“Ah, th-thank you…”
He looks quite shy and gentle.
“By the way, was that tall person holding your hand earlier your boyfriend?”
He looks exactly like Saebyeok.
***
Shin Noeul, the quiet cat, faced the greatest crisis of her life.
How did he know? When? How? Did he see? Did he see it? Where did he see it? Was I caught? Or not? Is he right?
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“So it’s true?”
“No, no! I was just studying with that friend?”
He might have seen someone else. No, that was more likely. I’ll just deny it.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s how it was with Saebyeok and me too. Studying with interlocked fingers, kissing during breaks.”
“We haven’t kissed ye-!”
Shin Noeul was startled by her own words and slapped her lips.
‘Is the inability to lie a genetic trait in Saebyeok’s family?’
Gong Pyeonghwa looked sympathetically at Shin Noeul, whose face clearly said ‘I’m hiding something,’ ‘I’m lying,’ and ‘This is my first time lying.’
“So you haven’t kissed yet.”
“No, I mean…!”
“Anyway, it’s a secret from your parents, right?”
Like most people, no one wants to candidly share their love life with their parents.
Especially if the family atmosphere is conservative.
“Ah. What if I accidentally say something? I have such a loose tongue.”
“You do look like it.”
“…”
What? What? I keep secrets very well! Gong Pyeonghwa almost childishly retorted but forced himself to hold back by tensing his brain.
“I may have a loose tongue, but I’m also quite loyal. If you do me one favor, I think we can both win-win. What do you think, young lady?”
“I can only think that you seem like a con artist.”
She really can’t lie. Or maybe she’s just choosing not to? Gong Pyeonghwa was suspicious but decided to let it slide.
“…What’s the favor?”
Shin Noeul asked reluctantly, with a mind to hear him out.
“Can you contact the orangutan, I mean, Gong Sarang for me?”
“…What would you like me to tell her?”
“I’ll kill her— I mean, since Saebyeok is staying in my room, tell her to install blinds, set up equipment to maintain 50% humidity at all times, and replace the pillow with one slightly lower than the one I use.”
“…”
Saebyeok was sensitive and easily stressed by even small changes in his environment. He didn’t seem to realize it himself, but it manifested in reduced appetite or quickly getting feverish.
By now, he was surely accumulating fatigue from not sleeping properly.
Gong Pyeonghwa was asking for the tearful handover of care instructions he had wanted to give all along.
‘Was my brother the Princess and the Pea?’
No, isn’t he worse than the Princess and the Pea? Noeul, who had been taking Gong Pyeonghwa’s words at face value, paused at the overprotectiveness.
It seemed too random and impolite to convey this exactly as stated.
Noeul sent a personal message to Gong Sarang and then relayed Gong Pyeonghwa’s requirements.
A quick acknowledgment came back, and when she showed the screen, Gong Pyeonghwa seemed satisfied.
“Are we done now?”
“Thank you. And one more favor.”
“…What is it?”
“Let me borrow your phone for a bit.”
Gong Pyeonghwa winked mischievously.
“That’s… not allowed! It’s against the rules, and also…”
“Would you like me to let you meet your boyfriend without getting caught? Legally? Without leaving any traces?”
“…”
There seemed to be a vein of romantic inclination flowing through this family. Even her father-in-law, whom she thought was a cyborg with electricity flowing instead of blood, stumbled before love. And Shin Saebyeok, the stubborn bookworm who only knew studying, had committed so many small rebellions in his own way while dating Gong Pyeonghwa.
This house definitely had the blood of incurable romantics flowing through it.
“How is that even possible…”
“Ha, your new sis— new brother has a plan. Don’t you trust your new brother?”
Since she hadn’t seen a single trustworthy aspect of him yet, Noeul couldn’t bring herself to have faith.
“Even teenagers can hang out until 10 PM, right? Isn’t it disappointing to come back by 8 PM? Maybe you’re not disappointed, but your boyfriend must be super disappointed.”
“…I’m disappointed too, you know?”
“Is your boyfriend’s family strict too?”
“No…”
Then he’ll probably come running if you call him.
“Let’s make this simple. Young lady. Hm? Sister-in-law? Hm? Hm? Hm?”
***
To: My beloved, eternal, lovely Saebyeok
* * *
What will I be doing by the time you check this email?
I’m imprisoned in the delicious-food prison of my in-laws, serving my sentence of living with them, waiting for the day of my release, and missing you. Except for your absence, I’m living fairly well.
How’s the prison food at our house? Are the humans feeding you too much? Is Gong Sarang being annoying? Is Iseul doing well? Are you sleeping well? The weather has been fluctuating, so I hope you haven’t caught a cold. I don’t think they’d make you feel uncomfortable, but if you ever feel that way, be sure to tell me. I’ll report it to the police.
