Chapter LXXVIII – Meeting Ae-Cha

Driving their way into town, Sophie hardly had the chance to find more than one or two songs to play on the radio before they arrived. It was her first time riding along in Amelia’s car, but thanks to Irene and Arthur wanting to sit together, she got to ride shotgun.

Arthur noticed how vastly different the small rural town was compared to the glamorous city of Seoul, but he could hardly say that he found it less appealing since it wasn’t as polluted nor densely populated. The people walking around seemed happier and friendlier thanks to the familiarity that comes with a smaller place like that. Not much different from what he noticed back in his old world when comparing towns to cities.

They had no trouble finding a parking spot and their first stop was at a grocery store where they wanted to buy food that would last them for a few days so they wouldn’t have to drive to town more than twice a week. The store they entered was on the smaller end when compared to the large shops back home, but it had more than enough for them to plunder. The sorting was a bit chaotic as things got commonly displaced, but with effort, they managed.

“We should buy stuff for a cake,” Sophie said while looking at different types of creams.

“You wanna bake a cake?” Arthur looked at her surprised. “Hmm. . . With Iseul around it does sound appealing. . .”

“Not just that. . . It’s Max’s birthday soon,” she explained, something that completely slipped Arthur’s mind.

“Oh? Is he turning seventeen?” Amelia asked, pushing a cart nearly full to the brim.

“Yeah, on the 17th of July which is just around the corner,” Sophie proudly said.

“How nice of you to remember,” Irene teased, coming up from behind. “Did you plan to make it yourself?”

“Whaaa?” she smiled awkwardly. “Why would I do that when Iseul is so much better at it?”

“You should help her,” she whispered, leaning up to her ear. “I’m certain he’d like that.”

Sophie tried her best not to blush, denying anything that Irene might’ve implied. Arthur meanwhile kept looking at birthday candles, not paying attention to whatever they were doing.

“Anyone knows what flavor he likes?” Amelia asked.

Irene glanced toward Sophie, assuming she knew the answer. However, seeing her hesitant to say anything, she let out a sigh.

“Iseul mentioned he liked it fruity, so we can just buy a bunch and let her work her magic,” Irene pointed out, glancing at the fruit crates.

“Wait, you asked her?” Sophie looked confused.

“Duh, I knew his birthday was coming up,” she turned her phone on and showed her the calendar. “I keep all the important dates saved up just in case.”

“Mine too?” she looked in awe.

“Of course. . . What kind of a silly question is that?” she chuckled, flipping it over to February 2nd. “Look! It even has hearts on it.”

“Woah!” she smiled winsomely as if she were suddenly five years old, making the girls giggle.

“You okay there?” Amelia asked Art who kept quiet the entire time.

“No. . . I hate making decisions like this,” he sighed out of frustration, not hearing a single word they said thus far, still staring at the candles.

The girls couldn’t help but laugh sweetly at his indecisiveness, Sophie going as far as facepalming.

“Should we buy him a gift?” Amelia asked.

“What did Iseul say?” Sophie squinted her eyes, looking at Irene who teased her prior for knowing Max’s birthday.

“Nothing. . . We haven’t talked about it yet,” she chuckled, thinking how silly and cute Sophie was being. “Besides, we’ll make another trip to town by then, so we might as well ask the others when we get the chance.”

“I’ll distract him if you want,” Arthur offered, feeling useless when it comes to such things.

“You don’t want to be involved?” Sophie looked surprised.

“Have you not just seen me picking candles?” Arthur joked at his expense, making the girls laugh again.

“You’re not that bad,” Irene kept chuckling, kissing him on the cheek while tightly hugging his arm.

Even though it wasn’t on the lips, Sophie blushed and averted her gaze smilingly, not used to them being together yet.

“Oh god. . . Sophie, you must ride with us back to Seoul. I can’t be trapped alone with these lovebirds,” Amelia dreaded jokingly while happy for her sister.

“Next year I’ll be driving you around!” Irene stuck her tongue out.

“You’re getting a driver’s license?” Arthur asked.

“Yup! I would’ve already gotten it had I stayed in the UK.”

“I wanna drive one day too. . .” Sophie sighed, knowing they don’t even own a car.

“Want me to teach you while we’re here?” Amelia leaned on her shoulder.

“Can you?” Sophie looked up at her, raising her eyebrow in suspense.

“Sure,” Amelia answered. “There’s lots of open space around the beach house and hardly any traffic. We’ll start slow, but you’ll get the hang of it. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll know how to drive in the streets. . . For that, you’ll need proper lessons.”

