Mother?
After having our fill of fun with Kim Hyewon—promising, of course, to do it again sometime—I made my way home.
A quick shower later, I flopped onto my bed.
Thump—
"Haaah…"
Something about today had left me oddly drained.
If you asked whether it had been fun, the answer was an emphatic yes. Not the kind of fun where you blow off steam at a PC bang or scream your lungs out at karaoke, flooding your brain with dopamine.
But still.
It was nice just… taking it slow.
How should I put it.
Just wandering around together, chatting, sitting on a park bench to rest.
Those ordinary, unremarkable little moments had been genuinely fun.
And judging by how things went, I wasn't the only one—Hyewon seemed to feel the same way. She even kept pulling photos of the two of us out of her handbag mid-walk, stealing glances at them.
I couldn't even begin to fathom how much she liked those pictures.
Was it that taking them together made her happy, or did she simply enjoy seeing herself in them?
I couldn't tell which it was, but watching her behavior today—fun as it had been—kept stirring a strange thought in me.
Could she actually be interested in me? That kind of thought.
Right.
If she really did like me, wouldn't she come over to hang out again this very moment?
Like, say, the doorbell suddenly ringing and Hyewon standing there waiting at my door—
*Ding-dong—*
"……?"
*Buzz—*
…Huh?
*Ding-dong—*
There was no time to sit around deliberating.
I hurried to the front door and let her in. Sure enough, there stood Hyewon in the same getup as before—a white tee and dolphin shorts.
"Whoa, what's up all of a sudden?"
"I was bored, so I came over."
"Bored?"
"Mm."
She'd come over because she was bored, apparently.
I ushered her inside.
She was inside, but…
Hmm.
Something felt awkward.
We'd just spent the whole day on what was basically a date, and not two minutes ago I'd been wondering if Hyewon might actually be interested in me.
I had no idea how Kim Hyewon felt about it, but on my end, things were a little… loaded.
And before I knew it, she'd settled naturally onto the living room sofa and was patting the seat beside her.
At her wordless invitation, I planted myself right next to her.
"Did you eat dinner yet?"
"No, not yet."
"You haven't?"
"Mm. You?"
"Neither have I."
There hadn't exactly been time to eat.
By the time I finished the date with Kim Hyewon and got home, it was nearly evening. I'd come in, showered quickly, and flopped onto my bed—that was the extent of it, so of course no dinner.
Hearing this, Kim Hyewon nodded along lazily.
"Then let's eat together."
"Together? You're not eating at home?"
"Mm. I told my mom. I said Hyeseong and I would fend for ourselves, and that I was going to hang out with you."
"Sh-she was okay with that?"
"Yep."
Well, that was… something.
Maybe her mother trusted Hyewon to look after herself, but she seemed awfully quick to sign off on her daughter eating dinner at the home of a boy she'd never even met.
"It's not like I live far—you're right across the hall. Even if you try anything weird, Seojun, I just have to scream and it's over."
"I mean, that's true, but…"
"More importantly, are you gonna?"
"Gonna what?"
*Whoosh—*
Kim Hyewon leaned in close.
Her chest pressed against my arm.
"Something weird."
"……"
I couldn't exactly control where my eyes went.
Not when she was being this blatant about it—blatant enough that she'd clearly noticed.
"…I wasn't thinking anything before, but you might actually make me do it."
"So you're in heat over me."
"That's not it."
"No?"
"No, it's not."
In heat, she says.
This girl really says the most dangerous things with a straight face.
It felt like dealing with Han Sohyeon somehow. The level of her jokes, or whatever you'd call it.
Han Sohyeon was shamelessly out in the open about it, while Kim Hyewon dropped these things occasionally, and slyly.
I couldn't say which of them was the original, but I guess birds of a feather really do flock together.
"That's kind of a shame, then. If it were you, Seojun, I was planning to let it slide for at least a few seconds."
"Learn to treasure your body a little."
"Would you hurt it?"
"No, that's not what I—"
I scratched my head for no good reason.
"Just… be careful saying stuff like that to other guys somewhere else. It could go badly for you."
"Don't worry. I don't even talk to other guys."
She gave me a crescent-eyed smile.
My heart skipped a beat, just for an instant.
Deeply embarrassed by that fact, I deflected with a throwaway joke.
"So what you're saying is, you only do that with me?"
"Mm."
And just like that, I was at a loss for words again.
By this point, a far more serious thought was muscling its way to the front of my mind.
You know that old saying, don't you?
The moment you think, no way, is exactly when it's true.
…Get a grip.
Half of me was already convinced she was at least a little interested in me.
But the other half was screaming for calm. Honestly, it had all come on too suddenly. Which meant I still couldn't rule out that she was just messing with me.
And who was Kim Hyewon, exactly? Han Sohyeon's best friend.
And who was Han Sohyeon? A person who could fire off every variety of unhinged joke with a perfectly straight face. Best friends with that person?
…Okay.
My heart rate settled somewhat.
"Enough joking around. What should I order for dinner?"
"It wasn't a joke."
I pretended not to hear that.
"…So, what should I order?"
"You're ordering in?"
"Yeah."
"Do you usually order in?"
"Not really."
