Stop Playing Hard to Get
"Stop playing hard to get already."
"What the hell kind of nonsense is that?!"
Sihyun snapped at Yuri, utterly dumbfounded and at a complete loss for words.
As if the chaos that had just unfolded in the alleyway wasn't enough, now this crazy woman was trying to pass herself off as his girlfriend right in front of his own mother!
In response to Sihyun's outburst—
"Oh my, Sihyun! What kind of language is that? And I told you not to swear, didn't I?"
His mother Seojin chided him, her eyes going wide.
Then, with eyes full of curiosity, she looked at Yuri and smiled gently.
"I'm sorry, miss. Our boy has a bit of a rough mouth."
"Mom!"
Seojin ignored Sihyun calling out to her as if he'd been wronged and asked Yuri,
"So, what's your relationship with our Sihyun?"
"I'm his girlfriend."
Yuri answered without a moment's hesitation.
"No, why are you really doing this—?!"
Sihyun cried out in anguish.
At the sight of him—
"Pfft."
"Hehe..."
Yuri and Seojin burst into laughter at the same time.
And then—apparently deciding the joke had gone far enough—Yuri said,
"Alright, I'll stop. We're just acquaintances."
"Aww~ What a shame~ I thought our Sihyun finally had a girlfriend~"
Seojin smacked her lips as if she truly regretted it.
"Ha...!"
Sihyun let out a hollow laugh, speechless.
They had clearly only just met today, so how on earth were they hitting it off this well?
Seojin, lightly leaning against Sihyun's arm, said with a smile still playing on her lips,
"Anyway, it's cold out, so both of you hurry inside. Have you had dinner?"
She spoke kindly to Yuri.
At that, Sihyun frowned unhappily and asked,
"Mom, I told you to just go to bed early, so why were you making dinner again?"
"Oh my~ Our son's so scary I could die. Stop nagging and let's just go in~"
"Haa..."
Sihyun shook his head and sighed in resignation.
No matter how many times he said it, it was always the same.
Anyway.
Sihyun carefully supported Seojin as he opened the front door of the old villa and stepped inside.
Yuri followed naturally behind them.
Creeeak—
The old door closed, and the air peculiar to a semi-basement enveloped her.
Yuri began carefully examining everything in the house with curious eyes.
The worn wallpaper.
The slightly crooked furniture.
The small but carefully arranged decorations.
The space where Sihyun lived was very small and shabby, yet strangely, Yuri felt a sense of comfort settle over her.
Everything inside piqued her interest.
Among them, what stood out the most was a photo of just Sihyun and Seojin sitting on a small table.
As if sensing her gaze,
"Cute, right? That's from when our Sihyun graduated middle school."
Seojin said with a pleased smile.
"Yes."
Yuri gazed at the photo with sparkling eyes.
The Sihyun in the photo looked as if something unpleasant had happened; his expression seemed somehow sulky.
With that thought, Yuri's gaze naturally shifted to the real Sihyun.
And—
"Ah, it's exactly the same."
She muttered without realizing it.
The slightly sulky expression on Sihyun's face right now was completely identical to the child's face in the photo.
So when Yuri giggled,
"Ah, seriously! Just hurry up and eat dinner and go home!"
Sihyun's face flushed red as he hastily stuffed the photo into a nearby drawer.
Just as Yuri was thinking that was a bit of a shame—
"Come on, dig in, everyone."
Seojin approached carrying the dinner tray.
Startled by the sight, Sihyun hurriedly took it from her as if snatching it away.
"No, Mom! Let me carry it!"
"This much is fine. Earlier I just missed my step for a second."
"Enough!"
"Oh my, this child really..."
Seojin smiled bitterly at Sihyun's worried demeanor.
Sihyun carefully set the dinner table down in the middle of the living room and sat, and Seojin and Yuri took their seats as well and began the meal.
There wasn't much on the table, but the kimchi stew steaming hot in the center gave off an appetizing aroma that stirred the appetite.
"I really didn't prepare much, but please eat a lot~ Hoho~"
At Seojin's unpretentious words, Yuri quietly smiled and took a spoonful.
Sihyun also picked up his spoon, but kept glancing at Yuri as she put the soup in her mouth, as if concerned.
He was worried whether someone who casually dropped coffee names like Panama-or-was-it-pajama that commoners like him had never even heard of would find such humble food to her taste.
But contrary to those worries—the review that came from her mouth was—
"...It's warm."
A short but profound remark.
"Yes, it's really delicious."
Yuri gently lifted the corners of her mouth and slowly spooned up more broth.
The sight of a chaebol heiress with the cold impression of someone who would only ever cut steak at a hotel fine-dining restaurant quietly and calmly eating ordinary kimchi stew while saying it was delicious was completely outside Sihyun's expectations.
