Date Me! - Chapter 40

At those words, Ina’s tear-stained eyes widened.

As Ina looked at Juwon with a tense expression, Juhee pushed Juwon away and pulled Ina close.

Then she wiped Ina’s eye area, which was a mess with smudged eye makeup, while sniffling.

Ina also sniffled and raised her hand to wipe Juhee’s tears.

It was truly a scene that couldn’t be watched without tears.

“Ina. Let’s go inside for now.”

When Juhee spoke in a nasal voice, Ina nodded.

Juhee took Ina’s hand and led her into the living room.

Juwon, who let out a short sigh, took off his shoes and followed the two women inside.

Juhee, who went to the spacious living room, sat Ina on the sofa and then sat down next to her.

As she held both of Ina’s hands and looked at her, the tears that had stopped started flowing again.

Ina, seemingly unable to bear it, pulled out a tissue from the table and wiped Juhee’s tears.

“Juhee. Let’s stop crying. Okay? It’s a good day, so we should smile. If we cry too much, the baby will be startled. So stop. Okay?”

Even as Ina said this, her own eyes were brimming with tears, but Juhee nodded.

Juhee pulled out a tissue and blew her nose, and Ina did the same.

Looking at the two women whose eyes had become red and swollen in just a few minutes, Juwon let out a short sigh.

“Stop crying, you two. I’ll make you each a cup of tea, so drink it while we talk.”

Juwon said as he took off his jacket.

A moment later, Juwon went into the bedroom, changed into comfortable clothes, came out, washed his hands, and went to the kitchen.

Juhee, still holding both of Ina’s hands, started asking various questions, and Ina answered in detail.

Ina also asked Juhee about things she was curious about, and Juhee answered in a nasal voice.

As Juwon listened to the two women’s voices while boiling water in the coffee pot, Ina stood up from the sofa.

“Juhee. I’ll be right back, just going to the bathroom.”

“Okay. Sure.”

Ina took out her compact from her handbag and headed to the bathroom.

Ina, who opened the bathroom door, gaped at the hotel-like interior of the bathroom.

The spacious gray-toned bathroom, complete with a cypress wood bathtub, was clean and sophisticated.

“Wow, I could sleep in here.”

Ina, after looking around the spacious bathroom, headed to the sink.

Placing her compact on the sink, Ina was startled when she looked in the mirror.

In that short time, her eyes had become puffy and her eye makeup had smudged, making her face a mess.

“Wow. I can’t believe I’ve been looking like this the whole time…”

Ina hurriedly touched up her makeup with the compact, fixed her hair, and left the bathroom.

Just as she left the bathroom, Juwon came with a tray of tea.

He placed rooibos tea for Juhee, and chrysanthemum tea for Ina and himself, then sat down.

“Thank you.”

As Ina said this, Juhee also reached for her cup and said,

“Thanks, Ju.”

At the word ‘Ju’, Ina looked at Juhee with a puzzled expression.

Did she just call Juwon ‘Ju’?

As if noticing Ina’s thoughts, Juhee smiled and said,

“In our third year of middle school, both Juwon and I were in our stormy period, right? We fought so much then that I never called him ‘Ju’. I started calling him ‘Ju’ after I went to Japan.”

“Ah. I see.”

Ina nodded and looked at ‘Ju’, who had an expression of displeasure but seemed to be tolerating it. At that expression, Ina burst into laughter.

Juhee also found it funny and giggled, then firmly held both of Ina’s hands.

“But, our beautiful Ina, how come you haven’t changed at all?”

Juhee said, looking at Ina with honey-dripping eyes.

“You’re the one who’s so slim and pretty. You were pretty back then, and you’re still so pretty now. I can’t even tell you’re pregnant.”

Ina’s eyes also dripped with honey as she looked at Juhee.

“Oh my. Our cute Ina. How do you still have baby skin when you’re almost thirty?”

Sensing that this compliment relay might not end if left alone, Juwon raised his hand and said,

“You’re both slim and pretty, so can we drink the tea now?”

At Juwon’s words, Ina and Juhee burst into laughter and nodded.

While drinking the fragrant tea, Ina and Juhee began to share stories from their 13 years apart, one by one.

As they talked for two hours, losing track of time, it was already past 6 o’clock.

Juwon looked at the clock and stood up.

“Are you hungry? I’ll prepare dinner, so keep talking.”

“Oh? I’ll help too.”

As Ina tried to get up, Juwon shook his head, saying it was fine.

“No, it’s okay. I just need to set out what’s already made, so you don’t need to help. Just keep talking, you two.”

“But still…”

As Ina looked at him with apologetic eyes, Juhee took Ina’s hand and said,

“That’s right. You’re the guest, so just sit. Let’s talk more.”

Ina glanced at Juwon heading to the kitchen, then turned her head back to Juhee.

As they continued talking like that, a moment later, Juwon called out to the two.

“It’s all set. Come and eat.”

At Juwon’s words, Ina took Juhee’s hand and went to the kitchen, where a feast was laid out on the table.

It was mostly foods that Juhee wanted to eat, and just looking at them made their mouths water.

“Wow.”

An exclamation of admiration escaped from Ina’s lips.

The delicious smell coming from the island table, with beef short rib stew, japchae, grilled yellow croaker, braised tofu, pollack jeon, and more, tickled Ina’s nose.

Her stomach, exhausted from crying so much, was clamoring for the food.

