Chapter 167 – #167. Barter
Ah… I have a lot of luggage, but I have to buy strawberries.
But I couldn’t turn down a request from her girlfriend who called me saying she missed me.
Mart… I think it’s still open.
I thought it was dangerous because it was around 9 o’clock, so I hurried my steps.
“It’s 7,000 won.”
I quickly bought a pack of strawberries, put them in an envelope, and headed home.
Please, I hope Naeun isn’t waiting in front of the front door.
Anyway, rather than giving a gift today, I wanted to give it together with flowers tomorrow.
It’s not an omakase course, it’s funny how the presents come out one by one at different times.
Beep beep beep
Fortunately, when I entered the house after entering the password, Naeun did not seem to come out to meet me.
I secretly hid the gift envelope next to the umbrella stand inside the dresser and took off my shoes.
“Naeun. I am here.”
“…Come here.”
A voice from inside the bedroom.
When I opened the door and entered, waiting for me was my girlfriend with a slightly bewildered face.
“What’s going on?”
“…No.”
No matter how I look at it, something seems to be going on.
“Strawberries… I bought them. Do you want to eat now?”
“Huh. Give it now.”
“Okay. Wait for a sec. Wash my hands first.”
After putting my backpack down on the computer chair, I went into the bathroom and wiped my hands thoroughly before I opened the package of strawberries.
Hmmm… But you don’t seem to be in a good mood.
I could hardly guess why.
I don’t think I did anything wrong.
Uhm…
After repeating the trouble without profit, all the strawberries were washed clean before I knew it.
After removing the stem and putting a handful of strawberries on the plate, Naeun held out her hand.
“Please. I have to.”
I wondered if it would make me feel better if I played a joke, so when I lifted the plate slightly up, Naeun frowned.
“…Quickly give it to me.”
“Give me~ I’m telling you~”
“I’m not in the mood right now.”
As she openly showed her true face, I felt ashamed of her and handed her the plate to her.
“No… What is it? What really happened?”
“I will tell you tomorrow.”
“Are you making a build-up for April Fool’s Day tomorrow?”
That’s right. Are you doing this on purpose to give me a terrifying phrase for this person’s birthday?
“Ah! A little! It’s not. Something like that.”
Embarrassed by his voice, which was too lively to be called acting, I picked a strawberry with a fork and put it in my mouth.
“Okay… I’m sorry…”
“No. Brother. I’m sorry… I’m a bit… Sensitive right now…”
“Is it because of me?”
I thought it wouldn’t be true, but after asking the question to confirm, I couldn’t help but fall into the labyrinth more and more with Naeun’s reaction.
“Hmm… I guess that’s half right.”
If it’s right, then it’s right. What else is half right?
“And you’ll tell me about it tomorrow?”
“Yes. You will know by tomorrow.”
“No. What can you know tomorrow that you don’t know today?”
It was like a riddle question.
[Guess what you don’t know on the last day of March, but you can know on April 1st.]
“Thanks for the strawberry.”
Naeun, ignoring my words, emptied the plate in an instant, as if she was hungry.
“…Were you hungry?”
“No.”
“But why are you eating so well?”
“Can’t I eat better?”
It’s rough. Why are you being so mean
I mean, I prepared hard for your birthday present…
I was the one who felt that my situation was unfair.
“No no. It’s good to eat well. Give me the bowl I’ll bring it.”
“…Thank you.”
But soon it will be 12, and I, who wanted to take care of her first birthday, had no intention of fighting by scratching her temper right now.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“All right.”
Naeun continues to fidget with her fingers as if she is uneasy somewhere.
I’ll tell you tomorrow, so I thought I’d put up with it for half a day, so I went into the bathroom to take a shower.
Mmm… Do you want to have sex at midnight tonight?
I think I’ll have sex for my birthday, or maybe I won’t.
Judging from the current atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like the right time to play with dicks.
However, looking at my usual behavior, it was also a day when my lower back had to work harder than ever.
I don’t know.
I felt that women were still unknown creatures to me.
And Naeun was a woman with a more unknown corner.
In the end, I thought it would be wise to wash and go out anyway, so I wiped every nook and cranny with body wash and put on pajamas.
“Hannah.”
As I called her name and lay down right next to her, Naeun put her cell phone down.
“Why.”
“It’s your birthday tomorrow, why are you in such a bad mood?”
“It’s not that I feel bad.”
“You think I bought you something weird as a gift?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought of that, but since you said that, I think it must have been something.”
“Hey. I don’t tell you to expect it for a while, but you can expect it this time.”
