Side Story Chapter 8
But what to do about this.
‘This level of surprise might still be too early…’
My prediction was accurate. When we fully entered the entrance hall, the third child who had been waiting right in front also warmly welcomed the guests.
“Welcome! Welcome!”
Along with the excessive hospitality, the third child hung something large around Song Ji-hyeok’s neck. It was a Hawaiian-style flower lei that made me wonder where on earth they had gotten it.
The other family members standing behind also welcomed us both with bright smiling faces, and among them, the first person I bent down to hug was grandmother.
“Grandmother!”
“Oh my. You came well, Hyun-ah.”
The touch that patted and stroked my back was frail, but just being held in grandmother’s arms like this made my heart feel warm. The two hands that then tightly grasped mine were warmer and more affectionate than a heater in the middle of winter.
“Was it hard getting here?”
“No, it wasn’t hard at all. My partner drives really well, so we came comfortably.”
As I spoke and turned around, Song Ji-hyeok was already greeting grandmother. He bowed so deeply that I could see from his crown and back all the way to his pants belt in the back.
“It’s nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Song Ji-hyeok, the pair Esper for senior Su-hyeon.”
“Oh my, you’ll fall over like that. Hurry and stand up.”
At grandmother’s voice mixed with laughter, Song Ji-hyeok hesitantly raised his head. Then grandmother held Song Ji-hyeok’s hand like she had just done with me and gently stroked his arm with her other hand.
“You came well. My goodness, you’re much more handsome than when I saw you on TV.”
Father, who had been watching for the right timing, also didn’t miss the chance and joined the greeting procession.
“Welcome. I’m Su-hyeon’s father.”
“How do you do, father-in-law. I’m Song Ji-hyeok.”
Song Ji-hyeok responded to the handshake father offered while bowing deeply enough to ride piggyback, just like before.
That sight gave me a fresh shock. The Song Ji-hyeok I knew had never bowed his head more than the usual angle even when the Guild Master or Vice Guild Master were present, so I hadn’t known he could give such polite greetings. I felt grateful seeing him show such courtesy to my family.
As I had told Song Ji-hyeok in advance when our first vacation destination was decided, our family including myself was a large family of eight people with three generations living together. There was grandmother, my parents, and five siblings using the character ‘Su’ in their names.
First child Lee Su-eun, second child me, third child Lee Su-young, fourth child Lee Su-bin, youngest Lee Su-an.
Big sister is still at the hospital now, and the third child who presented the flower lei is a college senior graduating this year. The fourth and fifth children are late-born surprises who are still high school students.
People often say ‘families resemble each other,’ and there probably weren’t many families that saying fit as well as ours. Since our parents already had similar images and powerful genes, even strangers could pick out our family members easily. Moreover, even our personalities perfectly resembled our parents, so everyone was very positive and cheerful.
Because they were freely displaying that personality right now, Song Ji-hyeok and I could only finally enter the living room after what felt like more than five minutes. And the moment I looked toward the living room, my mouth fell open. Instead of the dining table, a large spread was laid out full of food.
“Hurry and sit down. Su-young, help mom.”
“Yes!”
Not only the third child whose name was called, but the twins also went into the kitchen admirably. Steaming rice bowls and soup bowls were placed one at each seat, and the proper meal began.
Among the family members, mother, who was relatively calm, smiled brightly at Song Ji-hyeok and said,
“You must be hungry, so eat a lot.”
“Yes, I’ll eat well.”
From the meal through eating dessert, Song Ji-hyeok was definitely the center of attention. Led by grandmother who kept thanking Song Ji-hyeok with things like ‘thank you for pairing with our grandson’ and ‘thank you for going to see the first child at the hospital together,’ father and the siblings also didn’t stop asking various questions. If father’s questions focused on our relationship and personal life, then the siblings’ interests were definitely centered on rumors about the guild and awakeners.
“Have you ever met Esper Choi I-seul in person? They say she’s that pretty in real life too.”
