188 – 182. Unwelcome Guest
Doesn’t everyone have an appearance they don’t want their family to see?
For example.
When you get scolded by your boss.
From Noble mtl dot com
When you get bullied by your friends.
Embarrassing or humiliating situations like that.
Because they’re closer than others, there are things you don’t want to let them know.
That’s how I felt right now.
“……I heard that college dorms get messy like this.”
Mom was looking at the two girls in my room and me alternately, sticking out her tongue.
Seo Yerim and Yoo Arin were kneeling for some reason, watching each other.
I’m the only one who can get out of here.
“Why did you come here, Mom? You should have told me before you came.”
“It was a surprise. I thought my son’s room would smell bad, so I brought some perfume to make it smell good.”
She slipped a deodorant in a clear plastic bottle out of her handbag.
“I bought this too…… You don’t need to spray it, honey. The girls smell fresh. Which one smells like fruit?”
Yoo Arin smells like fruit.
No, that’s not important.
“Isn’t there a manager in front of the dorm? How did you get in here?”
In fact, I wanted to ask the girls behind me that too.
I don’t know what the manager is doing, letting people who aren’t dorm residents in.
“I told him I was the mother of a girl who lives here. He was suspicious because I look so young, but he liked the health drink I gave him.”
She probably gave him something really expensive.
Mom, who had put away the deodorant, took out a pack of herbal medicine.
“I bought some herbal medicine for you too, but-whoops, I can’t give you this. If I do, you’ll be a father before you go to the army.”
“Mom! Can’t you stop saying things you shouldn’t in front of the kids?!”
“What. You’re a college student, you’ve done everything. You should be grateful to me. When I raised you, the nannies said you were a general, you made so many girls cry.”
“This lady is for real!”
“What do you mean, lady! Have you ever seen a lady as pretty and well-groomed as me?”
“You just talk like a lady!”
My head is spinning.
The topic of conversation definitely changes, but the flow feels like it’s on a parallel line.
“Which one of you is his girlfriend?”
I turned my head slightly.
I met eyes with Seo Yerim and Yoo Arin, and they both seemed to be thinking for a moment.
“Neither.”
If I said I was dating for no reason, she would have grilled me.
Besides, I got beat up when I confessed.
Seo Yerim was a bit ambiguous right now.
Did she have the same thought as me?
Seo Yerim puffed out her cheeks and glared at me.
Come to think of it, I was supposed to meet Seo Yerim’s mother too…….
“Hmm? Then why are you both here?”
“They asked me for some advice, so I was giving it to them. The girl who just washed up played basketball, and there’s no shower, so she just borrowed the bathroom.”
“……Aha?”
Then suddenly, Mom took a box the size of her palm out of her pocket.
It was a condom.
“So who brought this? I found it on the floor in the hallway.”
“…….”
“…….”The moment I saw the condom still in its packaging, my lips parted in surprise.
Since I didn’t buy it, it meant that one of the two who came had bought it.
“I bought it.”
However, I needed to protect the two of them here.
I immediately snatched the condom from my mother’s hand and pretended to be annoyed, and my mother gasped and covered her mouth.
“You?”
“Yeah, I bought it.”
“Hmm.”
She didn’t look convinced at all.
However, she nodded as if she would let it go for now.
She looked at the two of them and smiled kindly, gesturing with her hand.
“Hey, sit down comfortably. It’s a bit shabby, but you’re Woojin’s friends anyway.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Thank you.”
The two of them sat down comfortably.
My mother immediately asked Seo Yerim with her eyes sparkling.
“What’s your name? What’s your relationship with our Woojin?”
“Hello, Mother. My name is Seo Yerim. I think I’m almost in a relationship with Woojin.”
“Oh my!”
My mother immediately patted my shoulder and exclaimed.
“Such a pretty girl is my daughter-in-law? You could be an actress!”
Seo Yerim smiled gracefully, her chest heaving as if she was pleased with the response.
I wondered if this was the same girl who had been crying to me earlier, whining that I had stolen her s*x seat.
“I’m actually an aspiring actress. I signed a contract with YS Entertainment last winter.”
“YS? Oh, that’s Minchul’s company?”
Jung Minchul.
He’s the CEO of YS.
“Wait a minute. I’ll make a call!”
My mother was about to take out her cell phone, but Seo Yerim stood up and grabbed her hand.
“No, Mother. It’s okay. I want to succeed on my own, and I have confidence in myself.”
What the hell, girl.
Who are you?
It was awkward to see Seo Yerim, who had been talking about s*x, now smiling brightly.
I knew she had this image around her, but it was embarrassing to see it in person.
“Oh, look at that confidence. Good, good. So, who’s the girl next to you?”
Yoo Arin, who had also stood up, scratched her head awkwardly.
