decisively and allow her to live her own life..."

Resolute, Si-hyun turned on his phone while lying on the bed. He opened a social media app and looked at his empty profile picture. He replaced the blank space with a photo of him kissing Ye-rin.

[Change Complete]

Not long after, he began receiving a flood of messages from his college friends. Most of them were congratulatory, asking if they finally started dating or expressing that they knew it would happen.

And then.

[Ye-rin: Is it okay to change your profile picture? I was worried that Chae-yeon and Sohui might bother us. We decided to keep our relationship a secret during the break, remember?]

Shortly after, a notification popped up that Ye-rin had changed her profile picture too. At the same time, Si-hyun received a call.

"Hello."

[I'm curious about what prompted this change in you, my dear husband~]

Ye-rin's voice had a playful laugh. It seemed she was quite pleased about the profile picture change. Si-hyun scratched the back of his head, opening and closing his mouth as he thought.

"Well, you see..."

Si-hyun hesitated whether to be honest with her. However, his deliberation didn't last long.

It was something that would inevitably be revealed once classes resumed. When Ye-rin saw the change in Chae-yeon's demeanor, she would surely realize something had happened.

"Sigh..."

With a deep sigh, Si-hyun confided in her about what happened today, excluding the part about the kiss, and focusing on Chae-yeon's past and his reaction to it.

As Ye-rin listened to his story...

[Wait for me at home.]

She ended the call in a calm voice.

‘Is she planning to come to my house?’

Si-hyun was taken aback by Ye-rin's unexpected response. He thought her gentle nature would lead her to empathize with Chae-yeon's situation.

Ding dong~!

It seemed that wasn't the case.

"I'll open the door right now."

When Si-hyun hurriedly opened the door, Ye-rin appeared, panting. Beads of sweat were formed on her forehead; she must have run all the way to his house.

"You could've taken your time..."

As Ye-rin entered the house, Si-hyun closed the front door. He was about to head to the kitchen to get her some water, seeing how exhausted she looked when suddenly—

Ye-rin embraced Si-hyun from behind. She exhaled heavy breaths against his back and asked him in a trembling voice.

"You... You're not going back to Lim Chae-yeon, are you? You'll stay by my side, right?"

Having discovered the sweetness of their relationship, Ye-rin couldn't bear the thought of letting Si-hyun go. If things reverted to how they were before...

Just the thought of it made Ye-rin tremble with fear.

"Si-hyun, I'm really anxious right now... Knowing that Lim Chae-yeon went through such things, I'm scared you'll reach out to her again. The girl you liked so much is starting to cling to you, and I'm afraid your heart will waver. I'm telling you, I'm anxious..."

"Ye-rin..."

Si-hyun gently held Ye-rin's hands that were resting on his stomach. Then, he spoke.

"Just like I told you on the phone, I've already sorted things out with Chae-yeon."

"But still..."

Ye-rin couldn't finish her sentence and hugged Si-hyun even tighter. Feeling the dampness spreading on his back, Si-hyun realized that Ye-rin was crying.

"Do you not trust me?"

"I'm sorry... I want to trust you, but this time, it's really hard. I know how much you liked her, because I watched over you closely."

Ye-rin had been watching Si-hyun closely, noticing how his mood would shift drastically even with Chae-yeon's smallest reactions.

Every time she saw him that way, her heart felt like it was aching, causing her to writhe in pain and scream out silently.

'I never want to go through that experience again...'

Ye-rin's trembling grew stronger, and Si-hyun removed her hands from his abdomen, pulling her into an embrace to face her. He gently brushed her tousled brown hair back.

And there, revealed was her lovely face, streaked with tears. Si-hyun wiped her face with the back of his hand and spoke.

"What can I do to earn your trust?"

"I don't know either..."

Si-hyun kissed Ye-rin in sequence on her forehead, nose, and lips. As he moved downward, he tasted the salt of her tears.

"Is this not enough?"

"It's far from enough."

