Aunty Nica let out a delighted scream as she struggled with the door, trying to open it faster.
I turned to her husband for help.
He just smiled at me.
Does this look like a smiling situation to you?!
Taking a deep breath, I finally decided to stand my ground and tell her the truth—
But at that exact moment…
Minho stepped out.
"Ahhh—wait, wait!"
My head snapped toward him.
He was wearing a nose mask, so his face wasn't fully visible… but still—he was a man walking out of my room.
No matter how I explained this, there was no way it would end well for me.
My death is imminent.
Please remember how beautiful I was.
Aunty Nica slowly turned to look at me.
So did her husband.
I could've lied—said he was my younger brother or a relative. But Aunty Nica knew too much about me. That wouldn't work.
I definitely didn't want a repeat of what happened with Uncle.
"Aunty… I can explain," I said carefully.
She stared at me for a second.
Then—
She smiled.
"So, Soheon… is this the boyfriend you told me about?"
My eyes widened.
What boyfriend?!
"Wow, good job!" she continued excitedly. "He's so handsome. No wonder you never bring him around. If it were me, I'd hide him too."
"Aunty! He's wearing a mask—how can you even tell he's handsome?!"
"From his eyes, of course," she said proudly. "Such beautiful eyes. He's tall too… and he looks like one of those Korean idols."
Wow… Aunty got it completely right.
No—focus!
I need to dissuade her.
He doesn't look like a K-idol…
He is a K-idol.
Right. Dissuade her.
"Come on, Aunty, he doesn't—" I stopped midway and quickly changed direction. "See? It's not Yuna. So you can go now… I mean—go eat lunch."
I gave her a bright, slightly strained smile.
"So that's why you didn't want to have lunch with me," she said, narrowing her eyes playfully. "I thought you didn't like me anymore."
"No, Aunty—how could I?" I said quickly. "You're like a mother to me."
I shot Minho a glare.
He's the reason I'm explaining nonsense like this.
I took her hand gently, trying to reassure her.
For a moment… I thought it was working.
Then she spoke again.
"But what was he doing in your room?" she asked, pointing toward it. "Shouldn't he be sitting here?"
"Um… um…"
What am I supposed to say?!
Before I could come up with anything—
She beat me to it.
"Did you two—" she gestured between us, giving that look.
My eyes widened instantly.
I turned to Minho, praying he wouldn't understand what she meant—
But of course, he did.
He raised an eyebrow and looked straight at me.
I glared back.
I'm not the one saying nonsense—it's her! Look at her, not me!
"No wonder you didn't notice when the pan caught fire," Aunty added knowingly.
"But don't you think it's too early to… you know?"
"AHHH!" I finally screamed.
She jumped slightly. "What's wrong, dear?"
What's wrong?! I've never been this embarrassed in my entire life!
I opened my mouth to speak—
But a calm voice beat me to it.
"Aunty, I'm sorry. It was my fault," Minho said smoothly. "I distracted Soheon and almost caused the kitchen to catch fire."
My thoughts paused.
Wow… his voice is amazing.
"Soheon," Aunty said with a wide grin, "you've hit the jackpot."
Indeed I have—a five million jackpot, I thought.
Actually… with everything I've done for him, it should be six million now.
Wait.
What did he just say? He distracted who?!
I almost screamed again, but he continued before I could react.
"I'm always busy, so I don't get enough time to spend with her," he added calmly. "Now that I'm here, I just want to have lunch with her. I hope you don't mind."
"No, no, we don't mind," her husband said quickly, already pulling Aunty Nica away.
"We don't, we don't," she echoed, still smiling as she followed him out.