Dad's Complicated Feelings
“S-Still, Rohan...! If he didn’t kiss me, he couldn’t break free from the strong charm...”
Ichinose Yui's bombshell statement.
Even Noah, who had been focused solely on stuffing her face no matter what anyone said, froze in shock this time and stopped eating.
Sion and Clara dropped their chopsticks onto the table, mouths agape.
““...””
An icy silence settled over the private room.
Eungae Nose jolted at the chill creeping down her spine and managed to grasp her scattered wits.
She snapped back to reality.
She realized what jealousy-driven words she had let slip.
'Oh no?'
The girl finally realized her impulsive mistake with a sharp uh-oh.
Embarrassment flooded her mind blank.
In the midst of everyone frozen stiff, she herself stopped moving too.
'Wh-What do I do now...'
They say love turns people into fools and clouds rational judgment.
Ichinose Yui had heard such stories and experiences, confident that she alone would never fall prey to it.
Yet she couldn't control a single surge of jealousy and emotion. Remorse and shame pierced straight to her heart.
“Yui. This is news to Mom too.”
Momo placed her hand back on her dazed husband's thigh to calm him, then glanced at the intensely flustered Rohan—who had clamped his mouth shut—before turning to her daughter.
Of course, Momo wasn't angry.
She was simply shocked by her daughter's behavior.
“Th-That’s...”
Eungae Nose's lips trembled.
Not just Momo and Noah, but even Sion and Clara—who were clutching Rohan's collars—were shooting her intense looks demanding confirmation that it was true.
Clara especially looked ready to burst into tears any second, making Ichinose regret her loose tongue fiercely.
“At the time, that was the only method I could think of...”
“Yui. Mom's not mad. I just want to hear the story.”
Momo took hold of Yui's trembling hand.
She soothed her, waiting for her to continue.
“It started when I fell under the charm. My lack of skill was the issue.”
Rohan, regaining his composure, interjected coolly.
With that one line, he gave her breathing room, and Ichinose explained the situation in a voice reduced to a whisper.
“R-Rohan's wounds were so severe that I couldn't use physical shock to snap him out of the charm...”
“If not for Yui's quick thinking, I wouldn't be here. She's my lifesaver.”
Rohan took charge with bold confidence, adding his explanation to steer things back on track.
Everyone in the room recalled the pair returning from the dungeon.
Rohan's clothes had been caked in blood far worse than Ichinose's, a total mess.
That context...
Offered at least some self-justification to the girls desperate to escape reality.
“S-So Oppa didn't initiate it—he was the victim...?”
“Like CPR to save Rohan... That kind of act... We should be grateful...”
Sion and Clara desperately clung to a sliver of hope to patch up their crumbling resolve, pleading for confirmation.
If Rohan had lost his first kiss to theft, they'd just have to aim for one he gave willingly.
Stuck at merely licking screens, the current situation stung like acid.
“...”
Ichinose Jun squeezed his eyes shut at the dizzying conversation he was overhearing.
Momo worked to soothe her husband.
“Nose kissed Rohan!?”
Finally snapping out of it, Noah shoved her face right up to Ichinose's. Her tail was standing straight up.
Overwhelmed by Noah's aggressive approach, Ichinose pushed her friend's face away with her hand.
“It-It couldn't be helped...!”
“So if I get charmed, you'll kiss me too, Nose?”
“No way! It wouldn't work on someone of the same sex!”
With the man himself watching, Ichinose Yui lacked the guts to boldly declare her feelings outright.
All she could do was patch things up by insisting it had been unavoidable.
In the midst of it, Ichinose thought to herself.
'At least that's a relief...'
Thank goodness she hadn't spilled the secret she'd done alone while Rohan was asleep.
If she'd blurted that out in her daze, she would've bolted from the room and hidden somewhere.
Regaining her composure, Ichinose opened her eyes and looked at Rohan.
She felt sorry seeing him sweating to smooth things over. She'd apologize properly later.
