episode_0125

Saturday arrived after my trip with the mother and daughter.

This time, I was with them in a nearby downtown area.

“It’s so crowded on a weekend evening. Is this where we’re meeting?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I think she’ll be here soon.”

Seo said in response to my comment.

Unlike her peaceful expression, Minah, standing next to her, seemed quite nervous.

“Minah, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah… Jihoon, I’m fine.”

“Why are you shaking so much? You don’t have to be nervous.”

She was pretending to be okay, but her face remained stiff.

The reason for her nervousness was that we were meeting Yuna here shortly.

It was a meeting where the two would meet as my girlfriends, not as the existing landlord and tenant.

From my perspective, I thought it would be easy to relax, but it seemed Minah was having a hard time doing so.

“Yuna might not like it very much…”

“Don’t worry, that will never happen.”

For the record, there was a reason why I chose a place outside of Seo’s house for the meeting.

If it felt like Yuna was being invited to Seo’s house, Minah would definitely try to treat her to this and that.

I hoped that everyone would feel comfortable during today’s meeting.

“Still, if a woman who used to be just an acquaintance suddenly shows up as Jihoon’s girlfriend…”

“Oppa! Seo!”

Just as Minah was unable to shake off her worries, Yuna arrived.

“Yuna, you’re here? Did your broadcast go well?”

“Yes! It ended just in time, so I came straight here!”

“You worked hard, Yuna.”

“Yes, Seo!”

Yuna greeted us with her usual bright face.

Soon, her eyes found Minah, who was standing awkwardly next to her.

“Hello, Ma’am! It’s been a while!”

“Oh, yes. Yuna… Are you, are you doing well?”

“Yes! I came here feeling so nervous today! Actually, I’m a big fan of yours!”

“A fan…?”

Minah asked, puzzled, but Yuna nodded without hesitation.

“Yes! After hearing that Seo and you were family, I looked up the videos you were in! But I was so impressed by how professional you looked in your white coat!”

“Impressed…?”

“Ah! To put it simply, I fell for you!”

“Oh…”

Even with the clear explanation, Minah couldn’t shake off her bewildered expression.

It was understandable.

Even if she was a celebrity, she wasn’t an idol, but to hear that Yuna, who was young enough to be her daughter, was a fan.

However, Yuna seemed genuinely happy to have met someone she admired, regardless of what the other person thought.

“Let’s be friends, fellow girlfriends of Jihoon! I’m your senior, so feel free to ask me anything about Oppa!”

“Yes, I will.”

Perhaps Yuna’s friendly attitude had finally put her at ease, as Minah’s voice became much lighter.

However, her face was filled with embarrassment at Yuna’s next words.

“Then can I call you Minah from now on?!”

“Minah?”

I had often told her that Minah looked so young that she looked more like an older sister than an aunt, but I guess that was genuine.

“Well, I’m not sure if I should be called Minah, considering my age…”

“What are you talking about! Minah suits you more! Please speak casually to me too. We’ll be seeing each other often from now on!”

“Yes, no. Oh, okay. Yuna…”

With the greetings over, we started walking to have lunch together.

A somewhat unusual combination of one man and three women.

Thankfully, no one gave us strange looks as we walked by.

This was partly because Minah was wearing sunglasses, which made her less noticeable, but it was also because no one around us knew that the four of us were in a relationship.

“Wow! This looks delicious!”

As the food we ordered at the restaurant came out, Yuna, who was sitting next to me, wiggled her shoulders in delight.

Following the food of Seo and Minah, who were sitting side by side across from me, mine was also placed on the table, and the meal continued in a more relaxed atmosphere than when we first met outside.

“Oh, how was the traditional inn? Was it good?”

At Yuna’s curious question, Seo, who was eating, answered.

“Yeah. It was made exactly like a real Japanese traditional inn.”

“Really? That sounds great…. Oppa! Let’s all go together next time! To a better place!”

“Okay, let’s do that. I’ll look into it.”

“Yay! Oh yeah, you said there was a hot spring there, right? Did you go in, Minah? How was it? I’ve never been to a hot spring before, so I’m curious.”

“Hot spring? Oh… Oh, you mean the hot spring?”

Minah stammered, as if she was still uncomfortable with speaking casually.

“It was, it was really nice. It felt like all the fatigue in my body was flying away. And it was outdoors, so the atmosphere was nice too…”

“I’m so jealous… But why is your face so red when you think about the hot spring, Minah? Ah! Did you do something lewd with Oppa at the hot spring?!”

Was Minah’s face turning red because she was really remembering what we did at the hot spring?

“Oh, no, that’s… Sorry…”

It seemed Yuna had guessed correctly.

Was this what they called a woman’s intuition?

“Hey, Minah. Why are you apologizing! It’s probably because Oppa couldn’t resist your mature charm and attacked you. Jihoon is usually kind, but he turns into a complete beast when he gets excited.”

Was she just insulting me?

