Really Not Going to Show It?
I never thought introducing my girlfriend to someone would make me this nervous.
It wasn't even like we were meeting each other's parents for a formal introduction, yet my heart had been pounding like crazy since morning.
Technically, it wasn't me meeting Chae-yeon's friends—it was Chae-yeon meeting mine.
I figured introducing her to the entire writer's group might be too much for her, so I decided on just three people: Su-ho, Yong-ju, and Ha-jin.
Before meeting them, I wanted to spend some time alone with Chae-yeon, so I headed to the place we'd agreed to meet first.
She's waiting for me like always.
“Yeoni.”
“You're here?”
“You don't look so good. Something wrong?”
Chae-yeon quietly turned her phone screen toward me.
It was a baseball game result. Judging by her expression, her team must have suffered a crushing defeat.
6 to 0.
Even someone like me who doesn't follow baseball could tell that score was ridiculous.
“They lost again. Again!!”
“W-well, they'll win sometime, right?”
“It's already a four-game losing streak. When are they ever going to win?!”
“You can't win every single game. If you wait patiently, the day will come.”
“Even so, all four losses were complete shutouts…”
Chae-yeon was showing the classic baseball fan reaction. People who love sports all react the same way, huh.
“Haa, I'm just going to rest for now. I'll aim for next year.”
“Yeah… and then you'll be aiming for next year all over again…”
“I was even thinking of buying a jersey this time. Never mind. Seriously, when are they going to get good?!”
Chae-yeon in a baseball jersey. I've never seen her like that, so now I kind of want to.
She'd definitely look good in one.
“I thought about switching teams too, but… that just feels wrong.”
“Yeah, that would definitely weigh on your conscience.”
“Do you watch baseball too, Jung-woo?”
“Nah, I don't watch baseball. I'm not really into sports.”
The only sport I'd ever been interested in as a kid was swimming. I swam from elementary school through middle school, even competing as an athlete, so it came naturally. But that was a long time ago. After I tore my thigh muscle during practice right before a meet, I quit swimming, and sports gradually faded from my interests.
“What about swimming? You did it for a long time. You were even an athlete.”
I couldn't help but laugh at how Chae-yeon knew that and asked anyway. Even after all this time, she still remembered almost everything about me. It was amazing.
“I haven't watched since I quit.”
“I want to see you swim someday.”
“If I tried now, I'd look like a drowning dog. I'd be terrible.”
“But you used to do it. I bet you'd still be good.”
“I'm really not.”
“Show me later!! I'm curious.”
“Uh… no. I'm not showing you something I'm bad at.”
“Really not going to show it?”
If she asks like that, how could I refuse… I have to. When my girlfriend asks like that, how could I ignore her?
“Fine. If we ever end up at a pool, I'll show you.”
“Yay!!”
We went into the café where we were meeting my friends and tried to order drinks. Chae-yeon was already smiling like she knew I wouldn't order coffee.
“I'm getting coffee.”
“Really? Baby Jung-woo is drinking coffee?”
“It's not that I can't drink it. I just don't.”
“If you're avoiding it because it's bitter, then you can't drink it.”
I ordered a condensed milk latte—the one with the least coffee taste on the menu—and added extra condensed milk. Honestly, at this point it barely counted as coffee, but I had to keep at least a shred of pride.
“See!! You can drink coffee.”
“Let me try it. Ugh!! It's sweet!! What kind of coffee is this?”
“It still has coffee in it. So it's not that you can't drink it.”
“This is basically just drinking condensed milk. It's not coffee.”
“It counts as coffee!!”
“Sure, sure. Our Jung-woo drinks coffee so well.”
I couldn't hide my smile as Chae-yeon patted my head with a grin. I finally understood why dogs love being petted.
While we were talking, my friends started trickling into the café one by one.
“Oh, you're here. Over here.”
“Hello, Hyeong-su-nim.”
“Huh? It's that friend from last time. Kim Su-ho, right?”
“Yes, that's me.”
“I'm Lee Yong-ju. I've been friends with Jung-woo since high school.”
“I'm Kim Ha-jin.”
“Ha-jin made lemon madeleines last time.”
