If the past month had been a leisurely, carefree life where he didn’t even glance at a clock, then starting with Leo’s appearance, Hyedam had to live a hectic life.
It wasn’t like roasting beans in a flash of lightning—it started with a sudden meeting with his parents who appeared out of nowhere.
It felt like just last night when Siwoo left the room and he sat there alone in a daze, but Hyedam stared blankly at Luna, who was spreading out portfolios in front of him.
“I really, really came with just a summary, okay? Oppa just needs to choose. Don’t think, just point wherever your hand goes.”
You say you really, really summarized it, but why are there still tons of files piled up behind you? Plus, you now know that I have choice paralysis and don’t know anything about shopping-related things. And yet I have to do all this?
“You call this simple?”
“Of course. If it really doesn’t work, just pick a main color. That’ll cut it in half.”
Hyedam picked up the lemonade glass instead of the file.
“I’ll exclude dark colors.”
This lemonade is delicious. The mulled wine was tasty too—nothing Mother recommended has been bad.
“You don’t like things that are too pink-pink either, right?”
Ah, I feel like I’m eating too many desserts today, but who knew lemonade would go so well with yakgwa.
“Yellow tones are hard to see in the sunlight.”
What should I eat for dinner? If I say gopchang, they’ll say ‘gopchang again?’, right? Spicy pig’s feet?
“Blue? Green?”
Something refreshing and tangy would be good too, cold salad? Ah… cold salad pig’s feet sounds good. Where was that famous place again.
Hyedam, who had shoved the half-eaten yakgwa into his mouth in one bite, picked up the cell phone he’d set aside. Why has he had so many food cravings lately? If he’d stubbornly stayed on the island longer, it would have been a disaster. Even though Luna said she’d send things right away, there would be a gap of several hours.
Hyedam, who had typed “cold salad pi” in the search bar, suddenly couldn’t type anymore because of the file that plopped right into his arms.
“Oppa! This isn’t my wedding, it’s oppa’s wedding!”
“Yeah. It’s my wedding, but it’s also Leo’s wedding.”
“…But Siki only listens to oppa.”
At Luna’s words spoken through gritted teeth, Hyedam quietly put down his cell phone and turned his gaze to the file in front of him. As he flipped through photos of an outdoor wedding venue decorated in refreshing blue tones, Hyedam’s hand stopped at one place.
The beach around the island where he’d been staying was famous for its emerald sea. So the sea where he’d been was all green too. Though he, with his simple color sense, could only describe it as green, there was one place that had captured those diverse hues exactly as they were.
Thinking of Leo’s eyes, which looked different every time he looked at them—like the color of the sea that changes moment by moment depending on the light, temperature, atmosphere, or surrounding environment—the corners of Hyedam’s mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.
“Choice done! But what were you searching for?”
Though he hadn’t really chosen anything specific, Luna snatched up the file he’d been holding.
“Cold salad pig’s feet?”
“What’s that now?”
“Pig’s feet. Dressed with a sweet and sour sauce.”
“…Korean food is really amazing, so amazing. It’s endless.”
Right. This is endless too. A small sigh escaped from Hyedam’s mouth as he looked at the file that had landed back on his lap, even though she’d just said the choice was done. Can’t we just not have a wedding and just register our marriage? I think I’d be fine with that.
“What’s this?”
After tilting his head back to look at the ceiling for a moment, a hollow laugh escaped from Hyedam’s mouth when he properly looked at the file. He felt truly flustered, surprised, and indescribably overwhelmed.
“What do you mean what? Father said he’d gift you a house, and Mother said she’d do the interior. That also needs to be finished quickly so construction can begin.”
Those words back then weren’t a joke?
He’d been shocked when they said they’d give him the house where the Christmas party was held. Live in that huge house? He’d also remembered grumbling to himself as he secretly left that house at dawn. When his condition wasn’t good and he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, he might collapse from exhaustion and never get up again—it didn’t seem right to live in a house like that, so he’d politely declined.
If Mother hadn’t dissuaded him well by saying, “I told you. Such a big house is only needed for parties. By ordinary Korean standards, a two-story house with 4-5 rooms is the maximum,” he would have received that huge house.
Of course, Father had counterattacked—though it wasn’t really a counterattack—by saying, “Aren’t you thinking about Leo’s build?”, but Mother dismissed Father’s opinion with a single snort.
“Me. I decided not to accept that house though?”
Hyedam, who had been recalling that day for a moment, quickly shook his head and looked at Luna.
