Chapter 27: Ultrasounds and the “Abnormal”

“Hey.”

“I have to pay you back for the gift.”

“By making me your bag shuttle?”

“Who said I was going to carry it? I’m saying let’s hurry up so I can buy you something delicious, right?”

With a playful smile dancing on the edge of his otherwise expressionless face, he tidied his desk. Once again, I found myself dazed by that look, standing still like an idiot. I had to snap out of it to catch him as he finished his sentence and headed straight for the front door.

“Hey, your book—ah, f*ck. Song Yun Jae!”

“You’re really unexpected.”

“What is?”

“Did you miss it that much over the weekend?”

“…Miss what?”

“Was the tteokbokki so good that you couldn’t forget it all weekend?”

At Song Yun Jae’s words, the subtle spicy kick of the food seemed to surge in my throat.

When he’d repeatedly asked what I wanted to eat, I had ended up picking the same menu we’d had last Friday. It wasn’t like there was a fast-food place nearby, and I felt like it would be a hassle to go to a snack bar just to feel full, only to have to find a cafe again afterward. It wasn’t that the tteokbokki he’d bought wasn’t good, but it wasn’t exactly “unforgettable” like he was implying….

The inexplicable tickle triggered by his vague questions made me burst into a coughing fit. My ears burned as the coughing refused to stop. Song Yun Jae filled a cup with water and handed it to me.

“Are you okay?”

“No.”

His eyes went wide with genuine worry for a second, but then he burst into laughter. I was used to seeing him let his guard down like this now. That face, which I’d once thought was just a blank slate, now brightened into a clear smile at the slightest provocation. I didn’t hate it. Once the coughing subsided, I cleared my throat and tried to pick a fight.

“Is this funny to you?”

“Yeah. …Ah, you’re seriously cute.”

“…What?”

He was saying even more ridiculous things now.

Matching my gaze with his eyes curved into crescents, he suddenly tossed out that absurd sentiment. Then, he nonchalantly picked up a piece of tteokbokki coated in red sauce and popped it into his mouth. He didn’t even seem to notice the bit of sauce on his lips; he made no move to wipe it away. His lips, naturally a healthy shade of pink, looked even redder now because of the spice. Shoving his shocking comment to the back of my mind, my eyes kept drifting toward his mouth. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.

“You’re going to kill someone with that glare.”

Muttering without even looking up, he pulled out a few tissues and wiped his face. Even after the sauce was gone, his lips remained flushed. I looked away and rinsed my mouth with water. Meanwhile, Song Yun Jae took another bite.

“You’re really packing that away, aren’t you?”

“You act like such a son of a b*tch, but then you go and do only the cutest things.”

“Hey.”

“The photo, the tteokbokki….”

“…….”

“Even though you can’t even handle spicy food.”

The frown I was forcing onto my face twitched and lost its strength. I had never told him I couldn’t eat spicy food. Yet, the words coming out of his mouth hit the nail right on the head regarding my tastes. I froze with the water cup still in my hand, staring at him, and he gave me a little grin.

“I’ve never seen you eat anything spicy at the snack bar.”

“…….”

“Last week, I ended up eating all the tteokbokki here. I gave you the boiled eggs just in case, and you only ate those, didn’t you?”

“…No, I didn’t.”

It was probably just useless pride. Whether he realized that—or perhaps because he felt the same—he spent the next few moments busy eating without a word. The short silence was soon broken by his quiet voice echoing in the small space.

“…One of the triangle kimbaps I gave you at first was a spicy one.”

“…….”

“Did you throw it away?”

His gaze was fixed on the tip of the fork in his hand.

“I’d understand if you did.”

His voice was flat, truly indifferent. I hated how he acted like it was a given, like it didn’t matter. I was becoming desperate to know what he was swallowing behind that simpleton face.

“I didn’t throw it away.”

The annoyed retort came out reflexively. I saw his eyes, which had briefly flicked up to my face, slide back down.

“…It must have been spicy.”

“The others were such ‘toddler tastes’ that it was fine.”

My stomach had been in knots all night, but I didn’t feel the need to add that review. Another brief silence followed my words. I could hear my pulse thumping in my ears again—I wasn’t sure when it had started getting loud. My heart rate was definitely picking up, maybe from the irritation.

