Watching So Eun put a piece of salmon sushi into her small mouth, Tae Min thought.

‘No matter how I look at her, she’s too thin… I should buy her lots of delicious food from now on.’

As Tae Min was thinking this absentmindedly, he suddenly felt startled inside.

No, but how am I going to buy So Eun lots of delicious food? Then I’d have to see her often… How can I see her more often?

While eating sushi with his mouth, Tae Min was pondering in his head what ways there might be to see So Eun more frequently.

About an hour later, the two finished their meal.

“Shall we get going now?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

So Eun replied as she gathered her handbag.

Then she went to the counter and held out her card, but the owner smiled and said.

“The gentleman paid earlier.”

“What?”

As So Eun looked at Tae Min with a puzzled face, Tae Min smiled and said.

“I paid earlier when I went to the restroom.”

“What? But I was supposed to buy the meal today.”

“It’s fine. What does it matter who pays?”

“But I was supposed to pay…”

“Then you can treat me next time. That works, right?”

Tae Min smiled at So Eun, who still had a puzzled look on her face, and opened the door of the restaurant for her.

* * *

The two got out of the restaurant and got back into the car.

Tae Min wanted to have a cup of coffee and then take her home, but he could read the fatigue on So Eun’s face.

“I enjoyed having dinner together today, So Eun.”

“I was supposed to pay… I’m sorry you paid, Tae Min.”

“No, it’s fine. Just eating delicious food together was enough for me.”

“…”

At the words that felt warm, So Eun smiled faintly and said.

“Thanks to you, Tae Min, I got to know a delicious sushi place today. Thank you.”

Then Tae Min asked with a bright expression.

“Did you like it?”

“Yes. I enjoyed it very much.”

“Then So Eun, if you ever want to eat sushi here again, just call me anytime. I’ll treat you again.”

“Ah…”

At the sudden words, So Eun blinked and looked at Tae Min, then nodded.

“Okay. But next time, I’ll treat you.”

At those words, Tae Min smiled brightly.

“Alright. I’ll look forward to it.”

In fact, who cares who pays, as long as I can see So Eun’s face again, that’s all that matters.

Tae Min smiled and put his hands on the steering wheel.

“So Eun, you must be very tired, right? I’ll take you home now, so don’t think about anything and get some rest.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

So Eun, who had been thinking she should at least buy coffee since she got treated to dinner, quietly nodded as she read Tae Min’s consideration to take her straight home.

* * *

On the way to So Eun’s house, soft classical music flowed from the radio in the car.

Somehow, even without engaging in conversation, both of them felt at ease.

Then, when the car stopped briefly at a red light, Tae Min turned his gaze to the side and stared at So Eun.

So Eun had placed her hands neatly on her knees and was looking out the window to her right.

Fair skin, long eyelashes, a straight nose bridge, and pretty lips that looked like they might taste of fruit juice.

He thought her small, white face with its delicate features looked just like a doll.

Then, as his gaze lowered to So Eun’s white, slender neck, a strong urge to reach out and touch it arose.

Startled by his own desire, Tae Min flinched, and in that moment, the signal turned green.

As he quickly started the car, Tae Min swallowed hard inside.

After driving for a while, Tae Min’s car arrived in front of the villa where So Eun lived.

On the way here, Tae Min had been lost in thought the whole time.

Should I ask to see her again on the weekend? No, would that be too burdensome?

But I have to ask to see her again if I want to see her again, right?

As he was pondering how to bring it up, So Eun unfastened her seatbelt and said.

“Tae Min, thank you for driving me. And… thank you so much for today.”

As if recalling what had happened at the coffee shop, So Eun sincerely expressed her gratitude once more.

“Oh, no, So Eun. It’s nothing to thank me for.”

“No, it is. The warm words you said earlier… They were a great comfort. Thank you so much.”

Tae Min’s heart fluttered at So Eun’s sincerity as she looked into his eyes.

He felt his heart warming up and becoming tender at the same time.

Looking at So Eun with happy eyes, Tae Min carefully opened his mouth.

“Um, So Eun. What are you doing on the weekend?”

“The weekend? I’m going down to Daejeon on the weekend because I have some business to attend to.”

“Oh, Daejeon?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, you’re going to Daejeon.”

Tae Min was curious about why she was going down, but it seemed impolite to ask further, so he brought up something else.

“Then, do you like pizza by any chance?”

