What If the Girl I'm Supposed to Marry Starts Sobbing in Front of Me?
I’ve made people cry before, but I’ve never once comforted anyone. Setting aside all the complicated stuff like my environment, family situation, or the life I’ve lived, my personality has always been this way. Capital T. Logical, analytical, always prioritizing judgment based on facts. When a problem arises, I start by determining right and wrong. Instead of empathizing with someone’s misfortune and offering comfort, I’m the type to present realistic solutions first. That’s me. Kang Ijun.
“Hic… sob… *sniffle*… ugh…”
……I am Kang Ijun, but even someone like me couldn’t help but panic when a girl was crying right in front of me. When I asked why she was crying, she just kept shedding tears. And not just any crying—it was heartbreaking, like a independence activist who’d lost her country, with those pitiful little sobs.
“Um, excuse me. Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong…?”
“Sob… hic…”
“Or maybe you were uncomfortable while sleeping…?”
“……Hngh!”
Plop. A single teardrop fell from the girl’s eyes. I never knew the sound of a person’s tears could be so loud… The thought flashed through my mind before I snapped back to reality.
‘I should probably try to comfort her first…’
But I had no idea how. It’s not like I’ve ever comforted a crying person before, so of course I wouldn’t know the method. I’m confident in making people cry with my words, but stopping their tears? Not so much. I licked my lips, which were drying out by the second. Wasn’t there some good way to handle this? Like… some magic phrase that could instantly stop a crying child…?
“……Ah!”
It came to me. A solution!
‘That’s right. They say there’s nothing better for soothing a crying child than…’
Something sweet. That was it. In the corner of the reception room, on top of an antique multi-tiered bookshelf, there was milk tea powder prepared for guests. The moment that thought hit me, I shot up from my seat. I headed straight for the bookshelf and gathered a teacup, teaspoon, the powder, and milk from the mini-fridge.
The milk tea recipe is surprisingly simple. Put the powder in the cup, pour hot water from the purifier, stir well with the teaspoon to dissolve it, then add the right amount of milk and stir again… Done. Even explaining it in words makes it sound easy, and doing it is even easier. That’s the power of modern science.
……Anyway. Once I’d easily made the milk tea, I carried the cup over to the girl. Naturally, she was still wiping her tears with the back of her hand and sobbing pitifully.
“Here, would you like to try this?”
“Hic… sob, hngh…”
“I just made some milk tea. It’s really sweet and delicious.”
“……”
The girl’s crying stopped abruptly. It might have been my imagination, but she seemed to react instinctively to the words “sweet and delicious.” I didn’t miss the chance and thrust the teacup toward her.
“Here.”
“……Ugh.”
Sniffle. The girl, making a stuffy-nosed sound, took the cup. She looked down at the milk tea with her reddened eyes, then glanced up at me. I gave her a small smile, meaning go ahead and drink it.
“……Okay.”
Slurp— The girl cautiously took a sip.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
No reaction. ‘What? Does it taste bad…?’ No way. That couldn’t be. I’d made it exactly the way I usually do.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……Um.”
“Ah, yes?”
“This… what kind of tea is it?”
The girl asked while gripping the teacup tightly with both hands. I cleared my throat and answered.
“This? It’s milk tea. Milk tea.”
“……Oh. I see.”
“……”
“……”
Silence again. The girl stared quietly at the milk tea before taking another small sip.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……Mmm. It’s good.”
Soon, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. From her reaction, it seemed she liked the milk tea. Only after seeing that smile did I finally relax and let out a breath of relief.
‘Whew, that scared me…’
She’d been so quiet I thought she might not like sweet things, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Well, it’s rare to find a girl who dislikes sweet snacks. Most of them just hold back because they’re worried about gaining weight, or they simply don’t have any around.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Ah… yes. It’s delicious…!”
The girl nodded while sipping her milk tea. Her eyes were still a little swollen, but the tears had completely stopped.
‘……I managed to comfort her somehow.’
I’d gotten over the first hurdle. The tension drained out of me, and I slowly leaned back against the sofa.
“…Mmm.”
“……”
Now that I was relaxed, I finally took a proper look at the girl. Her hair was a vivid pink, her eyes a blue that reminded me of the ocean. Her cheeks were a milky apricot color, and her lips were a soft crimson. Just looking at the colors that made up her face, she was unmistakably a foreigner. Her name was Tachibana Hana. She was probably of Japanese mixed heritage. One parent was likely Japanese, the other European or American. I had no idea where she’d learned Korean so fluently, though.
“Sip…”
“……”
When she was quiet like this, she really was pretty. No wonder my aunt had made such a fuss. Even after being warned that she was pretty enough to be mistaken for a celebrity or actress, I still found myself inwardly impressed. If I hadn’t been told beforehand, I probably would’ve been staring in awe this entire time.
‘……But.’
That aside, why had this girl been crying? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a reason. It wasn’t like I’d made some huge verbal slip.
“……”
Surely she hadn’t cried because she was disappointed by my face… right? If that really was the case, I’d have to go home today and seriously contemplate How Should I Live the Rest of My Life?
“……Um.”
Just as I was having that ridiculous thought, the girl suddenly spoke. The cup that had held the milk tea was now completely empty.
“I-I’m sorry. I’m late with my greeting. My name is Tachibana Hana…”
“Ah, yes. Hello. I’m Kang Ijun.”
