Appetite
Appetite
A-ra was pregnant.
At the obstetrics and gynecology clinic, I pushed down and held back the surge of emotion, barely managing to keep it together.
A few tears slipped out, but a man showing tears wasn't even on the radar of things to be embarrassed about.
To A-ra, my reaction would have just looked endearing.
We had originally planned to go to a fishing café for a date after the OB-GYN visit, but we came straight home.
Maybe because of that, A-ra sat there puffing out her cheeks with a sulky expression I rarely saw on her.
"It's still fine, isn't it? They said it's only been four months."
I stroked the hair of A-ra, who was pouting her lips and insisting she wanted to go out and have fun.
If I had my way, I wanted to grab both her cheeks and stretch them, but I was barely holding myself back.
"What do you mean 'fine'? Noona, didn't you do a program yesterday where you were running around like crazy?!"
"Uh... yeah? That's... true, but..."
I didn't actually think she'd get hurt from fishing.
If it were purely up to me, instead of coming home, I'd thought it wouldn't be so bad to let her go fishing since it was a rare day off.
However!
A-ra had been looking noticeably exhausted lately.
There were days when she had an unbelievably packed schedule, leaving early in the morning and coming back late at night.
On top of that, it was midsummer—July.
Instead of spending time in this heat at a fishing café that didn't even run the air conditioner properly,
it was much better to keep the room temperature low, stay warm and cozy, and spend time just the two of us watching a movie at home.
"Got it? I'll let you eat and do absolutely everything you want, so don't go out and rest at home."
"Ung...."
She seemed disappointed, but she agreed.
Then, while rubbing Lil' One's bottom, she started stroking her own belly.
How should I put this.
Seeing her stroke Lil' One's bottom was something I'd seen often, so I felt nothing from it,
but there was something faintly sacred about watching A-ra stroke her pregnant belly.
All the mothers in the world must have been just like A-ra.
My mother must have worn that same smile when she found me at the Baby Box.
"Of course, you know nighttime activities are excluded, right?"
"Ueek."
Naturally, moonlit wrestling with A-ra was off-limits for a while.
I knew this wasn't me making a fuss—it was something I, as the husband, was supposed to naturally bring up and restrict.
If we did the positions A-ra liked, or anything like that....
I didn't even want to imagine it, but the child in her belly definitely wouldn't be able to withstand it.
"Then I'll go throw all 'those' away right now. If they're just sitting at home, you'll want to use them."
"Kyaaaak! My precious rubbers!"
I stuffed the entire box of fifty condoms that A-ra had shown me a while back with a lewd grin into a trash bag.
Why did she even buy these when we didn't use them often to begin with?
I could count on one hand the number of times my little buddy had worn a condom.
Then I emptied the trash bins in the bathroom and kitchen, filled the bag up tightly, opened the front door, went out, and tossed it into the garbage chute.
"Okay, disposal complete!"
I made sure the trash had gone down the chute properly, then opened the door and came back inside.
When I opened the door and entered, A-ra looked like she couldn't care less what happened to the condoms, hugging Pipsqueak and feeding her pellets one by one.
As expected, Noona seemed to know well that there were times she needed to restrain herself.
She only has to hold out for about six more months, so I hope she can hang in there.
***
- Ah.... A-ra is pregnant?!
Director's voice, upon receiving the news of A-ra's pregnancy, was full of shock and alarm.
It wasn't displeasure—how should I put it, it was more a sense that she'd never imagined it.
"So, considering the time until after she gives birth, please clear her schedule for nearly a year."
I knew perfectly well it was an unreasonable request.
Clearing the schedule of a superstar like A-ra—who did not just idol activities but solo work and entertainment industry gigs—for a whole year was close to impossible.
It might cause more trouble for the agency than I thought.
But when I thought about A-ra's health and the child to be born, I had to push through with it.
Since A-ra herself didn't seem to have any particular desire to work hard right now anyway.
- Well... it can't be helped... I'll handle that, so please tell A-ra to give me a call later.
"Yes, understood."
- In return, Seong-hwan-ssi, you have to work even harder!
"Of course. I'll make up for whatever loss the agency incurs."
- I-in that case! How about a shoot the week after next?! I'll get it done within two hours!!
If Director proposed two hours, it would probably end up being around five hours.
It was summer vacation anyway, and if that was the only thing on my schedule, it was plenty doable.
"Alright. While A-ra Noona is resting, I'll play along up to three times."
