Of course, he naturally knew it wasn’t meant that way. Though they could call it a date, it wasn’t a date in the sense of lovers who had gone out with hearts full of excitement and fluttering feelings. But even so, the situation of having to greet his parents felt like an enormous immediate challenge.
He’d never been formally introduced to Yeongbeom’s parents even after dating him for eight years. And yet here he was in a situation where he was being introduced to Yujeong’s parents—not eight years, not even lovers.
While Seongjo was absorbed in his troubled thoughts, the family reunion seemed to have all concluded. Only after warmly welcoming Yujeong did his parents turn their eyes to the car and finally realize there was one more person riding in it.
Now that his presence had been discovered, he couldn’t very well hide in the car. Seongjo pushed open the slightly ajar door with an indifferent expression and got out of the car.
Yujeong’s parents upon discovering Seongjo—especially his mother—seemed truly very surprised. Meeting eyes opened so wide he worried they might pop out, he could tell that she was far more flustered than Seongjo was.
Yujeong’s mother, looking back and forth between Seongjo and Yujeong, covered her mouth and stammered.
“A fri-friend…? Did you bring a friend?”
“There’s really no need to be that surprised…”
Yujeong’s voice continued, muttering as if troubled. Seongjo felt a mischievous impulse to tease Yujeong by answering the greatly surprised woman, “No. Not a friend but a ‘something.'”
Wasn’t he actually closer to that than a friend? But he had no desire to give his parents, who were so happy to see their son after such a long time, even more bewilderment, so he decided to leave the impulse as just an impulse. Instead, Seongjo approached them with a grin and greeted them.
“Hello, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you for the first time.”
He had been as polite as possible considering Yujeong’s reputation, but Yujeong just stared blankly at Seongjo with vacant eyes.
What’s with that expression? An expression that wanted to say, “Why are you my friend?” If he’d wanted a better response, he should have explained beforehand. At least to either his parents or Seongjo.
Though he harbored such complaints inside, outwardly he smiled brightly. Facing that smile head-on, Yujeong’s mother leaned against her husband and murmured softly. Something like “Jeong brought a friend!” It seemed she wasn’t hoping he wouldn’t hear, given how blatant her voice was.
‘You’ve never brought a friend home, have you.’
That was the immediate thought that came to mind.
It wasn’t that he’d had no friends. There was a basis for thinking so.
As Yujeong himself had said, he wasn’t a particularly outgoing personality, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t social.
His attitude toward students, his attitude toward fellow teachers, and his attitude toward his parents—though he’d only glimpsed them—were all natural without any jarring aspects. Moreover, there must have been people around him since he had aspects attractive enough to draw in even Seongjo.
Then had there been no one he considered close enough to bring home?
Thinking he was the first one, his absurd feelings seemed to improve as if asking “when was I ever upset?” Though he did think he shouldn’t be appeased by just this much.
“A school friend? Or a work colleague? Mom doesn’t remember hearing about this, but perhaps…”
“H-honey! Calm down. It’s awkward for the guest if you act like this in front of them.”
“Oh my! Look at me.”
She who had been holding onto Yujeong and firing off questions seemed to finally come to her senses at her husband’s restraint. Though Yujeong’s father himself also had a flustered voice, so he seemed far from calm.
She approached Seongjo with an embarrassed face, then awkwardly fussed with her hair before finally returning a response to his greeting.
“I’m sorry. I should have greeted you first, but I was so surprised I… I’m Yujeong’s mother.”
After exchanging greetings, Yujeong’s parents, who kept apologizing, pushed the two’s backs, telling them to go inside and unpack first. Seongjo moved his feet while being pushed with a bewildered feeling. Yujeong followed behind with a small sigh.
Seongjo walked across the wooden floor and looked out toward the yard. A cool breeze was gently blowing into the sunny veranda. After confirming that his parents weren’t following, Seongjo turned his head and asked Yujeong a question.
“This is Jeon Yujeong-ssi’s family home, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Have you lived here since you were young?”
Yujeong nodded again. When he looked at his face more carefully again, he somehow had a troubled expression.
