Chapter 4 – You Started It

[I’m fine with 2 o’clock. How about you, Eunjae?]

[Yes, me too. Then, I’ll see you there.]

Without even opening her eyes, Eunjae replied and then let out a deep breath from her bed. Forcing herself to look at her phone screen, she saw it was six in the morning. If today was a workday, she could have eaten a big breakfast and even had a long-overdue chat with her mom.

The man she’d been set up with for a blind date must have been into ‘Miracle Mornings’ or something. Every morning at 6 o’clock, he’d text her about the weather. Since today was the day she’d been scheduled to meet him, the text wasn’t just a weather forecast, but a time to meet.

Eunjae groaned and got out of bed, stretching widely. Saturday mornings were the one time when office workers could legally sleep in. The moment that was interrupted by a man whose face she barely knew, Eunjae felt her interest in him drop before even meeting.

Well, honestly, she hadn’t expected much. She’d agreed to the blind date because she thought she should meet someone, and if you expect too much, disappointment is bigger. And since she’d never really dated before, everything felt unfamiliar. Even exchanging simple messages with a man was not easy.

Her chat window was filled only with work contacts, family, and always, at the top, Wooseok. Most of their conversations were trivial, unimportant chats.

‘What movie are you watching? You should see it too.’ ‘What are you eating for dinner?’ If she found something funny on SNS, she’d copy and paste it to him. Their messages were random, replies weren’t fast, and neither of them ever got upset or asked why the other hadn’t checked.

[What kind of food do you like, Eunjae?]

Just when she thought the conversation was over, the man texted again. Eunjae felt a headache coming and pressed her temples. Checking with Jiyeon again, she confirmed the man’s job was a high school teacher. He was a colleague of Jiyeon’s former coworker. She didn’t know how many connections it took to arrange this meeting, but she was mostly relieved she hadn’t lied to Wooseok.

[I eat everything well, I’m not picky ^^]

It felt weird to tell a man she was meeting for the first time what she didn’t like, so she sent a neutral message and got up. Sleeping in was out of the question now. Since the meeting was at 2 p.m., she thought she’d go for a walk in the park early in the morning.

When Eunjae opened her door, her mother, Kyunghee, who was preparing breakfast, looked at her in surprise.

“Are you working today too?”

She hadn’t said anything about it yesterday. Even if she worked on weekends, she usually slept in and went out in the afternoon, so Kyunghee always made breakfast extra quietly on weekends. Eunjae shook her head and went to the water dispenser.

“I just woke up early.”

She poured herself a cup of cold water and drank it, feeling a little more awake.

“You should sleep more.”

“I’m just going to walk around the park out front.”

At her daughter’s words, Kyunghee, who was seasoning spinach, looked up at Eunjae. Walking in the park at six in the morning wasn’t something her second daughter would normally do. Immediately, she remembered the information Jiyeon had casually mentioned a few days ago.

“Ah, your blind date!”

As soon as her mom said ‘blind date,’ Eunjae frowned slightly and glanced toward Jiyeon’s room. She’d said she’d keep it a secret from her parents. But in this house, there were no secrets. Especially since Jiyeon moved back in.

“I’m just meeting him. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Who said anything? I mean, meet someone, do something. On a beautiful weekend, just sleeping at home…”

“Ah, stop. That’s enough. Say one more thing and I’m not going.”

“Are you threatening your mom?”

Just as her mother lifted the rice paddle, the sound of the master bedroom door opening was heard. Eunjae quickly moved next to her mom and whispered,

“Don’t tell Dad.”

“I don’t keep secrets.”

Ah, really. Eunjae grabbed her hair in frustration. At that moment, her father, Yooncheol, appeared in the living room holding a newspaper. He had retired from civil service earlier this year, but his daily routine hadn’t changed at all. He still woke up at the same time and kept his morning habits, as if he could go to work any day.

Eunjae found it both amazing and a little sad. When she suggested he travel and relax like other retirees, Yooncheol said he was more comfortable this way and held her hand reassuringly. Maybe it was because he’d raised two daughters, but Yooncheol was even kinder than her mom, unlike most fathers his age. Kyunghee always said it was just his nature, but Eunjae sometimes thought her dad was amazing.

Growing up, she’d never seen her dad get angry. Her mom could be quite assertive, but he always listened and accepted. The same went for his daughters.

When her sister announced she was getting divorced, her mom didn’t eat or speak for days. She was firmly against it. But her dad just silently held Jiyeon’s hand tightly. Seeing that, Eunjae thought if she met a man like her father, marriage might not be so bad.

Her sister became staunchly anti-marriage after the divorce, but Eunjae wasn’t that negative about it. She just hadn’t dated because of a secret crush. If a good person appeared now, she’d want to marry.

She wanted to feel comfortable. She wanted to stop the emotional exhaustion of hiding and worrying about being found out.

“Did you sleep well?”

Eunjae sat next to her dad on the sofa and clung to him. Strangely, even as she got older, skinship with her parents didn’t feel awkward. Jiyeon always cringed at Eunjae’s affection.

“It’s Saturday, why are you up so early?”

Yooncheol kept his eyes on the newspaper and pretended not to know.

“Maybe I’m nervous about the blind date.”

At her cheeky words, her dad’s eyes wavered. Maybe he was planning to pretend not to know, but he glanced at Kyunghee in the kitchen. He really wasn’t good at hiding things.

“Mom already told you everything.”

“Ah, did she? Did I hear that?”

Embarrassed, Yooncheol chuckled. Eunjae hugged her dad’s back and acted like the youngest for a moment. Even after thirty, she couldn’t break the habit. Hugging his big back and smelling his woody scent made all her worries disappear. Yooncheol, trapped by Eunjae’s arms, just kept reading the newspaper peacefully.

