What Kind of Relationship (3)
As we got closer to my family home, I started feeling anxious for some reason. I had been so preoccupied with the situation with Sa Hae-geon that I hadn’t thought about how to introduce him to my family. Actually, it would have been fine if I just went in alone, but I felt Sa Hae-geon would be visibly upset if I did that, so I was leaning towards having him come in with me.
I also needed to explain this situation to my parents, albeit briefly. But more than anything, I was worried about Cream, who was surely very angry with me.
“…Hae-geon.”
“Yes.”
Sa Hae-geon answered as if he had been waiting for me to call him.
“Cream is probably very angry.”
“Yes.”
After saying that much, I had to take a deep breath. Although it was humiliating and hurt my pride to ask Sa Hae-geon for this favor, I had no choice. Cream had been quite docile towards Sa Hae-geon, after all.
“…Could you try to soothe Cream?”
“Cream?”
“Yeah. She seems to listen to you better than me. …Why is that?”
“I’m not sure.”
Sa Hae-geon’s face was impassive as he asked back. He didn’t seem particularly curious about the reason. It almost seemed like he already knew. But that was probably reading too much into it. I leaned my head against the window, glancing at the passing road signs.
As my head touched the cool window, I found myself yawning for no reason. Perhaps it was because I had spent the last few days in a state of tension since deciding to escape. Drowsiness started creeping in.
* * *
Although I had texted my mom in advance, I still felt my throat go dry as we stood in front of the house’s main gate. Ignoring Sa Hae-geon, who was standing beside me and watching my reactions, I pressed the doorbell. Ding-dong. Along with the prolonged doorbell sound, the tightly closed gate opened with a click.
“…Let’s go.”
Sa Hae-geon followed as I entered through the gate. As soon as we stepped onto the porch past the well-maintained yard, the door swung open and a familiar face appeared.
“Son, you’re here?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t come alone…”
I awkwardly smiled and gestured towards Sa Hae-geon with my chin. Sa Hae-geon, who had been hiding behind me, creakily moved to the side and revealed himself. He seemed quite stiff, probably at the thought of meeting my parents.
My mom’s eyes widened when she saw Sa Hae-geon.
“Who’s this… Oh, a friend?”
“Well, not exactly…”
As I trailed off, I glanced at Sa Hae-geon’s face, which was bright and clear. I couldn’t help but smile faintly at how cute he looked, standing there awkwardly while gauging the reactions of my mom and me.
“Just a younger acquaintance.”
“Look at you. When have you ever had ‘just’ anything, Do-min? When have you ever brought someone you call a younger acquaintance? Anyway, welcome. It’s nice to meet you.”
“He-Hello.”
Sa Hae-geon bowed deeply, his face flushed, probably from nervousness. My mom’s gaze intensified at his very polite attitude.
“Hmm, I see. So you’re a younger friend who’s close to our Do-min? Then you’re like a son to me too. Oh my, I almost left you standing outside in the cold. Come in quickly. Do-min, you too, come in.”
Mom stepped aside, giving meaningful looks as she glanced between Sa Hae-geon and me.
“You go in first,” I whispered quietly to Sa Hae-geon, and he mumbled a response as he stepped forward.
“…Okay.”
“You’re such close friends, but he’s still speaking so formally? He’s so polite and cute. Do-min, you should have told him to speak comfortably earlier. You’re not very thoughtful, really.”
Mom laughed heartily as she closed the front door and followed us in.
“Oh my. It doesn’t seem like he’s just an acquaintance, Chae Do-min. You know your mom has good intuition, right?”
“…He really is just an acquaintance.”
“Mm-hmm. Sure. Well, that’s what you’d say for now. Even if you’re lovers, he’s still younger than you.”
“Ah, it’s not like that, I’m telling you.”
“Alright, alright. You don’t need to explain anything to me. Do you think I haven’t known you for years? Of course, I don’t see you much these days because I’m busy. Anyway, I can tell at a glance. I can see you looking at him with eyes that say he’s super cute, you know?”
I flinched for a moment at her unexpected words.
“Just be honest with your mom. There’s something, right?”
“I’m telling you, there really isn’t.”
My head throbbed at her words as she kept poking my side. I had planned to just quickly pick up Cream and leave, but judging by my mom’s excited expression, it seemed we’d have to stay at least until evening, even having dessert, before she’d be satisfied. Inwardly sighing repeatedly, I headed towards the living room, only to gape at the unbelievable sight before me.
