In the end, Older Sister Seo-ha managed to devour that mountain-sized ice cream by herself and finally arrived at the soba shop where we were supposed to have lunch together.
Once we got to the shop and placed our order, it seemed like Seo-ha was pretty ruffled. With her cheeks puffed up, she just sat there, chin resting on her hand, tapping her innocent fingers on the table.
Wow, it’s my first time seeing her show her frustration so openly.
Even though this wasn’t exactly a time to laugh, just trying to guess why she was mad made me chuckle a bit, and I found myself smiling as I watched her sulk.
It felt really fresh. I mean, the usually mature and composed Older Sister Seo-ha was being so overtly jealous.
Of course, she has said before that she’s often jealous and possessive, but witnessing it like this right before my eyes was a first for me, and it felt really new.
“Sister, sorry about that. Are you really angry?”
“I’m not angry, just a little grumpy.”
“But that’s anger, isn’t it?”
Her childish excuse that wasn’t very ‘Seo-ha-like’ was funny too.
That said, I couldn’t just leave her like this, so I reached out and gently grabbed the tips of her fingers resting on the table, softly rubbing them with my thumb.
Her fingers twitched a bit at my touch, and she momentarily stopped staring at the empty wall to glance my way before turning her head away with a huffy “Hmph.”
The way she acted like a third grader advertising “I’m mad!” was unbearably cute.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t ignore the fan in that situation.”
“Ah, I get it. I know… That’s why it felt so weird. I realized how petty I am…”
“Is that what it was?”
Somehow.
No matter how angry she claimed to be, I knew she wasn’t the kind of person to sulk this obviously. I was curious about why she was acting this way.
It seemed like her avoiding me on the way here wasn’t just about being mad or feeling slighted. The guilt she felt about it must have been stronger.
Since she’s so mentally mature, it’s kind of fascinating to see issues like this arise too.
“Uh, sorry. To be honest, I was somewhat expecting things like this to happen when we went out together. But seeing it happen in front of my eyes made something boil up inside me…”
“Looks like even you can’t control your feelings sometimes. That’s kinda interesting, right?”
“I’m no saint, of course I can’t. Especially when it comes to you, Uju.”
“Hmm…”
Her honest words gave me a tingly feeling, but it wasn’t bad—just a bit embarrassing, so I averted my gaze.
“It’s not that jealousy is a bad thing, right? It just means you care about me, and I think it’s kinda nice!”
“B-but there’s a limit, right? I’m not some kid throwing a fit just because I saw you with a fan.”
“Really? Sounds a bit unreasonable to me.”
I don’t see anything wrong with that. After all, we’re human beings, not AIs with perfectly controlled emotions.
If the roles were reversed, I’d definitely have felt jealous.
Of course, would I express it so openly like Seo-ha? Probably not, just to avoid giving her a narrow-minded impression.
Still, I think I would have been jealous regardless. The only difference would be how I expressed it.
And even if I would have held back, I never think Seo-ha did anything wrong by showing hers. In a relationship, expressing jealousy and working things out is a healthy process, right?
Through that, we can understand what behaviors we dislike in each other and where the lines are drawn.
“Well, you might see it that way, but at least I don’t. To be honest, I was a bit happy that you were jealous.”
“That’s… that’s ridiculous! You just say whatever you want.”
“Really, I mean it. It wasn’t just talk.”
Seeing Seo-ha fluster and wave her hands away was pretty cute.
Seo-ha would always tell me not to say things like that, but honestly, everyone can see how much she’s too good for me. Anyone would think, “Why is such an amazing woman with that guy?”
I never saw it as self-deprecation. That’s just the truth, and knowing I’m lacking compared to her makes me want to put in extra effort, which I consider a good thing.
But, maybe because of that, I feel a strange joy when she expresses her affection a bit excessively or shows me that she likes me more than I imagined. It might be a little creepy, though.
In a way, this small jealousy is the same. It’s a phenomenon that wouldn’t happen unless she cared enough about me.
Knowing that makes me try even harder, and I see it as part of a positive cycle.
“Really.”
“So please don’t think of it too negatively. I’m actually happier knowing how much you like me to show your jealousy. Honestly, I find this side of you a bit cute, too.”
