APOS 09

Chapter 09

Instead of a reply, a phone call came.

“Oppa!”

Fortunately, her voice sounded brighter than he had expected.

“Yeah. Where are you?”

“You’re at Exit 3, right? There’s a convenience store to the right from there, you know? Just follow that road straight, and you’ll see Songrim Apartments.”

Kanghyun first wondered if there was even a decent restaurant inside the apartment complex.

“I’ve prepared everything to eat. Building 108, Apartment 704 is my home!”

Click.

The call ended.

He stared blankly at the screen of his phone.

……So, did she just invite me to her home?

And at this late hour?

“She really doesn’t know how scary men can be. She’s asking for trouble.”

Kanghyun quickly moved his feet.

It was seven in the evening.

As he got closer to Building 108 that Seobin had told him about, he saw the figure of a woman moving around in front of the main entrance.

The woman, dressed in a clean white T-shirt and a comfortable navy full skirt, was tying her hair while using the glass door as a mirror.

Every time her tied-up hair fluttered in the air, her neckline was clearly exposed, and Kanghyun’s steps gradually slowed.

Her delicate shoulders, thin enough to easily fit in one arm, her slim waist, and her figure that was about average height for a woman but much shorter than him made his chest feel strangely ticklish.

Why am I like this?

He let out a small breath because of the inexplicable tightness in his chest and took another step.

Then, a slightly familiar and pleasant scent rode the wind and brushed against the tip of his nose.

It was almost as if it were greeting him for coming.

“Huh? Oppa!”

Then even her clear voice welcomed him.

Seobin had already turned around and was looking at Kanghyun. She greeted him with a bright smile, but when she saw his expressionless face, she pursed her lips.

Then she lowered her voice a little, hiding her excitement.

“Ahem. Was it difficult getting here?”

“No. I just went straight from the entrance, and I ended up here.”

Seobin answered that was good to hear and entered the password for the main entrance.

Looking at the back of her head, Kanghyun felt puzzled.

Even after what had happened during the day, she was still so cheerful.

After getting into the elevator together, Seobin chattered even more.

“My home is on the seventh floor. It’s an apartment that was built quite a while ago, but it’s said to be the best place to live around here. It’s quiet, too, and especially, the view is great. You don’t have a fear of heights, do you, Oppa?”

Kanghyun tilted his head slightly and looked down at her.

Feeling his gaze, she cautiously raised her eyes. But the moment their eyes met, she was startled and quickly turned her head away.

“……”

Kanghyun felt even more strange because of her reaction.

Well, it was a relief that Seobin had not lost her courage because of what happened during the day.

But even if he only considered the situation between her and himself, this was not normal.

She had skipped every single step, starting with proposing to him and then boldly inviting him into her home.

Yet she became shy just because their eyes met.

Because of Seobin, whom he could never predict, a warm wind blew inside Kanghyun’s heart.

It was the kind of wind that made him feel as if his heart would melt the more he got to know her.

And in the middle of it all, he was also puzzled by himself for being unable to reject her immediately and simply letting himself be dragged along.

His mind was so confused that he could hardly think straight. He tensed his throat and answered a beat late.

“I don’t.”

Perhaps she had already forgotten the question she had asked, because Seobin carefully met his eyes again.

“Pardon?”

“You asked if I was afraid of heights.”

“Aaaah! That’s a relief. My friend is afraid of heights, so she said she couldn’t live in an apartment.”

Seobin slipped through the door that had opened in the meantime, turned around the corner, and headed toward her apartment.

All the while, she continued talking about one trivial thing after another.

He did not know whether she was trying to get rid of the awkwardness, but hardly anyone had ever told him such small, personal things, so he found it rather interesting.

It was strange.

Once he found her stories interesting, he wanted to hear more about Seobin. He even became curious about her life and, beyond that, her values.

“Put these on.”

Kanghyun put on the indoor slippers Seobin offered him and entered the living room.

His eyes quickly scanned the interior as if he were going through business documents.

The living room was about the size of his mother’s study in his family home, with a kitchen connected directly to it. To him, it was an extremely small house.

