Starting to Live Together

The evening of the day I broke up with Sohee.

I woke up and went to the living room.

My legs were wobbly, and my whole body ached, so I let out a silent scream.

,Oh, when did you get here?

Harang was sitting in the living room.

He had chicken in one hand and a bottle of cola in the other.

Looks like he ordered chicken for dinner.

I naturally sat down in front of Harang and stuck my hand into the chicken box.

,Aren’t you being a little too natural?

,I’m hungry…

Was it because I moved so vigorously? I was feeling a terrible hunger right now.

I kept stealing Harang’s chicken for a while.

Harang, who had been watching me quietly, opened his mouth.

,When are you going to get married?

,Ptoo!

Chicken that I had in my mouth spewed out at the unexpected question.

Harang hugged the chicken box tightly, as if he had expected my reaction, and turned away.

,Wh-what…?

Marriage? What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?

I stood up abruptly, gasping for breath.

,You’re wearing a ring, and you slept out. And you’re wearing a necklace too. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?

I touched my neck at Harang’s words.

The silver chain necklace that I thought I had tucked into my clothes was slightly sticking out.

The zipper that I had fastened all the way up was slightly undone.

I cleared my throat and pulled up the zipper.

This bastard…

He’s mentioning the necklace, but he must have seen the marks on my neck.

My heart pounded and my face flushed like a child caught doing something embarrassing.

I lowered my head slightly and mumbled.

,Does, does Mom know too?

,Don’t you think she does?

So that’s how it was?

No wonder she didn’t say anything when I stayed out all night without a single worried text.

I wiggled my toes and sighed.

,Ma-marriage, what are you talking about…

,I was worried about who would take you, but this is good.

,Wh-what are you saying, you crazy bastard…

,Isn’t it true? Who would take a girl who’s always cooped up at home playing games all day?

,I, I have plenty of people who want to take me! I can find hundreds of them right now.

,Yeah, right.

Harang left those words and stood up abruptly.

Of course, with his chicken box.

,Ah! Give me some before you go!

,Order your own. Or have your girlfriend order it for you.

,Hey!

Harang left those words and went into his room.

I blankly stared at him with my mouth open.

Left alone, I sat on the living room sofa and fiddled with my phone.

Judging from Harang’s reaction, it seemed like he had expected this to happen.

Maybe Mom too.

Only then did I realize why Sohee was so close to our family, especially Mom.

She targeted the family first…

Even though I knew the truth, I didn’t feel bad.

Rather, my heart tickled, and a smile crept out.

How much did she like me to go this far?

Thinking of Sohee working hard behind the scenes without me knowing made my lower abdomen feel fluttery.

It felt like I was floating.

I didn’t want this feeling to disappear.

I tapped on my phone screen and sent a KakaoTalk message to Sohee.

Hayeon-[Sohee-ya. Are you busy…?]-1

The ‘1’ mark behind the sent message didn’t disappear.

Is she busy after all?

I bit my lip and waited for Sohee’s reply.

One second became five seconds, and five seconds became ten seconds.

After waiting for a reply for 30 seconds.

Finally, a reply came from Sohee.

Sohee-[No. I have time.]

Is it just my imagination, or does ‘I have time’ seem like she made time?

Whatever the reason, I feel good that she replied.

I wiggled my cute toes and tapped on my phone screen.

Hayeon-[I just sent it.]

Sh-she’s not disappointed, is she?

I touched my pounding heart and narrowed my eyes.

It had only been a few hours since our relationship changed, but now that I was aware of my feelings, I couldn’t treat Sohee the same as before.

Sohee-[I miss you.]

,Heueht…

A moan escaped from my lips.

I miss you. The sincerity in this short message flew and pierced my heart.

,Heuhe…

My facial muscles relaxed naturally.

My face, slightly reflected on the phone screen, was wearing a foolish smile.

Hayeon-[I miss you too.]

Sohee-[I’ll come pick you up soon.]

***

Early in the morning, I, who no longer needed to go to school, logged into Deron.

What’s the first thing you should do when you log into Deron?

It was just when I was about to start my morning by accepting the daily quest.

[Hayeon-ah~ Come out for a second~]

A familiar voice came from outside the capsule.

It was Mom’s voice.

What’s going on?

Looking at the time, Mom should have already left for work.

I tilted my head, ended the game, and poked my head out of the capsule.

,Aigoo, you little shit. You were holed up in the capsule without even washing your face?

,Eueh…?

As soon as I poked my head out, Mom’s palm flew at my back.

Of course, it didn’t hurt. She was just pretending to hit me.

Anyway, Mom grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the capsule.

,Uh, Mom, didn’t you go to work…?

,Be quiet and just follow me.

What the hell…

I was led by Mom to the table in the living room.

