Chapter 27
“Are you the representative for the Hankuk University rural experience program? My name is Jeong Heena, and I’ll be the one leading the harvest experience at the farm starting tomorrow. How should I address you?”
The male student was so tall that Heena had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. His features resembled a popular idol these days, so she figured he must be quite popular.
“I’m Son Dongha. Please feel free to speak comfortably.”
“Ah, Dongha-haksaeng.”
“Just Dongha-ya.”
“Pardon?”
“Call me Dongha-ya. You don’t look much older than me.”
She was grateful he saw her that way. For a moment, she even considered hiding her age for the next four days.
Having Heetae around, she was used to dealing with younger guys. She felt no hesitation in speaking casually.
“Then I’ll call you that? Dongha-ya?”
He grinned and nodded. A smile spread across Heena’s lips as well.
“You see the elders gathered at the school gate over there?”
“Yes, I see them.”
“The village elders are very curious about the students’ arrival. Would it be possible for a few of you to come to the village hall this evening to greet them? Don’t say I told you to, just do it naturally.”
Dongha agreed and then looked closely at Heena’s face.
“But um….”
“Yes?”
“Will you be at the village hall later, noona?”
“Noona? Me?”
“Yes.”
Heena’s eyes curved into a gentle smile.
“I suppose the elders are still a bit uncomfortable for you, right? I’ll be there too, so come by and relax.”
To ease the burden on the admirable student representative, she patted his shoulder with her hand.
“See you later, then. And please pass the message along to the others.”
“Yes.”
When she returned to the school gate where the elders were gathered, questions like “What did he say, what did he say?” flew at her.
“He said they’ll come to the village hall this evening to greet you. See? They’re busy organizing their luggage right now.”
“They’re comin’ later?”
“Yes, yes. So go home, have your meals, and then wait at the village hall.”
Only then did the elders break off into small groups and go their separate ways.
A smile escaped her lips as she saw the elders, so intrigued by the young, unfamiliar students visiting their village. She even felt grateful to the students for being a ray of sunshine in the elders’ lives.
Even though they must have repeated countless meetings and partings throughout their lives, and even though some of those partings must have been near-tragic, seeing the elders unable to hide their interest in new connections stirred a strange mix of emotions in her. Their joy and delight were palpable even to her, who was usually numb to meetings and partings.
On the other hand, a part of her heart ached at the thought that the elders would be sad when she eventually left for Seoul. Is this how Grandpa felt?
Heena pressed her lips together and shook her head.
That’s a useless thought. Let’s not go any further than this.
✦⋆🍒.₊ ⊹
Jeong Heena, who had left the house in the morning saying she was going to see the university students who had come to visit, had not yet returned. Yohan, who had declined her offer to go together because he didn’t want to go out, was now regretting it.
Should I have just gone for a stroll?
Looking out the wide-open window on one wall of his room, he could see the familiar figure of Jeong Heena walking from a distance. Her steps were as light as a honeybee that had found a flower. A small chuckle escaped him. He wondered if she had gone and meddled in someone else’s business again.
Realizing a beat too late that he was smiling, Yohan was surprised at himself and wiped his mouth with his hand.
What’s so funny? This is the same Jeong Heena who acted like nothing happened after we had sex.
Yohan ruffled his hair to clear away the distracting thoughts. Then, he looked in the mirror again, tidied his hairstyle and clothes, and went out to the front yard.
Just as he connected the hose to water the lawn and turned on the tap, Jeong Heena vigorously pushed open the main gate and entered.
“Oh? You’re out here?”
Yohan didn’t even glance her way and started spraying the front yard with the hose. Then, Heena approached him, waving her arms like a fluttering butterfly.
“Are you mad at me about something?”
“No.”
“Is it because I’m a freeloader who’s only depleting your food supply?”
That was something he hadn’t even thought of, but thanks to Jeong Heena bringing it up, he now had a pretext to act like the homeowner.
“Or is it because I’m always going out instead of hanging out with you?”
That was true. Unlike him, who liked to stay home, Heena claimed she got a headache if she didn’t go out and roamed around every day. It was something they had argued about more than once when they were a couple.
