Quarrel
Quarrel
"Seong-hwan-a~"
While I was working on an assignment, A-ra came whining and threw herself into my arms.
She showed this side of herself every night,
so by now it was so familiar it practically felt like a given.
I got up from the chair and lay down on the bed.
A-ra lay down beside me and hugged me tightly.
"Haa... I feel like I can finally live now that I'm hugging my husband."
Still, if there was one thing different from usual,
I'd have to say A-ra looked tired.
The always energetic A-ra whining while letting out sighs felt a little unfamiliar to me.
"Is something wrong?"
"...Can you tell?"
"You just seemed a little different from usual."
Everyone has their own way of acting, even if they don't realize it themselves.
Usually by now she'd already be rubbing her cheek against mine and touching me all over,
but tonight she was just holding me quietly,
so anyone would have noticed something was off.
"It's like this. I had a bit of a fight with Hwa-young today."
"With Hwa-young? What did you fight about this time?"
It wasn't the first time they had fought.
On the contrary, before she left Korea for the drama shoot, they fought every chance they got
and would be sulking and refusing to see each other's faces.
And most of the reasons for their fights were Hwa-young's fault.
Hwa-young was the same age as A-ra and had been her friend since childhood, but she had a habit of treating A-ra like a younger sister,
which caused their relationship to go awry from time to time.
"It's like this. She said she definitely wouldn't eat ramyun and only made some for me, but then she said she'd have just one bite and ended up eating the whole thing."
"And you fought over that?"
"It wasn't just once or twice. And then after eating it all, do you know what she said in the end?"
Since Hwa-young liked teasing A-ra, she probably ate it deliciously and then said it was tasteless.
Or maybe not that, but said she didn't eat it because she wanted to, but because A-ra begged her so much that she had no choice but to eat it?
So many variations came to mind that it was hard to even guess.
"You know how people say ramyun tastes the best when you steal the one someone else made!?"
"Ahahahahaha!! Aah!"
"Your wife is being tormented and you laugh?"
A-ra pinched my nipple hard.
But it was funny, so what could I do?
It would have been really fun to watch Hwa-young and A-ra fighting from the side.
They seemed to fight in a really cute way.
"Noona... that's a sensitive spot and it hurts a lot, you know."
"I-is that so? Noona didn't really feel much pain..."
A-ra, who had been scratching her head, seemed sorry,
and she gently stroked my cheek and chin before giving me a light kiss.
Kissing me to make the pain go away
wasn't exactly the right solution right now. Our A-ra was so innocent.
Anyway, I felt like I had just heard that she tried to consume food I had explicitly forbidden A-ra from having.
Was I mistaken?
"But didn't I clearly tell you not to eat ramyun, noona?"
"Huh?! Th-that's right! So I ended up not eating the ramyun in the end!"
"Because Hwa-young snatched it from you and ate it?"
"Uh... yeah..."
"You know it's obvious you're lying, right?"
"Yeah... I'm sorry..."
If A-ra wanted to eat it, I could make it for her anytime.
But it didn't feel good to me when she consumed instant food while I wasn't around.
This was all for A-ra's health,
and I thought she understood it was my heart caring for her health...
"What did we say would happen if you broke the promise?"
Still, for times when she absolutely could not avoid consuming instant food,
we had decided that she would receive a simple penalty.
One might wonder if there's a need to restrict her to the point of not even having one ramyun,
but considering I too was subject to A-ra's control over most of my outing tickets,
they'd nod in understanding.
I was stuck at home too, unable to go to the gym or the arcade.
"O-one lead-right ticket?"
"And since you said it wasn't just once or twice... it's at least three times, right?"
"W-well, that's..."
In the end, A-ra confessed everything
and it concluded with her voluntarily issuing five lead-right tickets.
I'd have to use one right away today.
***
"By the way, do you two fight?"
"Us?"
When I asked Lee Min-ho and Jeong Hwan-yi, the two looked at each other,
shrugged their shoulders, and chuckled.
"We just fought yesterday?"
"You could say we fight every single day, practically 365 days a year."
"Haa... what was it about this time..."
I sighed as I looked at the two of them, now seemingly taking their fighting as a given.
"We fought over the matter of dividing up the elective course assignment."
"There's still a long time left but he keeps saying let's finish it first."
"It's good to finish it first and then do other things."
"No, I'm telling you, there's still a lot to do?"
The two, who immediately started growling at each other again, began glaring at one another.
