Chapter 47: Heena, Don't Give Up!
Chapter 47: Heena, Don't Give Up!
TL: looloo
Schedule: 4/Week Wed-Sat
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Lately, my girlfriend has been acting strange.
No, saying she's acting strange might be a bit much. Perhaps it's more appropriate to say she’s become a bit dangerous?
Of course, Lee Heena has always been assertive since the first day we met, and it’s not something to point out now. However, lately, that assertiveness seems to be gaining momentum.
Casually touching here and there was no longer a novelty, and she would no longer be satisfied with just a quick, brief kiss.
Moreover, now it's not just my face that she's interested in; somehow, her range has expanded to my neck.
She seemed to want to leave her mark all over my body.
Was she trying to tempt me into crossing some unseen line? Whenever I quietly observe her, puzzled by this, she merely gives me a mischievous smile and never speaks a word.
I wondered if the previous promise to wait until I was ready meant that she would tempt me to the point of madness if I didn’t lay a hand on her.
Since she didn’t reveal her innermost feelings, I couldn’t decipher her true intentions.
As her boyfriend, I was happy, but thanks to this, my will of steel was slowly melting away.
In any case, this push and pull (if you could even call it that) went on until the tail end of our summer vacation.
"Hello~! You’re Heena, right? I really wanted to see you! Yeonho, that cheeky guy, kept holding back~"
"Hello, unnie. I’ve heard a lot about you from Yeonho."
"…Oh, what should I do? I genuinely want to take you home...you’re so pretty....want to be my little sister?"
The day had come for Heena to meet Yoonjung, my sister, who truly, no — majorly annoyed me.
Take her where, crazy sister?
However, our meeting wasn’t as initially planned with just my brother's couple and ours.
"Hmm hmm, welcome. Make yourselves at home."
"Yes, sir."
"........Ahem."
My dad, clearly delighted at the 'sir,' discreetly coughed and turned his head away, trying to hide his pleasure.
Come on, he’s surely heard a lot from Yoonjung too.
"Wow, Han Yeonho, you really scored. How did you manage to snag her?"
"I was the one who was snagged."
"Ha ha, kid. Your bullshitting skills have improved quite a bit since I last saw you."
Off to the side, my tall, burly second-oldest brother, who was playing a mobile game, nudged me with his foot, albeit without genuine interest in my girlfriend, even though he’d just returned home post-military service. How could he make such spiritless comments? A true gamer, embodying the spirit of bachelorhood.
"Did you serve there? That was our neighboring unit."
"Oh really? If you haven’t been discharged for long, we might’ve crossed paths."
Then, Heeseong, who had followed Heena, began exchanging military stories with our oldest brother.
"Heeseong, I thought you didn’t use honorifics."
"That’s 'cause there’s no need to use them with me, punk. I get uncomfortable if people are too formal when we first meet."
"....??"
What kind of nonsense... No, somehow, it makes sense.
Anyway, this is how Heena and Heeseong-hyung ended up visiting our house. Not only Yoonjung noona, but also our dad expressed a desire to see them, and Heena immediately set a date.
Originally, around this time, I had planned to see Noona and Hyung since their schedules were free.
Heeseong-hyung seems to have followed me with the intention to scold me but casually ended up joining us.
When we met earlier, he glared at me as if he wanted to kill me because I had tricked him last time. Now, naturally, he's entered our house and is chatting away with big brother, and somehow, little brother has joined in, and the three of them are heartily conversing. Mostly about their military experiences.
Anyway, when discharged men gather, it seems they talk about nothing else. It's genuinely annoying. I'm the only one who hasn’t served yet.
I diverted my gaze from the trio, focused in a conversation I couldn’t engage in, and saw Heena calmly conversing with our mom and Yoonjung noona.
The girlfriend who, just on our date last night, said she wouldn’t let me go home unless I fulfilled a 30-minute kissing quota was sitting there, and it made me think, wow, she’s terrifying.
Yesterday, I thought my lips were melting. Heena wouldn’t let me go.
Recalling that memory, I found myself inadvertently touching my lips when the conversation among the trio reached my ears.
"Yeonho should be careful too. You know how much I struggled because of Jeongwoo.."
"What happened?"
"Jeongwoo, he looks really indifferent on the surface, you know? Like he doesn't care about what anyone does around him."
Big brother is somewhat like that. He appears indifferent but takes care of this and that. Little brother seems interested on the surface, but if you peel back the layers, he's not interested at all – completely the opposite type.
"But if you actually watch him, he subtly takes good care of things, you know?"
"So coo.. I mean, your brother is cool."
"I’d be glad if he only looked cool to me, but because of that, there are some twists with the kids... you know what feeling I'm talking about?"
"I think I know!"
Heena enthusiastically agrees. From where she gets that feeling, I could not guess.
"Even so, at a casual glance, he’s just stoic, while Yeonho is fundamentally friendly with people, isn’t he? It might be even more serious than Jeongwoo when he goes to college, right?"
"......."
"Yeonho is the caring, gentleman type, so you especially have to be cautious of juniors.."
".........Hmm."
Wait, wasn’t hyung praising me? Why do I suddenly feel like the sparks are flying at me?
For the as-yet-unrealized future, for the absurd accusation, Heena's eyes narrow.
And the way she looks at me makes me feel somewhat creepy.
It's awkward to make excuses because it's just Noona’s fanciful future prediction, and I don't know what to say in this situation.
So, avoiding her gaze, I quietly moved to sit next to my dad. Dad has been consistently looking at Heena and Yoonjung noona with kind eyes.
With his gaze still fixed, he suddenly put his hand in his back pocket, took out some bills, and handed them to me.
Two vouchers, each worth 50,000 won.
"Huh? What's this?"