“Thanks!” Sophie jumped her, hugging her tightly.

“Alright, let’s pick up what we came for and head out. We told Balam we’d be there soon,” Irene tried being responsible, but her attention got stolen away seconds later when she saw temporary tattoo’s laid out on the shelf.

“You ever thought about getting a tattoo?” Arthur asked as he looked at the gibberish symbols and flowers that were available.

“Once or twice, but it’s not something I’d do I think,” she explained before Arthur cut her off by throwing the tattoos in the cart.

“Let’s have some fun with these. They’re only temporary anyway. . .” he smiled, imagining sticking one on someone’s face.

Eventually, they made their way out of the store and got back to the car, ready to go to Balam’s house for a quick visit.

* * *

Arthur didn’t know much about the woman they were about to visit other than the fact that she often took care of the sisters when their parents left them alone at the beach house. When asked about her, Irene said that she was strict but kindhearted and that struggled to say no to her when she would make silly requests, especially when she was younger. She had rules they had to follow and as long as they did, they wouldn’t get into trouble. Irene was the more troublesome of the two, commonly breaking rules even back home. The more he got to know Irene the more he realized she was the rebellious one, not that she denied it at any point.

When they arrived, Arthur noticed that the house looked small and cozy, boasting a huge backyard with a black dog running around. He was quietly wagging his tail from excitement. If they stood side by side, he would reach roughly around Arthur’s knee.

“You two good with dogs?” Amelia asked.

“You kidding? I love them. . .” Sophie’s eyes sparkled, leaving Arthur wondering who would be wagging their tail more if she had one.

“Art?” Irene asked, but assumed he’d be okay knowing his secret.

“Yup, I’m cool,” he said, unable to tell them that he petted a lot wilder animals than a dog.

It left him wondering what the craziest animal he got to be next to was, and only one came to mind that stood out from the rest. Definitely, the horse-sized black cat with a two-meter-long barbed tongue that it used to lash out toward its prey, pulling it closer only to be cut down by the twin spear-like tails that were both highly flexible and boasted a frightening range of up to three meters. Its biting strength rivaled even a wyvern, a smaller Dragonoid that was often used as a flying mount. Some said that its claws could rip through metal, but Arthur never got to see it personally.

Being familiar enough with the family and the dog, Irene opened the front gate and entered the yard. Everyone followed behind her as the dog fell at Irene’s feet, begging to be scratched. The girls couldn’t resist the opportunity and surrounded it while Arthur closed the gate and leaned against the fence.

The front door opened as a little girl, no older than five, came running out of the house. She had short black hair that barely reached her shoulders and wore a yellow summer dress. Her innocent smile was dazzling as she screamed joyfully.

“Ae-Cha!” Irene yelled out, letting the other two pet the dog while she picked up the girl and spun her around. “How have you been? You’ve grown up so much!”

“Unnies!” she yelled out excitedly, laughing the entire time even after Irene set her down.

The attention was averted from the dog, as Amelia got up to hug Ae-Cha.

“You’re growing up to be such a fine young lady,” Amelia said, taking a chocolate bar out of her pocket that she secretly hid from the others.

“Bribing her, really?” Irene teased.

“You jealous?” Amelia teased.

The dog got up and approached Arthur, nudging him with his snout which got him to lean over and pet him on the head. He was clearly young and energetic. Not to mention that he looked like he was smiling the entire time.

“Come meet Sophie,” Irene grabbed her hand.

“Hi Ae-Cha, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sophie crouched down to meet her eye to eye. “Had I known you liked sweets I would’ve bought you something as well. I’ll make sure to do so next time I come by.”

“Name is Ae-Cha. . . Are you my new Unnie?” she shyly lowered her shoulders, chin pressed to her chest, and put one leg behind the other while twisting from left to right.

Sophie pressed her lips together tightly as her eyes glinted.

“That’s right,” Irene mentioned. “She is and that means you should treat her just like us.”

“Okay!” she smiled, still twisting from left to right.

“Art, come here,” Irene called out to him, seeing as he’s busy petting the dog.

“Sorry pal, can’t say no to her. . .” he smiled, tapping his head gently before walking over. “Hi there,” he waved, lowering his voice to sound gentler.

“This is Sophie’s Oppa, Arthur.”

“Woah. . . You have an Oppa?” Ae-Cha looked at Sophie, before shyly moving behind Irene. “He’s big, just like Papa.”

“He’s also my boyfriend,” Irene whispered.