“Meow!”
Cream, who would normally have hissed and hidden in a corner in irritation, was lying on her back at Sa Hae-geon’s feet, showing affection in various ways. Since when did she become so affectionate…
“Oh my, this is something… It’s the first time I’ve seen Cream act like this.”
Dad also seemed just as bewildered, shaking his head and looking at Sa Hae-geon with admiring eyes.
“Ah, I was so distracted by Cream that I forgot to introduce myself. Ahem. Welcome. I’m Chae Do-min’s father.”
“He-Hello. I’m Sa Hae-geon.”
“Wow, your name is Hae-geon? Does it have something to do with the sea? Hmm, it’s a good name.”
“…Thank you.”
“Dad, I’m here too.”
“Yes, yes. Welcome back. You know, Cream has been crying so much since you left… But why does it seem like she’s happier to see this young man Hae-geon than you? Did you do something to upset Cream? Did you tease her by calling her a pig again?”
I shook my head at Dad’s playful but half-serious question, but honestly, I wasn’t sure. There were plenty of reasons for Cream to dislike me. But I couldn’t understand why she liked and welcomed Sa Hae-geon more than me. I called out softly to Cream, who showed no intention of leaving Sa Hae-geon’s feet.
“Cream, Dad’s here.”
“Meow!”
Cream, who had been lying with her head on Sa Hae-geon’s instep, rolled halfway and looked at me. Her pointed ears fluttered. The glutton cat blinked, carefully examining my face, then wagged her tail gently.
Fortunately or unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. …Is it really because I brought Sa Hae-geon?
“Did you have fun? You didn’t cause any trouble, right?”
“Do-min, when would Cream have time to cause trouble? Is she you?”
“…I don’t think I caused that much trouble.”
“Sure, sure. Every other kid says the same thing. So shameless.”
Following Mom, I sat on the sofa and gestured to Sa Hae-geon. I meant for him to sit on the sofa over there, but it seemed the message wasn’t conveyed well. When our eyes met, he tilted his head and was about to sit awkwardly on the floor when Dad, who was bringing in tea, gently grabbed Sa Hae-geon’s arm and led him to a single-seat sofa.
“Oh my, not there. Sit here.”
“…Ah, thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Our Do-min’s guest has come, so we should treat you well. Right?”
As expected of a healing Esper who had been in charge of Espers sensitized by various injuries, Dad had good social skills. Put kindly, he was good at banter; put unkindly, he was sly. Even now, he was looking at Sa Hae-geon with a very suspicious smile.
“So how do you know our Do-min? He might look decent, but he has no flexibility or sociability. It’s strange that he doesn’t take after me or Hee-jeong in personality.”
Dad waited for Sa Hae-geon’s answer with a bright smile. There was quite a contrast between Sa Hae-geon, who was fidgeting with his fingers while choosing his words, and my parents, who were smiling as they waited for his response. I never thought I’d say this, but at this moment, Sa Hae-geon looked like prey caught in a hunter’s trap.
Seeing how troubled Sa Hae-geon’s face looked, I had to quickly change the subject.
“Chae Cream, aren’t you coming to Dad? Didn’t you get over being angry?”
“Leave her be. Cream says she likes Hae-geon’s dad more than Do-min’s dad. Oh my, no. I mean Hae-geon hyung, right? Well, it’s all the same anyway.”
I didn’t expect the conversation to take this turn. I broke out in a cold sweat at Dad’s embarrassing words.
“What, what do you mean it’s all the same? Don’t say weird things, Dad. Our Cream is a genius and understands everything, you know? She’ll misunderstand.”
“This is exactly the kind of inflexibility I’m talking about. See how inflexible he is?”
Dad raised his eyebrows at Sa Hae-geon as if seeking agreement. In response, Sa Hae-geon smiled slightly and answered clearly.
“I think hyung is a bit like that. But I think that’s part of hyung’s charm. That’s why I like him more.”
“Like him…?”
“…You like me?”
“What, what? No…”
At Sa Hae-geon’s expression, our entire family, including me, was momentarily speechless. I was at a loss for words, shocked that Sa Hae-geon had so casually said something that could be misunderstood by my family, while my parents had forgotten what they were going to say because they had thoroughly misunderstood Sa Hae-geon’s words.
And the very person who had dropped this bombshell on our household, Sa Hae-geon, was just shyly smiling with his gaze lowered. Seeing this, my head throbbed. I wanted to go back to the terminal.