Seeing her also dig into the side dishes on the table with gusto, it didn't look like she was deliberately being polite or putting on an act out of consideration for Sihyun and Seojin.
At the sight of Yuri eating well—
"Oh my, I'm so glad it suits your taste, really~ Hoho~"
Seojin pressed a hand to her cheek and smiled happily.
In that moment, Sihyun—
Suhyun, aren't you going to eat this?
Huh? Ah... My stomach isn't feeling well today...
A memory from the past briefly surfaced, but he soon shook his head and focused on the meal.
As they continued eating—
"Come to think of it, I never even asked your name. I'm Sihyun's mom, Kim Seojin."
"Ah..."
Yuri paused for a moment at her surname being Kim, but answered right away.
"Han Yuri."
"Oh my, your name is as pretty as your face, hoho... How old are you?"
"...T-Twenty-three."
"Oh my? Really? You look so young~"
"..."
Yuri, who had answered Seojin's compliment, blushed and silently picked up her spoon again.
But—
"Then shall I call you unnie?"
At Seojin's sudden proposal—
"Pffft!"
Yuri barely managed to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from spraying her food.
"U-Unnie?"
"Hoho~ Is that too much? If you're twenty-three, you're a Rabbit, right? I'm a Rabbit too~ Being the same zodiac animal, calling each other unnie is fine, don't you think?"
"Mom! Cut it out already!"
Sihyun cried out in disgust.
"Alright~ Alright~ So you're saying a girlfriend and a mom can't be unnie and little sister?"
Seojin deliberately teased even more playfully.
"Ah, seriously—!"
Sihyun finally heaved a deep sigh and set down his chopsticks.
In this warm atmosphere, Yuri found herself smiling without realizing it.
And Sihyun, though he kept grumbling and frowning, had the corners of his mouth turning up a little without him noticing.
After the meal.
Seojin looked at Yuri and said affectionately,
"Oh my... It's getting late, why don't you stay the night... Ah, is the house a bit much for Miss Yuri to sleep over?"
When Seojin pretended to look a little disappointed, Yuri hurriedly waved her hands and replied.
"Ah, absolutely not! It's nothing like that!"
Seojin said with a playful smile at Yuri's reaction.
"Is that so? Then stay the night. We're short on bedding, but as you know Sihyun's small, so you two could share..."
"Mom!"
Sihyun shouted in horror.
"Alright, alright~ Mom will go get ready for bed like our Sihyun said, so you go see your girlfriend off properly~"
With that, Seojin went into her room chuckling.
"Haa... I keep telling you it's not... Seriously."
Watching his mother's back, Sihyun let out a deep sigh, then turned to Yuri and asked.
"I'll walk you out. Did you take the subway? Bus? How did you get here? Ah, of course you have your own car, right? Where did you park?"
At Sihyun's successive grumbling questions, Yuri snorted a laugh and answered.
"It's fine, I can go back alone, so just take care of your mother."
"Haa... I'd like to do that too, but if I go straight back, Mom's definitely going to nag."
Sihyun answered with a troubled expression.
That look of Sihyun's was written all over his face as someone who hated it but was being forced to go, so—
"Pfft."
Yuri burst out laughing without meaning to.
At that, Sihyun's brows furrowed on their own.
"Is it that funny?"
"Ah, sorry sorry... But you're just so cute... No, anyway, sorry. Pfft..."
Yuri tried to hold back her laughter, but giggles kept spilling from her lips.
"Haa... Let's just go."
Sihyun let out a big sigh as if he no longer had the energy to deal with her and started walking first.
Behind him—
"Okay."
Yuri followed lightly with a smile.
Like that, the two walked side by side for a while along the quiet night streets without a word.
When they eventually reached the main road, Yuri stopped walking and said,
"This is far enough, so hurry on back now."
"Since we've come out this far, I'll see you all the way."
"Hmm~ Is that so? As expected of my exclusive bodyguard."
At Yuri's playfully smiling words—
"Ah, what are you suddenly talking about again?"
Sihyun said, disgusted once more.
"Stop playing hard to get already. Considering your ailing mother, accepting looks better no matter how you look at it, right?"
".........That's..."
Looking at the hesitant Sihyun, Yuri smiled.
"If you answer 'just acquaintances' again this time, you're a real unfilial son, you know? Well then, I'm off~"
With that, she turned her body and lightly waved her hand as she walked away.
Watching her retreating figure, Sihyun—
"Haa..."
Let out a deep sigh and headed back home.
And so the long day finally came to an end.
And.
The next day, early dawn.
As he stepped outside the house—
"Hey."
Yuri was waiting right in front of the door with her arms crossed.
"When are you starting work?"