Yeon Ho was sipping beer and glancing at the round-faced woman sitting across from him.

Soo Young paused in wrapping peanuts with squid and tossed out a jibe.

“Stop staring, we know she’s pretty.”

“Ugh, you’re always so…”

Though he stumbled over his words, Yeon Ho felt part of his heart quietly sinking. They had first met that day, bickering in front of the car.

Many thoughts had crossed his mind before calling Soo Young.

He felt hurt that she treated him like a bad guy, and worried their relationship might be severed.

But the Soo Young he met today was her usual simple and cheerful self, making his previous worries seem foolish.

“…Are you okay?”

As Yeon Ho spoke while dipping dried filefish in mayonnaise and putting it in his mouth, Soo Young pretended not to know and asked back.

“About what?”

“No, you left in such a temper that day… I was worried.”

“Tch, when did I lose my temper…”

“No, you’ve known me longer than that landlord, so why did you take his side? Are you dating?”

“Oh really! It’s not like that, I told you!”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, okay?”

Even as she said this, Woo Jin’s words kept spinning round and round in Soo Young’s head.

Not just in her head, but as if he were sitting right next to her, she kept hearing it in her ears too.

– That’s why I like you.

Does he mean he likes me as a manager, or as a woman… I shouldn’t be overreacting on my own…

Feeling strangely parched, she gulped down her beer. Yeon Ho was startled and lowered her hand holding the beer glass.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“So senior. When a man tells a woman he likes her, does it mean he likes her just as a friend or colleague, or as a woman?”

“Why? Did someone say they like you?”

Wondering if that landlord bastard had confessed or something, Yeon Ho asked with fire in his eyes.

“Ah, no, Mi Jin… You know my friend Mi Jin, right? The teacher friend in Incheon. A teacher who works with her told Mi Jin ‘That’s why I like you.'”

Soo Young realized her mind was working at almost LTE speed and stuck out her tongue.

“A fellow teacher? In public schools it’s fine to date colleagues. One can just transfer to another school. When a man says something like that, it probably means he likes her as a woman. But you have to look at the situation – if he said it casually like ‘That’s why I like you, right?’ in a drinking setting, he could just mean as a colleague. Tell Mi Jin not to overreact. There are a lot of weirdos in the world…”

“She said it was when they were alone?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. In front of the school elevator.”

“Well then… But you still have to look at the nuance.”

Realizing it was useless to ask him as a man, Soo Young sighed lightly.

On one hand, she felt ridiculous for caring so much. So what if he likes her as a woman? Are they going to date or something?

But suddenly she wondered why they couldn’t date. But wait, David is her boyfriend? Ugh!

Soo Young gulped down her beer again. Her throat felt even drier than before. What is this presence, when he’s not even here?

Seeing Soo Young seeming to take to the alcohol today, Yeon Ho felt worried but also thought it was a good thing. So he ordered more beer and snacks.

Chattering about meaningless things while each lost in their own thoughts, they drank quite a bit of beer.

When they were pleasantly tipsy, Yeon Ho looked at Soo Young and opened his mouth seriously.

“Kim Soo Young.”

“Yeah.”

“Will you date me?”

“…If we date? What would be different from now?”

He hadn’t expected her to blush, but Soo Young’s nonchalant response made his face redden with embarrassment after confessing so seriously.

“No, I mean instead of just meeting as seniors and juniors like now, how about we meet with marriage in mind?”

“Marriage?”

At the sudden word, Soo Young stopped chewing her squid and gaped at him.

“Yeah. Marriage.”

“Are you proposing right now? Asking me to marry you?”

“No…”

He suddenly thought he shouldn’t have confessed to someone drunk. He should’ve done it when she was sober.

“I mean let’s date with marriage as the goal.”

“And break up if it doesn’t work out?”

“Huh?”

Yeon Ho was momentarily dumbfounded by Soo Young’s words.

What should he answer at a time like this? Everyone else either rejected him or agreed when he asked them out.

No, come to think of it, he didn’t think he’d ever been rejected. They all just dated for a bit and then fizzled out.

