-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Study Abroad
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A little time had passed.
Not much had changed.
She was still sweetly in love with Jun-woo, and their secret relationship was proceeding without any major hitches.
The only slightly special thing was that she had passed all the preliminaries of the contest.
With only the finals left and four contestants remaining, that was it.
A-jin hoped she would at least place third.
The third-place prize was ten million won and a one-month internship.
She couldn't even dream of first or second place, nor did she want them.
The reason was...
A-jin had been wrestling with her computer all morning.
No ideas were coming to her about what ingredients to use or what to bake.
She had been agonizing since last night because nothing particularly novel or innovative was coming to mind.
At that moment, Jun-woo called.
He said he was in front of her house.
But was it her imagination? His voice didn't sound good.
She changed out of her pajama bottoms and went out to the front of the house.
He was standing with his back against the main entrance door.
"Jun-woo."
At her call, he turned his head.
His face looked unwell.
"Is something wrong?"
It had been quite a while since his expression had been so stiff even after seeing her face.
Was something really wrong?
"What's up? What's the matter?"
He hesitated.
His eyes were shaking like those of someone who had experienced something unbelievable.
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"About the contest prizes."
"Yeah. So what?"
Three weeks had passed since the contest started.
A-jin tilted her head at the sudden question.
"Did you know that first place gets to go study abroad?"
"Yeah. It's in the pamphlet."
He seemed to not have known about the grand prize.
"I didn't see that part."
"Oh, you must have seen an early draft. It's on the website."
His brow furrowed deeply.
"So..."
It was as if he had only now checked the Rolling Bread website.
The posters at the venue only listed the cash prizes, so he hadn't known about the additional prizes that followed.
Only after going to the website did he learn that first and second place got opportunities to study abroad.
"Is that why you came?"
At her question, he furrowed his brow even more.
"Why I came? Do you know how shocked I was?"
"Shocked? Why?"
What was he shocked about?
She looked at him with worried eyes.
At her obliviousness, he let out a sigh.
"How could I not be shocked when you might go study abroad?"
He had completely misunderstood.
A-jin let out a small chuckle, thinking he was overestimating her.
"I thought it was something serious. Don't worry. How could I get first place? Second is out of the question too. Do you know what kind of people are left in the finals? There are people super famous on YouTube, even ones who've been in the news. I'd be thrilled with just third."
"You never know what might happen."
"I know. But that's never gonna happen, so don't worry for nothing..."
"What if it does? What if you get first? Would you go study abroad then?"
She paused at his question.
It was something she hadn't even considered because she saw no chance of it happening, but she couldn't flatly say she had no desire for it either.
"Well..."
"So you would go."
Disappointment filled his eyes.
He even looked sad already, as if she were already far away.
A-jin grabbed both of his hands.
"I couldn't answer right away because I haven't even thought about it. I haven't even considered going abroad."
"Your words don't reassure me."
"I'll stick to third place at most."
"It's not up to you."
A-jin fell silent for a moment.
She could understand his reaction, but at the same time, she felt a bit hurt.
Study abroad would definitely be a great opportunity for her.
He was smart and came from a good family, so such chances would come to him anytime.
But for her, it might be an opportunity she could never dream of if not for this.
She didn't covet the win, but she couldn't give a firm answer.
"Could you live without me?"
A-jin shook her head.
But study abroad was a separate issue.
Trying to change the mood, A-jin flashed a cute smile.
"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? Who's giving me first place? When the contest ends, we'll regret worrying over nothing."
"I don't care if I regret it. I'm just anxious right now. Afraid you might leave. I want you to do well too. Win and build a great resume. But I hate the study abroad part."
"I'll think about it."
"Why even think? You can study plenty in Korea."
He pulled his hand away from hers and grabbed her hand again.
"It's not a place just anyone can go."
"So you've already been thinking about studying abroad?"
A-jin shook her head, denying it.
She didn't want to give him the wrong idea.
"No. I haven't even aimed for the win. But if, just if by some miracle I do win, I think I'd have to consider it. I want to say no definitively, but I also want to think it over a bit."
"A-jin. I like you a lot."
"I know. I like you a lot too."
He let out a heavy, stifled breath and ran his hooked hand through his hair.
"Why would Mom send you to something like that?"
The arrow of resentment pointed at Hee-jin.
"The results aren't out yet. Can't you cheer for me?"
A-jin tried to meet his eyes and cheer him up even a little.
But his mood didn't improve easily.
He hadn't heard a single answer he wanted, leaving him only frustrated.
"Sorry. I can't cheer."
Jun-woo let go of her hand with a flick.
* * *
The front door slammed shut with a bang.
Hee-jin, in the living room, looked at him curiously since he had just left to meet A-jin and was back so soon.
"Aren't you going to meet A-jin?"
"......"
He didn't answer Hee-jin's question.
His resentment was directed at Hee-jin.
She had indeed created a good opportunity for A-jin.
Some might call him petty or immature.
Like A-jin thought, winning might just be his unfounded worry.