They sure behaved well inside the lecture hall.
"But why did you suddenly ask that?"
"Did you fight with A-ra?"
Since I asked about fighting, the two immediately jumped to the conclusion that I'd fought with A-ra
and began teasing me, insisting I must have been the one at fault.
"No? We haven't fought even once, whether while dating or after getting married."
"Ah... right. Come to think of it, there's no way a lovebird couple would fight."
"It's almost to the point of wondering if you were mandarin ducks in a past life."
That was a compliment, right?
Mandarin ducks were synonymous with marital harmony and invariably appeared at places like weddings.
However, the reality was that actual male mandarin ducks had relations with multiple females and abandoned childcare,
making them the worst possible husbands.
"So, why did you ask that?"
"I just mentioned that A-ra and Hwa-young fought yesterday, that's all."
"Isn't that a common thing? The two of them often bickered even on the program."
Lee Min-ho nodded, saying it was as natural as a thread following a needle.
I knew to some extent that the two squabbled on the program.
"But it's not that kind of feeling; they fought and their mood got a bit sour. I comforted her, but I was wondering if there's any way to help her make up..."
"For that kind of thing, they have to reconcile for things to resolve."
"Aren't you saying she wants to reconcile but doesn't know how, so she's sulking?"
"I don't know since you guys are my first friends in life."
Since I had no friends, I never had any fights,
so there was no way I would know about that.
I had never even fought with Jeong Hwan-yi or Lee Min-ho either.
As I nodded my head thinking that,
the two's expressions darkened slightly.
What I had said so casually
made the two begin to give me looks as if they were caring for a truly pitiful child.
"Don't worry, we're here for you, right?"
"Once a friend, always a friend..."
"They're treating me like I'm affection-deprived."
"So, do you have a way to make them reconcile?"
"Do the two of you have a hobby in common?"
"Hmm... Probably not... No, I heard they went fishing once."
"They're busy, so fishing is out of the question..."
Lee Min-ho, who had been deep in thought, seemed to have a good idea
and suddenly perked up.
"Since it's come to this, why not invite Hwa-young over and treat her to a meal?"
"Huh? What does that have to do with them reconciling?"
"If they eat together, they'll reconcile naturally. From what I heard, they fought over food, right?"
It was a bit embarrassing to say,
but I told them they fought over ramyun.
Hmm...
Indeed, since they fought over food, could they also be reconciled through food?
"Honestly, I don't get fighting over a single ramyun though."
"Maybe it was just the straw that broke the camel's back?"
"They used to often fight over stuff like that originally."
"Hmm... Then it wouldn't be a bad idea to try it once."
Jeong Hwan-yi also agreed that Lee Min-ho's suggestion seemed plausible.
*
"Hwa-young?"
"Inviting Eun-ji or Yeji Nuna wouldn't be a bad idea either..."
"The two of them have schedules on the weekend so they can't come."
"Then we have no choice but to just call Hwa-young."
When I got home, I told the sulking A-ra
a way to reconcile with Hwa-young.
A-ra started thinking deeply,
and then nodded her head slightly, giving me a slightly bitter smile as if she felt sorry.
"Sorry, Seong-hwan-a. It's a bother for you because of noona..."
"This doesn't even fall into the category of a bother, so don't worry."
"Still..."
"Goodness... My wife sure requires a lot of looking after."
I stroked A-ra's head gently.
Even though I had told her several times that she didn't need to feel sorry about such things to her husband,
her voice was still dripping with apology.
With the hand I was stroking her head with, I grabbed her shoulders
and pressed her head against my chest.
A-ra's breath was a little ticklish,
but since the lines I was about to say were going to be far more embarrassing,
I had to hold it in tightly.
"Hwa-young is your best friend, isn't she?"
"Yeah... We've been together since kindergarten."
"No matter how much Hwa-young is at fault, how can I, as your husband, just stand by when I hear my wife fought with her best friend?"
A-ra, who was usually tender-hearted, was struggling
because of the thought that she had fought with her friend.
How could I, her husband, just stand by and watch that?
I should take this chance to build a relationship where they can't fight at all
and get the two of them to reconcile.
"So please tell Hwa-young to come over to our house this weekend."
"Okay... Thank you, Seong-hwan-a."
Looking at me with eyes more glistening than usual
and thanking me, A-ra let out a sigh of relief.
She must have been a little restless herself,
unable to find a way to reconcile on her own.