Without giving me a chance to dwell on that question, Yuna took a piece of her steak with a fork and held it out to me.

“Oppa! Say ‘ahh’ㅡ.”

“Huh?”

Though it was sudden, I gladly took the food she offered.

“Hmm. It’s delicious.”

“Right? But yours looks delicious too.”

“Here, you can have some.”

“Mine? Okay.”

When I twirled some pasta with a fork and held it out, Yuna snatched it with her mouth in an instant.

“Mmm! It’s so good!”

“Is that why you wanted it? I would have given you some if you had asked.”

“It tastes better when Oppa feeds it to me. Hehe.”

She looked cute, smiling brightly without even realizing that she had sauce on the corner of her mouth.

After wiping off the sauce, I held out the fork with pasta twirled around it to Seo, who was across from me.

“Here, Seo, say ‘ahh’.”

“No thanks. It’s embarrassing in public.”

“Come on. My arm is getting tired.”

“Oh, seriously… Ahh.”

“Is it good?”

“…It’s edible.”

Seo was trying to act nonchalant to hide her embarrassment.

However, her face was as red as the tomato on the plate.

It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t feed everyone in this situation.

This time, I twirled the pasta again with a fork and handed it to Minah.

“Minah.”

“Ah! No, Jihoon. I’m okay.”

As expected, she waved her hands, shyly declining.

Still, I didn’t mind and brought the fork closer.

“I want to feed you.”

“I’m, I’m really okay… Then I’ll take it on this!”

She said, holding out the small plate she was holding.

I thought it wouldn’t be good to force her, so I obediently put it on the plate.

As a result of chatting and diligently moving our forks, the food on the table was neatly cleared.

While we were still talking, Seo got up from her seat and said, “I’m going to go to the bathroom before we leave. Talk among yourselves.”

“Oh, Seo. Me too!”

The two went to the bathroom together, looking friendly.

Thanks to them, only Minah and I were left at the table.

“Minah. How is it? Are you more comfortable now?”

“Huh?”

“You were so worried before you met Yuna.”

“Oh, that’s right. I was relieved that she approached me first. I didn’t know she was such a bright and affectionate person.”

“I think she was even more excited to meet Minah. She’s been singing about wanting to get to know you even before.”

A light smile spread across her face.

“Thank you…. She seems like a very cute and thoughtful person. I think she was more friendly because she was thinking about me.”

I doubted that Yuna had such a deep meaning, but since her attitude had a positive effect, I didn’t deny it.

“I’m so happy that I feel like I’ve been acknowledged as Jihoon’s girlfriend, thanks to her. To be honest, I was still worried about whether I should even be doing this, but now I’m fine.”

“You were still worried about that? Don’t ever worry about that again. The fact that I like Minah is reason enough.”

“Yeah. I won’t worry anymore. Thank you, Jihoon.”

Seeing her relaxed, I felt relieved.

A little later, Seo and Yuna returned, and our first meal together as four people was successfully concluded.

===

The past few days had been a happier time for Kang Minah than ever before.

Thanks to realizing the unfamiliar emotion of love and seeing it come to fruition.

There wasn’t really anything to worry about.

Han Jihoon’s insomnia had disappeared at some point, and the meeting with Park Yuna a few days ago was also successful.

Even so, she was…

“Sigh…”

Sitting on her bed in her room, she let out a deep sigh.

‘Am I too rigid…?’

Certainly, the meal the four of them had together a few days ago was very enjoyable.

Even so, one small worry arose in Kang Minah’s heart: that her personality was too rigid.

‘Yuna is affectionate with Jihoon and stuff…’

Park Yuna, who walked with her arm around Han Jihoon and exchanged food with him during the meal, looked like Han Jihoon’s girlfriend in everyone’s eyes.

But what about herself?

She was too conscious of other people’s gazes and embarrassed to even walk with her arm around his, and she couldn’t bring herself to accept the food he offered with her mouth, so she put it on a plate instead.

‘At this rate, it’s no different than before we started dating…. Does Jihoon think that way too?’

Of course, it was hard to say that her daughter, Kang Seo, had an affectionate personality.

But unlike herself, who refused the food Han Jihoon offered, her daughter bravely accepted it with her mouth.

Since her daughter was also trying so hard, Kang Minah had no choice but to conclude that she was the least girlfriend-like of the three women.

‘I know that couples need to constantly express their affection… What if Jihoon thinks I’m too rigid and feels disappointed?’

She thought that she should start expressing her affection from now on, but she didn’t know how to do it because she had no experience.

The only thing Kang Minah, who was chased by anxiety, could do was search for methods on her phone.

‘How to express affection to your boyfriend…’

When she actually searched, she only found vague advice to be courageous or bold, and there was no helpful information.

Still, Kang Minah couldn’t put down her phone because of her anxiety.

A post caught her eye as she diligently moved her fingers.

‘Lewd costume event for your boyfriend…?’