Chapter 58: Until the Blue Sky Comes (18)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: Until the Blue Sky Comes (18)
I bought a house.
Of course, it’s not my house. To be precise, I’m the one who bought it, but I’m not the one who’s going to live in it.
As the weekday arrived, I headed to the Headquarters in the morning to wrap up some urgent work. Worried that the property Hayoung and I had looked at might get snatched up, I hurriedly called her out and headed to the realtor’s office.
“…….”
“Aren’t you being a bit too self-conscious?”
She paid the down payment with her own savings, but the rest of the funds came from the support money I had received. As if to compensate me for my long years of service, the support fund was processed quickly and was quite substantial.
“But it’s not even my money.”
Hayoung still looked dazed by how quickly the house contract had been finalized.
If I were in her shoes, I probably would have been just as stunned, unable to process the situation.
But the contract was already signed, and that spacious penthouse with the rooftop we had seen together was now hers. We drew up a simple private agreement. It stated that if she ever sold the house and moved out, she would return the support funds I had provided.
The realtor said something about it having legal force or whatever, but honestly, I didn’t care. I have almost zero materialistic greed; even if she took the money and ran, it wouldn’t bother me much.
Actually, that’s a lie. It would matter. Not because of the money, but because of the emotional blow. Regardless of the circumstances, I believed Hayoung wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of others, and I helped her because of her situation. If she were to betray me, I think I’d be genuinely hurt.
But that’s only a hypothetical. I don’t believe for a second that Hayoung would run away or do anything of the sort. The information I’d gathered from Yubin, Yura, and Green was limited, but even from those snippets, it was clear she was a good person.
And from what I’d seen of her in person, she was as kind-hearted as they come.
“We have the contract, and you have a house now. All that’s left is to move in. I’m not going to suddenly ask for the money back, so don’t worry.”
I patted her on the shoulder, as she was still feeling guilty about me using my support funds for her. They say a single word can have a huge impact; perhaps those words lightened her burden, as a faint smile finally touched her lips.
“When did they say I could move in?”
“Since it’s a new build, they said you can move in the day after tomorrow.”
Then, an important issue I hadn’t considered until now crossed my mind.
“What about the furniture?”
She had been living at her brother’s place until now, and I had no idea how many belongings she actually owned. Moving from someone else’s place into a large house meant she likely wouldn’t have enough furniture to fill it.
“The one we saw back then was a model house, so the actual unit is probably empty, right?”
This was a problem in its own right. Even if we ordered furniture now, I doubted it would arrive by the move-in date. At this rate, she might move into a brand-new but completely empty house and have to spend several days that way.
“What about the furniture you’re bringing with you?”
“I don’t really have any. The blankets, pillows, the desk, and the chair… they all belong to my brother… Ah.”
Only then did she realize she hadn’t given a single thought to furniture, and she looked at me with panicked eyes. Even so, I wasn’t some influential or incredibly capable person who could just solve this in an instant.
I’m the type of guy who’s useless on his own and can barely function with the help of others. Still, I couldn’t just leave Hayoung standing there looking at me with those helpless eyes, so I had to figure something out.
“Hold on a second.”
I stepped away from her, pulled out my smartphone, and immediately called Kirk.
—Yeah. What’s up?
Kirk, who was likely working at Headquarters, answered casually. I skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.
“Hey. Do you know a place that has good furniture and delivers fast?”
—What’s this all of a sudden…?
“Do you know a place or not?”
I didn’t have time to entertain his chatter. My network was extremely limited; if Kirk didn’t know, I’d have to scroll through my sparse contact list to find someone else.
—The place where I got my furniture when I got married was pretty good.
“Where is it?”
I immediately got the name and general location of the furniture store from him. Since he’d been married for a few years, he didn’t remember every detail, but the name and general area were enough. Even if the store had moved, I could find it by calling.
If the store had gone out of business entirely… well, let’s just pray that wasn’t the case.
“I found a place. Shall we go check it out?”
