“Only my mother was around, but she passed away, so I live alone.”
“Oh my…….”
His tone was extremely matter-of-fact. As if talking about someone else’s story. But that seemed to move Mom’s heart even more. Mom covered her mouth slightly, then sprang up from her seat. She started rummaging through the refrigerator and pulling out various things.
“Try this too. It’s Korean side dishes, very delicious. My baby’s dad made it. In Korea, there’s something called ‘hand taste,’ and this person has very good hand taste. Should I give you rice too? Do you know how to eat rice? It’s steamed grain, do you know rice? It’s Korean rice so it’s fluffy and chewy and delicious!”
“I like rice.”
When Joel grinned, Mom excitedly scooped rice from the rice cooker into a large bowl and held it out to Joel. Joel, who had eaten several pieces of bread, didn’t seem full at all and started eating the rice too. I realized it back at the diner when he ordered most of the menu. That bastard is a huge glutton.
Confirming that Joel’s chopstick skills were quite excellent, Mom and Dad looked at each other with very satisfied faces and smiled. With those eyes exactly like they were looking at a son-in-law candidate, I seriously wanted to faint.
“Please…….”
I wished at least one of the three would stop. Please, I’m begging earnestly. Please…….
“July, why aren’t you eating even one piece of bread while your friend is eating like that?”
But Mom just poured nagging on me.
“If you’re not eating that, can I have it?”
“…….”
Not wanting to have even my bread stolen by this glutton who had started depleting our household’s food supply, I quickly spread plenty of cream cheese and took a bite. But neither the savory and salty taste of the cream cheese nor the crispy texture of the bread felt appetizing. It just felt like chewing minerals instead of food.
* * *
I just hoped Joel would finish eating quickly. And please get lost, please just go! I desperately wanted that. But even though the meal was over, Mom wouldn’t let Joel leave.
“Come to think of it, you said you swam in the lake. Is it okay not to shower?”
“It would be nice if I could borrow the bathroom.”
Joel, who’s usually so rough and rude to me, was annoying acting all easygoing with my parents. But I was the only one who found Joel disagreeable, so Mom gathered and handed him a towel, new underwear, and various things.
“These underwear are my baby’s so I don’t know if they’ll fit well…… But try them on anyway. I bought them by mistake so they’re big.”
“Ah, ‘baby’s’…….”
Joel drew out his words meaningfully, then smirked at me. Fucking bastard.
“Then I’ll borrow the bathroom.”
Joel very shamelessly devastated our kitchen and now leisurely headed to the bathroom. And when I heard the clack of the bathroom door closing, Mom grabbed my forearm and pulled me to the sofa.
“Right?”
“What’s right…….”
I sighed at Mom and Dad, who simultaneously asked the same question full of conviction.
“Mom likes people who eat well. Whether it’s a son-in-law or daughter-in-law, what does it matter. Hahaha.”
“Right! You went to that gay parents’ meeting last time. Everyone was bragging about how their kids’ love lives were, what their boyfriends or girlfriends were like, and Dad was a bit envious of that.”
“Right. I was really envious of talking openly about romance with my kids.”
“……Don’t be envious of useless things!”
And when did you swiftly go to such a meeting! It’s hard when parents are too open-minded too. I looked at the turned-off TV with an enlightened expression, then quickly turned my head toward the house door that burst open.
“Hyung!”
At least if hyung is here, they’ll restrain themselves! I thought, sparkling my eyes at hyung. But unlike usual, without sweating, hyung strode into the living room and suddenly said,
“July, your boyfriend tied your shoelaces in front of the house at dawn, right? Mr. Kalbeck saw everything. He said it was so affectionate, reminded him of when he dated in his youth? And he said the way you hugged tightly for a really long time was a bit unmanly. He’s asking you to restrain yourself a bit even though it’s a good time, since it was in front of the house?”
Mr. Kalbeck was the German ajussi living next door. Someone saw that? And saw it that romantically……? It absolutely wasn’t like that! I felt wronged! I wanted to storm into the next-door house and denounce them saying, ‘It’s absolutely not like that, okay?’
“Oh my! He even tied your shoelaces? And hugged you tight?”
“He came to pick you up at dawn, tied your shoelaces, hugged you tight, went to the lake to swim, then came back…….”
“…….”
Not wanting to go against my feelings, Dad deliberately didn’t use the word ‘date.’ But when you list it out like that, anyone would see it was a ‘date’! I glared at hyung who had laid out useless facts.
“Hyung!”
“What?”
“How can you just say such things!”
“Ah, you were embarrassed.”
