Chapter 107
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A little while earlier—
When I arrived at the meeting place, I stared blankly up at the building.
I knew this place. It was famous for its restaurants.
“Here?”
I asked Isol, who was standing beside me.
“Yes.”
Her small face gave a little nod.
There wasn't the slightest sign of hesitation in her.
“…Isn't this place expensive?”
It wasn't on the level of a luxury hotel, but I knew this was still a fairly pricey barbecue restaurant.
“Probably?”
Isol seemed indifferent. She didn't look particularly interested in what we were eating today.
Did people usually spend this much on their daughter's friend?
Her mother hadn't arrived yet. Apparently, she was coming straight here from work.
“……”
As I stood there with my arms folded, tapping my fingers nervously.
Tap, tap.
I felt fingertips lightly tapping my arm.
Isol was looking up at me.
“Are you nervous?”
“…Of course I am. What else would I be?”
It wasn't like we were just meeting briefly—we were having a meal together. Wouldn't it be stranger not to be nervous?
“Heehee.”
Isol let out a quiet laugh at my answer.
“…Why are you laughing?”
“No, just because.”
She shook her head from side to side.
— “Seungho gets nervous too….”
Minimi looked at me with newfound interest.
“…Huh.”
What had she thought of me all this time?
I was human. Of course I got nervous sometimes.
More importantly, Isol's reaction was more surprising to me.
I thought she would be more nervous, but not at all.
She looked perfectly fine.
She seemed completely unbothered, wearing the same languid expression as usual.
“…Are you okay?”
As soon as Isol heard that, she shrugged.
“I took a Cheongsimhwan.”
— “The effect is incredible.”
Minimi gave a thumbs-up.
“……Ah.”
No wonder she looked so fine.
Tap, tap.
Just then, Isol tapped my arm.
“…My mom's here.”
Isol pointed toward the parking lot. Coming in was
a black sedan.
The car parked smoothly, and then
a woman who looked exactly like Isol got out.
Click, click.
She walked over at a leisurely pace.
“Hello.”
I bowed deeply.
“…Yes, it's been a while.”
She accepted my greeting curtly.
“……”
Her gaze swept over me for an instant.
It soon turned elsewhere, but I could clearly feel that look.
— “……He's grown since I last saw him. Is it because he's still growing? Well, he is at an age when he'll grow a lot.”
Her mother's Minimi muttered this to herself.
Come to think of it, it had been a very long time since we'd seen each other.
The last time we'd met was during the first-semester midterms.
It had been almost five months since then.
“Let's go in.”
Isol's mother started walking first.
I followed behind her with Isol.
“…I made a reservation under Kim Boyoung.”
“Kim Boyoung… Yes, I'll show you to your table.”
Following the employee's directions, we went down the hallway toward the back.
“Room seven.”
“Thank you.”
I sat across from Isol's mother.
Isol followed me and plopped down in her seat.
— “……”
As she put her coat on a hanger and tidied it away,
the corners of Isol's mother's Minimi's eyes drooped.
— “No… It's all right. That can happen.”
Though it said that, it was clearly hurt by Isol's choice of seat.
Regardless,
— “……Hmm. What should we eat? Seungho likes anything, though.”
Minimi swung its feet back and forth like a pendulum while calmly looking over the menu.
“……”
Isol's mother sat down and opened the menu.
“……Is there anything you want to eat?”
Her gaze had grown somewhat colder than before.
“I eat pretty much anything.”
I answered calmly without letting it show.
“You can speak comfortably. Saying anything is fine makes it harder to choose.”
I really would have been fine with anything.
But the way she put it made me feel like I had to choose something.
“……”
I looked down at the menu again.
It didn't feel right to openly choose something expensive.
But choosing something that didn't suit my tastes wasn't appealing either.
— “Order one thing she wants… Maybe marinated pork ribs. Sol likes those too.”
That's it.
I picked up on Minimi's muttered thought.
“I'll have the marinated pork ribs.”
“…Do you like those?”
“Yes.”
It wasn't a lie.
I liked any kind of meat.
“What about you, Sol?”
“Me too.”
“All right.”
After the brief exchange, Isol's mother gently tapped the bell on the table.
Ding—
The bell rang out clearly.
It wasn't long before an employee entered the room with a quiet knock.
“Yes, are you ready to order?”
“Could we have 600 grams of marinated ribs?”
“Six hundred grams of marinated ribs. Will you be needing anything else?”
“Anything else……”
She looked down at the menu and
“Two bottles of cola, please.”
“Six hundred grams of marinated ribs and two bottles of cola, correct? I'll have them ready shortly.”
“Oh, and we'll grill the meat ourselves.”
“Of course. Please call me if you need anything.”
It took less than two minutes for the employee to return with the food.
That was fast.
The meat was set on the table along with various side dishes.
“I—”
“No, just sit there.”
When I reached for the tongs, Isol's mother firmly took possession of the tongs and scissors.
— “……I'd look like someone who invited her daughter's friend out and made him grill the meat.”
That's true.
Come to think of it, that would have been a little awkward.
I obediently lowered my hands and accepted her consideration.
Isol's mother picked up the meat and placed it on the grill.
Sizzle——
The sound of it cooking deliciously stimulated my ears.
