AOA 163

He also mentioned Baek Mugyeong. He began by saying he had seen a photo circulating on an internet community. He questioned why we divorced if I was going to meet him again in the U.S. He told me to remarry Baek Mugyeong and asked if I had developed a desire to become the mistress of DS Motors.

It was unclear whether the message was telling me to come back to Korea or trying to pick a fight. Cursing at him to just pick one, I blocked every single unfamiliar number sending me messages.

Even though fifteen days had passed, my biological father did not give up.

[Do you think simply ignoring this will work? No matter how stupid someone is, they must know just how many vested interests are at stake….]

I was on a date with Baek Mugyeong. We went to a park wearing baseball caps and sunglasses to avoid the intense sunlight and people’s eyes. We spread a mat under the shade of a tree and enjoyed a picnic.

Early September. The weekend sky in Los Angeles was sunny. I devoured the baguette sandwich, chicken, salad, cola, and fruit I bought for lunch.

Just at that very moment, a message arrived from my biological father. I didn’t read a few lines of the nonsense-filled text and blocked his number immediately. It was just past 6 a.m. in Korea. Even so, contacting me like this was no ordinary obsession.

Baek Mugyeong looked interest, perhaps because my annoyance was visible on my face.

“Who is it?

“My father. I keep blocking him, but he keeps contacting me with new numbers. It must be the middle of the night there right now. Ugh.”

I did not hide my dissatisfaction. Baek Mugyeong knew that my biological father had been constantly trying to contact me since Jeong Guhyeon’s death and that I had blocked all his numbers. I even received his advice when sending the waiver of inheritance to my biological father.

I, as well as Baek Mugyeong, my maternal grandmother, my aunts, and my younger sibling, all agreed that it was best to ignore and not react to whatever my biological father said.

Even so, my biological father was persistent. He was like a cockroach.

“He’ll give up soon.”

“I suppose so.”

I erased my terrible, cockroach-like biological father from my mind. The weather was nice, and Baek Mugyeong was right in front of me. I had to focus solely on enjoying the date.

The baguette sandwich, the chicken, and the salad were all delicious. Even though the portions were large, I ate almost everything. I had fruit for dessert, lay down on the mat, and patted my belly. The weather was warm, my stomach was full, and with my loved one by my side, I felt like I had everything in the world.

“They say if you lie down right after eating, you turn into a cow.”

“Hahaha.”

When I repeated something my mother once said, Baek Mugyeong burst into laughter.

“Why?”

“Just because you turn into a cow.”

“They say you can reflux what you’ve eaten.”

“Oh, then I shouldn’t lie down.”

“You can do it like this. It’s fine if you keep your head up.”

Just as I had done to my mother that day, I wriggled while lying down and placed my head on Baek Mugyeong’s thigh. Baek Mugyeong burst into laughter again.

I continued talking while lying with my head on his thigh. Although we video-called almost every day, I kept finding things I wanted to say. In particular, as Baek Mugyeong left Korea to live in the United States, we discussed many things regarding our future plans.

Baek Mugyeong said he would be working from home in Los Angeles. He mentioned that he would only visit New York, where his company was located, very occasionally, but added that since this was a critical time, he had to spend a couple of months there starting next week.

I would have loved to follow Baek Mugyeong to New York, but I couldn’t help it since it was during the semester. The flight from Los Angeles to New York took about six hours. Compared to the 13-hour trips I used to take to get to and from Korea, this was nothing. We could just meet on the weekend.

“I’ll come over this weekend. Six hours is nothing.”

“Two months will pass quickly.”

“That’s right.”

If we met once every weekend, two months would pass quickly. I was giggling when Baek Mugyeong ran his hand through my hair.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Yes.”

“When I get back from New York, should we live together?”

I had been enjoying Baek Mugyeong’s touch with my eyes closed, but his words made me come to my senses. I looked up at Baek Mugyeong in the same lying position, then suddenly sat up.

“About that. I’ve thought about it a lot too.”

“Really?”

“To put it bluntly, I can’t right now.”

I didn’t beat around the bush. It was right to be honest and say no rather than giving false hope.

Baek Mugyeong rarely showed emotional changes and was even wearing dark sunglasses. Nevertheless, given the accumulated days spent together, his expression was readable. The man, who had been looking forward to this, suddenly looked dejected.

“There must be a reason that you can’t do it right now.”

“Well, I mean. I decided to keep staying at Grandma’s house from now on. At least until my younger sibling graduates. But it would be awkward if I went somewhere else.”

Once my younger sibling and I decided to attend school here, we discussed our living arrangements extensively. When we first arrived in the U.S., my maternal grandmother said she would find us a new place to live if it was inconvenient to stay with her.

At first, this place felt so unfamiliar that I decided to stay at my maternal grandmother’s house, but I ended up settling down there. There was absolutely no inconvenience in living in separate buildings. It was simply convenient because there were separate people for cleaning and cooking.