“Aren’t you curious, Dad?”

“About what?”

“My blind date.”

“You’ll handle it well.”

“What if he’s weird?”

“Would my daughter fall for a weird guy?”

She had no answer to that. Eunjae never kept anyone close if she felt uncomfortable. Jiyeon was the type to be friendly with many people, but Eunjae kept a small circle for a long time. So if she introduced someone as a friend, her parents always liked them. They believed anyone their daughter cared about couldn’t be a bad person.

Her brother-in-law Kiwon was one of those cases. By chance, Eunjae ended up bringing them together. Kiwon was her college senior and had visited her home a few times for fieldwork. It happened to coincide with her sister’s vacation, and before she knew it, the two exchanged numbers and became a couple behind her back.

Eunjae was actually the last to find out. The two kept their relationship secret until one day they showed up at her house dressed formally to meet her parents. Eunjae asked why her senior was there, and Kiwon just smiled shyly.

Her dad played go with Kiwon, and before the games ended, he gave his blessing for their marriage. Later, when asked why, Yooncheol said he trusted him because he was his youngest daughter’s senior. All of that was in the past.

“I’m going to the park to exercise. Want to come, Dad?”

“Why the sudden exercise?”

Yooncheol flipped the page of his newspaper.

“Gotta get rid of puffiness and look pretty.”

At her unusual words, Yooncheol turned to look at his daughter.

“You look pretty already.”

“Tch. Only to you, Dad. Anyway, I’m heading out.”

Eunjae got up from the sofa. She’d gone to bed late and woke up early, so she was tired, but didn’t want to crawl back into bed. She felt she needed to clear her mind one last time.

After a quick shower and changing clothes, Eunjae grabbed her phone to head out for exercise. Just then, it vibrated briefly. 

‘Was it that man again?’ 

She looked at the screen, but it was a message from Wooseok.

[Are you up?]

The time stamp was seven a.m. Since confessing about her blind date, Wooseok had gone down to Sejong the next day and hadn’t returned for several days. There was a small issue with materials at the site, and President Han had told him to handle it before coming back.

So for a few days, Eunjae had gone to work comfortably. She felt it would be awkward to run into him right now. Maybe Wooseok knew, because he hadn’t contacted her personally until now.

Seven a.m. on a Saturday wasn’t usually Wooseok’s active time, so Eunjae wondered how to reply. She ended up closing her phone and putting it in her pocket. Since she’d only checked the notification, he wouldn’t know she’d seen it. If he asked later, she could just say she slept in. Eunjae felt she was doing the right thing and left her room.

After a short workout, breakfast, and even a face mask, she still had plenty of time. Eunjae carefully did her makeup. She usually just wore basic makeup and sunscreen, so she was out of practice and looked awkward. After several attempts and corrections, an hour had passed. She finished up roughly, put on the outfit she’d picked out, and realized she was running late.

She grabbed her handbag and opened the door. Three pairs of eyes immediately focused on her.

“Oooh. Who is this? Is this really my one and only sister, Shin Eunjae?”

Jiyeon, sitting at the table eating fruit with their parents, deliberately teased Eunjae loudly.

“Don’t overdo it. I’m heading out.”

Eunjae checked the time and headed for the entrance. She found shoes she didn’t usually wear, and suddenly all three family members came to the entrance to see her off.

“Do well.”

Jiyeon patted Eunjae’s shoulder, her mom brushed lint off her blouse with an expectant look, and her dad just smiled behind them. Was it normal to get the whole family’s support for a single blind date? Feeling embarrassed, Eunjae quickly opened the front door and left.

“Whew…”

She took a deep breath and checked her reflection in the elevator glass. She looked unfamiliar, but not bad. Her heart was pounding, so she took out the gum from her bag. Wooseok had bought it for her, knowing her habit. Even these trivial things showed how deeply he was involved in her life, and Eunjae’s feelings settled for a moment.

But today, she would break free for sure. If she met someone else, these feelings would disappear. If her attention shifted to someone new, her heart would sort itself out. Eunjae thought so and stepped forward. Her shoes pinched her heels, but she ignored the pain and walked.

Thirty minutes past the appointed time, the man still hadn’t appeared. She called once after arriving, sent a message, waited, and called again ten minutes later, but it went to voicemail.

Eunjae ordered a drink. It was awkward just sitting in the busy hotel lounge on a weekend. Her iced coffee was quickly placed in front of her.

To make matters worse, a sudden shower fell outside the window. She’d checked the weather forecast thoroughly, but hadn’t expected this. Her heels were already sore, so she glanced at her aching foot and looked at her phone again. Even after finishing half her coffee, there was no contact from the man.

Had something happened on the way? If so, shouldn’t he contact her first? Was it a big enough accident that he couldn’t? She imagined all sorts of scenarios. Then she realized: this blind date was clearly ruined.

Deciding she’d had enough, she picked up her phone and called Jiyeon.

-Hello?

“Sis.”

-What? Aren’t you supposed to be with that guy right now? Was he really that bad? Teacher Yoon said he wasn’t that bad. Were all those photos fake?

It seemed Jiyeon hadn’t heard from the man either. If she had, she would have contacted Eunjae first. With no choice, Eunjae explained the situation.

“He still hasn’t come.”

-What? What do you mean?

“He’s not answering calls. I’ve waited about thirty minutes. Should I just go?”

-Hey, wait. I’ll try calling him. What kind of crap manners are these! Wait a minute.

The call ended quickly. Jiyeon was not someone to sit quietly in a situation like this. It wasn’t even something her sister had asked for; she heard that the other side had arranged the blind date. After even receiving her photo, now he didn’t even bother to contact her—such manners meant there was no need to meet again, but still, there might be a reason. Eunjae decided to wait a little longer.