Season 1_Jang Ma-eum, an orphan with a family of 13

#41_Jang Ma-eum, an orphan with a family of 13

“It’s a book cafe!”

“Let’s go in.”

Instead of uncrossing his arms, he kept his hand. Anticipating a large crowd, he took his hat and mask out of his bag.
The umbrella, momentarily distracted, shook off all the moisture and placed it in the umbrella stand. I was going to do that…

“You don’t like books, do you, Oppa?”

“Do you think you’ll like it?”

“Haha, I knew it.

As long as you don't make any noise, everything will be fine.

“Do whatever you want, oppa.”

“Yeah, I guess I should do some rap making.”

Her small hand grabbed my wrist. I should have felt bad, but I didn't feel bad at all. In fact, she seemed happy, and that made me happy too. I guess I was pretty crazy about her, too.
The place she led me to was a library, a quiet, orange-tinged room filled with the sound of books turning. Of course, it was a book cafe, so there was a cafe inside.

“Ropaaaaan…!”

The moment I entered, I was immediately struck by the 813.7's stack of romance novels. Both bookshelves were filled with them. It seemed like even though they were reading high-quality books, they still enjoyed romance novels.

"Would you like to go and sit down? I'll buy you something to drink."

“Oh, can you buy me a cake too?”

He chuckles at her question and pats her head, indicating his approval.

Red Velvet Cake

"Okay. Go and wait."

"huh!"

I pulled a few romance novels from the bookshelf. The title was "Flower with a Sword." I suspected it would be a story about a female knight. I figured I'd share her heart, overflowing with girlishness. I watched her walk briskly to her desk, then headed to a cafe.

“Please give me a hot chocolate latte and a hot Americano.

And red velvet cake too.”

“Yes, it’s 13,500 won.”

I take out my card and pay. After a short wait, two warm drinks and a pretty piece of red cake are served.

“Brother…!”

Perhaps because it was a book cafe, her voice was quieter than usual. I approached her and handed her a chocolate latte.

“Uh… I only asked you to do something in front of me once.

“You know my taste right away.”

“I watched with interest”

"Oh... Are you born with the ability to excite women? I was a little excited."

The words "thrilled" filled me with excitement. You weren't completely dismissive of me as a man. That alone was enough. That was the promise I'd made to myself. I wouldn't cling to you, so please, just let me be a little excited. I stroked her head.

“I thought he was a total tsundere, but he wasn’t.

“There was a tender part to it.”

My hand was removed, but she was fiddling with the part where my hand had touched.

“What… Oppa, why are you wet again? You used an umbrella!”

“Hmm… I see.”

“Surely… Are you saying that because you want me to hold an extra umbrella?”

“I see. It wasn’t a conscious act, absolutely not!”

She smiles even prettier on her pretty face when she sees me funny.

“Thank you, oppa. You’re more affectionate than I thought, my oppa.”

“I can’t be like Jeonghan or Shua, absolutely not…”

“You’ve become much more affectionate than before.”

But I'm still mischievous. I'm hiding my feelings because I want to stay by your side, even as a friend.

“Did you do that because you wanted me to adapt to this house quickly?

That's how I felt"

“…You’re amazing. The more people you’re comfortable with, the easier it is to adapt. That’s why I did it… I wished you’d never know.”

She smiled faintly and fiddled with the glass of chocolate latte.

“I was thinking of pretending not to know until the end,

I just decided to say, thank you so much.

Thanks to that, I was able to adapt really well.

“It’s all thanks to you, oppa.”

“Thank goodness you adapted well.

But let's stop talking about this. It's too embarrassing…

She smiles and says, "Yes." Then, to lighten the mood, she drinks a chocolate latte.

“It’s a total baby’s taste, Jang Ma-eum.”

“What’s wrong with the baby’s appetite…!”

“Because it’s cute.”

“It’s not cute…

I’m the type of person who hears Wonwoo oppa call me “noona”…

“Oh, really?”

Even the reaction of saying it wasn't cute was cute. It was enough to make me want to give it a nickname like "baby." Of course, if I called it that, the members, including Ma-eum, would kill me.

“Ugh, why is this guy suddenly like this?”

He made a terrified expression, but soon returned to a smiling expression, and that kind of reaction was cute.

“Oh, really. I can’t live because of that kid.”

“I’m not a kid…! I’m only two years younger than my brother,

“And your height is average?”

Of course, even that was small because I was stuck between male friends. Especially since my friend Han Seung-woo easily exceeded 180 cm, he couldn't help but look small in comparison.

“You’re much smaller than me.”

“I don’t know…”

Her reaction was so cute that I wanted to tease her a little more, but I felt like I'd see her get really angry if I did. And I didn't want to see her get angry. Besides, there was a pretty good pile of romance novels in front of her, so I figured it would be better to just let her read.
As I took my phone out of my pocket, my mind naturally turned to the book. And, without even realizing it, I couldn't take my eyes off her. The way she focused intently on the book, the way she turned the pages, the way she tousled her hair that slightly poked her eyes—I didn't want to miss a single thing.
Then, when I met her eyes as she closed her book and looked forward to tie her hair, it felt awkward.

“Were you looking at me? Because I’m pretty?”

His eyes sparkle and he speaks playfully.

“Yeah, because it’s pretty.”

But I'm not playful at all. It's true that she's pretty.

“Huh… I got excited again.

In times like this, you can just answer as a joke…

“But if you’re sincere, you’ll be thrilled.”

Since when did I become so direct? When I was dating, I was the type to wait, wait, and wait some more. But it seems I'm changing because of you.

“Yeah… it’s long.”

I barely managed to hide my flushed face, tied my hair back up, and returned to my book. "This might be a bit burdensome, so I'll have to stop looking at you here. I think this will probably be a test of my patience."