Chapter 821. Sequence 9

Perhaps this was what it felt like to have unexpected fun. Maru felt rather proud as he looked at the decorative strings that he had hung up. Even in his previous life, he was someone far from being involved with events. He was the type to think that a meal was better than a flower that is bound to wither and that a pair of socks were better than a balloon that is bound to deflate. Although he scheduled date courses and even looked up places with good night scenery when he was in a relationship, he had never brought props and decorated his own place to set up a mood. Looking back, he was definitely not an interesting man. He once again thanked the woman who accepted a man who had never given her a bouquet.

It had been around 10 minutes since Sora went into the room, but it looked like she wasn’t going to come out anytime soon. She probably needed more time to get her thoughts together than to fix her makeup. He pretended to not hear her sniffling as he hung the mirror ball on the ceiling. When the mirror ball, which needed four battery cells to operate, was turned on, his living room became pretty colorful. Decorating his living room was pretty fun. He even put together the letters on the wall. ‘Congratz On Film Release’. It was a rather old-fashioned text. He didn’t have any talent in creating text for sure. Just as he was staring at the light emitted by the mirror ball with the lights turned off, he saw Sora leave the room and laugh immediately.

“What are you doing, seonbae?”

“What else? I’m testing out the stuff we bought.”

“You seemed to find it such a bother, but it looks like you actually like it, huh.”

“I didn’t know because I’ve never done stuff like this before, but it doesn’t feel half-bad. It’s pretty fun to see the mood change just because of a few lights. I’ve always wondered why they decorated places when people gather, and now I kinda get it.”

“You’ve never done something like this before? Don’t you do it when you call friends for a birthday party or something?”

“I don’t like things being messy. Also, it’s such a bother if I think about all the clean-up I have to do later.”

“I’m sure the people around you must have scoffed at you when you were a snot-nosed child. Why play with something like that?; So childish, why bother playing around when you’re going to have to clean up later – saying things like that. Did you even have toys when you were young?”

“I also had a time when I played innocently like a child. Though, I turned out like this right now.”

“Have you never held any events for Gaeul-unni? Even small ones?”

“I was just thinking about it, but no, I don’t think so.”

“Just what the heck are you planning to do on your anniversary?”

“I was going to eat together at my house like usual, sit down on this sofa, and talk over some coffee. If the weather’s good, we’d take a walk outside and watch a play together. If it’s raining, we’d put on a movie at home and drink over some beer, I guess?”

“I can’t say I’m well-versed in romantic relationships, but I know that I shouldn’t be doing it like you.”

“That’s why I plan to buy some flowers. Also, change out some lights while I am at it.”

Maru turned on the living room lights and turned off the switch of the mirror ball. Sora’s two eyes were revealed under the lights, and they were clean.

“Do you feel okay now?”

“Was I ever not okay?”

“I saw a woman who entered that room crying about 20 minutes ago, but it seems like she went somewhere because she’s busy.”

“If it’s about her, she said she had an appointment and left. You probably won’t be able to see her in the future. She’s a very busy woman.”

“That’s a pity. It’s quite rare to see her, so I wanted to take a photo with her.”

“What kind of terrible thing are you talking about?”

From the looks of her, it seemed that the emotional Sora that cried had hidden herself deep in her heart. Maru was worried that she might still be sobbing, but it turned out that he was worried for nothing. If she was still crying, he would have seriously considered running away. Also while calling Ando to come to his place.

“If it starts at 3, I think we should eat lunch before thinking about leaving.”

“I thought about this during high school as well; I think you’re quite thorough when it comes to getting your meals. You never skip your meals, do you?”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“That’s my only motivation in life. I have less energy whenever I miss a meal. What are you going to do about lunch?”

“What were you planning on eating?”

“For me, I was just going to eat what I have at home.”

“Then I guess all you need to do is to put out another set of cutlery.”

“You know, I’m afraid of those words the most. You must know how hard it is to put another set of cutlery on the table. There’s nothing more flabbergasting than that for housewives, you know?”

“You know how housewives feel?”

Sure I do – Maru inwardly replied. There was a time he took home a colleague he got close to while working as a driver. He texted ‘you just have to put three sets of cutlery on our table’ to her, and Maru had to get an earful that night. His wife, who was fuming to the top of her head, started preaching to him about how men of this nation must know the meaning of ‘putting another set of cutlery on the table.’ Ever since then, he never invited anyone to his house. Even if he had to, he resolved that he would make do with delivery food.

“Do you cook for yourself?”

Sora asked various things at the table: about how he tasted his food, what side dishes he made, as well as what kind of food men liked.

“Are you planning to make a lunchbox for Ando or something?”

“Ando-oppa left his parent’s house to live by himself. He doesn’t seem to be getting proper food because he’s busy finding a job and doing part-time jobs. If I make him some side dishes at least, he can make do with microwave rice.”