- You promised! You know I just recorded that, right?!
"Yes, yes. I think Noona is calling for me, so I'm hanging up."
- H-hold on! I still have things to say!!
Director seemed to have more to say, but I hung up.
It wasn't that I needed an excuse to hang up; it was because A-ra really was calling for me.
I put my phone in my pocket and went out to the living room, where A-ra came into view, grinning broadly while watching TV.
Beside her sat two dogs and one cat, wearing solemn expressions like Haetae, the oriental guardian deity, positioned to protect mother.
They had set up a perfect defense system that looked like it would even bite me, the husband.
Are you guys really Pomeranians?
"Noona, is there anything you want to eat?"
"Yeah! Noona wants to eat Shine Muscat!"
Shine Muscat was being sold at a high price at the mart in the basement.
Was it 30,000 won for two bunches?
Grapes usually didn't cost much per bunch, so why were Shine Muscats so expensive?
Of course, I admitted they tasted good.
I threw on some decent clothes, grabbed my wallet, and got on the elevator.
I pressed the basement level button and was slowly descending from near the 50th floor when the elevator stopped midway at the 24th floor.
Huh.
The 24th floor—that was definitely.
"Haaaaaam...."
The person who got on after a huge yawn was, as expected, none other than my younger sister Minji.
My cute little sister who never listened no matter how much I told her not to come out dressed shabbily.
"Kim Min-ji. Didn't your oppa tell you not to come out wearing just a tank top?"
"A-yat! What brings you here, oppa?"
"Am I not allowed to take the elevator?"
"No, that's not it.... Anyway, you're one to talk—don't dress shabbily either! You're a man!"
Since Minji turned it back on me, I lowered my head to check my appearance.
Short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
It was proper attire by anyone's standards, and the word "shabby" didn't suit this outfit at all.
Surely, she wasn't about to say some old-fashioned thing like, 'How could a man wear such thin short-sleeves and shorts—you look too lewd'?
We weren't Muslims; just wearing slightly thin clothes didn't make everything lewd.
"By all appearances, I'm dressed neatly."
"Ugh! Don't you know women get even more excited by that kind of men's fashion?!"
"Isn't that just a perversion?"
Even I might blush when seeing women dressed lightly, but I don't get aroused.
No, to be precise, that applies to women other than A-ra.
If A-ra wore something like a see-through negligee, I did get excited.
"E-hwi... I'm going to tell Seonsaengnim everything later."
"To Mom?"
"Mom told you even when you were little: don't wear thin clothes, wear thick ones."
"That was when my body wasn't well—she was telling me to dress warmly. It didn't mean don't go around in short-sleeves in the middle of summer, you know."
How on earth did she get into the College of Dentistry?
Seeing how she totally failed to grasp the speaker's intent and interpreted things however she liked, she must have scored at least a grade 5 in Korean language.
"Whatever, where are you going?"
"To the mart. To buy Shine Muscat."
"I'm going to buy Shine Muscat too. Your sister-in-law said she wanted some."
"You'll want to eat anything when you're pregnant. Take good care of her, oppa."
"As if I couldn't take care of something like that."
I stroked her head and told her not to worry unnecessarily and to study hard.
She accepted it, looking pleased for a moment, but as soon as we reached the basement level, she shook my hand off and started feeding coins into a large cart.
*
"Want me to give you one bunch?"
"It's fine, I said. Just go quickly and take care of A-ra unnie."
We pulled our carts around and scoured the inside of the mart, but we could only find one box of Shine Muscat.
Was it because the weather was hot and lots of people wanted to buy them and eat them at home with the air conditioner on?
Regrettably, Minji gave up on the Shine Muscat and bought a whole bunch of Cheongpodo grapes instead.
Since Shine Muscat was a breed-improved version of Cheongpodo, it probably wouldn't be that different.
After parting ways with Minji, I went up to the apartment and thoroughly washed the Shine Muscat with baking soda.
Running water was enough to wash off pesticides, but didn't they say pregnant women should even watch out for falling leaves?
While I was at it, I considered briefly soaking them in hot water and then taking them out, but thinking of A-ra who wanted to eat them quickly, I decided against that foolish act.
"Here, here, eat up quickly."
"Waaa, it looks delicious."
A-ra plucked a single Shine Muscat grape and put it in her mouth.
She chewed it carefully, swallowed it down, then smiled a very refreshed smile and repeated how delicious it was.
This is why it was worth going out to buy it!