Chapter 81
Chapter 81
Bom's twitching lips couldn't hold back, curving into a wide smile.
It's because of my birthday!
She finally understood why he'd kept glancing at his phone earlier. A Birthday Surprise! She'd never received one herself, but she'd seen plenty in dramas and movies.
She'd already received a gift earlier. Had he prepared flowers? Or a cake?
“……”
Bom's gaze fell upon the shopping bag she'd brought from the department store earlier.
["To make sure you're comfortable walking around tomorrow, I'll buy you some shoes and clothes. Pick out whatever you like."]
Thinking a couple's T-shirt with Jae-gyu might be nice, Bom initially tried on a functional tee. She thought it wouldn't look bad paired with wide-leg pants, but when she emerged from the fitting room, Jae-gyu's reaction was unexpected.
["Ha, damn it! This, this won't do! I'm gonna lose it."]
Jae-gyu, springing forward like a coiled spring, used his body to shield Bom from others' view. Whether the problem was how form-fitting it was, Jae-gyu's face turned beet red as he vehemently dissuaded Bom.
Yielding to his earnest pleas, Bom ultimately received a gift of loose-fitting tracksuit separates and sneakers, chosen by Jae-gyu.
Bom quickly dried her hair, opened the shopping bag, and changed into those clothes. Her birthdays until now had been nothing more than ordinary, meaningless days... But with a heart full of excitement, the corners of her lips turned up, and her chest swelled.
She wanted to see Jae-gyu right away.
The time she checked in the elevator was fifteen minutes before midnight.
Contrary to her expectation that he'd be waiting in the lobby with something to surprise her, Jae-gyu was nowhere to be seen.
'Where is he?'
Bom wandered through the spacious lobby, searching for Jae-gyu, when she noticed a crowd gathered near the entrance, murmuring. Loud noises suggested that a fight might have broken out.
Though she wanted to watch, Bom tried to ignore it and continued searching for Jae-gyu, but then, just in case, she approached the crowd again. It occurred to her that the ever-curious Jae-gyu might be there, watching the fight.
["Damn it! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!"]
Hearing the huffing voice, Bom was so startled that she let out a hiccup. She craned her neck to see outside, where everyone's gaze was fixed.
'Jae-gyu!'
Reflected in the glass wall, Jae-gyu was yelling at someone, his face flushed crimson.
["Oh, for crying out loud. This is driving me crazy!"]
["E-excuse me. Please, don't get so worked up, if you could just lower your voice..."]
His opponent was a young man in his twenties, clearly terrified.
["Do I look like I'm not worked up right now? Huh?"]
Jae-gyu, with his imposing build, took a deep breath and stepped forward. As he closed the distance, the man trembled and retreated two steps.
["How much is the car wash? I'll just pay for it!"]
["Did I say I'd let you just pay for it right now?"]
["Yes, yes, the car wash fee, what's five thousand won? I'll pay it, I will."]
["Can money buy back a moment?"]
At this sudden, dramatic line, the onlookers let out a low "Oh!" of admiration. Bom, who had also been admiring the line, belatedly realized she should intervene and pushed through the revolving door to step outside.
She saw Jae-gyu's back and the young man's front.
["Tsk, then should I take off my jacket? If I wipe it with my jacket, maybe..."]
["You want to scratch it all up by wiping it with that? Time's short, so just go! My girlfriend's almost here."]
Jae-gyu snorted, waving the back of his hand at the young man, signaling him to leave.
["Can I really just go...?"]
["Hmph, I said go! Don't you ever do that kind of thing in front of someone else's car again, alright? Hmph, understood?"]
["Oh, yes, yes."]
At the words "just go," the man's face brightened, and he repeatedly bowed, saying, "Thank you, thank you," as he brushed past Bom and disappeared. With him, the onlookers also dispersed in all directions, looking disappointed.
["It was supposed to be a special event, but all the emotional impact is gone now, damn it. Ha, shit..."]
Jae-gyu, who had been turning around in a hurry, spotted Bom, and his face instantly registered dismay. His eyes darted around, clearly flustered.
"Bom."
["...What happened that you're giving someone such a hard time?"]
["Well, the Circumstances are..."]
["So what exactly are these Circumstances?"]
Seeing Bom's serious expression, Jae-gyu finally spilled everything. Bom, who had been listening to the situation with furrowed brows and crossed arms, gaped.
As she had suspected, Jae-gyu had planned a birthday event, and that was what had caused the recent commotion. Jae-gyu's original plan, as he confessed to Bom, was as follows.
Jae-gyu had asked a close dealer to deliver a new car to the hotel entrance at the appointed time. He planned to adorn the white Mercedes-Benz with a large ribbon and place a cake and flowers inside.
Giving Bom the key, letting her drive the car around once, and then going upstairs to blow out the candles – the plan was perfect.
But life rarely goes as planned. The dealer brought the white Mercedes-Benz, and Jae-gyu meticulously checked for any issues.
Attaching the large ribbon to the car and placing the cake and flowers inside went according to plan.
