Inside the box were two crystal owls, one noticeably larger than the other, symbolizing a couple. The eyes were adorned with green and amber cubic zirconia, and the intricate cutting indicated they were expensive ornaments.
“Phew…”
Sori sighed, realizing she had been needlessly anxious. She could have opened it with Hyun-woo after all.
She felt a tinge of regret for missing the chance to spend time together with him.
Looking around, Sori placed the crystal owls side by side on her vanity.
“The big one is the professor, the small one is me. We are like a couple.”
Looking at them side by side made her heart flutter.
“It’d look nice on the shelf above the shoe rack.”
She had already thought of the perfect spot.
Peeking out of her room, it seemed Hyun-woo had gone to his. She turned on the lights in the hallway and tiptoed with the owls towards the entrance.
There was a shelf about chest high in the entrance area.
True to Hyun-woo’s taste, who disliked clutter, the shelf was spotless, devoid of even a diffuser.
“Right. Here. Exactly, here.”
The crystals sparkled like stars under the hallway and entrance lights, symbolizing their cohabitation. Ji-woo’s gift was very pleasing this time.
Memories of playing with dolls and pretending to be a married couple with Ji-woo as kids flashed in her mind.
“Let’s play house, you be the husband. Today, I’ll be the wife.”
Back then, in Ji-woo’s living room, they would play with dolls, pretending to kiss, say goodnight, and whisper ‘I love you.’
The two kids called this playing house.
Recalling those memories, Sori, unable to do it in reality, did something with the little owl. She pretended to peck a kiss on the face of the bigger owl.
“Goodnight.”
She whispered a small greeting.
Then, as if determined, she tilted the bigger owl towards the smaller one.
“Well, goodnight. I lo…”
“What are you doing?”
Startled by Hyun-woo’s sudden appearance, Sori almost jumped out of her skin.
She nearly dropped the owls and was about to be branded as a weirdo if she had finished her sentence.
“This, Ji-woo’s gift. I thought it would fit perfectly here.”
Sori explained, attaching awkward laughs to her speech.
Hyun-woo, having freshly showered, stood right behind her, his hair still damp. The subtle scent of his body wash enveloped her.
“I saw the light on and thought you were going out.”
His narrowed eyes moved from the owls on the shelf to Sori, who was the epitome of awkwardness.
“Is this supposed to be me, and the smaller one you?”
“Well, not exactly, but oh! I should ask Ji-woo who gave them.”
Not knowing how much he saw, Sori sweated with embarrassment.
But it was not like she actually did anything.
“Why are they facing each other? Aren’t ornaments supposed to face forward?”
A logical question from him.
“Uh, maybe they were trying to hug? They are so plump they can’t even hug properly. Why are they like this?”
Despite her calm voice, Sori was extremely embarrassed and cautiously turned the owls to face forward.
From behind, Hyun-woo’s arms stretched out long, narrowly missing Sori’s face as they passed by.
Already suffocating from his scent, Sori had to hold her breath at that moment.
“Facing each other seems better.”
Nonchalantly, Hyun-woo’s hand reached over Sori’s shoulder, encircling her hand holding the owl, and turned the owls to face each other.
“But Sori,” suddenly, she was spun around to face him.
“Are you planning to be awkward around me forever?”
It seemed like he had resolved to explode her heart today.
“Don’t be uncomfortable, and eat something,” he said, noticing her hesitation to even open the fridge in ‘someone else’s house’.
“And in the morning too. Are you going to sneak out for work like that all the time?”
“I don’t exactly sneak out…”
Inherently, she was not one to depend on others, a trait that became more noticeable living under the same roof.
Far from being a nuisance, her almost invisible presence in the house bothered Hyun-woo more.
“I just get ready quickly.”
Her preparation involved only applying sunscreen and heading out. She would wash her hair the night before, and never pondered over what to wear.
Sometimes, her preparation was even quicker than Hyun-woo’s.
“Just don’t mind me and do as you please.”
“Isn’t it odd to live under the same roof but travel separately?”
Odd? Sori tilted her head, contemplating the blurry line between hospital and home with him.
Lately, she often thought that Hyun-woo would always be her professor, not her husband.
“We live together, but you’re not really my husband.”
There was no rule that real couples must commute together. Sori decided to speak her mind.
“It’s like I’m staying in a fancy dormitory with a slightly intimidating warden. At the hospital and home, you’re always just the professor.”
Her voice, expression, everything.
So she felt she couldn’t afford even the smallest slip-up or show any vulnerability.
Taken aback, Hyun-woo was speechless for a while.
“What can I do to make you feel more comfortable around me?”
“Um… I don’t think that will ever happen…”
Her hesitation was because of his slightly sharp gaze.
She realized she needed to think this through carefully.
But no matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t see a way to feel comfortable. Maybe playing house would help? A ridiculous thought crossed her mind.
Her idea of playing house was simple:
A couple shares a blanket, greeting each other in the morning and at night.
Although she and Hyun-woo didn’t share a blanket, someone could run to greet the other with a peck on the cheek when leaving or returning from work.
It was a scene Sori had never witnessed before, but it remained in her mind as a very lovely image.
Was it, perhaps, a kind of romance?
Should she try to broach the subject?
“How about we play house as a couple?”
“What kind of play?”
“That… playing house as a couple.”
“What’s that?”
Sori thought her suggestion might get immediately shot down. Fortunately, Hyun-woo seemed willing to listen.
“It’s something I used to do often with dolls when I was little.”
Hyun-woo could easily guess what she meant without needing a detailed explanation, remembering young Sori and Jiwoo with their boy Barbie with a crew cut and various long-haired princess dolls.
“So, it’s like…”
But as she tried to put it into words, Sori’s cheeks turned a rosy hue from embarrassment.
Hyun-woo, watching her with a thoughtful gaze, noticed the owl decorations reflected behind her face.
“Were you playing house alone in the hallway? With owls instead of a prince and princess?”
“No, not really?”
Startled, Sori stammered in her response.
The corners of Hyun-woo’s mouth involuntarily began to lift.
Was this situation absurd or adorable? He couldn’t quite decide.
“Let’s play house. Us.”
“What?”
“Let’s try what you were talking about.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