“Let’s sit down quickly.”

Juhee said to Ina as she pulled out two chairs.

Ina smiled and sat down next to Juhee.

Juwon didn’t like the seating arrangement, but considering the day, he decided to be generous and sat across from Ina.

“Ina, eat a lot and enjoy. Okay?”

“Yes. You too, eat a lot. You have a baby inside, so you need to eat even more, you know?”

“Of course, of course, I know.”

As Juhee stroked Ina’s cheek and smiled as if she found her cute, Juwon coughed and tapped the table with his chopsticks.

“Shall we stop now and eat? The food will get cold.”

Ina quickly put chopsticks in Juhee’s hand.

“Right. Juhee. Let’s eat quickly.”

“Yes. Our Ina should eat a lot too. Let’s talk more after we eat this.”

“Okay. Sure.”

The three of them ate slowly while chatting about various things.

Every now and then, Juhee would put side dishes on Ina’s rice bowl, and Ina, not to be outdone, would put tasty side dishes on Juhee’s spoon.

The two women, who seemed to find this so amusing and laughed out loud, looked just like young girls.

Juwon also couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the two, who seemed to have gone back to 13 years ago.

After finishing the meal, Juwon stopped Ina as she stood up to clear the table.

“I’ll clean up, so go to the living room.”

“Oh? No, let’s clean up together.”

“It’s okay. I’ll clean up quickly, so go and chat.”

Juhee linked arms with Ina and pulled her.

“That’s right. Ina, let’s go sit. He’s really quick with his hands, so he’ll clean up in no time. Ju, thank you.”

As Juhee pulled the apologetic Ina’s hand and headed to the living room, Juwon moved the plates to the sink.

After putting the bowls and plates in the dishwasher and starting it, he took out kiwi and strawberries from the refrigerator and washed them.

He cut the kiwi into bite-sized pieces and removed the stems from the strawberries, then placed them on a pretty plate.

As he brought the tray with the fruit, Ina quickly stood up and took the tray.

Ina picked up a strawberry with a fork and handed it to Juhee, then picked up another and offered it to Juwon.

“Juwon. Thanks for preparing and cleaning up the meal.”

Though she tried to speak as neutrally as possible, just like talking to a friend, Ina’s eyes were gentle as she spoke.

At that gaze, Juwon almost smiled sweetly without realizing it, but quickly corrected his expression and took the fork.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Juhee picked up a strawberry with her fork and offered it to Ina while saying,

“Ina, you must have been surprised, right? Thinking, ‘Did Lee Juwon have such a caring side?'”

“Huh?”

As Ina asked in confusion, Juhee looked at Juwon and raised her eyebrows.

“The last time we saw each other was in February when we were 17, right? In your memory, wasn’t the Lee Juwon from then a completely blunt and super prickly guy?”

“Stop saying useless things and just eat the fruit.”

Juwon scolded, but Juhee pretended not to hear and turned her body completely towards Ina.

“Back then, he was totally cold and prickly, remember? But after I went to Japan with mom, blood is thicker than water, I guess, because I started missing this Ju. And it seems he felt the same way, because he often called me and took really good care of me every time I came back to Korea. Now that I’m pregnant, as you can see, he’s being even more, more, more caring towards me.”

“Ma’am. Just eat your fruit.”

As Juwon pushed the fruit plate towards Juhee, both Juhee and Ina burst into laughter at the same time. After that, Juhee and Ina continued to share their remaining stories endlessly, losing track of time.

As they talked like that, it was already approaching 10 o’clock.

Juhee looked at the clock, held Ina’s hands, and said with sparkling eyes,

“Ina. Can’t you stay and sleep here tonight?”

“Huh?”

“You, Juwon, and I all took a day off tomorrow, right? Didn’t you take the day off to hang out with me?”

“Oh? Well, that’s true.”

“So stay and sleep here. Okay? I have lots of clothes here, so you can wear those, and you can use my cosmetics too.”

“Hmm.”

As Ina hesitated to answer the sudden proposal, Juwon blurted out,

“Yeah. Stay over.”

“Huh?”

As Ina asked with wide eyes, Juwon looked into Ina’s eyes and said,

“You met after 13 years, so you must still have a lot to talk about, right? Stay over.”

“That’s right, Ina. Tonight, let’s hold hands tightly while we sleep, and tomorrow we’ll wake up early and go out.”

As Juhee pleaded like a child, Ina smiled and nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do that. Then I’ll stay over.”

“Really? Oh, I’m so happy!”

Juhee hugged Ina tightly in joy.

Ina also smiled and hugged Juhee back tightly.

Juwon didn’t quite like Juhee’s words about ‘holding hands tightly while sleeping’, but he decided to be generous once again.

As it approached 11 o’clock at night, Juhee and Ina went to the bathroom together to brush their teeth.

As they brushed their teeth while looking at each other’s faces reflected in the mirror, for some reason they found it so funny that they giggled like young girls again.

After washing their faces, the two came out together and entered the guest room.

Juhee took out a white T-shirt and pink sweatpants that looked the smallest among her clothes and handed them to Ina.

After Juhee came out, Ina changed clothes and came out a moment later.

As Juhee was taller and bigger than Ina, the clothes were quite big on Ina.

So Ina had to roll up both the sleeves and the pants legs, and Juhee smiled at how cute Ina looked.

And Juwon, looking at Ina as if she was adorable, whispered ‘cute’ to himself.