12 – Episode 12
“Ex..excuse me”
“Co..come in”
Seoah and I walked into my house, both nervous and shy
“Uh.. we…welcome”
“Uh..yeah!”
We couldn’t look at each other and went straight into the house
Our house is not very spacious but it has everything we need
“I’ll get you a drink”
“Okay”
I squeaked as I went to the fridge to find some juice
Luckily, I had bought some snacks and drinks last time when I told my mom that some friends were coming over
“Jihoon, where is your room?”
“Huh..? Uh uh uh!? No..wait a minute”
I hurried out and stood in front of my room
“Just a minute.. wait for me I’ll clean up and come out”
I quickly went into my room
As soon as I entered my room, I saw huge character posters, T-shirts with character designs, various goods, figures, and acrylic stands
“…I’m screwed”
I can’t clean them up now and I can’t tear them.. no.. I can’t give up
Some of the kids here are the ones I brought to my honeymoon house after I got married.. wait
Seoah understood my hobby and allowed me to put figures in the house then what about now
“Are you still there?”
No way
“Um… just a moment.”
First, I put away my clothes and some of the goods that could be cleared.
When my friends occasionally come to my room, they would say, “Wow, you’re such a crazy pervert!” If it were a guy…
But if it were a girl…
It would definitely be contemptuous.
“Ugh…”
“Can I open the door, by any chance?”
“Ah… yeah, come in.”
But wouldn’t it be worse to leave Seoa standing in front of the door?
Anyway, I couldn’t clean up, and I couldn’t hide it. I couldn’t even lock my room and walk away.
“Instead… you have to understand whatever comes out, okay…?”
And so, the door that determined my fate began to open.
Yeah… if we keep being friends, we might get closer later on.
“Wow? Is this Jihun’s room?”
Seoa took a look around my room.
“It’s exactly like Jihun’s room.”
Well, that’s your level.
…
It felt like Seoa said something like that to me.
“Why… why are you like this? Is something hurting?”
When I hid my face, Seoa expressed concern.
“No, it’s okay. But… should we talk outside? It’s cramped in here.”
I tried to somehow get Seoa out of my room.
“Really? It’s not cramped at all.”
As Seoa said, the room was just enough for two people to fit in.
“Seoa… are you okay with this?”
By this point, I also wanted to hear it directly and straightforwardly. Seoa seemed completely unfazed in this room, so that’s why.
“What?”
I pointed with my finger.
“That? Were you worried about that kind of thing?”
“Well… but girls don’t really like this kind of thing.”
Seoa smiled even wider at my words and patted my head.
“Why are you embarrassed about something like this?”
“Well… really?”
“I… I thought you would be uncomfortable with this.”
Seoa said it was okay, shaking her head.
“Got it… then I’ll go get some drinks, wait here.”
“Okay.”
Feeling uneasy about leaving Seoa in my room, I headed to the kitchen to find some drinks and other snacks.
“Well… wouldn’t something other than cookies be better?”
But if it were Seo-ah instead of Seok-ho, I would have just given her water. But because it’s Seo-ah, it feels different.
“Hmm… this is seafood.”
After searching a bit more, I found carbonara.
“Oh… what a meal to treat someone.”
I looked for more, but since I’m not the one cleaning the kitchen, I couldn’t find it well.
Hmm… if there’s more, Seo-ah might get bored waiting, so I should bring some snacks.
“I brought some, Seo-ah.”
“Huh!?”
As we entered, Seo-ah looked up at me in surprise.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yeah… but what were you doing?”
Honestly, I don’t think Seo-ah, being herself, would touch anything in my room and break it.
“Well… anyway, I brought some snacks and drinks.”
“Thanks.”
Seo-ah touched the cold cup and drank a little bit at a time.
“Here, there are snacks too.”
Seo-ah put a snack in her mouth, her eyes sparkling like some small animal, like a rabbit.
“Hmm? What are you thinking?”
“Oh… it’s nothing.”
As they silently stared at each other,
“So… what should we do now?”
“Yeah?”
Neither Seo-a nor I had met up with the intention of doing something, so there wasn’t really anything to do. It was just something that happened spontaneously, bringing her to my house according to the flow of consciousness.
“Oh! Are you doing well in your studies?”
Seo-a thought about whether she had something to talk to me about and shifted the conversation to studies.
“Oh, I… I didn’t do it because I was thinking about you.”
What would happen if I said this?
“Oh, I didn’t do anything, just played games.”
But Seo-a, who didn’t reveal that, smiled and looked at the computer.
“Oh no, I was planning to do something.”
“I won’t accept that excuse~”
Seo-a drank her drink again and got up.
“Alright, bring the stuff you needed for the test.”
Damn it… This is bad.
Swoosh…
Swoosh…
“Hmm…”
“…”
“Oh?”
“!!”
“Oh, did I make a mistake?”
“Ah… that!”
“An excuse?”
“No, it’s not.”
Seoa took my notebook and workbook, flipping through them to see what I had studied so far.
“Well, overall, you’ve been working hard, but it seems like you need to develop a habit of reviewing and summarizing the content you’ve studied more, as well as writing down the incorrect answers separately in your notebook.”
“Yes…”
“But still, you did well, so I’ll praise you for that.”
With Seoa’s praise, we began to look at the things I had been criticized for earlier.
“Well… it’s like this.”
