episode_0284

***

He stared at the can of beer on the table.

As if it had been cold just a moment ago, it had become lukewarm due to his body temperature.

“Guardian….”

His eyes were motionless.

“…I don’t like it?”

She puts her arms down on the table and turns her head to the other side.

These are my inner thoughts that were revealed through the power of alcohol. Like his beer on the table, I was disappointed that the response was lukewarm.

No, maybe she was giving her heart to him more than he should.

Asking someone you just met not long ago to be your real guardian… saying something like that would be proof of that.

I just trace the surface of the can with my finger. He still doesn’t say anything.

Glancing at him, she turns her eyes to look at him.

He didn’t look embarrassed by the sudden suggestion. Rather, it was calm.

As if he knew this would happen.

He seemed to be faced with a choice.

Maybe there is something in stock. She thought so.

“It’s sudden.”

Have we finished calculating the pros and cons? When he opened his mouth, his eyes were focused on her.

“For that matter, his face doesn’t seem the least bit surprised.”

She put her face on the table and puffed out her cheeks.

Kang In-ho let out a laugh at the sight of her grumbling.

“So… what is the answer?”

Kim Seong-ah persistently asked, and Kang In-ho smiled bitterly.

“If you want someone who cares more about you and understands you more, you would have to be a fake guardian.”

“What does that mean? ‘I don’t really understand.’

“If I were you now, I would approve of everything you do, and I wouldn’t say anything if you do whatever you want.”

He picks up a can of lukewarm beer and puts it to his mouth.

“But, if I become your guardian… we’ll probably fight a lot. Do you want that?”

He wet his throat with a stinging light brown liquid and continued speaking.

“…I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

“It means meddling in your life more. In the process, you will definitely hear unpleasant things from me.”

“Um….”

At his explanation, Seongah Kim kept her mouth shut. I did not understand the difference between the fake guardian that Kang In-ho talked about and the real guardian.

Isn’t real better than fake? She thought simply.

While she was thinking to herself, making a single sound, Kang In-ho put the bibim noodles that had just begun to swell into her mouth.

For a while, the sound of noodles being sucked appeared at the table, then disappeared.

“Mister, whatever it is… Are you closer to a real guardian than a fake guardian?”

“In a way, I guess so.”

“Then, please be my real guardian.”

“Are you confident you won’t regret it?”

He receives confirmation again. Seongah Kim had no hesitation.

“To the point of regret…”

“I’m asking seriously.”

Something serious. Seeing the face she had never shown before, Kim Seong-ah also straightened her posture and swallowed.

It wasn’t the usual fierce or playful face like a friend’s.

His face was dull and sunken, his eyes were lifeless, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, yet he was smiling gently.

It was too complicated and tangled for Kim Seong-ah, who had just lived for 20 years, to understand.

“…I won’t regret it.”

“You mean I can be deeply involved in your life?”

Last check.

If you say yes here, it is the last stop on a one-way train.

You have to decide whether to get off the train or not.

“…Yes.”

She chose to continue on the train.

“Okay, I will do it. Your guardian.”

When she nodded, becoming more serious in response to his mood, he let out a small sigh.

It felt like resignation to something I couldn’t reject.

He picked up the bibim noodles from the pot again and started transferring them to his bowl.

Were you very hungry? Seongah Kim thought.

“Oh, and one more thing. There’s something I need to make clear.”

“Why are there so many conditions?”

As he spoke, still picking up the noodles, Kim Seong-ah grunted.

He silently moved the noodles, and a considerable amount of red noodles were placed in his bowl.

He lifted the noodles with chopsticks and spoke indifferently in passing.

“Don’t love me. In any way, in any form.”

Standing tall, Kim Seong-ah’s body stops.

She stares at him with wide eyes.

“Uncle….”

Her small lips parted, and a trembling voice escaped.

“Did you hurt your head? It’s true that I think of you closely… but that doesn’t mean I feel affection for you, right?”

As if she was dumbfounded, she kept saying, ‘Huh.’ He let out an exclamation.

Seeing her shrug her shoulders and completely deny his words, Kang In-ho smiled bitterly and put the noodles in his mouth.

“Yes, I hope you keep doing that.”

***

After eating and cleaning up, the house she and he lived in became quiet.

While he was organizing the kitchen, Seongah Kim, who was sitting on a chair at the dining table watching YouTube, saw Inho Kang take off his rubber gloves and went up to her room.

“Ah, uh…”

He crossed his hands and stretched them high.

This was because my shoulders were tense from constantly washing dishes and clearing the table.

“I should sit down for a while and then go to sleep. It also helps digest what you eat.”

‘I need to bring out the strength within my body again.’

While he was wondering how to get the power, a sound began to come from the landing.

Kim Seong-ah, who had already changed into her pajamas, slightly raised her buttocks on the railing and called out to him.

“Uncle.”

“Uh.”

“When are you going to sleep?”

“Digest what you ate and go to sleep, in about 2 hours?”

“Really? Then, I’ll sleep first.”

“Hey, digest it and sleep too. If you lie down right after eating…”

“So you can?”

“No, reflux esophagitis. You don’t know it because you’re young, but if it becomes chronic later on, it becomes really bad…”

“What, he really looks like an old man.”

Without listening to him, she goes up to the second floor again.

When she was halfway up and only her lower body was visible, she stopped.

“Uncle.”

Hearing the voice calling him again, Kang In-ho looks in her direction.

“The room next to mine is empty… Do you want to sleep there from now on?”

“Well… it doesn’t matter, but now?”

“Just… Now that I think about it, I think you need a room too… I think it would be better to sleep in a proper room. Of course, there is no bed. Instead, you can lay down a guest blanket.”

“Okay. I will do that.”

Kang In-ho answered with ease.

“Yes, and I’m going to sleep while watching YouTube. If you’re bored, come to my room.”

After saying those words, she went back into her room.

“…….”

Kang In-ho looked at the second floor, where she would be, for a long time.

“…Yes, why didn’t you ask us to sleep together in the same room?”

Many experiences have taught him to find happiness in small places.