And then.
Her eyes met those of the girls flanking Rohan on both sides.
'...'
She couldn't read their thoughts.
But it didn't matter.
Eungae Nose had no intention of giving up on Rohan.
She felt bad for the shocked Sion and Clara, but she had no plans to lie or pretend it never happened.
Publicly declaring she'd kissed Rohan brought a twisted sense of satisfaction and superiority, after all.
..
..
Ichinose Jun stepped out of the private room to clear his cluttered mind and mood.
He knew how burdensome and intimidating his sharp gaze must be to a mere student.
How long had he stood there in the garden, catching his breath?
Momo emerged from the room and approached.
“How are the kids?”
“Calmer now. Yui seems to have pulled herself together too.”
“I see...”
Momo smiled as she came up beside Ichinose Jun and hooked her arm through his.
“Honey. Isn't it amazing, in a way?”
“Hm?”
Ichinose Jun gave a short reply and quietly looked at Momo.
His silence carried the question of what was so amazing.
“Yui took exactly half our personalities.”
“True...”
Ichinose Jun wished Yui had inherited only Momo's personality fully.
Her flower-like gentleness suited life far better than his own rigid nature.
But he knew Momo would get seriously upset if he said that, so he simply listened and nodded.
“I figured if we left her alone, she wouldn't even hold hands like someone we know, so I tried giving her a push. Guess not~”
“...”
Ichinose Jun knew that 'someone' referred to him.
If Momo hadn't aggressively pursued his sword-obsessed self back then, they wouldn't have their current happiness.
“Not drawing your sword in front of your daughter is already impressive. My husband's finally a real grown-up.”
“Honestly, I wanted to.”
Momo giggled at her husband's serious face.
“Honey. Feeling lonely now that your daughter's drifting away?”
Ichinose Jun nodded without hesitation. Denying it would be a lie.
But claiming he'd wanted to draw his sword in front of his daughter was also a lie.
“Still, I won't do anything foolish based on my selfish desires or moods. I don't want to see Yui sad... And experiencing love for someone is a necessary part of growing up.”
Momo couldn't help but smile at her husband's words.
He talked tough, but couldn't neatly handle these new emotions.
Only Momo, bound to him for so long, knew.
That Ichinose Jun—the one man who couldn't scold Yui for her actions—was right here.
“She's so transparently our daughter it makes me want to laugh. Nearly burst out remembering the old days.”
“...”
Yui's outburst in the room perfectly mirrored Ichinose Jun's past self.
A precious side only close ones could recognize.
“Don't worry, though. Yui's got good taste in men. She's our daughter, after all.”
Ichinose Jun and Momo recalled their conversation with Juyeon at the cafe.
Even the picky Juyeon had spoken highly of Rohan.
Neither Ichinose Jun nor Momo had a bad impression of him.
From the uninhabited island incident onward, and just from his eyes, they could gauge a person to a degree.
A few words of conversation showed Rohan was different from the clueless types who'd approached their daughter before.
“The issue is he's from a country where polygamy is the norm. Yui will have to sort that out and decide for herself.”
“If it's Yui's choice, I won't interfere.”
From what he'd heard from his daughter and Juyeon, he had the basics on Rohan.
He might not know details about the women around him, but he knew Rohan hailed from southern Solarea.
Good thing he hadn't asked where he was from at the dinner table.
“Still, making Yui approach first rubs me the wrong way.”
“Honey. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?”
“...”
Ichinose Jun, unintentionally sniped by his own past, went silent.
“Well, yeah. Maybe daughters like people who take after their dads.”
“Someone like me...”
It was a bittersweet statement for Ichinose Jun—pleasing yet hard to laugh at.
“With all those strong rivals around, I'm worried. Yui better handle it well.”
“Momo. You look more amused than worried.”
“Hehe, caught me?”
Momo laughed cutely.
Then she tugged her husband back toward the private room.