“Yes, here we need to organize the incorrect parts by subject with asterisks or colors and write them down in the notebook again.”
As we studied while receiving study tips from Seoa,
Grumble.
“Oh.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Ah… no! What is this?! It’s not mine.”
There’s no one else in our house besides you and me.
Grumble.
However, Seoa’s stomach emitted a very strong presence.
“Ugh.”
“If it’s alright, do you want to eat at my place and then leave?”
At that moment, I suggested to Seoa that we have a meal.
“Oh… no, it’s a bit too much to eat a meal…”
“Oh, it’s okay. Anyway, when I’m alone, I just eat ramen.”
When I said that,
“That’s not okay! Your diet is important, you can’t just fill up on ramen.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, you’re right.”
She’s like our mom or something…
“You’re not thinking weird thoughts, right?”
She’s quick to pick up on things…
“Alright, I got it. Then I’ll prepare the meal.”
I said confidently and went into the kitchen.
“…But what should I make?”
I didn’t even know what ingredients we had at home or what I could make.
“Um…”
Did my mom leave anything?
I opened and closed the refrigerator, searching for food, but
“Oh… there’s nothing?”
I only have ingredients, but Mom! What am I supposed to do!!
“Why, is there something missing?”
Seo-ah asked, looking around the kitchen, and I said no.
“Ugh… Is it just a simple soybean paste stew?”
But… um
I decided to use the power of the internet for now.
Hmm, it’s soybean paste, so of course there should be soybean paste, and…
I took out various vegetables, tofu, and beans.
“Now… put the soybean paste in the boiling broth…”
Broth?
What’s that again?
“Um… Jihoon?”
“Yeah?”
“What… are you doing?”
From Noble mtl dot com
Seo-ah looked at me with an anxious gaze, holding a kitchen knife and various vegetables.
“A… soybean paste stew?”
“I’ll help you.”
“Uh… okay.”
Before I could say anything, Seo-ah grabbed the kitchen knife and started cutting the pumpkin.
“Get some onions, green onions, and green chili peppers.”
“Uh… Yeah.”
Taking charge of Seoa’s assistance, I started cooking by taking out eggs and other ingredients.
Sizzle.
Thud.
Thump thump thump.
Whirr.
At a speed twice as fast as our mother, I began to whip up dishes.
“Well, the seasoning seems fine. Do you happen to have gloves?”
I brought thick gloves, and Seoa set up the stew, side dishes, and rice on the dining table.
“Uh…”
Looking at the time, I realized that our homemade meal was completed in less than 30 minutes.
“Phew.”
Seeing Seoa taking off the gloves with a refreshed expression, I couldn’t help but think of her as my wife.
“Oh… Sorry for using them casually.”
As she apologized for using the kitchen as she pleased, I chuckled.
“hahahahaha, what’s this? You apologize after doing everything.”
“Well… But I feel anxious! I can’t even hold a knife properly.”
“Ah… That’s…”
Seoa sat down and said,
“Let’s eat for now.”
“Sure.”
I lifted my spoon and tasted the soup first.
Slurp.
Seoa looked at me, tense, as if she were being judged on a cooking competition show.
“Well…how is it?”
It had a different taste from my mom’s soybean paste stew, but it was exactly the same as the taste of Seoa’s homemade meal on weekends.
“How did you…?”
So this was the taste that had been there since high school.
“Why are you like that? Does it taste bad? Should I adjust the seasoning?”
“No… It’s just… It’s so delicious.”
I held back the tears that seemed to well up from the nostalgic taste and continued eating the stew.
“Good, enjoy your meal.”
“Yes! I’ll enjoy it.”
“I’ll enjoy it too.”
Seoa, who must have been hungry as well, started eating at a similar pace to me, and we were able to finish the meal we made.
“I’m full.”
“Did it suit your taste?”
“Yes, it was incredibly delicious.”
“Really? I’m glad.”
Seoa blushed and said that.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“No, I’ll take care of it.”
“What are you talking about? The guest cooked for us, so it’s not right for me to do it.”
As I firmly refused, Seo-ah knew and sat on the couch, looking at me.
“I understand, then please do it.”
I nodded in response and placed the dirty dishes in the sink, turning on the water.
“You should wear an apron.”
Seo-ah came behind me and put on an apron for me.
“Ah, thank you.”
As I started washing the dishes, I couldn’t help but think of us as a future couple.
Squeak, squeak.
Splash.
I began washing the dishes.
Since I never lived alone and was always in charge of doing the dishes, I was confident in my dishwashing skills.
“Come to think of it, have you ever cooked, Ji-hoon?”
Seo-ah asked me, looking towards me without turning on the TV.
“Huh? Ah… I guess not.”
I lived in a dormitory during college, so meals were provided, and during vacations, my parents cooked for me.
That’s why I didn’t have much experience with cooking.
Even when I worked at a company, I mostly ate outside or ordered delivery. I never really cooked on my own.
“Hmm~ Is that so?”
As I waited, Seo-a and I were doing the dishes,
Ding!
“Huh? Jihoon, I got a text message.”
A text message? Is there something? I asked Seo-a to tell me what the message said, and after checking it, she replied,
“…”
“Why? What does the message say?”
It better not be some strange spam message. It would be hard to explain if there’s a misunderstanding…
“Um… Mom said she’s in front of our house.”
What????