Seventeen, and Patience (6)
I pouted at ajusshi, who kept avoiding my gaze. First, I let my anger cool a bit, then replayed everything he'd said, sorting it out piece by piece.
When unnie and ajusshi first met alone, she'd been the one to speak up first. The engagement was something the adults had decided, but she had no interest in it herself. So she'd asked if he felt the same. Sure enough, he'd only come to our house that first day because he had no choice, and he had zero interest in marriage or engagements either.
Unnie had laughed and made a proposal: meet once every week or two, pretend to be on good terms just for show, and keep up appearances on the surface. She'd originally planned to ditch the whole engagement thing right away, but figured she'd just get nagged about guy problems again, so better to use each other instead. The offer had sounded sweet to ajusshi too. He was sick of the endless hassle from his family and outsiders about a romance he didn't even care about—the stress was no joke.
Feeling they were in the same boat, they'd conspired to fool their families by just pretending to meet occasionally.
"Haa… What were you gonna do if you got caught?"
My voice came out sharp, fueled by lingering heat, and I pressed him hard. He flinched, clearly feeling threatened, and glanced around nervously.
"Uh… well, no one was watching or anything… I didn't think we'd get caught…"
I tilted my head down slightly and lowered my voice even more.
"But you got caught by me, huh?"
At that, ajusshi's face went sheet-white. His hands trembled visibly. He desperately averted his eyes, then awkwardly started sipping his coffee to cover it.
"Kuh—!"
After a few gulps, he suddenly choked and burst into coughs. Coffee splattered from his mouth.
"Hey, what are you doing! You okay?"
I jumped up on reflex, grabbed a handful of tissues from nearby, and dabbed lightly at his mouth first, then patted the stains on his clothes. By then, eyes from around us were turning our way, and a staff member hurried over.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, we're fine. Sorry about that."
I bowed first. The staff quickly wiped the floor and table edge with wet wipes before backing off. Once the coughing subsided, ajusshi mumbled weakly, head down.
"…Sorry."
"If you're sorry, you shouldn't have done something worth apologizing for in the first place."
I crossed my arms and spoke coldly. He just pursed his lips, at a loss for words.
"No excuses, huh…"
I let out a deep sigh. He might have nothing to say, but I had plenty—though for now, I wanted to hear how far his excuses went.
"So, what are you gonna do now?"
Ajusshi hesitated, head still bowed.
"Honestly… I figured there was a chance we'd get caught. But not this soon…"
The longer he spoke, the smaller his shoulders seemed to shrink. His excuses weren't even proper ones… Squeezing him more wouldn't help. Honestly, he looked kinda pitiful.
"So you've been meeting unnie like this the whole time?"
"Yeah… We'd just meet up, have some coffee, and split pretty quick."
He nodded faintly.
"What about today? How long were you together?"
"Just after noon. So… 20 minutes? 30? Something like that."
Hearing that made my stomach boil. Unnie had left the house around 10 or 11 for sure. Wandering around for two or three hours, then just coffee and done? Then she'd come home late, probably drunk off her ass? Doing whatever the hell she wanted.
This damn unnie… how do I catch her?
Kkorrrruk—
As I pondered how to deal with this infuriating sister, a weird noise came from under the table. I blinked wide-eyed and looked up. There was ajusshi, embarrassed, hand over his stomach, face turned away. His cheeks were a bit red.
"Ajusshi… don't tell me you skipped lunch?"
I asked carefully, and he gave a feeble smile, nodding just a tiny bit.
"You didn't eat with unnie?"
"Well… she said we weren't the type to eat face-to-face… so…"
He'd been trailing off and dodging my eyes all along. Watching him like that just made my gut churn more.
"So you two have never eaten together?"
I pressed, and instead of words, he just nodded once. My anger boiled hotter—not at him, but at unnie.
"Then how've you been handling lunch all this time?"
He fiddled with his coffee cup and murmured softly.
