Heart-Shaped Ketchup
They'd grown considerably closer since the beginning, but to Som-i, Hwi-young was still someone slightly difficult to approach. Every time, she found herself confused over how to define their relationship and where exactly to draw the line in how she acted around him.
Still, they lived under the same roof, so surely it was only right to give him that much of a heads-up — yet at the same time, she hesitated. Were they really the kind of people who shared every little thing like this? A darker worry crept in too: what if he received it all with surface-level warmth while inwardly finding her a bother?
Moments like these, it would be so much easier if there were a manual of some kind. A guidebook, say, that could answer questions like How much of your daily life are you supposed to share with the awkward senior who accidentally became your husband overnight?
"Okay, hold on a second."
Som-i hastily waved her hands at Seo-kyeong, who was about to hit the purchase button.
"Don't book mine yet. Just get yours for now."
"Why?"
"Ah, that's…."
Som-i swept her hair behind her ear for no particular reason, her eyes darting around.
"I haven't told my unni yet."
"Ah, the cousin you live with?"
"Mm-hmm."
"You need your unni's permission for that?"
Ye-ji asked, looking puzzled.
"Well… it's less permission and more that I should tell her, you know? She lives with me, after all."
Ye-ji narrowed her eyes and asked carefully, "Is your unni the controlling type?"
Controlling…? What kind of person was Hwi-young, again? He wasn't the interfering type so much as the affectionate, attentive type — almost to a fault.
In the short time she'd come to live under the same roof as him, Som-i had come to see Hwi-young in a new light. Of course, she knew it was highly likely that all the care he poured out for her was nothing more than a sense of duty. Even so, the heart with which he tried his absolute best at every moment was something she was grateful for.
The stress that had crept up on her through the unexpected pregnancy and the whirlwind marriage had eased somewhat by now. Mornings had grown familiar enough that she no longer woke in a dormitory bed but in Hwi-young's, face-to-face with him asking if she'd slept well.
Just like that, Som-i was being tamed at a frightening pace by a daily life filled to the brim with Kwon Hwi-young.
"No, she doesn't interfere at all. She's really… good to me."
Thinking of Hwi-young, who had abruptly become her live-in cousin-unni, Som-i bit her lip.
"Right, it's a late-night movie. You should at least tell her. What if she worries?"
Seo-kyeong chimed in, the very picture of hundred-percent understanding.
"I'll ask my unni and book my ticket separately."
One more lie added to the pile. It stung a little, how many things she kept hiding from her friends lately. Not that she could exactly say, I have to ask my husband.
Just as the ticket talk was wrapping up—
"Whoa. Hey, look over there."
Ye-ji, slurping down the last of an Americano through her straw, tipped her chin toward the bottom of the steps. Every gaze snapped in the same direction at once.
Two people were walking up the path between the lush, draping willow trees.
Even from a distance, the strikingly glamorous features stood out, along with long, elegantly stretched legs. It was Bae Ye-ri.
Som-i's eyes wavered, just for an instant.
"Wow, so the rumor was true. That she's dating Woo-bin sunbae."
Seo-kyeong rustled her bag of snacks, wearing an expression of pure entertainment.
Som-i's gaze shifted to the man walking beside Bae Ye-ri, his shoulder brushing hers. Cha Woo-bin sunbae. Same class as Kwon Hwi-young and Bae Ye-ri, Class of 60, and like them, a face flashy enough and a charm roguish enough that he was frequently name-dropped among their peers. Though, of course, no comparison to Kwon Hwi-young.
"Woo-bin sunbae's family is loaded, you know. His dad does some kind of new-energy business or something? When his parents came to the workshop last time, they say they pulled up in a Rolls-Royce."
At that, Som-i's eyes landed on Cha Woo-bin once more. Even at a glance, the expensive-looking watch and the crisp fit of his shirt gave off an air that truly set him apart.
It was the nature of their department that students who spent the start of the semester flaunting every last bit of style would gradually lose all human shape by midterms. Between all-night rehearsals and hand-building props and sets, most of them barely made it home. Wrapping themselves in department varsity jackets or padded coats like refugees became the default. Come to think of it, she remembered that Woo-bin sunbae had always been the sole exception — immaculate even in the middle of the semester.
"Ye-ri sunbae bounces back so fast after a breakup. And she only ever picks people exactly in her own league."
"Well, she can hardly lower her standards. Her last boyfriend was none other than Kwon Hwi-young."
At the sudden appearance of Hwi-young's name, Som-i moistened her dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
"Still, come on. That's too much even so. Passing each other around between friends like that — isn't that a bit much?"
"What about Kwon Hwi-young, then? There's talk he's in a flirtation with Ji-na sunbae this time."
"With Ji-na sunbae? For real?"
