Someone’s not happy.

I can see the doubt and worry clearly written on my girlfriend’s pretty face. It’s so cute, especially that she’s hiding behind our Ggomo, and I want to laugh. I just don’t want her to think that I’m ridiculing her when I just find her really adorable.

“Are you sure about this, Yongsun?”

That’s the third time, probably fourth, I wasn’t really counting, she asked me that question.

“Of course.”

“I don’t know.” She took a deep sigh and finally let go of Ggomo to stand behind me in the vanity mirror. She placed her hand on my shoulders as if seeking comfort herself. “Isn’t it not just a week ago that we revealed our relationship?”

I stopped applying my lipstick midway to face Wheein. “Correction, we proudly announced how we’re totally crazy and deeply in love with each other.”

I successfully got one side of her lips up. It’s a tiny grin but her worries are still there.

I hugged her around her waist and rested my chin on her chest. Now, I’m the one pouting at her.

“Whee… Honey, let’s not hide away. And if they come right at you, I will be with you.”

She sighed deeply and absentmindedly brushed my hair. “I just don’t want you to ruin your career.”

“Who’s ruining it?” I playfully glared at her.

“Yongsun-ah…”

I grabbed her cheeks to bring her face down so I could kiss her. “We were just fine during your exhibit and at my recent shows.”

“I know, but Hyejin’s there for me to monitor the company’s image if we receive backlash. You’re on your own… Your team’s there but… you know…” her voice slowly turned to whispers of uncertainty.

I pinched her cheeks and smiled at her. She looks even cuter with her pout but I don’t like how it is there because of her worries.

“Then I guess my internationally renowned art director girlfriend will just have to give me shows like she boasted before.”

She finally giggled as she leaned down to peck my lips. “I’m not one. Go finish your makeup. I’ll check Ggomo’s feeder before we head out.”

“You ruined my lipstick!” I called after her as she left the bedroom.

“It wasn’t even done yet in the first place!”

I tsked and playfully rolled my eyes like she could still see me.

And that’s a success! I know she still has lingering worries but for now, I’ll settle it as a success. We’ll take things slow.

With my shows and Wheein’s new series launching, our schedules were quite hectic that I could only see her during dinner and when we went to sleep. And sometimes, we couldn’t even have dinner together. And so, as the clingy one between us, I demanded, not just asked or requested, I demanded for us to go on a date on our vacant schedule. This is the only opportunity for us to spend time together. I guess this is the downside in dating an internationally renowned art director.

I laughed to myself at having to tease Wheein that.

Once satisfied, I left our bedroom, bringing with me my bag, to find Wheein waiting for me on the couch with her phone. She looked away from my phone when she heard me coming. I smiled and blinked my eyes a couple of times to appeal to her.

“Am I pretty already?”

“You’re always pretty.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

We said our goodbyes to Ggomo before leaving the apartment. We wished to bring him with us, especially now that he’s very close to his Mommy. Me. His Mommy. But as a precaution, it’s better to let him stay at home first since we didn’t know how people would react seeing me and Wheein together in public after my proud announcement.

“What I said was true though” Wheein said as she offered her arm to me.

I clung to her, as clumsy as I am. “What? Which one?”

“That you’re always pretty” she shyly said.

I laughed so loud that my voice echoed in the elevator. I was blushing. Wheein was too. Although hers was worse than mine after I laughed at her compliment.

At the elevator’s ding, she sighed and urged me to walk. “Come on.”

“Thanks, hun. But you clearly haven’t seen our pictures.”

Her forehead creased as she opened the door for me. “What pictures?”

“Our pictures” I replied as I sat on the passenger seat.

She obviously wasn’t content with my answer enough to lean down to look at me. “Which one?”

“Our pictures online from the paparazzis. I know you don’t look at them” I said with a giggle, adored by the slight pout on her lips. “But I looked so fat beside you who’s effortlessly beautiful—”

“No, I’m not.”

“—and cute with your dimple—”

“Yah…”

“—and hot with your rolled up sleeves and tattoos!”

“Yongsun-ah” she groaned and slammed the door close, making me laugh at her.

It’s really fun to .

“What I said was true though” I said once she was inside the car. “But beyond that, I’m very lucky to have a very caring and loving girlfriend.”

She’s as red as gochujang now.

Which reminds me… we really need to have tteokbokki later.

“I’m lucky to have you too” she said slightly above a whisper.

I hugged her arm and gave her dimple a kiss.

“Stop being so clingy” she mumbled.

“You love me being this clingy.”