When I sincerely conveyed my feelings while holding her hand gently, she blushed and squirmed, reluctant to let go, which was just precious.
How can a person be this charming? It’s unfair.
“To think an older person is cute… Uju, you can be quite the brat.”
“Hey, I’m better than you calling an adult man cute every day, right?”
Every time I hear that, it’s so embarrassing. Now it’s Seo-ha’s turn to experience it.
As I bombarded her with comments about how cute she is, her flustered “Okay, okay, I got it…” in a shy voice was just too adorable to stop.
“Your cold soba set is ready.”
Just as we were enveloped in a sweet atmosphere, the food we ordered arrived at the table.
The neatly presented soba, accompanied by shrimp tempura, made me smile on its own.
“Here, this is my way of apologizing.”
Seo-ha picked up a lone shrimp tempura with her chopsticks and placed it on my plate, her voice still carrying traces of shyness.
“Are you sure? It looks delicious.”
“Yeah, I’m already full just watching you enjoy it.”
“…I wonder who’s being the overly polite one here.”
How can she say that with a straight face?
I couldn’t help but marvel at her, and then I handed back my shrimp tempura, which lay under her offered one.
“Then as an apology, let me give you my shrimp tempura. That makes us even, right?”
“Hehe, it does.”
We both laughed, fully aware that it was a silly act, as we started our meal.
Like it was promised, we each took a taste of the shrimp tempura we offered first.
“Um, Seo-ha, something just popped into my mind.”
As I savored the crispy shrimp tempura, I suddenly remembered an instance and nudged Seo-ha for a chat.
Come to think of it, didn’t something like this happen before?
“Yeah?”
“There was a time we went out together, and a fan approached us. You seemed fine back then, though.”
“Ah… about that?”
That was before we were dating, so even if there was a hint of jealousy, she wouldn’t have expressed it like now. I just wanted to know about her pure feelings from that time.
After a brief pause, Seo-ha put down her chopsticks, fidgeted with her hands resting on her lap, and replied in a faint voice.
“Actually, it was… your shoulder…”
“My shoulder?”
Did something stick to it?
Caught off-guard by her mentioning my shoulder, I turned my head to check, but naturally, there was nothing.
“When I saw you taking a picture from behind, your shoulders were touching….”
“…What?”
I was completely baffled, as her words hit me like a slap to the back of the head.
Wait, does that mean she got jealous because my shoulder brushed against a fan’s?
“Yes, when you took that picture with that person, you were further apart. But today, it felt closer somehow, so that….”
“…….”
Wow.
I didn’t even notice our shoulders were touching. That’s probably why I felt double the surprise.
On another level, I was in awe of how much she had been observing me to notice such a small detail, but it also felt a bit scary.
So wait, while I was waiting for ice cream, she was just staring to see if our shoulders were touching or not?
“…Hah! Haah!”
Oh no, I shouldn’t be laughing at this timing.
But thinking of Seo-ha standing behind had me unable to suppress a laugh.
“D-don’t laugh…! I was serious about that.”
“I know, I know. But I just can’t help it…! S-sorry!”
“Hmph… I hate you.”
Ah, she’s just too cute.
Whether it was her looking intently at me or the way she was sulking right in front of me, there wasn’t a single scene that didn’t make me want to laugh.
“I got it, I’m sorry. I’ll try my best not to let my body brush up against fans again. Honestly, I planned to avoid it today, but it seems I failed.”
“Seriously, you can only say sorry…?”
“Then how should I make it up to you?”
It seemed like this time she was genuinely upset, so I figured a piece of shrimp tempura wouldn’t be enough to make it right, so I asked her what she wanted as compensation.
Seo-ha hesitated, her hands fiddling in front of her chest for a moment. She then gingerly grabbed my hand resting on the table, her cheeks flushed, and shyly said:
“Then, after dinner today, when we go back to the villa… spend some time with me.”
“Of course, that goes without saying.”
We came here to hang out together, so I thought that was a given, but apparently not—she shook her head and clarified.
“N-no, not that… in bed.”
“…Ah.”
Finally, I realized why her face was so red, and I smacked my forehead.
Hmm, I guess I should eat a hearty dinner tonight.
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