132 - Twenty-One Years Old, Returning Student, Married Woman with Children (3)
132 - Twenty-One Years Old, Returning Student, Married Woman with Children (3)
TL/Editor: looloo
Status: ongoing
Illustrations: posted in discord
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I looked at Chanhyung with pity in my eyes. Noticing my unseemly gaze, he immediately frowned.
"What? Why are you looking at me with those pitiful eyes?"
"Nothing, really..."
"Are you mocking me for being single?"
"Isn't that a bit too paranoid?"
It wasn't entirely wrong, though.Despite my quick denial, Chanhyung seemed suspicious, and after staring at me with half-closed eyes, he went to order food with Jaehwan and Yujin.
Breathing a small sigh of relief inside, I received my portion that Heena had pre-ordered for me.
The menu was a rice set with fish stew and soybean paste soup. It was a low-quality meal compared to the university's reputation, and surprisingly, this was the average level here.
Honestly, we ate here because it was close, but if it were a bit farther, we would have gone out to eat. Sometimes, when it was particularly bad, we even ordered delivery with the kids.
For me, eating the cafeteria food was just about filling my stomach, so I began my meal leisurely as usual.
A short while later, Chanhyung and Jaehwan returned to their seats, complaining about the miserable menu.
"Isn't it especially disgusting today?"
"I desperately want Revolution. Damn it, at least make it cheaper."
Following behind, Yujin was muttering with a soulless face.
"There must be corruption involved... Otherwise, how can the menu be this bad..."
I wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment.
Still, I could enjoy my meal more than usual, perhaps because Heena was sitting next to me this time. Just looking at her increased my appetite.
Heena was chatting with Lia while removing fish bones. She probably didn't have much complaint about this unappealing meal since she didn't usually enjoy spicy food and ate small portions. In a way, it suited her perfectly.
Despite the low quality, I also liked the fish stew, so I was diligently poking at the fish with my chopsticks. However, whether it was stew or grilled fish, dealing with the bones was always annoying.
As I was matching my friends' grumbling while dissecting the fish, a pair of chopsticks suddenly appeared before me.
It was Heena's chopsticks holding a piece of fish.
"Honey, ah~"
"Ah~"
At home, this happened all the time, so my mouth opened reflexively. Simultaneously, the fish stew entered my mouth.
Chewing it, I glanced around cautiously. While accepting the food reflexively, I realized we weren't at home as soon as the stew touched my mouth.
"Being single is so miserable..."
"Wow... just wow..."
"......"
"Revolution... Revolution..."
Lia sighed softly and put down her chopsticks, Yujin let out an exclamation, and Jaehwan was trembling with his hand, while Chanhyung was looking at us with envy, longing for Revolution.
The reactions varied slightly, but except for Yujin, they all had faces as if they had seen something they shouldn't have. I hadn't intended to show off like this, but my body moved reflexively.
When Heena taps her finger, I kiss her, and when she says "ah~," I open my mouth.
But the four pairs of curious, resigned, envious, and jealous eyes had no way of knowing that. I averted my eyes, but Heena didn't care at all.
She simply continued to move the stew into my mouth.
"Ah~"
"Heena, I'll eat it myself."
"You’re not good at removing fish bones."
"I'm not a child... and doing this in public is a bit..."
"Ah~"
"Isn't it...?"
"Ah~"
"Ah."
-Chewing-
Whatever I said, it was hard to resist Heena, who insisted with a smiling face as if it didn't matter. It wasn't just that she didn't care, but it felt like she was doing it even more to show off.
Heena’s actions could be seen as both a warning and a way to keep others at bay. It was her way of saying, 'Don't even think about approaching us,' to the men subtly watching us.
The problem was that our friends were getting hurt by this behavior in real-time.
Lia was somewhat used to this, and Yujin was actually enjoying it, but the other two looked completely dead inside.
Even fish eyes would shine brighter than theirs.
"Hey, shall we skip the afternoon and go for drinks?"
"Should we..."
I had nothing to say to those seriously considering day drinking.
Even after eating, Heena's public displays of affection didn't stop. During the time left until the next lecture, she clung to me as we roamed every corner of the campus.
The other guys, curious about what we were up to, followed us for a bit but sighed and went their separate ways when they saw we were just wandering around and being lovey-dovey.
