Ep. 132
I looked at Chanhyung with pitiful eyes. He noticed my gaze and immediately frowned.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, nothing…”
“Are you making fun of me for being a virgin?”
“Aren’t you being too paranoid?”
It wasn’t entirely wrong, though.
Despite my quick denial, Chanhyung looked at me suspiciously before taking Jaehwan and Yoojin to order food.
I sighed in relief and went to pick up my order, which Heena had already placed in advance.
The menu was a set meal with radish greens soup and braised fish as the main dish. It was a low-quality meal for the price, not befitting the name of Seoyeon University. Surprisingly, this was the average quality here.
Honestly, I only ate here because the cafeteria was close. If it were any farther, I would have just gone out to eat. Sometimes, when it was really bad, we would order delivery with the others.
I ate school lunches thinking of it as just filling my stomach, so I started my meal leisurely as usual.
Soon, Chanhyung and Jaehwan returned to their seats, complaining about the terrible menu.
“Doesn’t it taste particularly bad today?”
“I’m really desperate for a revolution. Seriously, at least make it cheaper.”
Yoojin, who followed behind them, was also muttering with a soulless expression.
“There’s corruption involved… there’s no other explanation for this menu…”
I agreed with that wholeheartedly.
Still, the reason I could enjoy the meal more than usual was probably because Heena was sitting next to me, unlike before. Just looking at Heena made my appetite return.
She was chatting with Ria while removing the bones from the fish. Heena probably didn’t have much to complain about with this unscrupulous set meal. She didn’t usually enjoy spicy food and ate small portions, so it was a perfect meal for her in a way.
And regardless of the quality, I personally liked braised dishes, so I was diligently poking at the fish with my chopsticks. However, whether it was braised or grilled, dealing with fish was always a hassle. It tasted good, but removing the bones was too much of a pain.
While casually agreeing with my classmates’ grumbling and dissecting the fish, chopsticks were suddenly extended towards me.
Heena’s chopsticks, holding a piece of fish.
“Honey, ah~” [Aegyo expression, like saying ‘say ahh’]
“Ah~”
It was something that always happened when eating at home, so my mouth opened reflexively. At the same time, the braised fish entered my mouth.
Munching on it, I subtly glanced around. I had reflexively accepted it, but the moment the braised fish entered my mouth, I realized that this wasn’t home.
“A single person can’t live in peace…”
“Wow… wow…”
“……”
“Revolution… revolution…”
Ria sighed softly and put down her chopsticks, while Yoojin exclaimed. Jaehwan was trembling, and Chanhyung was yearning for a revolution with envious eyes.
The reactions were slightly different, but except for Yoojin, they all looked like they had seen something they shouldn’t have. I didn’t intend to show off like this here, but my body moved on reflex.
If Heena poked me with her finger, I would kiss her, and if she said “ah~”, I would open my mouth.
However, the four of them, unaware of this fact, focused on us with curious eyes, resigned eyes, and eyes of envy and jealousy. I avoided their gaze and subtly turned my head, but Heena didn’t care at all whether they did that or not.
She was just moving the braised fish to my mouth again.
“Ah~”
“Heena, I can eat it myself.”
“You’re not good at removing fish bones, honey.”
“I’m not a child… and doing this in public is a bit…”
“Ah~”
“Shouldn’t we…”
“Ah~”
“Ah.”
-Munch munch-
No matter what I said, it was hard to resist Heena, who was smiling and forcing me as if it didn’t matter. It wasn’t just that she didn’t care; it felt like she was doing it even more to show the people around us.
I should see it as Heena’s way of keeping others in check and warning them. To tell the men around us who were subtly looking this way not to even think about approaching us because we were like this.
The problem was that our friends were getting hurt in real-time by this behavior.
At least Ria was a little used to this kind of thing, and Yoojin was actually enjoying it, but the other two had completely dead eyes.
Even a pollack’s eyes would be shining brighter than theirs.
“Hey, should we skip the afternoon and go drink?”
“Maybe…”
I had nothing to say to the two who were seriously considering drinking during the day.
—
Even after eating, Heena’s showy displays of affection didn’t stop. During the time left until the next lecture, we roamed every corner of the campus, with her clinging to me.
The others were curious about what we were going to do, but after following us for a while and seeing that we were just wandering around and being lovey-dovey, they sighed and went their separate ways.
Ria went back to study, and Chanhyung and Jaehwan headed to the convenience store to get some canned beer. Yoojin seemed like she wanted to follow us more, but I sent her back with a look. I didn’t want to show it to someone I knew.