Perhaps he was feeling embarrassed because of his parents’ attitude they’d just encountered. Seongjo muttered teasingly.
“You seem to be on good terms with your parents.”
“They’re a bit enthusiastic… I’m sorry.”
Seongjo waved his hand. In reality, his interest had grown more than confusion or awkwardness. Besides, he thought, when else would he get to see Yujeong embarrassed by his enthusiastic parents? It was more enjoyable than anything because it was a high school boy-like side of him he was seeing for the first time.
What he felt after entering the house was that even the interior of this house boasted an appearance you’d see in a traditional Korean village. However, since it was a place where modern people lived, refined touches caught the eye here and there. It was peculiarly amusing to see the incongruity of a robot vacuum cleaner running around on the floor of an old-fashioned tiled-roof house.
Though he’d only seen it briefly, he could easily infer the environment Yujeong had grown up in.
A house where tradition could be felt intact. His relationship with his parents looked good, and both of them seemed to have gentle dispositions.
The apartment where Yeongeun and Yujeong had originally lived, and where Seongjo now also resided, was actually quite spacious and expensive for a man Yujeong’s age to live in alone. For Seongjo, who was nominally a chaebol family heir, it was a house that presented no difficulty, but since he didn’t know Yujeong’s circumstances, he’d been inwardly curious all this time.
He got a rough idea from today’s events. Looking at the appearance of this house, he could guess that Yujeong’s parents were old influential people of this region.
Though you can’t judge people by atmosphere alone, Yujeong was the owner of an impression that people would commonly call urban-like. That’s why his appearance here seemed awkward yet somehow suited him well in its own way.
“But then, so why did you bring me here?”
Seongjo, who had entered the room Yujeong guided him to, asked the question. Sure, suddenly driving for several hours and having him greet his parents would be refreshing if only from the bewilderment. But surely he hadn’t really come with that intention. It seemed like there must be something else to do.
When he looked at Yujeong with a suspicious face, he naturally took off his outer garment and hung it up while speaking. Seongjo, who had been looking with interest at the appearance of the three-tier hanger that didn’t match the traditional wall pattern, also picked up a hanger.
“It’s the busy season right now. Because it’s spring. We need to thin out the fruit, and there’s a lot to transplant too.”
Just because he heard it didn’t mean he could understand it. What in the world did “transplant” mean in the first place? Though he didn’t understand, he at least gathered that it was part of farm work. Seongjo stopped hanging up his clothes and looked at Yujeong with a sour face.
“So… that means…”
You’re going to make me do that?
Seongjo muttered with a face that seemed to grimace between smiling and not, then pointed at himself with his finger to replace the question. And Yujeong nodded without much hesitation.
“Haha…”
At this rate, really…
It wouldn’t have been strange even if he’d actually suggested ax throwing. Neither Seongjo nor Yujeong had seriously and 100% sincerely attached the name “date” to this, but still, wasn’t it nominally their first date? Bringing him to the family home and having him experience farm volunteer work was a course he couldn’t have imagined even in his dreams.
It seemed he had underestimated Yujeong too much…
“You’ll be sharing a room with me.”
While Yujeong, who had said that, was away, Seongjo looked around the room with his arms folded. Whether it had been cleaned until very recently, the room was spotless without a speck of dust. That was good. The problem wasn’t the state of the room but somewhere else.
“Have you finished organizing your things? If you unpack and come out, we have fruit…”
Yujeong, who soon returned, stopped mid-sentence. It must have been because he discovered Seongjo still leaning with his arms folded. Seongjo gestured with his chin toward the bag he’d roughly set down on the floor.
“I didn’t bring anything grand enough to unpack. I figured I could just buy things when I got here.”
It was a very Seongjo-like thing to say, someone who only carried his phone and wallet even when traveling. Upon hearing those words, Yujeong was silent for a moment, then soon burst into a small laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s obvious you don’t know how things work.”
Yujeong saying that was using a very kind and affectionate voice. That Seongjo paused for a moment at that voice was beyond his control.