And also Aunt Soyeon mentioned that my grandmother likes the house to be bustling with people. She subtly signaled that we should live together, explaining that everyone working at home commutes, and even she sometimes misses seeing my grandmother once a day because she goes back and forth to her studio.

I held a meeting with Aunt Jieun and Sejun, and also asked for the opinions of my maternal grandmother and Aunt Soyeon. After a few rounds of negotiation, we decided to stay with my maternal grandmother until my younger sibling graduates from high school. When we said we would be staying, my grandmother smiled and welcomed us.

However, if I stepped aside to live with Baek Mugyeong, it would create a problem. After all, my maternal grandmother, Aunt Soyeon, and Sejun and Aunt Jieun were not related by blood.

When I explained the situation, Baek Mugyeong nodded.

“So that’s two years until graduation?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do that.”

“Thank you.”

After finishing the conversation, I lay back down with my head on Baek Mugyeong’s lap. As I settled into a comfortable position, I suddenly felt strange. It felt odd because I had become so accustomed to discussing such topics with Baek Mugyeong. He had been prickly, saying that we wouldn’t have sex even if we were married, that we should divorce after some time, and that I shouldn’t even think about becoming the mistress of DS Motors.

At that time, I never even imagined a future where I would spend time lying with my head on Baek Mugyeong’s lap under the bright sunlight.

“Did you know?”

“What?”

“We’re really good at talking now.”

When I blurted out that thought without much explanation, Baek Mugyeong looked at me with an “What are you talking about” expression. When I mentioned that we used to fight by only saying what we wanted to say, Baek Mugyeong laughed as well. Until now, we had implicitly kept quiet about the past. Unless it was specifically mentioned during a conversation, we didn’t go out of our way to ask.

But today was different. I asked what I had been curious about all this time.

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Is it true that you really couldn’t have sex with male omegas? You said that when we took the wedding photos. And both this time and last time too. Why do you get embarrassed?”

Since I was resting my head on his lap, I could vividly feel Baek Mugyeong flinch and freeze. He also turned his gaze away from me. I could feel his embarrassment, which made me laugh.

“I hadn’t manifested as an omega back then, so I just let it slide, thinking, ‘Oh, that’s how it is .’ Why did it suddenly change? Huh? Because I manifested? You could have just ignored it, but you did it both times.”

“Are you curious about that?”

Only then did Baek Mugyeong look back. Although his eyes were hidden by sunglasses, his flushed cheeks and ears were visible.

“Very.”

“First of all, it’s true that I had no intention of having sex with a man. I lived as a beta until my mid-twenties. And… I fell for your pheromone scent.”

“So you like the scent of candy. But you don’t like sweet things.”

“The two are different.”

“Is that so? I don’t really like musk scents either. Why are you surprised? The scent coming from you is different.”

I giggled and continued explaining because the way the man kept getting startled was cute. Then, Baek Mugyeong kissed my cheek and whispered.

“Why don’t we clean this up and go home?”

The voice tickling my ears was subtle. I don’t know what on earth pressed Baek Mugyeong’s button, but I ended up feeling the same way.

It has been three days since Baek Mugyeong arrived in the U.S. I spent the nights at his house and had sex for the past three days. Yesterday, in particular, was Friday night, so I was literally squeezed dry. I barely managed to get up because I really wanted to go on a picnic today. More importantly, I had to take Baek Mugyeong to my maternal grandmother’s house for dinner in the evening.

Nevertheless, I wanted to succumb to Baek Mugyeong’s temptation.

“You know we have dinner plans tonight, right?”

“I know. I’ll control myself.”

I could only pretend to believe Baek Mugyeong when he said he would restrain himself. His specialty was saying things like that and pushing people to the very end.

But it was only natural to want to be close to your lover.

“Let’s go.”

I forced myself to stand up. At times like this, I had to move quickly rather than hesitate.

❖ ❖ ❖

The cook working at my maternal grandmother’s house was truly skilled. He was excellent not only at Korean cuisine but also at Western food, and especially at seafood. Greek-style octopus drizzled with olive oil, grilled corn, scallops, and shrimp coated in spicy, sweet, and salty sauces, exquisitely grilled steak, lasagna, and more filled the table emitting delicious aromas.

The dinner with the six of us went smoothly. The star of the show was Baek Mugyeong. Having left Korea to live in the United States, Baek shared his upcoming schedule. Everyone was aware that he would be going to New York for two months for work. Nevertheless, the conversation continued once he spoke about it himself.

Everyone shared updates on their lives. Sejun had transferred to a nearby private high school. He complained to Baek Mugyeong, saying his uniform was the color of a turtle. Aunt Jieun continued attending a language academy while working part-time at my grandmother’s real estate company, but she confessed that it was difficult to balance her studies and work at her age. Nevertheless, Aunt Jieun was the one spending her day with the most enthusiasm.

Aunt Soyeon complained that she had a hard time collaborating with artists from other fields because they couldn’t communicate with each other. Meanwhile, my grandmother boasted about the ease of her retired life.