“If it’s just you guys, you won’t take care of these things. Hurry up and take the red ginseng extract, and when hyung drinks it, you drink one too.”
“Ah, then why not just send it by delivery……”
“I’m calling you over because you don’t come visit, aren’t I? Hohoho.”
Mom laughed cheerfully, but there was a hint of hurt in her tone, as if she felt a bit disappointed inside.
“I already told Jeongwoo about it, so come get it, quickly. Since it’s Saturday today, come today. If you come today, it’ll be perfect, right?”
Ahhh. I frowned silently. It seemed like it had been quite a while since hyung-nim told me to visit home, and it looked like Mom finally couldn’t hold back anymore and called.
Still, red ginseng extract sounded incredibly heavy, and just thinking about it made me feel lazy as I flopped my arms and legs around on the bed.
“Mom, I have a lot of assignments these days, and today I’m going to work on assignments all day—”
“While you’re here, eat a meal too. Come to think of it, it’s almost lunchtime. Did you eat breakfast?”
It was now past 10 AM. I had woken up late anyway and was starting to feel hungry. But still, no matter what, this was too much of a hassle.
“Actually, I talked to Jeongwoo just a little while ago. Jeongwoo said you’re probably still sleeping without eating breakfast, so I should feed you enough for two meals combined—breakfast and lunch.”
“Jeongwoo hyung-nim said that?”
My voice changed in an instant.
“Hyung-nim said I should eat? Did hyung-nim really say that?”
“Mm-hmm, and anyway, Dad is making braised short ribs right now for our Hajin to eat……”
“Braised short ribs?”
At those words, I sat up without realizing it. My mom and dad know me too well.
“You know braised short ribs taste best when you eat them right after they’re made, right? And I made japchae too.”
“I’ll come……!”
I heard Mom and Dad’s laughter through the phone. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I hurriedly hung up. Then I kicked off the blanket, got up, and walked toward the closet.
Since hyung-nim told me to eat a lot, I had no choice but to go eat.
If I go home, even if I can’t see hyung-nim’s face, I can at least see Dad’s braised short ribs.
***
“Our prince is here—!”
As soon as I arrived home, the door opened. They must have already seen me coming in through the window, because it was even before I pressed the doorbell.
“Go wash your hands quickly, the braised short ribs are almost ready.”
“I’ll get ready right now. It’ll be quick.”
Mom and Dad’s voices were warm as always. After hugging Mom and Dad in turn, I put on my house slippers and went to wash my hands first.
The moment I came out of the bathroom, familiar scents reached my nose. The smell of home I hadn’t encountered in a while, and the sweet fragrance of meat wafting from the kitchen.
“Son, it looks like you’ve lost weight?”
“Really?”
Mom brought over the braised short ribs she had already plated to the front of me. Come to think of it, I had been neglecting my meals for the past few days, immersed in heartbreak from my unrequited love. Yesterday too, I had no appetite, so I barely ate dinner.
“No matter how I look at it, your cheeks seem to have gotten hollow. Hurry up and eat, eat more.”
Hearing from Mom’s own mouth that my cheeks had gotten hollow suddenly made me feel sad.
I picked up my chopsticks, but although I was definitely hungry, my appetite wasn’t stimulated. My wrist felt heavy. Still, when I put a piece of braised short ribs in my mouth, the tender meat melted on my tongue as I chewed.
“Dad, this is incredibly delicious. Incredibly!”
Is this the power of home cooking? As the sweet savory taste wrapped around my tongue, the appetite that had been dead for several days began to come back to life.
“Right? Dad was holding onto just this all day long.”
Dad placed a piece of kkakdugi on my rice bowl. I scooped up plenty of rice.
Come to think of it, I had come here today on an errand for red ginseng. When I turned my head, I saw a large gift-wrapped box in one corner of the living room.
“Mom, but why the sudden red ginseng?”
“Ah, that. Last weekend I went over to the neighbor’s for tea, and unnie was worrying so much about Jeongwoo. She said it’s good that he became CEO, but he only works like that, so when will he ever get married.”
I stopped my chopsticks.
“Marriage?”
“Yeah, she thought that now that he left that busy law firm, he’d have some free time, but he’s still so busy he can barely breathe? I said I should at least take care of this for him. He finished all the health supplements from last time, right?”
Most of it was still there as is, but I nodded my head for now.