“It’s not that house, so don’t worry and just look. Robert said he has another meeting in two hours and asked to finish before then.”
“Ah… right. That too.”
Despite briefly resolving to hurry up and look at the file to finish it, Hyedam buried himself deeper into the sofa. As everyone said, he just had to struggle for a month. It’s not like he was doing everything himself—he just had to sit here in Leo’s living room in the warm sunlight and make choices.
The problem was that this was too hard for him.
At least Luna had become more than just an acquaintance—a very close younger sister-older brother relationship—so he could sit comfortably like this and grumble and procrastinate, but he couldn’t do that with people he was meeting for the first time.
Who knew getting married would be this hard? Wasn’t it supposed to be just walking into a wedding venue where everything was already prepared on the wedding day, wearing a suit, having a short ceremony—whether doing simultaneous ceremonies or not—and then having the buffet course afterward?
“Is it hard?”
Hyedam, who had lost his will and was just watching Luna compress the portfolio she’d prepared centered on the color he’d chosen, looked up at the doorway out of courtesy at a voice that wasn’t welcome even now.
“If you wanted to keep it simple, why did you prepare so much? Making our Motnani work so hard.”
“Are you kidding? Who’s the one asking to perfectly prepare a wedding in just one month? Then you do some of it!”
As expected, Hyedam mentally applauded Luna, who refreshingly said what he wanted to say, and stroked Leo’s cheek once as he approached and kissed his forehead.
“Since you’re here, you can do it now. They told me to confirm this interior.”
As soon as Leo sat down next to him, Hyedam handed over the file that had been formally placed on his lap.
“Just go with Option 1.”
“Hey!”
That’s Leo, all right.
A smile filled Hyedam’s face as he watched Leo, who chose Option 1 right away without even flipping through one page, and Luna, who burst out yelling. Someone win. No, wait. Today, Luna, you win.
“At least look at what Option 1 is before you say that.”
“Professionals picked it, so they must have done well.”
Watching the two of them bicker, Hyedam picked up the lemonade glass he’d set aside and sucked on the straw.
“Is that so? Fine. I’ll do as you say. Don’t regret it.”
“I don’t care where it is as long as I have our Motna— mmph.”
Hyedam was afraid of what Leo might say next, so he blocked his mouth with his hand. Calling him “our Motnani” all the time regardless of when or where. Lately, every word he says gives goosebumps, so when it seemed like something dangerous might come out, it was best to block it in advance like this.
When it’s just the two of them and he does that, there’s no one listening so he can just brush it off, but this was consideration for the third party who had to hear these cringe-inducing words out of nowhere.
“I’ll look at it. I just need to look, right? Both of you stop fighting.”
Hyedam, who gave Leo a warning look, handed the lemonade glass to Leo.
“Sorry.”
Hyedam, who apologized to Luna at the same time as opening the file, checked that Leo was being obedient for now and removed his hand that had been covering his mouth.
Who knew Option 1 would be all pink? Even though they must know that both Leo’s and his own taste is achromatic, and while weddings should be somewhat colorful so they use various colors, the moment he imagined a house full of pink-pink flower patterns, goosebumps rose all over his body.
“That’s why I told you to look carefully.”
“Can’t we go with achromatic colors?”
Having confirmed the seriousness of the situation, Hyedam was seriously flipping through the file when he glanced at Leo’s movements as he slowly started moving. ‘Why? What?’ His movements seemed suspicious, but when he stopped moving completely and played innocent, Hyedam shifted his gaze back to the file.
“But with the kids being born, isn’t too much achromatic color not good? Oh right. There are also baby rooms in the back, so check those too. I’m telling you in advance, but if you don’t choose those, Mother might decorate everything in pink. Leo also grew up in a pink heaven when he was young. She’s someone who strongly believes pink is for boys.”
Luna, who had been compressing the wedding portfolio centered on white and green while talking, slightly lifted her head at the sound of soft bickering and grumbling.
Hyedam, who had been sitting comfortably on the four-person sofa until just now, was sitting on Leo’s lap. At the outrage of Hyedam silently throwing a fit telling him to get down right now, and Leo asking what’s the problem, grinning cheekily while hugging him tighter and burying his face in his nape, Luna slowly closed the file she’d been organizing.
“I’ll organize the wedding files and come at the appointed time the day after tomorrow, so check the interior carefully by then. Well then. I’ll be going now.”
Rather than suffer the trouble of being caught between a couple, Luna, who chose to leave that place, had a faint smile on her face.
