Quarrel (2)
Quarrel (2)
But now that I was actually about to invite Hwa-young over to the house,
I had no idea what kind of food to make.
Since they shared a hobby in fishing, did they also share a love for seafood?
No, I might have been thinking too simplistically.
A hobby was just a hobby, and there were plenty of people who didn't particularly care for seafood.
In that case, maybe I just needed to ask?
Calling to ask felt a bit awkward,
so I decided to head into the agency for the first time in a while and ask Eun-ji and Yeji directly.
***
When I arrived at the agency for the first time in a while, Eun-ji had put on a full face of makeup and was hovering around me with an excited expression.
If I'd still been a forever-alone virgin, I probably would have smiled and asked if she had something to say,
but now, wasn't I a man with three years of dating and one year of married life under my belt?
Reading a woman's heart was as simple as could be—easier than a piece of cake, easier than a sip of cold water.
"Your makeup style is different from usual. Going to meet your boyfriend?"
"Does it look like it?"
Maybe pleased that I'd reacted, she sat down in the chair next to me and started grinning from ear to ear.
Eun-ji had always laughed often, but she looked especially happy today.
As I always thought, a smile really suited both A-ra and Eun-ji best.
"I'm meeting my oppa for the first time in a while."
"Oppa? You mean your biological older brother?"
"Yeah. He's 18 years older than me, my oldest brother."
Come to think of it, hadn't Eun-ji been a late-born child?
I recalled hearing that instead of her parents who passed away suddenly, her older brothers had raised her, carrying her on their backs.
The age gap was even bigger than I'd thought.
But hadn't she said there was a program broadcast happening?
"They said they wanted to film me meeting my oppa, so I asked him and he gave permission."
"I see... What's your brother like?"
"The oldest? Or the younger one?"
"Both of them."
Eun-ji seemed happy that I was taking an interest in her brothers,
because she started talking with a bright grin.
Listening to her, Eun-ji's brothers had only managed to graduate middle school because they were raising her,
and their lives had apparently been quite eventful.
Maybe because of that, the love she felt for the two brothers who had literally carried her on their backs and raised her
was on an entirely different level from other siblings.
Eun-ji, listing all the good things about her brothers one after another,
looked so endearing that I ended up patting her head.
"Wh...why are you suddenly patting my head?"
When I smiled and stroked her hair, Eun-ji pushed her lips out in a pout at my sudden action.
"So that's why your dream is to marry your real brothers, right? This oppa knows everything."
"Wh...what do you take me for... and my brothers are already married, you know!"
I burst out laughing at Eun-ji's words,
which sounded as if she might have had a chance if only they weren't already married.
I really did think that I was surrounded by nothing but kind people.
*
"Hwa-young unnie's favorite foods?"
"Yeah, I heard she fought with A-ra noona this time? I'm thinking of inviting her over to help them reconcile."
"Ah, are you talking about when they fought in the dorm during the program before?"
Eun-ji nodded as if she remembered.
It seemed the fight had been more than just something simple, like A-ra had described.
"No? It wasn't as big a fight as you think. And it was something that used to happen often anyway."
"Hwa-young teases A-ra noona that often?"
"Actually... this is a secret, okay? You can't go telling anyone else."
"I won't."
"Hwa-young unnie's birth was registered late, so she's actually 2 years older than A-ra unnie."
"Huh? Really?"
"I only heard about it by chance too."
So that meant Hwa-young really was an unnie to A-ra,
and the reason she'd always seemed to treat A-ra like a younger sibling was because she actually was one.
"A-ra noona knows that too?"
"Yeah, since I overheard the two of them talking about it."
"Then why didn't they tell me?"
"They probably thought it might confuse you? A-ra unnie thinks the world of you, you know."
But really, it didn't change the fact that she was a noona to me,
so it didn't really matter much, did it?
Well, it was certainly surprising that Hwa-young was 2 years older than A-ra,
but judging by her usual behavior, I had thought she acted like an unnie.
And above all, if A-ra already knew about it,
then there wasn't any problem.
"So? What does her being two years older have to do with them fighting?"
"How cute must it have been, seeing her dongsaeng grinding her teeth and sulking?"
"So she got even more upset because she was already pouting?"
"And in a grand way, too."
So that was why A-ra had been so severely upset that she wouldn't talk,
and the mood had turned dark.
The important part was that A-ra, who you could consider the victim,
was actually the one wanting to reconcile,
which just showed what a kind, gentle, animal-like cuteness A-ra possessed.