Sizzle, sizzle—
The meat cooked on the grill.
Isol's mother cut the meat while sweating profusely.
‘……Hmm.’
The meat she grilled was
how should I put this?
It had gone beyond crispy and was charred in places.
“……”
Isol's mother stared down at the meat she had grilled for a long time before
“…Do you like it well-done?”
she asked as if making an excuse.
Even as she said it, she couldn't quite meet my eyes.
I could tell exactly where Isol's clumsiness came from.
— “…It's burnt.”
Isol's Minimi gave its cold assessment.
Don't be so harsh.
She had worked hard on it.
— “I should've flipped it sooner….”
Isol's mother's Minimi clenched its fist, calling it a blunder.
Her Minimi's face turned red. It was embarrassed.
— “Maybe I should've asked the employee to grill it for us…. But if the employee were standing beside us, it would be awkward to talk….”
That was true, too.
If a stranger was grilling meat beside you, you couldn't help clamming up.
“…Eat plenty.”
Isol's mother moved the meat she had grilled onto Isol's and my plates.
— “The least burnt pieces….”
She did select the better-looking pieces from the bunch.
Even so, perhaps the flavor remained.
— “…It tastes burnt.”
Isol's Minimi chewed with both cheeks puffed out, wearing an uncertain expression.
— “…Let's really do it right this time.”
Isol's mother's Minimi burned with determination.
That made me uneasy.
“…Would it be all right if I grilled it?”
Unable to watch any longer, I reached for the tongs.
“I feel more awkward just sitting still after coming out to eat on someone else's treat.”
“……”
Isol's mother's eyes rolled.
She agonized over whether it would be better to leave it to me or keep grilling until the end.
“…If that's what you really want.”
She reluctantly decided to give me a chance.
Szzzzzz——
To make the most of it, I carefully picked up a piece of meat and placed it on the grill.
……A little while later.
“……”
“……”
Munch, munch—
The mother and daughter chewed busily in silence.
“…Mmm, you grill really well.”
Isol said with a loose, beaming smile.
“…Sol. Finish eating before you talk.”
Isol's mother scolded her elegantly, covering her mouth.
“…Yesh.”
The corners of Isol's eyes drooped.
“……”
This part of her was different from Isol, too.
Was it simply her natural personality? Or was it a habit she had developed later in life?
As I wondered about that,
“…You grill well. Do you do it often?”
Isol's mother asked.
“My parents both work, so they're busy. Since I sometimes prepare meals for my younger sibling, I naturally got better at it.”
“Hmm… I see.”
She nodded.
— “…Is that why he takes such good care of Sol, too?”
It felt a little different from that.
But broadly speaking, it certainly hadn't had no influence.
And so, the short meal came to an end.
“…Thanks to you, I had a good meal.”
Isol's mother wiped her mouth, looking embarrassed.
“No, not at all.”
I waved my hands.
Since she was the one paying, that was something I should have said instead.
“Sol. Could you go buy some dessert?”
Just then, Isol's mother brought that up.
“…Dessert?”
“Yes. Apparently you have to go buy the dessert yourself. Could you do that for me, dear?”
There was an unmistakable implication that she wanted Isol to leave.
Isol hesitated, but stood up from her seat.
Even as she moved, she turned around several times.
She clearly seemed quite worried.
After Isol left, the two of us were alone.
“……First of all, thank you.”
That seemed like the most important thing to say first.
Isol's mother gave a restrained nod.
“It can't have been easy teaching Sol.”
I shook my head at that.
“It wasn't really. She followed along well, too.”
“I'm saying this as her mother. Sol isn't especially smart. She has no knack for things, either.”
No knack for things.
It was certainly cold of her to evaluate her own daughter that way.
“…That made her easier to teach.”
But.
I thought Isol's lack of cleverness was one of her strengths.
She didn't rely on little tricks. She had no other direction to turn to.
“If anything, she just goes at things in a straightforward way.”
“……”
Isol's mother was silent for a moment before
“Being straightforward doesn't mean being good at something.”
she replied calmly.
“……”
“Sol's current grades are partly her own achievement, but… your help has been the biggest factor, hasn't it?”
That wasn't wrong, either.
“Honestly, I'd rather Sol find something other than studying.”
She still seemed to hold that opinion.
— “Next year, you'll be split into different classes. There's no guarantee you'll stay close like you did this year.”
Her Minimi's tone was cold.
It reflected reality.
“Even if she doesn't become a model, there are plenty of people these days who make a living as influencers.”
Whatever it was,
she clearly wanted Isol to find work that made use of her own strengths.
“Of course, a promise is a promise, so I don't intend to force her……”
Isol's mother showed me the screen of her phone.
“I heard you took this picture, Seungho. Is that right?”
It was a picture of Isol with Japan in the background.
Judging by the composition, it had been taken during the school trip.
“Yes, that's right.”
I nodded honestly.
“……”
Her gaze turned toward me.
— “He notices things quickly, he's capable…… and he takes good care of Sol……”
Along with her Minimi's low voice,
— “……But he's too kind.”
it muttered.
The words were clearly praise, but her tone didn't make it sound that way.
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(!Signboard!)
(There's an illustration if you scroll down!)
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Munching Sol.