Chapter XVII – Peace at Last

Tuesday morning was the first time Sophie slept home since the movie night, thus Arthur and she went for their morning run. She relentlessly pried about what Sung-Ho wanted with him and Arthur finally told the truth or at least a partial truth. There was no way of avoiding the subject, especially once they arrived at school. She was shocked to hear that Arthur and Sung-Ho fought, but not so much that he won the fight. Of course, she was angry over the fact he lied and thus kept on being somewhat mean to him. Even after apologizing countless times, she claimed that no matter what it was he must never lie to her, even at the risk of hurting her. To learn that lesson, she wasn’t going to admit to her forgiving him that easily. Arthur could tell though, that she was thankful for his help with the whole Hana situation.

At school, Max gave a summary of what happened to Nabi and Don, but as expected they didn’t believe it. Nabi claimed that it was common for boys to exaggerate things to seem cool. Arthur even agreed with her which made Max seem even sillier.

Hana remained quiet the entire day. News quickly spread that Sung-Ho and his gang got into a fight and lost, though the rumors about who they fought remained a mystery. Heeding her brother’s warning in private, she refrained from making any more trouble for Sophie, something that both Ari and she noticed right away. The dust had finally settled and things returned to normal. Dal-Rae even apologized during lunch break to Sophie for everything they have done, which Sophie confusingly accepted. Ari on the other hand wasn’t so forgiving but remained cool as to not start more trouble.

Classes were generally boring, nothing much happening. It was just a typical school day that went by unnoticed. Truth be told, Arthur enjoyed it. If every day could be as uneventful as this fine Tuesday, he’d be happy. Still, he did need to figure out how to win over Sophie’s forgiveness. He hated lying to her, but couldn’t risk worrying her either. It was a double-edged sword. Giving her time to cool off would have done the trick, but she also said that he was in charge of cooking from now on. While he did enjoy it, her cooking was one of the things he cherished deeply.

When he asked Nabi and Don what they did yesterday to keep Sophie distracted, Nabi explained that they were considering joining an acting club. Of course, that was a lie, but it would have kept them distracted long enough. Don complained just how embarrassing it was, and that he was forced to act out a scene where he was Casanova. Max couldn’t stop laughing tearfully. The idea of Don flirting with girls was otherworldly, though Arthur didn’t find it as funny.

During the lunch break, Sophie and Ari joined them at the table. Max constantly kept the mood up with jokes, and everyone laughed at Arthur’s continuous attempts at winning Sophie’s attention. It was clear to everyone but him that she wasn’t even mad at him but just kept up the act. Nabi theorized that she might have enjoyed the acting yesterday and kept at it for fun, testing if she can fool Arthur. When he later asked for help in figuring out what to do, they all left him hanging saying that he’ll think of something eventually.

Overall, it was a fun day at J High.

Arriving home, Arthur and Sophie took turns taking a bath before getting ready for dinner with their grandpa. Ryung made sure to cook something tasty for the two. Arthur set up the table, and Sophie helped with a salad.

Sitting down, Sophie and Arthur patiently waited for the big reveal on what the meal was.

“Well, hope you’re ready. It might not be as great as Sophie’s cooking, but I did try,” Ryung said following through with a chuckle, revealing the grand meal.

It was pork meat covered in mushroom sauce with the addition of mashed potatoes and a wonderful salad prepared by Sophie. For dessert, there was a homemade apple pie.

“This looks delicious!” Arthur said enthusiastically.

“Well, dig right in.”

The meat was perfectly cooked, and the sauce added immensely to both the flavor and juiciness of the meat. Sophie found the mashed potatoes just a bit too much, but Arthur didn’t hesitate to eat everything that was placed in front of him. During the meal the conversation was light, only commenting on the meal. It was nice to sit down as a family once in a while and enjoy dinner together.

“So, do I dare ask how you two are doing in school?” Ryung joked, meanwhile Sophie returned the dishes.

“Personally I’m doing great. The only subject that I struggle in is computer science, but I’ll manage,” Arthur stated while slicing the apple pie for everyone.

“We’ll see how good you’re doing now that the midterms are coming up,” Sophie commented returning to the table.

“You’re the one who wasn’t home studying at all this weekend,” Arthur teased.

“You didn’t study at all?” Ryung looked at Sophie.

Arthur instantly regretted saying that. Sophie kicked him under the table meanwhile smiling and pretending all is well.

“I did, it’s just that Arthur and I were out of the house at different times so he wasn’t aware of it. Besides, I studied with Ari.”

“Ah, makes sense. How is Ari anyway? I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“She’s doing great. She wanted to say hi when she was over but you already left for work.”

“That’s good,” Ryung said cheerfully, yet it hid the feeling of guilt for not being around much.

“This pie is delicious,” Arthur praised Ryung’s cooking.

“Thank you. It’s an old recipe of mine. I’ll teach you if you want.”

“That sounds great!”

“I’d like to learn it as well,” Sophie said with her mouth full, knowing that it annoys Arthur.

He twitched but said nothing. Instead, he just gave her a disapproving look, and sometimes a look can be more meaningful than words.

“So how’s work?” Sophie asked.

“Nobody giving you trouble anymore?” Arthur interrupted.

“Trouble?” Sophie was confused, she was never told anything about that.

“Oh, no, no. Don’t worry about that. It was a one-time accident. Work is going quite well actually. They even upped my salary a bit, so I might not have to take as many work hours in the future.”

“That’s great!” Sophie yelled out.

“Indeed it is,” Ryung nodded.

The chatter continued for a bit, mostly talking about school and work. Finishing up, Ryung went to take a bath before heading to bed. His age leaves him desiring a lot more sleep, especially with how hard he works.

With only Sophie and Arthur left in the living room, he approached her from behind and placed his hand on her shoulder, and pulled her into a hug. Before she could say anything, he sighed in relief.

“Peace at last. . .” he mumbled.

Sophie wanted to jokingly protest but even she could not resist and embraced him back.

“Yeah. . .”

They hugged for a while before breaking it off.

“Alright, talk to me. What do I do to get you to not be mad at me?”

“You know I’m no-” she stopped herself as a grin appeared on her face. “Beat me.”

“Beat you? Why would I beat you?” Arthur asked confused. “Are you some kind of a masochist?”

“Not like that. . .” Sophie giggled. “Beat me in a race. Tomorrow morning, we do a rematch. If you win, I’ll forgive you and even take you to F&I for something sweet.”

“And if I lose?”

“You have to. . .” Sophie thought for a minute, there wasn’t much she could name that Arthur didn’t already do. “Pay for my lunch at school for a week and act as my personal servant!”

“That’s a bit extreme,” Arthur commented with a sigh. “However, I shall accept your challenge. Tomorrow, our battle will be legendary!”

Sophie burst into laughter, as Arthur referred to a meme she shared with him two days ago.

“At least you learned how to look at the memes I send you.”

“Yeah, I just wish that more of them were funny.”

“Hey! I got good taste, you just lack the humor.”

The two joked around for a bit before hitting the bed early.

I wish all days were as peaceful.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.