Chapter 518: Cringe
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 518: Cringe
“Seo Ye-rin, you son of a bitch.”
“…….”
“…….”
Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp.
That was the only exchange passing between us.
“Seo Ye-rin, just drop dead.”
“…….”
“…….”
Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp.
Whenever Yoo Ah-rin spat out a curse, the rest of us hurriedly filled the silence with the sound of aggressive noodle-slurping. Perhaps we were trying to emphasize that we were in no position to answer.
After finishing her ramen, Yoo Ah-rin pointed her chopsticks at Seo Ye-rin and vented her frustration.
“Logically speaking, how does fire die? If your body is made of fire, you are fire itself. Can you kill fire?”
“W-Woo-jin, help me.”
Seo Ye-rin pleaded for help against Yoo Ah-rin’s onslaught after being hit with a massive spoiler.
I cleared my throat and cautiously interjected.
“Magma melts fire, Ah-rin.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Where the hell do you even come up with that kind of bullshit?”
“…….”
“…….”
We decided to just shut up and eat our ramen. Yoo Ah-rin grumbled to herself for a while before eventually switching gears, saying she’d look for a different manga.
That was when Choi I-seo approached.
Choi I-seo, who had been engrossed in the manga about giants, had initially said she wouldn't eat any ramen, but it seemed she had finally gotten hungry.
“Is it good? Is there anything else besides ramen?”
“Go look for yourself.”
“……What’s wrong with her?”
Choi I-seo looked bewildered by Yoo Ah-rin’s blunt response. After I gave her a brief explanation, Choi I-seo smirked and looked at Seo Ye-rin.
“So that’s why you were eating your ramen while kneeling with your head bowed?”
“I-I was taught that spoiling is a capital offense.”
“It’s not like it’s a death sentence.”
“It is a death sentence! Dammit, my interest completely evaporated because of you. Choi I-seo, you’d feel the same way if it happened to you.”
“Good grief, it’s just a spoiler. You can just watch it anyway. I’m going to go buy some ramen. Anything else you guys want to order?”
“Nothing. I’m full.”
“Me too.”
Choi I-seo headed off to order. Seo Ye-rin finally adjusted her posture and took a sip of the ramen broth.
“Ah! So good! How long has it been since I’ve had ramen?!”
“You’re right, it has been a while.”
“I couldn't eat it when I was pregnant because of the babies, and after that, I only ate the healthy stuff the nannies made for my recovery!”
Come to think of it, she was right.
The girls hadn't really had much time for junk food like this.
The conversation hit a sudden lull.
It was the kind of silence that happens normally, so I didn't think much of it.
But all three of us were thinking of the same person—or rather, people.
“……Sigh, I miss the kids.”
Starting with Yoo Ah-rin, Seo Ye-rin also nodded vigorously.
“Me too. I wonder what our babies are doing right now? Is Jin-ah taking good care of them?”
“She’s such a klutz, I just hope she isn't doing anything weird with them.”
“……Should I call her on video?”
When I slowly pulled out my phone, everyone nodded in agreement and crowded behind me.
Free time was great and all, but as parents, we wanted to see our children’s faces every chance we got.
They were literal angels, after all.
I called Choi Jin-ah, and she picked up almost immediately.
However, an unexpected face appeared on the screen.
— What is it, Kim Woo-jin? I thought you were on a date.
— Hey guys, are you having fun?
“Yun-ji and Senior Ju-hee?”
I wondered why the two of them were answering Choi Jin-ah’s phone, but before Oh Yun-ji could even ask, she turned the camera around.
The living room of my family home.
There was Choi Jin-ah, fast asleep alongside our children.
Seeing her sprawled out and buried under a mountain of toys was absurd, yet somehow…
She looked cute, perhaps because of the babies surrounding her.
— Jin-ah asked for help, so we came over, but she was already asleep when we got here.
— The nannies are here too, so there’s no problem. Just enjoy yourselves and come back later.
We each reacted to Yun-ji and Senior Ju-hee’s words.
“Senior! Please take a picture of the kids sleeping.”
“So cute! Holy crap! Whose daughter is that?! Seriously, whose daughter is that?!”
“She’s mine! Look at those looks, she takes after her actress mom!”
“She’s mine! Look at our Chae-rin sleeping while biting her finger!”
The competition over whose child was whose had broken out several times before, and it never seemed to end.
That was why I had long ago developed a Solomon-like solution.
“They’re my daughters.”
They’re all my daughters.
When I said that, they both usually just accepted it and moved on.
“Make sure to take pictures!”
— Got it.
The call ended.
Seeing the kids sleeping soundly put my mind at ease, and though I wanted to go see them, this was one of our rare moments of freedom. We had to make the most of today.
“Ah, I’m done. I’m going to find another manga. Seo Ye-rin, don't you dare come near me.”
“Roger!”