Marriage. It was a topic that still felt far too distant for me. Come to think of it, by old standards, Jeongwoo hyung-nim was already well past the age to get married.
“B-but it’s not like hyung-nim is getting married right now, is it? These days there are lots of people who marry late……”
“He’s over thirty, what do you mean. And he needs to meet a good person starting now to get married at the right time. Anyway, I heard matchmaking proposals are flooding in for him.”
My fingertips trembled slightly for a moment.
“Matchmaking……?”
“Yeah, Jeongwoo doesn’t talk to you about that kind of thing?”
I poked at the short ribs with my chopsticks and asked in as nonchalant a voice as possible.
“He hasn’t mentioned going on blind dates to me.”
“Right?”
Mom sighed and continued speaking.
“Anyway, I guess unnie and hyung-bu are really upset because he’s rejecting every single one they suggest. And he won’t tell them if he’s seeing anyone either. So, son. Have you heard anything from hyung? Doesn’t he talk to you about girlfriends or anything?”
“……He doesn’t. I’ve never heard anything.”
That was my concern right now too. I didn’t know even the tiniest clue about hyung-nim’s love life.
The silver wrapper I had accidentally seen in hyung-nim’s wallet a few days ago came back to mind vividly.
Hyung-nim also said not long ago, “At your age, you don’t need to think of dating as something heavy.” Then is hyung-nim, who’s now at the age to get married, seriously seeing someone? Enough that he doesn’t need to go on blind dates.
I blinked my eyes, then scooped up a spoonful of rice and put it in my mouth.
“The way I see it, Jeongwoo must be seeing someone.”
“That’s right, he is, I’m telling you he is. You know how thoughtful Jeongwoo is? There must be a reason he’s rejecting the blind dates.”
Not knowing what was in my heart, Mom and Dad’s eyes were sparkling as they talked about hyung-nim’s love life. The fact that Mom and Dad’s story wasn’t different from my speculation made my stomach burn even more.
“And look at Jeongwoo, do you think the omegas would leave him alone? He’s capable and handsome, takes good care of his younger siblings too—he’s been the best marriage material since way back.”
“That’s why you always said you wanted to make him your son-in-law. If only our Hajin had been born just a few years earlier.”
“Right, I did say that, hahaha.”
The braised short ribs I was chewing in my mouth were still delicious, but now they wouldn’t go down my throat easily.
“But he tells his family he has no thoughts of marriage. Is that really true?”
“Son, when you give him the red ginseng extract, ask hyung once. Ask if he has any thoughts of getting married within the next 5 years. It’d be even better if you ask whether he’s seeing anyone with marriage in mind.”
“Oh, honey, that’s too obvious.”
“Is it? Which one was too obvious? The ‘within the next 5 years’ part is a bit much, right?”
A handsome, capable, and family-oriented alpha. Such a person who seemed like they’d only exist in legends—that was hyung-nim.
For that hyung-nim, matchmaking proposals were streaming in continuously. And hyung-nim was rejecting all of them.
Throughout listening to the conversation, my already nonexistent appetite kept dropping in real time.
“Mom, Dad.”
Come to think of it, I also remembered what I heard from hyung-nim not long ago.
“The reason hyung-nim quit the law firm…… He said he opened his own office because he wanted to spend time with his family.”
“Oh my.”
“And he said he thinks he resembles his father…… Uncle is incredibly caring to Imo and to Jeongyeon too, right? He always gives me spending money too.”
For someone who supposedly had no thoughts of marriage, hyung-nim was rather conservative and also very family-oriented. There’s no way a man who was not only interested in his young late-born younger sibling’s education but also doted on me, who was a complete stranger to him, would have no thoughts of marriage.
“I don’t know if he has a girlfriend he’s going to marry, but it seemed like someday hyung-nim definitely plans to become that kind of husband.”
Since he was so caring to young me even when I was in high school, he must be thinking about getting married, establishing his own family, and raising children.
I knew best just how meticulous Yoo Jeongwoo was as a person. Hyung-nim isn’t someone who lives life without plans.
Hearing Mom’s words just now, I realized that while it might be far off for me, for hyung-nim it was a story about the not-so-distant future.
“So that’s why he quit, Jeongwoo had it all planned out.”
“He had it all planned, he did.”
In hyung-nim’s next 5-year plan, which would surely be specific and meticulous, the probability of me fitting in would be ‘0’.
Hyung-bu (형부) – Brother-in-law (sister’s husband, used by male speaker)
