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Join the Server“Thank you for the ride.”
“Already getting off? Call your friend out to show their face. I’ll buy coffee.”
“I’ll…”
Eunhae, who had been about to nod, stopped speaking.
‘No matter how I think about it, Dad seems to think Seunghee is a girl.’
Eunhae and her father had lived for a long time, relying on each other. He was benevolent in that regard, but in some ways, he was also more overprotective than other fathers.
‘If I tell him I’m going to a boy’s house, he’ll throw a fit.’
It was painfully obvious. He was the kind of father who, even while watching a romance drama together, would invariably ask, ‘Does Eunhae have a boyfriend, too?’
‘Boyfriend? What boyfriend? I don’t even have regular friends.’
‘Right? Our Eunhae still has a long way to go before getting a boyfriend, doesn’t she?’
‘No, I don’t. It’s right around the corner.’
‘Haha, yes, yes.’
‘No matter how much I think about it, I probably need to keep this a secret.’
While she didn’t want to go back after coming all this way, she also didn’t want to squabble with her father over dating, especially since she was an adult now.
Imagining her father sulking for over a month, declaring, ‘Raising a daughter is utterly pointless!’ if he ever found out, Eunhae shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’re right in front of the house, and to suddenly say, ‘My dad’s here and wants to see your face’… that’s a bit much.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothing to be done. Bring them home sometime. Dad will buy you something delicious.”
“U-uh, yes. Thank you for the ride. I’m leaving now!”
Waving to her father, Eunhae stood in front of the apartment complex’s main entrance. She called Seunghee, who answered immediately.
– Yes, Noona. Did you arrive?
“Yes. In front of the main entrance.”
– I’ll come down.
“Ah, no.”
Her father’s car had already departed, but Eunhae thought it was better to be cautious.
“You don’t need to come down. Just open the door.”
Eunhae wasn’t flustered by the automatic opening system. Though it was her first time seeing it in person, she had seen it often in dramas.
She calmly proceeded to Seunghee’s doorstep.
As she stepped out of the elevator, Seunghee was already waiting, having opened his door.
“Was it hard getting here?”
Handing him her bag, Eunhae shook her head.
“No. My dad drove me right up to the front.”
“Your father knows you’re coming to my place?”
“He thinks you’re a girl. That’s good enough.”
Seunghee chuckled softly.
“Would you like something to drink? Can I make you coffee?”
“Do you have iced lattes?”
“Just need to mix milk and add ice, right?”
Eunhae stared at the coffee machine with fascination. In truth, Seunghee’s entire apartment was intriguing.
“Wow, it really has a Han River view.”
“If you’re up for it, Noona, we could go for a walk in the park this evening. There aren’t many people on Saturday nights.”
“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”
The wall-mounted TV also seemed to be twice the size of the one in Eunhae’s home. Audio systems flanked it on both sides.
“You live alone, but you’ve decorated it so well.”
“It’s precisely because I live alone. Sometimes my father stays here when he comes to Korea, and he nags terribly. He’s very particular.”
“My dad is a neat freak too. He has to vacuum every day.”
After exploring the living room and kitchen, Eunhae settled in front of the coffee table.
“Alright, let’s start making the PPT now.”
“…Already?”
“Yes. Didn’t you say we needed to make a PPT?”
Seunghee looked down at Eunhae’s innocent eyes and offered a wry smile.
“Understood. Let’s do it at the dining table. Sitting on the floor for too long is bad for your joints.”
“You’re quite the health guardian with all that nagging.”
“One must protect what they have before losing it.”
“*Eung-cha*.”
As Eunhae took her seat at the dining table and opened her tablet, Seunghee brought out his laptop.
By the time they finished the PPT, it was dinner.
“Wow, we finally finished it!”
“You worked hard, Noona.”
“You worked hard too, Seunghee. I really didn’t expect those two to completely vanish. It’s too much.”
The two mechanical engineering seniors, who were in the same group as Eunhae and Seunghee, had stopped attending class midway through the semester. It seemed they intended to either fail or drop the course entirely.
The business administration senior continued to attend class but never read their messenger messages.
“They must know they won’t get points if they don’t participate in the presentation, so why are they doing this?”
