Please Save Me

"What?! She cried?"

"I said I didn't cry, like, a million times already."

"Did you two fight?"

"We didn't!!"

Fortunately, my aunt didn't show any particular reaction, but my uncle's reaction was the problem. No matter what Chae-yeon said, the murderous glare directed at me refused to disappear.

"Jung-woo, why did Chae-yeon cry?"

"Can you explain the situation in more detail?"

Why did Uncle have to show up at this exact moment and cause this kind of scene? If only Aunt had come, I could have handled it with my own skills.

Uncle approached and placed his hand on my shoulder. It was nothing more than a hand resting there, yet I felt a slow, tightening pressure.

"So, here's what happened—"

"Dad!!"

Right before I could explain, Chae-yeon rushed over and swatted Uncle's hand off my shoulder. Then she stepped in front of me, blocking him from coming any closer.

Whoa. Full girlfriend shield. But wasn't this just making things worse for me? His killing intent had grown even stronger than before.

"It was my fault. So don't say anything to Jung-woo."

"You did something wrong?"

"Jung-woo used to have a lot of piercings, but his earlobe had closed up. I was piercing it again for him and it bled."

"What does that have to do with you crying?"

"You got too startled. Because I hurt Jung-woo, I teared up for a second."

"Ah, so that's all? Honey, it's nothing serious."

"Jung-woo, is that true?"

"Yes, it's true!!"

It bothered me a little that I had left the entire explanation to Chae-yeon, but since it wasn't a lie, I nodded desperately.

Fortunately, we seemed to have gotten past it…

"Jung-woo, if it's all right with you, would you talk with me for a moment?"

"...Yes, I understand."

We had not gotten past it at all. Why was he suddenly requesting a one-on-one meeting? My innocence had been completely proven!

"Dad!!"

"We're just going to talk. Do you think I'd devour your boyfriend? And of all people, it's Jung-woo."

"It's fine, Yeoni. I'll talk with Uncle for a bit and be right back."

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to."

"It's not that I don't want to. I'll be back soon."

Just like last time, I followed Uncle into the study. Even though it was an ordinary room, it didn't feel ordinary at all right now.

I could somewhat understand the feelings of a rabbit being dragged off to make rabbit stew.

"Sit there."

"Yes."

"Jung-woo, Chae-yeon didn't cry even when she decided to retake the exam for the second time or when it was confirmed she'd have to take it for the third time."

"Ah, yes."

"The fact that our daughter cried was quite a shock."

"I'm sorry. I should have handled the situation better."

"It's not your fault. Since Chae-yeon was just messing around, I can understand completely."

His expression did not match the words "I understand" in the slightest. I couldn't bring myself to meet the eyes of a predator staring at a delicious rabbit right in front of him.

"And last time, while watching the baseball game, I saw you and Chae-yeon appear on the camera."

"Hic!! Y-yes?"

"It looked good. To the point that anyone would think you were a good-looking couple."

The sudden mention of the kiss-cam incident made me hiccup in surprise. Uncle stood up and sat in the chair directly in front of me. We were now close enough for him to reach me if he simply stretched out his hand.

"Since Chae-yeon has never dated before, watching from the parent's side was quite bewildering."

"I-if I were in your position, I think I'd feel the same."

"The fact that Chae-yeon's first boyfriend is none other than you, Jung-woo, puts my mind at ease."

As he spoke, he placed his hand on my shoulder once more. Despite the smile on his face, the heavy pressure on my shoulder told me he wasn't smiling at all.

Please save me. Please, someone save me. From now on I'll only do it where you can't see. Please.

"You'll take good care of Chae-yeon, won't you?"

"O-of course!! I'll take care of her to the very end."

"Good. Uncle is trusting you, Jung-woo."

"...Yes!!"

"Now let's go out."

I clutched my startled heart and stepped into the living room. The moment I emerged, Chae-yeon ran over, grabbed me, and pulled me straight into the bedroom.