“Oh, right. They were really good.”
“Thanks.”
“We're all the same age anyway, so let's just talk casually.”
I'm the one who arranged this meeting, so I should be the one leading the conversation. Leading anything isn't really my style, but… what can you do?
“Pfft!! Ah, sorry.”
“What the hell, you rabbit bastard. Why are you laughing?”
“No, it's just… the sight right now is too funny.”
Su-ho is the shortest in our group. So short he got exempted from military service because of his height. The height difference between him and Chae-yeon was endlessly amusing.
“Yeah, laugh all you want. At least when money drops, I'll be the first to pick it up.”
“Pfft!! Sorry. It's just too funny.”
“The couple's laughing together. Laugh all you want.”
“Hey, if you answer so calmly, what does that make me? No fun.”
“I don't need to cater to your entertainment, do I?”
Judging by Su-ho's current state, he's wearing his mask right now. The fact that he hasn't cursed even once despite my reactions means it's definitely masked Su-ho. Managing his image for a first meeting, huh.
“So, out of everyone here, Yong-ju's known Jung-woo the longest?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah. That's right.”
“What was Jung-woo like in high school?”
“High school? Hmm… He got along well with friends, didn't care about studying, and was popular with the students.”
“Hey. Can you filter that a little? You're telling her everything.”
“It's better to just say it like it is.”
It was true that I'd been far from studying in high school, but as a boyfriend, I wanted to show a good side. Was I asking for too much by wanting it sugarcoated?
“How is Jung-woo when he's with you guys? Different from now?”
“For starters, he's not this well-behaved.”
Ha-jin? If you say that, what does that make me? I got stabbed in the back by the one person I trusted to protect my image!!
“And the swearing. He swears like it's nothing.”
“Jung-woo?! He doesn't swear when he's with me.”
“Rabbit, you were managing your image in front of Hyeong-su-nim, weren't you?”
“But why do you call Jung-woo 'rabbit'?”
“His pen name is To-sin, and it has 'rabbit' in it. Plus his profile picture is a rabbit character.”
“So that's why you call him rabbit.”
Chae-yeon nodded and looked at me. That strangely smiling expression… It felt like she'd figured out something she wasn't supposed to know.
“Yeoni, why?”
“Because you're cute.”
Chae-yeon never shows affection when other people are around. More precisely, she can't. So the fact that she did it in this situation felt like pure bliss—something incomparable. Even a small display of affection meant everything.
“Ugh. The couple's rubbing it in.”
“We didn't meet up just to watch this.”
“You guys must've mentally prepared yourselves to some extent.”
“Rabbit, be grateful Hyeong-su-nim is here. If she wasn't—”
“Yeoni, they're bullying me.”
“It seems like it's because you said something wrong just now?”
“There's no one on my side in this world…”
With a gloomy expression, I put my hand under the table, and I felt Chae-yeon's hand take mine. At the same time, she whispered quietly in my ear.
“I love you.”
Huh?! Chae-yeon just said she loves me…
“What!! The couple's doing couple stuff!! What did you hear, To-sin!!”
“If Gyeon-woo were here, he'd have carved a bamboo spear and thrown a Jukchang right away.”
“I'll throw one in Gyeon-woo's place—”
Whatever they were saying in front of me didn't matter. Chae-yeon's single “I love you” echoed in my ears and pulled the corners of my mouth upward. Wanting to reply, I whispered the same thing back into her ear.
“I love you too, Yeoni.”
Her face turned bright red. The way she covered her face with her hair like a dog tucking its tail was unbearably cute.
“See, what did I tell you? If you're jealous, go date someone.”
“Hyeong-su-nim, could we possibly have a one-on-one meeting with Jung-woo for a moment?”
“This is something I can't just let slide.”
“Goodbye, Jung-woo. It was fun while it lasted.”
No matter what you guys do, what can you actually do? Chae-yeon's right next to me. She wouldn't just stand by…
“Go on, Jung-woo.”
She's just letting them?! Hey, if you say it like that, I'm going to die?!
“Alright, Jung-woo. Follow us.”
Fuck. I'm screwed.