“…I usually hate that word, ‘kid’ or ‘toddler’.”

“…….”

“Whenever my dad drinks, every other word is ‘that brat’ or ‘your brat’.”

And just like that, he made me feel like a piece of sh*t again.

I was the one who had been calling him a “kid” or “brat” this whole time. I felt like I was going to explode at him. But his next words came at the perfect time.

“But hearing it from you all the time… strangely, it’s starting to feel affectionate.”

“…….”

“…It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

F*cking weird.

He let out a soft, silent chuckle at my reply. He looked comfortable. After the momentary panic of realizing my own verbal slip-up, my heart started thumping again. I felt like I had indigestion. Unlike his relaxed smile, my insides were a mess. The small noise of the rotating fan on the wall filled the silence between us. Neither of us reached for the remaining tteokbokki.

What now? Should we go?

Everything felt strange after hearing him say that. It was strange that he and I were sitting across from each other like this. No, it was even stranger that I kept malfunctioning in front of him. And the fact that I was helplessly letting the situation get even more abnormal, even though I knew it was weird, was the strangest part of all. In the midst of that, his “weirdness” was also… weird.

My heart felt so, so ticklish.

“Boss, we’ll have a shaved ice, please.”

Suddenly, he placed an order. Only after hearing a confirmation from the counter did he check with me.

“You’re having some, right?”

“…Yeah.”

The way his eyes crinkled made my whole body sting, just like the July sun.

“Did you get a girlfriend?”

It had been a while since I’d seen the woman sitting in the living room. Or my father sitting on the sofa next to her. Seeing the two of them—so mismatched yet somehow perfectly suited for each other—instantly killed the ticklish feeling that had been building up during my walk home from Song Yun Jae. I watched my father gesture for me to sit with a flick of his chin, and I slid the bag off my right shoulder. I couldn’t guess why they were calling me together. I thought it might be about the family trip in two days, but given how they probably viewed my recent movements as a form of rebellion, the topic could be anything.

“You’re coming home quite late for someone on break.”

The nagging started the moment my butt hit the sofa. It was milder than I’d expected.

“Senior year is right around the corner. There’s no such thing as ‘break’.”

“It’s not because you have a girlfriend?”

The woman chimed in with a beaming smile. I didn’t answer. It was a ridiculous suggestion; I had never shown interest in that kind of thing. But in the back of my mind, a certain “simpleton face” flickered, making me feel uneasy. I ignored it and spoke up.

“Father, it’s a weekday. Why are you home?”

“Dating is out of the question.”

“…….”

“Like you said, senior year is right around the corner. Don’t get distracted and leave a stain on your life during such an important time.”

My father picked up right where the woman left off. As they spoke with those composed faces, that “simpleton face” kept popping up in my head. I felt a smirk escaping, which must have annoyed my father, because he stared at me without smoothing out his furrowed brow.

“You mean a ‘stain’ on your life, right, Father?”

“Cha Hyun Uk. On your life—”

“Right. I get it. I think it’s your life, but you say it’s mine.”

“…….”

“Anyway, dating a girl while attending an all-boys high school is a high-level quest. You don’t need to worry.”

“…….”

“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’ll head up and finish the workbook I didn’t get to.”

Just as I was grabbing my bag, leaving behind the sound of my father’s heavy sigh—

“Are you really not going on the trip?”

It was the woman’s voice. I considered ignoring her and just going up, but I turned back politely and said “Yes.” She placed a small slip of paper on the table.

“I just told you I’m not going.”

“Fine, don’t go. You should study. I didn’t realize you were already feeling the stress of the CSAT; I’m sorry I haven’t been more attentive, Son.”

She smiled, wrinkling her nose slightly. She knew exactly how to act to turn my stomach. I gripped the strap of my bag tight. Given that she was telling me not to go, that paper on the table wasn’t a plane ticket. Even as my anger rose, the scrap of paper caught my eye. Noticing my gaze, she pushed it toward me.

“This—”

It wasn’t just a scrap of paper.

“It is a bit of a shame, though. I wanted to have a cozy family celebration now that you’re going to have a sibling.”

It was an ultrasound photo, announcing her pregnancy.