TL/Editor: looloo

    Status: ongoing

    Illustrations: posted in discord

    Join the discord! Here

    Suddenly, I was at a loss for words, my brain shutting down.

    Why was Heena here? What about Sarang... Well, there are plenty of people at home to look after her.

    Even so, I never imagined Heena would leave Sarang behind and come out like this. And she wasn’t just here to meet me; she was all dolled up as if she was ready for a date.

    Of course, Heena in her serious mode was stunning, almost impossible to take my eyes off of. She was pretty even in her usual loose clothes and bare face, but when she dressed up, she looked entirely different.

    Seeing her like this after a long time, I couldn’t help but feel moved, and the others were also too stunned to speak.

    In the midst of this, Yujin managed to stammer out a greeting.

    "Uh... Hello...?"

    "Yes, hello."

    "You''re Yeonho''s wife... right?"

    "That''s right. Sorry for intruding on your gathering. I was just passing by and saw it was ending."

    "Oh~ You were just passing by..."

    Both Yujin and I knew she was lying, and probably everyone else did too. No one would dress up like this just to pass by.

    After saying that, she narrowed her eyes and glanced around at my friends. She had a peculiar aura, not just beauty.

    Finally, she turned her gaze back to Yujin and smiled brightly.

    "Please take good care of my husband. Is it okay if I take Yeonho now?"

    "Oh, yes..."

    "Then we''ll be off... Honey, let''s go."

    Even though she had been here for less than three minutes, she hooked her arm around mine and started pulling me away as if she was done.

    I was taken aback, but I had planned to leave soon anyway, so I quickly waved to the guys.

    "Uh, yeah... Let''s go. Guys, sorry! I have to leave now! See you all tomorrow! Jinsung, I''ll send you the money later!"

    "Okay, bye!"

    "Get home safely!"

    Leaving the still stunned group behind, I walked away with Heena. I was still in a daze, just being led by her.

    Only when we were far enough that the others couldn’t see us did I calm down a bit and start talking.

    "Why are you here all of a sudden? I was just about to call you as I finished."

    "...You didn''t contact me for so long, I got worried and came to check."

    "But I said I''d just be at the chicken place, nothing could have happened... Why are you dressed up so nicely?"

    "Do I look pretty?"

    "The prettiest in the world. You’re always pretty, but today is really something else."

    "Hehe... I put in some effort after a long time~"

    "If Sarang sees this, she’ll think her mom is too pretty and follow you around. I’ll feel left out."

    "Oh, come on~ Sarang loves her dad so much~ She was sad the moment you left today~"

    There could be various reasons why Heena came here. Maybe she really was worried about me, or maybe she just wanted to dress up and go out since she’d been home for a while.

    I was curious about her reason, but seeing her subtly avoid my gaze and change the subject, I decided not to press further. Even though I was a bit surprised, honestly, I was also proud to show her off.

    Especially since everyone seemed to think her profile picture was heavily edited. But neither of us knew how to edit photos, so her real self was much prettier.

    Anyway, I let the reason she came to find me slide, and we slowly headed home, enjoying the feeling of a date after a long time.

    "Is your mom looking after Sarang?"

    "My mom and brother are. You know my brother spent the whole day watching Sarang? When she slept, he played on his phone in the living room, and when she woke up, he rushed to her before I could."

    "Doesn''t he have any plans?"

    "That''s what I''m saying."

    "I’d never go. Even if I did, I''d do it at home..."

    "So you''re saying you''d play games with a girl, voice chatting, while I''m watching and Sarang’s there too?"

    "Should I keep my distance from her...? Not get close?"

    "When did I say that? I told you to get along with your classmates."

    "Then, to build relations, playing a bit of games together..."

    "Sounds fun~ Playing games with a cute girl? Hearing her call you ''Oppa, Oppa.'' You like that, don''t you?"

    "......"

    Last night, my mother-in-law took Sarang to bed. Since it was the first day of school, she offered to take care of her for the night, understanding we were tired. Thanks to that, Heena and I were alone in the room, where she kept grilling me late into the night.

    Sitting on top of me, looking down at me.

    Well, Heena wasn''t really mad, she was just half-jokingly being a little jealous. But the other half was serious.

    She wanted me to show that I wasn''t interested in Yujin and that I only loved her.

    In the end, I had to kiss Heena, whisper that I loved her, and engage in some intimate skinship until dawn before she finally calmed down and we could sleep.

    As a result, I wasn''t in great shape when I woke up in the morning. Thanks to my mother-in-law, I didn''t have to wake up to feed Sarang during the night, but I was more exhausted than if I had taken care of Sarang myself.

    This exhaustion carried over to school that day.

    On the second day of the new semester, after the one orientation lecture ended, Jaehwan came to me with some news that made me even more tired.

    "Hey, you''re pretty famous, you know?"

    "What?"

    "Our seniors in the department all know you. Your wife was famous for being smart and pretty, but now they''re all in a frenzy because you took a break from school when you had Sarang."

    "Oh, well, we both had our profile pictures up, so it''s understandable. But where did you hear that?"

    "I got to know some seniors during orientation, and we chat sometimes. When I told them I drank with you yesterday, they told me. Even seniors from other departments know you."

    "Well, there''s nothing I can do about that. We decided to put it up, so we have to deal with it."

    I didn''t have a choice in the profile picture. Heena always picked it.

    Given Heena''s looks and brains, it would have been more surprising if there weren''t rumors. According to Lia, Heena was even mentioned on the school forum sometimes. Especially since such a perfect girl was head over heels for her boyfriend.

    If it were me, I''d want to kill her boyfriend ─

    "But some seniors are so jealous that if they end up in a group project with you, they''ll sabotage it out of spite. In multiple ways."

    "Are you serious? That''s crazy..."

    "And you know what?"

    "What now."

    "I feel the same way."

    "What?"

    "Man, who would have guessed your wife was that pretty? I felt so betrayed~ Be careful, man. If you end up in a team with me, you''ll never see my face again."

    "Do you really have to do that?"

    "Do you think it''s just me? Half our department probably feels the same way. Anyway, take care~ I have another class to go to."

    "Hey, hey! Shin Jaehwan!"

    Leaving me with this unsettling news, Jaehwan waved and walked away.

    Is this really what people do at the top university in the country? Grinding their teeth because someone has a pretty girlfriend or wife?

    How are they any different from my high school friends? Men, no matter how old they get, are all just kids.

    Damn it.

    Proper classes hadn''t even started yet, and I was already worried about my future and grades. I hoped they wouldn''t actually sabotage me, but there are always crazy people out there.

    Even if those goblins aiming to ruin my grades didn''t get me, it was still worrisome if I ended up in a group mostly of girls.

    How would I explain to Heena if all my teammates were girls when we had to work on projects?

    I didn''t understand why my campus life was like this from the second day.

    Seriously, what a headache.