True enough, people had started staring at us the moment they spotted us together. They stayed staring when we had our lunch and continued staring, following us on our way out.

I know Wheein is uncomfortable with her history so I offered for us to go back home after we had lunch.

“It’s fine, Yong. You said you wanted to go to that museum right?” she responded.

I frowned at her to show her how displeased I was with her answer. I could see her jaw clenching from time to time and her occasional fidgeting.

She cupped my cheek and smiled at me. “I’m fine.” Then she offered her arm and asked, “Let’s go?”

Reluctantly, I took her arm and walked with her, heading back to her car. Once outside, I held tighter and hugged her arm closer to me.

“I don’t want you to push yourself too hard so if it’s too much, let’s go back home, okay?”

She leaned over to give my cheek a kiss. “Okay.”

The kiss erupted indiscreet gasps and triggered more onlookers, paparazzis or not, to point their cameras towards us. We hurried to Wheein’s car to shield ourselves from all those strangers.

On our way to the museum, I got a call from my manager.

“Words travel really fast.” I showed my phone to Wheein so she could also see who it was.

“Are you in trouble?”

“We’ll see.” I answered the phone and turned the loudspeaker on. “Yes unnie?”

“I saw the pictures. Are you both okay? Do you want us to send security?”

“Is Yongsun in trouble?” Wheein asked.

“I don’t know yet, just that, word got around that you’re on a date.”

“But we’re on a date, unnie” I said, matter of fact. “I also told you about this yesterday.”

“I know. And date is fine. Just call us if you need help with security. I’ll just update you later on. Do continue but please stay safe.”

“Okay!”

“I’m sorry about this, Sujeong.”

“No worries, Wheein. It’s fine. Take care of each other.”

I playfully rolled my eyes as I said goodbye to Sujeong-unnie.

“She’s too shy around you, internationally renowned art director.”

Wheein just laughed and shook her head at my childish response.

At the museum, the curators offered to us seeing that it was me and Wheein but we politely declined saying that we wish to spend time privately together. And I also don’t need a curator. Wheein was there for me to translate in words what were expressed in the artworks.

Thankfully, there’s also less people here in the museum than in the restaurant. We went to an interactive museum. The exhibits aren’t just limited to paintings, but there are sculptures, interactive arts, historic videos, and installations too.

Wheein’s eyes shine every piece she’d looked at. She was also very excited to tell me about the works and how she interpreted them. My usually quiet girlfriend now blabbers a lot and I love it.

She took a lot of pictures of the pieces. I also posed in front of her claiming to be the greatest art that ever existed. It’s cringey and I intended for it to be because it’ll make her happy.

And she was. She giggled a lot and often teased me too.

“Should we grab something to eat?” Wheein asked as we headed our way back to her car.

“Sure. There’s a park nearby. We can rest there after finding something to eat.”

We thanked the curators on our way out. One of them, their manager, asked if we could take pictures together. But just one glance at Wheein already told me that she doesn’t want to but does not know how to say no. It’s clear on the tiny pout she’s making.

“Will it be okay if it’s just with me? Wheein is not comfortable with these kinds of things. I hope you understand” I offered, flashing my bright and dimpled smile so he couldn’t say no.

“Sure! Of course. That’s really okay, mam.”

“Thank you.” I sighed in relief but Wheein obviously relaxed after the manager’s acceptance.

In return for not taking pictures, Wheein agreed to give her signature as proof that she visited the museum. I signed right beside hers. We said our final goodbyes and headed out to our next stop.

What initially was a plan to have a light snack, detoured when I saw the rows of claw machines outside an arcade.

I ran ahead of Wheein towards the claw machines. “Want to make a bet, hun?”

“Okay.” With a laugh, she answered without question.

While staring at all the plushies inside, I felt her stand behind me with her warmth close as she leaned so near.

“I’ll get one with just one try.”

The low giggle she gave indicates that she finds this ridiculous but she’s still humoring with me.

“And what will I get if you don’t?”

“If I get it in one try, you will have to grant me a wish.”

She looked at me incredulously, the little pout now turned into a slight frown. “I already promised to provide you everything. Is there anything that you aren’t satisfied with?”

She’s sulking. The tiny fists are out and I believe in her head, she’s already running through her head what she has done, what she could do, and what reactions I gave her since we got together.

I stepped closer and rubbed my thumb on her forehead as if I’m rubbing off all of her worries.

“It’s just a game, Whee. Let’s just play without worries.”

She grabbed my hand to kiss my knuckles. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Then that means you also have to grant me a wish if you didn’t get