Song A-ra (2)
Song A-ra (2)
We arrived at the mart and started grocery shopping.
Since I hadn't even gotten a proper look at the kitchen, I had no idea what we had or didn't have, so I decided to ask A-ra first.
"A-ra noona, do we have soy sauce at home?"
"Probably not? We've hardly ever cooked for ourselves."
"....I'm sorry."
"What's there to be sorry about? I'm the one who should be sorry."
More than my original self being trash, it seemed the situation was that A-ra was often away from home due to work or came home late frequently, making it difficult to cook proper meals.
But still, not having made her a home-cooked meal even once was just too thoughtless.
"I'll make home-cooked meals regularly from now on, so let's buy all the seasonings and stuff."
"Alright! Buy anything you want!"
"First, soy sauce... could you grab some brewed soy sauce and soup soy sauce?"
I loaded soy sauce, soybean paste, sesame oil, salt, sugar, red pepper powder, red pepper paste, vinegar, and more into the cart.
And at the kitchenware corner, I also bought a condiment container and a 4-compartment seasoning container.
If there wasn't even soy sauce at home, there was no way they'd have things like these.
"What about knives? We didn't have a kitchen knife either, right?"
"There should be one with a chipped blade..."
"We'll throw that away when we get home."
It wasn't like I was going to stab anyone, but a chipped blade?
That was not something usable for cooking.
"A kitchen knife has to be in good condition to cook comfortably."
"Really? On a variety show I was on before, I sliced kimchi with a tuna can lid."
"That's because it was an outdoor situation, so that was possible."
- Dear customers, welcome. From now, we will begin a one-hour discount sale on pork shoulder.
"Noona, noona! Hurry, let's go!"
"Huh? What for?"
"They're having a sale on pork shoulder. If we don't hurry, the aunties will grab it all and there'll be none left!"
"Seong-hwan-ah, calm down. I've told you many times, noona has plenty of money, so you don't need to obsess over things like that, right?"
"D-did you...?"
Come to think of it, I had checked earlier. There was a considerable amount of money deposited in an account under my name.
Since I was still young, noona had apparently been managing the money, but it seemed I received and handled the living expenses.
"I want to eat beef. Is that okay?"
"O-of course. Then shall I make braised short ribs?"
"Anything Seong-hwan makes is fine with me."
"Noona...."
She said anything I made was fine with her.
She was too devoted...
I had to show her what proper braised short ribs were this time.
"Ma'am, please give me 1kg of bone-in short ribs."
"You always only bought hind leg meat, but today it's ribs?"
"Huh?"
Originally, hind leg cuts were cheap, so they had been something I frequently bought and ate.
But the me here, who had married A-ra and was overflowing with money, had also only bought hind leg?
"Every time, you'd say you felt sorry spending noona's money and only bought the hind leg."
"Ah...ah, did I..."
"Is that person your noona?"
"Yes..."
Apparently, I hadn't been a fucking bastard after all.
***
"Wow.. did you really make this, Seong-hwan?"
"Yes, please go ahead and try it."
I made not only braised short ribs but also a variety of other things like fresh kimchi and glass noodle stir-fry.
If my memory was right, A-ra had a constitution where she didn't gain weight, so even if she inhaled a whole bunch of things at once, she would never gain weight.
Maybe because of that, in the other world I'd occasionally spotted antis online, but here there seemed to be no such reaction.
In that respect, it definitely gave off the vibe of a gender-reversed world.
The moment A-ra took a bite of the braised short ribs, I was really nervous.
I had grown up in an orphanage facility, so I had worked hard at everything to become self-reliant.
Especially, the certification that had given the highest points in the self-reliance screening was the Korean cuisine cooking license.
If this world hadn't changed much, I would have the cooking license.
"Delicious..."
A gasp of admiration escaped A-ra's lips.
It seemed to suit her taste.
"I know because I frequent Korean restaurants for work... this is good enough to sell, you know?"
"Really?"
"Since when does noona lie to you?"
The unexpected high praise lifted my mood.
The skill I had learned and used only for home-cooked meals I ate alone... knowing that it could work on others gave me an aimless sense of exhilaration.
"You, don't just watch, hurry up and eat."
"Yes. Thank you for the food."
I polished off two bowls of rice just like that.
It had been a while since I'd overeaten.
***
"Ah, I'm full."
"I ate well."
I couldn't dodge the sudden kiss on the cheek and my face just reddened.
"Why are you embarrassed? You're so bland."
"..........."
"I'll wash up first. Leave the dishes, noona will do them later."
"No. I'll do them now."
"It's okay though... you already cooked, didn't you?"