"Grabbing something quick at the convenience store… or the PC bang nearby…"
"What!?"
My voice rose, and every eye in the place snapped to our table. Ajusshi panicked, glancing around, but I ignored it, glaring straight at him with a scowl.
A guy from a good family, why…
As I grumbled inwardly, an old memory surfaced. Before becoming Seojin, I'd done the same thing plenty—rich or broke, too lazy to bother, scarfing down whatever at random spots. It made me understand him, but that just pissed me off more. Understanding didn't mean I'd let it slide.
I couldn't take it anymore. I shot up, grabbed his arm.
"Get up, ajusshi. Come with me now."
"Wha—huh…"
Startled, he half-stood from his chair, but I yanked harder and dragged him out of the cafe.
The height difference made it tough, but I hid it and pulled him along. After a few steps, he gave up resisting and followed without a fuss. Passersby stared, but I didn't care. That's how I got him all the way home.
At the entrance, he balked about not coming in, but I shoved him inside anyway. Victory!
Anyway, success. The second I shut the front door, I pointed at the bathroom.
"Go wash your hands first."
He nodded obediently and went in. I headed straight to the kitchen, washed my hands at the sink, shook them dry, and tied my apron strings tight around my waist.
Fridge check: not a ton of ingredients, but just one eater. Plenty of eggs, green onions, onions. More than enough.
As I laid them out by the sink, ajusshi emerged from the bathroom. Our eyes met, and I spoke right away.
"Don't do a thing—just sit."
I nodded at the dining chairs. He meekly nodded back and sat quietly at the end of the table.
Aigo, good boy, my ajusshi.
"Alright, let's get started."
Menu: fried rice. Heat the pan, swirl in oil. Chopped green onions go in, sizzling and fragrant; add minced onion, stir gently with the spatula. Push ingredients aside, crack two eggs in the empty spot, whisk fast with chopsticks for scramble. When half-done, dump in yesterday's rice, press with ladle to break up clumps.
Salt and pepper for base seasoning, rim the pan with a spoonful of soy for that toasty aroma, mix through. Crank the heat a touch, stir, and gloss starts shining on the grains. Finish with drops of sesame oil, pinch of sesame seeds, extra green onions.
"Done!"
Pretty decent for improv. Scooped a steaming heap into a bowl, set it lightly before ajusshi. Vapor curled up, tickling the nose with green onion and soy.
He stared blankly at it. I laid out spoon and chopsticks neatly, added small plates of kimchi and cucumber salad beside.
"Dig in."
I tightened my apron again, filled a water glass, slid it over. Ajusshi looked up cautiously.
"Why… rice all of a sudden…?"
His troubled face made me scoff.
"You'd just grab instant noodles at the store or PC bang anyway, right?"
I raised a brow, cutting firm.
"I was already annoyed seeing you eat cup ramen last time—this is perfect. From now on, any day you meet unnie, come straight here like today. Got it?"
He paused at my words, then gave a wry smile.
"And if I don't…?"
I grinned slyly, squinting, tapping the table with a finger.
"Then I'll have a nice chat with Mom, Dad~ and your family~"
He blinked a few times, then let out a hollow laugh.
"Ah… haha… yeah…"
He sipped his water.
"Eat before it gets cold."
I sat across, hands folded, watching silently. Under the wordless pressure, he reluctantly picked up his spoon. First bite, and his eyes widened a bit. Then the pace quickened.
Likes the taste, huh.
I curved my lips faintly, observing him eat. But as his scoops sped up, a thought hit.
Wait… I don't know a thing about his family—how was I gonna tattle?
Silly me—I chuckled dryly. And another odd thing.
Plus, why'd I even cook for this guy?
I tilted my head briefly, then shrugged.
Whatever.
Watching him devour it like this made everything irrelevant. As the bowl emptied noticeably, my expression softened too. Just… felt good. That was enough.