All You Have to Do Is Listen to Me
Leehyun chose the option of spending the night with me right away.
To be honest, I expected as much. The only issue was that she had hesitated, even if only for a fleeting second.
“Jeongseo.”
“What is it?”
We were on our way to my house after leaving the restaurant. For a while now, I had kept my expression stiff and my answers curt.
“Are you very angry?”
“No.”
“You are angry, aren't you? I'm sorry.”
“I told you I'm not.”
In truth, I wasn't genuinely mad. I had simply judged that under normal circumstances, any ordinary man's pride would have been deeply wounded. After all, the man had taken the initiative to suggest spending the night together, only for the woman to hesitate.
“It's... it's not because I didn't want to. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
She kept trying to strike up a conversation, her voice laced with timid caution. It seemed she was entertaining thoughts similar to mine, which only spurred me to prolong my sullen performance.
“I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad. Okay?”
“Ah, I said I'm not mad. Why do you keep framing me as an angry person?”
“Huh? Oh... well. I'm sorry.”
From a purely rational standpoint, I understood Leehyun completely. She had already been generous in expressing her affection toward me, and she had even opened up about her deep-seated bodily insecurities beforehand. It was only natural that she wouldn't want to present an unseemly side of herself to the person she liked.
I didn't know precisely how someone deeply in love felt inside, but this was my own way of reasoning out what must be going through her head.
“Should we stop by the department store after dropping by your place? It hasn't closed yet.”
“Why the department store?”
“Well... I thought we could pick up anything you need, and doing some shopping might brighten your mood... I thought that would be nice.”
Putting aside my empathy for her position, it struck me that this situation presented an exceptional opportunity—a chance to tame Leehyun so that she would listen to me even more attentively. Even though I hadn't said much of anything, she was already flustered and walking on eggshells. Capitalizing on this seemed like the smart move.
“Is there anything you need?”
“No. Nothing.”
“I heard that young men these days all carry around designer wallets. Would you like me to buy you one?”
Still, I wondered just how long I ought to drag this act out. And when the time came to wrap it up, how was I supposed to signal that my mood had improved? I hadn't thought that far ahead.
“You'd buy me one?”
“Yes. A wallet would be great, or maybe a bag. Shoes? You mentioned before that you didn't have many shoes, right?”
“Whew... Leehyun.”
We were nearly at my house. It occurred to me that I was still quite clumsy at this sort of thing—though the same certainly applied to her as well.
“Do you think money solves everything?”
“Huh? N-No, that's not what I meant at all—”
“Do I look like someone throwing a tantrum just to squeeze an expensive gift out of you?”
“No! Absolutely not! I just wanted to cheer you up... I'm sorry.”
Having parked the car, she turned to face me and apologized yet again. I had lost count of how many times the words I'm sorry had spilled from her lips today.
I realized it was time to drop the charade. Exploiting her guilt had seemed advantageous in theory, but watching her apologize over and over made me realize this wasn't the right way to handle things.
“Forget it.”
That came out wrong. In searching for the right words, I had ended up giving another blunt, sullen response. Leaving her looking utterly crestfallen, I climbed out of the car.
“What are you doing? Aren't you coming?”
“Huh? Me too?”
“Yes. Come in for a moment and wait.”
“Okay! Ah, wait a second. I'll get out right away.”
When I spoke while holding the car door open, Leehyun hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt in a scramble. Once she stepped out, the two of us headed inside my house together.
The sole reason for stopping by my house was to pack a few belongings—just a change of clothes would suffice. In hindsight, doing all this while pretending to be furiously offended made little sense.
“Stay here. It won't take long.”
“Okay....”
I was about to head up to my room, leaving Leehyun in the living room. She still looked downcast. Having come straight from work to meet me, her attire differed markedly from our previous date. She was dressed impeccably, just as I had requested. That polished, formal look suited her remarkably well.
“Leehyun.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to see my room?”
“Oh? Y-Yes, I'd love to! Ah... that is, if it's all right with you.”
“It's fine. Come on up with me.”
She trailed quietly behind my footsteps. Perhaps it was because of her sharp outfit, but it struck me anew that Leehyun was someone who wanted for nothing in this world. The thought that such an elite woman was completely helpless in front of me caused the chill in my heart to melt away. It was rather endearing, too.
Wait, my mood melted?
Once inside the room, I had Leehyun take a seat at my desk. She gingerly let her gaze wander, taking in every corner of my space. As I packed my bag, I pondered my own emotional state. I had supposed I was putting on a cold, calculated performance. Why, then, did I feel a genuine sense of relief wash over me?
“Leehyun.”
“Yes? No, I wasn't looking!”
“Excuse me? Looking at what... ah.”
If it had been purely an act, there shouldn't have been any genuine temper to soothe or soften. Struggling to find an answer on my own, I had called out to her while holding a pair of underwear in my hands. Feeling guilty for some reason, she had answered a question I hadn't even asked.
