I packed my things at my parents’ house. I tried to keep it simple, but once I started throwing this and that in, the suitcase overflowed to the point that clothes were practically spilling back out.
This was after what happened following the drinking night with Min-hyuk and the others. Min Siheon had asked me to live together.
How long had we even been dating? It was sudden—more than sudden—and I found myself conflicted.
We were both men, sure, but stripped of that detail, this was a serious matter that required careful consideration.
If I’d had even a little more rationality, I would’ve taken it step by step and thought everything through…
“…How underhanded.”
Swept up in the atmosphere and the sticky tension of that moment, I’d agreed before I even realized it.
Since it had all happened in a blur, I thought Min Siheon would take things slowly too—but somehow it progressed at lightning speed, and I ended up telling my parents I was moving out.
“Mom, I’m going to live on my own.”
“With what money, Jungwoo?”
“A friend asked me to live with him. He’s been living alone for a while. He told me to just bring myself.”
“Oppa, you’re moving out?!”
With Cha Seung-ah eavesdropping and butting into the conversation, it turned into absolute chaos.
Honestly, if I didn’t provide a concrete reason, I knew my parents would oppose it with practical arguments.
Inside, I might’ve been twenty-nine pushing thirty—but on the outside, I was just a college student barely past twenty-three.
Using school as an excuse didn’t work; commuting wasn’t difficult. There wasn’t even a curfew or anything restricting me. I had no solid justification.
I’d practically given up, thinking it would be a tough battle anyway, when Min Siheon said he wanted to speak to my family himself and came to our house.
The day I had to go down to my parents’ place, he showed up with armfuls of gifts—even though he’d only driven me home a few times before, he’d memorized the address.
Fruit. Red ginseng. Everything about it screamed buttering up the parents.
Just the price of the items he brought looked about equal to a month’s rent for a one-room apartment near Daehangno where college students lived.
“Oh my, you didn’t have to bring all this. You’re Jungwoo’s university friend?”
“Yes, hello, ma’am. I’m Min Siheon. I’m in the same department as Jungwoo.”
Watching him smile gently at my mom, I realized this was a game I couldn’t win.
He’d come at a time when my father was at work and strategically targeted my softer mother. Not because he was my boyfriend, but objectively—this guy was frighteningly smart.
If Mom gave in, Dad wouldn’t be much of a problem.
So he hadn’t suddenly asked me to move in on a whim. That’s when I realized how long he’d been planning this.
“Oh….”
“Hey, what’re you doing?”
“Oppa’s friend is seriously handsome.”
“That’s rude.”
With Cha Seung-ah reacting like that, it was over.
She’d been pretending to sip tea on the living room sofa while sneaking glances, then blurted out an exclamation at the sight of Min Siheon.
In a way, she’d just met a character straight out of the novel she loved.
She liked him without knowing anything. It felt like there was some kind of strange connection there. Everything about it was oddly fascinating.
Min Siheon gently pressed further on my mother’s heart, which had already melted and was practically dripping.
He refused rent. When she asked if that would make him uncomfortable, he answered beautifully.
“Even if there’s no financial burden, it still feels awkward, doesn’t it? Siheon, have you discussed this with your parents? You’re both adults, so this might feel like interference—but as a parent, it’s hard not to worry.”
“I understand that completely. My parents aren’t too concerned. I’m the only one in Korea right now, so I think they’d actually be glad. As for rent, my apartment is owned by my brother. It’d be strange to charge him, so please don’t feel burdened.”
Had he always been this articulate?
In front of me, he smiled easily and acted cute—but with strangers, he barely gave them a glance.
Yet once he had a goal, he transformed into something terrifying.
He calmly revealed facts I didn’t even know yet, persuading my mother. Through his blinking lashes, his eyes shimmered with a pitiful light.
“I was in the U.S. during my leave of absence and came back to Korea alone. Jungwoo helped me a lot then, and thanks to him, I adjusted well after returning to school. That’s why I thought it would be nice to live together. I know this is sudden and may have surprised you, but we’ll live well without any issues. Would you please allow it?”
Before I could even process what was happening, Min Siheon leaned his shoulder against mine and smiled demurely.
