Ganghyeon put on his jacket and checked his outfit in the full-length mirror in the walk-in closet. This wasn’t a first meeting, so a full suit with a tie felt like too much. He finished the look with a neat knit underneath the dark grey jacket.
Secretary Seong had prepared the gifts to bring to Jiwon’s house in advance and loaded them into the car, so Ganghyeon planned to leave at the right time. He was putting on his watch when his phone buzzed from the inner pocket of his jacket. He’d thought it might be Jiwon — then saw who it was and let out a quiet sigh.
“Ganghyeon.”
It was Choi Yumin. He’d rejected the calls several times already, so he supposed it was time to pick up once. The type like Choi Yumin caused more trouble in the background when blocked outright.
“What do you want.”
“What are you up to?”
“Never mind what I’m up to. What do you want.”
“I missed you. Can you come out now?”
“I have plans.”
“I’ll wait, even if you’re late.”
“Don’t be presumptuous.”
It was barely early evening, but the alcohol was already audible in his voice. Ganghyeon had been throwing out short, indifferent replies when Choi Yumin went quiet for a moment, then spoke again.
“Are you going to meet Jeong Jiwon? You — do you actually think Jeong Jiwon is right for you?”
“Yumin.”
“Is it that anyone’s fine because it’s not going to last long anyway? There’s no way someone like that catches your eye.”
“Whether it lasts or not, whether he catches my eye or not — that’s none of your concern. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
He ended the call then and there and stared down at the darkened screen. Ganghyeon had always assumed Choi Yumin’s fixation on him was a phase that would run its course. Since learning of his feelings, he had never given him an opening — he’d expected things to settle themselves.
He had known Choi Yumin for a long time. When they were young, they were ordinary friends, and he did genuinely remember enjoying the time they spent together. The expression on his face as he quietly turned back through those memories was dark.
One person had been appealing to his feelings, and the other had been refusing them without cease. It was a dynamic that only ever subtracted from both of them. Ganghyeon was getting married now, and it was time to bring things to a close — whether that meant Choi Yumin emptied out those feelings, or they cut ties entirely. There was nothing to be gained for anyone in maintaining this kind of relationship with Choi Yumin.
When Ganghyeon pulled up in front of the house, Jiwon was already waiting outside the gate. Jiwon had come out to direct him as he parked in the narrow alley and was there to greet him as he stepped out of the car. Coming around to stand beside the trunk, Jiwon’s face today was particularly clear and bright.
“Did you hit traffic?”
“A little. Why are you standing out here?”
Jiwon stopped Ganghyeon, who was holding the gifts in both hands and moving to head straight through the gate without hesitation. Jiwon’s face was full of worry — the look of someone watching a boyfriend arrive to ask for her hand. Ganghyeon gave him a light nudge to say what was on his mind.
“What is it?”
“Well, our house is very different from yours in atmosphere. It’s your first time coming over, so it’ll probably be even more hectic today. It might be a bit surprising and strange from your perspective, but please be patient with us.”
“Of course.”
“…….”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“Yes. And thank you for coming.”
“Don’t think of it that way. Now stop worrying and let’s go in.”
He was the one who had come to pay his respects, and yet somehow Jiwon seemed the more nervous of the two. Ganghyeon brushed aside the worry and took the lead. He had been fully immersed in professional and social life from a young age. He had encountered all manner of people, and knowing how to handle each kind had long since become second nature to him. Dealing with people wasn’t something he found difficult.
Ganghyeon had waved off Jiwon’s concerns without a second thought — but he noticed something was off the moment they reached the front door. Hushed voices on the other side of it carried quite loudly, as if people were pressed right up against it. Ganghyeon stood before the door with his attention fixed on those voices, and before his hand even reached the handle, the door swung open from the inside.
“Welcome, welcome!”
“Come in, come in. You must have had a long trip over here!”
People seemed to pour out of the house. Jiwon’s parents rushed to the door in their socks, greeted Ganghyeon warmly, took his hands, and ushered him inside. The shopping bags and wrapped parcels he was holding were whisked away in an instant. Hands pulling him forward, a hand rubbing his back, hands guiding him along — Ganghyeon barely managed to get his shoes off before being swept inside. By the time he reached the living room, his jacket had somehow come off on its own and vanished, and when he came back to his senses, he was seated in the middle of the sofa.