“You’re so devoted.”

“Whose fault do you think this is?”

“You’re saying it’s because of the advice I gave you?”

“Of course. You were the one who told me to try pushing and pulling back then. I tried, and it didn’t work. In fact, he keeps trying to run away. When I tried assaulting him just like you told me to, he would get all serious whenever I touch his hand. If there are some things I realized, it’s that pushing him away is definitely no good and that I should keep pulling. If I make him some side dishes, wouldn’t he be grateful whenever he eats at least?”

“I’m sure he feels plenty grateful even now.”

“Who? Ando-oppa, you mean?”

Maru nodded.

“Then the least he could do is to hold my hand.”

“Try understanding him. I’m sure he has a lot on his mind.”

“I have a lot on my mind too.”

“Yes, I’m sure you do.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“You want me to be on your side?”

“No but still.”

Maru set out some rice and side dishes on the table. Sora ate some seasoned vegetables and exclaimed.

“This is unexpectedly good.”

“I’ve been cooking by myself for ages. I’d be in trouble if it wasn’t good.”

“Do you think Ando-oppa likes this kind of thing too?”

“I’m pretty sure there are rarely any people in this country who would hate vegetables seasoned with sesame oil, you know? If you have ground pepper paste on top of that, then it’s game over.”

“Teach me how to make this later. No, wait. I should get permission from Gaeul-unni first because I’m going to be borrowing you for a bit.”

“Am I an object to you?”

He smiled as he ate. Sora did not speak a word during their meal. Maru did not speak either since the silence wasn’t too awkward. After they finished lunch, Sora started fiddling with her phone.

“She gave me permission.”

“I have to admit that the speed you work is fast.”

“I explained to her the situation briefly, and she gave me the okay immediately. She’s a really cool woman alright. She even cheered me on. How does it make sense that you haven’t given a girl like her some flowers even once? She’s so lovely!”

“I did give her a couple’s ring.”

“See? That’s why you’re no good. How can you compare a chunk of metal and a flower? Women might say that flowers are a waste of money and a pain to deal with, but they always like it when they receive them, you know?”

“So, why is someone who’s so knowledgeable about love still here and not chasing after Koo Ando?”

“You really have a knack for making people feel speechless. Geez.”

Maru had to hold her back from washing the dishes. She might think that he might be treating her like a guest, but he actually could not let someone not well-versed in housework wash the dishes. If she didn’t do a great job, it would be greasy, and he could not tolerate that.

“It’s not bad to eat and chat. Maybe Gaeul-unni doesn’t have a lot of complaints,” Sora said in a whiny voice.

She probably felt frustrated because she was blocked off by the wall of love after having her way throughout her whole life. The fact that she was the one who had to solve it probably bothered her even more.

“I can’t really call it customer care, but don’t think too much about it. You know that Ando’s the serious type.”

“He should be light-hearted at times.”

“Think about it in a good way. It just goes to show you how deeply he’s thinking about his relationship with you. There’s no one who thinks twice about using disposable gloves just once.”

“So I’m at least better than disposable gloves?”

“By about twice I guess.”

“You always have to ruin it at the very end.”

“I can only handle listening to other people’s worries by having fun like this.”

He finished washing the dishes and turned around. Sora was staring at him.

“What?”

“I did feel it when I met you before we shot the film, but I’m even more sure of it now. You really changed a lot, seonbae.”

“In a good way? Or in a bad way?”

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but I am sure that you became a kinder person. The sharp aura about you that you had during high school is much fainter now. You don’t have that ‘meh, it’s not related to me, so I’ll stay out of it’ vibe either.”

“That’s the power of love.”

Sora stroked her arms, saying that she got goosebumps hearing that. It may have sounded like a joke to her, but he wasn’t entirely wrong when he said that it was the power of love. He chose his lover and had to give up on a lot of things in turn. He accepted the restraint of the eternally looping lives, so listening to an immature junior’s love life was nothing. As he had gotten ahold of the one person who would be the love of his life whether it was in the past, the present, or the future, he had no qualms about interfering with other people’s matters. In fact, he wanted to interfere. Before, he always looked for a stable path and tried to walk down the path, but his objective right now was to escape his current path after all. If he kept causing small happenings, it might eventually cause something big, so he planned to not avoid the things he got involved in as much as possible. He was going to do everything while trying to protect Han Gaeul’s life so that the flap of a butterfly could eventually become a storm.

“Ando’s coming today, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Do you think you can look him in the face?”

“Of course. Do you think I’m a kid or something? I’m going to act totally normal, so don’t be surprised.”

“I hope you can do that. I don’t want to feel awkward just because you act needlessly awkward or close to him.”

“Like I said, I’m not a kid, you know?” Sora guaranteed while raising her chin in the air.