Ae-Cha just averted her gaze, smiling and hiding, making everyone chuckle.

“Can we go inside?” Amelia asked kindly.

“Yes! Mommy is cooking right now,” she let go of Irene and grabbed Amelia instead, dragging her toward the house.

“She’s so adorable. . .” Sophie said before everyone followed along.

Entering the house, everyone took their shoes off in the hallway before walking toward the dining room. The place was covered in paintings and souvenirs from all over the world as Balam and her husband clearly loved to travel.

“Mommy! They’re here and they brought another Unnie and Oppa,” she yelled, running to the kitchen.

Coming out with Ae-Cha moments later was Balam who wore an apron.

“Really now?” she asked smilingly before looking up to see the rest. “It’s good to see you girls.”

She let go of Ae-Cha’s hand and lovingly embraced Amelia and Irene.

“It’s good to be back. How’ve you been?” Amelia asked smilingly.

“Here and there. You know how it is. . .” she chuckled before turning to Sophie and Arthur. “You must be their friends. I apologize for not properly introducing myself last time, I wanted to give you kids some space. When I was younger, I hated having adults around! Especially during the summer. . .”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sophie bowed respectfully.

Arthur followed along but he still couldn’t get used to it. Whenever he met new people, he often forgot to do so and would either go for a handshake straight away or would just glance over them. Some cultural changes since he reincarnated were hard to remember in the spur of the moment.

“Actually, Arthur is my boyfriend and that’s his younger sister Sophie.”

“Oh, he sure is handsome. I do hope he takes good care of you. . .” she smiled, but there was something nerve-wracking about the way she said that.

“He does,” Irene smiled, proud to be able to call him her boyfriend.

“Well, come on in and make yourselves at home. I was in the middle of making us some delicious godeungeo gui. It should be done in a few minutes tops.”

“You didn’t have to cook for us,” Amelia said. “We were only passing by. . .”

“Nonsense. . . I can’t send you off before feeding you. What kind of a household do you take this for?” she chuckled. “Now just sit tight and I’ll be right back. You can show them the photo album. Ae-Cha can bring it to you.”

And just like that, she returned to the kitchen. They sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the food to get ready. It was definitely not something they expected when they came here, but they didn’t want to just pack up and leave either.

Ae-Cha brought the album over and they spent time looking at some childhood photos. It was cute seeing his girlfriend growing up, noticing that each year she tried rocking a new haircut. Not that he was against different styles, but he was glad that she kept her golden hair long as it suited her perfectly.

“You were so cute. . .” Arthur smiled, looking at a photo of her with a turtle on her head.

“Are you saying I ain’t anymore?” she teased.

Sophie and Amelia were busy spending time with Ae-Cha while Irene and Arthur snuggled together.

“You know that’s not what I meant. . .” he looked her in the eyes. “It’s so peaceful.”

“It is. . .” she lowered her voice, realizing that he might feel bad because he never had a chance to experience such a life.

Even though he told her the truth about him, she still struggled to look at him as anything more than just the Arthur she knew thus far. While it certainly added to him, she didn’t obsess in any way over his past self.

“Don’t,” Arthur whispered, booping her nose. “I couldn’t be happier.”

She wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, looking at the pictures before her.

“Nothing’s changed, right? You don’t mind me treating you all the same?” she whispered back.

“That’s what I’m hoping for. . .” he pressed his lips against her head, kissing her quietly.

“I’m glad,” she smiled, running her fingers down his forearm before holding his hand.

Eventually, the food was ready and everyone sat around enjoying the delicious meal. Arthur felt honored to be constantly surrounded by people who were good at cooking. It was either that or his standards were way too low, coming from another world.

After they finished eating, they talked for a bit and got to know Balam a bit better. Her husband worked as a house designer and was the one responsible for both the beach house and the home they currently lived in. He was currently on a business trip to Busan, working on a prestigious project at a renowned hotel.

They shared stories about their visits in the past and some of the silly things they did. The more intriguing stories involved Amelia being star-struck as a teenager around college boys that came to vacation the same as they were now. That’s when Arthur learned that there were probably loads more beach houses along the coast and some of them probably had students just like them. There were also a few bars that people their age often visited in town which Irene insisted they should visit at least once.

When it finally came time to leave, Ae-Cha hugged Sophie without hesitation, but the best Arthur got was a high five. It was a fun experience and the first time Arthur got to meet someone from Irene’s life that wasn’t her sister while being introduced as her boyfriend. It made him wonder how meeting her parents was going to go, but that was a bridge he wasn’t ready to cross just yet.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.