Ye-rin placed her lips on Si-hyun's neck and started to suck gently. She desperately wanted to leave her mark on him somehow.

Smack..♥️

It felt as if his skin was being drawn out, but Si-hyun endured it to ease Ye-rin's anxiety. As she marked his skin from his neck onward, her cheeks turned rosy red as she spoke.

"Mark me too..."

Nodding, Si-hyun held Ye-rin's head with his left hand and her waist with his right. Then, as if he were a vampire, he began to suck on her neck.

"Ugh… Ha.. Ha.."

Ye-rin's breath, filled with excitement, reached Si-hyun's neck.

As Ye-rin pulled her lips away, a red mark appeared, and she nodded, offering the other side of her neck.

"Do it here too..."

"Alright."

Perhaps it was because of the sweat from running there. Ye-rin's neck tasted salty, almost as if tears had flowed, but it also carried a fragrant scent, as if she had drenched it in fabric softener.

Smooch...

With the last kiss, Ye-rin's neck was covered in red marks. Looking up at Si-hyun with watery eyes, she caressed his hand and said,

"Tonight... I want to sleep at your place."

Startled by Ye-rin's bold statement, Si-hyun shivered. Only after a moment did he nod, as he realized he might be taking steps up the ladder to adulthood, which made him gradually tense up.

Ye-rin then gently laid Si-hyun down on the bed and nestled his head onto her arm.

Slide— Slide—

She gently traced circles over Si-hyun's chest with her fingers and whispered carefully into his ear.

"I would love to go all the way, but... it's that time of the month, you know."

"Oh."

That time. Often referred to as the magic day for women. It was said that during their period, many women become irritable, but Ye-rin had never shown it, so Si-hyun hadn't noticed at all.

"Are you in pain?"

"It hurts a bit, but I can endure it."

Si-hyun softly rubbed Ye-rin's lower abdomen, wishing for her to feel better quickly. Even through her clothes, her skin felt smooth.

"Does that help? Does it feel a little better?"

"Pff… Wow, it really does feel like a magic touch."

Ye-rin giggled and gently looked at Si-hyun's hand.

As she softly petted his hand, she interlocked their fingers and, staring at them, spoke softly.

"Si-hyun."

"Yeah?"

"Earlier, you asked how you could trust me, remember?"

"That's right. Do you have any ideas?"

Nodding, Ye-rin continued.

"How about getting couple rings with me?"

"Couple rings?"

Even when dating Chae-yeon, he hadn't gotten such a token of commitment. As Si-hyun imagined the ring that would fit on his ring finger, Ye-rin fidgeted with her fingers.

"Yeah... Wearing couple rings makes it feel like we're connected, and it would give me some peace of mind."

Si-hyun smiled at Ye-rin's adorable suggestion. Tightening his grip on their clasped hands, he replied in a sincere tone.

"Sounds good. I've always wanted to try wearing couple rings at least once."

"Why didn’t you get them when you were with Chae-yeon?"

Come to think of it, why hadn’t he? After pondering for a moment, Si-hyun answered.

"I guess it was because I didn’t have time back then. We were so busy thinking about what to talk about and where to go that I never even imagined couple rings."

"Hehe... So I'm your first, then?"

"In a way, yes."

Ye-rin nodded repeatedly, her face brimming with satisfaction. Then, she released their intertwined fingers and hugged Si-hyun from the side.

"Then... let's sleep like this and go into town in the morning. Let's choose a beautiful one and ask them to engrave our initials."

Si-hyun gently combed through Ye-rin's hair with his fingers, speaking softly.

"Sure, is there anything else you want to do?"

"I also want to take more sticker photos. Now that we've gone public with our relationship, I want to post all the photos on social media."

With a warm smile, Si-hyun agreed to Ye-rin's wishes. She was not only his childhood friend but now also his girlfriend, whom he had promised to be responsible for until the end.

Si-hyun would do his best to ensure she wouldn't feel anxious.