"A hundred percent real. Have you not seen his Instagram?"
Ye-ji cut in as if she'd been waiting for the opening.
"He suddenly started posting pictures of trees out of nowhere, and now he's uploading all the time. The man is properly addicted to Instagram, I'm telling you."
Ga-yeong joined in too.
"And what about that photo he uploaded then deleted? The one with the heart-shaped ketchup squiggle. Who does that when they're eating alone?"
Som-i's mouth fell open, blank. Wow… there was a genuine master detective sitting right here. A chill ran down her spine at her friends' razor-sharp deductive skills. Guys, you're actually incredible.
But at the same time, a flicker of something sullen stirred toward Hwi-young. Seriously, look at that. Everyone else can tell it's a heart at a glance, and he goes and does what — a teddy bear? A bunny??
"Yesterday's post was even worse. He uploaded a picture of cereal, and right there next to it, sitting square in frame, a heart-shaped hair clip. You didn't see it? The guy is practically dying to broadcast to the whole world that he's madly in love right now."
Feeling faintly dizzy, Som-i rolled her eyes at the empty air. In love… so that was how it looked to everyone else.
"Was Kwon Hwi-young always the type to make a show of it like that?"
"That's exactly what makes it such a slam dunk. He never used to be."
Som-i, mouth still hanging open, listened quietly to her friends' incisive deductions, then bit her lip.
Suddenly, a string of Hwi-young's odd behaviors from the past few days — the ones that had struck her as strange, leaving her to wonder what had gotten into him — surfaced one by one.
And here she'd dismissed it all as childish pranks.
'He's practically dying to broadcast to the whole world that he's madly in love right now.'
Could it really be true? Did Kwon Hwi-young want to let the world glimpse the everyday life he shared with her?
No way.
Som-i shook her head at once.
Impossible.
He'd always been a warm-hearted person. And now he carried a sense of responsibility for her, so his kindness was exactly that much and nothing more. She had a hard-won maxim from her long years of one-sided love: never grow greedy for your feelings to be returned.
So no expectations. Expectations always ended in disappointment. A marriage certificate didn't turn an old, unrequited love into something mutual overnight.
Yet even as she reasoned with herself over and over, her heart refused to obey. She knew better, and still denial and hope washed over her in turns — like a wave that, each time she pushed it away, came back larger than before.
Just then, a loud crunch of snack-chewing sounded right beside her, and the thoughts clouding her heart scattered in an instant. Seo-kyeong held the chip bag over her mouth and lowered her voice.
"Honestly, it's a regular animal kingdom around here."
The low click of her tongue carried a distinct bitterness.
And small wonder — Seo-kyeong had just been through a transit breakup, dumped by a boyfriend from her own class for a newer model. Worse, the new model was a freshman in their own department. No way she could look kindly on people who cycled through partners within the same major like that.
Ahem….
Som-i coughed awkwardly. She didn't quite want to meet Seo-kyeong's eyes, so she kept her gaze lowered — and it landed, conveniently, on the Bae Ye-ri and Cha Woo-bin couple just now climbing the steps.
Something about the sight stirred a strange feeling. After Kwon Hwi-young and Bae Ye-ri broke up, the school had buzzed with every rumor imaginable for a while. The two of them had been the poster couple of the Theater and Film department — no, perhaps one of the most famous couples in all of Hankook University.
The rumors mostly ran along the same lines: Hwi-young's indiscriminate kindness to everyone had driven a wedge between them, and Bae Ye-ri, unable to bear it any longer, had ended things. But now Kwon Hwi-young, too late in coming to his senses, was pulling out every stop to win Bae Ye-ri back, so a reconciliation was all but inevitable — that was the story going around.
She'd never pressed Hwi-young for details, but somehow Som-i had a gut feeling every last one of those rumors was wrong. At least the Hwi-young she saw with her own eyes bore no resemblance whatsoever to the lovelorn fool the gossip made him out to be, still hung up on Bae Ye-ri.
That said, it had secretly gotten under her skin too, she had to admit. Every time she saw Ye-ri sunbae, she found herself self-conscious, tormented by the pathetic habit of unconsciously comparing herself. But now that the woman had a new boyfriend, wasn't that a good thing for everyone?
Her heart felt distinctly lighter. Som-i lifted the corners of her mouth in a calm, faint smile. All she truly thought was that she hoped Ye-ri sunbae did well from here on out.
As the couple drew closer, Som-i straightened her slouched back in a fluster.
"Hello!"
Her friends, who until that very moment had been trading every juicy detail behind their backs, greeted the two with bright, open faces as if only now discovering them — you'd never guess what they'd been saying.
Bae Ye-ri accepted the greeting with a languid flutter of her fingers. Som-i gave a light nod in return. And in that instant, her eyes met Bae Ye-ri's.