However, the white wallpaper, almost as white as Seobin herself, the clean wooden floor, and the neat furniture with simple decorative objects placed here and there gave the place a sophisticated feeling.

“Oppa. I’ll show you around the house later. Let’s eat first.”

Seobin pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and prepared a seat for Kanghyun.

Because of her considerate manners, he ended up sitting down without even realizing it.

Even then, part of his mind kept wondering whether this was really right.

No matter how much he thought about it, meeting Seobin today had never been part of his plans.

He had happened to go to the company at lunchtime and met her, and now he was having dinner at her home.

Scrape.

Seobin sat across from Kanghyun without knowing how troubled his thoughts were.

“I was in a hurry, so this is all I could prepare. I hope it suits your taste, Oppa.”

Only then did Kanghyun lower his gaze to the table.

There was steamed beef and cabbage, beef belly sushi, and salad.

“You made all this?”

When he imagined her rushing home right after work and making all of this, his lips kept wanting to curl upward.

“Yes. I heard from some married employees that when you live together, it’s really important for both people to have similar tastes in food, you know? If it suits your taste, I can cook for you every day.”

Kanghyun looked at Seobin shamelessly promoting herself and eventually burst out laughing.

Seobin raised one eyebrow as if asking why he was laughing, but instead of answering her question, Kanghyun picked up his chopsticks.

“I’m so honored that I don’t know what to do.”

He murmured softly, then simply said he would enjoy the meal. He picked up the beef belly sushi first and placed it on Seobin’s small plate.

Then he transferred some of the new dish onto his own plate and put it into his mouth.

The cabbage and beef were cooked until they almost melted in his mouth, and the seasoning was just right.

It was delicious enough to make him wonder if she had actually bought it somewhere instead of making it herself.

“How is it?! Is it good?”

“Yeah, it’s really delicious. You could get married.”

“Uh…!”

Seobin stopped moving and looked at Kanghyun.

“Oppa, that…!”

“No.”

“The answer to my proposal….”

“I said not yet.”

At Kanghyun’s playful rejection, Seobin pouted and chewed the food in her mouth.

Was it because Seobin was a good cook?

Or was it because the affection built from knowing her since childhood made the awkwardness disappear faster than it normally would?

The awkwardness floating between the two of them soon disappeared.

When about half the food remained on their plates, Seobin glanced at Kanghyun several times before bringing up what she wanted to ask.

“Oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“But which places did you interview at?”

Kanghyun’s eyes wavered for a moment.

He was good at handling people and situations, but Seobin’s questions were always so unexpected that he could not even think of an answer.

“That… Can I tell you later?”

Seobin pushed her upper lip upward with her lower lip and slowly nodded.

“Okay, Oppa. Normally, you’re supposed to get rejected from applications and interviews a hundred times, right? I know that. So don’t be too discouraged. And the reason I invited you over today is…”

“……”

“It’s not because I wanted to rush you for an answer. You must have things to think about before giving me an answer, too. I just wanted to tell you again that you don’t have to feel too burdened about the future. It’s small, but… this is enough for the two of us to live together.”

“……”

“Of course, if we have a baby, we’ll have to move somewhere bigger. Of course, I mean a baby we have in our hearts.”

He was so shocked that he choked on his food.

But Seobin did not care at all.

“And this was made in a hurry, so I couldn’t even show thirty percent of my cooking skills. If you like the taste of this, you’ll like my cooking even more in the future.”

Seobin’s relentless advance without any intention of backing down made Kanghyun’s head spin.

Whenever he met her, she completely emptied his mind, making him stumble around like an idiot.

If his grandfather saw this scene, he would foam at the mouth.

Thinking about that, the corners of his lips naturally rose.

“Huh? You smiled.”

Seobin lightly clapped her hands and openly stared at Kanghyun’s face.

Kanghyun covered his mouth with his clenched fist and cleared his throat.

“You’re independent, responsible, and a good cook. All of that is great.”

At Kanghyun’s words, which seemed like they were finally leading somewhere, Seobin’s eyes sparkled.

“But I don’t like you bringing a man into the home where you live alone this late at night.”

“……It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”

“It’s enough time for something to happen.”