PIA 106

The distance from the main gate to the inner house where Myeong Hyun-sook was staying was incredibly far. As Jian thought about the house atop the hill, which he had once mistaken for a park, he started to understand where Jeong Hee-seo’s preference for his home’s aesthetic might have originated.

“The house is unnecessarily large, right? This is actually our late grandfather’s preference.”

Despite her complaints, Jeong Hee-young was walking the long distance in high heels just fine. Right beside her, Ye-seo was riding a kickboard, and seeing the envy in Ji-an’s eyes, she seemed to want to empathize with him.

“Hmm…”

He changed his mind. He needed to correct his earlier statement about no longer being afraid. Ji-an took a deep breath as he crossed the final door into the inner house. His hands trembled slightly.

A moment of misjudgment leading to unnecessary bravado had resulted in such a dire situation…

“Has the baby arrived?”

Along with the sound of soft footsteps, Myeong Hyun-sook’s voice was heard. Turning his head towards the sound, he saw an elderly woman in loose-fitting clothes approaching with a gentle smile.

Ji-an bent his waist 90 degrees with a pale face, creaking as he did so. The flowers and gifts he held out made a loud rustling noise.

“It’s… my first time—no, I mean, it’s good to see you again. Hello. I’m Ji-an, Seo Ji-an.”

Ji-an couldn’t believe he had made such a stupid greeting. When he raised his flushed face, Myeong Hyun-sook was right in front of him. Fortunately, he didn’t jump back.

“Even if you’d come empty-handed, it’d be hard to hear anyone say I hadn’t treated you well, but you’ve brought all these things.”

Myeong Hyun-sook hugged the gifts and flowers Ji-an handed over, burying her nose in them and smiling brightly. Dressed in simple ramie clothes, she reminded him of an ordinary grandmother at this moment.

“Let’s go inside. The tea will get cold. Oh my, look at you sweat. You must have walked all the way here. Then I should have them bring out cold tea instead. Wait a moment, Manager Lee—”

“Grandmother, I’ll go to the kitchen. For now, please go inside with Ji-an.”

“Mom, I want chocolate milk!”

Ji-an briefly thought that the three bustling women resembled each other.

“Oh, right. Bring it with ice. The baby and I will go inside now. It’s cool inside.”

After Jeong Hee-young turned towards what was presumably the kitchen building, Ji-an climbed onto the wooden porch with his arm linked with Myeong Hyun-sook’s.

The old, polished wooden floor truly had a nice scent. The entire meticulously maintained space exuded Jeong Hee-seo’s presence. Ye-seo, who had parked her kickboard next to the foundation stone and run up, stuck close to Ji-an’s side, easing the awkwardness a bit.

In the main room, a tea table was already set up as if waiting for Ji-an. He sat down on a thick silk cushion as Myeong Hyun-sook guided him.

“You should have waited and come with Hee-seo. It must have been difficult to come alone.”

“Ah, about that…”

Ji-an tried to find a plausible answer but ended up chuckling softly. He remembered how Jeong Hee-seo had once barged into his house, turning it upside down demanding to see Seo Ji-an who was pregnant with his child.

“Actually, hyung-nim has done something similar before. He came to our house first without me knowing, and I was surprised. So I wanted to surprise him too, as a kind of event.”

“Hee-seo did? They say children live different lives outside that their parents don’t know about. I’m surprised again today.”

Myeong Hyun-sook examined Ji-an carefully with amused eyes.

“Our Hee-seo can be a bit uptight sometimes, doesn’t that make it difficult to meet? From what I hear, he’s still just working hard. I was wondering why he suddenly took a vacation, but that was just once. Shouldn’t people immerse themselves in love when they’re dating, putting everything else aside? That’s how you make memories to reminisce about when you’re old.”

Ji-an’s cheeks flushed at the mention of the vacation. It reminded him more of Jeong Hee-seo because of Myeong Hyun-sook’s calm voice and tone.

Myeong Hyun-sook spoke, glancing at Ji-an’s hand gripping the edge of the cushion.

“Is Hee-seo treating you well? I know that boy is capable of anything. But when do you go on dates with how busy he is? You can’t just meet at night all the time.”

“Ah, actually…”

Ji-an looked around for a moment, choosing his words. From what he could tell, Myeong Hyun-sook seemed unaware that the two of them were living together. It was somewhat surprising that Jeong Hee-young was keeping quiet about it.

“Actually, we’re living together, Grandmother.”

The moment he said it, he wondered if he should have revealed this, but he wanted to tell her before the conversation went further. There was no reason to make things up, and he didn’t want to deceive her when they weren’t doing anything wrong.

There was no reason to avoid the responsibility he’d have to bear after revealing this, and above all, he wanted to be proud for Poggeuli now.

