"Yes… Alright, dear, I understand… Yes, I know, don't worry… Yes, I will be careful… I will take care of myself, you don't need to worry…Yes– Alright, enough! Focus on taking care of yourself. And Alex too. Look after him. Don't let him do anything reckless, and come back soon. Yes… I love you too. I will be good, don't worry. Bye~ Kiss~"
With that last show of long-distance affection, Ga-yeong, with a smile, and a helpless shake of the head, ended the call.
*Beep*
Still, the helplessness on her face could not hide the sweetness at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were awash with gentle affection which she let herself immerse in for a while, before putting her phone on the small table beside the sofa. She looked ready to resume what she had been doing, as she turned to the vacuum cleaner in her other hand, and was about to turn it on again.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Ga-yeong paused, hesitated for a moment, then put the vacuum cleaner down, and walked to the door. She took a peek through the peephole, and a trace of surprise flashed through her deep brown eyes. She took a step back with one hand protecting her stomach, opened the door, and asked curiously, her eyebrows raised high:
"Kim. What are you doing here?"
Outside stood a girl, a young woman with short dark hair above average in appearance, but with a hint of gender neutrality to her beauty, or rather, to her fashion style. With dark shorts and dark boots below, she was wearing a dark jacket on top, and it was left open on the fashionably ripped t-shirt she had underneath.
She was not tall, but was above average in height, slim, and with a modest figure. She carried herself with a temperament that showed no desire to fit in with society's conventions, her face devoid of any makeup, looking almost rebellious, but not quite so, more like with her own ideas, and very strong-minded, though some might instead say that she looked headstrong.
Carrying the bags in her hands, she looked at Ga-yeong with her dark eyes, from head to toe, taking in the casual updo on the head of brown hair, the wide and comfortable dress gathered in a knot at the bottom for practicality which made her eyes narrow, before they finally rested on the stomach a hand was protectively caressing.
After a moment, Kim looked up, and casually asked:
"Unnie, won't you invite me in?"
Ga-yeong looked at the younger woman, and, as if she understood something, a smile with an even stronger flavor of helplessness than earlier came to her lips. Still, she moved to the side to let her fellow countrywoman into the apartment.
As she closed the door, her smile became natural again, and she asked, as she walked behind Kim:
"Did Mark ask you to come see how I am doing? I just finished a half an hour call with him, and if I didn't cut it off, I might have spent more than an hour hearing his exhortations."
Kim's eyes moved around the apartment casually, but also like a tax inspector looking for traces of tax evasion, as she walked to the kitchen, and she replied dryly:
"I was not sent by Mark. It is Alex who sent me. He called me not long ago saying that he went out of the city with Mark and they will not come back today. He said that Mark is a softy who will not be able to get you to behave, so I should come to take care of you, and also keep an eye on you."
Ga-yeong's lips twitched, her smile struggling on her lips, torn between turning helpless and becoming amused. It was really something Alex would say and do, and as he said, she had indeed not been behaving.
Kim didn't turn to look back to see the guilty look. As she arrived in the kitchen, she put the grocery bags down, and continued speaking as she nodded toward the turned off vacuum cleaner quietly leaning at the side:
"And Alex was right. Didn't the housekeeper come today? Why are you vacuuming again? Didn't Mark instruct you to rest?"
Across from Kim, Ga-yeong turned to look at the damning evidence, the complicated emotions in her smile becoming more pronounced for a moment, before she hid them and justified herself with an innocent look on her face:
"I am pregnant and I can't even work. What else can I do when I'm bored?"
Kim paused, looked squarely at her, and flatly proposed:
"You could read a book, follow courses online, watch instructive videos or even entertainment ones. There are many things you could do without having to move around. Do you believe that Alex will have you hospitalized for the rest of your pregnancy if one day you go too far? Mark might not dare, but we both know that Alex would. And not even your husband will be able to protect you."
Ga-yeong pouted:
"I'm just pregnant, not fragile like a piece of glass."
Seeing Ga-yeong turn her head away, for the first time since arriving, Kim stopped keeping a straight face and smiled. While putting some of the groceries she had taken out away, she shook her head and placated:
"Unnie, you know that everything is for your own good. There are not many people Alex treats so well. He is just worried about you and the baby."
Ga-yeong smiled wryly, but said nothing. After a while, she nodded, and promised:
"Alright, I will take your advice."
"Good."
Kim nodded with a wider smile, and started to wash the vegetables she had picked out.
"Since you have promised, I will cook something from home for you. I bet it will be more authentic than what your husband can make."
Ga-yeong raised her eyebrows, and looked at Kim with amusement.
"He grew up here, but how old were you when you came here with your parents?"
The blow made the spirited younger woman freeze. She glared at the big-bellied woman across, then retorted with a snort:
"Will you eat or not?"
"I will eat. Of course, I will eat. But for the sake of my son, I will stay here to guide you."
"Humph! So long as you don't step into the kitchen."
"Don't worry, I will let you do all the work. That way, you will be able to let Tyler try your cooking even when I'm not there to guide you. I'm sure he will be very happy."
"Ga-yeong Seong!!"
The teasing smile Kim raised her head to find disarmed her anger born out of embarrassment, and she could only lower her head again, this time with an uncharacteristically feminine blush on her face.