6.
Gong Pyeonghwa really thought it was a joke.
That’s why he spent all of yesterday sleeping soundly in Shin Saebyeok’s bed, looking through Saebyeok’s childhood photo albums. He should have escaped then, but he was too absorbed in the innocence of young Saebyeok… Sigh.
After seeing his father-in-law off, Gong Pyeonghwa followed his mother-in-law to learn about the Shin family household management in earnest.
Throughout the process, Gong Pyeonghwa talked non-stop.
“Mother-in-law, do you know how long three months is? They say even a bear becomes human in 100 days. Think about all the anniversaries and seasons we’ll miss in those 100 days… Mother-in-law, you know what? When the weather is warm and sunny, I absolutely have to take Saebyeok and Iseul out for a walk or a drive. How many beautiful days do we get in our lives? Right…”
Mrs. Lee, who had married a taciturn husband and had quiet children who took after him, found Gong Pyeonghwa both perplexing and adorable. It was fascinating and cunning how he could talk so impressively by himself even when she didn’t respond.
“Mother-in-law, would you like to go for a walk?”
“…”
“Okay… I’ll finish mopping…”
He had been preparing to go for a walk, but Gong Pyeonghwa, who gave up more quickly than expected, cleaned the house with the speed of an experienced housewife. His reliable figure somehow looked pitifully sad. Mrs. Lee rubbed her eyes as she thought she saw Cinderella covered in ashes.
“You’ll damage your cornea.”
Gong Pyeonghwa offered advice on his mother-in-law’s eye health, and she, startled, lowered the hand that had been rubbing her eyes.
“Well…”
Understanding his mother-in-law’s hesitation about how to address him, Gong Pyeonghwa cupped his face with his hands, trying to look pretty.
“You can call me ‘Mr. Gong’ or ‘new daughter-in-law,’ either is fine!”
“…O-okay. Mr. Gong. You don’t have to clean so diligently. We regularly call someone in.”
Couldn’t she have told him a little sooner? The house was already sparkling clean.
“Then what should we do now?”
“My husband and our children have weak constitutions, so we rarely eat out.”
“Our Byeokie is quite sensitive, isn’t he?”
Our… Byeokie? The feeling of secretly observing her son’s love life was more shocking than she’d expected.
Mrs. Lee cleared her throat and took Gong Pyeonghwa grocery shopping.
“So you go grocery shopping every day?”
“Of course. Especially since my daughter will be a test-taker soon, I need to pay extra attention.”
“Please speak comfortably. Your husband said it this morning too. Daughter-in-law.”Â
When Gong Pyeonghwa suddenly closed the distance between them, Mrs. Lee was flustered, but what the second son of her in-laws had said wasn’t wrong.
“Alright then. Come on, let’s hurry up a bit.”
Gong Pyeonghwa moved through the store fearlessly, like he was the food section’s child, putting the ingredients Mrs. Lee mentioned into the cart.
The previously confident Gong Pyeonghwa hesitated at the fruit section. Wondering what was wrong, Mrs. Lee tapped his shoulder, and he started rambling.
“Mother-in-law… did you know? It’s February. Saebyeok loves strawberries… We always make sure to eat seasonal foods, you know? But in our house, I’m the only one who eats fruit… Who’s going to make sure our Saebyeok gets his fruit? I don’t think there’s anyone… What if our Saebyeok wants something but is too hesitant to ask?”
Is he just craving strawberries himself? Mrs. Lee smiled awkwardly and put two packs of strawberries in the cart.
“Mother-in-law!”
“Oh my goodness!”
Startled by her son-in-law’s sudden shout, Mrs. Lee asked with a trembling voice what was wrong.
“Did you let them know our Saebyeok is allergic to mangoes? Everyone in our family has strong constitutions without allergies. What if they set up a mango buffet for our Saebyeok?!”
Mrs. Lee’s face turned pale at Gong Pyeonghwa’s dramatic outburst.
She hurriedly made a call to someone.
“Mrs. Gong, can you talk right now?”
My mother, I see.
“Yes, yes. Actually, our Saebyeok has an allergy…”
So everyone except us has been in contact with each other? Gong Pyeonghwa just wanted to steal his mother-in-law’s phone.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Lee felt relieved by her in-law’s response. Fortunately, since the day Gong Pyeonghwa declared he would stop eating mangoes, the Gong family had cut off mango supplies, so there was nothing to worry about.
“Mother-in-law, is our Saebyeok okay? That was my mother, right? You need to make sure Saebyeok gets seasonal food, and he can’t sleep without me. Let me just give you some instructions about Saebyeok, can you pass me the phone…”
“Mr. Gong.”
“Yes!”
“Mrs. Gong said, uh, that, that, that…”
Judging by how his mother-in-law couldn’t finish her sentence, it probably wasn’t something nice, and he could guess what his mother would say.
“She told you to shut up? I see…”
Just wait. There will definitely be an opportunity. Gong Pyeonghwa pushed the cart with quite a villainous mindset.
“Mother-in-law, what are we eating today?”
“Braised sea bream, a couple of seasoned spring vegetables, fresh kimchi, aged kimchi, and clear soup…”
“Mother-in-law, you have everything planned out.”