“They’ll handle it themselves. I’ve announced and recorded every group meeting on messenger, so I’ll email the professor about it.”
“They’re seniors, what if they can’t graduate because they’re short on credits because of this…”
“That’s not our problem to worry about.”
“No, but if I’d known the other two seniors would drop out, I might have just accepted the business administration senior’s offer to buy us food and let them tag along.”
“No. It’s highly likely the mechanical engineering students abandoned the class because I wouldn’t stand for them trying to solve things with money with the business administration senior. If I had accepted, they wouldn’t have dropped out.”
“…That’s true.”
“And either way, the group was supposed to have five members, but it ended up being just the two of us. Even if they had offered to buy food, it would have just been something casual near the school.”
Seunghee continued, his voice cold and sharp.
“I believe the time and cost you and I invested are far greater than that.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know unless you’d experienced it.”
“I don’t think there’s any need to experience it.”
Seunghee spoke with firm resolve. Eunhae didn’t disagree with his sentiment.
“Well, what can we do about something that’s already happened? Anyway, you worked hard, Seunghee.”
“…You too, Noona.”
“I’ll buy dinner. You made lunch earlier.”
Seunghee, mentioning that someone helped with the household chores, had laid out a lavish spread of seasonal side dishes for lunch.
“Are we going out to eat?”
“No. Delivery.”
Seunghee let out a small laugh.
“Delivery food is salty and sweet, so it’s not good for your health. I won’t tell you to never eat it, but you should cut down on delivery food, Noona.”
“But I can’t make you pasta in your house, can I? No matter what, it’s someone else’s kitchen.”
“It’s fine. Just have dinner with me. You can buy me a meal at school next time.”
“Alright, if you say so…”
Even though it was just eating the existing side dishes, it was incredibly delicious.
Eunhae, diligently eating an unknown seasoned vegetable dish, casually remarked, “This is a secret, but this is my first time eating a meal at someone else’s house.”
“…You never visited relatives’ houses?”
“My dad disowned his paternal relatives. He didn’t even take me to my grandmother’s funeral. He said he didn’t know what kind of things I might hear there.”
She didn’t elaborate, but it seemed he’d had a major fight over marrying a shaman.
“…”
“My mom was an only child too. So I don’t have any relatives we keep in touch with. Since I was scared of people when I was little, not having relatives was comfortable and nice.”
“Indeed, there are many relatives who are worse than having none.”
“I didn’t mean it that way… Anyway, I didn’t have any friends to visit, so I never went to a friend’s house. Ah, you can feel a little sad about this part.”
“Then I’m your first and only friend?”
“I did have friends until elementary school, you know? Just one, but still?”
“But you never visited that friend’s house, did you?”
“…That’s right.”
Their relationship had gone awry before they could get that close.
A bitter taste filled her mouth.
“It might be a cowardly thing to say, but I like it. Whatever it is, I’m your first, aren’t I?”
“You’re really positive, aren’t you?”
“Let’s say so. Eat a lot.”
“U-uh, okay.”
Eunhae truly overate. She felt like she’d eaten 1.5 times her usual amount.
“I ate very well! It was truly delicious. Please tell that person that their friend ate exceptionally well.”
“Understood. …Are you leaving right away?”
“Just a little longer? It’s already 8 PM… If I leave too late, I’ll probably get home past 10 PM.”
“Didn’t you say your curfew was 12 AM?”
Eunhae rolled her eyes. She couldn’t remember ever saying that. In truth, she had no curfew at home. Why would she need one when she never went out?
However, she simply wanted to go home and have some alone time, as she had already been ‘out’ for quite a while.
“I just need to be home before 12 AM, right? Stay longer.”
“But I told Dad I’d be home before 10 PM…”
“Can’t you call him and tell him you’ll be home a little later?”
“…Alright. I guess so.”
Eunhae, experiencing a friend’s request for the first time, easily relented.
As she stood, fiddling with her phone, Seunghee suddenly hugged her tightly.
“Ack!”
The world seemed to spin once. When she opened her eyes again, she was nestled in his arms on the sofa.
Seunghee held Eunhae tightly with both arms, resting his chin on the crown of her head.
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Read : Looking For My Child's Father