It was a seating arrangement unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Jiwon’s father, Jiwon’s mother, his younger sister, his sister’s husband, and Jeong Jiwon himself surrounded Ganghyeon in a semicircle, all eyes on him. Even Ganghyeon, who was rarely rattled by anything, was caught off guard and found himself at a momentary loss for words. Seated like that, he was introduced to Chaewon and her husband.
“Nice to meet you, brother-in-law! You’re incredibly handsome.”
“Ah. I’m Han Ganghyeon.”
Jiwon’s family gave off a soft and warmhearted impression across the board. White skin, long eyes with smiles at their corners — to Ganghyeon’s eye, they all resembled one another. Even the sister’s husband blended in seamlessly with the same feeling. Ganghyeon felt like a tall rectangle dropped into the middle of a cluster of soft circles.
“I should have come to greet you sooner — I apologize for the delay.”
“Oh, you’re busy, that’s all. Thank you for making the time.”
“That’s right. I know how busy you are.”
Every word he said was met with a chorus of warm agreement. The mother had a welcoming, comfortable presence, and the father was unpretentious and easy to be around. There was clearly some nervousness in approaching Ganghyeon, but it was just as plain that they held genuine affection for him as their son’s future spouse.
“You’ve gotten even more handsome since last time, haven’t you. We all nearly fainted looking at the rehearsal shoot photos, you know. Our Ganghyeon is just so dashing.”
“Please, speak comfortably with me.”
“Oh my. Should I?”
The mother’s laughter, seated right next to him, was bright and easy. Jiwon, sitting the farthest away from him, scratched the back of his neck watching his family enthusiastically set upon Ganghyeon from the very start. Compared to the atmosphere at Ganghyeon’s family home during their meal there, this place was nothing short of a bustling marketplace.
“Oh goodness. What am I thinking. The braised short ribs are going to burn.”
Only after the mother and Chaewon and Jaeho had dashed off to the kitchen in a flurry did Ganghyeon finally catch his breath. He was about to give Jiwon, who was making an apologetic face, some kind of reassuring smile when the father drew him in and began to talk.
The father gave a brief update on the company — said the promissory note had been resolved without incident, and that the loan approval had come through quickly. Since the materials supply to Cheongmu Construction had begun at stable quantities and pricing, things had improved beyond comparison to how they’d been before, and the father thanked Ganghyeon for it. Ganghyeon replied with composure.
“It wasn’t something I did on my own authority. The products from your company were already earning recognition for their quality — I simply think the right opportunity came along at the right time. If our side was of any help in that process, I’m glad for it.”
“I appreciate you saying that. I feel terrible that I haven’t been more help with the wedding preparations — the company has been keeping me so busy.”
“Please don’t trouble yourself over it. Whoever has more room to breathe handles the preparations — that’s all there is to it.”
The gap in circumstances, the financial imbalance — Ganghyeon tidied it all away with a single word: room to breathe. Jiwon was struck by it. He knew when something needed to be addressed plainly, and he knew how to glide past what was delicate. The more the father spoke with him, the more visibly satisfied he became.
“Our Jiwon has spent his whole life with his head in his studies and his art — he doesn’t always have a strong read on the world. I worry about him a lot because of that. I’m trusting you with him.”
“Thank you.”
“Wow. Dad, isn’t this a bit different from how you talked to Jaeho? You were going on about how you wouldn’t accept a return even after he found out what I was really like.”
“I have a lot to feel sorry about when it comes to Jaeho.”
“Dad!”
Jiwon went and sat down beside Ganghyeon, who had been quietly watching the familiar back-and-forth between father and child. He’d been worried it would feel foreign and exhausting to Ganghyeon. But Ganghyeon smiled lightly at him. The situation was an unusual one — but the warmth and liveliness of the atmosphere didn’t sit badly with him at all.
What Ganghyeon found truly unfamiliar came when they sat down at the large low dining table for dinner. Not a single spot on the table was empty. The generously laid-out side dishes moved constantly from chopstick to chopstick — spooned onto each other’s plates with encouragements to try this because it was delicious, to eat that because it was good for you.