From last night’s dinner, he had noticed that the food was quite refined. Clean, simple, bringing out the natural taste of the ingredients?
“My moth—, my parent is rather unplanned, but what will Saebyeok eat today? If you could just ask that, this Mr. Gong would be so happy—”
“I wouldn’t know that. I’m sure Mrs. Gong is taking good care of him.”
This approach isn’t working.
Gong Pyeonghwa pouted as he loaded the groceries into the car.
“Do you do this every day?”
“Yes.”
“It must be hard.”
Is it hard? It wasn’t like she was buying heavy things like water or rice, and though planning meals was a bit tiring, it wasn’t undoable.
“It feels lonely doing it alone. Going to the supermarket is fun when there are two people.”
Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok went to the supermarket together at least once a week. How lovely that cozy time was, filling the cart like playing Tetris.
Sometimes when he went to the supermarket alone, he even felt lonely. As desolate as a cold, dried-out pizza.
“I’ve never really thought about it that way…”
Mrs. Lee suddenly felt that she might be lonely when Gong Pyeonghwa’s stay at his in-laws’ house ended.
It seemed like it would be quite lonely without that ceaselessly chattering voice.
“Mother-in-law~! What should we do now? It seems too early to prepare dinner?”
“I usually do yoga or go to concerts or exhibitions.”
“Don’t you join any social gatherings? My, uh, mother is busy every day.”
Gong Pyeonghwa’s mother was quite the social butterfly. Jogging at dawn, tea club in the morning, brunch café tours and volleyball club in the afternoon, stock investment club, and what else was there…
Anyway, she was busy. She had a fulfilling day.
In comparison, his mother-in-law’s life was quite monotonous. Boring, even lonely.
‘She might get depressed.’
It made him realize anew how different the two families’ personalities were.
‘Was Saebyeok adjusting to me? Ah, whatever. I think our Saebyeok loves me too much?’
He missed Saebyeok even more. Not seeing him for just one day made him more affectionate.
Love might need hardship and adversity.
But…
‘Our love doesn’t need such things!’
Gong Pyeonghwa, lacking in his Saebyeok blood concentration, was getting dizzy. He wanted to somehow feel Saebyeok’s voice, or at least a trace of him.
Did Gong Pyeonghwa have any intention of staying the full 100 days? No such thing. As soon as he heard it, he was only thinking about how to meet Saebyeok by any means necessary, legal or otherwise.
‘Saebyeok must feel the same way? Couples are of one mind and body after all.’
***
He was wrong.
‘Hardship, adversity, and overcoming it all – first day at work.’
The telepathy of love didn’t reach him, and Shin Saebyeok was burning with passion to complete the given task.
***
“Aren’t you going in?”
“No— the house is so impressive that I’m just admiring it…”
Gong Pyeonghwa was mentally calculating his escape.
Gong Pyeonghwa was staying on the third floor in Shin Saebyeok’s room, which was higher than an ordinary third-floor villa due to the high ceiling.
Gong Pyeonghwa had a plan since he was 18 when he decided to have a secret relationship with Shin Saebyeok.
From cradle to grave, from dating to burial, every plan was mapped out, but there was nothing like “Living with the In-Laws 101” among them.
But he did have a contingency plan in case they had to break up due to strong parental opposition.
He thought he could modify that plan to escape, but it wasn’t coming together as well as he’d hoped.
“The house is really big and tall.”
Well, assuming he could escape somehow with strength and stamina, he would need money to rendezvous with Saebyeok…
His personal account had been frozen for fraud. Gong Sarang, that orangutan-like person, had clearly set him up. Gong Sarang was of no help in life.
His ID was taken, his account was blocked, and all the cards, phone, and even luxury goods that could be sold second-hand were completely stripped from him.
‘Even in high school, I had more money than this…’
Well, there were many places he could borrow money from. Friends, or Seonwoo Jeong, or Mr. Seonwoo Jeong who had mountains of bank loans.
“The sun seems nice. Would you like to take a walk in the garden?”
“No, no. I prefer being with you, Mother-in-law.”
Gong Pyeonghwa decided to stick close to his mother-in-law and look for an opportunity. Everything should seem natural after all!
The kitchen was as busy as a restaurant.
Rice and soup had to be freshly made for each meal, and vegetables and fresh kimchi had to be seasoned daily. It took a lot of effort to make delicious food without artificial seasonings.
Gong Pyeonghwa observed the master craftsmanship that went beyond being a great housewife.
‘I’ll learn this and do it for our Saebyeok.’
But it seemed like this wasn’t something one could just learn, and Gong Pyeonghwa experienced difficulty for the first time in his life.
Still, he would overcome it with love. He tightened his apron strings with determination.
“I’m home…”
Shin Noeul was startled and stepped back at the sight of Gong Pyeonghwa in an apron.
A man that large in our kitchen, wearing a pink apron…
“Isn’t the apron pretty? Pink suits men best after all.”
The fact that a man with such intense masculine energy was in her home felt unfamiliar and strange.
The newly added family member, her brother-in-law? Sister-in-law? seemed to be a unique person.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
