Weekend Date

Yesterday had been so busy I never even thought about throwing it out.

I'd left the window open all day, so I figured the smell had aired out completely…

Of all people, Ye-rim had to be the one who caught it.

"Normally I would have just let it go even if it smelled."

"…Normally?"

"Yes. Normally. The man smell."

"…"

Man smell.

There was the ordinary scent of a man living there, sure—but mostly she meant the smell that clung to the room after I'd jerked off. No matter how carefully I threw the evidence in the trash, washed up, and aired the place out, the scent built up little by little until it finally soaked into the walls.

That was why I'd put a diffuser in there…

Had she been smelling the accumulated residue this whole time?

The recent stuff I could write off—I'd been staying up half the night—but the idea that it had always been there hit me harder than I expected. Of course, failing to dispose of the evidence properly was my fault too.

"Sorry… I'll be more careful…"

"I'm a girl too, you know."

"Right… you are."

"Please be careful."

"Yeah…"

The age gap was huge, but Ye-rim was still a girl in her prime. Things had settled a little now, but especially for a high school senior drowning in exam stress—even more so.

"So…"

"Hm?"

"Do you… do that every single day?"

"Every day…?"

"I mean… every day… with your girlfriend…"

"Ah—no…! No. Just…"

Was this even something I should be talking about? Family or not, it was mortifying. Then again, if you really thought about it—no, she was my daughter, so family was exactly right.

"Just what?"

"It's been a while since I came back to this house… so…"

"You rolled around all night?"

"Well… something like that… People who catch the late-life fever tend to be dangerous, you know."

"What are you even saying…"

I'd tried to deliver it with the easy composure of an adult, but it clearly didn't land with Ye-rim. Maybe at nineteen, the adult-rated jokes just didn't hit.

"You're such a man."

"Am I…?"

"A. Man."

"…"

Her tone was thoroughly pissed. Fair enough—if someone else had come over after I'd done something that gross and left the cleanup unfinished, I'd have felt deceived too.

"What about normally, then? Not yesterday."

"Not yesterday—Thursday—"

"Excuse me?"

"No… never mind."

I'd almost said something that would have gotten me yelled at even harder.

"Probably… by myself…"

"Forget it. You're a man too, Uncle, so I won't tell Mom."

"Yeah. Thanks…"

"More importantly, when are you done with work? I want to get out of here."

"Yeah. Almost finished."

With Ye-rim's glare boring into my back, I hurried through the rest of the work.

"I'm on a diet."

"…"

I'd brought her to a buffet thinking that if I was going to treat her, it might as well be generous—but I hadn't considered her situation at all.

"It's fine. You already made a reservation, right? Just eat."

"Alright…"

To avoid tempting her appetite, I deliberately put only small portions on my plate. Normally I would have loaded up on meat alone, but today I added a generous amount of vegetables too.

"Do you eat a lot of vegetables, Uncle?"

"Sometimes I—huh?"

Compared to my plate, colorful with greens, Ye-rim's was dominated by browns and yellows. Galbi, pizza, and the like. Vegetables were nowhere to be found.

"Didn't you say you were on a diet…?"

"If I'm already here, I should eat a lot. I have to get my money's worth."

"I see…"

"You didn't take less because of me, did you?"

"No. Not at all. This is just the appetizer."

Thankfully, we could eat without any pressure. I'd been privately hoping to get my money's worth myself, so this worked out fine.

"You're pretty dense, though, Uncle."

In the middle of enjoying her food, Ye-rim called out to me.

"Hm? About what?"

"Don't I look different somehow?"

"Hmm…"

No student wore a school uniform on the weekend unless they were out hunting for student discounts, so today she was in street clothes. Skin-tight skinny jeans and a hoodie that didn't quite hide her figure. Even so, her curves refused to be concealed, casting shadows in the folds of the fabric.

So she probably wasn't asking whether her clothes looked different…

"Did you cut your bangs?"

"…You noticed."

"I've been seeing you a lot lately. It'd be weird if I didn't."

"Is that so…?"

It had been a few months since Ye-rim and I had grown close. Of course I'd noticed her hair getting longer. Compared to how she used to look, if nothing major had changed, a haircut or some accessory like earrings would be the only possibilities. I'd guessed and gotten lucky.

"Haa… seriously."

"Hm?"

Ye-rim let out a heavy sigh, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the sauce off my cheek. I hadn't even noticed it was there, but once she cleaned it off, the sticky feeling made me privately embarrassed.

"Ah… thanks."

"Do I have anything on me?"

"Mm…"

She didn't. Her features were simply gathered in that neat, precise way, and with that prim expression on her face, all I could think was how cute she looked. My older sister had looked exactly like that once.

"You're clean."

"…Good."

Whether it was the long-overdue appetite or something else, both Ye-rim and I ate enough that we could honestly say we'd gotten our money's worth. A proper feast after so long left my stomach comfortably full.

"Whew…"

"Want to walk a bit?"

"Sure."

Partly to help digestion, we started walking the Gyeongui Line Forest Path, letting the chilly wind hit our faces. The trail ran from Yeonnam-dong all the way near Hyochang Park—6.3 kilometers long, perfect for working off a meal. The cold weather was the only downside.

"It's pretty freezing…"

"Yeah…"

Ye-rim buried her face under the collar of her coat, trying to ward off the cold. The tips of her ears poking out through her hair had gone bright red from the chill.

"Want to head over that way?"

"Why?"

"You look cold."

"…?"

To anyone watching, it might have looked like some strange older man making a move—but I'd only come over to buy a pair of earmuffs from a street vendor.