"A-ra unnie teasing or picking on me is pretty simi....."
"Thanks, Eun-ji. I'll get going now."
I cut off Eun-ji's words and stood up from my seat.
Since I now knew why the two had fought and the background behind it....
Wait...?
What did I come here for again?
"You dummy, you came to ask me what the two of them both like."
"Ah... right."
Scratching my head, I sat back down.
When I smiled brightly in slight embarrassment,
Eun-ji started looking at me with a slightly worried expression.
"A guy being this loose with his smiles..."
"I'm not loose, okay? I don't just show my smile to anyone."
"So that means it's okay with this 'unnie'?"
"You're younger than me by birthday, what do you mean unnie..."
When I let out a chuckle, Eun-ji chuckled at the same time.
"You were asking about her favorite foods, right? Hwa-young unnie likes seafood and meat, but
she absolutely loves vegetables."
"Vegetables?"
"You know those fried carrot and potato things? The Japanese style."
"You mean vegetable tempura..."
I didn't think A-ra liked that very much.
Their tastes were more different than I'd thought.
"Hmm... I'll have to think about it more."
"You've got your work cut out for you."
"I'll take off then. Have a fun date with your oppa."
"I said it's not a date!"
I left to the sound of Eun-ji's embarrassed voice.
It felt like things had gotten even harder than before I'd asked...
***
"Seong-hwan-ah~"
"You're here?"
When I finished all the food preparations and came outside, Hwa-young came in calling my name along with A-ra, who had gone out to meet her.
She watched me wiping my hands on my apron for a long moment,
and then, looking at my face with a greasy expression, she started to chuckle.
"Looking at this, you've totally become a housewife, huh?"
"That's a compliment, right?"
"Telling a man he's like a housewife is obviously a compliment."
I couldn't tell if she meant it, but I accepted it as a compliment and gave a slight smile.
It was because the way she playfully treated me made me think, "That's Hwa-young for you."
"It already smells amazing?"
"You can look forward to it. A-ra noona, give me your coat."
"Okay."
I took the coat A-ra had been wearing,
went into the master bedroom, hung it in the dressing room, and came back out.
Since this was Hwa-young's first time visiting our house since we'd moved,
she was looking around here and there with A-ra.
"What kind of apartment has a duplex?"
"It seemed like A-ra noona chose it because she liked that."
It was a penthouse, so it was certainly very big, but I'd heard that A-ra had signed the purchase contract right away because she liked that it had a duplex structure.
And up there, A-ra's collectibles and racing games were reverently enshrined.
"Noona-deul, come on down and eat."
The stew was boiling, and the side dishes would get cold if left out like this,
so I urged them to come down quickly.
Only after I'd urged them did they wash their hands and come over.
The two of them, sitting in the dining chairs, had their eyes go wide.
"I knew Seong-hwan-ie was a good cook, but I didn't know he was this good..."
"Wow... Seong-hwan-ah, whose birthday is it today? You really went all out, huh?"
I was a little embarrassed by their compliments, but I sat down without showing it.
Today, I'd even scoured the internet and laid out so much food that the table legs might snap under the weight,
all things I thought the two of them would like.
From further research afterward, I'd learned that Hwa-young liked crustaceans just like A-ra,
so I had king crab and lobster airlifted from the fishery center run by Jeong-hwan-ie's family,
and I'd bought high-quality beef through a secret route and cooked it sous-vide.
They seemed so surprised that they'd even forgotten they'd fought;
the two of them, chattering away in a friendly atmosphere, looked as close as real sisters.
"And I also made spicy codfish stew, which A-ra noona loves."
"Only playing favorites with A-ra?"
"She's my wife."
When I nodded as if playing favorites was only natural, A-ra's eyes started to sparkle,
and Hwa-young looked at A-ra with a pouty face, as if envious.
"I'm so jealous. Someone found herself a pretty husband and got married, while someone else has never even dated once."
"That's because you chose not to. You should say you didn't, not that you couldn't."
"I wonder if there's a pretty boy living next door to me~"
"Even if there were, he wouldn't be as good as Seong-hwan-ie."
"Yeah, yeah, you're so great, just so great."
Hwa-young pinched both of A-ra's cheeks and pulled them.
For a moment, I worried they might fight, but A-ra smiled brightly and played along with Hwa-young's teasing,
and Hwa-young smiled brightly too, the two of them having a conversation with their eyes.
'What the... did they already make up?'
In that space, only I, not knowing what was going on,
could only scratch my head and stare blankly at the two of them.