But he couldn't shake off the inexplicable anxiety.
His damn intuition was pretty accurate, and it was tilting toward her winning.
It might be selfish, but he really hated being apart from her.
He strode past the living room into his room.
He tossed his phone on the bed and turned on the computer.
He played last week's soccer highlights on YouTube.
He cranked the speaker volume so high it reverberated through the room and even out into the upstairs hallway.
He wanted to soothe his heart with the cheers, at least.
A short while later, there was a knock on his door.
He knew who it was and didn't bother answering.
He knew the door would open anyway.
Sure enough, Hee-jin peeked her head through the slightly open door.
"Son, can I come in for a bit?"
He didn't want to answer.
His opinion didn't matter anyway.
Neither her entering his room nor entering A-jin in a contest with study abroad as the prize.
Jun-woo sank deep into the tall back of his chair.
Hee-jin approached and sat on his bed.
"Is something wrong?"
"......"
His gaze was fixed solely on the monitor.
His eyebrows were raised high in anger, focused on the small video on the screen.
No, he wasn't really focusing.
He didn't even know what he was looking at.
He might have been staring only at the red banner above the video.
Hee-jin asked worriedly.
"Did you fight with A-jin?"
"......"
He didn't respond to anything Hee-jin said.
Her voice took on a slight sternness.
"Son, I don't know why you're mad, but ignoring everything I say is pretty rude."
She didn't seem to think the reason he was mad was because of her.
Jun-woo clicked the X on the browser and turned off the monitor.
Then he spun the chair around to face Hee-jin.
"Do you know what the first-place prize in the contest is?"
Hee-jin tilted her head, finding the sudden prize talk out of place.
"Yeah. Thirty million won and a study abroad in France... Wait..."
Only then did Hee-jin seem to understand why Jun-woo was mad.
"You knew."
His voice toward Hee-jin was more cynical than ever.
"You're mad because A-jin might go study abroad?"
"......"
His uneasy eyes answered for him.
"So you're resenting me for it?"
She was quick on the uptake, as expected.
He nodded.
Hee-jin leaned forward with a sorry expression.
"For starters, I'm sorry for upsetting you. At first, I just entered her because her skills were too good to waste. I learned about the prizes later, and I didn't think she'd win, but like you're feeling now, somehow I have a hunch she might cause a stir."
Hee-jin's words offered no comfort at all.
If anything, her premonition made him more anxious.
His brow furrowed, and his head drooped lower.
"I'm upset about A-jin going to France too. It might be silly to act like this over something that hasn't happened, but why wouldn't I have thought about it? But son..."
"You'll get over it quickly. It's not a short-term thing. It's going to a baking school. I don't want her to win. I want her to quit even now. If you're worried about the prize money, I can work part-time and cover it."
"You like A-jin that much?"
"Right now, yes. I'd give her everything I have without regret."
A faint smile crept onto Hee-jin's lips.
But he wasn't in a laughing mood and scowled more.
"You're just like your dad."
"Huh?"
"I thought our son was so cold he could never fall in love."
The word "love" felt heavy and unfamiliar to him.
He shook his head needlessly.
"The results aren't out yet. A-jin said she wants third. She wants to do the internship."
"She could win. She didn't say she wouldn't go."
"So A-jin wants to go too."
"Yeah."
"Because it's a good opportunity."
"I know. I know, but... I just hate it."
Hee-jin took a deep breath to buy time to think.
Soon, having finished thinking, she slowly opened her mouth.
"A-jin's grades aren't that great, right? You'll have plenty of opportunities. Good grades mean lots of schools you can go to, and once you're out in society, lots of choices. Honestly, our family could send you abroad easily. But it might be tough for A-jin. Getting into the college she wants, doing the job she wants—those paths are rough and full of limits. A-jin said she wants to work part-time before college to help with tuition. Study abroad might be something she never even had on her radar. But now a great chance like this comes along—how could she not want to grab it?"
"I'll tutor her in studies. It's not too late to start now."
"Jun-woo."
"Even if she goes, I wish she'd go a bit later. When our relationship is solid enough that distance doesn't make me anxious."
"Will that time come?"
"Probably not. Or at least after we've built enough trust that long separations don't shake us."
"You don't trust A-jin?"
"I do, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious."
"The results aren't out yet. Worst case, she could place fourth, get nothing, and drop out."
"That wouldn't be bad either."
Trying to lighten the mood, Hee-jin grinned.
"Now I'm starting to feel jealous. I thought I was the only woman my son loves. If I went abroad, would you hold onto me like this too?"
"Dad would."
Hee-jin pouted with a "look at this guy" expression.
"You wouldn't?"
He knew she was trying to change the mood.
He knew she was trying to cheer him up, even if playfully.
But this time, he couldn't brush it off like a trivial matter.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes. I want to be alone."
Countless thoughts filled his head.
They tangled complexly, seeming like all sorts of worries, but his concern was singular.
A-jin's study abroad. That was it.