The person who blocked the youngest’s thoughtless question was third child Lee Su-young. But the question Su-young asked next wasn’t much different either.
“She must be pretty. Do you also secretly use your abilities personally, Esper Ji-hyeok? Our brother used to show us personal fan tricks and stuff when he came home.”
At the suddenly revealed past, I hurried to stop the third child.
“Why are you talking about that stuff?”
“Why not, everyone liked it. Right, grandmother?”
“Of course. The wind Su-hyeon made was cooler than the air conditioner.”
Such tricks were only amazing to my civilian family members, but having them revealed in front of Song Ji-hyeok made my face turn red. I unnecessarily took a sip of water and pretended to whisper in grandmother’s ear.
“You said it was a secret, grandmother.”
“Oh my, that’s right.”
Everyone burst into laughter at grandmother’s surprised reaction. Before she could get flustered thinking something terrible had happened, I took grandmother’s hand and hurriedly said a few more words.
“It’s okay since it’s just family. But what should I do since I can’t do it for you anymore?”
“It’s fine if you don’t do it. …Actually, the air conditioner is cooler.”
At grandmother’s playful whisper like mine earlier, the surroundings became a sea of laughter again. Song Ji-hyeok also seemed to be desperately holding back laughter as the corners of his thin lips twitched.
A moment later, Song Ji-hyeok belatedly answered the third child’s question.
“I do play around sometimes too.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. And I heard you’re older than me, so please speak comfortably.”
At those words, the third child took the bait without any refusal.
“Oh, then I’m so happy about that. Ji-hyeok, you can also comfortably call me Su-young noona. So from now on, casual speech mode?”
“Yes.”
The fourth child, Su-bin, who was slurping sikhye for dessert, also naturally joined that flow.
“Then can I call you Ji-hyeok oppa?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome. Oppa, please speak comfortably too.”
“Ow ow ow…”
The fourth child, who was extremely excited, slapped my back like a punching bag, and it stung. While I writhed like a squid on a grill, the fourth child continued with a quite sharp question.
“But Ji-hyeok oppa, do you call our brother ‘senior’?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Isn’t ‘hyung’ more friendly?”
As expected, we really are family after all. I had also asked Song Ji-hyeok the same question before and heard the answer. Song Ji-hyeok gave the fourth child the exact same answer as back then.
“The title ‘senior’ seems more polite and shows more respect. But sometimes I do call him hyung.”
Among the listening family members, only my face turned red again. This was because Song Ji-hyeok often unconsciously called me hyung when he was absorbed, mainly on the bed.
“Are you hot? Should I get you water, oppa?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Hearing the innocent fourth child’s question, Song Ji-hyeok slightly raised the corners of his mouth so that only I could notice. He seemed to have caught on to what I had just been thinking. Not stopping there, he looked at me with mischievous eyes.
“Should I keep calling you hyung from now on?”
“…Do whatever you want.”
“Can you handle it?”
“Ahem! Hmm hmm.”
I briefly exercised my right to remain silent by quietly averting my eyes and taking a sip of sikhye, but soon I ended up chuckling too. Right, you can tease me all you want, just put me back in my place afterward.
The gathering disbanded well past 10 PM. Even that only ended then because grandmother couldn’t hold back her yawns – otherwise, we might have spent all night in the living room.
Song Ji-hyeok, who had washed up first and come out, was lying on the blanket spread on the floor. He was lying at an angle, propping himself up on one arm and looking up at me, so naturally that if a stranger saw him, they might believe he was the owner of this room. I also plopped down across from him and rested my arm on one raised knee.
“It was hectic, wasn’t it?”
“Can I be honest?”
“Yeah. But somehow I think I know without hearing it.”
“It’s what you’re thinking. But it wasn’t annoyingly chaotic in a bad way – it was a bustling, lively feeling, so I liked it.”
“I’m glad you say that.”
Since I was already sitting on the floor, I stretched both legs out and bent my upper body as much as possible. Since my flexibility was somewhat lacking, my hamstrings were pulled taut.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