"Use this to buy lots of tasty stuff for Heena."
"Oh, thank you, Dad!"
"She's really a good girl. Continue to treat her well."
As an unexpected income brought a giddy joy to me, the still unsettled chatter buzzed in my ears.
"Sexy? Um.. Yeonho... kinda meh... She’s cute... real... extra..."
Their voices suddenly dropped, making it hard to hear properly.
Without getting closer to eavesdrop, I tried to focus as much as possible while standing beside Heena’s happily chatting dad.
"Yeonho- when he was younger... a girl toy-... wanted..."
"...clothes.. will lend.. yeah. Later."
"Is it okay...?"
"Sure... this... is a... play..."
Though their words were unclear to me, Heena seemed to find the conversation with Yoonjung and her mother incredibly insightful, listening intently with sparkling eyes.
Getting along is clearly a good thing, but why does it feel so uneasy that those two are the subject?
While I awkwardly kept an ear out and stole glances their way, Heesung’s voice pierced through.
"Han Yeonho! We’re heading to the PC room, you should come!"
Sitting so casually in someone else’s living room, inviting me with such a carefree shout, that ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ attitude really was something to admire. He was a peculiarly polite person.
Anyway, it seemed like our brothers had already finalized plans, as they got up from their seats and prepared to leave.
The four of us gathered in the PC room, immersing ourselves in Jjapaghetti and some AOS or FPS games? They’re irresistible.
Heeseong's proposal was quite tempting and without realizing, I began to rise but...
"......"
Feeling a strange pressure from behind, I ended up sitting back down.
Then, trying to appear nonchalant, I spoke up.
"I'm staying here with Heena. You guys go."
"What, is that really Han Yeonho?"
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Who knows? Looking at him, he's totally whipped by my sister... Ah, got it! Look at him glaring... Sir, Ma'am, we’ll be heading out first."
His mouth kept running until perhaps he received a glare from Heena, after which he swiftly turned his head, greeting our parents.
After that, I could do nothing but watch as he and the others headed out, leaving me behind.
Honestly, leaving your girlfriend at home to go out and play doesn’t make sense. Granted, Yoonjung and I have been acquainted for a long time and we’re comfortable with each other, but still.
"Yeonho, did you want to go?"
"No? Being with you is... ah, damn it."
Attempting to respond to Heena’s question as I normally would, I hastily shut my mouth, realizing we weren’t alone.
However, the partial sentence I'd already let slip was enough to tease me, as Yoonjung wore a sly, mischievous smile.
"Oh~ Yeonho is so sweet, isn’t he?"
"Ugh, please stop.."
"But Heena. Don’t you think you should keep a close eye on him in case he acts like that around other girls, too? He says stuff without thinking, but the ones who believe him are no joke~"
"......Yeonho?"
"Can we just ignore my sister's nonsense? No, let’s go, we even greeted her. Let's just leave and go on our date."
I couldn’t bear to hear any more of this absurd gossip. So, ready to get up and leave immediately, I began to speak, but my sister quickly grabbed Heena, shouting desperately.
"Where are you thinking of going! I still want to talk with Heena!! You can’t go!! Nobody can go!! She's my little sister from now on!"
"Ugh.."
How can she behave like this not only when it’s just me and my brother, but also when our parents and Heena are all watching?
Moreover, mom and dad just pass it off as her being playful, so that disgraceful behavior doesn’t stop. Having only sons in the house, maybe they find even this behavior cute.
Heena doesn't seem to mind much either.
Heena’s eyes were focused solely on me.
"I trust Yeonho, so I'm not worried. And I want to get closer with your sister as well.."
"Oh my... how is it that you're such a good girl... Han Yeonho! You really need to treat Heena well!"
While her gaze stayed fixed on me, she gently consoled my sister in a coddling manner, like one would handle a puppy.
With a heavy sigh, I gave up on escaping and took out my smartphone. The conversation wasn’t going to end anytime soon, and I figured I’d just get irritated if I kept listening.
After sending a message to my brothers who had already left, asking if they were having fun without me, I spent about an hour chatting with them and other friends through messages.
Suddenly, Yoonjung and Heena stood up from their seats.
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"To our house with Heena~"
"What?"
Shocked, I stared at Heena, who confirmed with a smile.
"My sister has something to lend me. Father, mother, I’ll be going ahead today. I'll visit again next time."
"Eat before you go... Make sure to receive whatever you need from Yoonjung."
"Uh-huh, feel free to visit anytime."
"Yes, thank you."
Somehow, I felt a strange sense of unease watching her end our date, after only a few hours, to willingly leave with my sister.
To see them off, and maybe out of a sense of foreboding, I followed them out. The moment we stepped outside the entrance, Heena approached me.
"I'm sorry for leaving early today. There’s something I want from your sister, and there’s a bit more I want to consult with her about."
"It’s alright. I'm glad you're getting along with my sister."
And I meant it. After all, that sister is practically family.
Heena offered a gentle smile at my words, stealthily glanced once at my sister who had already walked ahead to the street, then spoke again.
"Yeonho, we agreed to a date tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, we did. It’s also the last day of the vacation."
"So, do you want to go watch a movie tomorrow?"
"A movie? Now that you mention it, we've never watched one together."
It’s a classic date, but although we’ve been near movie theaters, we’ve never actually seen a movie together.
"Right, and then a home date afterward."
"Fine by me. Going to your place again?"
"No, here."
"...Huh? At my place?"
Our house tends to be crowded, so the atmosphere might not be quite right.
As I contemplated this thought, I noticed Heena's eyes were softly curving into crescents.
"Everyone will be out of the house tomorrow," she said.
Author's Note:
How could you predict a plot twist would happen..?
Thank you always for your comments, interest, and recommendations!! I love you!