Mint Is Pure Love - Chapter 31

Back home, we threw a modest little birthday party for Minjae.

I blew up the balloons we bought and stuck them to the walls as decorations. While I was in the middle of that, my stepmom came out from the kitchen and couldn’t help commenting.

“Why are the balloon colors all over the place? They look so dull and mismatched.”

“It’s because Ji Yeonseo has a lot of guy friends,” Seokyung chimed in from the side.

My stepmom tilted her head, not quite following.

We laid out a small table in the living room with a whipped cream cake—Minjae’s favorite—along with soy sauce tteokbokki with bulgogi, and some fruit.

We did consider inviting a few of his kindergarten friends, but with Grandma being unwell, we decided to keep it quiet this year. That decision weighed a bit heavy on me.

Still, it was a small relief that Grandma had been doing better lately. With a helper now coming by during the day, my stepmom finally had a bit of breathing room too.

Dad didn’t even show his nose, let alone bring a gift, and Grandma—who usually treated Minjae’s birthday like a royal parade—was bedridden. But none of that seemed to matter to Minjae. His tiny face was lit up with a big, beaming smile.

With all the colorful balloons, his favorite foods, me, Min-gyu, stepmom, and even Seokyung there, he looked like he’d just won the world as he blew out his candles.

“Happy birthday, Ji Minjae!”

I sang for him and tickled his side, making that pure, bright laugh I loved bubble out of him. Stepmom said she’d go slice the cake and headed to the kitchen. I trailed right behind her.

“Yeonseo? What is it?”

“Can you pack me just one slice of the cake?”

“The cake? Sure, I’ll pack one for you.”

I returned to the living room with a grin. Mingyu and Minjae had snuggled up next to Seokyung and were looking closely at something. When I peeked over, I saw it was the sticker photos we took earlier.

“Hyung is good-looking and all, but my noona’s definitely prettier.”

Mingyu, being the proud little brother, just had to throw that in. Seokyung answered with a calm smile.

“Yeah, I’d agree with that.”

Minjae glanced back and forth between the sticker photo, Seokyung, and then finally me. Then he tugged Seokyung’s face close, like he had something important to say.

Seokyung leaned in, and Minjae covered his mouth with both hands and whispered something into his ear.

A faint smile touched Seokyung’s lips, and his eyes briefly flicked toward me.

When Minjae finished his secret, he looked up. Seokyung chuckled and answered in a soft voice, one I couldn’t even guess the context for.

“Yeah, a lot. Really, a lot.”

“Hehe.” Minjae giggled and covered his mouth like they were sharing a secret code. That gummy smile of his made me laugh too, even though I had no clue what was going on.

After dinner, when it was time for Seokyung to leave, I walked him to the front gate. The summer air was damp but not stuffy—it actually felt kind of refreshing.

Under the orange glow of the streetlight, Seokyung looked down at me quietly. It was a face I’d seen a hundred times before, but tonight, my lips felt dry and my heart wouldn’t stop racing. Maybe it was because something about his expression felt… different.

Trying to shake the mood, I handed him the shopping bag I was holding.

“This has the leftover cake and a few dishes my stepmom packed. It’s all untouched and clean, so… you can eat it with your hyung…”

His gaze slid down my face like a slow drip of honey, finally landing on the bag.

“Thanks. I’ll eat well.”

“Um… your brother… He’s doing okay, right? You said he was sick before, but I haven’t heard anything since…”

Back when Baek Hyeji told me about it, I said I’d wait until Seokyung mentioned it himself. But honestly, I’d wanted to ask him too. I’d hoped he would tell me more. Because maybe then, I could be someone who helped him—even just a little.

But tonight, once again, it didn’t seem like he was going to tell me anything.

“He’s… just always like that.”

“……”

“I mean, honestly…”

There was hesitation on his face, the kind that comes when you’re not sure whether you should say something or not. But then, like he’d finally made up his mind, he spoke.

“Honestly, I’m not curious about how my brother feels. Or how my mom’s doing. Or what my dad thinks about as he goes through his day. None of that matters to me.”

His voice dropped slightly.

“There’s someone else I wonder about. All the time.”

“……”

“I wonder if she’s asleep or awake. If she ate properly or just got by on strawberry milk again. What poem she’s clinging to today, flipping through their electronic dictionary. What makes her laugh, what brings her down… I wonder if she’s ever thought about me, even just once… That’s what I want to know.”

His eyes, steady and unwavering, held only me.

“There’s only one person I’m curious about.”

“……”

“Sometimes… I wish I could become air.”

So he could stay close to the person he was curious about. Even the words he didn’t say were clear to me now, like sentences forming in my head.

I knew it now.

Seokyung wanted to know me. To reach me. I could see it in the way he looked at me, the way his eyes lingered, how his hand shook when he pulled me close in that sticker booth.

Even in my sorry excuse for a dating history, what Seokyung had done stood out. It was kind, it was warm—and it was all for me.

There was no way I didn’t know. Maybe I’d always known this moment would come.

But now, Seokyung couldn’t become air. Because just being near him made it hard to breathe.

If he ever confessed… Then I’d have to tell him how I feel. What I want.

There was a time I thought about walking across the school field with Seokyung. Just a normal stroll, with kids coming and going, no one giving us strange looks. Just part of the everyday background.

I used to think that dream was too vague, too far-off to ever come true. Something I’d already given up on.

But now… it felt like maybe I could walk right into that dream. Like we could go anywhere—just like when we walked through Rodeo and took those sticker photos together.

If I was with Seokyung, I felt like I could go anywhere. We were just eighteen. But somehow, just holding his hand made me feel safe.

Maybe, just once more… I could name this thing between us. Wrap it in a pretty label. Decorate it together, like we did with our sticker photos—even if we bickered, even if it wasn’t perfect.

Maybe there was such a thing as a relationship that didn’t break no matter how much weight you put on it.

“Seokyung… do you like me?”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Just stared down at me. His eyes, always so calm, looked a little uneasy tonight. But instead of an answer, he said something unexpected.

“Yeonseo, wanna go to the beach?”

“…The beach?”

“It’s summer. Let’s go for just one day. Just the two of us.”

Just one day. Just us. Because it’s summer.

He said it like he was afraid I’d say no. Like he was working so hard to convince me. Silly. He didn’t need to.

“I… have something I want to tell you that day.”

Something he wanted to tell me.

I started wondering what someone like Seokyung—someone who never did anything halfway—would want to say to me by the sea.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Under the orange glow of the streetlight, Seokyung looked cool, calm, and beautiful. He looked like someone who could do anything. Solid. Steady. And maybe… just maybe, I could finally see the color of who he was.

Even though the trip was still a while off, I found myself constantly thinking about what to wear, what shoes to put on, how I should do my hair.

Since that thing in middle school, I avoided going out alone to places where I might run into girls, but lately I’d been going out more—shopping at the department store, walking through underground markets.

I’d always been defensive, my pride prickling at the slightest touch. But back then, I had turned into a hopelessly optimistic, hormone-driven, average eighteen-year-old.

But looking back, none of that stuff really mattered. Because we never ended up taking that trip.

While I was wasting time with my silly, shallow thoughts, I didn’t notice that someone precious to me was in pain.

I didn’t notice the shadow that fell over that person’s face after that daytime outing. I didn’t see how that person might’ve cried alone in the middle of the night.

If only I’d hugged that person during that time. If only I’d cried with that person. Would the goodbye that came later have hurt less?

Evenif I couldn’t have changed anything, if I’d just tried to reach that person one more time. If I’d just tried not to hurt that person.

If only I’d been a little more grown up.

That summer, my first heartbreak came—and it made me cry.