Deal Breaker - Chapter 96
“Write down the things you wanted to try once you started dating.”
Kanghyeon thought he’d try to fulfill the long-standing wishes of the forever single Noh Hyeji one by one during this vacation. That was why, while others were choosing movies on the plane that had just taken off, Hyeji opened the memo app on her phone.
Things I want to try.
There were some. No, a lot, actually.
But she couldn’t write a single word.
They existed back when she was in high school.
That’s the problem.
Nothing had been updated past the high school level.
Going to an amusement park in school uniforms. At twenty seven and thirty four? Wouldn’t that get the cops called at an amusement park?
Kanghyeon leaned over from the seat beside her and whispered into her ear, ticklishly.
“Our Hyeji kid still gets asked for ID, you know. If you wore a uniform, they’d totally think you were a high schooler.”
“Stop reading my thoughts. I’ll sue you for invasion of privacy.”
Kanghyeon put on his headphones and smiled, mischievous yet clear. In that moment, Hyeji distinctly smelled it. The scent of soap coming from a boy sitting by the classroom window, sunlight filtering through leaves swaying in the breeze, on a sweltering summer lunch break.
He’d probably look like a high schooler too.
Suddenly, she wanted to see him in a school uniform.
Tap tap.
As if possessed, Hyeji committed the insane act of writing, ‘going to an amusement park in school uniforms’ after all.
And next was…
Calling each other before bed and right after waking up. Saying good night. Did you sleep well?
You can’t really do that when you live together.
…Or so she thought, but they actually had. When Hyeji was hospitalized for surgery. Through telepathy.
‘You must be tired from solo childcare. Aren’t you sleepy?’
‘I can’t sleep because you’re not here.’
‘It’s only been a few months since we started sleeping in the same bed…’
‘Exactly. I slept just fine without you for over thirty years, and now after just a few months it’s like this. It’s your fault, so take responsibility for life.’
Late at night, they’d talk about how their day had been, feeling a little awkward and fluttery, then drift off. When she opened her eyes, Kanghyeon would speak to her again inside her head.
‘Hyeji-ya, did you sleep well?’
So this one was already done.
Feeling the same awkward flutter as back then, Hyeji erased what she’d written.
Walking together under one umbrella on a rainy day
After writing it, she fell into thought. No, it would be more accurate to say she remembered. Feeling strangely buoyant and sentimental, Hyeji glanced sideways at the man whose attention was stolen by his phone screen as he wrapped up work, then erased this one too.
Taking selfies together
Using photos we took together as our profile picture and phone wallpaper
Walking while holding hands
Going to see the night sea
Hanging a love lock at Namsan
Things she’d wanted to do someday if she got a boyfriend. Wishes she’d given up on because she had no money, and then lost their meaning once she did have money. Hyeji wrote them down one by one.
“Whooooooa!”
She was still thinking even after the meal ended when a sudden shriek made her almost drop her phone. Immediately, the curtain separating business and economy was yanked open, and a boy who looked about elementary school age came charging in.
“Wow, this place is awesome!”
Passengers who’d been resting all frowned at once, and a flight attendant who grasped the situation approached the child running wildly down the aisle.
“Hi, can you go back to your seat? You can’t come here.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not supposed to walk around inside the plane. I’ll take you back. Where’s your seat?”
Ah, don’t touch me. Don’t touch me!
The attendant had only placed a hand on his shoulder, but the child screamed as if he’d been struck. Even amid the chaos, his parents didn’t appear. That told her everything she needed to know.
His parents must be unbelievable nightmares too.
Not only Hyeji, but the attendant seemed to sense it as well, because she stopped trying to restrain him and began to flounder.
“Hey kid, this place is nice, right? Want to sit down?”
At that moment, Kanghyeon suddenly cut in with an extremely generous offer, and everyone except Hyeji was shocked. Since they didn’t know how much he valued propriety, they probably thought he was just a broad-minded man, kind even to a rude child.
“Yes!”
The child must’ve thought so too, because he dashed right over.
“Ehh? You told me to sit. Why aren’t you getting up, Mister?”
