Chapter 53: Nonsense

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

A giant brass bowl was placed before me with a clatter. It was a shinsunro, something I had only ever seen in textbooks.

As I examined the bowl with curious eyes, Oh Cheongmyeong, who was setting the dishes in front of me, smiled brightly and opened the lid.

He was still too handsome to be just a bodyguard.

“It took quite a bit of effort to find someone who could do it properly. The young lady pulled some strings.”

“I see.”

The person in question, Oh Minseo, was fiddling with her phone with a nonchalant expression.

“Then, I’ll be taking my leave now. Please enjoy your meal.”

Oh Cheongmyeong bowed his head in farewell and then left the dining room with measured steps.

As soon as the door closed, Oh Minseo put down her phone as if she had been waiting and picked up her chopsticks.

“You must have been hungry from waiting. Let’s eat…”

I was currently at Oh Minseo’s house. I had received an invitation from her early this morning.

“How is it, does it suit your taste…?”

Oh Minseo asked as I chewed and carefully savored the taste.
Regardless of whether it suited my taste or not, the quality was so high that it couldn’t be bought even with money.

“Yeah, it’s light and delicious.”

“Don’t just eat that, have some of this too… Ah, this too…”

Oh Minseo said, pushing the plates of food towards me.
From pasta to sweet and sour pork, and even lobster. A mountain of food was piled high.

Even a buffet wouldn’t have this much variety.

“I was wondering what was up, since you called me so early in the morning.”

“Why, you thought I was going to ask for another strange favor…?”

As I was contemplating how to answer, a dry laugh flew towards me.
Oh Minseo, sitting across from me, shrugged with an artificial smile.

“Just… kidding. Since you showed me something fun, it’s only polite to repay you this much….”

“So you saw it.”

Oh Minseo nodded slightly.

“Tell me if you need the recording…”

“There are too many embarrassing scenes to show anyone.”

“Come on, that’s what makes it fun…”

Oh Minseo twisted her lips as she sprinkled sugar on her cream pasta.

“Watching those arrogant bitches cry and wail, it feels like a blockage has been cleared….”

If you were really that kind of person, the three of us wouldn’t have had to suffer so much at the hospital after leaving the island.
I was so bored, stuck there for three days with all the detailed examinations and what not, unable to move.

Oh Cheongmyeong said he had acted on his own, but a little conversation with him was enough to know that he was far from being a person who acted on his own.

I swallowed the words that were crawling up my throat and drank some water.

“Ah, that’s why I’m even more disappointed…”

“What is?”

“That I couldn’t participate in the farewell party…”

Her eyes, as she mumbled with her pasta, were genuinely downcast with disappointment.

“Seeing it through a camera and seeing it with my own eyes are two different things…”

“It was surprising. It’s a little strange for someone like you to miss it because of the weather.”

Everything on the island, from basic things like tents and beds to recreational content like the escape room, was set up for six people.

“Yeah, I actually scheduled it for that day because I knew about it… I like that kind of thing, what should I call it, getting stranded? Survival…? Anyway, I prepared a lot, and it was a perfect plan in every way…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Oh Minseo stabbed her pasta with the fork she was holding.

“I didn’t expect another company to make a mistake…?”

A strange heat lingered in her hand as she tossed the pasta noodles around.

“What was it, they said they added an extra zero… How ridiculous, they didn’t even check properly and just started arguing…”

Oh Minseo sighed and then opened her mouth again, her expression dissatisfied as she tapped her fork.

“Well, that doesn’t matter anyway…”

The fork she was holding pointed at me, gleaming coldly.

“Because Dojin will show us something fun again soon…”
“So you knew.”

Oh Minseo, resting her face on her hand, chuckled and replied.

“Of course, it’s the only thing I live for, so I have to pay attention…”
“Did you install CCTVs in Dasom’s house or something?”

I knew it wasn’t true, but I deliberately asked with a suspicious look.

“Oh my, Dojin, you… Are you trying to get arrested…?”

Oh Minseo clutched her shoulders and pretended to shudder.

“Do you know how to legally find out everything about a person’s private life, down to the last detail…?”

Instead of answering, I looked at Oh Minseo with a questioning gaze.

“You become friends with them… Then at some point, they’ll start spilling everything, even things you don’t want to hear… And very vividly…”

“So there’s a way to find out everything.”

“Yeah… So Dojin, you too, stop worrying about strange things and just think about how to make it fun…”

It was an absurd statement.
If she truly only wanted stimulation, she wouldn’t have wasted a whole year in that lukewarm club.

