Chapter 541: Familiar Scent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 541: Familiar Scent
Midterm season had begun.
I hated studying with a passion, but my wife had me in a death grip and refused to let go.
"You promised you'd study hard for midterms in exchange for playing around last time."
The dining table at the main house.
In a place usually overflowing with food, I was currently clutching a pen.
Professor Choi I-seo, a woman who knew the meaning of 'compromise' about as well as a fish knew how to fly, sat firmly by my side, explaining the material.
"See? It makes sense when you look at it like this, right? If there’s anything else you don't get, just ask."
With that, Choi I-seo turned her attention to her phone. To be honest, I’d only asked her a question because I was getting a bit annoyed that she’d been on her phone next to me this whole time.
But the moment I asked, she rattled off an answer that would’ve put a professor to shame.
How does she know all this?
Even for someone as brilliant as Choi I-seo, it was strange for her to be so well-versed in subjects she hadn't even signed up for.
She hadn't been able to study properly because of her pregnancy, and it wasn't like she was taking the same lectures as me.
"Hey, I-seo."
"Yeah? Something else you don't know?"
Choi I-seo tilted her head and asked.
I hesitated for a moment before deciding to be blunt.
"How do you know all this stuff?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, it’s weird. No matter how smart you are, there's no way you'd know every single lecture I'm taking."
Choi I-seo let out a small chuckle at my words.
"Well, there are a few I took last semester, but—"
She tapped the books with her finger and gave me a meaningful smile.
"You keep your books in your room. I just studied them whenever I was bored. It felt like a waste of time to just sit around doing nothing."
"……."
"So I have the gist of it. If there was anything ambiguous, I asked the Bamboo Forest for a favor or reached out to some juniors to get the details."
I decided right then and there.
If anyone ever asked me who the craziest person in our house was, I would answer "Choi I-seo" without a second thought.
If she had studied for my sake, I would have felt guilty yet grateful.
But the reason Choi I-seo studied my major textbooks was simply because "it felt like a waste of time."
What kind of mental wiring does a person need to have to study while on a leave of absence just because they're a little bored?
I really couldn't wrap my head around it.
"Ask if you have questions."
Choi I-seo went back to her phone.
I took a peek and saw she was looking at something related to baking.
She had already leveled up her cooking skills to an elite level while I was in the military. Now, it looked like she was planning to start baking bread for me too.
She isn't just here for no reason.
I finally realized why Choi I-seo was sitting next to me.
She wasn't just monitoring me; she was like a human AI. She was there to provide instant answers and help me study the moment I hit a wall.
At this point, I had no choice but to shut up and study.
"Aaaah! What are you doooing?!"
Of course, focusing on my studies wasn't easy.
My head instinctively turned toward the living room.
There, Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin were at each other's throats. Usually, it would have been an overwhelming victory for Yoo Ah-rin, but Seo Ye-rin was resisting while holding the kids.
Using the babies as shields now that she was a mother... I wondered if that was morally right, but regardless, Yu-na and Chae-rin were nestled in Ye-rin's arms, busy kneading her chest.
"You! Let go of the kids right now! Do you really want to die?!"
"No! I don't want to die! Are you stupid?! Who wants to die?"
"Ha! You've really lost it, haven't you?!"
The two of them were huffing and puffing in a tense standoff. As I stared, wondering what they were fighting about this time, Choi I-seo waved her hand in front of my face.
"It's nothing special, so focus."
"……Wouldn't it be better to just do this in our room?"
I wondered if we really had to study in the middle of this noisy living room, but Choi I-seo narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
"Maybe if someone would stop touching my thighs every five seconds."
"……."
"Fix that habit of yours—trying to turn things 'that way' the moment we're alone."
To be honest...
We had been studying in the room until a moment ago.
But the second I started kneading Choi I-seo's thigh and kissed her half-jokingly, she stood right up.
"The moment I study with you in a private room, the atmosphere turns erotic, so this is for the best."
"……."
"Let's study. Okay? You have to protect our family's honor."
Honor?
"What honor?"
When I tilted my head in confusion, Choi I-seo shrugged.
"No one in our family has ever failed to be the Department Topper in the English Department."
"……."
Choi I-seo had been the topper, and Senior Ju-hee had been the topper as well. Come to think of it, our household really had swept the rankings.
"Right now, only you and Yun-ji are active students, but Yun-ji is busy, so it's up to you, Woo-jin."