I answered while calming my pounding heart. They say once bitten, twice shy—even a pot lid can startle you after that. She’d started her greeting with an apology, so I’d flinched, thinking she was about to cry again. It was definitely not because I was scared she might have cried because she didn’t like my face. Definitely not.
“Th-thank you. You must have been really flustered, but you even made me this delicious tea…”
Clink. Tachibana Hana set down her empty cup as she spoke. I didn’t bother denying it. It wasn’t about showing off—I really had been flustered.
“No, no need to thank me. I’m glad it suited your taste.”
“……Um, by the way. What did you say the name of the tea I just drank was?”
“Milk tea.”
“Aha. Milk tea…”
Nod nod. Tachibana Hana nodded. It must have been really tasty, because she murmured “Milk tea…” and licked her lips.
“Would you like another cup?”
“Ah, that’s okay— ……Ah, no! It’s fine!”
She’d started to brighten up but quickly shook her head from side to side. I’m not completely oblivious, so I chuckled and stood up.
“Just wait a moment. I’ll make you another cup.”
“Ah, no, really, it’s okay…!”
“There’s no need to hold back. I usually drink two cups at a time myself.”
“……Ah. Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“……Then, could I have just one more, please?”
Tachibana Hana asked very cautiously. Since I’d already told her to wait, I just smiled lightly and headed to the corner of the reception room to make the milk tea. By the way, the part about me drinking two cups at a time was a lie. Milk tea has a lot of caffeine, so two cups would make my heart race and keep me up at night.
“Ah. Um… should I help…?”
“No, just stay seated. It won’t take long.”
I’ll skip explaining the milk tea recipe since I already did that. I made two more cups of the sweet milk tea, just like before, and returned to my seat. The reason I made two was so we could drink together. In tea etiquette, sharing a drink with a guest is considered important manners, and it would look strange if only Tachibana Hana was drinking.
Of course, the earlier situation had been a special case, so that was an exception.
“Here.”
“Ah. Thank you so much…”
Tachibana Hana carefully accepted the cup. The sweet aroma wafting from the milk tea seemed to lift her mood, because she momentarily forgot I was sitting in front of her and smiled brightly with a little “Hehe…”
“……Ahem!”
Then she quickly composed herself. Noticing my gaze a beat too late, she lowered the corners of her mouth and tried to look serious before taking a sip of her milk tea.
‘This girl. She’s surprisingly clumsy…’
Her appearance was classic cat-like, but her behavior was more like a puppy. She really was a strangely charming girl. I sipped my own milk tea while stealing glances at her.
“Mmm… hehe…”
“……”
Marriage. Even after seeing her with my own eyes, I still couldn’t believe it. Honestly, it didn’t feel real at all. Me, who had just become a high school student, getting married? It wasn’t like marriage was the name of the neighbor’s pet or something.
“Um.”
“Ah, yes…?”
I spoke slowly. There were so many things I wanted to ask, but I decided to take it one step at a time.
“Why were you crying earlier?”
“……Ah.”
Tachibana Hana’s face turned slightly red. It was obvious to anyone that she was embarrassed. I quickly added,
“If it’s hard to answer, you don’t have to. We can just pretend I didn’t ask…”
“Ah… no! I’ll tell you. You need to know anyway…”
“……Pardon?”
What did she mean by “you need to know anyway”? It was such a confusing statement that I tilted my head without thinking. Then,
“Um, well…”
Tachibana Hana gripped her teacup tightly with both hands.
“I-I li…”
She let out a short sigh.
“……I like you.”
Her face flushed.
“I was scared you might… hate me now that you’ve seen me… so I… cried without realizing it.”
“……”
It took me exactly five seconds to understand.
‘So what this girl is saying is…’
She cried because she was scared I might hate her… which meant…
……Did this girl like me? Right now?
“……”
“……”
I lifted my head and looked at Tachibana Hana. The words she’d said were practically a confession. She was so embarrassed to meet my eyes that she hurriedly looked away, and seeing that reaction, I became certain.
Amazingly enough, this girl really seemed to like me…!
“……”
“……”
Thump. My heart suddenly pounded. Maybe it was because I’d received an unexpected confession, or maybe because I was thinking, Does this mean I’m finally getting my first girlfriend in life?
‘……Ah. No, hold on.’
Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Even though I’ve never had a girlfriend before, and I’ve never even experienced the typical flirting phase, it wouldn’t be right to just accept and start dating the moment an incredibly pretty girl confesses to me. Dating isn’t child’s play. This kind of thing should be decided slowly after getting to know each other, after spending some time together alone. After holding hands, watching movies together, going on dates, that sort of thing first.
“……Um.”
Right when I would’ve started planning my retirement if left alone, that was the moment.
“I like you.”
“……!”
A straight pitch. Tachibana Hana had thrown it right at me from the front. Her slightly flushed cheeks, her glistening eyes—it was a confession filled with unmistakable sincerity.
……For a moment, I lost my mind.
“For our newlywed home—”
“Writer-nim…!”
“—what size would be good… Huh?”
“Y-yes…?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……Um. Well.”
“……”
“I-I’m sorry… We’re not at the stage to discuss that yet, I think…”
“……”
Kang Ijun. Age 17. Died while seated at the prime of his youth. Cause of death: embarrassment.