Sohee, dressed in a black suit, was sitting in front of it.

,Huk…!

Why is this bitch here?

Sohee, who was holding a teacup with a calm face, turned to me and smiled brightly.

,Hayeon-ah.

,So, Sohee-ya…

Mom, who had dragged me here, pushed me next to Sohee.

I was pushed and ended up sitting next to Sohee.

What the hell is going on?

I blankly stared back and forth between Mom and Sohee with my mouth open.

,Please take good care of our Hayeon.

,Mother… Just trust me.

,Then… I have to trust Sohee…

Wait… Doesn’t this feel a little weird?

As I was thinking that, Sohee bowed her head and stood up.

While holding my hand.

,Let’s go.

,Uh, uh…?

A firmly held hand.

The soft sensation digging between my fingers melted the tension in my body.

No, go? Where are we going?

I turned around while being dragged by Sohee’s hand.

,Uh, Mom?

,Goodbye, Hayeon-ah.

,No, uh, Mom…?

What the hell is this?

I have to Deron?

Sohee lifted me up and went out of the house, past the front door.

I, who was held in her arms, was dragged out as well.

I tilted my head, watching the house getting farther away.

What?

Thump-

When I came to my senses, I was in the car with Sohee.

,Huk…

,I came because I missed you.

,No…

Last night.

Sohee’s message, ‘I’ll come pick you up soon,’ came to mind.

I never thought that ‘soon’ would be today.

Only then could I understand the situation.

We’re going to hang out?

She should have said so…

I looked down at my clothes.

I was still wearing the sweats I had taken out last night.

I hadn’t even washed.

A stark contrast to Sohee, who was all dressed up.

I wiggled my fingers and opened my mouth.

,Um, um… Can I wash up before we go?

,Wash up when we get there.

,Get there…?

,You’ll know when we get there.

With those words, Sohee started the car.

The quietly gliding car left the residential complex and started speeding down the road.

,Oh…

I admired the scenery outside the window as it quickly passed by.

At the same time, I kept swatting away Sohee’s hand as she started groping my body.

The car, which had been speeding along, stopped in front of a tall building.

,What is this place…?

,It’s home.

Home?

This huge building?

Could it be…

I nodded. It seemed that Sohee had moved out of that big mansion and started living on her own.

Unlike me, she had gone to university, so it was inevitable that she would move to a place closer to school.

,Are we going to hang out here?

,Hang out?

,Yeah.

,… It’s a place where we can hang out.

Sohee said that and started getting ready to get out of the car.

This self-driving car didn’t need to be parked manually because it would automatically go to the parking lot as soon as the owner got out.

By the way, I don’t have shoes…?

I fiddled with my cute feet and watched Sohee’s reaction.

At that moment, I was suddenly picked up.

I was carried out of the car in Sohee’s arms.

,I, I don’t have shoes?

,They’re all at home.

,My shoes?

,Yeah.

Why are my shoes in your house?

Sohee ignored my questioning gaze and walked towards the building.

The luxurious-looking building had a security guard standing at the entrance, as if guarding it.

I made eye contact with the security guard.

At that moment, the security guard naturally bowed his head in greeting.

I waved to the guard.

Sohee walked past the entrance of the building and naturally headed for the elevator.

The building’s exterior was luxurious, and the elevator was no ordinary one either.

I could see everything outside.

I blankly stared at the shrinking ground with my mouth open.

We went up for a long time.

The elevator arrived at the top floor of the building.

,This is home.

It’s big.

It’s incredibly big.

That was the feeling I got when Sohee first showed me the room.

The entire top floor is a room.

I got out of Sohee’s arms and stepped on the floor.

,Wow… Can I look around?

,Yeah. As much as you want.

Then…

I ran off and started looking around the house.

First, the bathroom.

,Wow…

The bathroom is big too.

Is that a bathtub or a swimming pool?

Endless exclamations poured out.

,Do you like it?

,It’s awesome…

Sohee, who had followed me into the bathroom, took out a small step stool from under the sink.

What is this?

,Want to go up?

I nodded and did as Sohee told me.

When I stepped up onto the stool, the height of the sink was just right for me.

,Oh…

,Tell me if it’s too high or too low. I’ll change it.

,No, it’s perfect… But… Why is this…?

,Shall we go to the bedroom this time?

Sohee said that and grabbed my hand.

I was led by Sohee to the master bedroom.

A place with a large bed.

There was a fluffy pillow on the bed.

Two of them, in fact.

,Why, why are there two pillows…?

,Why, you ask…

Click-

Behind Sohee’s voice answering my question, I heard an ominous clicking sound.

I carefully turned my head and saw Sohee with her hand on the doorknob.

,Because this is ‘our house’.

,Huk…