Chapter 55: The obvious

“Oh my, what’s wrong with her all of a sudden? Are you okay?”

Unni, who had been coughing for a while, finally looked at me with a worried expression through the rearview mirror.
I shook my head, meaning it was okay if she didn’t want to talk.

Come to think of it, we had made up all those useless settings like our first meeting and first date, but we hadn’t set the most important one: “why we started dating.”

We were both probably unconsciously embarrassed. We knew it deep down, but we kept putting it off.

“That’s a good point.”

Father slapped his knee and exclaimed. Hot air was puffing out of his nostrils.

“Yes, what was it about our daughter that our Dojin-ssi liked so much? How much did you like her to the point of living together? Huh? Tell me.”

“Ah, that’s…”

As I rolled my thoughts around in my head, I heard a tapping sound from the passenger seat.

“…What are you thinking so hard about? You should know this like the back of your hand.”

A voice filled with dissatisfaction echoed through the car.
Ah, what the hell. Thinking too hard about this kind of question will only lead to a contrived answer.

I let out an awkward laugh and opened my mouth.

“I apologize. I was trying to polish my words to give you a wonderful answer, but I got carried away…”

“Hey, you think I’d get mad over something like that?”

“Well, I guess I got greedy after hearing a few compliments.”

“Anyway…”

Father, who had been clicking his tongue, suddenly smiled and tapped my right shoulder.

“I like it.”

The car shook slightly.
I paid my respects to the engineers who designed the lane-keeping assist system and licked my lips.

“So, what is it? You don’t have to embellish it, just speak comfortably.”

“Ah, yes. It’s a little embarrassing to say, but…”

I cleared my throat and continued.

“Her inclusiveness… I guess you could call it that.”

“Inclusiveness?”

“Yes, as you know, Father, a person can’t always show their good side.”

“That’s right, like you just a moment ago.”

I let out a bitter laugh and nodded.

“I lied a lot. Just to hide that one thing.”

“You did something useless. It’s bound to show on your face anyway.”

“You’re absolutely right. So in the end, it showed on my face a lot too. And I made a fool of myself trying to hide it.”

I wore a mask. I thought it was necessary to blend in with others, since I was so different from the norm.

However, that only widened the distance between me and other people.
Using social skills as an excuse, I came to my own conclusions and isolated myself without trying to communicate properly.

Looking back, it was a really foolish thing to do.

“It was unni who made me realize that was wrong. She, she really accepted every part of me.”

I meant it. I was able to regain my confidence because of her. I was able to find the courage to open up to others.

It was after I got to know her that my relationships with the other club members, including Chae Seolha, deepened.

Because there was someone who affirmed my true nature, I was able to love myself again.

“The parts of me that I wanted to hide could be seen differently by someone else. When I thought about it like that, it was like a wake-up call. I was ashamed. Unni had been trying to face me for a long time, but I had been distorting her feelings out of fear.”

That was no different from insulting that person’s feelings.

“Anyway, it’s only natural to fall for someone like that… I think. For me.”

Come to think of it, I think I was jealous.

I didn’t want to admit that what was reflected in unni’s eyes, which I thought were looking at me, was actually someone else.

I didn’t want to be abandoned by her, after Chae Seolha.

That’s why I did whatever she wanted. To draw all that attention to myself.

But the more I did, the more my existence blurred in her eyes, and feeling resentful about that, I even said things I shouldn’t have.

“I see.”
“Yes.”

Unni, reflected in the rearview mirror, had her head bowed.

“Well, he sure can say embarrassing things without changing his expression.”

“Haha.”

“Why? It’s romantic and nice.”

Mother, who had interrupted, muttered in a pouting voice.

“Sigh, when will I ever hear something like that?”

“Ah, why did the conversation suddenly turn that way? Who said they didn’t like it? It’s just, well… a little embarrassing.”

“Forget it. I’m just a fish you’ve already caught, is that it?”

“No, I told you it’s not like that… I-I love you, I love you. I love you as much as the sky and the earth.”

Father, as he said that, was sweating profusely. His eyelids seemed to be opening and closing every second.

“…Just with words?”

“…”

“Is it over with just words?”

As Father shook his head slightly, Mother, as if she had been waiting, reached over the seat and tapped his shoulder.

“Take care of it when we get back.”

Her words, tinged with a faint laugh, echoed through the car. Father trembled and nodded.

“Daughter.”

Mother smiled brightly and tapped Dasom’s thigh.

“Don’t you have anything to share?”

“What?”

“Well, don’t you have any fun stories? Dojin-ssi has done so much, our daughter can’t just lose. You have to respond.”

“Ah, ah.”

“Sowemetinoursecondyearofcollegeinavideographyclassandgotclosewhiledoingagroupproject—”

“Hey, not something you’ve prepared beforehand!”

Father pointed his finger at unni and clicked his tongue.

“You know, not that kind of thing. The other person’s quirks or good points that only you know. You know, what’s it called, TMC? No, TMP? Spill it all out.”

“It’s not TMP, it’s TMI. Too much information.”

“Right, too much information. Do you understand?”

“W-Well, even if you say that…”

Unni ran her hand through her hair, looking flustered by the sudden situation.

“Speaking of which, there’s a mole on my husband’s neck. And there’s a single hair, about the size of a fingernail, growing on it. It’s funny to look at, and it also bothers me sometimes, so I sometimes pull it out when he’s sleeping. And the way he flinches when I do that is so cute I could die.”
“What?”

Startled, Father touched the back of his neck. Mother watched him with a chuckle and spoke.

“It’s probably not there. I pulled it out yesterday.”

“…I thought I felt something prickling sometimes.”

Mother smiled faintly and took Dasom’s hand.

“Daughter, this is what I want to hear.”

“Still, you’ll probably find it boring. I don’t know much either…”

“Forget it, hurry up. There must be one or two things, right?”

“…Don’t complain later that it’s boring.”

Unni sighed deeply and then lifted her head.

“Since we’re on the topic of moles, let me start with that…”

“Go on.”

“Our Dojin has about 17 moles on his body. Ah, the ‘about’ is just an estimate, so please don’t misunderstand. There are places like his butt that I can’t check. Anyway, each and every one of those moles is as small as Dojin’s face and incredibly cute, but the cutest among them are the four moles on his left biceps. You know, if you connect them in a line, they look exactly like the constellation Aries. Pfft, doesn’t it suit Dojin perfectly? Speaking of sheep, you know, our Dojin’s hair always curls up to the left when he wakes up in the morning. I wondered how it could do that, and when I touched it, it was so fluffy and rough, just like real sheep’s wool. Dojin never wakes up once he’s asleep, no matter what you do, so I end up touching it for a long time without realizing it, and that’s a problem. It’s not like it’s a drug or anything. Anyway, back to the main topic—”

Unni’s story ended after the car entered a rest stop.

No, it’s not that she ran out of things to say, but rather that the conversation was forcibly terminated because someone had to go to the restroom.

“Um, daughter? Mom just needs to use the restroom for a moment—”
“No, no, so listen. You know, I was wondering how Dojin’s walk became so cute, so I imagined it a little. It’s probably—”

Father, who was watching her, tapped my shoulder and said.

“You must have saved a country in your past life. Don’t you think so?”
“…Yes.”