Don’t worry about me. Mother-in-law is a wonderful person, and Father-in-law only stumbles in front of Mother-in-law. I plan to conquer him with my aegyo soon!!!! Haha!!!!
Of course, since we did something wrong, I’m now serving my sentence as an obedient criminal, but I can’t live without seeing you for 101 days, so I’m planning to escape soon.
Isn’t this proactive side also one of my charms?
Hoping you’ll see this email, I’ll end here for today.
I want to see you soon, my love ㅠ3ㅠ)♥♥♥♥
***
“Where are you going?”
“Ah, I’m craving chicken, and it’s boring to go alone, so I thought I’d take her along to get to know her better. Right?”
Noeul nodded her stiff neck up and down.
“Is there anything you need? I’ll buy it for you.”
“Hmm, no. If you eat late at night, you won’t be able to digest it properly…”
Though the words were concerned, her expression wasn’t.
It was a face that said, ‘You’ve been eating like that all day, and you even just had an éclair. How much more can you fit?’
“Where are you going so late at night?”
Unlike Mrs. Lee, Chairman Shin openly displayed his displeasure.
“That’s strange? I thought you’d be happy about it.”
Of course, he wanted to kick Gong Pyeonghwa out of the house dozens of times a day, but for whose benefit would he be doing that?
“If Noeul and I aren’t here, you two can… huh? huh? like? huh? huh?”
Just the two of them… With a lewd smile and making a heart shape with his hands, Chairman Shin finally understood what Gong Pyeonghwa meant and jumped up from his seat, shouting.
“You rascal!”
“Hahaha. We’ll be back!”
Gong Pyeonghwa laughed like a mischievous child and dragged Noeul out of the house.
“Quickly call your boyfriend and tell him you’re buying him chicken. He’ll be so excited he’ll come running.”
That’s what I would do. Gong Pyeonghwa hummed a happy tune as he started the car.
Even as Noeul sat in the passenger seat, she kept anxiously looking back and forth between her phone and the mansion.
“What kind of guy is your boyfriend? No special meaning, but since I’m letting you two meet late at night, I should know what kind of guy he is. Is he a player?”
That would be no good. He asked hoping for a pure love.
Fortunately, Noeul blushed shyly but gave Gong Pyeonghwa the answer he wanted.
“He’s just… kind.”
***
He said the guy was kind.
His face doesn’t look kind at all.
Noeul, are you dating a gangster?
With a rebellious face and somewhat unstable eyes, he didn’t have a good impression no matter how you looked at him.
“Who’s this old man?”
Old man? OLD MAN? Yes, I am an old man. An old man who even has a child! When you marry this guy later, you’ll have to call me older brother, you know?
“Um, nice to meet you. Our young lady’s boyfriend has a strong impression.”
“Are you her lackey?”
What did you say, punk?
“He’s asking if you’re a butler or something. He knows the answer.”
Then he openly emitted pheromones indicating his displeasure. Gong Pyeonghwa was also annoyed by the bad-mannered pheromones and was about to put him in his place when…
“It’s not like that. Um, in terms of titles, he’s my new sister.”
New sister.
New sister…
It was somehow a deflating title.
“Ah, it seems like my new brother might have been adopted by our mother. Since he’s my brother’s husband? From my perspective, he’s someone who came from a different family? So new sister… seems correct in terms of titles…”
“Right. Since Father-in-law recognized me as a male daughter-in-law, that title is technically correct. But, but… let’s sort out the titles when we go home…”
“Yes…”
Gong Pyeonghwa looked the boyfriend up and down.
He looked young, but with those unstable eyes, he didn’t seem like a kind and innocent guy.
“Student. Give me your phone.”
“Why?”
“Noeul, this won’t work. Let’s just go home.”
“Here.”
As he promptly handed over his phone, Gong Pyeonghwa waved it and said:
“Unlock the pattern. I’m going to contact Noeul unexpectedly with this, and if there’s any suspicious behavior, there won’t be any more outings like today.”
Who does this old man think he is? As the boyfriend was about to flare up, Noeul held his hand tightly and whispered in his ear.
At that, though he still glared with delinquent eyes, he bowed his head in greeting.
Since he wasn’t excessively marking his territory with Noeul and seemed to listen to her, it probably wouldn’t be too much trouble.
Gong Pyeonghwa gave them his father-in-law’s card, saying he would pick them up later and they should use it to buy chicken.
Noeul also bowed in greeting, but then tilted her head curiously when she saw her father’s name on the card.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