When I approached Hayoung, who was waiting anxiously, she nodded vigorously. It was something she hadn’t thought of at all, and since she didn’t know much about these things, she felt the urgency. But as she calmed down and thought about it, it didn’t seem like something to panic over.
After all, this was Korea—a country where if you explain your situation, they’ll deliver as fast as humanly possible.
“Yes.”
At her answer, we immediately took a taxi to the furniture store.
Checking on my phone during the ride, I saw the store was still there. When we arrived and stepped inside, I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation of admiration.
I’ve moved a few times myself, but I’ve never actually gone to a store to buy furniture. My current bed and desk were all things that came with the place.
You might wonder why Hayoung’s house didn’t have them, but the situation for me, who rents, and her, who bought the house, was completely different.
“What exactly do you need for the house?”
“Well, since I have no furniture at all, I think I need to look at everything from start to finish.”
Since she didn’t even have a rice cooker, let alone a bed or a desk, we could get things delivered quickly, but we couldn’t skip the time it took to actually look at and choose everything.
“Since we’re here, let’s just take our time and look through things one by one.”
If rushing wasn’t going to help, it was better to just relax and take it easy. Of course, it depends on the situation, but when time isn’t on your side, trying to force things usually leads to poor decisions.
“First, a bed, a table, and a refrigerator are essentials, right?”
Most people living alone these days don’t cook much, but since she enjoys cooking, it would be best to buy everything she needs for the kitchen. It seemed like we’d need to use today and tomorrow to get all the shopping done.
“Yes. And also….”
As I listened to her list the things she needed one by one, it felt like the shopping list would never end.
“How much is left in the budget?”
Instead of answering, Hayoung showed me her phone screen. The savings she’d accumulated over ten years had seemed insufficient when buying a house, but for furniture, which was relatively cheaper, the amount looked more than generous.
Still, that didn’t mean she should spend it recklessly. Since her income wasn’t secured yet, it was better to save where we could.
“Welcome. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
A store employee approached us with a professional sales smile. Since she seemed too overwhelmed to know where to start, I spoke up for the thing I thought was most necessary.
“We’d like to look at some beds first.”
“Of course. I’ll show you the way.”
Neither I nor Hayoung knew much about this. Of course, since it was her house, she should be the one taking responsibility, but since I’d decided to help, I felt better seeing it through to the end. Besides, I might have to buy furniture myself someday, so there was no harm in getting some experience.
Perhaps because we’d grown closer while house hunting, she grabbed my sleeve and stayed close as we followed the employee to the floor where the beds were displayed.
Rows of various beds were lined up. While I was looking around, unsure of where to start, Hayoung took the lead this time to check the quality.
“What size is this one?”
“That’s a Super Single, but we also have King and Queen sizes over there.”
As I stood back and watched her press down on the mattresses to check them, the employee suddenly turned their gaze toward me.
“Newlyweds usually go with a Queen size. Those who want more space often go even larger.”
I hesitated on how to respond to the "newlyweds" comment. If I denied it, it would be awkward for the employee and embarrassing for me. If I agreed, it wasn't true, which would be awkward for Hayoung and me in a different way.
Hayoung, who had been inspecting the bed, also seemed to freeze at the word "newlyweds."
We had heard that so many times while looking at houses that I thought we’d grown used to it by just letting it slide, but facing it again in this context brought back all the embarrassment.
“H-Honey, come look at this too!”
My eyes widened in shock at her words. Her face was flushed so red it contrasted sharply with her blue hair.
She must have remembered how we just went along with the "newlywed" assumption while house hunting to avoid awkwardness, and she chose the path that wouldn't embarrass the employee. I decided to follow her lead.
I never dreamed I’d hear the word "Honey" from her—something I hadn't even heard from my actual girlfriends.
“Oh, uh, okay.”
I walked over and sat down next to Hayoung, who was sitting on the bed with a bright red face.
“They think we’re a couple, so just for now….”
She trailed off, but I knew what she meant. For some reason, the embarrassment made my own face feel hot.
