School Break (2)
School Break (2)
A-ra had told him to pay with the credit card she gave him,
so he paid with the credit card.
Truthfully, most of the money in his bank account was from A-ra anyway,
so whether he used that money or the credit card, he was spending A-ra's money either way.
It made no real difference.
A-ra gave him this much allowance every month,
so why on earth had she given him a credit card too?
Of course, he understood that she didn't want her man walking around looking broke and defeated,
but this felt like she was just handing out too much.
After that, he went into a photo studio that looked decent enough
and had his ID photo taken.
He'd taken ID photos before when getting his certifications, so he wasn't confused about the process.
Looking at the printed photo... well, he supposed he was reasonably good-looking, at least.
Even by his own assessment, he did look kind of cute, which he wasn't too happy about.
Someone like Jeong Hwan-yi or Lee Min-ho, with a bit of muscle
and a face that wasn't exactly macho but still gave off a solid, dependable manly vibe... that was what he'd prefer.
But A-ra didn't seem to particularly like that kind of look, so he'd given up on it.
He took the photo at the studio, got it printed, and headed to the city hall.
When he arrived in front of the city hall, he spotted a place where you could get instant ID photos taken on the spot.
"...It's cheaper, and the photo's ready right away..."
If that was the case, why had he bothered going to a photo studio?
He should've looked into it beforehand...
But where was he supposed to go to make a passport?
He knew you made them at the city hall, but where exactly in here was he supposed to go?
He had no choice but to walk around glancing left and right,
until he approached a woman who looked like a city hall employee and spoke to her.
"Excuse me..."
"Y... Yes?"
"Could you tell me where I need to go to apply for a passport?"
"Ah! For passports, go to the right to the Civil Service Department!"
"Oh, thank you."
He gave a quick bow of his head and walked away briskly.
For a moment, the way she looked at him had been a little strange.
He was wearing a mask, and yet she'd recognized him.
She must have been pretty sharp-eyed.
*
He applied for a five-year passport
and received it by registered mail about a week later.
It came in a paper envelope,
and the inside was completely lined with bubble wrap.
One could say the care taken to ensure the passport with its sensitive chip arrived undamaged really stood out.
This kind of thoughtful consideration was the sort of thing that moved people.
"Our Seong-hwan is a full-fledged adult now, huh?"
A-ra came up to him as he happily held the passport in his hands
and stroked his cheek.
Though legally he'd been an adult for five months already.
Still, A-ra always treated him like a child.
Was it because this was how a woman treated a man?
Or was it simply because he was her husband?
For reference, ever since he'd left the orphanage facility,
he'd been able to handle pretty much everything on his own
without a guardian's consent.
Still, there seemed to be a world of difference
between what was legally possible as an exception and what was officially possible.
The passport he held in his hands—
was it because this was the first time he'd obtained something
entirely on his own, without anyone's legal assistance?
It felt considerably different from when he'd signed his housing contract, or activated his phone, or opened his bank account.
"It's been quite a while since my birthday, you know?"
"That's not what I meant, is it? It means you've become someone who takes responsibility for your own actions."
She took him by the hand, led him to the sofa, and sat him down.
Then, saying she couldn't help herself, she stroked his cheek once more.
'Taking responsibility for your own actions.'
Somehow, the fact that this was both obvious and not obvious
was the reality of the society he was living in, he thought,
and he felt a little bitter.
Even A-ra, who was still only 22, lived her life fully taking responsibility for her actions,
yet when he watched the news, there were so many people who didn't.
At that moment, a question suddenly came to mind.
What was the first thing A-ra had ever decided she had to seriously take responsibility for?
"A-ra Noona, what was the first thing you truly decided you had to take responsibility for?"
"Me?"
A-ra's face flushed slightly,
and she pointed her finger at him.
"You, Seong-hwan."
An unexpected answer came out.
A-ra had debuted as an idol five years ago and revealed herself to the world.
Compared to that, she'd only met him about three years ago.
"Me?"
"Taking responsibility for you and living the rest of our lives together.
That's the first thing in my life I ever resolved to take responsibility for."
Apparently, A-ra considered her marriage to him
more precious than her work as an idol.
He was so moved he felt like tears might spill out.
His hands trembled a little, and his cheeks seemed to tremble a little too.
Maybe she noticed his state,
because A-ra, who had been sitting a little apart from him,
scooted closer and pressed herself right up against him.
Then she slipped her left hand through the gap between his pants and his shirt,
slowly stroking as she began moving up toward his chest.
