Righteous Homecoming (5)
Righteous Homecoming (5)
I more or less polished off 5 plates of meat by myself and came home.
I remember the owner-nim of the all-you-can-eat place's eyes twitching slightly, but who cares.
Pig bastard. That's exactly me.
"Became full, lehu..."
I sprawled on the living room sofa like a corpse.
This feeling of fullness stretching my belly skin. Happiness wasn't far away. It was on the grill plate.
"Eung? Oppa what did you say...?"
"It's nothing. Just said I'm full."
We sat side by side on the sofa, blankly watching the TV that omma had turned on.
On the screen, a drama called <Men Over Money>, said to be the most popular these days, was airing.
The plot was obvious.
A poor, spirited female protagonist who can throw a few punches rescues the male protagonist in danger and they fall in love—a pure one-on-one romance.
'...Is that fun?'
A scene came where the male protagonist blushes and says, "You're the first woman to handle me so roughly!"
I cringed so hard I couldn't un-cringe.
I lost interest and turned my gaze to my phone.
Well, whether the drama is fun or not isn't important. What's important is that we're gathered together like this as a family after a long time.
As I fiddled with my phone like that, suddenly the back of Seol Ji-hye's head next to me caught my eye.
"Hey, Ji-hye-ya."
"Eung? Why?"
Ji-hye turned her head while munching on snacks.
"Is high school manageable?"
"Uh? Eoeung... Well, it's just okay."
"Is that so?"
Well, as long as she doesn't get beaten up somewhere. I heard the girls in this world learn military training or something from middle school.
Suddenly, curiosity struck.
"But do you know how to fight?"
"...Uh?"
Ji-hye looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"No?"
"Didn't you say you learn some military training or something? Haven't you done sparring or something?"
"Spa...sparring? Ah, not yet. We start sparring or something from the second semester.."
'Sparring, huh...'
The school officially encourages fighting. As expected, there's no place like Sparta.
'But, I wonder if she'll get beaten up going up on the ring in that clueless state...'
Hmm... I got a good idea.
"Hey. Come visit my neighborhood sometime."
"Uh? Why all of a sudden?"
"There's a gym I go to. They give a free trial for first-timers, so I'll teach you some techniques then."
Then omma, who was cutting fruit next to us, chimed in with wide eyes.
"Oh my? Jin-hyuk, you go to a gym? Since when?"
"Ah... I signed up right after moving."
Come to think of it, I hadn't even told omma about this.
A worry flashed in omma's eyes: 'My fragile son in such a rough place?'
I quickly waved my hands in denial.
"But I almost never go. Virtually an honorary member? I'm close with the director-nim... so I'm just on the roster and basically go for free."
...Am I really close? He registered me for free, but I haven't gone even once in several months.
The reason is simple.
Because I'm lazy.
'······.'
I should at least show my face next week. And along the way, bring up the matter of my younger sibling's free trial.
"Still... isn't it dangerous? What if you get hurt while exercising? There must be a lot of tough women there."
Hmm... exercise... Jiu-jitsu...
Jiu-jitsu.
Until the moment before a joint is broken, it's one of the safest and most gentlemanly sports in the world.
It just has the very minor but fatal drawback that if you unluckily miss the timing to tap out by a hair's breadth, you could end up with permanent disability.
And as for the people...
Well. The gym members are full of passion, but they were all nice.
"Well, it's fine. Anyway, Ji-hye-ya, come visit my neighborhood sometime when you have time. I'll teach you some techniques."
If this kid gets beaten up somewhere, wouldn't this oppa's heart be torn apart?
"Uh... then when should I go?"
"······."
"Around next weekend?"
"You'd come right away?"
"Euh, eung..."
"Hmm... wait a moment."
Next weekend. I rolled the calendar in my head.
'Ah, right. The movie.'
Come to think of it, I had planned to go see a movie with a university classmate. Was it Saturday or Sunday?
The problem is that I'm also hazy about the weekend gym operating hours. Saturday has shortened classes, and I think Sunday is closed.
The movie time is undecided, the gym time is uncertain. If I called her like this, the schedule would get tangled up and surely become a mess.
"I'll let you know later by text. I need to check my schedule too."
"Ah... okay, got it."
Then omma asked again.
"But Jin-hyuk-ah, what kind of exercise are you learning there?"
"Jiu-jitsu."
"Jiu-jitsu?!"
Omma was startled and surprised.
"That... isn't it too burdensome with all that physical contact? For a guy to do..."
Hmm... To be honest, I also find it burdensome. No, it's more than burdensome.
Last time during a relay sparring session, when we got close for technique demonstrations, I wondered if my opponent wasn't wearing a bra... Anyway, that soft sensation was transmitted directly to my back... Rather than feeling good, I sweated buckets of cold sweat.
At that time, I had the naive thought that if I reacted, it would be the end. I'd be socially buried.
How much I struggled to sing the national anthem all the way to the fourth verse in my head to avoid distracting thoughts.
"Well, that's true... but the members are all nice and wholesome."
I awkwardly laughed and roughly glossed over it.
"And I've only been once so I don't know much. But don't worry."
"Yeah... It's a turbulent world; it's better for you to become more turbulent..."
Omma sighed as if resigned.
"Still, if anything seems off, quit right away. Contact me immediately if anything happens."
"Ah... yes..."
I nodded quietly.
By the way, I should ask Ga-young later about what time we'll set for the movie appointment.