“The movie that came out today looks fun. Let’s go see a late-night show later.”
“It’ll all be on streaming services later anyway. There’s plenty to watch at home, why go out?”
When Yohan showed a lukewarm response, Heena clung to his arm and frowned.
“But the movie that came out today isn’t on streaming services yet?”
“I meant we can watch something else. We can rewatch that movie you said was fun last time.”
“It’s because of people like you that the Korean film industry is struggling. The market size, which was nearly 2 trillion won, has been cut in half to 1 trillion won.”
She must have read that in an article somewhere again. Yohan scoffed and looked down at Heena.
“Anyway, I’m not going. If you want to see it, go by yourself.”
“Why don’t you want to go? I want to go with you. Convince me logically. Then I’ll go by myself.”
She never said she wouldn’t go. After all this, one might expect her to say she’d stay home with him. Heena smiled in a cute, wheedling voice and pestered him.
“I have to convince you logically?”
“Yes, it’s necessary. ‘Just because I don’t want to?’ ‘Because it’s a hassle?’ Not good enough. Tell me exactly what you don’t like and what’s a hassle.”
Yohan let out a deep sigh. Finding reasons for his simple actions felt annoying.
“First, that movie that came out today is not my type.”
“You also need to broaden your horizons. You only ever like melodramas that make you cry your eyes out.”
“Second, I’m already home, showered, and have eaten dinner, so I don’t feel like going out again.”
“I’ll drive. If we just watch the movie and come back, you can go to bed without showering.”
“That’s a no-go. You have to shower after going out. Let’s be a little more hygienic, shall we? Anyway, third….”
“Third?”
“Because I’m annoyed that you won’t listen to a single thing I say, even when I tell you I don’t want to.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Heena’s face hardened. Her playful, pestering attitude was gone. The atmosphere changed in an instant. Then, she flung his arm away and walked to the entrance to put on her sneakers.
“Are you really going to see it alone?”
“You said you’re not going. You said you don’t want to.”
“Can’t you just stay home with me? Is that so unbearable?”
“How about you? Can’t you just go out with me?”
Neither of them would back down an inch. They were just fiercely asserting their own arguments. His head throbbing, Yohan wiped his dry face with his hands as if washing it.
“Wait, then. I’ll just grab a jacket.”
He was always the one to give in.
Yohan had always believed that he loved Heena more than she loved him. He hoped that Heena would one day realize that this was why he could give in on even such trivial things. But Jeong Heena…
“The students said they’re coming to the village hall to greet everyone tonight, okay? Let’s go together then. Hm? You should go and say hi, too. They’re your juniors, after all.”
…was still the same.
Yohan stared blankly at Heena. What on earth is in that head of hers? Is it filled with flowers? Was there never any room for me to squeeze in from the very beginning?
The train of thought continued, one thought leading to another, expanding further. The thought that perhaps the time they dated was held together by affection, not love. The thought that perhaps, because they grew up together in Jinhong-ri for so long, she had simply mistaken familiarity for love. Jeong Heena was now making him doubt even their past relationship.
“Why would I go there?”
When Yohan spat out the words indifferently, Heena’s eyes immediately widened.
“What do you mean, why would you go? It’s not like you have anything else to do tonight, right?”
“What do you mean I have nothing to do? I can read a book at home, or watch a drama, or read a webnovel or a webtoon. There are a million things to do.”
“But it’s more fun to go see what kind of people have come.”
“That sort of thing is probably only fun for you.”
“The elders would like it, too?”
“Are you an elder already?”
“I’m more of an elder than you. I guess this kid is still too young to know anything.”
It was the thing he hated hearing most from Jeong Heena. Her treating him like a child.
“I used to gobble down five bowls of rice cake soup every New Year’s. Because I wanted to be older than you. If you count age by bowls of rice cake soup, I’d be much more of an elder than you.”
Unable to hold it in any longer, Yohan reacted vehemently. Startled, Heena looked embarrassed and her eyes darted around.
“It’s not like doing that makes you any older, why did you do that…. You could’ve gotten indigestion.”
As expected, Jeong Heena scanned him as if looking at a strange person, and then went inside the house.
