TKFT 22

Chapter 22

“Yes, that sounds good. Then I’ll let Dad know we’re going together.”
Jian replied with a bright smile.

Because it felt like she would be able to create new memories with Yugeon.
Because she could make songpyeon with the two men she loved.
Jian was excited.

As planned, the next evening after dinner, Jian and Yugeon visited Pilbeom’s house.

“Dad! We’re here!”
“Good evening, Father-in-law.”

The two greeted Pilbeom, who had come out to the entrance.

“Right. Come in. …So, you came too.”

To Yugeon, Pilbeom’s expression toward him and Jian seemed subtly different. Both faces were characteristically expressionless, but there was a noticeable difference in warmth.

The way he looked at Jian was like warm spring sunlight.
The way he looked at Yugeon felt like standing in the middle of Siberia, freezing to the bone.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination.

‘…Maybe it’s not.’

Now he wasn’t so sure. Somehow, it felt like he was being disliked.

“H-haha. Let’s hurry and start making them! It’s only once a year—I’ve been waiting for today! Come on, come on.”

Sensing the same difference in Pilbeom’s attitude, Jian quickly pushed the two men into the dining room.

On the table were several colors of dough prepared by the housekeeper, along with fillings such as sesame, beans, and chestnuts.

On one side of the dining room, the housekeeper was busily organizing a large pile of items—likely Chuseok gifts sent to Pilbeom.

“You got a lot of gifts again this year.”
“I told them not to send anything, but they insisted.”

Pilbeom shook his head.

Though he looked rough on the outside, he was actually very warmhearted. Whenever people around him were in difficult situations, he never hesitated to help.
And those who had received his kindness sent him gifts every holiday.

The three washed their hands and sat at the table together.

“Yugeon, do you know how to make songpyeon? If not, I can teach you.”

“It’s okay. I roughly know how.”

“Hmph. So you don’t really know it properly? If you take our Jian away like that, you won’t even manage to have a pretty daughter.”

Pilbeom snorted dismissively.

Yugeon’s chest tightened.

‘…Right. He really does dislike me.’

Being scolded over something as trivial as only “roughly” knowing how to make songpyeon, Yugeon finally became convinced.

“D-Dad, why are you like this? Haha, Yugeon will do well. And it’s just songpyeon—it’s okay if it’s not perfect.”

Jian nudged Pilbeom with her elbow, giving him a subtle warning look.

He’s generous to everyone else—couldn’t he be a bit kinder to Yugeon too…

She felt a little upset with him.

But Pilbeom didn’t stop.

“What do you mean ‘it’s just songpyeon’? You have to make pretty songpyeon to have a pretty daughter! Look—I made them well, and that’s why I had a beautiful daughter like you.”

With dazzling hand movements, Pilbeom quickly shaped one.

It wasn’t an exaggeration—the songpyeon really was beautiful.
It was hard to believe such smooth and neat work came from his thick, rugged hands that looked strong enough to wrestle a cow.

Holding the cute rice cake in his bear-like palm, Pilbeom looked at Yugeon as if to say, See?

Though upset by the unexplained criticism, Yugeon’s competitive spirit was ignited.

‘Jian’s watching. I can’t just keep getting scolded for no reason.’

He clenched his teeth slightly and began moving his hands quickly, shaping his own version of songpyeon.

He placed it on his slender fingers—contrasting with Pilbeom’s bear-like hands—and showed it off.

“Oh! The one Yugeon made is really pretty too! That’s not just ‘roughly knowing’ how!”

At Jian’s praise, Yugeon smiled proudly.

In truth, saying he only “roughly” knew how to make them had been modesty.

‘You need to shape songpyeon nicely if you want to have a pretty daughter someday, Yugeon. Let’s make them together,’ his grandmother had said.

‘A pretty daughter? With my face, I’ll obviously have one anyway.’

‘That may be true, but it’s better to make them nicely. Food that looks good tastes better too. Come on, try.’

He had practiced every Chuseok since childhood under Sunyeong’s guidance.

If he had said he was a “songpyeon master,” it would have sounded like bragging in front of his still-awkward father-in-law, so he had stayed humble.

Pilbeom glared at Yugeon, frustrated that he had hidden his skills and then earned Jian’s admiration.

Pilbeom quickly shaped another one, pressed it into a leaf-shaped mold, and used a thin wooden skewer to carve the veins—creating an intricate leaf-shaped songpyeon.

Jian likes things like this. Can you do this too? Probably not, right?

He raised one eyebrow at Yugeon with a mocking smile.

Jian had loved beautifully shaped things since childhood—so much so that she had chosen ceramics as her major.
Pilbeom had long ago learned such tricks just to make his daughter happy.

‘Are you underestimating me? Of course I can.’

Not to be outdone, Yugeon used a flower-shaped mold.
He added delicate details—tiny dough for the pistil and extra folds in the petals using a wooden skewer.

‘Sunyeong, these days they sell molds like this so you can make songpyeon in different shapes. What do you think? Pretty, just like you?’

‘Oh my, what’s this? You’re right—they really are pretty.’

‘I thought you’d like them, so I ordered them.’

He had learned these skills out of filial devotion—never imagining he’d show them off like this.

“Oh my, both of you are really good. You might even shape clay better than I do. Amazing!”

Clap, clap.

Jian laughed brightly, clapping at the evenly matched skills of the two men.

Both men felt proud seeing her happy—yet each wanted to monopolize her praise.
Their hands moved faster and faster as they shaped the rice cakes.

“Wow, they’re so pretty.”
“How did you make them so delicately?”
“That one looks really delicious. I’ll eat that later. Mine—claimed!”

The more Jian alternated her compliments between them, the faster their hands moved—like they were racing someone.

Before long, the dough and fillings prepared in abundance were completely used up.

“Wow, since all three of us made them together, we finished really quickly this year. We should always do this together from now on.”

At Jian’s hopeful remark, Pilbeom snorted again.

“I raised a beautiful daughter by making pretty songpyeon like this, and now I have to send her off to a guy who doesn’t even know what she likes to eat or which tteokbokki place she likes. It breaks my heart.”

He muttered loudly enough to be heard.

“Dad…! Why are you like this…!”

Don’t say that to Yugeon…
It’s his first holiday visit. What if he stops coming after this…

Jian anxiously glanced at Yugeon, not knowing what to do.

But this time, Yugeon couldn’t protest.

Was it because of that?

If so, he had nothing to say. He really had been an inadequate husband.

Even if Pilbeom had arranged the match for business reasons, it was only natural for a parent to hope the man would at least show basic sincerity.

A shadow fell across Yugeon’s face.

Seeing this, something suddenly flashed in Jian’s mind.

“Oh right! Dad—the tteokbokki place you told Yugeon about, the one I like the most—it closed.”

“What? Closed? When?”

Pilbeom looked shocked.

Jian absolutely loved that place’s tteokbokki.

Then what was she supposed to do now?