“Pizza?”

“Yes. There’s a great handmade pizza place near my company. If you have time next week, would you like to go with Jun Ho and his girlfriend?”

At Tae Min’s words, So Eun blinked and looked at him.

Not knowing what answer would come, Tae Min stared at So Eun with a tense expression.

Worried that she might find it burdensome to keep asking to meet, So Eun answered.

“Then I’ll ask Ji Ye first, and if I have time, I’ll text you.”

At this, Tae Min inwardly rejoiced.

He wanted to jump for joy at the fact that he might see So Eun again next week, but he barely held back.

“Okay. Then So Eun, please let me know after you talk it over. You must be tired, so go in and rest now.”

“Okay. Thank you for driving me. Tae Min, get home safely and rest well too.”

“Alright, So Eun. Go on in now.”

As Tae Min smiled brightly and said goodbye, So Eun got out of the car, gave Tae Min one more eye greeting, and went into the villa.

* * *

Saturday came.

For her mother’s 55th birthday, So Eun decided to go down early Saturday morning.

So Eun was waiting for the bus at the terminal with two shopping bags in her hands.

One was a cosmetics set that So Eun had bought, and one was a scarf that Ji Ye had bought.

Even though So Eun said it was fine, Ji Ye always remembered to buy a gift for So Eun’s mother’s birthday every year without fail.

Ji Ye was So Eun’s closest friend who practically lived at So Eun’s house during middle school, and So Eun’s mother loved Ji Ye like her own daughter.

Shortly after, the bus to Daejeon arrived, and So Eun got on and sat down.

Soon the bus departed, and So Eun silently gazed at the scenery outside the window.

Until she turned twenty and went up to Seoul for university, So Eun had lived in Daejeon with her mother and younger brother, just the three of them.

Daejeon was also where So Eun was born, and where she had lived happily with her father and mother for seven short years.

Her memories of her father were just faint childhood memories, but they were all warm and gentle recollections.

Her father, who was a postman, always hugged her mother and young So Eun together before leaving for work in the morning, showering them with kisses. At those times, So Eun would giggle because her father’s kisses tickled, and her mother would return the kiss on her father’s cheek with affection.

Then, when her mother became pregnant with her younger brother Hyun Jun that autumn, the morning kisses extended to four people.

As always, after hugging the mother and daughter and showering them with affectionate kisses, he would also kiss her mother’s belly with a smack. To young So Eun’s eyes, that sight looked funny and made her giggle.

That memory was probably the clearest, warmest spring sunshine-like memory that came to mind when she thought of her father. Then, in January of the year So Eun turned 8, a truck hit her father’s motorcycle while he was out delivering mail, and he passed away.

Not knowing what was happening, So Eun was dragged by her mother’s hand to the hospital, where she could see her father lying on the bed with a pale, bloodless face.

Seeing that sight, young So Eun thought her father was sleeping because he was very tired.

But when her mother started shaking all over and hugging her father, wailing, So Eun was startled by her mother’s unfamiliar behavior and cried, having a seizure.

Her aunt hugged So Eun, who was like that, and cried, while her mother repeatedly wailed and fainted.

So Eun cried endlessly as she watched her mother sleeping while receiving an IV, as the doctor said she needed to rest.

Hugging So Eun, her aunt told her in a tear-filled voice:

That her father loved So Eun and her mother very, very much, but had to go to heaven first, and that someday when So Eun goes to heaven too, she’ll be able to meet her father again.

But to young So Eun, more than the words that she couldn’t see her father again, she was more afraid that her mother, lying there with a pale complexion, might die too, leaving her alone in this world.

So Eun cried and kept kissing her sleeping mother’s cheeks and belly with her small lips, just as her father used to do every morning.

Mom, baby. I’m here.

Please don’t leave because I’m here. I’m so scared…

It was a night when chicken pox-like tears fell from her round eyes onto her mother’s cheeks and belly.

So Eun’s eyes moistened as she looked out the window, suddenly reminded of old thoughts.

So Eun quickly raised her hand to wipe her eyes.

It was a heartbreaking memory that came up once in a while when she thought she had forgotten.

As she sighed deeply and looked out the window again, a text message came.

−Sis, are you almost here?

It was her younger brother Hyun Jun.

−I think I’ll arrive in about 30 minutes.

−Okay. See you later.

−Alright. Got it.

So Eun put her phone in her pocket after sending the reply.