A leisurely weekend evening. I was lying on my bed like a sticky piece of gum, scrolling through webtoons meaninglessly.
"Ah... I'm bored..."
The webtoon protagonists are all busy dating, but why is my life so static? Not a single message from the person I want to see.
'Seol Jin-hyuk, you bad guy...'
I'm holding back and holding back again, afraid he'll be annoyed if I contact him first.
I'm not some monk testing my patience; what am I even doing?
"Eing."
I sighed deeply and tossed around, then my hand lost strength.
Tuduk.
"At..."
The phone slipped from my hand and fell to the floor with a tuk.
'Ah, how troublesome...'
Too lazy to even sit up, I hung onto the edge of the bed and stretched my arm out.
The corner of the phone barely touched my fingertips.
"Just a little... just a bit more..."
It was the moment I leaned my upper body too far like that.
Giudeong.
"Uh, uhh...?"
My body, losing balance, tilted out of the bed. I flailed, but it was already too late.
Kung!
"Aya..."
In the end, I rolled off the bed and fell flat on the floor with a cheolpeodeok.
My hip ached, but I had no energy to get up. Since I had fallen, I just became one with the floor and lay sprawled.
'Ha... my life...'
That moment.
The screen of the phone that had fallen in front of my nose flashed on.
Kkatok!
Breaking the silence, a cheerful notification sound rang through the room.
'Who is it...?'
I slowly checked the phone screen like a grub.
I figured it was either the department group chat or an ad message.
But.
[ ♡Seol Jin-hyuk ]
"......?!"
For a moment, I doubted my eyes. Was I seeing things?
Had I reached the point of seeing things from thinking about Jin-hyuk too much? I rubbed my eyes and looked at the screen again.
[ ♡Seol Jin-hyuk ]
It's real. It's Seol Jin-hyuk. That Seol Jin-hyuk sent me a 'first text'?!
"Heoeok..."
My heart seemed to sink with a thud. My fingertips trembled.
This is the first time since I entered school.
He was someone who always resolved things in the group chat even if he had business, or if I poked first, he'd barely reply with short answers.
That guy sending a personal text is practically a world-shaking event!
'What is it? Did something happen? Or is he sick?'
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
Surely it's not something like 'Sorry, let's cancel next week's plan', right?
Or if it's 'Mistake. Sent by accident', I'll really cry.
I swallowed hard and carefully tapped the chat room with trembling fingers.
[ ♡Seol Jin-hyuk ]
: Ga-young-ah
: We promised to see a movie next week, right?
: When are we going to see that?
"······."
Time seemed to stop. I read the text, and read it again.
The movie. That movie we had planned to see.
Actually, I had been anxious for days.
How much courage I had mustered that day.
Sweating in my palms for fear of rejection, I barely managed to bring it up while hiding my trembling voice.
What if he had forgotten? What if he found it troublesome and I was pestering him without notice, so I couldn't even bring it up again and was agonizing over it.
But... he remembered first.
He even asked me first.
When we would go.
This means he doesn't dislike watching a movie with me, right!
"Crazy... Seol Jin-hyuk..."
The corners of my mouth twitched uncontrollably. My cheekbones felt like they'd ascend and pierce the ceiling.
"Kyaaaaaak!"
I screamed and thumped my forehead on the cold floor. Since there was no pillow, I had to rub my face on the bare floor.
And while lying prone, I furiously kicked my legs in the air.
I must have looked like an overturned beetle, but did I care now?
'He remembered! He wasn't annoyed at hanging out with me!'
The weekend that had been wilting until just now suddenly began to color pink.
"Calm down, Shin Ga-young. Calm down... Relax."
I took a deep breath and tidied my disheveled hair.
Now what should I reply... How can I express my joy as naturally and unobtrusively as possible without showing it too much?
With a fluttering heart, I placed my fingers on the keypad.
[Me]
: At keke I was going to ask anyway!
: I'm free all weekend hehe
It was natural. Perfect.
In less than a second, the '1' disappeared.
[♡Seol Jin-hyuk]
: Then how about Saturday?
: Because my schedule might get tangled next Sunday
Saturday! Saturday is the start of the weekend. So great!
[Me]
: Oh good! I'm free on Saturday too hehe
[♡Seol Jin-hyuk]
: Then what time shall we meet?
: After lunch, around 2 at the movie theater, wanna meet?
After... lunch? Does this mean 'Let's each eat and meet at 2' or 'Let's meet and eat and see the movie'?
I fully activated my brain cells.
Usually for a movie date, the norm is meal-movie-cafe. Meeting at 2 makes eating tricky...
'Ah, forget it. The important thing is meeting first!'
[Me]
: Okay! Good! ><
: Then see you Saturday at 2!
[♡Seol Jin-hyuk]
: Ok ok
: Sorry for contacting you late
: See you next week bb
The conversation ended.
A short and concise conversation focused on business. But to me, it was a moving epic that rivaled a historical drama.
"Saturday... 2 PM..."
I hugged the phone tightly to my chest and grinned foolishly.
One week. If I endure one week, it's a date with Jin-hyuk.
"Ah, right. What should I wear?"
I jumped up and flung open the wardrobe.
The densely hanging clothes greeted me, but in my eyes, they looked like an empty desert.
"I have nothing to wear..."
What do I do... That day, if I dress up too much, it seems like overkill, but if I dress too casually, it'll seem insincere...
The greatest challenge of my life had begun.