“I think I was acting a bit strange earlier.”
“Huh? In what way?”
“I really wasn't angry, but... I was rather snappy with you, wasn't I?”
Unable to answer immediately, she cautiously gauged my reaction.
“You can be honest with me. I feel fine now.”
“Y-Yeah. A little? But that's only natural. If I were in your shoes, I would have felt hurt too.”
“Hurt? Me? I don't think I was that hurt....”
Studying my face, a gentle smile crept onto Leehyun's lips—her very first smile since we had walked out of the restaurant.
“Come on, it's fine. It's perfectly normal to pout a little. Just know that I really didn't mean anything bad by it.”
“Pout?”
“Yes. You were sulking, weren't you? It was my fault, after all....”
Hearing her put it into words, I finally understood: I really had been sulking. While the dictionary definition might be similar to being angry, the actual sensation felt different. Even though my rational mind understood her reasons, a part of me had turned sullen anyway. That was why my words had come out so sharp, contrary to what I had planned.
“Why did your mood suddenly clear up, though?”
“Because you're cute.”
“Huh? Ah....”
I was just reflecting on how inconvenient having emotions could be when she asked her question with a smile, only to flush bright red at my answer.
“Calling me cute is a bit....”
“Why? To my eyes, you look cute.”
“Well... if anyone else heard that, they'd curse me out.”
“It doesn't matter. It's a compliment, so just accept it.”
She gave a tiny, bashful hum in response.
“By the way, how are you normally supposed to react when someone sulks?”
“Well... you're supposed to comfort them nicely, right? Do things they like... whatever it takes to lift their spirits.”
“Do you feel like you did a good job comforting me?”
My packing was finished. When I dropped my voice back into a low, measured tone, the trace of a smile vanished from Leehyun's face.
“Jeongseo? What's wrong all of a sudden... did you get sulky again?”
“No. I just feel like I let you off the hook too easily.”
With that single sentence, she tensed right back up.
“No, you didn't! It wasn't easy at all. Let's stop teasing me... please?”
“Heh, fine. But I think I'll observe your behavior a little longer first.”
Sulking didn't seem like such a bad thing after all. I had a feeling that every now and then, I might just pretend to sulk purely for the fun of it.
We arrived at Leehyun's officetel, having picked up a few groceries on our way in. At the moment, while she took a shower, I was looking around her study.
She really studied hard, didn't she?
During the drive over, she had worried incessantly, fretting that her place was a mess because she hadn't had the time to care for it recently. Upon stepping inside, however, it wasn't particularly dirty at all. No matter how busy she was, basic domestic habits seemed deeply ingrained in her.
The study, on the other hand, was somewhat disorganized, mostly owing to the sheer volume of research materials stacked on the desk.
Well, the black parts are certainly letters.
I glanced at the paper resting at the very top of the pile, but it was written entirely in English. If it had been casual, everyday English, I might have managed some of it, but this was far beyond that. Giving up on deciphering it, I booted up the computer.
She did tell me I could look around as much as I wanted.
She must have meant that the computer was fair game as well. Not that I was hunting for anything momentous, but a rather suspicious folder sitting proudly on the desktop practically begged to be opened.
Important... with a heart? She's not even trying to hide it.
What kind of adult videos did Leehyun enjoy? Rashly playing an adult video in this world was always a hazard, so my plan was simply to skim the titles.
Inbyeol? Personally received, candid snaps... secret?
Multiple subfolders appeared. I clicked into the Inbyeol folder first. Every single image file inside was named after a date.
Wait. No way.
I opened the remaining folders one after another. Everything stored inside that Important ❤️ folder was a picture of me. Perhaps because I had once told her it was all right, Leehyun had painstakingly archived all of my photos.
Feeling a mild touch of disappointment, I opened a browser window while simultaneously running a system search for video file extensions.
Any suspicious websites... none?
Leehyun hadn't touched her browsing history at all. Yet every single entry consisted of academic papers or surgical reference materials.
Did she use incognito mode?
After skimming through the relatively recent logs, I gave up. Next, I checked the search results for the video files. Quite a few popped up.
There sure are a lot. Careful... let's avoid a visual assault.
Unable to tell what the videos were from their titles alone, I clicked one open with a fluttering heart. An unrecognizable video began to play. It looked like footage of microorganisms being observed under a microscope. The next file was identical. They were evidently related to her work.
Just as I was about to close the window, thinking this lead was another dead end, my eyes caught a particular file name.
Uncensored?
Resting at the very bottom of the folder was a video file with a title noticeably longer than the others.
“Found it.”
It was an adult video. With the meticulous posture of an analyst, I began watching the single erotic video stored on her machine. After all, this was entirely for Leehyun's sake. Only by thoroughly understanding her preferences could I gift her an even more delightful night.