#36 - Huge Success: Na-eun Bare-Faced in Comfy Clothes for the First Time
Seeing Na-eun in casual clothes and bare-faced like this for the first time was a huge success. She looked incredibly cute anyway. If anything, this natural look suited her age even better. If I just put a hat on her here, she'd totally give off real student vibes.
Entertaining that thought, I asked her in an exaggerated, playful tone.
"Shall we go, then?"
"Where to?"
"To eat. You need dinner, right?"
"But today I was gonna eat with family..."
"I already got permission."
"Huh?"
I'd actually called Na-eun's parents ahead of time and gotten their okay to treat her to dinner. Seung-min said to do whatever, and her parents were relieved it was me buying, so they approved. That's how we could head out like this.
"Na-eun, hop in the car first."
"Uh... is this your car, oppa?"
"Nah, it's my sister's. I stole it."
"What!?"
Her startled reaction made me glad I'd tossed out the joke. Chuckling softly, I shook my head at her.
"Kidding. I borrowed it."
For the record, my sister bought a car but only drives it like twice a month. I think she saved up for it because she'd need it for outside meetings as a freelancer, but she never goes anywhere like that. ...Okay, that's a bit unfair—she just doesn't have many external gigs, so she barely drives it. Which means I end up driving her car more often. Whenever she has somewhere to go, I tag along like her personal chauffeur. So when I ask to borrow it now and then, she happily says yes. Of course, the condition is filling up the tank.
Meanwhile, Na-eun, flustered by my joke, looked around wildly before finally climbing into the passenger seat.
"Then... uh, excuse me as I get in...."
"Sure thing~"
Once she was buckled in, I checked on her in the rearview mirror. She looked exhausted for sure. Taking the CSAT is draining.
"Na-eun, anything you wanna eat?"
"Something I wanna eat?"
"Yeah, if there's a good spot, we'll go there."
"Honestly, right now anything sounds good...."
"How about meat?"
"Meat sounds great...."
"Got it."
I called the place I'd scouted ahead while telling her,
"Na-eun, rest your eyes a bit. I'll wake you when we get there."
"Ah... okay...."
Her eyes already looked so heavy, so she nodded and started dozing off right away. Soon, the only sounds in the car were her soft snores and my call checking if they had tables left.
Good news—they did. When I asked if they could reserve for two, they said yes without hesitation, so we headed straight there. I drove carefully, glancing at Na-eun snoring away.
She sleeps so soundly. My Na-eun. She's out so deep, I almost feel bad waking her.
*
Feeling bad about waking her didn't stop me—we'd arrived at the underground parking of the meat restaurant building. I parked perfectly and safely, and right on cue, Na-eun stirred awake.
"...Oppa, we here?"
"Yeah, just arrived. Perfect timing—how'd you know?"
"Hehe... I'm great at timing stuff like this...."
"Haha, alright then. Wanna eat first?"
"Yes, sounds good."
Na-eun beamed and nodded. We got out together and headed up to the meat place on the second floor. It looked upscale but was reasonably priced. The first plate was a bit pricey, but adding more after was cheap, so stuffing ourselves was a steal. If it were with the guys, we'd hit an all-you-can-eat spot, but bringing Na-eun there felt kinda wrong.
Or so I thought, but Na-eun had other ideas.
"...Oppa, we could've just gone to an all-you-can-eat place, you know?"
"Nah, you gotta try spots like this sometimes."
"Still..."
"Hey, no 'still' about it. Oh, right—they've got a student discount here."
"Really!?"
Yup. Show your exam ID, and the first plate's 50% off, then 30% on refills. That's why I'd rushed to reserve—two people was fine, so I booked it. Lucky break.
"Na-eun, I'll order the meat."
"Ah... yeah, please."
"Cool. In the meantime, wanna grade your scores?"
"...Yeah, I will."
Na-eun pulled her exam ID from her pocket. It had her fresh-faced photo, but that wasn't the point. Behind it was her score-tracking sheet for self-grading.
I ordered via kiosk and casually asked,
"How'd the exam go, Na-eun?"
I knew the difficulty roughly, but better check with her. She might've felt different from me or other test-takers.
Red pen in hand, she replied,
"About what I studied... um... a bit tough, I think. Especially math."
A bit tough... That meant one of two things: she'd aced it so hard it felt easy, or she'd bombed and was deluding herself. This CSAT was notoriously hellish, dubbed the "Hell Test." Math, which Na-eun hated, was brutally hard. If she could brush it off as "a bit tough," she either crushed it or was in denial. Fingers crossed for the former.
I grabbed the side dishes and started grilling. Time passed with me cooking and her grading intently. Then she began jotting numbers. I pretended not to notice, focusing on the sizzling pork belly.
Nice quality meat, I thought, avoiding her direction.
Finally, she pocketed her pen, set the ID on the table, and...
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"...Can I order whatever I want?"
I nodded and looked at her. Her face lit up with uncontainable joy as she said,
"I wanna treat myself—like a reward."
That bright, radiant smile only a girl her age could flash made me grin too.
"Yeah, order whatever. I'll grill it up nice."
"Yes...! First, doenjang jjigae...!"
"Gotcha, doenjang jjigae~"
I was about to order it and rice via kiosk when a staffer approached right on time.
"On the house~"
...with free doenjang jjigae.
"Thank you~"
"Thank you~!"
Na-eun grinned ear-to-ear at the stew. I mentally bookmarked this place. You're my regular now.
* * *
While eating the meat Seonwoo oppa grilled, I started showing him my scores.
"Korean was 97, math 92."
"Missed two of the killers, huh."
"Yeah, nailed everything else except those two tough common ones."
"Perfect calculus~ Impressive~"
"Basics!"
I puffed up a bit, then shared the rest.
"English 95, Korean history 40, both exploratories 47."
"All cleared 1st-grade cutoff."
"Yup~ All 1st grades, me!"
I'd studied so hard for every subject. Seeing the payoff made me thrilled.
"I see... Hmm...."
Seonwoo oppa asked while grilling,
"...Na-eun."
"Yes, oppa."
"...Still wanna come to our school?"
I nodded right away.
"Yes, I do."
My goal from the start was the same school as Seonwoo oppa. Nothing else mattered.
"...All 1st grades? Depending on standard scores, you could aim for Korea University even. Na-eun."
"...Still, I wanna go to Jinhan University."
"It's a solid school, well-known nationally and top-tier, but not quite the top three."
"I still wanna go."
I stared at him with all my resolve. I knew this score could get me into Sinchon, Anam, or even Korea U above them. But I'd wanted Jinhan from day one. Right below the top three, no shame anywhere, full scholarship possible. Above all, Seonwoo oppa's there. So Jinhan it is. No other school.
Did my will get through? Seonwoo oppa sighed deeply and nodded.
"...Alright, if that's what you want."
"Hehe, thanks, oppa."
With that, he kept grilling for me. I ate, gazing at him—so cool, so lovable. The man filling my heart more than anyone.
It's almost here now. The time to stand by Seonwoo oppa's side.