#12
Even though he said that, looking at the entrance of this apartment after a long time brought back memories from when he was nineteen. He remembered Kang Jihan seeing him off after night classes and holding hands like this until he entered the house.
“Yeah.”
Kang Jihan, who answered obediently, was also looking at the same place, so it seemed he was recalling the same memory.
—
When he came out after washing, the warm smell of rice welcomed Nam Seonwoo.
Right in front of the bathroom, Kang Jihan’s pajamas and a new towel were neatly folded. As Nam Seonwoo hurriedly got dressed and went to the kitchen, Kang Jihan, wearing the same pajama pants, was preparing dinner.
“Aren’t you cold?”
As he clung like a cicada to his bare back, Kang Jihan said, “I’m not cold,” and fed him a piece of kimbap. Even if he said he wasn’t hungry, Kang Jihan always made sure to feed him something like kimbap or rice balls.
Even though he didn’t think he would eat, his stomach, accustomed to Kang Jihan, naturally demanded the next kimbap. After swallowing the kimbap, the end of the kimbap went into his mouth. As he watched the hand reheating the leftover doenjang jjigae from the morning, Nam Seonwoo opened his mouth.
“It’s tomorrow.”
In a few hours, it would be after he confessed his relationship with Kang Jihan to his parents. He remembered being scolded to death, being told he would be removed from the family register, and all sorts of curses. But perhaps because he had experienced it once, he wasn’t scared. He just felt his back already hurting from the back smashing that would soon pour down.
And Nam Seonwoo knew his parents well. Since they had accepted the rude Kang Jihan from the previous life, wouldn’t they accept him a little faster this time?
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“Liar. You were like a log earlier.”
“But since they said they wanted to marry off their daughter, isn’t this a decent performance?”
“Well, the point is that it’s a son, not a daughter.”
After swallowing another stolen kimbap, Kang Jihan fed him the jjigae. As Nam Seonwoo regained his appetite, Kang Jihan took out a new spoon and chopsticks and asked.
“Should I roll two more?”
“Three. Let’s eat together.”
At the moment he placed the set of cutlery neatly on the table.
Ding-dong—
At the unexpected doorbell sound, Kang Jihan and Nam Seonwoo exchanged glances. There was no one to ring the doorbell on a weekend evening.
“I’ll check. I’ll be right back.”
Nam Seonwoo walked to the front door. He thought it might be someone from the villa since there was no way a delivery would come on the weekend, but he casually asked, “Who is it?” However, an unexpected voice came from beyond the door.
“You found it right. Son! We’re here!”
Parents, why…
He thought he might have heard wrong, but when he looked through the peephole, it was indeed his parents. The moment he saw the two of them carrying something in both hands, cold sweat broke out. Of course, he was planning to introduce Kang Jihan tomorrow, but there was a world of difference between confessing in a nice restaurant and being caught in the act of cohabitation.
He couldn’t pretend not to be home since he had already said who it was. Nam Seonwoo lowered his voice and said.
“Hey, you hide first.”
“Hide?”
“Yeah. Quickly!”
As the doorbell rang again, urging Kang Jihan, he finally started to move awkwardly. There was no space in the living room for that big body to hide. Realizing that, Kang Jihan quickly went into the bedroom and closed the door.
“Son?”
“Uh, uh!”
Nam Seonwoo, who quickly put Kang Jihan’s shoes inside, looked around the house once before opening the door.
“Wow, you found a nice place. The parking lot is spacious and nice.”
“W-wait. Why are you here?”
“Why? You rascal. Does a child need a reason to come to their son’s house? Your mother is upset.”
“No, you should have told me!”
He tried to stop them from coming in, but when he discovered that everything they were carrying in both hands was side dishes, his conscience pricked him. While he was conflicted about the fact that they came to cook for their independent son without resting on the day they returned, Park Jiyoung handed him a container full of side dishes up to his eye level and came into the house.
“Wait, Mom!”
Nam Seonwoo, who hurriedly followed, shouted.
“Anyway, we said we’d see each other tomorrow. I’ll show you around the house then. I was going to sleep, okay? Uh?”
“Oh my, it smells delicious. Do you cook too?”
Meanwhile, Nam Cheolmin, who had already followed into the living room, clicked his tongue and pointed at the ceiling.
“The light bulb here is out. Bring a chair. I’ll change it.”
“No, I’ll do it myself. I said I’ll do it! Ah, Mom! Why are you opening the fridge?!”
“Oh my, what are all these side dishes? What’s going on. Look at this, all portioned out. The rice is all… Wait, something’s weird.”
“What, what is it.”
As Nam Seonwoo quickly closed the fridge door, Park Jiyoung gave him a suspicious look.
“How did you change so much in a few years to make all this? It’s more believable to say a ghost did it. Do I not know my son? Even if you eat, the best you can do is toast an egg in water.”