His body, right after receiving a confession so full of love,
was more sensitive than ever,
and it felt like even the slightest stimulation would make a moan escape him.
"I have no one but you."
Then she lifted him up,
sat him on her lap,
and hugged him tight, burying him against her chest.
"What about you?"
She looked into his eyes with an expectant gaze.
It was the same for him.
For A-ra, he could throw anything and everything aside.
No matter how irresponsible an act that might be.
"I have no one but you too, Noona."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"I'm happy..."
A-ra let out an embarrassed-sounding "ehehe" laugh and smiled goofily.
Because the words he'd spoken were entirely sincere, without an ounce of falsehood.
Some people might think the two of them were pitiful,
but he was actually glad that this very thing had become an opportunity
for their bond to grow even stronger.
"That aside..."
Had her hand, which had clearly been on his chest just moments ago,
somehow teleported?
Her hand had already encroached down to his lower half,
so he pulled away from A-ra.
"No?"
"No."
"Hnnng..."
The day he'd been discharged from the hospital and come back home,
A-ra had turned into a beast and pounced on him,
and he'd been squeezed so much...
To the point where the tip and his urethra had stung.
There had been weekends where they'd done it three or even four times a day,
but it had never been as rough as that day.
It was clearly because they'd gone without for a while and then done it all at once, causing strain.
So he'd stopped A-ra before her eyes could roll back in her head.
"Later... at night. Let's do it at night..."
Still, the fact that he hadn't ultimately refused and instead suggested doing it at night
made him feel so stupid he could practically sigh at himself.
***
"Ah, now that I think of it, I totally forgot to exchange currency."
He'd meant to go to the bank and do it on the day he got his passport,
but he'd only just now remembered.
"A-ra Noona, how many nights and days are we planning to stay?"
"About a week, probably?"
Since the goal was to go and rest properly,
they'd need at least that long.
So including the round-trip boat journey, that would be about nine days.
How much currency should he exchange?
"Oh, right, Seong-hwan. Noona has absolutely zero intention of trying to save money on this trip, you know?"
"Well, sure. There's no need to pinch pennies when you're going on a trip."
"See, you think so too, right?"
The place A-ra had suggested going to, Yufuin, had ryokans where just one night's room rate
for two people could exceed a hundred thousand yen.
It meant that a frugal trip was already out of the question.
Well, from the moment he was going with A-ra,
they'd have to spend a lot of money just to avoid people and keep dodging them,
so being frugal was probably impossible from the start anyway.
"How much would be reasonable to bring?"
"About five million yen?"
"Noona, for yen, it's easier if you just think of it as having one less zero than won."
A-ra had apparently been planning to bring about five million won's worth of foreign currency, her card being separate.
Since the company was booking their accommodations, if he subtracted that,
he thought it was actually a surprisingly reasonable travel budget.
Because when A-ra went shopping at department stores or wherever, she could just use her card.
She was, after all, the owner of an Amex Black Card.
"Huh? I said five million yen, not five million won."
"You're bringing a card too, and you still want that much...?"
"If you don't like it, should we bring 43,000 dollars instead?"
What would they do with dollars...?
Apparently, he'd been mistaken.
A-ra genuinely intended to exchange and bring fifty million won's worth of currency.
"The card's for card things."
"I don't think we'll need that much..."
"Seong-hwan. At a travel destination, you never know what might suddenly happen."
"Well, that's true, but."
"What if an accident happens and we suddenly need a lot of money?
Would you still think the card wasn't necessary then?"
She'd used an extremely extreme example, but he had nothing to say in rebuttal.
So she'd thought it through that deeply.
As expected, A-ra's thinking was...
"And Noona has something she wants to buy."
"Something you want to buy?"
"I'll tell you when we get there."
Then A-ra flashed him a grin.
She probably wasn't going to buy a car...
Had A-ra picked up some new hobby?
But could you even exchange fifty million won's worth of currency at a bank?
It seemed like it would take a long time.
"If we go to the main bank Noona uses, they can do it right away."
"As expected of a VVIP..."
"Since we've thought of it now, let's go exchange the currency right away."
As always, A-ra was quick to act.
She went to the master bedroom, changed her clothes, and came back out.
A white dress and a white hat—she really looked adorable.
Maybe because it was summer, her clothes were getting thinner and thinner,
and it felt like his eyes were being treated.
He also threw on a short-sleeved shirt and shorts and came out.
When he got to the front door, he approached A-ra, who was waiting with her sandals on,
and linked arms with her.
"Someone's being assertive?"
"Let's go. We'll do a date on the way out too."
She'd sulk if he didn't do at least this much.