But I shouldn’t be hasty. I still don’t know exactly what’s in Oh Minseo’s heart.
There’s nothing to be gained by rushing to a conclusion. That’s just arrogance.

“Okay.”

So for now, let’s leave it at that.
Slowly, to get to know her by her side.

****

“Um… Dojin?”

As I was smoothly navigating the highway, tapping the steering wheel, a soft voice came from beside me. It was Dasom.

“Yeah, unni. Why?”

“Aren’t you getting dizzy from driving after such a long time? I-I can take over now. There’s a rest stop over there, so let’s pull over…”

“It’s okay, it’s refreshing and nice.”

“Ah, r-right? I guess so. Sorry, I shouldn’t have meddled.”

Dasom replied in a barely audible voice.

“In the first place, I was the one who stopped you from buying a car, Dojin. What am I saying, I have no shame…”

I decided to change the subject before her self-blame continued.

“Unni, I think we’ll be there soon. Let’s go over it one more time, just in case.”

“Ah, okay.”

“The reason we met—”

“We got close while doing a group project together in a videography class in our sophomore year of college, and we’ve been hanging out ever since. I got jealous seeing you being friendly with another girl, so I couldn’t stand it and confessed first. Our anniversary is April 26th, and this year is our 3rd anniversary.”

Dasom, who finished her answer like a machine gun before my question was even finished, muttered, “I was 2 seconds late,” and bit her nails.

“Unni, you can speak more slowly.”

“Dojin, next question, quickly.”

“Okay, but this time, speak slowly. On our first date—”

“Our first date as a couple was on April 27th. The weather was clear, but it suddenly started raining in the evening…”

In the end, Dasom, who couldn’t find a solution even three days before the promised date, had asked me to play the role of a fake boyfriend, and so we were on our way down to Pyeongtaek to meet her parents.

I spoke to Dasom, who was rattling off the story like a radio show.

“Her fluffy hair resembled a puppy, so I liked—”

“Unni.”

“Yes, Dojin, why? Are you suddenly tired? Should I drive?”

“No, that’s not it.”

I shook my head and continued.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“Huh? What?”

Dasom tilted her head with a puzzled expression. At the end of the road, a sign that read ‘Pyeongtaek’ was swaying, coming towards us.

“Introducing me.”

Unni said. The fake boyfriend act was only for this week. After that, she would find a suitable opportunity and say we broke up.

However, she must have known what a deflated balloon looked like when it hit the ground after being inflated to its limit.

“If you want, unni, I can somehow—”

“It’s okay.”

Dasom said, shaking her head.

“I can just go on a blind date then. And if that’s not enough, I can get married.”

“…”

“I’m not just lying without thinking about that much.”

She looked out the window with a rather serious expression and then bit her lip.

“I just… I just want to make them smile without any worries for now.”

When we arrived, the sun was setting beyond the crimson clouds.
Getting out of the car, I straightened my clothes and spoke to unni.

“I don’t look weird, do I?”

“Of course not! If someone says such a pretty girl looks weird, I’ll be the one to—”

Dasom, who had been stamping her feet and pouring out words as if frustrated, soon covered her mouth.

“I-I’m sorry. I was just trying to say it’s okay, but then I suddenly got a little carried away…”

“…No. Shall we go?”

Dasom, who had been walking silently along the road, soon stopped in front of a black gate.
Beyond the gate stood a cozy-looking single-family house.

Dasom, who had been taking deep breaths in front of the gate, finally reached out her finger as if she had made up her mind and pressed the doorbell.

—Yes, who is it?

“Mom, it’s me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the gate unlocked with a click. I cleared my throat and walked along the stone path laid out on the lawn.

And at the end of the path, a woman was waiting for us.

I narrowed my eyes and carefully examined the woman.
Her warm eyes, and her large bust that immediately caught my eye. Without a doubt, it was Dasom’s mother, no, my mother-in-law.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my.”

However, before I could even say anything, my mother-in-law exclaimed and then ran back inside, saying, “I’ll go get my husband, please wait.”

As I stood there awkwardly, wetting my dry lips, a heavy thud came from beyond the hallway.

At first, I thought something had fallen inside the house.
But after the sound echoed a few more times, I realized it was a different sound.

And when a muscular man with a build like a house, leaning on crutches, finally emerged from beyond the hallway, I thought:

I’m screwed.