That was the final blow.
In the end, my mother—who had been looking at him with sympathetic eyes—gave her permission.
She even told me to move in quickly and stay with him, so only a few days after his visit, I ended up leaving home.
Today was that day.
Right now, I was busy packing.
We’d use the household items he already had, so I just packed personal necessities.
I was staring at my closet, debating which seasonal clothes I’d need immediately.
Through the open doorway, Cha Seung-ah poked her head in. Leaning against the frame, she looked at me with a pout.
“You’re really leaving? Like this? So suddenly?”
Still my sister after all—you do care about me.
When I first entered the world of the book, I’d thought she was nothing but a nuisance of a younger sister.
I’d sighed, wondering why she had to read romance novels about other people’s love lives and make her brother suffer.
But she was family. She was alive, our parents were safe. I’d clung to that as I navigated this world.
In the end, I met Min Siheon because of her. Maybe I should be grateful now.
“Why, are you going to miss me?”
When I snorted, Cha Seung-ah jutted out her lips.
“No? If you move out, this room’s mine.”
“What? I lose my room?”
“Yup. It was already bursting with my stuff anyway. Once you move your desk out, I’m putting my things there.”
It hadn’t even been long since I decided to move, and she already had grand plans. She must’ve sweet-talked Mom.
I’d been so busy with college life and the protagonists’ love drama that I’d forgotten who truly ruled this house.
Looks like I won’t even have a place to sleep if I come home.
I resolved never to fight with Min Siheon. I’d never won an argument against him anyway.
“Move, let me pack.”
As I tried to zip up the overstuffed suitcase, Cha Seung-ah suddenly stepped closer. Her shadow fell over me as she plopped down on top of the suitcase and propped her chin on her knees.
“Hey, pig, the bag’s going to burst.”
“Hmph. That kind of insult doesn’t work on me.”
“Yeah, sure.”
When I pushed at her back, she giggled and pressed down harder.
Ugh, she’s heavy. I frowned at the solid weight.
If someone this small felt heavy, it was amazing how Min Siheon lifted me so easily every time.
Even if I was smaller than him, I wasn’t light. Yet he never once looked strained.
That day he clung to me, asking me to live together—it was the same.
He’d pulled me into his arms in an instant, wrapped around me so tightly I couldn’t take a single step off the bed.
Come to think of it, why was he like that?
I’d always thought he was a little peculiar, but that day felt different—stranger.
He’d always liked physical contact, sure. But it also felt like he was guarding his surroundings.
He wasn’t exactly sociable to begin with, so I’d brushed it off.
But days later, it still felt off.
He definitely had some dissatisfaction. But if he’d disliked meeting my friends, would he have immediately nodded when I invited him along?
If he’d shown it openly, he wouldn’t have agreed to come.
Yet at the gathering, he’d seemed tense.
Savage? Or just in a bad mood? His eyes had felt subtly hostile the whole time.
He’d ignored our promise to be careful before going and constantly tangled himself around me.
It was only lucky that none of my friends were particularly perceptive. Otherwise, we would’ve been exposed before I could even properly warn them.
They weren’t the prejudiced type—but still. I clicked my tongue bitterly.
“Oppa.”
Maybe I’d looked strange, standing there blankly tugging at the zipper while lost in thought, because Cha Seung-ah teased me.
“What.”
“Your friend—the one you’re moving in with? He’s been outside waiting for you.”
“…What?”
That’s when I realized I’d been played.
“Why are you only telling me now?!”
“I was going to, but you said you were busy.”
There was no way I’d ever win against her verbally.
Panicked, I jumped to my feet.
“Why is he here? Did he say he’d come pick me up?”
“How would I know~”
Cha Seung-ah turned to look at me from atop the suitcase.
I didn’t remember any such promise, and my mind raced.
I hadn’t even properly washed up yet. Looking disheveled, I grabbed a coat and shoved my arms into it as I stepped out.
Then I heard a familiar voice nearby.
“Hi.”
Cha Seung-ah—by outside, did you mean outside my bedroom door?
I spotted Min Siheon sitting on the living room sofa.
I nearly fainted on the spot.
