It was truly an unexpected event. Han Bo Mi had liked him for a long time? For Kang Min Je, it was shocking enough to turn the world upside down.

‘She really liked me and collected these things?’

Min Je rubbed his chin with a dazed expression, still unable to believe it even after thinking about it again. Ji Hoo, grinning beside him for some reason, said,

“This is something I’m showing only to you, Dad. My sister doesn’t know I took this.”

Ji Hoo whispered as if revealing a huge secret and then giggled. It was rare for Ji Hoo to laugh so mischievously, causing Min Je’s eyes to waver for a moment.

“Thank you. It’s been, incredibly helpful.”

Min Je smiled and patted Ji Hoo’s head. Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt like this one file had suddenly narrowed the gap between him and her.

It seemed ridiculous now that until yesterday he had been worrying about how she thought of him. That’s how significant it was that Han Ha Yeon was the owner of this file.

“Ji Hoo, I was thinking, would you like to help Dad and your sister become closer? What do you think?”

Min Je decided to recruit the most reliable ally in front of him first.

“Sure! I agree with Dad and sister becoming closer too.”

As Ji Hoo enthusiastically agreed, a smile spread across Min Je’s face. Ji Hoo’s help would be more effective than anyone else’s right now. Just one word from Ji Hoo felt as reassuring as gaining a powerful army.

“The conversation we had today is a secret from your sister. Understood?”

“Of course.”

As father and son were pledging their allegiance, there was a knock on the door, and it opened immediately.

“They’re calling you for dinner.”

Ha Yeon blinked at the unnatural scene in the room. Min Je and Ji Hoo were lying down in an oddly close position, their bodies pressed together.

From Ha Yeon’s perspective, not knowing they had thrown themselves down to hide the file when they heard the knock, it couldn’t help but look strange.

“Ah, yes. We’ll be right there after tidying up here.”

Min Je waved his hand at Ha Yeon, telling her to go ahead.

“We should clean up right away.”

Ji Hoo also waved at Ha Yeon, mimicking Min Je. Seeing their mirror-like actions, Ha Yeon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Alright. Come quickly before the soup gets cold.”

Unable to tell them not to clean up, Ha Yeon just said that and left the room. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was oddly strange.

A few days later, a large camping car appeared in front of the house.

Ji Hoo, seeing it through the living room window, pressed himself against the glass to observe the camping car.

“Ji Hoo, what are you doing?”

Ha Yeon, seeing Ji Hoo doing something he’d never done before, tilted her head and approached to look out the window.

“Huh? Why is there a camping car?”

Before she knew it, Ha Yeon was also pressed against the window like Ji Hoo, looking outside.

And then, Min Je and Jun Won were getting out of the camping car.

“Wow, I think that’s ours.”

Ji Hoo’s eyes sparkled. Ha Yeon burst into laughter, finding Ji Hoo adorable as he looked ready to burst through the window.

“Let’s not do that, let’s go out and see.”

“Okay!”

Ha Yeon and Ji Hoo hurried outside.

“Life brings unexpected days like this.”

Jun Won grinned slyly as he pulled out an ice box loaded in the camping car.

“I didn’t know I’d end up like this either, so stop laughing.”

Min Je’s plan to get closer to Ha Yeon, which he had agonized over, was camping. He was annoyed at Jun Won, who kept grinning without knowing how much thought had gone into this.

As Min Je was glaring at Jun Won, Ha Yeon and Ji Hoo approached.

“Are we going camping?”

Ji Hoo’s face was full of anticipation as he asked, making Min Je feel guilty as he answered,

“Yes, let’s go and stay for one night.”

“Wow, I’m so excited!”

Ji Hoo jumped up and down. Seeing this, everyone smiled, thinking he must be really happy.

As they entered the house, Mi Ran was already bustling about, having been notified in advance.

“I’m fine with you having dinner out, but it’s hard to get used to.”

It seemed that Min Je deciding to go camping was quite shocking in many ways.

‘Did I seem that uptight?’

Min Je rubbed his chin, realizing that how others saw him was quite different from how he saw himself. He didn’t consider that it might be impossible for others to think differently, given that he only ever went between home, the art museum, and galleries, without any special leisure activities, just working.

Mi Ran packed the ice box full of ingredients needed for camping.

“If you’d like, why don’t you come with us?”

“Director, I…”

Mi Ran hesitated, looking troubled at Min Je’s invitation. Then Min Je remembered Mi Ran’s hobby.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You have to watch your drama, right?”

“Today is especially important because the secret of birth is revealed, so I must watch it live.”

Mi Ran nodded, muttering that she was glad he understood. Min Je couldn’t help but smile at Mi Ran’s consistent love for dramas.

Then, seeing Ha Yeon helping to pack nearby, he asked,

“Have you been camping before?”

“Hmm… a few times when I was young.”

In Ha Yeon’s memory, camping was like a faded old photograph. It wasn’t like now where everything was prepared, but just setting up a tent outdoors and grilling meat while bickering.

She remembered running around everywhere, even though she got bitten by mosquitoes, for some reason enjoying it immensely. Seeing Ha Yeon’s lips soften as she briefly reminisced, Min Je smiled too.

“Go upstairs and pack your things to come with us.”

Originally, he had planned to ask her opinion on whether she wanted to go. But seeing her expression, he felt he didn’t need to ask. Well, maybe that was all just an excuse. Because he wanted her to come along no matter what.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Ha Yeon answered cheerfully and immediately ran upstairs. As Min Je couldn’t take his eyes off her retreating figure, Mi Ran looked at him intently and said,

“Are you that happy?”