Lia went back to study, and Chanhyung and Jaehwan headed to the convenience store, saying they would at least get some canned beer. Yujin seemed like he wanted to follow us more, but I sent him away with a glance. I didn't want to show off to people I knew.
Left alone, we sat close together on benches along busy paths like near the social science building and the student center.
"The weather is nice today~ It would have been better if Sarang was here."
She spoke casually, but her arms were tightly wrapped around one of mine, and her head rested on my shoulder. It was excessive, no matter who looked at it.
As a result, passersby glanced at us, and even professors laughed and looked at us. My feelings were complicated. I understood what Heena was thinking, and I did enjoy spending time with her, but it was still embarrassing.
Of course, there were positive effects too.
"Oh, Lee Heena! Wow, it's been a long time..."
A guy who approached with a bright smile upon seeing Heena quickly became sullen and turned away when he noticed me linked arm-in-arm with her.
Not everyone approached with impure intentions, but seeing someone lose heart like that suggested he definitely had ulterior motives.
Some might not have heard the rumors about Heena, and others might approach despite knowing. She was so charming that one could momentarily forget she had a boyfriend or a husband.
So, our purpose was achieved by clearly showing our relationship to some of these people. Hearing about it and seeing it in person were indeed different. That’s why I followed her without much complaint.
But.
"Honey, I want to kiss you."
"I can understand everything else, but can you hold off on kissing in public?"
"Will you kiss me at home then?"
"Of course, at home."
"More than Sarang?"
"I'll kiss you twice as much as I do Sarang."
I wished she would refrain from kissing in public. It's one thing when we're surrounded by strangers, but here, there were many people we knew and would see frequently.
"If you insist that much, I guess I have no choice."
"Phew..."
"Hey."
-Peck!
As I sighed in relief at her agreement, she suddenly kissed me on the lips. And it was at the worst possible time, with many people passing by.
After a brief kiss, she rested her head back on my shoulder as if nothing had happened.
Her natural demeanor made me pinch her cheek lightly with one hand.
"We agreed to do it at home."
"Aww, your lips were begging for a kiss, so I did it without thinking."
"Now you're just saying whatever you want."
"I wanted to, so what can I do~"
Her confident declaration left me speechless. Laughing helplessly, I put my hand down, and she rubbed her cheek against my shoulder like a cat.
"Ha."
I felt the emotions of those who had passed by and witnessed this scene in that single 'ha' I heard.
Envy, anger, irritation, jealousy, depression, and so on.
There's nothing wrong with couples or spouses spending time like this, but doing it so openly in front of others did make me feel a bit sorry.
It must be an eyesore.
Anyway, in this manner, on the first day of the second semester and Heena's first day back to school, we were able to clearly show that there was no space between us for anyone to intrude.
On the way back after the lecture, Yujin even sent me a message, warning me to be careful.
[Yujin: I heard there's a senior who bought a straw doll? Be careful, oppa!]
[Han Yeonho: Yeah... thanks for letting me know.]
Well, what could I do?
If they're jealous, they should find a girlfriend like Heena!
After spending a joyful yet heart-aching day with Heena, we returned home to be greeted by Sarang.
As always, she had the cutest face.
"Ah-oo!"
"Aww~ Do you know how much Sarang missed you two? She cried so much today~"
"Really? Our Sarang~ Did you miss mommy and daddy? Come here, mommy will hold you."
"Thank you for your hard work, mother-in-law."
"Hard work~ but the child is so good and well-behaved."
My mother-in-law and Heena looked at Sarang with eyes full of love. And probably so did I.
The little angel in Heena's arms squirmed for a while, enjoying being held by her mother, then reached out her hand to me.
I bent down, let her grasp my finger, and looked into her eyes.
"Our Sarang is the prettiest in the world."
"Ah-oo~"
"...Next to mommy, our Sarang is the prettiest~"
Heena and Sarang, who had become my everything and the driving force of my life. Just watching their smiles made me smile too.
Yes. With such a beautiful wife and daughter, what problem could envy and jealousy be?
And I had no time to worry about such things. To continue this happiness, we would do our best in our studies and eventually build a house of our own and live together proudly.
It's still a distant future, but I'll make it happen.