"Jung-woo, Dad didn't say anything weird, did he?"

"Uh, yeah. He didn't. He just asked me to take good care of Yeoni."

"Then why do you look like that? You look like you've seen something strange."

I had seen something strange. A very ferocious beast.

Chae-yeon hugged me and gently patted my back. Her warmth calmed my wildly racing heart, and I was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

"If Dad says anything weird, you have to tell me right away, okay?"

"Yeah, I will."

Anyone watching this scene might say that as a man I should handle it myself.

If someone said that, I would want to reply like this:

When there's a beast right in front of you and the beast tamer is standing beside you, do I really need to handle it with my own strength?

Of course I don't want to rely on Chae-yeon's help this much either. But after feeling Uncle's killing intent, I had no choice.

"Does your ear not hurt anymore?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Just a slight sting."

"That's a relief. It's not torn, right?"

"No. I just touched the flesh inside the hole."

Worried that talking about the earlobe might make Chae-yeon cry again, I changed the subject to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our trip to Japan.

We lay on our stomachs across the bed and began planning the trip. Only then did it truly sink in that it was almost time.

"Hmm, Sapporo is famous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for its beer festival."

"Wow, alcohol came up in the very first plan. As expected of Yeoni."

"I've cut back a lot lately. But the beer festival is famous, so I want to see it."

"I looked it up. The beer festival starts late in the afternoon and runs until evening."

"Huh? Then let's go see the snow mountains first and check ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out the beer festival in the evening!!"

"Sounds good. I think we should book a place in the hot-spring village."

"Wow, enjoying the beer festival in cold weather and then warming up in a hot spring? It's seriously perfect!!"

Just as Chae-yeon said, it really was a flawless plan. We had only set the basic framework, yet it had turned out this perfect.

"Ah, and I want to explore downtown Japan too."

"That's something you can't miss when you go to Japan."

"You were planning to go anyway, weren't you, Jung-woo?"

"Yeah, that's right. I need to go nerd out."

"You're not going to abandon me and get all excited by yourself once we get there, right?"

"Come on, why would I abandon Yeoni? We'll wander around and have fun together."

In truth, the moment we started exploring the city in Japan, my eyes would definitely glaze over with excitement. After living as an anime fan for more than ten years, Japan was practically a holy land to me.

Still, I would try my best to hold back. Since we were traveling together, it wouldn't be fair if I got carried away alone.

"Jung-woo, are you going to eat before you leave?"

"Ah, yes. I'll eat if you make something."

"Okay, got it. By the way, what are you two doing?"

"We're making our travel plans."

"Ah, that Japan trip Chae-yeon mentioned last time?"

"Yeah!! We're going to book the lodging and everything this week."

"It'll be fun. Have a great time and come back safely. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

"Yes, thank you, Aunt."

With that, our promise to meet was finally set.

This was the first time I would be meeting one of Chae-yeon's friends, so even though the meeting hadn't happened yet, I felt a little nervous.

Chae-yeon had probably felt something similar when she agreed to meet my friends.

"Got it."

"Hey!! If you ask Jung-woo anything weird, you're really dead?"

With that, the call ended. She had only just switched to casual speech, yet she was already saying things like that. I hadn't talked with Ju-hee much yet, but she seemed to have a very bold personality.

"You don't have to answer every question Ju-hee asks. It's obvious she'll ask weird stuff just by looking at her."

"Yeah, I know. But I think it'll be really fun."

"Hmm… honestly, if it were up to me, I'd rather not let you meet her."

"Why? I think it'll be fun, so I want to meet her."

"She's definitely going to say only weird things."

"I'll filter them properly and only listen to the good ones. That works, right?"

—Chu!!

I kissed Chae-yeon and we rolled around together on the bed. Even spending time like this in a familiar place always felt special, so I couldn't imagine how special the time we would spend on our trip would be.

"Jung-woo, let's have lots of fun."

"Yeah!! Let's go make tons of good memories!!"