“Huh? W-what do you mean?”

Min Je, suddenly coming to his senses, stuttered in confusion. Mi Ran replied with an inscrutable but warm smile,

“About going camping.”

“Ah, yes. It’s my first time, after all.”

Min Je felt cold sweat forming and awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth. Mi Ran sometimes spoke as if she could see right through people.

“The first time is always the most exciting and enjoyable for anything.”

Mi Ran was clearly talking about camping, but to Min Je’s ears, it sounded like something entirely different, making for a truly strange conversation.

When they arrived at the pre-booked campsite, there were quite a few people out enjoying camping, probably because it was Friday.

“Isn’t camping supposed to be healing?”

Jun Won asked, sweating profusely while setting up the tent.

“Well… I’m sure it’ll be healing once we finish setting up the tent.”

Min Je answered with an awkward smile. It was almost 6 PM, but the strong sunlight showed no signs of abating. Moreover, since it was the first time for both Min Je and Jun Won to set up a tent, progress was slow.

They had studied hard by watching YouTube videos, but not being accustomed to it, it took a long time to set up even the tarp.

“Good job, everyone.”

Ha Yeon, who had finished preparing dinner by setting up a table in front of the camping car, said as she looked around inside the tent.

“Wow, it’s so soft!”

Ji Hoo walked around, stomping on the air mattress inside the tent, fascinated. Every time the child took a step, the air mattress made a squeaking sound.

“Isn’t this the charm of camping?”

Min Je chuckled and patted Jun Won’s shoulder, who looked visibly tired. He glared at Min Je for a moment, but lacking the energy to even maintain the glare, he shouted ‘meat!’ and headed towards the table.

Thanks to being camping novices who bought everything they might need, there was no shortage of items for barbecuing.

As they ate pork belly grilled golden brown over a wood fire, conversation blossomed.

“The feeling when a painting you bought for 100,000 won later sells at auction for 10 million won is truly indescribable.”

Seeing Jun Won getting increasingly excited, Min Je quietly informed Ha Yeon. He said this was the story Jun Won always told when drinking, like singing a favorite song at karaoke. He’d heard it over a hundred times already. Ha Yeon couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this.

As they chatted, jumping from topic to topic without any particular order, the question of what Ji Hoo’s recent worries were came up.

“Well, there’s this annoying girl, and I hope we’re not in the same class when I’m seven.”

Everyone chimed in response to the child’s words.

“Maybe she likes you?”

Ji Hoo frowned for a moment before answering.

“Ugh, I hope not.”

Everyone wanted to offer words of comfort seeing his expression, but they couldn’t properly console him as laughter kept escaping.

As they continued talking and eating dinner like this, everyone ended up overeating and patting their stomachs.

“Ugh, I think I ate too much. On that note, I’ll go for a short walk to aid digestion.”

Jun Won casually stood up and winked at Ji Hoo.

“I want to go too!”

Ji Hoo, understanding Jun Won’s signal, jumped up.

“Then, please excuse the eldest and the child from cleanup duty.”

Jun Won said with his characteristic sly smile. Even though he called himself the eldest, he wasn’t so old that he couldn’t help with cleanup, so Min Je and Ha Yeon let out exasperated sighs.

But as Min Je remained silent instead of scolding him, Ha Yeon couldn’t say anything either. In the end, Jun Won took Ji Hoo somewhere, leaving the cleanup to Min Je and Ha Yeon.

“There’s more to clean up than I thought.”

“Yes, indeed.”

With just the two of them left, the atmosphere somehow became awkward.

“I’ll go do the dishes.”

Ha Yeon quickly gathered the plates and stood up, trying to escape the awkward atmosphere.

“I’ll go with you.”

But as Min Je followed her, everything returned to square one.

“Give them here.”

As he took the washbasin from Ha Yeon’s hands, their hands brushed against each other.

Ah, Ha Yeon unconsciously swallowed and bit her lip. This made the atmosphere even more awkward.

As they walked towards the water tap looking only at the ground, an elderly person lounging on a bench suddenly remarked upon seeing Min Je and Ha Yeon.

“What a well-matched couple. You’ll live very happily if you get married.”

“We’re not a couple…!”

“Thank you, elder.”

As Ha Yeon waved her hands saying they weren’t that kind of relationship, Min Je thanked the elder with a good-natured smile. Ha Yeon blinked and stared blankly at Min Je.

“It’s polite to always agree with elders’ words.”

As Min Je invoked manners in a way she couldn’t refute, Ha Yeon couldn’t say it wasn’t true and just narrowed her eyes. Seeing her expression change, Min Je laughed and walked to the water tap.

‘What? Why is he acting like this?’

Ha Yeon followed him, suppressing her complicated feelings as she tried to figure out his intentions.

“Okay, I’ll apply soap to the dishes and hand them to you, and you rinse them. Let’s divide the work like that.”

Min Je started washing dishes in what seemed like a familiar manner.

“You’re, good at this?”

Ha Yeon watched him wash dishes with curiosity.

“I’ve done it a lot.”

Min Je smiled slightly and stacked the dishes next to Ha Yeon. She also moved her hands diligently, not wanting to fall behind, rinsing the dishes.

Then their hands brushed against each other again. A heat that couldn’t be cooled even by the cold tap water slowly spread from the fingertips throughout the body.

“Maybe it’s better if I just do it all.”

Min Je smiled and took the dish from Ha Yeon’s hand. If the previous contact was accidental, the touch just now as he took the dish was certainly not coincidental.

Ha Yeon’s eyes trembled as she looked at Min Je.