However, after parking the car a little distance from the valet zone and briefly going to ask for the hotel's understanding, Jae-gyu returned to witness an absurd scene.
Some young punk was leaning against the newly delivered car, holding a steaming coffee without a lid, and taking a selfie.
Alarmed, Jae-gyu yelled, ["Ugh! What are you doing, right now?!"] The startled man crashed into the car body, spilling coffee all over the hood. It was a major disaster.
Brown liquid splattered across the hood of the pristine white Mercedes-Benz, and the ribbon was already stained and splotchy. The cake inside, whether from the impact with the man or something else, had one side scraped and collapsed.
Jae-gyu, whose temper was flaring, was trying to suppress his anger and give the man a stern talking-to when Bom came down. As he confessed this to Bom, Jae-gyu breathed heavily, seething with indignation.
["So that man spilled coffee on this car just now?"]
Bom approached the ruined Mercedes-Benz and picked up the ribbon decoration with her finger. It was stained with coffee and damp. Bom was angry too.
["Ha, what a ridiculous person, seriously?"]
["Right? Ha, I ran a hundred simulations, but I never expected it to get this messed up."]
["Jae-gyu, but..."]
["Yep."]
["Whose car did you say this was?"]
As soon as she asked, Jae-gyu grinned, pleased, and pulled a smart key from his waistband. Then, jingling the key, which already had a case on it, he handed it to Bom.
["It's yours."]
With a face mixing pride and regret, Jae-gyu gave her a bright smile.
“……”
She'd thought he'd been quiet lately, but he'd gone and caused this kind of trouble. Bom felt dizzy. Not long ago, a bus had passed without stopping, leaving her to wait for the next one for an hour under the scorching sun.
When she'd told Jae-gyu about it back home, he'd gotten angry with her, which had made her feel better.
["I'll come up with a solution soon."]
This was his solution? Gifting a car, and an expensive imported one at that, was far too much.
["I can't accept something like this."]
It was only natural. The car wasn't in a parking spot, so she told him to park it properly and to wipe off the coffee there. Leaving a flustered Jae-gyu behind, Bom went back into the hotel.
Returning to the room first, Bom placed the ruined cake on the table. It was a pristine white whipped cream cake studded with chocolate pearls coated to look like actual pearls. Though one side was scraped, she could imagine how beautiful it must have been originally.
'This would have been enough.'
It had been an overflowing happy day. What's more, an unexpected message from her mother had arrived.
Bom. Happy birthday. I tried to send you some allowance on time, but it's bank maintenance hours. I'll send it in the morning, so eat something delicious with your boyfriend.
The message was the same as the ones she received every birthday, but the difference was that it had been sent close to midnight, and the words "eat with your boyfriend" had been added at the end. For some reason, her heart gave a little pang.
Thanks, Mom.
Just as she sent the reply, Jae-gyu returned. Jae-gyu, whose shoulders had been slumped just moments ago, had regained his vigor.
["The weather's really nice! Why'd you just come back in when I said let's go for a drive?"]
Jae-gyu, who pulled Bom into his thick arms, was warm with body heat.
["Is it because the car's dirty? I cleaned it thoroughly. Ha, the ribbon's ruined, though..."]
["Jae-gyu, how long have we been dating?"]
["Twenty-one days."]
["Then how can you give me a car as a gift? When you've just started dating, people usually only exchange flowers or cakes."]
As she spoke so seriously, Jae-gyu pulled his body away from hers, looked down at Bom, and chuckled.
["Who decides things like that?"]
["Everyone does, though."]
["I don't know about such things. If I'd known My Bom-Bom♡ earlier, we would've been dating since elementary school, and now we're even late to start dating. Just think of it as me making up for lost time by giving you everything at once."]
What was that supposed to mean? It was strange logic.
["Isn't it weird to increase the scale of gifts as our dating anniversary accumulates, like a salary? I'm a lump sum kind of guy."]
Jae-gyu hugged Bom tightly again and continued to persuade her.
["I always felt anxious whenever you took the bus... The Cheongseol-eup route only has one line, and it stops running early."]
Still, what couldn't be done, couldn't be done. Bom said she would only accept his intentions. Jae-gyu, deep in thought, backed down and decided to gift her a "rental service." He would retain ownership, but Bom was to use the car.
["Jae-gyu Rent-a-Car will even give you driving lessons, My Bom-Bom♡."]
["Alright. But if it gets scratched, it's not my fault."]
["School's just around the corner, so you'll have to practice hard, okay?"]
In truth, she wanted to refuse this too, but her resolve weakened at Jae-gyu's teary-eyed gaze. Jae-gyu's birthday was in December, so perhaps she could give him a wonderful gift then. With things settled like this, her heart felt at ease.
<am 00:00>
Midnight struck, and Bom received her first birthday wishes from Jae-gyu. Jae-gyu, who had stuck candles into the ruined cake and lit them, told her to make a wish.
["...I've made it."]
["What did you wish for?"]
Bom dipped her finger lightly into the white cream and dabbed it on Jae-gyu's cheek.