Seo Ye-rin gave a mock salute. As she finished the rest of her broth, Choi I-seo finally returned.
“What, you’re done already?”
“I-seo, look at this.”
When I showed her the photo Oh Yun-ji had just sent of the kids and Choi Jin-ah sleeping, Choi I-seo gave a warm smile.
“That looks nice. Seo-woo is sleeping well.”
“Right? Sleeping so—”
“But Woo-jin.”
“Yeah?”
Seo Ye-rin stared blankly and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Isn't Jin-ah sleeping because you went too hard with her yesterday?”
“…….”
“Just how much did you wreck her that she’s still sleeping now?”
“Ahem.”
I quietly picked up my ramen bowl and stood up. As I tried to make a quick escape, Seo Ye-rin kept following me.
“I’m asking how much you did it! How did you wear her out until the afternoon?! What are you, Mike Tyson? Is your left hand a sedative or something?!”
“Tyson, my ass.”
She really just says whatever comes to mind.
Regardless, while being nagged by Seo Ye-rin, I returned to the spot where I had been reading. A moment later, Seo Ye-rin crawled in next to me with an armful of manga.
“Ah-rin kicked me out.”
Well, nothing to be done about that.
“Woo-jin, everything here is great, but it’s a shame we can't be affectionate.”
“Well, it can't be helped. It’s not a hotel.”
“What are you reading, Woo-jin?”
Seo Ye-rin pressed herself right up against me as I sat reading. Her ample chest made its presence known, but since this wasn't a place for that kind of thing, I did my best to endure it.
Before long, Seo Ye-rin stopped looking at the books she brought and started reading mine instead.
Then, Choi I-seo entered our space as well.
“……What’s this?”
“Go to the next room, please. Ah-rin is waiting for you.”
“…….”
Though she looked disappointed, Choi I-seo didn't want to cause a scene, so she gathered her manga and left.
Even though these were called 'rooms,' they were actually about the size of a small capsule, so only two people could fit comfortably.
And so, we unintentionally ended up reading the same manga together.
Sometimes sitting, sometimes lying down.
We spent our time huddled close together.
Eventually, we reached the final volume of the series.
“Wow, that was good.”
As I muttered, still feeling the lingering emotions of the story, Seo Ye-rin nodded with a smile.
“Right? I told you it was good. I cried three times when I read the ending.”
“……You’ve seen this before?”
“Yeah, I just watched it again to see your reaction.”
In a way, she was impressive.
As I set the manga aside and soaked in the afterglow for a moment, Seo Ye-rin linked her arm with mine.
“Woo-jin, this feels like a dream.”
“Hmm?”
“Just… living with you like this. Having a child, and knowing we’ll keep being together. It just feels really good.”
“……The manga made you sentimental, didn't it?”
Since the manga ended with the heroine’s death, it seemed Seo Ye-rin had become a bit emotional.
“Hehehe! At first, when you suggested we all date, I thought it was impossible.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“But now, surprisingly… I think I’d feel lonely if I-seo or Ah-rin weren't around.”
“We’ve reached a point where we can't be separated anymore.”
We had our children, after all.
We were essentially a community of destiny, bound together for life.
“Right, we can't be separated.”
Seo Ye-rin leaned her head gently on my shoulder. The atmosphere felt like a quiet background track from a drama was about to play.
“Living like this with you, having a second child—”
“Hey, you had such a hard time when you were pregnant. You want another one?”
“I still want another. We’ll have fun, and then… we’ll have a third.”
I silently listened to Seo Ye-rin’s life plan.
“Then a fourth. And after more fun, a fifth. And after that—”
“Wait. Just how many are you planning to have?”
When I asked in bewilderment, Seo Ye-rin gave a mischievous grin and held up a peace sign.
“Since we’re going to be having a ton of sex, won't we end up with a lot?”
Looking at it from that perspective, she had a point.
“But I thought you were returning to acting.”
“Ah, right. I have to make a comeback. I need to show our daughters and sons their mom looking cool and acting on TV.”
She smiled brightly and leaned against me again.
“Thank you, Woo-jin. For being by my side like this.”
“I’m the one who’s grateful.”
How long could we live like this?
I had wondered that once before.
No matter how close a relationship is in the moment, people tend to grow apart or have falling outs as time passes.
I had once feared that such a moment might come for us too.
‘But seeing moments like this.’
Perhaps we…
Could stay this close forever.
That’s what I thought.
“But Woo-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“That was really cringey. You don't think they heard us in the next room, do you?”
“…….”
Choi I-seo and Yoo Ah-rin were right next door.
Honestly, it didn't matter much if they heard, but if they did, I felt like being a bit mischievous—.
“In that giant manga, XXX and XXXX are the traitors.”
Thud! Bang!
Suddenly, the capsule door flew open, and Choi I-seo lunged straight at me.