"Pick one."

"What? I'm fine, really…"

"If your ears hurt, it's a pain."

"Thank you…"

In weather like this, once your ears freeze and start aching, your whole body feels like it's going numb. And with skin as delicate as hers, it was easy to get chapped—better to keep them warm and protected. She wasn't a guy; she was a girl.

Ye-rim hesitated for a moment, then chose a pair of earmuffs with pure white fur.

"What about you, Uncle?"

"I'm fine. I'm tough."

I pressed my ears to work the stiffness out as I said it. It stung a little, but I let it go so she wouldn't worry about me.

"You should get a pair too."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Buy them."

"…Two pairs, please."

I bought two matching sets of earmuffs and put mine on. Like this, we looked like a couple wearing matching ones. Though our relationship was already more than that.

"That's better."

"Right? Good thing we bought them."

"Yeah."

I was pretty sure I'd been the one offering to buy them in the first place, but I let it slide…

"Oh, right. How was the CSAT?"

"The CSAT? It was rough, maybe because I didn't study."

"I see. So you finished the whole thing?"

"Yeah. The money would've been wasted otherwise—if I was going to take it, I might as well answer the questions."

"Oh~"

If I'd been in that situation, I probably would have slept all day or just carried the exam ticket around for the discounts. She really was quietly diligent—must have taken after her mother.

"Shall we head back?"

"Okay."

Walking without any particular destination, we'd somehow ended up near Daeheung Station. Digestion had had enough time. We decided to turn around.

"Uncle. Do you have any plans? Meeting your girlfriend or anything…"

"Hm? No. I was just going to go home and rest. Why?"

"Then… there's a movie I want to see."

"A movie? Sure."

"…Won't your girlfriend mind?"

"So what? We're family."

"…Yeah, I guess so."

Ye-rim's expression flickered with something that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked almost resentful.

"When was the last time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you saw a movie, Uncle?"

"Mm… two months ago, maybe?"

"Two months?"

"Yeah. With my girlfriend. Why?"

"No reason. Just… I had you pegged as someone who doesn't do this kind of cultural stuff."

"What do you take me for…"

We stepped into a theater near Hongdae. After ordering cola and hot dogs, we headed into the screening room.

Hadn't she said she was on a diet…?

"You haven't seen this one, right?"

"Yeah, I haven't."

I'd been braced to lie and say I hadn't seen it—but luckily, it really was a film I'd never watched.

The movie Ye-rim had chosen was a youth romance dripping with sentimentality. A girl he'd had a crush on in middle school, who'd moved away, only to meet again in college. If I had to draw a parallel, it was a lot like my relationship with Ye-na now.

"So you like this kind of movie."

"Huh? Yeah… I do."

I wasn't the type who sought out romance films regularly, but every so often you needed to recharge that sweet, tender sensibility so you could treat your partner better. Even a love that had gone stale with time could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come back to life if you remembered how it started.

"…"

Even the way she zoned out watching the commercials was exactly like my sister. The habit of sucking cola through a straw until her mouth was completely full—identical. The jawline that appeared when she tucked her bobbed hair behind her ear—the same. Thinking of this girl as my sister's daughter and mine at the same time was nothing short of ironic.

"It's finally starting."

After the ads ended, the lights went down and the movie began. The story wasn't any different from a dozen others, but that was exactly what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made it watchable. Whether it was a film or a novel, even if you could roughly guess the ending, people still sought it out as long as the journey toward that ending was entertaining.

Ugh, so cringey.

How did actors even deliver lines like that with a straight face? I guess that was why they were actors. If I tried spitting out even a fraction of that, I'd cringe so hard I wouldn't be able to keep talking. But that was the charm of movies, wasn't it—they did the things I never could.

If it had been me, I probably would have worked insanely hard to make the relationship happen so naturally that no one would even notice.

"Ugh…"

Ye-rim seemed to get the same secondhand cringe, her shoulders twitching.

"Ah."

"Sorry. Go ahead and put yours up."

"No. You can put yours up, Uncle."

"Then let's split it half and half."

"…Okay."

On an armrest barely thick enough for one arm, we each rested a wrist, half and half. Even if you were conscious of something like that, it would have been weird to make a big deal of it—so when our hands touched, we let it pass as if it were nothing.

"…!"

An abrupt sex scene out of nowhere.

In a situation where we both already knew everything there was to know, it wasn't exactly embarrassing that a scene like that came on—but still, it was a little awkward.

"…"

The scene ran longer than expected, and just as I was silently chanting for it to end, Ye-rim's hand brushed mine.

And then her hand began to touch me. Softly, tenderly, the way the couple on screen was touching each other—stroking with a quiet affection.

Until the movie ended, that inherited habit of the hand never stopped.

"…"

"…How was it?"

"Well… it was pretty good, in its own way. The acting was solid too."

After the movie ended, we stepped outside into a subdued atmosphere. It had leaned more into romance than pure entertainment, so it wasn't exactly light.

"What about you, Ye-rim?"

"I don't know… Honestly, I wasn't that interested, so I didn't really watch."

"What? You weren't interested?"

"Ah… you know. The type who's only interested in the actors, not the movie…"

"Ah~ So you came to look at the actors."

There were people like that. The ones who said they couldn't stop thinking about a particular actor after watching, that it was a one-person show. People who went for the person rather than the story were more common than you'd think.

"Who?"

"Unc—"

"Hm?"

"…Never mind. Let's go. It's cold."

"Alright then."

Ye-rim pushed me along, urging us to leave. In the end, I never found out who she'd been interested in.