I didn't eat takeout every day.
I had plenty of money, but I don't know—I liked the idea of eating healthy, home-cooked meals.
So most days I cooked for myself. Takeout was a once-in-a-very-long-while thing.
That time she barged into my place and we ate chicken and watched a movie together was the exception, not the rule.
"Then let's not order in."
"Then what are we eating?"
"You, Baek Seojun, are going to cook for me."
"…Me?"
"Mm."
I stared at her, checking if she was serious.
But she only gave a solemn, unblinking nod.
"Quite demanding for a guest, aren't you."
"You won't?"
"…Fine, I will."
It was a hassle.
Because I'd be making two portions, not one.
But looking at it another way, it wasn't like an extra single serving was back-breaking labor, so I agreed to cook for her.
Whereupon Kim Hyewon followed me into the kitchen and took a seat at the dining table.
"You're going to watch me cook?"
"Mm."
"You'll be bored. Go sit in the living room and look at your phone."
"No. I'm going to watch you."
"…Fine."
When a girl says she wants to look at you, what can you do.
With Kim Hyewon staring at my back the whole time, I got to work. Truthfully, there was nothing grand about the cooking involved.
I'd simply decided on kimchi fried rice.
There was already enough rice for two on hand, and that was the fastest, tastiest option available.
I'd briefly considered making pasta, but with rice already sitting there, that idea went out the window.
…Doesn't this feel awfully married, though?
That was my impression, anyway. The husband cooking, the wife watching fondly from behind.
These days plenty of men cook, so for a young couple it would probably be spot-on.
Come to think of it, Kim Hyewon apparently had the exact same thought.
"Doesn't this make us feel like a married couple."
I paused for a beat at her words.
"So am I the stay-at-home husband, then? And you're out bringing home the bacon, Hyewon?"
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, why not. I'm the one cooking, so doesn't it just feel like that?"
A husband cooking dinner for his wife coming home from work.
"It feels exactly like that, I'd say."
"Hmm."
Though I was laughing on the inside.
Me, a stay-at-home husband?
Nothing in the world suited me less, I thought.
It wasn't that I had anything against being one—it was that my family being my family made it impossible.
Well, setting the family aside… being a house husband might not be so bad.
Nobody actually wants to work, after all.
Though it would mean taking the housework very seriously.
But before I could dwell on that any longer—
"The rice is done. Let's eat."
"Mm."
The two of us split the two servings of kimchi fried rice.
And then.
"Was it good?"
I shot her a sidelong glance.
"Mm. It's delicious. I could eat it every day."
"Every day? It's just kimchi fried rice?"
"Mm. Every day."
Thankfully, she seemed genuinely pleased, wearing a happy expression. Honestly, for a spread of nothing but kimchi fried rice, praise that glowing was a little embarrassing to receive.
But it felt good all the same.
"I don't think even married couples cook every day."
"Then for you to eat Seojun's cooking every day, we'd have to be even closer than a married couple."
"…And what would that be, exactly?"
"Who knows."
What on earth is closer than marriage, Hyewon?
And if she keeps saying things like that so nonchalantly, I really might get the wrong idea…
Though by this point, I was starting to suspect she was saying it on purpose. Why she might be doing it on purpose was a question I'd have to save for later.
"Right—well, dinner's done, so wanna watch a movie like last time?"
That was not what happened next.
"Sure."
Utterly unaware of my inner turmoil, Kim Hyewon's face lit up at the movie suggestion.
"Then I'll pick again this time."
"The movie?"
"Mm."
Surely she wasn't planning on picking an adult film again, like last time?
"…What are we watching, exactly?"
"Something fun, like last time."
So she intended to do a repeat of last time, plain and simple.
Dirty jokes were one thing—I could laugh those off somehow—but watching an adult film together had this… whole-body-cringing quality to it.
A dirty joke could be spun into something lighthearted, but an adult film couldn't.
It wasn't even explicit, not really, but it was basically the same as watching porn with a girl who was just a friend, wasn't it?
Even couples would squirm watching that together—and if it's someone who's simply a friend of the opposite sex… mm.
I'll stop there.
Oblivious to my crisis, Kim Hyewon settled onto the sofa with perfect composure and began scrolling through movies.
…An adult film. Of course it was.
And then.
—Haang!
—I love you, Alice!
—I love you too, Alphonso!
Right on cue, the steamy scenes began.
"……"
"……"
It was impossible not to be hyper-aware of Kim Hyewon beside me.
I swallowed without meaning to, and my gaze kept drifting sideways.
But she was no better, apparently, because our eyes ended up meeting.
At the single most mortifying possible moment.
"……"
"……"
…Gulp.
Using the adult film as a backdrop, I slowly studied Hyewon's face. And Hyewon studied mine.
So there we sat, gazing at each other's faces, wrapped in some strange, nameless heat.
…And that was when it happened.
*Beep-beep-be-beep—*
*Clack—*
"Sweetie~!"
"!!?"
"????"
An uninvited guest—no, wait.
The landlord of this apartment had appeared without so much as a warning.
At the precise moment I was alone with a girl who was just a friend, watching an adult film.
…For a brief second, cold sweat broke out down my spine.