"……."
"Fighting! Goal: Department Topper!"
It seemed she had developed a strange sense of competitive pride.
* * *
In the midst of the frantic midterm preparations...
The day arrived.
The day had finally come.
Myung Je-il?
The day the photographer, whose very name meant "Number One," was going to take pictures of our children.
Since I was in the middle of midterm prep, anything other than studying sounded fun, so I arrived at the studio with a light heart.
Honestly, when Big Hyung first suggested it, I thought it would be a hassle.
I figured these days you could just take photos with a phone, and physical albums were a thing of the past. You just click, edit on your phone, and you're done, right?
I thought paying money to go to a studio and make an album would just result in something that takes up space.
"Wow."
But once I actually got to the studio and saw the sample albums, my mind changed.
The vibrantly decorated albums weren't just for holding photos; they functioned as a piece of design in themselves.
I could see why people still made albums if they looked like this.
And I could see why Myung Je-il was someone even celebrities begged to be photographed by.
"How can these kids look so lovely? Our kids are about 3,000 times cuter, so their photos will turn out 3,000 times better than this."
As I muttered while looking at an album, Choi I-seo, who was looking with me, furrowed her brows.
"What a thing to say about someone else's child."
"What? They're not here. People even badmouth the King when he's not around."
"Still. It's true our kids are cute, but you shouldn't say things like that."
"Even when they're not around?"
"Even when they're not around."
Choi I-seo was firm.
"……Then why do you badmouth your husband when he's not around?"
I threw out a feeler, but Choi I-seo just crossed her arms confidently.
"Maybe you should stop doing things that deserve badmouthing?"
"……."
"Look at that. You should be glad I'm not nagging you right now. We've got an uninvited guest, after all."
Inside Myung Je-il's studio.
Our house was prone to frequent uninvited guests, and today's gatecrasher was a first-year university student wearing glasses.
It was Seo Da-mi.
Seo Da-mi was making a huge scene, causing a massive fuss. She was showing my face on a large tablet to the makeup artists and lecturing them.
"It's important to emphasize this jawline here. The way it tapers off is honestly unreal, you know?"
Am I a car or something? "The way it tapers off"?
"You have to keep the makeup light. Got it? Senior Woo-jin has beautiful skin. That's why he'll stand out more if it doesn't look like he's wearing any makeup at all."
Look at her, giving pointers to the pros.
I honestly wondered if she was out of her mind.
But they say pros are pros for a reason.
As the saying goes, "When three people walk together, one must be my teacher," and surprisingly, the makeup artists were actually listening intently to Seo Da-mi.
"I guess it's like that, right? Like when you tell a hair designer how you want your hair cut at a salon?"
Even though they're the pros, we still tell them how we want it. I tried to ignore it, figuring it was something like that.
"……Is that what's happening?"
Choi I-seo, however, still looked skeptical.
"Woo-jin! Look at this! Wow! There are so many cute pajamas for the babies!"
"Holy crap, these would be perfect as a couple outfit for the kids!"
Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Ah-rin were already making a racket in the dressing room area.
I wondered if it was okay for them to act like they were on a field trip, but the staff here seemed to be veterans; they just watched with kind smiles.
Senior Ju-hee and Oh Yun-ji were looking at the shooting backdrops. Yun-ji seemed to be learning things by comparing the setup to her own company's broadcasting environment.
Finally, Choi Jin-ah.
"……Where did Jin-ah go?"
When I went over to Yun-ji and Senior Ju-hee to ask, Yun-ji shrugged and pointed toward a door.
"She said they were somewhat acquainted. She's talking with the photographer, Myung Je-il."
"Huh."
As expected of a world-class star.
Although the prevailing opinion was that her rank within the household hierarchy was lower than Yu-na, Seo-woo, and Chae-rin...
Outside, no one could touch Choi Jin-ah's level. Seo Ye-rin was famous too, but her acting career, while impactful, was short.
To put it coldly, Choi Jin-ah was untouchably famous.
For the record, I am ranked lower than Choi Jin-ah in the household hierarchy.
I don't know why, but that's just how it is.
"Hmph, now I'm getting curious about just how good this guy is at taking photos."
As I was humming and getting ready for the shoot, the door opened right on cue.
Choi Jin-ah walked out with a beaming smile, and behind her...
"Oh! Hi!"
A bald man approached, giving us a wink.
……What is with this guy?
Why does he give off such a familiar scent?