"Noona earns the money. Please rest well."
"Seong-hwan-ah..."
This time it flew toward my mouth, so I dodged.
In that instant, seeing A-ra's extremely hurt expression, I started to feel sorry.
Right.. we were a married couple, so that was possible.
"There's a garlic smell from my mouth... let's do that after washing."
Pretending to be embarrassed, I hastily left the spot.
Peeking at A-ra through the crack in the door, A-ra's face was also red.
Wasn't she just too adorable?
Opening the door to the closet room, there was a wardrobe with my clothes.
There were clothes I hadn't had before, and clothes I once had that were now missing, which gave me a headache, but my taste didn't seem to differ that greatly.
But...
There was something strange...
What were commonly called sleep pants...
There were quite a lot of them.
For reference, I hated discomfort when sleeping, so forget pajamas, even in winter I wore short sleeves and shorts like a true man.
I had never once worn such unbearably cute sleep pants.
I took out some summer clothes, put them on, and came out.
She must have washed quickly; I saw A-ra sitting on the bed in a white robe, drying her hair with a towel.
"Noona, let me dry it for you."
"Thank you."
Standing behind her, I wiped all the moisture from her hair, combed it, and dried it little by little with the hairdryer.
It was one of the tricks I could do because I had often dried the girls' hair at the orphanage.
Seeing her enjoying having her hair combed felt newly strange.
What on earth was someone like her lacking, to have married an orphan like me?
Moreover, judging by the situation, I was likely the one who had received the confession and proposal and was won over.
I decided to venture a probing question.
In the other world, that was a line women used, but in this gender-reversed place, men would ask it.
"Noona, what about me did you like that made you marry me?"
"Huh? Ahaha... asking so suddenly is embarrassing... You might think it's a thoughtless answer, but I love everything about you."
"Everything?"
"Do you remember when we first met?"
When we first met, huh...
It had been about two weeks since I moved in next door to A-ra.
I came up to the apartment after school, and A-ra was looking at her phone, shedding tears.
Her parents had been on their way to see her, their daughter, when they both passed away in an accident with a truck.
She had finished the funeral and come home, but couldn't bring herself to go in and was crying in front of the door.
I sat down next to A-ra, who couldn't enter her home, and comforted her and talked with her all day long.
The time I had come home was 4 PM, but when A-ra finally went into her home, it was deep into the night, around 11 PM.
"Back then, the only one who sincerely comforted me by my side was Seong-hwan... The agency family had comforted and looked after me too, but it was a little different from you, who genuinely grieved with me."
".......I see."
I had been feeling a bit down at that time too.
Because I had been on my way home holding a ruined exam report card.
There was also the reason that I had needed a conversation partner to open up to as well.
Since I was a loner with not a single friend...
"From that day on, I fell for you... yeah..."
A-ra showed a slight smile, holding back tears in her eyes that looked ready to fall at any moment.
Her smile contained feelings of apology and sadness toward her parents, and even self-pity, so it was a smile that seemed like it would break my heart just to watch.
"Noona..."
I gently stroked her cheek.
At that, a tear finally fell from noona's eyes as she smiled earnestly, running down her cheek in a single drop.
"Though I'm lacking, I'll always be by noona's side."
"Will you? If you weren't here, Seong-hwan... I'd go crazy."
"Now I'm the same. If noona wasn't here, I'd go crazy too."
A relationship where we lived leaning on each other.
It might seem simple, but it was a relationship taking a step forward as true husband and wife.
Originally it might have been a relationship where A-ra leaned on me one-sidedly, but after I came here, I thought it would be nice if it became a relationship that was not a vertical line but a lifelong line.
Perhaps, even in the other world, I might have had feelings for A-ra.
The A-ra over there... I wasn't sure.
No, now it didn't matter either way.
Because the place I was in was this gender-reversed world.
Thinking about a place I might never be able to return to was disrespectful to her, who was shedding tears right in front of me at this very moment.
A-ra stroked the hand that was stroking her cheek.
The wound, thought to be from the field running punishment, stung slightly.
Before she could ask if it hurt, I had to seal her lips.
To give the kiss I hadn't given earlier, I pressed my lips to hers.
I had the illusion that Zoo band's 'I Will Love You' was ringing in my ears.
When my hot lips touched her soft lips, our tongues intertwined, tangling together, exchanging saliva.
How should I put it.
Since I had just washed, it only tasted like mint toothpaste...
But because our saliva was mixing, it was a stimulating taste.
When our lips parted and a silver thread stretched between us, the heart of idol 'Song A-ra' was no longer a one-way crush but true love.