“……”
What does that mean…?
Click.
I was still trying to understand Baek Woojin’s words when Eunseong-ssi had already made coffee and placed cups on the table.
“By the way, Kkotsu’s father, is it really okay for you to be away suddenly? Oh, I guess it doesn’t matter since you’re the hospital director?”
“……”
Baek Woojin didn’t respond to Eunseong-ssi’s question. Was he angry about something? I found myself examining his expression.
“Well, if you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. Seungyeon-ssi, please try the coffee.”
“Ah… yes, I’ll enjoy it.”
I took a sip of the café latte that Eunseong-ssi had been boasting about. The moment the coffee touched my mouth, I could taste its smooth, deep flavor. It really was a well-made café latte.
“How is it? Which one’s better?”
“Pardon…?”
As expected, Eunseong-ssi really wanted to know whether his café latte or Baek Woojin’s was better.
“Ah, well…”
This was awkward. I thought we’d just laugh it off… Plus, unlike before, Baek Woojin was now sitting next to me. As I racked my brain for a safe way out of this situation, I smiled brightly and said:
“Actually… Eunseong-ssi, I don’t really know coffee flavors that well… Everything tastes good to me. You know those vending machine coffees? I really like those too.”
That was the truth. Even if one of them had used cheap beans—though that’s unlikely—I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.
“Hmm, is that so? That’s fortunate.”
I expected him to be disappointed, but surprisingly, Eunseong-ssi nodded with a gentle smile.
“Well, if a special cup of coffee made by someone is just one among many coffees… That changes everything, doesn’t it? Don’t you agree, Kkotsu’s father?”
Eunseong-ssi turned his gaze toward Baek Woojin while saying something difficult to understand. Their eyes met in an instant. It seemed like sparks were flying, and I had the strange thought that they might fall for each other.
*
My consultation with Eunseong-ssi lasted about 30 minutes. During that time, Baek Woojin sat on the sofa, either looking at the snow falling outside the window or occasionally stroking Anko’s head when the cat approached him. He looked so peaceful that I kept glancing his way even while talking with Eunseong-ssi.
“Um… Seungyeon-ssi?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Please continue.”
I corrected my gaze and listened to Eunseong-ssi’s explanation.
“So… if you want to completely remove yourself from your husband’s family register, you can transfer your registration to your birth family.”
“Ah… my birth family…”
Chae Seungyeon grew up as an orphan, so he had no birth family, no relatives, and no one he was close to.
If that’s not possible, does it mean I can never completely separate from the Gwak family…?
“Well, there is another option…”
“Another option?”
I listened carefully to Eunseong-ssi’s words.
“Yes, if you remarry, you can transfer your family registration to your new husband’s family.”
Remarry… husband…?
I opened my eyes wide at these unfamiliar words.
Well, I shouldn’t be surprised anymore. Right, Chae Seungyeon is an omega who can marry a male alpha…
“But that would only remove you, not Hyeol. And regarding Hyeol’s surname, it can only be changed if your new husband adopts him after remarriage. If you want to change it to your surname now… you’d need the agreement of that family.”
“To my surname…?”
I hadn’t thought about that… To be honest, even if I wanted to change the surname, my mother-in-law would never allow it. Besides, whether it’s Gwak Hyeol or Chae Hyeol, the name would still sound ridiculous.
“Gwak Hyeol or Chae Hyeol…”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, nothing. Thank you, Eunseong-ssi. I’ve learned a lot thanks to you.”
“Haha, not at all, I just did what I needed to do. Is there anything else you’d like to ask?”
Eunseong-ssi wore a somewhat shy expression as he asked if I had additional questions. Feeling like I’d already taken up too much time, I decided to get up, saying it was fine.
“Eunseong-ssi, thank you so much for explaining everything so kindly… And the coffee was great.”
“Oh, you’re leaving already?”
“Yes… I came by so suddenly… and you probably have work to do…”
And Baek Woojin is waiting. While it wasn’t uncomfortable that he was waiting for me, I just kept feeling conscious of his presence.
“I see, can’t be helped then…”
Eunseong-ssi stood up with a dejected expression. I repeatedly thanked him while quickly gathering my things and approached Anko, who was lying in front of the heater.
“Anko, goodbye. I’m leaving now.”
“Meoww…”
When I stroked his head, Anko purred and rolled over. As I gently rubbed his exposed belly, his long tail wrapped around my arm.
“Anko seems to want you to stay. Just like me…”
Eunseong-ssi had appeared beside us and was staring at Anko and me with a wistful expression. Feeling sorry for his apparent disappointment, I murmured softly:
“…Then I’ll have to come visit again sometime, if only to see Anko.”
“Really? Please come by anytime, Seungyeon-ssi!”
Though I’d just said it casually, Eunseong-ssi raised his voice in genuine delight.
When you’re that happy about it, I have no choice but to come again… Ah, next time I should bring Hyeol. Kkotsu would like it too, if Baek Woojin allows it. Though I’m not sure if the kids will like cats…
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
Just then, Baek Woojin, who had apparently stepped outside the office at some point, called me from the open door. Sensing his urgency, I quickly removed my hand from Anko and gathered my things.
“Eunseong-ssi, see you next time…!”
“Yes, take care… sniff Seungyeon-ssi…”
With Eunseong-ssi now on the verge of tears, I hastily said goodbye and followed after Baek Woojin.
“Um, Woojin-ssi…?”
Perhaps he had been very uncomfortable, as Baek Woojin was already heading down the stairs.
“It’s snowing heavily.”
Though we hadn’t been inside that long, large snowflakes were already falling heavily from the sky.
“What should we do? It’s difficult to park in front of the building, so we’ll need to walk to the parking lot across the street.”
“I see… That’s okay, I have an umbrella.”
I opened the umbrella I was holding.
Snatch.
“Huh?”
Baek Woojin suddenly grabbed the umbrella handle from my hand, put his arm around my shoulder, and started walking.
“It’s better if I hold it.”
With Baek Woojin holding the umbrella, my view suddenly cleared. The umbrella was held high above my head. I became acutely aware of the height difference between us.
What did he eat to grow so tall? Since Kkotsu shares Baek Woojin’s genes, will he grow this tall someday too?
As I was thinking this while stealing glances at Baek Woojin, our eyes met directly.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t help but misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand?”
What misunderstanding…? Ah, maybe…
‘I think I’m starting to understand Chae Seungyeon-ssi a bit better now.’
‘Rather than showing with eyes, I need to directly explain how much affection I have… for the other person to understand.’
Is this a continuation of what he said earlier…?
Right, since the topic had come up, I thought I should clarify things.
“Um… Woojin-ssi. About what you said earlier…”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“It must be frustrating for you?”
“…?”
“The truth is… I’m really quite dense. My family used to tell me that a lot when I was young… That’s why I didn’t even realize that novel was BL at first and kept reading it. I just thought it was a strange novel my sister wrote…”
I did feel something was off about the novel (whose title I can barely remember), but it took me a long time to realize what it was.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
