284 – EP.11 When I think about it, things that bother me-1
***
He stared endlessly at the can of beer on the table.
The thing that had been cold just now had become lukewarm due to his body temperature, as if it had been that way for some time.
“Guardian….”
His eyes were motionless.
“…You don’t like it?”
She lowers her arms to the table and turns her head to the other side.
These are my inner thoughts that were revealed through the power of alcohol. Like his beer on the table, I was disappointed that the response was lukewarm.
No, maybe she is giving her heart to him more than he should.
If you say something like that to someone you just met and ask them to be your real guardian… That would be proof of that.
I just trace the surface of the can with my finger. He still doesn’t say anything.
Glancing, she only turns her eyes to examine him.
He didn’t look embarrassed by the sudden suggestion. Rather, it was calm.
As if he knew this would happen.
He seemed to be at a crossroads with a choice.
Maybe there is something in stock. She thought so.
“It’s sudden.”
Have we finished calculating the gains and losses? When he opened her mouth, his eyes were focused on her.
“Besides that, he doesn’t seem the least bit surprised.”
She put her face on the table and puffed out her cheeks.
Kang In-ho laughed at her grunting appearance.
“So… What is the answer?”
Kim Seong-ah persistently asked, and Kang In-ho smiled bitterly.
“If you want someone who cares more about you and understands you more, you should be a fake guardian.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.’
“If I were you now, I would approve of everything you do and I wouldn’t say anything if you do whatever you want.”
He picks up a can of lukewarm beer and puts it to his mouth.
“But, if I become your guardian… We’ll probably fight a lot. Do you want that?”
He wet his throat with a stinging light brown liquid and continued speaking.
“…I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”
“It means I’m interfering with your life a little more. In the process, you’ll definitely hear unpleasant things from me.”
“Hmm….”
At his explanation, Kim Seong-ah closed her mouth. I did not understand the difference between the fake guardian that Kang In-ho talked about and the real guardian.
Isn’t real better than fake? She thought simply.
As she let out a single note and thought to herself, Kang In-ho put the bibim noodles that had just begun to swell into her mouth.
For a while, the sound of noodles being sucked appeared on the table, but soon disappeared.
“Mister, whatever it is… Are you closer to a real guardian than a fake guardian?”
“In a way, I guess so.”
“Then, please be my real guardian.”
“Are you confident you won’t regret it?”
He receives confirmation again. Seongah Kim had no hesitation.
“It’s even something I regret….”
“I’m asking this seriously.”
Something serious. Seeing her face that had never been shown before, Kim Seong-ah also straightened her posture and swallowed her saliva.
It wasn’t the usual fierce or playful face like a friend’s.
His face was dull and sunken, his eyes were lifeless, and you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, yet he was smiling gently.
It was too complicated and tangled for Kim Seong-ah, who had just lived for 20 years, to understand.
“…I won’t regret it.”
“Are you saying I can be deeply involved in your life?”
Last check.
If you say yes here, it is the last stop on a one-way train.
You have to decide whether to get off the train or not.
“…Yes.”
She chose to continue riding the train.
“Yes, I will. Your guardian.”
When she nodded, her mood becoming more serious, he let out a small sigh.
It felt like resignation to something I couldn’t deny.
He picked up the bibim noodles from his pot again and started transferring them to his bowl.
Were you very hungry? Seongah Kim thought.
“Oh, and one more thing. I need to make sure of something.”
“Why are there so many conditions?”
As he spoke while still picking up the noodles, Kim Seong-ah grunted.
He silently moved the noodles, and a considerable amount of red noodles were placed in his bowl.
He lifted the noodles with chopsticks and spoke indifferently in passing.
“Do not love me. In any way or form.”
Tall, Kim Seong-ah’s body stands still.
She stares at him with round eyes.
“Mister….”
Her small lips parted, and her trembling voice escaped.
“Did you hurt your head? It’s true that I think of you closely, but… That doesn’t mean I feel affection for you?”
As if she was dumbfounded, she kept saying, ‘Huh.’ He let out an exclamation.
Seeing her shrug her shoulders and outright deny his words, Kang In-ho smiled bitterly and put the noodle into her mouth.
“Yes, I hope you keep doing that.”
***
After she finished eating and cleaning up, the house where she and he lived became quiet.
While he was organizing the kitchen, Kim Seong-ah, who was sitting on her dining chair watching YouTube, saw In-ho Kang take off her rubber gloves and went up to her room.
“Ah, uh….”
He crossed his hands and raised them high, stretching.
This was because her shoulders were tense from constantly washing dishes and clearing the table.
“I should sit down for a while and then sleep. Let me digest what I ate.”
‘I need to bring out the strength within my body again.’
While he was wondering how to get the power, a sound began to come from the landing.
Kim Seong-ah, who had already changed into her pajamas, slightly raised her buttocks on the railing and called out to him.
“Mister.”
“Uh.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“When are you going to sleep?”
“Digest what you ate and go to sleep, in about 2 hours?”
“Really? Then I’ll sleep first.”
“Hey, you too, digest it and sleep. If you lie down right after eating….”
“You say you can be a cow?”
“No, it’s reflux esophagitis. You don’t know it when you’re young, but if it becomes chronic later on, it becomes a real problem….”
“What, you really look like an old man.”
Without even listening to him, she goes up to the second floor again.
When I got halfway up to her and only her lower body was visible, she stopped.
“Mister.”
He hears her calling him again, and Kang In-ho looks in her direction.
“The room next to mine is empty… Do you want to sleep there from now on?”
“Well… It doesn’t matter, but now?”
“Just… Now that I think about it, I think you need a room too… I think it would be nice to sleep in a proper room. Of course, there is no bed. Instead, you can put down a guest blanket.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
Kang In-ho answered with ease.
“Yes, and I’m going to sleep while watching YouTube. If you’re bored, come to my room.”
After leaving those words, she went back into her own room.
“…….”
Kang In-ho looked at the second floor, where she would be, for a long time.
“…So, why didn’t you ask us to sleep together in the same room?”
Through numerous experiences, he has come to find happiness in trivial places.