“Th, that’s Yoo Arin. I’m with Kim Woojin.”
Yoo Arin glanced at me.
She seemed to know that it was difficult to define our relationship, so she hesitated.
“This one’s a candidate for daughter-in-law too.”
My mother crossed her arms and clicked her tongue as if she had noticed something.
“I had such good children. Look at them, torn between such beautiful and lovely girls. My son is unlucky.”
“……”
“I like both of you. So don’t fight and figure it out yourselves?”
My mother then walked towards the refrigerator.
“Do you have anything to eat? Don’t you just order delivery food every day?”
“I’m eating well.”
“Hmm? What’s this?”
At that moment, my mother found a lunch box.
It was the one Choi Iseul had left behind, and she tilted her head and opened it without hesitation.
“A letter.”
She handed me the Post-it note inside.
– Good luck with your studies (੭•̀ᴗ•̀)੭
It looked like Choi Iseul had attached it.
As I looked at it, my mother had already picked up a spoon and taken a bite of the pilaf inside.
And then.”Passed. Which one of you is it?”
She approached the two of them, tapping her lunchbox with a spoon.
“Who made this? My son loves rice just like his father, so this is perfect for him.”
“……”
“……”
Both of them kept their mouths shut.
They looked at each other, confirming that the other had not made it, but of course, there was no answer.
“Hmm?”
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Mom turned her body again and looked at me.
“Who gave you this?”
“That… another kid.”
A moment of silence.
Seoyerin and Yuarin seemed to have realized that Choi Yiseo was the one who made the pilaf.
Mom looked at me and the two of them alternately, then asked again.
“Is she a girl by any chance?”
So, did you get it from a boy?
“Yeah.”
As I scratched my cheek and answered, Mom immediately took out her cell phone and made a call.
The other side answered the call before it even rang once.
“Yes, Mr. Yoon? Could you please pick out a thick branch nearby and bring it to me? Something that I can use as a switch.”
“……”
“Yes, yes. Could you please?”
Click.
The moment she hung up the phone, Mom said to the two of them.
“I’m sorry, but from now on, it’s family time, so could you please leave?”
“Today was a very meaningful time, Mother. I would like to meet you again on a better occasion.”
“……Don’t hit him too hard.”
Seoyerin and Yuarin left as if they were running away.
“Even so, I’m in my 20s, so I’m not old enough to be hit by my mom.”
Mom chuckled as I confidently shrugged my shoulders.
“Your older brother was hit by Mom with a switch until he was twenty-five.”
…That’s the first time I’ve heard that.
* * *
I didn’t think I would actually get hit on the calf.
Mom, who was applying an ice pack to my red and swollen leg, sighed.
“It’s my fault. It’s my fault for giving birth to such a handsome child. That’s why the girls are crazy about you.”
“……”
“The girls were really nice. The one who said she was an actress was pretty and smart. It felt like I was looking at myself when I was young.”
What are you talking about?
“The one with the yellow hair, I didn’t talk to her much. But she seemed like a very kind person. I saw her worrying about you as she was leaving.”
“Ha, she’s the one who hits me the most.”
“That’s all love. It’s like when Mom hits you with a switch.”
I had already gotten hit once to let her know that I had confessed to all three of them.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“That, you know.”
Knock, knock.
At that moment, a knock was heard from outside the door.
“Woojin-ah, it’s Yiseo.”
It was Choi Yiseo.
“I boiled some tea earlier, but I forgot about it. I’m here to give it to you.”
“Is she the one who made the lunchbox?”
Mom asked, squinting, and was about to jump out, but I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
“I’ll go.”
However, despite my resistance, Mom had already gone to the front door and opened it.
“……Hello?”
Choi Yiseo was taken aback.
Nevertheless, she greeted her first, then checked the number on the front door.”This is the right place.”
“Hello, I’m Woojin’s mother.”
“……!”
Choi Iseo, who was startled, immediately bowed her head.
“Hello! I’m Choi Iseo, Woojin’s classmate!”
“Thank you for taking care of Woojin. Did you make the pilaf yourself? I had a bite and it was delicious.”
“Oh, really? Thank you.”
Choi Iseo continued to talk to her mother smoothly, as if she had never been talking to the professors.
“Then please take good care of our Woojin in the future. Can I ask you that?”
“Yes, of course.”
After the conversation ended.
My mother, who came inside, handed me the thermos that Choi Iseo had brought and sighed.
“Anyway, you look like your father, so you’re good at looking at people. Why are all the girls so pretty and kind? It must be hard to choose.”
“……Right?”
“I don’t know, so do what you want. Don’t make the precious children of other families cry for no reason.”
I keep my mouth shut.
I had something to say.
“Of course.”
I swallow hard and make up my mind.