“Yeah. Ah, uh, right. Let’s just go with that for now.”
I started to answer formally but then realized I should speak informally to make it natural, resulting in a very awkward tone.
We had a lot more furniture to look at, and I had a feeling this awkward, cringeworthy situation was going to last a while.
“Can we buy the mattress separately?”
“Usually, people buy them as a set from the same brand, but many people do buy them separately.”
Before I knew it, I had become genuinely invested in looking at beds, and I was inspecting the one she would use even more carefully than she was.
“Is the mattress not good?”
“Yeah. I think the second one we saw was better.”
In an instant, we were naturally speaking informally and discussing the furniture with total sincerity, completely oblivious to how we must look. To be precise, we were so focused on the furniture that we didn't have the mental capacity to worry about the fact that we were acting exactly like a real newlywed couple.
“What do you think, Honey?”
As we were talking naturally, our eyes met, and in that moment, the embarrassment exploded.
Hayoung turned beet red, and I looked away, flustered. But since our embarrassment wouldn't change the situation, she answered my question dutifully even while blushing.
“I think it’s all fine. The storage space is good too. L-Let’s go with whatever you like.”
“Oh, okay.”
We talked, but we couldn't meet each other's eyes. In the heat of the moment, we ended up picking a Queen-sized bed for Hayoung to use alone. It wasn't until a few days later that we realized we’d bought a Queen size—though we could have exchanged it before delivery if we’d noticed sooner.
“If we go with this frame and that mattress, what’s the price?”
Feeling awkward, I hurried to the employee to check the price. Since it was furniture she would be using, Hayoung came over to check as well. Sensitive to the price tag, we refocused on the purchase.
“Is there anything else you’re looking for?”
When the employee asked, I looked at Hayoung.
“Shouldn’t you mention everything else you had in mind?”
“Yeah.”
Since it was furniture she had to buy and use, I left all the choices to her. We spent the whole day roaming the store, checking most of the furniture she needed. Except for the bed, everything was chosen by Hayoung.
Even at the final moment of payment, we were still tense because of the money. Actually, "intensely focused" might be a better description than "tense."
“This is the total price, and after applying the store discount and the brand discount….”
Looking at the final price tag, Hayoung and I locked eyes. We were so focused now that we didn't even feel the embarrassment.
“Is this okay?”
“Yeah. I think it’s fine.”
“Anything else we need to buy?”
“I think I’ll have to check again tomorrow.”
We bought the furniture at this store and decided to look into appliances tomorrow.
After she paid with her card and we confirmed the delivery for the move-in date, we finally left the store. Only then did the embarrassment we’d forgotten in our focus come rushing back.
“Um, tomorrow….”
Hayoung, unable to meet my eyes, asked if I could help her look at appliances tomorrow as well. I had intended to help from the start, so I nodded, but I couldn't look at her either. As I said before, for some reason, I was feeling incredibly bashful and couldn't look her in the face.
“Then, what time?”
“I think it’s better to go early in the morning….”
“Okay. Let’s start in the morning then.”
“Got it.”
Realizing we were still speaking informally because we’d been doing it all day in the store, we both apologized.
“I’m sorry. I did that without thinking.”
“No, me too.”
Then I realized that switching back to formal speech after speaking informally would make things even more awkward.
“Since we’re already doing it, why don’t we just keep speaking comfortably?”
“Yeah! Let’s do that.”
Rather than letting the awkwardness continue, I suggested we drop the formalities, and Hayoung, who also seemed uncomfortable with the current vibe, quickly agreed.
“Shall we go home then?”
“Yeah.”
“…Should I walk you back?”
“Huh? Oh… okay.”
In the end, the awkward yet heart-fluttering atmosphere didn't end until we arrived in front of her house by taxi.
*
When Blue and A stepped out of the furniture store.
A woman who happened to be passing by spotted the two of them.
“Blue?”
The woman tilted her head in confusion, watched the two of them leave in a taxi, and then went on her way.