Chapter 9

Though she unintentionally learned about Tae-wan’s secret, Ha-yeon did not hide. Meanwhile, the pair changed sitting places twice. But they were still partners. Because of their height, their seats were pretty much fixed.

The girls were very envious of Ha-yeon, and attributed her luck to her height which was something she couldn’t help. Some did not give up and asked her how she could be so tall, but even that did not end after a few days.

“Have you grown taller?” Ha-yeon’s head turned to a sudden question.

Tae-wan was lying on his desk and staring at her. She wondered why he was suddenly asking something like that.

“When I talk to you, answer me.” Tae-wan said while Ha-yeon worried.

After giving her banana milk, she was surprised as he had never spoken this much before.

“Maybe a little.” She was a little taller than last year.

“Have you grown?”

“Oh yeah.” There was no detailed answer given by Tae-wan.

“Will you keep staring at me like that?” Ha-yeon, who was preparing for the 5th lesson, asked, looking sideways.

Tae-wan who was laying on his arm, looked at her. The wind blew through the window and his dark hair floated up and then settled down again. The slightly messy hair style also looked good. He is natural model material. It was time to think about it, and she look at Tae-wan.

“Why don’t you take head shots?”

“Huh?” Ha-yeon’s expression hardened after being asked.

“I think the front is prettier.”

“… … .”

“Do you think your face isn’t good enough?”

“… What do you mean?” Ha-yeon quietly squeaked out.

“LC April issue.”

“… … .”

“That was you, wasn’t it?” Contrary to asking, he said it in a confident tone that it was definitively her.

As Ha-yeon was left speechless for a while, Tae-wan’s lips widened. Rising up, he pulled out the April issue of LC magazine from his bag, opened exactly to the page Ha-yeon’s face was featured and placed it in front of her. It was a picture of her with thick makeup, looking up from below.

Even that time, only half of her face was shown, so one had to look really closely to realize that it was her. How did he find out about this? She tried to calm herself down.

“It’s not me.” Ha-yeon denied defensively.

“Seriously? Not really. You are right.”

“… … .”

“Shall I ask other people, too?”

Ha-yeon hurriedly grabbed Tae-wan’s arm as he was about to get up. At this critical juncture, he looked at Ha-yeon’s hand holding his arm.

“What do you want?” Ha-yeon asked with an expressionless face.

“Give me your autograph.”

“What?” Ha-yeon asked back with an incredulous expression.

Then Tae-wan pointed at the bottom of the magazine where she appeared. “I’ll keep it secret, if you agree to sign here.”

“… This does not make any sense.”

“Do it now.”

There was elusive tension somewhere inside her. Ha-yeon hesitantly contemplated after she quickly scribbled something on that page with a pen, she quickly returned the magazine to him. He opened the page and laughed after taking a peek. Na Ha-yeon, honestly, her name was now permanently printed on it. Tae-wan’s gaze remaied on the signature for a long time.

“Have you ever signed your photo before?” Tae-wan asked, still looking at Ha-yeon’s photograph.

“No.”

“Then this is your first time.” Tae-wan’s mouth relaxed into a smile.

She had never seen him smile that way. Is it because the wind was blowing? Or maybe it’s because his face goes well with the wind. Her heart seemed to be beating a little faster than usual.

“I’ll keep it secret. Instead, let me know when you have another magazine shoot.”

“… Why is that?” Ha-yeon looked up with anxious eyes.

“I wanna look out for it.” Tae-wan grabbed the magazine and pushed it into his bag. Ha-yeon asked him why he wanted to look out for them, but instead of answering, he only smiled.

* * *