He didn’t think there had ever been a woman who took his request to date so seriously from the start…

“No, who dates expecting to break up? You start dating if you like each other. And if you grow to like each other more, you get married…”

“So if you don’t grow to like each other more, you break up, right? I don’t want to do that with you, So senior.”

Soo Young said with an expression that was hard to tell if she was drunk or in her right mind.

Yeon Ho was confused by her words. So, does that mean you have to get married if you date? It’s not like it’s an arranged marriage or something.

He had thought she was innocent in a way that didn’t suit kids these days, but she was even more innocent than he thought. Is this how all those who’ve never dated are?

“Then, should we just get married unconditionally?”

Yeon Ho said, unable to hide his burdened expression, and Soo Young chuckled.

“No… That’s not what I meant. I like meeting senior like this, eating and chatting, but if we date and break up, we won’t even be able to do this much. So I’m saying I won’t create the opportunity in the first place. You’re the best as a guy friend, really.”

“So dating feels burdensome?”

“It’s not that I won’t break up no matter what, but you’re assuming we might break up as a premise for dating. That’s what feels burdensome to me.”

It seemed to make sense but also felt strange, so Yeon Ho couldn’t continue speaking. So, should he give up like this? Should he look for another girl?

But the truth was, right now, Yeon Ho could only see Soo Young.

Having had beer after a long time, she thought she would fall asleep quickly. But for some reason, as time passed, she felt more and more wide awake.

– That’s why I like you.

– Will you date me with marriage in mind?

David and her guy friend confessing their love at the same time. Well, maybe David’s wasn’t a love confession so should she leave that out?

Anyway, they were confessions thrilling enough for any woman.

She was dying to share this happy news with her friends, but they all worked in different places so it took planning to meet up.

Thinking of leaving a commemorative memo, Soo Young picked up her phone but instead of writing a memo, she randomly started searching for this month’s fortune online.

“Love fortune… love fortune…”

Hmm? At the somewhat philosophical interpretation, Soo Young opened her bleary eyes wide. Where the heart leads… Suddenly Seol Woo Jin’s sculpture-like face came to mind.

What, why are you popping up? Just because you’re handsome, you can’t just appear whenever!

She waved her hand, but instead of disappearing, that face smiled at her.

“Hey now! Where do you think you’re going!”

As she waved her hand wildly, she suddenly remembered the phrase about making judgments with her head one more time.

Right. Think rationally. Rationally. Not with the landlord. The guy friend is more my level. Of course.

But regardless of Soo Young’s efforts to make judgments with her head one more time, the amber eyes before her showed no signs of disappearing.

Soo Young’s hands moved faster as she watched the statue-like man quickly eat the spicy braised chicken as she peeled it for him.

After eating busily for a while, Woo Jin seemed to have filled his stomach enough to finally come to his senses and speak to her.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“I’m eating too.”

“It looks like you’re just peeling.”

That’s because you eat it as soon as I peel it… But she couldn’t say that out loud.

“Don’t just eat meat, Seol Woo Jin. Eat some salad in front of you too. It’s a set with the salad.”

“Where do you always buy these things?”

“Ah, you know the commercial building in front of the subway station? There’s a really good side dish shop on the first floor. It’s a bit expensive, but you get paid a lot.”

“Did my aunt transfer the money to your account? I told Seol Ji Hyun to deposit directly into your account from now on.”

“Please deposit into my aunt’s account for now. My aunt isn’t working right now so she needs money.”

“The person who works should receive it.”

“There’s no such thing between my aunt and me. My aunt is practically my mother.”

“Why?”

“My mom was too busy so my aunt raised me.”

“Does your mom work?”

“Yes. She works at a construction company and is super busy. She works overtime every day. After divorcing my dad and changing companies, she was happy about the high salary, but sure enough she works as much as she gets paid. Society is cold.”

Hearing that her parents were also divorced, he felt a sense of kinship. At least her mom didn’t abandon her child.

He felt somewhat envious of that point.