It seemed easier to deceive a ghost. Nam Seonwoo quickly thought and answered.
“My… my boyfriend likes cooking.”
“Ah, I see.”
As expected, mixing truth with lies was effective. But he couldn’t relax here. The kitchen was dangerous because it was Kang Jihan’s space.
“If you understand, now—”
“Huh? But why are there two sets of cutlery?”
Cold sweat ran down his back. The table was clearly set for two people. What excuse should he make now? As he swallowed his saliva and fumbled with his lips, Park Jiyoung covered her mouth and whispered in a lowered voice.
“Did your daughter-in-law come home?”
“…Huh? Uh. Uh. She’s coming soon. So please, just go now.”
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me in advance! How surprised she’ll be when we’re here. Honey! Let’s go quickly…”
“Ugh—!”
At the thick scream, Nam Seonwoo had a bad feeling. He couldn’t understand why the bedroom door, which was closed, was open, and why his father’s voice was coming from the bathroom inside.
Nam Seonwoo hurriedly ran to the bathroom. Seeing a tool in Nam Cheolmin’s hand, it seemed he had gone into the bedroom to change the living room light bulb.
“Ouch, you startled me. Jihani, why are you like that…”
The moment he saw where Nam Cheolmin was looking, Nam Seonwoo closed his eyes tightly. Kang Jihan, soaking in the bathtub, looked suspicious to anyone. Moreover, wearing only pants that looked like pajamas, he didn’t look like someone who was just washing.
“Th-that… you?”
“Huh? Jihani? Where…”
“… “
“… “
The gaze of his parents, which had been fixed on Kang Jihan, turned to Nam Seonwoo next. To be precise, it was the pajama pants with the same design as Kang Jihan’s.
There were now four sets of cutlery on the table. But no one was touching the chopsticks. In the silence that covered the table, only Nam Seonwoo and Kang Jihan were looking at the floor.
Nam Seonwoo gritted his teeth. He had planned to button up the first button properly this time, but he never expected it to turn out like this. He knew his parents were affectionate, but he didn’t expect them to search the house so thoroughly… He felt guilty for making him hide, but now that it had come to this, there was no way but to break through. As Nam Seonwoo was about to open his mouth, choosing the prettiest words he could, Kang Jihan, who had been bowing his head like a criminal, raised his head, and everyone’s gaze turned to him. His face looked more devout than ever, but because he was shirtless, he didn’t look convincing at all. But Kang Jihan looked at Park Jiyoung and Nam Cheolmin across from him with the most serious face and said.
“I may not be able to give you grandchildren, but I am confident that I can play the role of a daughter-in-law well.”
A few seconds later, the mouths of Park Jiyoung, Nam Cheolmin, and Nam Seonwoo opened wide.
“I will take good care of Seonwoo. Please allow me.”
With those words, Kang Jihan, who had stood up, knelt on the floor. A silence like cold water poured over the table followed.
Park Jiyoung and Nam Cheolmin looked at the two young men wearing the same pajamas with stunned faces. In that short moment, shock, betrayal, and anger flashed by. The voice that broke the silence, which felt like ten hours, was Park Jiyoung’s creeping voice.
“Oh dear, oh dear, my head. Oh dear…”
As she staggered, clutching her chest, Nam Cheolmin grabbed her with a “Honey!” But Park Jiyoung, who suddenly stood up, pushed away her husband’s hand and approached Nam Seonwoo.
Looking at the palm raised high to the sky, Nam Seonwoo thought, here it comes. As he closed his eyes, putting all his strength into his back that was about to be hit, he heard a crisp sound of a slap. But he didn’t feel any pain, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Kang Jihan covering his front.
“Mother, I’m sorry—”
“Sorry? Get out of the way! Nam Seonwoo, you bastard, come out here!”
Kang Jihan, who was hugging him tightly and taking the hit, and his mother, who was mercilessly hitting Kang Jihan’s back, and his father, who was watching the situation with his hand on his temple. It was a chaotic situation, but for some reason, it felt like a comedy, so Nam Seonwoo burst into laughter.
“Are you laughing? You! Do you think this is funny?!”
“Sorry, sorry. Jihani, don’t hit him too much.”
“What? Is that what you should say now? Honey! What are you doing? Drag that bastard out of the house right now!”
“I will, ugh, go with him. Father.”
“First, step away. Honey, you calm down too.”
Come to think of it, they were caught wearing the same pajamas last time too, how did it happen that they were wearing the same pajamas again this time.
The difference from the previous life was that Kang Jihan was the one who confessed their relationship, and that he wasn’t the only one getting beaten to death this time.
“Nam Seonwoo! I’ll remove you from the family register right now!”
That’s why, perhaps, he kept laughing.
Unlike the past, where he had to hide his tears from Kang Jihan, now he was suppressing his laughter in Kang Jihan’s arms, and this was a kind of ordeal in its own way.
—
Just A Friend Side Story Complete
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