When I stroked her hair with a confident expression, Naeun only then showed a slight smile.
“Where else are you wasting your money to show off?”
“Hey. What a waste. It is your present.”
“They say too much of a gift is a waste.”
Naeun leaned towards her and closed her eyes.
“Brother.”
“Why.”
“Would you like me to marry you?”
“Suddenly?”
I hesitated for a while to answer Naeun’s sudden words, but that was for a while.
“Do it if you do it.”
“What is it. That lame answer.”
“No, but what kind of marriage is marriage when you haven’t even graduated from college?”
“It is.”
He lifted his arms and hugged me around my waist, burying his face in my chest.
“Why. Are you doing this now because you want to marry me?”
As she pulled her into a hug with her slightly mischievous tone, Naeun lifted her head.
“…I don’t know.”
“Why would you propose as a birthday present?”
It was clearly meant to be a laugh, but Naeun looked at me with flawless, clear eyes.
“…Will you do it if I ask you to?”
“I see what you do.”
* * *
On her birthday night, there was a time when she was really looking forward to having sex.
I wanted to have sex like real horned beasts, but I couldn’t bear to ask my brother to strangle her and drive his cock at the thought that the child might be in her stomach.
But where did this person go?
Birthday morning.
“Brother?”
Rubbing her eyes, she left the bedroom, but there was no sign of her brother.
A note left on the table.
Crooked letters.
[Going to buy ingredients for seaweed soup]
Really…
As for not being able to cook…
What kind of soup are you going to cook?
But the fact that the corners of my mouth were twitching was something I could tell without even looking in the mirror.
I was grateful to my brother, but this morning.
I had work to do.
I headed to the bathroom with a pregnancy test kit and a paper cup, and I started the test according to the procedure written in the manual.
After being buried…
Results come in between 5 and 15 minutes…
With a trembling heart, I sat down at the table and stared blankly at the test machine.
* * *
Maybe Naeun hasn’t woken up yet?
Leaving a memo in case it happened, I thought it was a very good excuse.
Just when I needed an excuse to pick up flowers from a flower shop, when I thought of seaweed soup, I thought of an excuse to go buy ingredients.
Of course, the work increased, but no, I had a fundamental confidence that I couldn’t make it delicious if I looked it up on the Internet.
After copying the famous blogger’s recipe on a notepad, I went to the mart to buy ingredients.
“Where are the seaweed… Beef… And the broth pack?”
I wandered around the store after seeing a post saying that it tastes good if you put in a commercially available beef bone broth pack.
Eventually, with the help of the clerk, I went to the flower shop to get all the ingredients.
“Lee Min-ho. Is that right?”
“Yes. You’re right.”
“Do you like the color?”
In the bouquet, which took red and light pink as the main colors, a subtle scent tickled the nose.
“Yes. It is so pretty.”
“Thank you. Then have a nice day~”
Bowing my head at the staff’s greeting, I had no choice but to go home quickly.
Really pretty.
Naeun will surely like it when she sees it.
After arriving at the front of the house by taking the stairs and entering the password, I took out the envelope of the luxury bag I had hidden in front of the front door.
Now… Just tell Hannah.
“…Came?”
My girlfriend, whom I thought was sleeping, was already awake, sitting in her dining table chair.
“What. Why are not you sleeping.”
“I just opened my eyes.”
“Okay?”
I stride her, she, she, and I approach her and hand out her bouquet to her.
“Happy birthday. Hannah.”
“Thank you. Brother.”
Naeun, who held the bouquet with her two hands, looked at her flowers with a genuinely loving gaze.
“And this is the long-awaited gift.”
As she held out the envelope she was holding in her other hand, Naeun frowned at her before she could even check the contents.
“No. I knew it would be like this. Why are you buying something so expensive? Just looking at this, it looks like over a million won.”
Hey Don’t say a million won. I’ll be sad yeah
“Not expensive.”
“No. Even a lie has to be plausible to be deceived. Did you ruin your name?”
“Open it.”
An exclamation flowed from Naeun’s mouth as she put down her bouquet and checked the inside of her envelope.
“And…”
Seeing her eyes widen, I couldn’t help but put a satisfied smile on my lips.
“What is it? How is it?”
After a series of random compliments, I looked at her reaction.
“Oh really… I don’t have to do that…”
“Think of it as just fan art. This.”
“This is a paid outsourcing work.”
“How are you? If you think you paid for it, you feel comfortable.”
“…Thank you.”
Naeun smiles broadly.
“But I also have something to give to my brother.”