So, just the two of us remained, sitting on benches near the social science building, on the way to the student hall, and in other places where many people passed by, sticking close to each other.
“It’s nice and cool today~ It would have been nice if Sarang was here too.”
She was saying it casually, but Heena’s arms were completely wrapped around one of my arms, and her head was leaning on my shoulder. It was excessive by anyone’s standards.
Thanks to that, people passing by were glancing at us, and even professors were chuckling and looking at us. I felt really complicated. I understood what Heena was thinking, and I liked spending time with her too, but it was still embarrassing.
Of course, there were also positive effects.
“Oh, Lee Heena! Wow~ Long time no see…”
A man who was smiling brightly as he approached Heena noticed my presence, with my arms linked with Heena, and suddenly became dejected and turned back.
Not everyone approaches with ulterior motives, but seeing him so dispirited, it was clear that he had ulterior motives.
Well, he might not have heard the rumors about Heena, or he might have been approaching even knowing them. Heena is an attractive person, to the point where one might forget that she has a boyfriend or husband.
I had clearly imprinted our image on a few of those people, so I could say that I had achieved my goal to some extent. It’s definitely different to just hear about it versus seeing it in person. That’s why I followed her around without saying anything.
However.
“Honey, I want to kiss you.”
“I can understand everything else, but can you please refrain from kissing me?”
“Then will you do it at home?”
“Of course, at home.”
“More than with Sarang?”
“I’ll give you twice as much as I give Sarang, no matter what.”
I just hoped she would refrain from kissing me in public. If we were on a trip and surrounded by complete strangers, it would be different, but there were many people I knew here, people I would continue to see.
“If you put it that way, I can’t help it.”
“Sigh…”
“Eek.”
-Kiss!
I sighed in relief at her agreeing, but Heena suddenly kissed me on the lips. And it happened to be at a time when many people were passing by.
After briefly touching her lips to mine, she leaned her head back on my shoulder as if nothing had happened.
I pinched Heena’s cheek lightly with one hand at her nonchalant behavior.
“You said we’d do it at home.”
“Aww~ Your lips said they wanted to kiss, so I couldn’t help it.”
“Now you’re just throwing things out there and doing it.”
“What can I do if I want to~”
I was dumbfounded by her saying so confidently that she did it because she wanted to. So, I laughed in vain and put my hand down, and she rubbed her cheek against my shoulder again like a cat.
“Ha.”
And the feelings of the people who passed by and saw this scene seemed to be all contained in that one ‘ha’ that I heard in my ear.
Envy, anger, annoyance, jealousy, depression, and so on.
It’s definitely not wrong for couples to spend time like this, but I still felt sorry for doing it so openly in front of others. It must be an eyesore.
Anyway, in that way, on the first day of the second semester and Heena’s first day back at school, I was able to advertise without reservation that there was no room to squeeze in between us, our relationship was so close.
Even Yoojin sent me a message to be careful after the lecture, so it was definitely effective.
[Lee Yoojin: There was a senior who bought a voodoo doll? Be careful, oppa!]
[Han Yeonwoo: Yeah… thanks for letting me know.]
Well, what can I do?
If you’re upset, go make a girlfriend like Heena!
—
I was happy because Heena was with me, and after spending a day that made my heart ache, I returned home to find Sarang waiting for us.
With her usual adorable face.
“Awoo!”
“Aww~ Do you know how much Sarang was looking for you guys? She cried a lot today~”
“Really? Our Sarang~ Did you miss Mommy and Daddy? Here, Mommy will hold you.”
“You’ve worked hard, Mother-in-law.”
“It’s no trouble~ But the child is so kind and gentle.”
My mother-in-law and Heena looked at Sarang with loving eyes. And probably me too.
The little angel in Heena’s arms was wiggling around, enjoying being held by her mother, and then reached out her hand to me.
I bent down and put my finger in Sarang’s hand and looked her in the eye.
“You’re the prettiest in the world, our Sarang.”
“Heung~” [Sound of a baby]
“…You’re the second prettiest after Mommy, our Sarang~”
Heena and Sarang, who have become my everything and the driving force of my life. Just looking at their smiles made me smile too.
Yeah. With such a pretty wife and daughter, what problem could petty jealousy be?
And I didn’t have the余裕 [leeway/capacity] to worry about such things. To continue this happiness, we will do our best in our studies, and someday we will proudly create our own home and live together.
It’s still a distant future story, but definitely.