Hyung laughed “haha” and patted my head as if I were cute. No, no! It’s not like that!
“It wasn’t even a date! And he’s not my boyfriend!”
“July has been shy since he was little.”
“That’s right. He’s been like that since he was little.”
I buried my face in both hands watching my family warmly discussing me and ‘my boyfriend’s’ ‘date.’
“Really, it’s not like that…….”
“Ah, then is it still ‘some’? Young people in Korea do that, right? Before dating, when they’re watching each other, they call it ‘some.'”
“Ah, I heard that too. What was it? Boys are called ‘some-nam,’ and girls are called ‘some-nyeo.'”
“Some-nam? Some-nyeo? Young people these days really make and use a lot of interesting words!”
Toward Mom and hyung laughing harmoniously “haha hoho,” I shouted again.
“It’s not some! Not some-nam either!”
“Then what is it?”
At hyung’s question, I rolled my eyes briefly and thought. What was Joel to me?
“……Just, a school classmate. Same grade.”
A bad bastard who bullies me and a classmate, a fellow student taking classes together. That was about it. But since I didn’t want to reveal that I was being bullied by that bastard at school, I hid only that and answered. Wasn’t that a very appropriate and suitable answer? But Mom, Dad, and hyung looked at each other and kept their mouths tightly shut.
“……Why are you acting like that?”
“July, I think it’s because you’re still inexperienced, but normally you don’t come pick up a school classmate from dawn and take them to a lakeside.”
Hyung smiled with curved eyes as if I were cute, then sat on the sofa armrest and patted my head. Mom sitting next to me also hugged me and patted my shoulder.
“That’s right, July. Normally they don’t do that. You know Mom and Dad first met in high school, right? Even in our time, there were no kids like that. Only couples who were dating did that.”
“No, it’s not……!”
He just did that to bully me! He’s only bullying me! Feeling frustrated, my face contorted. Mom’s hand affectionately stroked my cheek, thinking something of that expression.
“Our baby, still doesn’t know anything like this, what should we do?”
“July, do you dislike that friend?”
“It’s not that I dislike him……!”
At hyung’s question, I trailed off and chose my words. I do dislike him, but he also fixed my bicycle, saved me when I had an allergic reaction, so I did grow attached, but it’s really not like that……. Really……. When I couldn’t answer and fumbled around, hyung poked my cheek with his finger.
“That friend seems to like you, July.”
“That probably isn’t it…….”
It’s really probably not……. Even though Joel Gomez’s affection level for me is 43, it’s definitely not in that direction…….
Frustrated with me only denying, hyung grabbed both my cheeks, made eye contact, then said seriously,
“I wouldn’t go to a kid’s house from dawn to see them if I didn’t like them, and I wouldn’t go to a lake alone with them.”
“…….”
Is, is that so? Maybe because of hyung’s trustworthy appearance and voice, I seemed to actually be convinced. Mom sitting next to me laughed “hohoho.”
“Right. Come to think of it, August used to make such a fuss trying to meet Winter from dawn that Dad would wake up sometimes.”
Winter was hyung’s girlfriend.
“Why would you cut into your morning sleep and come out at dawn to see someone you dislike?”
“…….”
Does Joel really like me? Really? For real? Falling into tremendous confusion, I grabbed my head and started groaning. What if Joel asks me to date him? If I refuse saying I don’t want to, he seems like he’d blackmail me, then what do I do? He knows our house and knows our family! He’s even showering in our bathroom right now……!
Clack! At the sound of the bathroom door opening, I startled and turned my head back. Joel was coming out shaking his wet hair with a towel.
“Thanks, I used it well. I felt sticky so this is just right.”
“Oh my, really? Hohoho. Then don’t you two have to go to school? But you still have a teensy bit of time! Spend some time in July’s room before you go.”
“M-Mom?”
Led by the force pulling and grabbing my forearm, I staggered up. Mom pushed my back, shoving me toward the stairs. I sent an urgent rescue signal to anyone. But Dad was feigning ignorance with “ahem, ahem” throat clearing, and hyung was in the middle of a conversation with Joel.
“That’s July’s room over there. Stay for a bit. July needs to prepare for school too.”
“Why is he necessary when I’m preparing for school!”
I shouted loudly toward my back. But no one listened to me. No, only Joel glanced at me, then annoyingly just smirked.
“Aah, so that’s ‘July’s’ room you’re saying?”
some/썸 – 썸 (Korean dating term for the stage before officially dating)
some-nam – 썸남 (male in the “some” stage)
some-nyeo – 썸녀 (female in the “some” stage)