“Seol Woo Jin.”

Soo Young whispered softly while keeping her gaze on the chicken. Woo Jin shifted his gaze towards the sound.

“The other day… you said you liked me, right?”

At the sudden words, Woo Jin silently fixed his gaze somewhere between her face and hands.

“What… do you mean by liking me?”

“…What do you mean by liking?”

“Do you like me as a housekeeper, as a manager, or… as a woman?”

At the last words, Woo Jin’s face flushed slightly. What is this woman asking so tactlessly…

Having nothing to say, he started picking up meat with his chopsticks again. For some reason, the meat that had been easy to pick up until just now was hard to grab.

Soo Young slightly turned the plate so the meat would be closer to his chopsticks for easy picking.

“It’s not… as a woman, right, honestly?”

Woo Jin’s chopsticks finally caught some meat. He slowly put the meat in his mouth and started chewing.

The salty, savory taste he had been enjoying until now somehow changed to a bland taste.

“…Why do you think it’s not?”

He asked quietly after forcibly swallowing the meat.

“Huh? So it is? You like me as a woman?”

At Soo Young’s excited voice, Woo Jin’s flushed face now turned bright red as if on fire.

“W-who said that? I’m asking why you think it’s not, right? Can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“Ah, why are you getting angry… No, usually men are kind and gentle to women they like. But Seol Woo Jin…”

“I am?”

When Woo Jin asked aggressively, she hesitantly said.

“No, rather than being kind and gentle, you always scold me…”

“Scold? I scolded you? You?”

He said with a dumbfounded expression.

When did I ever scold her? I made her kimbap, made her rice balls, even let her sleep in my bed when she had a cold.

The bed is an area I would never allow even for my own child. But what? I scold her?

“No, the word ‘scold’ is a bit off. Not scolding but… anyway, you’re not gentle!”

When Soo Young stubbornly exclaimed, Woo Jin thought for a moment and then showed an aggrieved expression.

“I was born this way, what can I do!”

“Then you should change!”

“Why should I!”

“No, are you going to keep being unkind like that to the woman you like?”

“When was I unkind?”

“Even now! You’re being unkind even now!”

At her words that he was like that even now, Woo Jin closed his mouth. If I said I liked her, shouldn’t she just know that? Why does she keep arguing?

So what, should I die and be reborn for the woman I like?

It couldn’t help but feel unreasonable. Above all, why did I say those words then…

If he could go back to that time, he felt like hitting himself in the mouth.

“I’m so confused because of what Seol Woo Jin said. And So senior suddenly asked me to date with marriage in mind.”

“What?”

Woo Jin asked in a voice that sounded like something was being scratched.

“What did that bastard say?”

“Why are you swearing at someone you don’t know? That senior asked me to date him. But I’m not affected at all because I’ve heard so many similar stories. Even in college, they’d say things like Kim Soo Young is the only one for them or ask me outright to date at drinking parties, and then go watch movies with another girl the next day.”

The more he heard, the more outrageous it sounded. Even if he’s just a guy friend, why keep meeting such a guy?

“You, you like a guy like that?”

“Just, it’s fun talking to him. He’s kind and very considerate. You know he always lets me get on the bus first? And he stands blocking others so they can’t touch me. When eating, he sets out the spoon and chopsticks for me. Just like I peel meat for Seol Woo Jin, So senior peels it for me. He even looked into teaching positions for me recently.”

Then Woo Jin suddenly stretched out his long arm and tapped her arm. Wondering why, Soo Young looked at him and Woo Jin spoke as if growling.

“Don’t peel it for me. I’ll hold and tear it myself.”

“It’s fine. That’s not the point, I’m just saying he’s naturally kind. So when I’m with him, I feel like a princess… But when he confesses like this jokingly once in a while, it doesn’t feel good. It feels like he’s making fun of me.”

“I’m… not joking.”

Woo Jin suddenly raised his sparkling eyes and looked straight at her.

“What?”

To her questioning, he said clearly again.

“I said, I’m not joking.”