“Oh…”

Myeong Hyun-sook momentarily lost her words, then picked up her teacup and took a sip. Surely she won’t spit it out… Ji-an briefly suspected, biting his lip slightly.

Was this not a topic to bring up so directly? Should he have waited until Hyung-nim arrived? Ji-an’s trivial courage quickly lost its earlier momentum.

Ye-seo, who had been fidgeting next to Ji-an for a while, suddenly chimed in.

“When I went to Uncle’s house, Ji-an oppa gave me chocolate ice cream.”

“You went there, Ye-seo? When was it? Ah, no wonder you’re being so friendly without any shyness.”

“It was last time. I went with Mom. Mom told me not to tell Grandmother and to wait.”

“…‘Not to tell’?”

“Yes. She said if I told, Ji-an oppa wouldn’t come to play.”

“Ah, did you promise Ye-seo that you’d come to play?”

“No, no. Ye-seo asked Uncle if Ji-an oppa could come play at Ye-seo’s house, but Uncle said no.”

“Is that so?”

“But Mom said if I waited patiently, she’d bring Ji-an oppa over!”

Ye-seo’s series of revelations helped ease Ji-an’s tension a bit. Fortunately, Myeong Hyun-sook’s expression was also bright.

“Excuse me.”

Just then, the door opened and Jeong Hee-young entered with a servant. A large tray was filled with cool drinks and snacks. As the snack table was busily set up, Ji-an gained time to calm his trembling heart.

“Have some cool tea.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The snack table placed in front of each person had traditional Korean sweets, fruits, and cool iced tea that Ji-an had tasted before. It was a neat and beautiful setting with small, pretty pottery, cute patchwork coasters, and tiny wooden spoons. Drinking the cool tea made Ji-an feel a bit more relaxed, and he smiled while composing himself.

“Is Hee-seo coming at mealtime?”

Jeong Hee-young asked playfully with a smile.

“Oh, yes. I think he might. I sent him a message earlier at the gate.”

Glancing at his phone, quite some time had passed. Jeong Hee-young burst into laughter.

“Traffic might be a bit heavy at this hour. I can smell Jeong Hee-seo’s anxiety all the way here.”

“Well, why would he be anxious?”

At Grandmother’s nonchalant response, Jeong Hee-young clicked her tongue.

“Shall we have some interesting conversation now? Until Jeong Hee-seo arrives.”

†

Jeong Hee-seo read Ji-an’s message twice more with a serious expression.

[Hyung-nim, please come to the family home when you get off work today. I’m here.]

“Family home?”

As the boss walking ahead stopped, those following also halted abruptly. After a brief moment of confusion, they dispersed and returned to their respective tasks. Of course, they all glanced at Jeong Hee-seo once as they went.

“Is something wrong?”

Only Secretary Yoon remained, peeking to see what was going on. These days, Secretary Yoon often felt as though every conversation with Jeong Hee-seo was a kind of riddle.

“Woo-young. I need to go now.”

“What? But there’s an executive meeting in an hour. There’s also the development team report…”

“Tell them something urgent came up…”

Jeong Hee-seo suddenly recalled barging into Ji-an’s house when he first learned of his pregnancy. Ji-an must have been very surprised then. He roughly rubbed his chin, perplexed.

“No. Say I was summoned by the Chairman.”

His steps quickened even before Secretary Yoon could respond.

Ji-an wouldn’t have gone to meet Grandmother without a prior appointment, and Jeong Hee-young must be behind this. This must be the secret appointment he had mentioned setting up recently.

‘Jeong Hee-young, answer the phone.’

Jeong Hee-seo’s brow furrowed as he looked down at his phone.

He wasn’t doubting the character of his grandmother and sister. Yet, an unprecedented anxiety surged.

Not being able to watch their entire conversation from beginning to end made Jeong Hee-seo nervous, fearing that even a casually spoken word might leave a small thorn in Ji-an.

“……”

Jeong Hee-young seemed to seize the opportunity and didn’t answer the phone.

Gripping his car keys, he urgently pressed the elevator button. Jeong Hee-seo swallowed dryly as he watched the slowly moving numbers on the display. It had been a long time since he’d felt this kind of nervousness.

“Seo Ji-an, that little…”

As he got in the car, started the engine, and hurriedly left the parking lot, a chuckle escaped him without realizing. Jeong Hee-seo tried to smooth out his frowning face.

Reflecting on why he was so flustered, he could easily conclude that he couldn’t maintain his composure when Ji-an was involved, no matter what the situation.

‘He certainly has a talent for surprising people.’

It seemed, without even realizing it, he had been putting on a front of bravado in front of Jian. How laughable it now seemed to recall his earlier claim that it would be hard to surprise him.